1.11

“So is Stampy your pet?” Jimena asked.

“Pet implies I own him. He’s an awesome friend.” Stick jumped onto Stampy’s head and rubbed at the base of the plate. Stampy stomped his feet in excitement and let out a low, long growl.

“What do you want us to do with a dinosaur?” Silas asked.

“I’m going to ride Stampy. I’ve just pinged you a location on your watches. That’s where you need to be. I’m gonna give you a head start. Don’t get trampled, don’t get knocked out.”

“Don’t get eaten by a plant,” said Hunter.

“That too.” Stick gave a thumbs up.

“What is this supposed to teach us?” Hunter asked.

“Ready. Set. Go.” Stick clapped her hands and pointed in the direction they needed to head in.

The three teens stood, motionless. Not sure what to make of everything.

“Hey, I’m serious. You need to get going.” To emphasize Stick’s point, Stampy snorted and tapped one of his front feet on the ground. At that, the three heroes in training took off into the thick jungle.

“Is she really planning on running us over with a triceratops?” Silas asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Jimena replied.

“Look out,” Hunter yelled. A large, writhing plant shot out toward them. The oversized flower was pink and purple and within the centre, a ring of needle-like teeth. A yellow-brown nectar dripped from the mouth.

Silas inflated and bounced away. Jimena and Hunter dove and rolled in opposite directions. The plant crashed into the ground and whipped itself back up, ready to strike again.

“This place is way too dangerous,” said Silas.

“Ready or not, here we come.” Stick’s voice rung out from the trio’s watches.

“Need a little help here,” Hunter called out. Silas and Jimena looked to see him stuck in some black muck.

“Tar pit,” said Jimena.

“Ya think?” said Hunter.

The plant snapped out at Jimena, who rolled and shot her slime balls down its throat. It flicked up to its full height and let out a hiss.

“Any ideas?” Silas asked.

“Jimena, we need you to keep the plant occupied. Can you increase the size of your slime balls? Like do one giant one?” Hunter asked.

“I’ve never really tried. But I reckon I can.” Jimena locked her hands together and generated her slime, forming a large ball that encompassed her hands and forearms.

“Silas, bounce around off a few trees. Build some momentum and fly over me, grabbing my wrists to pull me out.”

“Right,” said both Jimena and Silas at the same time.

The plant slowly lowered itself back down, like a snake staring at its prey. It hissed again and more of the ichor oozed out of its mouth.

It lashed out at Jimena, she dodged and shot her giant slime ball, aiming for its mouth. The giant projectile flew fast but missed the intended target.

“Missed,” Jimena called.

“Try again,” Hunter replied.

Silas kicked off a tree branch and launched himself to another one. He bounced off a tree and headed for a third.

“I need momentum. This may take a while.” Silas bounced again, making sure to dodge the plant as it snapped out toward Jimena again.

“No need to hurry.” Hunter’s sarcasm was thick, and Silas realised his friend had already sunk to chest height.

“Jimena?” asked Silas.

“Bigger attacks aren’t easy, I’ve gotta concentrate harder.” Jimena ran around on the ground, dodging the plant as she built up another giant slime ball.

Silas bounced again, rocketing toward where Hunter’s shoulders were now underneath the murky tar. His arms outstretched; Silas was unsure if he had enough momentum to tear his friend free from the clutches of certain death.

Out of the corner of his eye, Silas caught the movement of the plant, coming straight for him. Silas kicked off the ground, sending him straight up and out of harm’s way.

Jimena unleashed her giant ball, bigger this time than the one before. It splatted against the plant, pinning it to the ground. She watched as it tried to pull free and answered with more slime balls in rapid succession. The flower hissed some more but it was subdued.

“Help!” Hunter screamed. His face was turned up so he could breath.

Jimena looked at the tarpit and looked at her own hands. If only there was something she could do.

Jimena shot some slime at the surface of the tar. The slime appeared to create a temporary surface, before dispersing into nothingness.

Jimena kept shooting her slimeballs in the same spot. Her rate of fire was just fast enough to keep up a fragile surface. Silas came crashing down for Hunter, a look of fear on his face.

“Silas, aim for that little circle I’ve made. Hopefully, it’ll survive your impact to push off again.”

“Right.” Silas stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, something he did as he was concentrating.

All that was left of Hunter were his two hands. Silas managed to grab one with both of his hands. He kicked off as hard as he could. His momentum warbled as he felt the surface wane under his momentum, but it stayed.

Silas shot right back up with Hunter, covered in black muck, hanging below. Silas deflated himself and they both slowly descended.

“Could you cut it any closer?” Hunter asked after coughing up some tar.

“Sorry about that.” Silas gave a nervous laugh.

“I think you may have dislocated my shoulder.”

“Sorry about that too.”

A screeching hiss pierced the happy reunion and the trio spun to see the plant was up and ready to attack them again.

“No you don’t!” Stick screamed as she soared through the air. With a mighty swing, she cracked into the side of the plant. It exploded from the impact of her staff, the stem writhed and collapsed to the ground.

“You three all right?” Stick asked. She walked over to them, assessing the situation.

“Yeah. But we failed, didn’t we?” Silas asked.

“Technically, yes.” Stick nodded and gave a thumbs up. “Considering how new the three of you are at all this, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. You three show a lot of potential. Rest up, we’ve got more training tomorrow.”