Battle Kreaturez

At long last, it’s here! This has been the hardest chapter by far to write. It’s the most important one, as its purpose was to fix what I felt was the greatest flaw of the original story; that being Ben and Riidya’s reconciliation, which I thought happened much too quickly but was forced by narrative time constraints. On top of that the Executive Dysfunction came down on me hard. The longer I spend working on any given thing the more I hate looking at it and the harder it gets to finish. When I was younger I’d just abandon my work and move onto the next thing whenever that happened, and I’ve got a giant pile of unfinished comics to show for it. Anyway, enjoy! Just one more chapter to go!

Now that Ben and Riidya were official members of the Wyldcard team their Kreatures needed to be moved into permanent enclosures. Slash’s temporary lodging in the mixed species kennel was adequate but not ideal. The paddock suited the Jaljals and Kastans well enough but it was a bit dry for the Jagaldie’s liking. Dennis wanted to build a new paddock for Slash that would incorporate more water features into the design, but that would have to wait until Ben had saved up enough to actually pay for it.

A more pressing matter were Riidya’s Kreatures. Up until now she’d been renting space for them at another location. Being a more successful Tamer than Ben she could afford it. Still, it’d be much more convenient if she could move them onto the Wyldcard Compound.

The kennel wasn’t the only building the Wyldcards kept their Kreatures in. There was a stable, two habitat bunkers, an aviary, and a large paddock about the size of a football field.

Riidya moved her Kraaster into Habitat Bunker #1. Eastern Zaitopia had a temperate climate, so the Wyldcards kept their Kreatures who needed extra warmth in this insulated, climate controlled building. Early in her career as a Tamer, Kristy had a Scootada named Nikki as one of her main Kreatures. Nikki, who’d resembled a red, human-sized beetle with spindly legs and mantis-like, raptorial forelimbs, had since passed away from old age, leaving her habitat vacant. Since Zok had similar husbandry requirements, the old Scootada enclosure only had to be slightly refurbished in order to house its new occupant.

Bunker #2 was lodging for the Wyldcard team’s aquatic Kreatures. It contained aquariums and pools with complex pumps and filtration systems that had to be specially calibrated for each occupant. Riidya’s second Kreature was a Rebbendra named Gnash; a carnivorous fish monster about 2m long, with a bullet-shaped armoured skull, extendable stalk eyes, and a maw with rows of serrated teeth. It was moved into an indoor 50,000 gallon pond which the previous team had once kept a Cleavbill in. After a period of acclimation, Gnash took well to its new home.

The Wyldcard team kept their flying Kreatures inside the aviary. It was the tallest building on the compound, the high ceiling giving their flyers plenty of space to stretch their wings. Most of the aviary’s enclosures were empty. Its only residents at the moment were a small flock of Dracrows; common Rank D bird/dragon Kreatures. The Wyldcard team used to have more flyers but its former members took their Kreatures with them when they’d left. It seemed like the perfect place for Riidya to keep her Mardax, Dusk…

When Riidya first introduced Ben to her Mardax, he had to bite his tongue while she extolled its magnificence. Dusk wasn’t going to be winning any beauty contests: the Kreature looked like a ghastly hybrid of a possum and a pterosaur, with a drawn out toothy muzzle and leathery, semi-circular wings resembling giant ears. Its skin was fleshy, pallid and almost hairless, covered in only a thin coat of peach fuzz. It had grasping feet armed with wicked talons, and a long prehensile tail.

Moving Dusk in had been more problematic than the team had first anticipated. The issue was that Dusk’s wings weren’t just shaped like ears, they effectively functioned as a secondary set, giving the Kreature exceptionally keen hearing. The Dracrows made for rowdy roommates with their never-ending cawing and squawking and flapping. Dusk needed to have her enclosure soundproofed in order to drown out the cacophony next door. Riidya agreed to shoulder the cost of the modifications herself. After all the preparations had been made, all that needed to be done was to transfer Dusk to her new home.

The senior Wyldcards gathered to watch on the day that was scheduled for Dusk’s arrival. Moving in the last of Riidya’s Kreatures effectively finalized her becoming a member of the team, so this was a special occasion.

Riidya beamed Dusk into her new habitat. Dennis, Kristy, Wade and Amy watched with bated breath as the Mardact fluttered around, exploring her new home. If Dusk didn’t like it they’d have to go back to the drawing board and sink even more time into fixing up the habitat. Fortunately, the soundproofing had done its job. Dusk seemed comfortable in her new accommodations.

“Look at her! Nothing more graceful and majestic than a Mardact in flight,” Riidya said. “Hey Ben, have you ever mindlinked with a flying Kreature before?”

“Nope,” he said, tersely.

“You’ve got to try it sometime. It really does feel like you’re up in the air with them! It’s so exhilarating!”

″I don’t like heights,” Ben stated flatly.

“It’s kinda scary at first, but once you settle into the mindlink it all goes away.”

“I see.”

”We really ought to get you a flying Kreature. It really opens up your options in combat. I bet you’ll start winning more battles when you have more Kreatures to choose from.”

“Hm.”

Eventually, Dusk found a branch that she liked, perching on it and then swinging below, hanging from it upside-down. Then she coiled her tail around the branch and wrapped herself in her cloak-like wings, dozing off. This was a good sign; it meant that she felt secure enough to let her guard down. The team collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

“That went well,” Wade said. “I’m impressed by how smoothly the transfers have gone.”

“It’s a testament to how well Riidya’s raised her Kreatures,” Kristy said. “She has a strong bond with them and they trust her implicitly.”

Riidya beamed with pride. Ben quietly scoffed and rolled his eyes. Riidya was unaware but it didn’t escape Dennis’ notice. He could see that the pot was starting to simmer and he opted to turn down the heat before it could boil over.

“Well, now that Dusk is settled in I think we should give her some space. Ben, you’re with me on kennel maintenance. You run on ahead and change the Kreatures’ water while I finish up in here.”

“Got it,” Ben said. He promptly left the aviary, eager to be anywhere else.

“Riidya, I’ll need you to head to the lab,” Kristy added, immediately catching on to what Dennis was doing. “You’ll be assisting me in gathering some new biometric data on the Kreatures.”

“Sure thing,” Riidya chirped, apparently oblivious to Ben’s discomfort. Once they were sure she was gone, the senior Wyldcards held an impromptu discussion.

”See? This is exactly what I was telling you guys about,” Dennis said.

“I know, right?” Amy added. “The whole vibe around here has changed since they joined the team. Ben’s gotten so passive-aggressive lately, but Riidya doesn’t even seem to notice!”

“This is the last thing we need right now,” Kristy said. “If we’re going to dig ourselves out of the hole we’re in the team needs absolute cohesion.”

“We need to nip this problem in the bud before it gets out of hand. I’ll call them to my office and talk to them about it tomorrow,” Wade said.

“That’ll just push them further apart,” Amy said. “They need to work things out themselves. Or at least to think it was their idea.”

“Alright then,” Wade said. “Dennis, Kristy; Ben and Riidya have the highest rapport with you two. Suss out what’s going on between them and subtly guide them towards a solution.”

*****

Kristy had recently acquired a Bellepe as her newest Kreature – a male, which she’d named Comet. He had a rabbit-like body and ears, with a reptilian head and tail. His body was covered in a base texture of short fur, counter shaded with black on top and red underneath, accented with fluffier flourishes; a lion’s mane, shaggy fetlocks and a tuft on the tip of his tail, all in a striking shade of white. Kristy had mindlinked with him for the first time not long before Ben and Riidya had signed up for the apprenticeship program. It was about time she gathered some performance statistics on him.

She and Riidya had Comet on a large treadmill that’d been set up on the simulation deck. Kristy was mindlinked with him and had the Kreature running at a moderate pace. Visual markers were attached to Comet’s body for various sensors to record motion capture data. Riidya was set up at the console. It was her job to operate the hologram projector while measuring Comet’s acceleration, stamina and reflexes.

“Gathering baseline data,” Riidya said. “Mindlink synchronicity level is at 75%. Nucleus activity, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, adrenaline and cortisol levels are all within normal parameters.”

“Good. Let’s take it up a notch. Increase speed by 20% and throw some obstacles at me.”

Riidya did as she was told. The treadmill’s motor growled. Kristy locked in and Riidya saw the synch level jump up to 95%. Clutching the Projectatron’s control pad in her talons, Riidya entered its user interface and selected a basic obstacle – “pulse ray” – and opened fire. The Projectatron fired a holographic beam at Comet, which the Bellepe dodged effortlessly. Riidya continued to fire and Kristy’s Kreature juked this way and that, evading every single one. All the while, the synch level remained at 95%.

“Impressive reflexes, Ms. Winters!” Riidya said.

“That was just a warm-up. Raise treadmill speed by 50% and increase rate of fire.”

Riidya cranked up the speed. The treadmill roared. Holo beams flashed like automatic gunfire. She saw Comet’s biometric activity spike upward on the display as he continued to outmanoeuvre the Projectatron’s blasts. All the while, Kristy was able to maintain her synch level at a steady 95%, despite feeling every bit of her Kreature’s strain and fatigue.

“Child’s play,” Kristy quipped. “Are you low balling me or are you just a bad shot?”

Riidya went back into the UI and selected another obstacle: “agility hurdle.” Now the Projectatron sent horizontal bars of light that Comet would have to jump over while Riidya continued to rain Holo beams down on him. She took careful aim as the next bar came Comet’s way, preparing to tag him mid leap. The Holo rays flashed. Kristy locked in and her synch level climbed to 100%.

To Riidya’s astonishment, Comet twisted like a corkscrew in mid leap, slipping through Riidya’s precision fire, landed perfectly on his feet and continued to run without stumbling. Riidya dropped the controller.

“That was incredible, Ms. Winters!” Riidya extolled. “You say this is your first time putting this Kreature through its paces, yet you kept up a Synch Level of 95-100% through all that? I’ve never seen such skilful mindlinking in person before!”

Kristy opened the observation window, beamed Comet back into her amulet, and peered at the console to read her performance statistics. Riidya was surprised to see Kristy furrow her brow, as if she were disappointed by her own performance.

”Only an 85% evasion rate? I’ve gotten rusty. In a real match I’d be in a world of hurt right about now. Well, that’s what these drills are for, they show us how we need to improve.”

“Don’t be so modest, Ms. Winters,” Riidya said. “Your manoeuvring definitely puts Ben’s to shame.”

“You can praise one teammate without putting down another,” Kristy lectured.

“My apologies,” Riidya said. “Actually, he’s improved quite a bit since we started training here. I was pretty impressed by his performance in the initiation spar.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting him to put up as good a fight as he did. He’s got more nerve as a Tamer than I thought.”

“Good to hear. Anyway, I need a cigarette break. Can you process the data for me please?”

“Sure thing, Ms. Winters!” Riidya began pecking away at the console’s keyboard. While her protege was preoccupied, Kristy stepped outside the lab, pulled out her lighter and cigarette case from her purse, lit up and took a long, satisfying drag. Then she took out her phone, sending a text to Dennis…

*****

It was hard work having to feed so many Kreatures. Commercial diets were available for most species but kibble alone wouldn’t suffice. They needed varied diets, not not merely to satisfy their appetites but also their emotional needs. In addition to the usual nutrients all life forms needed to survive, Kreatures required an additional substance known as “aura”, which was contained within their cells and the source of their extraordinary powers. They obtained it by feeding upon the flesh or bodily tissues of other Kreatures, or by grazing on plants and fungi grown in aura-rich Kreature manure. Cultured meats and vegetables seeded with aura from taken from Utility Kreatures specifically engineered for tissue sampling formed the basis of most Battle Kreatures’ diets in captivity. Tamers needed to keep meticulous records and follow strict schedules to keep track of what each Kreature ate, when they ate and how much, in order to properly chart their health and growth and budget for future meals.

At the moment, Dennis and Ben were preparing a dish for the Wydcard team’s Koobines, consisting of lean meats, insects, eggs, nuts, legumes, fruits and berries. The rotund, beach ball-sized, telekinetic imp-like Kreatures had high metabolisms and healthy appetites. Between the three of them they’d consume the caloric equivalent of an entire cow every other month. They had relatively small mouths so they preferred their food minced. Dennis and Ben would spend up to an hour chopping up all the ingredients, cooking them to promote nutrient absorption, then stirring them together so that the Koobines couldn’t easily sift out the bits they didn’t like as much. It gave them plenty of time to chat.

“So I heard Riidya was pretty impressed by your performance in the initiation match,” Dennis said.

“Oh really?” Ben said, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, apparently you put up a better fight than she was expecting. I have noticed she’s opened up to you more lately. Sounds like you finally earned her respect.”

“Oh, so she thinks I’m worthy of her respect now?” Ben scoffed. “She’s so fucking arrogant! Why’s respect something you gotta earn anyway? Shouldn’t people respect each other by default?”

Ben sharply inhaled, suddenly realizing he’d been venting, but Dennis looked understanding.

“I agree, people should respect each other, implicitly,” Dennis said. “Maybe you should tell her how you feel. She’ll probably be more receptive now.”

“You really think so?…”

“You won’t solve your problems by hiding from them. You’re gonna have to confront her about this eventually. You can either have a relatively chill discussion about it while she still has a high opinion of you, or let the resentment simmer and eventually boil over at the worst possible time. Might as well rip the bandage off now.”

“That sounds hard. Can’t just like, grit my teeth and talk shit about her behind her back instead?”

“That’s, uh, not exactly conductive to positive team building.”

*****

The next day, Dennis scheduled a spar between Ben and Riidya. The arena still hadn’t been repaired after their trial match, so this sparring session would be held out back on the practice field instead, with the stipulation that they’d be limited to melee combat only. The senior Wyldcards low-key hoped their apprentices could settle whatever beef they had between them by fighting it out.

Slash darted towards Zok and swept his tailblade low to slice into the Kraaster’s legs, but it sprung up and away from the attack. Ben was expecting this, and had his Jagaldie leap up after it. In mid-air, she wouldn’t be able to dodge. Slash delivered a horizontal tail swipe. Riidya’s Kreature caught the blade in its pincers. Together, they plummeted to the ground and hit the dirt hard, Slash tangled up in Zok’s elongate limbs. They rolled around and Slash struggled to dislodge himself, but Zok still had a firm grip on his tail. The Kraaster’s limbs interlaced, trapping Slash in a tight hold. Ben had no choice to tap out. The Kreatures extracted themselves from each other and climbed out of the crater they’d smashed into the practice field. Ben groaned, thinking about how much time they’d have to spend filling the hole back in, but Riidya was too stoked about her victory to care.

“Aw yeah, win by submission!” Riidya gloated. “You almost had me there but you were just a bit too eager to follow through. Oh well, better luck next time~”

Still riding high on his mindlink with Slash and remembering what Dennis had told him, Ben shot back:

“Thanks for the advice. Here’s mine: maybe you could try complimenting people without being all backhanded about it?”

“Aw, don’t be a sore loser,” Riidya said. “I thought you’d be used to it by now!”

“I’m not joking!” Ben said. “And what you just said was actually really mean! You’ve been like this ever since we met and I’m beyond tired of it!”

Riidya flared her feathers, taken aback by Ben’s sudden assertiveness. Then she remembered that Kristy had told her the exact same thing just the other day, and was mortified.

“I… I didn’t mean it that way. I’d only ever meant for my quips to come off as friendly ribbing. We were still rivals up until very recently. This isn’t an excuse for my behaviour, just an explanation. I apologize. I’ll try to make an effort to be more considerate from now on. We ARE teammates now, after all.”

“Well, okay then,” Ben said. She seemed sincere enough… “Apology accepted.”

Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

“…Did we just come to, like. A mature understanding about this?”

“I’d say so,” Riidya affirmed.

“That was a lot easier than I was expecting it to be…”

*****

Ben meant to be in and out of the school restroom as quick as he possibly could. Just being in there made him feel gross. The stench of farts, stale piss and marijuana smoke hung in the air, vulgar graffiti adorned the toilet stalls, the plumbing was frequently clogged, the floors were sticky and there was never enough hand soap. Unfortunately he could no longer reason with his protesting bladder. After doing his business he took a moment while washing his hands to admire his Wyldcard team membership badge in the mirror. Ever since he earned it Ben had worn it pinned to his shirt every day. It was his proudest achievement. Looking at it filled him with a sense of accomplishment and acceptance that he’d never felt before in his entire life.

He was suddenly startled by the sound of the restroom door being kicked open, followed by familiar, raucous laughter. In swaggered Todd and Ryan, members of the soccer team. They were tall, handsome and athletic but that’s about all they had going for them; they had all the intellect and compassion of a Blarghor. Both wore their soccer uniforms and same conceited smirk on their face but Ryan had fluffy blonde hair and was slightly taller than Todd, who had coarser black hair and an olive complexion. They were the same age as Ben and they’d been making sport out of bullying him since primary school. Whether they wound up in dead-end service jobs or in prison after graduation Ben didn’t care, so long as he never had to see them again.

Before he had a chance to hide from them in the nearest stall, Todd and Ryan sidled up to Ben, cutting off his escape. Ryan had a skinned elbow; apparently he’d come in from practice to rinse his wound. Todd had seemingly joined him just for the sake of following him around. He’d been Ryan’s lackey for as long as Ben could remember.

“Heyyyy Weiss, long time no see,” Todd greeted while Ryan washed the blood and dirt out of his injury. “You haven’t been avoiding us, have you?”

“What’s this stupid thing you’re wearing?” Ryan asked, plucking Ben’s badge off his shirt.

“That’s my official Wyldcard team membership badge! Give it back!”

“A membership? For what, a fan club?” Todd inquired, hocking a loogie into the sink.

“No, like, an actual, official member of their Kreature Combat team,” Ben said. “I joined their apprenticeship program and now they’ve hired me on full time.”

“So THAT’S where you’ve been! You’ve been too busy scooping up Kreature shit after school to hang out with us? That hurts, bro!” Ryan pouted in mock indignation.

“Well, even if they are a real team, I’ve never heard of them before,” Todd said. “They’re probably just some bottom-tier nobodies. They must have been desperate if they hired you.”

“I’ll bet they fire him and he’s back here in Billaine town making cupcake deliveries for his mom before the end of the season,” Ryan scoffed.

“Whatever. Can I just have my badge back?”

Ryan held out his palm as if to return it, but before Ben could take it, he yeeted the badge into the nearest open toilet stall. His aim was pretty good; the badge plunked into the toilet bowl and sank straight into the pipe. The boys guffawed as Ben scrambled to pick it out but Todd flushed it before he could grab it.

“NO!!!”

Ben’s heart broke into a thousand pieces while the two boys’ obnoxious laughter echoed off the restroom walls.

“You shouldn’t have flushed it, bro” Ben heard Ryan say as he and Todd left the restroom. “It woulda been way funnier to watch him reach in and grab it. He’d have totally done it.”

After he was sure his tormentors were long gone, Ben locked himself in the stall at the farthest end and curled himself into a fetal position, sobbing until the bell rang for the next period.

*****

Rain drizzled against the windows of the Wyldcard Compound’s conference room. It was relatively nicely furnished compared to the rest of the administration building’s rooms, with a long floor-table bordered by simple but elegantly stylish floor pillows. There was a monitor at one end of the room for displaying visual aides, a whiteboard for going over battle strategies, and a row of five framed photos that showcased the team’s founding members. When the team first moved into the compound Kristy had insisted on good decor for this room specifically, since this was where they would meet up when inspectors or other Federation officials came to visit; or (as Wade hoped for one day) sign lucrative business deals with corporate sponsors.

Of course, the team wasn’t popular enough for that yet, and there were no visitors in the conference room that day. The Wyldcards were gathered in the conference room to plan for the upcoming convention. K-Fest DAC5216 was just a few weeks away and they’d booked a two-vs-two exhibition match with the Phantom Echo team. It was Amy’s recommendation; Phantom Echo was a new team who’d been trending on T-Net recently thanks to an impressive winning streak and the strange charisma of their talented lead players. She thought that booking a match with them would also help to promote the Wyldcard team in turn. Even if they lost, just the fact that they caught the attention of such a popular team would improve their reputation.

To Wade’s surprise the Phantom Echoes accepted the offer without hesitation. It’d been decided that Ben and Riidya would fight them. In fact, they’d specifically requested for Ben to participate in the match. Wade thought they seemed inordinately interested in him; perhaps they thought that by forcing their weakest member to join the battle that it’d give them an upper hand? But the Wyldcards weren’t exactly in a position to bargain, so he relented. Kristy had scowled a bit when she found out the match would be sponsored by AlphaLabz; a small independent biotech company that’d been one of K-TEK’s direct competitors before the company had been sold. There was no prize money at stake but the winner of the match would obtain vouchers for two free Kreatures, so there was still something to be gained aside from clout.

Since Ben would be playing a crucial role in the upcoming match they couldn’t start the meeting without him, so they were all making small talk while waiting for him. They were shocked when he entered the conference room looking utterly miserable. Was his face wet from the rain, or were those tears?…

“Finally, the MVP has arrived,” Wade said, trying to lighten the mood. “No badge today?”

Ben explained to his teammates what had happened to him at school earlier that day. They were aghast.

“That’s terrible!” Dennis said. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“What a couple of absolute losers,” Riidya scoffed. “You said they’re high school seniors? I bet they’re jealous of you because your career is just taking off and they’ve already peaked.”

“It’s appalling,” Kristy added. “That school must have a serious discipline problem. What did the faculty have to say?”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Ben confessed. “It was just a badge… if I complained about it everybody would just mock me. Or call me a snitch.”

”Don’t worry about it Ben, I can print a new one for you,” Wade said, trying to reassure him.

“It wasn’t any old badge, though,” Dennis said. “It had sentimental value that made it irreplaceable. Ben, don’t downplay what those assholes did. Your pain and outrage are absolutely justified. I’d be devastated too if I were in your situation.”

“Dennis is right,” Kristy said. “And if your classmates are so stupid and immature that they’d side with those boys then I don’t think if should matter to you what they think.”

“Oh, you poor baby boy…” Amy said, bringing Ben into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay, Ben. We’re here for you.”

Even Ida had words of encouragement. “What happened to you really sucks,” she mumbled. “I know just how you feel. I’ve been there before.”

“My ex-boyfriend’s a pretty big, tough guy with a bunch of equally badass friends,” Amy said. “I’m still on good terms with him. Just say the word and I’ll have a whole posse show up after school to scare the shit out of those idiot jocks for you.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Ben said. “Your support is good enough. Besides my mom and dad I’ve never had anyone at my back like this before. It feels nice. Thank you, all of you.”

“If you need some time for yourself I can reschedule for tomorrow and give you the rest of the day off,” Wade said.

“Nah, I’m good,” Ben said. He took his place at the table and the Wyldcards went on to have a very productive meeting.

*****

Nobody else was using it at the moment so Riidya treated Ben to a snack in the break room after the meeting. He picked out a Beeg Chompus bar; he preferred his mom’s homemade treats, especially her Vetterberry cupcakes, but this was his go-to when it came to commercially produced snackables. They sat together on the sofa, chatting while Ben scarfed down his chocolate bar.

“That thing today with Ryan and Todd, and the huge online dogpiling from my debut match? Shit like that’s been happening to me for what’s felt like my entire life, just one after another.” Ben complained. “Life kicks me down before I’ve even had a chance to get back up. It’s like I’m being punished by the whole universe for something but nobody ever told me what it was.”

“The universe, nothing. It’s people,” Riidya said. “They see something that reads as weakness to them and they hone in on it like Piranaides.”

“Yeah…”

“I’ve always had trouble getting along with my peers for whatever reason, so I’d turn to authority figures for approval, which just made them hate me more,” Riidya said. “So, I kinda relate. And I get now why my ribbing didn’t come off the way I meant it to.”

Riidya thought for a moment. Looked down at the Wyldcard membership badge she had pinned to her top. She unpinned it and passed it to Ben.

“Here, take mine,” she said.

“What? No, I can’t take this, it belongs to you!”

“I insist! Besides, it’s just until Wade can replace yours.”

“No, I mean, it literally has your name on it“

Riidya laughed her musical-sounding Domonid laugh.

“It’s on the back! Nobody will know the difference.”

Riidya reached over and pinned it on his shirt. Ben smiled, appreciating the gesture. He kept wearing it even after Wade gave him his new badge. It just meant more to him.