Preservation - Ch. 3
Title: Preservation
Chapter: 3
Fandom: Wild Kratts
Character(s): Chris Kratt, Aviva Corcovado, Martin Kratt, Zach Varmitech
Genre: Drama, family, some action
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Wild Kratts © Martin and Chris Kratt
Notes: It's been a while since I last updated for this story. I was having trouble figuring out how to start some scenes and work out certain things. But once I finally started actually writing this, it didn't take me long to finish the chapter. I really should just sit down and make myself write something...Anyway, I hope it turned out okay. Enjoy.
Summary: The only thing stronger than the Kratt Brothers' desire to protect the animals...is their desire to protect each other.
[Chapter 2]
~*~*~*~
"You should just stop struggling. It's pointless, anyway."
With an exhausted breath, Chris reluctantly followed the suggestion, relaxing his body and letting his head fall back against the table. He winced; hours of trying to break free from his bonds gave him nothing but burning wrists and ankles rubbed raw, and a headache even worse than before.
Fighting against unyielding metal constraints was probably not the smartest thing to do, and he knew that he most likely wouldn't break them on his own. But trying to get free was better than doing nothing. And he had to do something - anything - or else he thought he just might go crazy.
Once his heavy breathing calmed, he turned his head in Zach's direction, looking at the other man through strands of his messed hair. The pale inventor had been sitting in his chair, rooted to the same spot since he first arrived, quietly muttering to himself as he typed. Their earlier conversation seemed like hours ago, and was too short-lived; Chris wasn't able to get any real information from Zach about what he was planning, or why he was making Martin capture the animals for him in the first place.
Chris just couldn't figure it out. After all this time…after all the adventures they've had, all the times they stumbled upon Zach imprisoning animals in his robots and making the creatures work for him…why was Zach doing this now? Kidnapping him and then blackmailing his brother to do the dirty work…something about it just didn't make sense.
Sure, he'd been kidnapped and locked up by Zach once before. But then, with him as a hostage at that time, Zach could have pulled this kind of thing ages ago. Zach could have forced Martin to gather the rhinos for him, he could have made Aviva find the rhino's charge code and give it to him…Zach could have pulled off his whole Rhino-dozer scheme with little resistance from the team because he was already in Zach's holding.
Instead, Zach tricked Martin with a robot duplicate to buy some time, and after he had already gathered a number of rhinos, and used covert methods to get the charge code. He had done all that on his own, because he had planned to do it that way.
Chris' eyes screwed shut as his head began to pound, the pain making it difficult to focus. Maybe he was just thinking about it too much. Maybe there was nothing else to the situation, and this just was Zach's plan; to mess with Martin by forcing him to gather animals under threat of harm to his brother. That in itself was a low thing to do, and Zach certainly wasn't above pulling off a stunt like that.
Yet somehow, Chris felt - he feared - that there was much more to it than that.
Suddenly the silence in the room was broken when Zach began cackling, and Chris would have jumped if he wasn't strapped to the table. He frowned, curious, when Zach rose from his seat.
"Finally," the man in black said, entering one last command on the consol. Then the screen, bright and littered with figures Chris didn't understand, went blank. Rubbing his hands together, the pale man smirked. "Now, I just need one more thing…"
Zach turned, his attention to two Zachbots that hovered into the lab. "Take the Wild Rat away," he commanded. "I…have a call to make, and I don't want any distractions."
The metal cuffs disappeared, quickly replaced with robot arms that roughly pulled Chris off the table. Pain flared through his head, made worse as he once again began to struggle against the two Zachbots on either side of him. He thrashed wildly, trying to dig his feet into the smooth floor tiles while the robots attempted to drag him away. He knew he was weak against them, already tired from earlier, but he would do whatever he could to stay in that room.
Because he knew exactly who Zach was planning to call. And more than anything, he somehow had to get in touch with his brother.
Unfortunately his efforts weren't enough to fight off the Zachbots. They lifted him into the air with minimal effort, easily carrying him out of the lab. Even so, he refused to give up, resisting with whatever strength he had. He turned and twisted, kicking at the droids in hopes of finding some weakness in their build that he could exploit and get free.
But then something snapped across the back of his head, sending pain coursing throughout his entire body. Lightning flashed across his vision, and then everything went black.
Aviva stepped outside of the Tortuga, blowing an annoyed huff through her lips. "That robot is just as annoying as Zach is," she muttered.
Before parting ways, Zach had left one of his Zachbots with them as a means of contact. The pale inventor said he would communicate with them through the robot, so they needed to keep it in their headquarters to know whenever Zach needed them.
But for some reason, the stupid machine just would not leave Aviva alone. It followed her everywhere, and it was driving her crazy. She was positive that Zach programmed it that way just to irritate her.
She had stepped outside hoping to ease her mind, and luckily the robot didn't seem to be following her now. But as she looked out at the African savannah, watching some herds or packs or even solitary animals, and remembering what could happen to any of them…what they might have to do to them, only made her heart clench with tight guilt. She knew she would find no peace out here either.
And she knew she wasn't the only one. As bad as she felt, she imagined it was so much worse for Martin. He had gone out as soon as they landed, and while they wanted to give him some time alone, she thought it was best to find him. Zach could call any time, and Martin wasn't answering his Creature Pod, nor did he say where he was going.
Aviva chewed her bottom lip. In fact, Martin hadn't said much of anything since they agreed to Zach's "deal". He had been eerily silent the whole trip there, and whenever anyone spoke to him, he only gave simple responses and wouldn't look at any of them. Once they arrived, none of them got another chance to talk to him before he disembarked the Tortuga.
They knew what was bothering him, though. And Aviva hated it. She hated everything; hated being forced to do something like this, hated the circumstances of why they had to do it, hated being in this situation…and most of all, she hated Zach. Part of her hoped she'd never end up alone in a room with him after this, because if she ever got the chance -
Coming upon Martin under an acacia tree made her stop all at once, her feet as well as all her thoughts. She had been halfheartedly looking for him, but now that she found him she hesitated from calling his attention. Instead she observed him; her eyes took in his stiff posture as he leaned against the tree trunk, his arms tightly folded across his chest, fingers drumming an agitated beat against his arm…and his face was devoid of any expression, blank as he stared out in front of him.
Aviva frowned, her heart breaking as she watched him. She could see that he was trying so hard to withdraw into himself, trying to mask anything that would reveal what was going through his mind. But the Martin she had come to know always spoke his mind, and was so open with his emotions that one could just look at him and tell exactly what he was feeling.
Even now, though he tried to bottle himself up, she could tell that his true thoughts were bubbling under the surface, ready to burst out. And somehow, she knew she had to help.
She walked quietly, passing through his line of vision as she moved around him to lean against the other side of the acacia tree. And then she waited; it was enough, she hoped, to remind him that she was there, while letting him be the one to initiate the conversation.
They remained that way for a long time, silently watching life on the savannah play out before them. After a while, Aviva knew Martin was doing this on purpose, trying to keep quiet and hoping she would give up and leave. But she was stubborn as well, and was willing to stick around until he wanted to talk.
Then he sighed heavily, finally giving in, and she glanced at him patiently.
"One time," he began, his eyes focused on anything but her, "when Chris and I were kids, Chris found a bird's nest in a tree in our backyard."
Though a little confused about the topic of conversation, Aviva felt that there must be some point to it. So she nodded, urging him to continue.
"Chris wanted to climb up to get a better look," Martin went on, "but I got worried that the mother bird would come back, so I stayed on some of the lower branches in the tree while Chris went higher up." He shook his head. "I warned Chris that the mom could be back any time, but Chris was really excited to see the chicks."
"So what happened?" Aviva wondered.
"Like I told him, the mother bird came back and…well, she wasn't happy to see Chris by her nest. She pretty much attacked him, and Chris almost fell out of the tree."
Aviva resisted the urge to smile; Chris nearly falling from a tree seemed to be a pretty common occurrence. "Was he okay?"
"Yeah, he was all right. We both climbed down, and once we were on the ground the mom was satisfied and left us alone." Martin paused, his eyes narrowing as something Aviva couldn't quite identify passed over them. "Once we were on the ground, though, Chris asked me why I didn't help when the mother bird went after him. And you know what I said?"
She hesitated, uncertain of the tone in his voice. It worried her, but she also sensed that he needed to get whatever this was off his chest. "What?"
Martin finally turned to look at her, and she was taken aback by the sorrow in his eyes. "I told him," he said, "that I was more concerned for the bird than I was for him."
Finally understanding what he was getting at, Aviva quickly felt defensive on his behalf. "Come on, Martin. You guys were kids, and you were just teasing. Heck, I wasn't even there and I know that. No one doubts for a second that you care about Chris."
"But what if it is true?" Martin asked, more to himself than to her. "I mean, Chris is my brother. I should've been the first one to jump up, to do anything to save him. But I didn't. You and Koki and Jimmy were all willing to help Chris, but I was more worried about what that would mean for the animals, and I hesitated. I didn't even think about what might happen to him until Zach said something." He sighed, hanging his head in shame. "Maybe he was right. Maybe…Maybe I don't -"
"Martin Kratt, don't you dare finish that sentence," Aviva ground out. "That's just crazy! How can you even think something like that?"
"It shouldn't have been so hard." Frustrated, he pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. "I mean, he's my brother! Why did I have so much trouble making that choice?"
"You want to know why?" Aviva retorted. "Because you care. You care about Chris and about all animals. It was hard for you because you were trying to choose between two things that you really love."
Giving her a sideways glance, he frowned. "What about you guys? It seemed easy enough for you."
"Well, of course we care about animals. But nowhere near as much as you and Chris do. Trust me, I have never met anyone who cares more about animals than you two."
Martin sighed. "That's kind of the problem, isn't it?"
"Who said it was a problem? Look, it has nothing to do with you caring about animals more or about people less. It's just that you care, period." Placing her hands on her hips, she nearly growled, "If anyone should be accused of not caring about people, it's Zach. He's the one threatening Chris, and using him to blackmail you to do this. It doesn't matter to him who gets hurt, because he doesn't think about anyone but himself. You're nothing like that." Gently she placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with caring about all living things."
"Maybe, but…" He shook his head, unconvinced. "I dunno. Once Zach showed us he had Chris, I should've agreed sooner. If it had been Chris…"
"You want to play that game?" Aviva challenged. "Okay, let's go."
Martin's head snapped up, looking at her in confusion. "What?"
"You were the one who said it, so let's see. So what if the roles had been switched? Let's pretend you were the one captured by Zach instead."
"Uh…okay…"
"Now, be honest: If you knew what Zach was up to, and you knew what Zach was going to tell Chris, what would you want Chris to do?"
There wasn't really much of a choice, so Martin barely gave it any thought. He already knew what he'd want his brother to do. "I'd want Chris to forget about me and keep the creatures safe."
Aviva nodded as if she expected him to answer that way. "Exactly. And Chris would probably be the same way. That's just how you guys are."
He hesitated, considering her words with a concentrated frown. Aviva hoped that she had gotten through to him, and after a while of silence, she believed she had. But then he looked at her again and asked in a soft voice, "So…do you think Chris will be angry with me? For choosing to save him instead of protecting animals, the way he wanted?"
She blinked; it wasn't so much the question that surprised her, but rather it was the amount of genuine fear infused in his words. The way he asked it seemed almost childish, like a kid asking if he would be punished for doing something wrong, even if he hadn't meant to do it.
And perhaps, she realized, that wasn't so far from the truth. The Brothers' lives were dedicated to learning about and helping animals, and both were willing to put themselves at risk for the benefit of animals. And she could imagine Martin worrying that Chris would see his actions as a betrayal of their mission, of their life's work. Even if he didn't want to do it, even if he had no other choice, he was truly scared that Chris would still hate him for doing something they would never do under normal circumstances.
Expression softening, Aviva decided to try again. "Well, let's keep going then. If you had been captured, and Chris was the one who had to make this choice…even if you wanted him to keep the animals safe, what do you think he would do?"
Martin let the question roll around in his mind, trying to imagine his brother in a similar situation. Though he wouldn't wish to place such a burden on Chris, he thought that his methodical brother would handle making such a choice a bit better than he did. Chris was always the more reasonable one, willing to think things through than rush into a situation unprepared.
Then again, was there really a way to prepare for something like this? How could anyone anticipate being forced to do something this? Yet if anyone could have figured out a better solution, some way to fix the problem, it'd be Chris…But no, that wasn't what Aviva was asking. If Chris was in this position, what would he do? Surely he'd consider his options…yet for all his logic, Chris was also very passionate about the things he cared for. And in such a dangerous situation with heavy consequences, even someone as cool-headed as Chris would find it difficult to remain completely rational.
The more he thought about it, the more he could imagine his younger brother's actions, behavior, thoughts, and feelings. And the mental picture caused him to grin, the first since the whole fiasco began. "If I know my brother," he said, "then he'd just ignore what I say and do the exact opposite."
Aviva smiled, glad that he was better enough to be joking around. "Right…" Then she cleared her throat, getting back to the heart of the matter. "But you think it'd be an easy decision for him to make?"
"Definitely not."
"And after everything was said and done…would you be angry at him for what he did?"
He shook his head. "'Course not. I…I couldn't be mad at him for that."
"Right," Aviva said, "just like Chris won't be mad at you. Because even though you're both fine with risking your own lives, you always go the extra mile to protect each other. You two are brothers, and that's just what family does."
Thinking over it once more, letting the words sink in, Martin nodded with understanding. He turned to her, a smile coming more easily this time. "Thanks, Aviva."
She returned the nod, glad that she could do something to help him. 'If only I could do more…' she internally lamented.
Suddenly a loud series of beeping from behind startled the two, and they spun around to see the Zachbot hovering there.
Aviva groaned. "What now?"
The Zachbot responded with another sequence of beeps, synchronized with the red flashing of its eyes. Its eyes then began to glow as light beamed from them, forming a screen in front of the two. The screen flickered for a moment before Zach's face, made even paler than usual by the resolution of the projection, appeared.
"Hey, Blue Boy," Zach sneered. "Miss me?"
Martin sighed. Whatever tension Aviva had eased with their conversation quickly returned, and he folded his arms across his chest. "What is it, Zach?"
"I'm ready for my first animal," Zach replied casually. Then he smirked. "And because I'm such a nice guy, I'm gonna let you pick which one it'll be. So, pop quiz, Wild Rat. What's the toughest animal out where you are?"
Martin frowned, not expecting the question. But hearing it reminded him of when he and Chris had spent the day trying to answer just that. Without really thinking, he replied, "The honey badger."
"Honey badger, huh?" Zach repeated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He paused as though considering it, then said, "Okay, get me a few of those. However many you can find."
Martin and Aviva both glared. "Anything else for you, your highness?" the mechanic spat out.
Zach just grinned wickedly. "That's all for now." He paused a moment, his attention on something else before looking back at them. "I'll be meeting you there with some equipment to make the capture easier, so…figure out how you're gonna catch the critters until I get there, I guess. Have fun!" With a sinister laugh, his image flickered and disappeared.
Soon the light from his suit faded, and Martin flapped his wings to keep himself in the air as his body shrunk to the bird's normal size. He fluttered that way for a moment before rising higher in the tree above him, landing on a branch and overlooking the Kalahari. From his perch, he watched the honeyguide he encountered fly away, probably off to find a creature that would actually help it.
As the thought entered his mind, he winced; though he doubted that he would attract all the honey badgers on the savannah, he was still lessening the chances for that honeyguide - for any honeyguide - to obtain its source of food. And that was only one way that he could be ruining the natural system. Despite the extensive range and number of honey badgers, and maybe even because of their numbers, they were part of an intricate balance within nature. Who knows how much damage removing even just some of the honey badgers would cause?
Looking out, he could see the glint of metal from the nearby Zachbots, hiding and waiting for him to retrieve the honey badgers so they could capture them. For a moment, his nerves got the better of him, keeping him frozen on the branch. The sick guilt in his stomach felt so much heavier all of a sudden, and he didn't think he could fly even if he wanted to.
But then he thought of Chris, and the threats Zach promised if he didn't bring any creatures. Part of him wondered just how serious Zach was, wondering if Zach would really do anything to harm Chris. But another part - the big brother part of him - knew he just couldn't risk it.
So he spread his wings and took off, flying close to the ground as he chirped the honeyguide's song, trying to draw someone's attention. He glided over tall grasses and shrubs, over noticeable holes in the ground, any place a honey badger might be found.
And it wasn't long before one finally noticed him, poking its head out of its tunnel as he flew by. He hovered for a moment, singing the sweet promising song before flying off once again. A quick glance behind him confirmed that it was definitely following him.
Soon a few other badgers heard him singing, and he found himself being trailed by a small group of the creatures. The nauseous feeling returned as he circled the air, leading them back to the area where the Zachbots were waiting. The honey badgers continued to follow him, and he couldn't believe how easy this was becoming. Then again, there was no real reason why it shouldn't be. They were hungry and looking for food, and they went with him because they trusted him to lead them to some. They had no idea what was going to happen, no reason to think anything was wrong…even as he led them into a trap so Zach could do something most likely terrible to them.
As he flew, he found himself thinking back to the idea Aviva presented earlier. While they were waiting for Zach to arrive with his robots and his equipment, she suggested that Zach probably didn't remember what a honey badger looked like, despite seeing one for himself. She thought that maybe they could lure a different animal for the Zachbots to capture, something more harmless. Certainly giving Zach any animal was a terrible thing to do. But when Zach received the animal and found out they weren't as tough as he wanted, maybe he would think that his idea wasn't working, and that would be the end of it.
It had been an interesting concept, and he had really thought about it. But he worried about the creature that they would have given to Zach in place of the honey badger. If it wasn't as tough as Zach wanted, he might end up getting rid of it for being useless to him…maybe even kill it. And while he wanted to keep the honey badgers safe, it wouldn't be fair to risk other animals like that, especially when they had nothing to do with any of this in the first place.
Besides, after Aviva brought up the idea and they discussed it in length, Martin noticed that the one Zachbot already with them on the Tortuga was watching them rather intently. And he found himself worrying that Zach could have been listening the entire time. If Zach thought they were going to deceive him, it would just put Chris in more danger.
Martin knew that he really had no choice. No matter how much he hated it, he absolutely had to let Zach take the honey badgers.
When he finally reached the designated clearing, he flew up higher into the air and fluttered his wings, signaling to the Zachbots below. The droids popped out from their hiding places, launching nets and trapping the unsuspecting badgers.
Martin looked away, unable to watch the scene. But he couldn't keep from listening to the badgers growling and snarling, the hissing movements of the robots, the ringing slam of metal cages, the shuddering scrape of claws against closed walls.
And just like that it was all over; though the small number of honey badgers had tried to put up a fight, the surrounding Zachbots simply were unaffected by their defenses, and had no trouble subduing the creatures and locking them up.
He lingered overhead, watching as the Zachbots hovered away in a single line back towards the jet where both Zach and Aviva were waiting. He followed after them, pretending they were worker ants bringing food back to their colony; the image almost distracted him, but it wasn't enough to ease his conscience.
As the robots filed into the jet, Martin veered off to the side where Zach and Aviva were standing. He swept down and deactivated his suit, landing safely on his feet in front of them.
Zach watched the train of robots entering the jet with a frown. "That's it?" he asked incredulously. He glared at Martin with an accusing eye. "That's all you got me?"
Martin clenched his fists, trying to calm himself before speaking. "Honey badgers aren't really social creatures, Zach. I was lucky to get that many to follow me at once."
Zach rubbed his chin thoughtfully as a Zachbot hovered over, awaiting instructions. Nearby were several other Zachbots, ones that Zach had brought in preparation for capturing a horde of the animal but returned empty-handed. Martin felt the knot in his stomach tighten, worried that the ones they brought back already weren't enough, and he wasn't sure if he could handle doing this again.
But then the pale inventor smirked. "Fine," he said, folding his arms behind his back. "I suppose that'll be enough."
Both Martin and Aviva sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when Zach added, "Still, I did bring a lot of equipment with me."
"So?" Aviva huffed.
He turned to her, obviously taking pleasure in whatever he was going to say. "It just seems like a waste, that's all. So maybe you guys should go make use of it."
"And how would you like us to do that?" Martin asked tightly.
Zach paused for a moment. He appeared to be thinking, but they both knew that he was just making them wait to toy with them. Finally, he said, "I think I wanna add some black rhinos to my army." He turned to Martin and winked. "Just for old times' sake, y'know?"
Martin gritted his teeth, but said nothing.
"Obviously the cages are too small for the rhinos, but the nets should work okay." Zach made his way up the jet ramp, pausing at the entranceway. "I'll be back to pick up the rhinos later. Try to have a decent number ready for me by then, okay?"
Martin and Aviva didn't have time to answer before the doors swept closed, and they quickly stepped away from the jet as it lifted into the air and took off through the sky. Once it was gone, they turned towards the collection of Zachbots left behind, including the one with them on the Tortuga. As the robots stared at them with blinking red eyes, Martin suddenly had the urge to punch the one closest to him and Aviva.
Instead he shoved it aside and stormed past it, heading with Aviva back to the HQ so they could come up with a new plan for Zach's latest request.
Comfortably seated in his jet, Zach smirked to himself as he once again reviewed his notes. He knew he would have to hurry and get back to pick up the rhinos. But he figured he would have enough time once he got to the lab to get some work done before needing to return.
Because now that he finally had a subject for testing, he was eager to get started right away.
TBC
[Chapter 4]
Chapter: 3
Fandom: Wild Kratts
Character(s): Chris Kratt, Aviva Corcovado, Martin Kratt, Zach Varmitech
Genre: Drama, family, some action
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Wild Kratts © Martin and Chris Kratt
Notes: It's been a while since I last updated for this story. I was having trouble figuring out how to start some scenes and work out certain things. But once I finally started actually writing this, it didn't take me long to finish the chapter. I really should just sit down and make myself write something...Anyway, I hope it turned out okay. Enjoy.
Summary: The only thing stronger than the Kratt Brothers' desire to protect the animals...is their desire to protect each other.
[Chapter 2]
~*~*~*~
"You should just stop struggling. It's pointless, anyway."
With an exhausted breath, Chris reluctantly followed the suggestion, relaxing his body and letting his head fall back against the table. He winced; hours of trying to break free from his bonds gave him nothing but burning wrists and ankles rubbed raw, and a headache even worse than before.
Fighting against unyielding metal constraints was probably not the smartest thing to do, and he knew that he most likely wouldn't break them on his own. But trying to get free was better than doing nothing. And he had to do something - anything - or else he thought he just might go crazy.
Once his heavy breathing calmed, he turned his head in Zach's direction, looking at the other man through strands of his messed hair. The pale inventor had been sitting in his chair, rooted to the same spot since he first arrived, quietly muttering to himself as he typed. Their earlier conversation seemed like hours ago, and was too short-lived; Chris wasn't able to get any real information from Zach about what he was planning, or why he was making Martin capture the animals for him in the first place.
Chris just couldn't figure it out. After all this time…after all the adventures they've had, all the times they stumbled upon Zach imprisoning animals in his robots and making the creatures work for him…why was Zach doing this now? Kidnapping him and then blackmailing his brother to do the dirty work…something about it just didn't make sense.
Sure, he'd been kidnapped and locked up by Zach once before. But then, with him as a hostage at that time, Zach could have pulled this kind of thing ages ago. Zach could have forced Martin to gather the rhinos for him, he could have made Aviva find the rhino's charge code and give it to him…Zach could have pulled off his whole Rhino-dozer scheme with little resistance from the team because he was already in Zach's holding.
Instead, Zach tricked Martin with a robot duplicate to buy some time, and after he had already gathered a number of rhinos, and used covert methods to get the charge code. He had done all that on his own, because he had planned to do it that way.
Chris' eyes screwed shut as his head began to pound, the pain making it difficult to focus. Maybe he was just thinking about it too much. Maybe there was nothing else to the situation, and this just was Zach's plan; to mess with Martin by forcing him to gather animals under threat of harm to his brother. That in itself was a low thing to do, and Zach certainly wasn't above pulling off a stunt like that.
Yet somehow, Chris felt - he feared - that there was much more to it than that.
Suddenly the silence in the room was broken when Zach began cackling, and Chris would have jumped if he wasn't strapped to the table. He frowned, curious, when Zach rose from his seat.
"Finally," the man in black said, entering one last command on the consol. Then the screen, bright and littered with figures Chris didn't understand, went blank. Rubbing his hands together, the pale man smirked. "Now, I just need one more thing…"
Zach turned, his attention to two Zachbots that hovered into the lab. "Take the Wild Rat away," he commanded. "I…have a call to make, and I don't want any distractions."
The metal cuffs disappeared, quickly replaced with robot arms that roughly pulled Chris off the table. Pain flared through his head, made worse as he once again began to struggle against the two Zachbots on either side of him. He thrashed wildly, trying to dig his feet into the smooth floor tiles while the robots attempted to drag him away. He knew he was weak against them, already tired from earlier, but he would do whatever he could to stay in that room.
Because he knew exactly who Zach was planning to call. And more than anything, he somehow had to get in touch with his brother.
Unfortunately his efforts weren't enough to fight off the Zachbots. They lifted him into the air with minimal effort, easily carrying him out of the lab. Even so, he refused to give up, resisting with whatever strength he had. He turned and twisted, kicking at the droids in hopes of finding some weakness in their build that he could exploit and get free.
But then something snapped across the back of his head, sending pain coursing throughout his entire body. Lightning flashed across his vision, and then everything went black.
Aviva stepped outside of the Tortuga, blowing an annoyed huff through her lips. "That robot is just as annoying as Zach is," she muttered.
Before parting ways, Zach had left one of his Zachbots with them as a means of contact. The pale inventor said he would communicate with them through the robot, so they needed to keep it in their headquarters to know whenever Zach needed them.
But for some reason, the stupid machine just would not leave Aviva alone. It followed her everywhere, and it was driving her crazy. She was positive that Zach programmed it that way just to irritate her.
She had stepped outside hoping to ease her mind, and luckily the robot didn't seem to be following her now. But as she looked out at the African savannah, watching some herds or packs or even solitary animals, and remembering what could happen to any of them…what they might have to do to them, only made her heart clench with tight guilt. She knew she would find no peace out here either.
And she knew she wasn't the only one. As bad as she felt, she imagined it was so much worse for Martin. He had gone out as soon as they landed, and while they wanted to give him some time alone, she thought it was best to find him. Zach could call any time, and Martin wasn't answering his Creature Pod, nor did he say where he was going.
Aviva chewed her bottom lip. In fact, Martin hadn't said much of anything since they agreed to Zach's "deal". He had been eerily silent the whole trip there, and whenever anyone spoke to him, he only gave simple responses and wouldn't look at any of them. Once they arrived, none of them got another chance to talk to him before he disembarked the Tortuga.
They knew what was bothering him, though. And Aviva hated it. She hated everything; hated being forced to do something like this, hated the circumstances of why they had to do it, hated being in this situation…and most of all, she hated Zach. Part of her hoped she'd never end up alone in a room with him after this, because if she ever got the chance -
Coming upon Martin under an acacia tree made her stop all at once, her feet as well as all her thoughts. She had been halfheartedly looking for him, but now that she found him she hesitated from calling his attention. Instead she observed him; her eyes took in his stiff posture as he leaned against the tree trunk, his arms tightly folded across his chest, fingers drumming an agitated beat against his arm…and his face was devoid of any expression, blank as he stared out in front of him.
Aviva frowned, her heart breaking as she watched him. She could see that he was trying so hard to withdraw into himself, trying to mask anything that would reveal what was going through his mind. But the Martin she had come to know always spoke his mind, and was so open with his emotions that one could just look at him and tell exactly what he was feeling.
Even now, though he tried to bottle himself up, she could tell that his true thoughts were bubbling under the surface, ready to burst out. And somehow, she knew she had to help.
She walked quietly, passing through his line of vision as she moved around him to lean against the other side of the acacia tree. And then she waited; it was enough, she hoped, to remind him that she was there, while letting him be the one to initiate the conversation.
They remained that way for a long time, silently watching life on the savannah play out before them. After a while, Aviva knew Martin was doing this on purpose, trying to keep quiet and hoping she would give up and leave. But she was stubborn as well, and was willing to stick around until he wanted to talk.
Then he sighed heavily, finally giving in, and she glanced at him patiently.
"One time," he began, his eyes focused on anything but her, "when Chris and I were kids, Chris found a bird's nest in a tree in our backyard."
Though a little confused about the topic of conversation, Aviva felt that there must be some point to it. So she nodded, urging him to continue.
"Chris wanted to climb up to get a better look," Martin went on, "but I got worried that the mother bird would come back, so I stayed on some of the lower branches in the tree while Chris went higher up." He shook his head. "I warned Chris that the mom could be back any time, but Chris was really excited to see the chicks."
"So what happened?" Aviva wondered.
"Like I told him, the mother bird came back and…well, she wasn't happy to see Chris by her nest. She pretty much attacked him, and Chris almost fell out of the tree."
Aviva resisted the urge to smile; Chris nearly falling from a tree seemed to be a pretty common occurrence. "Was he okay?"
"Yeah, he was all right. We both climbed down, and once we were on the ground the mom was satisfied and left us alone." Martin paused, his eyes narrowing as something Aviva couldn't quite identify passed over them. "Once we were on the ground, though, Chris asked me why I didn't help when the mother bird went after him. And you know what I said?"
She hesitated, uncertain of the tone in his voice. It worried her, but she also sensed that he needed to get whatever this was off his chest. "What?"
Martin finally turned to look at her, and she was taken aback by the sorrow in his eyes. "I told him," he said, "that I was more concerned for the bird than I was for him."
Finally understanding what he was getting at, Aviva quickly felt defensive on his behalf. "Come on, Martin. You guys were kids, and you were just teasing. Heck, I wasn't even there and I know that. No one doubts for a second that you care about Chris."
"But what if it is true?" Martin asked, more to himself than to her. "I mean, Chris is my brother. I should've been the first one to jump up, to do anything to save him. But I didn't. You and Koki and Jimmy were all willing to help Chris, but I was more worried about what that would mean for the animals, and I hesitated. I didn't even think about what might happen to him until Zach said something." He sighed, hanging his head in shame. "Maybe he was right. Maybe…Maybe I don't -"
"Martin Kratt, don't you dare finish that sentence," Aviva ground out. "That's just crazy! How can you even think something like that?"
"It shouldn't have been so hard." Frustrated, he pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. "I mean, he's my brother! Why did I have so much trouble making that choice?"
"You want to know why?" Aviva retorted. "Because you care. You care about Chris and about all animals. It was hard for you because you were trying to choose between two things that you really love."
Giving her a sideways glance, he frowned. "What about you guys? It seemed easy enough for you."
"Well, of course we care about animals. But nowhere near as much as you and Chris do. Trust me, I have never met anyone who cares more about animals than you two."
Martin sighed. "That's kind of the problem, isn't it?"
"Who said it was a problem? Look, it has nothing to do with you caring about animals more or about people less. It's just that you care, period." Placing her hands on her hips, she nearly growled, "If anyone should be accused of not caring about people, it's Zach. He's the one threatening Chris, and using him to blackmail you to do this. It doesn't matter to him who gets hurt, because he doesn't think about anyone but himself. You're nothing like that." Gently she placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with caring about all living things."
"Maybe, but…" He shook his head, unconvinced. "I dunno. Once Zach showed us he had Chris, I should've agreed sooner. If it had been Chris…"
"You want to play that game?" Aviva challenged. "Okay, let's go."
Martin's head snapped up, looking at her in confusion. "What?"
"You were the one who said it, so let's see. So what if the roles had been switched? Let's pretend you were the one captured by Zach instead."
"Uh…okay…"
"Now, be honest: If you knew what Zach was up to, and you knew what Zach was going to tell Chris, what would you want Chris to do?"
There wasn't really much of a choice, so Martin barely gave it any thought. He already knew what he'd want his brother to do. "I'd want Chris to forget about me and keep the creatures safe."
Aviva nodded as if she expected him to answer that way. "Exactly. And Chris would probably be the same way. That's just how you guys are."
He hesitated, considering her words with a concentrated frown. Aviva hoped that she had gotten through to him, and after a while of silence, she believed she had. But then he looked at her again and asked in a soft voice, "So…do you think Chris will be angry with me? For choosing to save him instead of protecting animals, the way he wanted?"
She blinked; it wasn't so much the question that surprised her, but rather it was the amount of genuine fear infused in his words. The way he asked it seemed almost childish, like a kid asking if he would be punished for doing something wrong, even if he hadn't meant to do it.
And perhaps, she realized, that wasn't so far from the truth. The Brothers' lives were dedicated to learning about and helping animals, and both were willing to put themselves at risk for the benefit of animals. And she could imagine Martin worrying that Chris would see his actions as a betrayal of their mission, of their life's work. Even if he didn't want to do it, even if he had no other choice, he was truly scared that Chris would still hate him for doing something they would never do under normal circumstances.
Expression softening, Aviva decided to try again. "Well, let's keep going then. If you had been captured, and Chris was the one who had to make this choice…even if you wanted him to keep the animals safe, what do you think he would do?"
Martin let the question roll around in his mind, trying to imagine his brother in a similar situation. Though he wouldn't wish to place such a burden on Chris, he thought that his methodical brother would handle making such a choice a bit better than he did. Chris was always the more reasonable one, willing to think things through than rush into a situation unprepared.
Then again, was there really a way to prepare for something like this? How could anyone anticipate being forced to do something this? Yet if anyone could have figured out a better solution, some way to fix the problem, it'd be Chris…But no, that wasn't what Aviva was asking. If Chris was in this position, what would he do? Surely he'd consider his options…yet for all his logic, Chris was also very passionate about the things he cared for. And in such a dangerous situation with heavy consequences, even someone as cool-headed as Chris would find it difficult to remain completely rational.
The more he thought about it, the more he could imagine his younger brother's actions, behavior, thoughts, and feelings. And the mental picture caused him to grin, the first since the whole fiasco began. "If I know my brother," he said, "then he'd just ignore what I say and do the exact opposite."
Aviva smiled, glad that he was better enough to be joking around. "Right…" Then she cleared her throat, getting back to the heart of the matter. "But you think it'd be an easy decision for him to make?"
"Definitely not."
"And after everything was said and done…would you be angry at him for what he did?"
He shook his head. "'Course not. I…I couldn't be mad at him for that."
"Right," Aviva said, "just like Chris won't be mad at you. Because even though you're both fine with risking your own lives, you always go the extra mile to protect each other. You two are brothers, and that's just what family does."
Thinking over it once more, letting the words sink in, Martin nodded with understanding. He turned to her, a smile coming more easily this time. "Thanks, Aviva."
She returned the nod, glad that she could do something to help him. 'If only I could do more…' she internally lamented.
Suddenly a loud series of beeping from behind startled the two, and they spun around to see the Zachbot hovering there.
Aviva groaned. "What now?"
The Zachbot responded with another sequence of beeps, synchronized with the red flashing of its eyes. Its eyes then began to glow as light beamed from them, forming a screen in front of the two. The screen flickered for a moment before Zach's face, made even paler than usual by the resolution of the projection, appeared.
"Hey, Blue Boy," Zach sneered. "Miss me?"
Martin sighed. Whatever tension Aviva had eased with their conversation quickly returned, and he folded his arms across his chest. "What is it, Zach?"
"I'm ready for my first animal," Zach replied casually. Then he smirked. "And because I'm such a nice guy, I'm gonna let you pick which one it'll be. So, pop quiz, Wild Rat. What's the toughest animal out where you are?"
Martin frowned, not expecting the question. But hearing it reminded him of when he and Chris had spent the day trying to answer just that. Without really thinking, he replied, "The honey badger."
"Honey badger, huh?" Zach repeated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He paused as though considering it, then said, "Okay, get me a few of those. However many you can find."
Martin and Aviva both glared. "Anything else for you, your highness?" the mechanic spat out.
Zach just grinned wickedly. "That's all for now." He paused a moment, his attention on something else before looking back at them. "I'll be meeting you there with some equipment to make the capture easier, so…figure out how you're gonna catch the critters until I get there, I guess. Have fun!" With a sinister laugh, his image flickered and disappeared.
Soon the light from his suit faded, and Martin flapped his wings to keep himself in the air as his body shrunk to the bird's normal size. He fluttered that way for a moment before rising higher in the tree above him, landing on a branch and overlooking the Kalahari. From his perch, he watched the honeyguide he encountered fly away, probably off to find a creature that would actually help it.
As the thought entered his mind, he winced; though he doubted that he would attract all the honey badgers on the savannah, he was still lessening the chances for that honeyguide - for any honeyguide - to obtain its source of food. And that was only one way that he could be ruining the natural system. Despite the extensive range and number of honey badgers, and maybe even because of their numbers, they were part of an intricate balance within nature. Who knows how much damage removing even just some of the honey badgers would cause?
Looking out, he could see the glint of metal from the nearby Zachbots, hiding and waiting for him to retrieve the honey badgers so they could capture them. For a moment, his nerves got the better of him, keeping him frozen on the branch. The sick guilt in his stomach felt so much heavier all of a sudden, and he didn't think he could fly even if he wanted to.
But then he thought of Chris, and the threats Zach promised if he didn't bring any creatures. Part of him wondered just how serious Zach was, wondering if Zach would really do anything to harm Chris. But another part - the big brother part of him - knew he just couldn't risk it.
So he spread his wings and took off, flying close to the ground as he chirped the honeyguide's song, trying to draw someone's attention. He glided over tall grasses and shrubs, over noticeable holes in the ground, any place a honey badger might be found.
And it wasn't long before one finally noticed him, poking its head out of its tunnel as he flew by. He hovered for a moment, singing the sweet promising song before flying off once again. A quick glance behind him confirmed that it was definitely following him.
Soon a few other badgers heard him singing, and he found himself being trailed by a small group of the creatures. The nauseous feeling returned as he circled the air, leading them back to the area where the Zachbots were waiting. The honey badgers continued to follow him, and he couldn't believe how easy this was becoming. Then again, there was no real reason why it shouldn't be. They were hungry and looking for food, and they went with him because they trusted him to lead them to some. They had no idea what was going to happen, no reason to think anything was wrong…even as he led them into a trap so Zach could do something most likely terrible to them.
As he flew, he found himself thinking back to the idea Aviva presented earlier. While they were waiting for Zach to arrive with his robots and his equipment, she suggested that Zach probably didn't remember what a honey badger looked like, despite seeing one for himself. She thought that maybe they could lure a different animal for the Zachbots to capture, something more harmless. Certainly giving Zach any animal was a terrible thing to do. But when Zach received the animal and found out they weren't as tough as he wanted, maybe he would think that his idea wasn't working, and that would be the end of it.
It had been an interesting concept, and he had really thought about it. But he worried about the creature that they would have given to Zach in place of the honey badger. If it wasn't as tough as Zach wanted, he might end up getting rid of it for being useless to him…maybe even kill it. And while he wanted to keep the honey badgers safe, it wouldn't be fair to risk other animals like that, especially when they had nothing to do with any of this in the first place.
Besides, after Aviva brought up the idea and they discussed it in length, Martin noticed that the one Zachbot already with them on the Tortuga was watching them rather intently. And he found himself worrying that Zach could have been listening the entire time. If Zach thought they were going to deceive him, it would just put Chris in more danger.
Martin knew that he really had no choice. No matter how much he hated it, he absolutely had to let Zach take the honey badgers.
When he finally reached the designated clearing, he flew up higher into the air and fluttered his wings, signaling to the Zachbots below. The droids popped out from their hiding places, launching nets and trapping the unsuspecting badgers.
Martin looked away, unable to watch the scene. But he couldn't keep from listening to the badgers growling and snarling, the hissing movements of the robots, the ringing slam of metal cages, the shuddering scrape of claws against closed walls.
And just like that it was all over; though the small number of honey badgers had tried to put up a fight, the surrounding Zachbots simply were unaffected by their defenses, and had no trouble subduing the creatures and locking them up.
He lingered overhead, watching as the Zachbots hovered away in a single line back towards the jet where both Zach and Aviva were waiting. He followed after them, pretending they were worker ants bringing food back to their colony; the image almost distracted him, but it wasn't enough to ease his conscience.
As the robots filed into the jet, Martin veered off to the side where Zach and Aviva were standing. He swept down and deactivated his suit, landing safely on his feet in front of them.
Zach watched the train of robots entering the jet with a frown. "That's it?" he asked incredulously. He glared at Martin with an accusing eye. "That's all you got me?"
Martin clenched his fists, trying to calm himself before speaking. "Honey badgers aren't really social creatures, Zach. I was lucky to get that many to follow me at once."
Zach rubbed his chin thoughtfully as a Zachbot hovered over, awaiting instructions. Nearby were several other Zachbots, ones that Zach had brought in preparation for capturing a horde of the animal but returned empty-handed. Martin felt the knot in his stomach tighten, worried that the ones they brought back already weren't enough, and he wasn't sure if he could handle doing this again.
But then the pale inventor smirked. "Fine," he said, folding his arms behind his back. "I suppose that'll be enough."
Both Martin and Aviva sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when Zach added, "Still, I did bring a lot of equipment with me."
"So?" Aviva huffed.
He turned to her, obviously taking pleasure in whatever he was going to say. "It just seems like a waste, that's all. So maybe you guys should go make use of it."
"And how would you like us to do that?" Martin asked tightly.
Zach paused for a moment. He appeared to be thinking, but they both knew that he was just making them wait to toy with them. Finally, he said, "I think I wanna add some black rhinos to my army." He turned to Martin and winked. "Just for old times' sake, y'know?"
Martin gritted his teeth, but said nothing.
"Obviously the cages are too small for the rhinos, but the nets should work okay." Zach made his way up the jet ramp, pausing at the entranceway. "I'll be back to pick up the rhinos later. Try to have a decent number ready for me by then, okay?"
Martin and Aviva didn't have time to answer before the doors swept closed, and they quickly stepped away from the jet as it lifted into the air and took off through the sky. Once it was gone, they turned towards the collection of Zachbots left behind, including the one with them on the Tortuga. As the robots stared at them with blinking red eyes, Martin suddenly had the urge to punch the one closest to him and Aviva.
Instead he shoved it aside and stormed past it, heading with Aviva back to the HQ so they could come up with a new plan for Zach's latest request.
Comfortably seated in his jet, Zach smirked to himself as he once again reviewed his notes. He knew he would have to hurry and get back to pick up the rhinos. But he figured he would have enough time once he got to the lab to get some work done before needing to return.
Because now that he finally had a subject for testing, he was eager to get started right away.
TBC
[Chapter 4]