Rikki woke up to the sound of birds singing and the feel of cool
dirt on his cheek. He stood up and noticed that the sun was just
beginning to rise. Shades of orange, pink, and red painted the sky.
The beauty of it all left him breathless. He couldn't remember the
last time he bothered to watch the sun rise. For a long time, he had
been focused on keeping team extreme organized. And recently, the whole
deal with Dr.X. But now, standing here in the middle of a rainforest,
Rikki felt a sense of freedom.
I should do this more often, he thought to himself. He remembered something
Fidget said a long time ago.
'Rikki, if you always stress about the little things, you'll
drive yourself crazy.'
Soon the sun was in the sky and Rikki decided it was time
to wake Brandon.
*************************************************
Alex combed the ruins of Gangrene's temple. It had been thirty
minutes since Big Air landed but they found nothing. Grinder
and Fidget were beginning to lose hope. Alex kept searching
for any clues that just might be lying around.
"Alex," Grinder started, "It's possible they aren't here. We should
go to Grey's cabin and figure out what to do." Alex turned and glared
at him.
"Grey doesn't know anything about Gangrene. And I doubt his computers can
help."
"The rainforest seems to be getting very popular all of a sudden." said a voice.
Grinder and Alex turned around.
"Who are you?" Fidget demanded.
"I'm Maria Montez. You're the second group I saw in the rainforest this week." She said.
"That's a lot."
"What other group did you see?" Grinder asked.
"It was two men. One had blue hair, and the other was dressed in purple." Alex
came up to her.
"Did you get their names?" He asked hopefully.
"No. But they did look like Rikki Syngh-Baines from team extreme and
Brandon Caine." That was all Alex needed.
"Where did you see them?"
"On the other side of the mountain. I gave them directions to a nearby
city."
"Where?" Alex almost yelled.
"At the base. It's next to a clearing, so you should be able to see
it easily."
"Thank you." He turned to Fidget and Grinder.
"Come on guys, we have to hurry." Alex rushed to the plane.
"Hey, wait" Maria yelled after him, "What is your name?"
"That, My dear," Grinder began, "Is Alex Mann. Better known as Action
Man." Grinder ran to catch up with Fidget and Alex. Maria watched as
Big Air took off.
"What!?" Maria yelled. "Aw, man. I missed a chance to get a famous
athlete's autograph. Twice."
*************************************
Rikki led the way down the path. They'd been walking for three hours
without a break and they were close to the city. They came into a
clearing, and Rikki saw something.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed.
"What!?" Brandon exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
Without saying a word, Rikki pointed to what was lying ahead of them.
Brandon grimaced in disgust.
"Looks like a jaguar." He said after a minute.
"What's left of it." Rikki responded, turning away.
Brandon walked past Rikki to take a closer look.
"It looks like it's been eaten." Rikki shivered.
"What kind of creature could do something like that?"
"I don't know." Brandon looked around the ground. There were various plants and
flowers around. One nearby tree had some broken bark near the base. It looked like
something had been thrown into it. He saw an area that had obviously been up rooted.
It was just a few meters from the jaguar.
"Take a look at that." Brandon said, pointing over to it.
"What? It's just a pile of dirt."
Brandon went over and dug up a few handfuls. He found part of large green tube.
"Looks like a plant." Rikki said, looking over his shoulder.
"Do you think that's what did it?" Brandon shook his head.
"How could a plant eat something as big as a jaguar?" Rikki shivered.
"Well, something ate it, and I'd rather not be around when it comes back."
Brandon thought of something.
"Hey, didn't you say Gangrene had a giant plant?" Rikki froze for a minute.
"Yes." He replied.
"What if this is it?"
"Why would it be out here?"
Then it came to them both.
"The city!" Both of them exclaimed.
"We have to do something!" Rikki yelled.
"It's not far from here. Come on." Brandon said as he began running.
Rikki followed him. It took about thirty minutes to see and enter the small town.
When they got there, everything was peaceful.
"Nothings here." Rikki panted.
"I guess we were wrong." Brandon replied. "At least we can find a phone now."
The ground trembled slightly, and something exploded out of the ground. It was the plant,
but it was different from the one Rikki had seen. This one spanned
over fifteen feet high, with multiple limbs that slithered across the ground.
It's base was six feet in diameter. The teeth were small and
sharp. The head looked like it could eat a person whole. Over all,
it looked like a Venus fly trap.
Rikki saw two sac-like objects below the head that obviously held
something. Maybe poison, Rikki thought. The residents screamed and
ran in all directions.
"What are we going to do, Brandon!?" Rikki screamed, "What are we going to do!?"
"I don't know." Brandon replied. "We have to kill it somehow. Before
it hurts someone."
One of the vines suddenly slammed into Brandon and knocked him into the
side of a building. Rikki ran to his side and helped him up. The same
vines made it's way to them. Before they could run, it knocked them
over again. As Brandon forced himself up, the vine encircled itself
around his waist. It started to drag him to it's mouth. Brandon gave
as much resistance as possible, but still moved toward the plant.
After being dragged several feet, the mouth opened and sprayed
something in him. Instantly, he felt numb. He couldn't feel his legs
or his arms. He tried to move them, but couldn't. He slumped over
as the plants poison did it's work.
Rikki watched as Brandon was lifted into the air, closer to the plant's
huge mouth. Two smaller vines wrapped around him for a better grip.
He ran over to a spot below him and the vine.
"Rikki, help." Brandon whispered hoarsely, "I can't move."
Some of the village men had gathered their guns and started shooting
at the giant plant. It didn't work, they were simply pushed aside.
Rikki stared at it, wondering what he could do. He noticed that one
of the sacks he discovered earlier no longer showed movement. It looked
like it was empty.
'If one spray used one sac' Rikki thought, 'then it could paralyze
another person, but only one person. Then it would have to wait while
more poison was produced.' An idea pooped into his head. What if the
plant itself could be paralyzed? It was worth a try. He ran to group
of men preparing their guns.
"Do any of you have an axe?" They stared at him.
"There's one over there." said a one of the men, pointing to the side
of a building. "What are you going to do." Rikki didn't answer him.
He simply hurried over and grabbed the axe. He then proceeded to the
other sac. Rikki dodged several vines, and hacked into the plant.
Liquid poured out and the plant screamed in pain. It threw Brandon
aside and focused it's attention on Rikki. Rikki didn't even think
of running away. He was determined to stop this thing. His plan seemed
to work a little; the plant moved slower then it did a few moments ago.
But it wasn't paralyzed, so he had to be careful.
Taking advantage of it's pace, Rikki took a swing at the sac again.
This time it cut deeper into the plant's flesh. The plant shrieked,
and tried to grab Rikki. It opened it's mouth, and dove at him.
Rikki dodged, and started cutting below the head. The plant
desperately swung it's vines.
Rikki continued until the plant no longer moved. It was dead, and
the the town was safe. Sighing, he dropped the axe. People came over
and examined what was left of it. He turned and walked to where Brandon
was lying on the ground.
"How do you feel?" he asked, kneeling beside Brandon.
"Numb. But I think I can move again."
"Can you get up?"
"I think so." Grabbing his arm, Rikki helped Brandon up. Brandon stood,
if just a wobbly.
"That was very brave of you." Brandon commented. Rikki frowned.
"Huh?"
"What you did, fighting that plant. You could have been killed."
Rikki froze, and paled.
"Your right. I could have died, been ripped apart or crushed! I...I..."
Rikki's eyes rolled up, and he collapsed. Brandon caught him before he fell
and gently placed him on the ground. He heard a familiar sound, and turned
to see Big Air landing nearby.