Arun took advantage that his opponent did not have a direct grip on him to get up without waiting and move away quickly. No, he did not intend to give up without fighting, even if he had to finish hurt. He was going to win this trial and qualify for the rest of the Meerkat Show.

"Tell me, little guy, do you think you have a chance with your frail body ?" The meerkat who had attacked the vet asked his question while throwing him over again. He was way too fast ! Arun could never dodge his charge.

The young man tried to take it as he could but was thrown back to the ground by the phenomenal force of the man. He was right : he had no chance of winning against someone who exceeded him in height and width.

"Why did you come to the Meerkat Show if you didn't even train before ? It's not just a game to entertain the crowd, it's a sporting competition." Arun was on the ground, still tense because of the pain of the stroke of his opponent. The meerkat approached him and kicked the vet's stomach, which coughed and groaned.

After having died of a spear in the heart and having succumbed to the heat of the desert, he was being beaten by a meerkat. If he had been told that it would be these events that would make up his first day of work, he would not have believed it.

His opponent squatted next to him, looking at him with disgust.

"The weaklings like you should not even have the right to stand in front of me on this track. If you don't take the Suricate Show seriously, you have nothing to do here." Indeed, Arun would never have thought that this [Pet Pact] would drag him into such a competition... And now he realized that he really should have retired before participating.

"Come on, let's get rid of it. Don't blame me, but I have to knock you out to make sure you won't get up again." The meerkat raised his clawed hand over the veterinarian's face, clenched in a fist that was going to fall right on his face. The young man closed his eyes, expecting to suffer the pain that would accompany the blow, but instead a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

"Kick of the flaming squirrel !"

When he opened his eyes again to see who it was, the meerkat that had dumped him on the ground twice was sent flying several meters away, and ended up crashing heavily in the sand. The flaming squirrel? No doubt, this voice could only belong to one pet...

"Kast ?!"

Arun looked up to find a man almost as tall as the meerkat who had dominated him. His musculature was finely drawn, and from where he was, one would almost say he looked like a Greek statue.

"What are you doing here, vet ?" Kast held out his arm to help him up.

"Call me Arun. And I could ask you the same question. Isn't this competition for meerkats normally ?" Arun was surprised to see the squirrel here, but remembering how he, a human with a simple disguise, could have passed without being noticed...

Meerkats were known to have a very good sight, but they did not pay much attention to details.

"Yes. But I couldn't miss the opportunity, as the most wonderful squirrel on the continent." His modesty had not left him, in any case.

"But didn't you have a stomach ache this morning ? because of your intoxication." Arun wondered how the squirrel could be in good shape when he had only examined him a few hours earlier.

"My little veterinarian... These are our spirits that are materialized in the world of pets, and my mind will never be hurt by a piece of chocolate. My determination is flawless, and my will is unequaled. And-"

A punch in the squirrel's face made him silenced him and sent him to the ground. He had spoken so much that he had not seen that the imposing meerkat had risen, and was visibly more than angry for being struck.

"Really, where do you think you are ? In a tea room ? We're in competition ! And I, Toma, will be the only winner ! " The man turned back to Arun, glaring at him. As he was about to hit him again to finish it once and for all, he was again stopped by a blow aimed directly... Between his legs. The weak point of every man.

"Ahh, you're so boring, you men." A soft, feminine voice rose from behind Toma, and the figure of a new person was revealed as he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

"I'm the strongest ! No it's me !" She mockingly imitated the voices of the two competitors who had only boasted of their abilities, and who in the end had both been misled because of their inattention. "You only have that in your mouth ! The strength, the will, the courage..."

She approached Arun and put a hand on his neck. Immediately, the vet felt a surge of electricity running through his body and he was forced to drop to the ground as well. How did she do it ? She did not seem to be an animal capable of electrocuting others yet...

"If instead of showing your muscles to each other, you take the trouble to target the weak points of your opponents, you would be much more effective." Toma replied with a frustrated grunt, to have been sent to the floor twice in a row, and especially by a woman. Arun, who was still sitting on the ground, was beginning to understand nothing more about the situation.

"And you are ?" He asked with curiosity and admiration to the newcomer.

"Miraj, Kast's partner for the Meerkat Show. He asked me to participate with him because this year he had to come with a partner. And I don't know where his is..." she looked at Toma lying on the floor. He had attacked Arun alone, but they had to remain cautious and possibly fear the revenge of the meerkat crewmate.

"She's great, huh Arun ? she's a squirrel too !" Kast leaned on her shoulder, flashing a bright smile at the young man who rose slowly. He was lucky to meet someone he knew, who seemed much stronger than him.

"Don't put me in the same basket as you. I'm a Cape ground squirrel, but I'm closer to the meerkat than you, red squirrel." Replied the woman, calming her companion's enthusiasm.

In fact, unlike Kast who had a red tail rising upwards, Miraj's tail fell to the ground like a meerkat's. It was a little thicker though.

"Anyway, we're all outlaws." Clarified the red squirrel, shrugging his shoulders. "We should help each other to reach the finish line to qualify. They said everything was allowed, no ? So alliances too, and at three we're invincible !"

"Even if I don't have the ability to do much..." Arun added a little embarrassed to be supported by two people as strong as Kast and Miraj. His chances of being qualified for the next trials had just gone up at once.

"And I owe you a favor for saving me from death !" Kast exclaimed, friendly patting the back of Arun who failed to fall forward. It still made it odd to see the little boastful squirrel in a humanoid form, much more imposing. Indeed, he had several reasons to boast, given his physique.

"Come on, we don't have to hang around. I think we're already in the last. If we want to catch up we'll have to go all the way." Miraj refocused the new team of outlaws on their common goal : the finish line.

She started running without waiting and Kast started after her. Arun was no longer allowed to make mistakes now. That said, having reassuring allies helped him to regain confidence in his winning chances, and the vet would do his best to qualify him and Shuu.