Without waiting any longer, the presenter decided to start the confrontation. Everything was still vague in the vet's mind, but he was not to be distracted.
"The participants now have to join each of their starting platform. For the four who don't participate, you have a place in the audience."
A young girl quickly arrived in the arena and took charge of the four people who did not participate in the first game, including the two squirrels. She redirected them to the audience where she made them sit in the front line.
Arun and Shuu made their way to the platform on which they were to stand until the start of the race. The more the seconds passed, the more nervous the young man felt. He was trying to find a way to win against the two meerkats but nothing came to his mind.
"Arun... Don't worry too much. We have to try to find out what will change the weight of the egg, that's what can help us win." Shuu said, seeing that the human was worried. He too was, but he could not do much better.
On the other side of the arena, the two meerkats had already won.
"So, do you have a plan ?" Toma asked his teammate who sat on the floor waiting for the trial to begin.
"A plan? Yes... We beat them and then we bring back the egg, no more complicated than that." Rusheb answered in a serious voice that would have thrilled anyone. Toma was used to being with him, though. But he knew that the meerkat could be unpredictable and do what he wanted. That was why he preferred to agree on a plan.
"It's not very precise... What are you planning to do if you can't lift the egg ?"
"It doesn't matter. If both of our opponents are dead, they won't be able to win, and we'll probably be the default winners, as in the Meerkat Race." The man got up with a smile. His gaze cast off to the two wretched men who were in front of him. He had already been able to test the strength of both, and knew he had absolutely nothing to fear. It was way too simple
"Prepare yourselves !" The presenter's voice cut off the noise of the audience excited by the match. Everyone had become silent all at once, staring at the arena. It was going to start from one moment to another.
"Here's the count !" The presenter started counting the numbers upside down, slowly, almost sadistically. Arun could not stand the wait that plunged him into deep anxiety... He still had no solution but he had to protect Shuu. 3... 2... 1...
A big gunshot signaled the start, and Shuu raced as fast as in the Meerkat Race, followed by an Arun who had a little more trouble. At the opposite side, Toma and Rusheb propelled themselves forward, determined to reach the egg before their opponents.
And the closer he was from the egg, the more Shuu realized that it would not be him who would reach it first. They ran faster than him... He had to find something else !
There was only a few meters left before he reached the pedestal. Rusheb had arrived first, but instead of stopping to take the egg as Shuu would have thought, the man continued his run to the boy.
"Shuu, go back !" Arun tried to warn his friend of the danger but he could not get away in time, and took the meerkat's fist in his face, which sent him to the ground a few yards away. The veterinarian had guessed it, coming from people like them... Instead of playing the rules and bringing back the egg, they were going to make sure that he and Shuu could not even get up again.
"So my little one, you really thought you had a chance against us ? You, a frail meerkat, even unable to protect your family ?" Shuu stayed on the floor, frozen with Rusheb's words.
"If monsters like you didn't exist, I wouldn't need to protect them !" The meerkat jumped up and tried to hit the massive man back, visibly upset by the words he had spoken. Arun did not know what they were talking about, but Shuu seemed to have yielded to provocation.
Rusheb easily stopped the boy's blow and grabbed his wrist easily. He tugged at it and made him fall forward into the sand, before kicking him in the belly, which made Shuu cough.
"If it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else ! Predators, there are plenty. I'm far from being the most dangerous, you're lucky !" Rusheb said with a big, mocking smile. He hit Shuu's weakened body again, which was still on the ground, taking advantage of his superior strength.
"You would have had to die too, that day ! I will repair this oversight !"
"Don't touch him !" Arun threw himself at the meerkat eater and tried to knock him back, or at least push him away. Unfortunately, his weight was not enough, and Rusheb had him released, before throwing him on the ground as well.
"And what does a human like you come to do in our meerkats business ? I didn't ask you anything, we are not the obedient little dogs you have decided to raise for your selfish pleasure !"
Arun took a blow and was in pain. So bad that getting up seemed impossible to him. Still, Shuu had to suffer much more than him.
"Do you think... Pets are only there to satisfy a selfish pleasure ?" Surpassing himself, Arun got up with difficulty, glaring at Rusheb. He would never let him insult the relationship humans had with their pets.
"It's precisely because you didn't know this love that you became what you are... A killer, embittered by loneliness and torment, someone who has always wanted to be respected and who didn't find other ways to do this than violence." Rusheb's expression changed in one swoop, the latter having gone from a mocking face to madly angry eyes. How could this human dare to speak to him like this ?
"And how you, poor waste living in luxury and comfort, who has never had the problems we have, dare to compare to me ? We don't live ! We survive in nature !" Yelled the meerkat, approaching the vet who was barely standing, before hitting him in the face stronger than he had ever hit. Arun flew a few feet away, without a sound.
"The blow surely knocked you out, or even killed you. All because you, the privileged humans, think that everything is due to you. But once you face the cruel and ruthless nature, you don't make the weight against animals that have learned to tame it." Rusheb turned around, sighing. He should not have been so upset. Indifference was the most important thing to keep as a mask. He who revealed his emotions in a fight also revealed his weaknesses.
"Well, Toma, do you take that egg or not ?" The other meerkat had stopped in front of the pedestal and had been trying for a while to lift the black egg.
"I... it's way too heavy!" The luminous numbers on the shell had changed, from "0" to "1000". 1000 kilograms ? Really ? How did they hope to lift such a weight ?
"Get out of here." Rusheb shoved his teammate before trying to lift the egg in turn, to no avail. There was nothing to do, it did not move.
"Good... Fortunately, both of them are out. I guess that makes us the winners by default." As if to contradict him immediately, the presenter's voice echoed through the arena.
"If neither team can bring the egg back to its platform in 30 minutes, both teams will be eliminated ! There is no winner by default."
"What ?" Once again, Rusheb's face showed frustration. This presenter... He seemed to be very fond of them.
"Well, we'll have to find a way." What could change the weight of the egg ? How to make it become less heavy? 1000 kg, they had no hope of lifting it.