The next week passed by with excruciating slowness and agony for Jackson. After almost getting him beaten up by Laila’s goons, Tak wouldn’t reply to Jackson’s messages. On two occasions, Jackson made the trip to Tak’s trailer, but either the dude was avoiding him or he’d skipped town to escape Laila’s wrath.

Neither scenario would have surprised Jackson, but without Tak, he had no way of knowing where or when the next Underground fight would be. He tried to assuage his anxiety by training with Asena every spare moment he could sneak away from work or home, but without another Djinn to compete against, the results were minimal, and tracking down wild Djinn to do battle with was too time-consuming — aside from the fact that the experience rewards were hardly worth the effort. Most of what he did involved letting her run the fields, which, he reasoned, did well for their Bond and her overall wellbeing (though he did manage to lock down six more XP to help her reach Level 4).

Jackson saw Fiona on occasion at Sato Breeders and toyed with the idea of telling her about Asena in hopes that she might agree to train with him. When he expressed the idea to Kay, however, she shut it down right away.

“Fiona is about as by-the-book as they come,” she said. “She makes me look like Tak! If you tell her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she went straight to her parents to report Asena as an unlicensed Djinn.”

“Seriously? But she didn’t even say anything when she thought we were making out that one time.”

“I don’t know, man.” Kay gave an exhausted shrugged. “Like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised. Whatever you do, just don’t bring up my name.”

Jackson realized Kay had a point. As bad as he needed the training, he couldn’t risk losing Asena altogether. But was Fiona really that heartless? Jackson sat on the question for two more days, and was about ready to cave and talk to Fiona when his watch rang.

“What up, loser?” Tak’s miniature, blue-lit head popped up above Jackson’s wrist.

“You almost got my ass kicked, that’s what’s up!” Jackson hissed, ducking around the corner of a barn where no one would see him. “Why haven’t you been answering any of my messages?”

“Sorry bro, I’ve been busy,” Tak said. “But I got your message — don’t worry about Laila, dude. She’s always saying stuff like that to seem like a hard-ass.”

Then why have you been hiding? Jackson almost asked, but luckily his smarter half kept his voice in check. He’d waited long enough to get a hold of Tak, the last thing he wanted to do was piss him off.

“Do you know when the next fight is?” Jackson asked. “I’ve got to get back, man!”

“Chill out, bro,” Tak said. “Why do you think I’m calling? I’ve got the rest of the money I owe Laila and the pin for this week’s Underground. Think you can drop it off for me?”

* * *

“I don’t know how I let you talk me into coming back here,” Kay muttered as they weaved their way through the crowd toward the ramshackle registration table. “This place is even worse than the last one!”

“This place” was an empty gravel pit between Tyle and Perot. Floodlights mounted on stands ringed the top of the pit, highlighting the ground in the middle. Once again, the same motley crew of Djinn Tamers and grungy bettors and spectators co-mingled, unfazed by the dust and dirt. The rings created from the different phases of mining in the pit gave the whole place a stadium-like feel, but Jackson wouldn’t have cared if they’d been at the landfill — he just needed another fight.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Laila said when they approached the table. “I really don’t want to have one of the boys mess up that pretty face of yours, so you’d better beat it or keep your mouth shut.”

“But—”

“Do you hear me? Beat it or keep your mouth shut.”

“I—”

“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”

Jackson groaned in frustration and slapped the envelope down on the wobbly card table. He ignored Drill, who shot him a smirk but said nothing. “There’s the rest of your money, plus a little extra — at least that’s what Tak said. I’m just the messenger.”

Laila frowned and opened the enveloped. Thumbing through the money, she nodded. “I’ll be damned, looks like it’s all here. I never —”

An extra loud avalanche of cheering broke out from a ring nearby. From their raised vantage point, Jackson looked up to see which battle was causing the ruckus. It didn’t take long to find the instigator. To his left, a slight figure with a green hoodie commanded a glossy-plumed Megala against a Marimot, and from the looks of it, her Djinn already had the Marimot on the ropes and continued to blast its opponent with needle-like quills until an airhorn sounded. The spectators cheered and Jackson was surprised to see Laila clapping as well.

“That girl’s the real deal,” Laila said. “Reminds me of me when I was that age — didn’t take no crap from nobody.”

“Who is she?” Jackson asked, trying to hide his jealousy.

“Her name is Tessa Green,” Laila said, still watching the girl’s Megala strut around the ring. “She’s only been coming a few weeks — I’m surprised you missed her your first week. She shows up, kicks ass and leaves right after.”

As Laila spoke, the Megala disappeared back into its ring in a flash of emerald light. The girl ignored the people trying to congratulate her and disappeared into the crowd.

“What do I have to do to fight someone like her?” Jackson asked.

The pink-haired Djinn moderator didn’t miss a beat. “Be better.” She laughed at Jackson’s sour face. “I like you, kid. Don’t take it personal. I actually think I’ve got someone closer to your… experience level.”

“Does that mean I’m in?” Jackson asked.

“If you’ve got the ten sun entry fee,” Laila said. Jackson pulled out some of his own bills from inside his jacket — he’d at least learned a lesson about money trails through his whole debacle with Tak.

Laila deposited the suns in her pocket and nodded to Drill. “Sign him up! You fight in ten.”

“Wait,” Kay said. “What happened to Jackson being too young to fight?”

Laila flashed a grin, one that made Jackson wonder if she’d just screwed him over again. “We’re an illegal event, girl. Why would we care about how old someone is?” She said it as if she hadn’t said something completely different the last time they were there. She turned an irritated head to Jackson. “Look, you wanna fight or not?”

Jackson grabbed Kay and pulled her away from the table. “Yes, yes I do,” he said before she could mess up his chances of a fight.

To Jackson’s surprise, those ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and before he even realized it, he stood inside a ring marked in spray paint. The crowds at the pit weren’t as claustrophobic and overwhelming as the warehouse, but there were still enough people standing around to set his nerves on edge again.

Jackson eyed his opponent from across the ring. If he hadn’t been so soundly defeated by Drill, he might have laughed. The guy looked to be around Jackson’s age with a short, round frame. His baby face made him look closer to twelve than twenty, and the fresh part in his hair looked like his mom had combed it before sending him off to school.

“I’m gonna slaughter this guy!” Jackson told Kay.

She bit her lip in response. “Just be careful this time, all right? Don’t let Asena get hurt and don’t underestimate your opponent. I get the feeling Laila doesn’t do favors just to be nice.”

“Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jackson said. Inside, however, he knew Kay was right. He had to go into this fight like it was Cassius Briggs himself across the ring.

Jackson hadn’t seen the infamous Djinn Tamer in his quick scans of the crowd, but he told himself he was there somewhere, watching to see if Jackson was more than just talk. He intended to prove to Briggs that he was the real deal.

“On one side!” Laila gestured to Jackson and winked. Her grand opening announcement felt more than a little bit facetious “Jackson Hunt! On the other — Antony Barranco!”

Jackson’s opponent — Antony — nodded, but it was hard to take his game face seriously when it looked like he might be pouting over missing a play date.

“Yeah, I know, you don’t care who these two are,” Laila said to the chuckling crowd.

Jackson wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not, but at least he wasn’t the only one being insulted this time around.

Laila continued, “Whoever does the most damage in ten minutes — or knocks the other out — wins! Begin!”

Antony raised his ring hand and a dark brown, ground-dwelling Djinn appeared several feet in front of him on the mini battlefield. As Jackson released Asena, his battle screen opened on his watch and a brief description of the enemy Djinn appeared:

Djinn: Moldune

Level: 5

Element: Earth

HP: 66/66

Moldune is a Basic-Form, Earth-Elemental Djinn. Moldunes are one of the more docile and solitary of the ground-dwelling Djinn. More often, they find uses in construction rather than battle thanks to their unmatched skills in digging. They don’t tend to hold up well in combat, and often end up as prey to most other carnivorous Djinn in the wild. Moldune’s are easily tamed and fairly loyal, but are rarely a first choice in battle.

Oh, boy. This had to be a joke. It was if even the Djinncylopedia was in on it.

The Moldune looked like a beached whale, scrambling on its large-clawed paws in the gravel. Jackson opened his mouth to call out an attack, then hesitated. Was this some kind of trap?

“Topflank!” Antony yelled out.

In response, the Moldune disappeared into the ground in a spray of dirt and rocks. Before Jackson could stop her, Asena ran to the pile of fresh dirt and began barking in confusion. A second later, the Moldune burst out of the ground underneath her back feet, flipping the Lyote over headfirst.

“Stay on your toes, girl!” Jackson yelled. “Keep moving!”

The attack hadn’t done much damage, but if Asena couldn’t counter, it would still be a one-sided fight. The Lyote leaped to her feet and shook the dirt from her fur. She shot Jackson a look that plainly said “duh” and started looping around the ring at a slow run, sniffing and looking for any sign of the Moldune to appear.

She’d circled about half the field when the Moldune burst in front of her again, this time striking Asena in the mouth. The crowd cheered as this attack took Jackson’s Lyote down to 60 hit points out of 90.

“Seven minutes!” Laila shouted into the mic.

Jackson cursed under his breath. Using the hit-and-run tactics, the Moldune could wear down Asena without even showing itself before the timer ran out. The look of concentration on Antony’s face across the fighting grounds didn’t look so comical anymore. If Jackson hadn’t been in the middle of a fight, he would have been impressed at the way the opposing tamer commanded his Djinn using a series of short code commands that were indecipherable to the outside ear.

“Babblebrook, Wacky!” Antony called out.

The Moldune popped up in several places in quick succession all around Asena. Growling and barking, the Lyote snapped at each a moment too late. Jackson gritted his teeth. He wracked his brain but had no solution to combat the Moldune’s strategy. He didn’t even know what he could call out to help Asena.

A spray of dirt popped up behind Asena. Before Jackson could warn her, the Moldune grabbed his Lyote’s legs and pulled them into the ground, burying Asena almost to her front legs. She scrambled but couldn’t get out.

“Calm down, calm down!” Jackson said, but Asena continued to squirm. Jackson took a deep breath, deciding to use a tone that wouldn’t get her all riled up. Again, he told her to calm down and focus on on the next attack — Wild Bite.

“Finish her off, Wacky!” Antony shouted.

The Moldune shot out of the ground, but this time, Asena was ready. As the opposing Djinn appeared, the Lyote’s powerful bite clamped down on its frame. Asena shook the Moldune like a rag doll then tossed it across the ring.

Jackson’s battle screen showed a critical hit, and its HP dropped from 66 down to 32. This was their chance.

Jackson called out for Asena to dig her lower half free and use Attack.

Fighting with all her might, Asena pulled loose of soil trapping her back half. She shook once and charged across the ring toward the Moldune.

Antony shouted out a command and his Djinn came to.

Not fast enough. As the Moldune clawed furiously to get back into the safety of the earth, Asena grabbed it again and tossed it across the ring.

Jackson watched, breath held. The Moldune’s health stats drained down to 0. A ding sounded, indicating a KO. Another alert went off on his watch, indicating an overall Level Up from Asena, but Jackson hardly noticed. They’d won.

Kay grabbed him, shouting and jumping up and down, her former caution forgotten. Jackson shouted as well and then knelt down as Asena ran to his side. Although covered in dirt, and in dire need of another bath, she looked no worse for the wear. Jackson wrapped his arms around the Djinn and squeezed her tight.

“We did it, girl! We did it!”

Laila appeared in front of him, smiling again. She held out a handful of suns. “Congrats, newt. Not a bad fight. Just don’t go thinking you’re ready to challenge Drill again.”

Jackson ignored her verbal jab and looked across the ring at Antony. He had his Moldune in his arms and was stroking its sable fur. A crestfallen expression was plain as day on his face. Beckoning to Asena, Jackson crossed the ring and held out a hand to the other tamer.

“Nice fight. Those dig moves almost got the better of us.”

Antony sat his recovering Moldune down and recalled it back into his ring before shaking Jackson’s hand.

“Thanks! I — I thought I had you there,” Antony said. “Good fight. My friends call me Appleby.”

“Good to meet you,” Jackson said. He was about to ask Appleby where he’d gotten his Moldune when a flash of salt and pepper hair caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry, I’ve got to run!” Jackson tapped a couple of quick buttons and held his watch out, transferring his contact info to Appleby. “See you around!”

He couldn’t let Cassius Briggs get away again.