I fully climb onto the batten so I can stand on it. The Driger, on the other hand, sits back and swishes its tail back and forth. Just like Old Garth on Sojourn when he watches a mouse he’s toying with.
I pull down an eyelid and blow a raspberry at the Driger. It hisses at me and its hair stands up. Wings stretching in agitation. I’m hoping Driger will have a harder time hitting me at this distance.
“Is the Driger upset?” I mock. “Do you need a nap little crybaby?” I turn around and wiggle my butt at it. Goodbye dignity. I hear a high-pitched growl in response. Hello victory.
The Driger charges another fireball. It can’t have too many of those. I remember Lee’s game gave Terrors limited energy for special attacks. The Terror’s energy will recharge over time. But it will be too late for the little hairball. I hope.
A flare of light from the Driger’s mouth signals it’s time to flee! Jump. Grab. Dodge. Don’t fall!
The crowd gasps. I cling to the batten with a white knuckled grip. Pablo’s gang, still in the cage, boo at my success. Time to repeat. We keep up this game of flaming dodge ball until the Driger’s knees start trembling from exertion. By the snarl on its snout, I can tell it’s not giving up. It’s a fighter. Perfect.
I taunt it with another raspberry with an armpit fart to top it off. Lee giggles. It’s his favorite noise. Even when he was a baby, Dad would do it to stop his crying. I picked up the trick by osmosis. The Driger doesn’t share Lee’s joy. Its patience snaps as it leaps up at me, claws glowing yellow and trailing fiery wisps. The fire fades midleap. No energy.
I flip right at Driger. I line up with its back in midair and feel the taut muscles controlling the wings struggle against my restraint. I’m glad Juan was right about those claws being unable to get at me while I’m on top of this thing.
We fall like Icarus, the last embers of Driger’s fiery glow surrounding both of us as we impact the stage. I hear a crack beneath us. We landed right on top of my tablet. I don’t have time to worry about it as the Driger does everything to buck me off. It’s heavier than the Holo seagull was, but weaker than I expected. It makes up for this by going absolutely ballistic. Hissing like a broken pipe, struggling to flap, and trying to roll out of my grip. I expect to wrestle the beast for ages.
Then I hear a soft beeping coming from my tablet. It rattles beneath us as we fight. Neither of us willing to give any ground. The beeping stops with a happy jingle and an electronic voice announces, “Scan complete.” The Driger turns bright white in my arms. My eyes water from the brightness. Blinded I close my eyelids. The light fades and a masculine electronic voice asks, “Would you like to name your Driger?”
“What?” I ask in a daze.
“Please confirm you would like to name your Driger ‘What’.”
“No, that’s a stupid name. Keep it as Driger.”
The voice says, “Your Driger is now designated ‘Driger’. Congratulations on taming your first Terror!” I blink rapidly. Clearing my vision enough to make out the orb now on top of my broken tablet.
“There’s the Driger’s core. It can turn into a badge after you scan a Terror. Now attach it to your T-quip, Matt”
“Rayment!”
“T-quip!”
The two keep arguing even as a stampede of kids and teens tries to break down the barrier.
“I want a Rayment!”
“Can I have a fluffy unicorn!?”
Is the orb a modified Holo core? I numbly attach the orb to my jacket. It transforms on contact into a badge. My new badge has two ‘T’s’ embossed on the front with the Driger’s body sticking out from the surface. I can feel the Driger design move beneath my fingers. The badge sticks to the jacket like a magnet or sticker. I briefly check Driger’s menu. The nauseating flood of text starts up and I immediately choose to simplify it into the following so I can quickly exit it.
I briefly check my menu and see the only difference is the additional point in Barrier. Sounds useful.
Tara claps her hands, “Calm down. The first to be still and wait for me to call will get the chance to tame a peaceful Terror, Jerry! I’ll show you how to befriend him.”
Wait, there’s a nice way to tame Terrors?
“Gēgē, come on! We have to pass out the Rayments.” Right my reason for being here. I dust off my pants, surprised my knees are feeling fine after that impact. The barrier comes down at the stairs, forcing people to approach in single file.
My brother holds out a translucent plastic looking thing. I ignore it and lift him, sprinting away while Tara is distracted.
“Matt!” Lee shouts indignantly.
Time to go!
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