Becoming Zodiak

by Craig Jones

  “Welcome to ‘Bull Run,’” Paul Jordan announced, and this sent the fans into delirium. “The winner of this event will be the competitor who gets from the start gate to the finish gate in the fastest time.”

  The countdown, matched by the cries from the crowd, started up on the largest screen in the arena.

  “Five.”

  Suddenly, Jimmy felt cold and confused—they had received no such warning, no kind of instructions, of what was going on during ‘Bull’s Eye.’

  “Four.”

  So why now?

  “Three.”

  And then Walsh’s words rang in his ears. You must think like Zodiak and listen very carefully to the instructions.

  “Two.”

  The instructions... The winner will be the competitor who gets from the start gate to the finish gate in the fastest time.

  “One.”

  Jimmy tilted his head in thought.

  “Zero.”

  And the clock changed from a countdown to a timer.

  Jimmy didn’t move. He held his position of contemplation.

  He heard a voice yell out, “Jimmy! Move!” It sounded just like Shane.

  He heard the crowd gasp in surprise; and then they began to jeer and boo.

  But he didn’t hear a word from Brian, and it was then that he knew his instincts to be true. He knew Brian understood exactly what he planned to do.

  Jimmy looked to his left, at the water, at the ‘Finish’ archway, and took three steps to his right. Then he exploded like a sprinter out of the blocks and leapt high across the divide, landing safely on the other side.

  He had silenced the crowd.

  He stepped through the ‘Finish’ archway and turned to look up at the massive red timer.

  It stopped at 15.42 seconds.

  No one reacted until Paul Jordan announced, “Jimmy Taurus gets from start to finish in fifteen point four two seconds!”

  And Jimmy raised his fists to the ceiling.

  The exultations from the thousands of fans were still ringing in his ears even after the results had been announced. He had won again, by a massive margin, and Carl Horn had been eliminated.

  Even before Paul Jordan had announced, “And the person leaving ‘Becoming Zodiak’ tonight is…Carl Horn,” the young man’s tears told everyone how he had fared.

  As Jimmy walked off the arena floor, William Walsh was waiting for him once more.

  “Excellent,” Walsh said with a hearty pat on the back. “Now get some sleep tonight. You don’t need to be up watching the highlights show when you are the highlight! You must save all your energy for the semi-final.”

  Jimmy was filled with an insatiable nervous energy. If he succeeded in just one more event, he’d be in the final. He’d make it.

  30

  Training the following day was fraught with tension. Even Shane was dumbstruck. During Jimmy’s allocated timeslot to use the arena for his workout, Leo seemed agitated as Brian led a light warm up.

  Suddenly, Scorpio, Gemini, Pisces and Aquarius stormed into the heart of the Dome and began shouting at members of the film crew.

  “You are stupid, yes?” Gemini barked.

  “What are you talking about?” the head cameraman replied, removing his headphones. He squared his shoulders and marched up to meet the angry Zodiak members. Seven or eight of his staff stopped what they were doing and joined him. “You can’t come in here and start calling us—”

  “We will do what we like when you break the rules!” Pisces snapped. “You’re meant to be filming the competitors, not us! Do you realize how much trouble—”

  “I thought your job was to protect the public, not to threaten to go outside and quell the riot!” The head cameraman made the mistake of punctuating his comments by jabbing a finger into Pisces’ face.

  “What’s going on?” Jimmy whispered to Leo as they watched the fracas unfold from a distance.

  “You didn’t see the highlights show?” she asked, and Jimmy shook his head. “People turned up without tickets, thousands of people, and during the competition last night, Scorpio asked Lord Crabbe if we should go outside and deal with it by talking to the crowd.”

  “That sounds sensible,” Brian added. “Calm them down, right?”

  “Yeah, exactly. But it got caught on camera and they played it out on television last night.” Leo paused, keeping her eyes on the scene across the arena. It looked to be getting more volatile with every second. “But they only showed the first part, about dealing with the crowd.”

  “Oh man,” Shane said dramatically.

  “So now Zodiak look like a bunch of vigilantes?” Brian asked.

  “To some people, yes,” Leo confirmed. “Some aspects of the media have always hated us, so this is an opportunity to criticise us even more.” She gestured to her teammates. “Guys, carry on training. I need to get over there.”

  “Back off, little man,” Scorpio shouted, and he stood in between the cameraman and Pisces. Aquarius wrapped an arm around his colleague’s waist and pulled him away.

  “Zodiak!” Leo called, jogging over to the growing melee. “The cameras are probably running right now, so walk away and let Lord Crabbe deal with this.”

  “Yeah, listen to the little girl,” one of the crew sneered.

  Leo bristled, spun on her heel and flicked her right foot into the air. The hair on the crew member’s head briefly lifted from his scalp, so close did her foot come to making contact with his skull.

  “Don’t underestimate this little girl, mate,” Leo warned. “Now get back to work. You’ve not heard the end of this.”

  With a gesture, she ushered Scorpio and the other Zodiak members from the arena before returning to Jimmy, Brian and Shane.

  “I’m sorry about that,” she said.

  “No, that was…” Jimmy began, but when he saw Shane’s mocking grin, he let the words fall away.

  “Okay,” said Brian, equally as impressed with Leo’s skills as Jimmy but aware that she was a little embarrassed by her actions. “Leo, you said you were allowed to tell us a little bit more about the next event?”

  “Yes, I can,” Leo replied. She took a stiff breath, trying to calm herself. “The semi-final is an event called ‘Bull Ring.’ Basically, a section of the arena floor will rise about five metres from the ground. It’ll be a big circle and it’s going to be spinning. Not too fast, but quick enough.”

  She rotated her fist in the air, showing what she meant.

  “Now this is going to be the first time you are going to be in direct competition with your fellow competitors, Jimmy. Are you okay with that?”

  “If I wasn’t then I shouldn’t be here,” Jimmy said confidently.

  “That’s what I want to hear. Okay, so the aim of the game is to knock your opponent off using two-metre-long foam batons. I say foam, but you have to remember that these things aren’t really soft. You get hit in the head and you’re going to be wondering what day it is. Add to that the spinning effect when you’re up in the air? This event could be over very quickly.”

  “Do we get a chance to practice with the batons?” Brian asked.

  “Yes, but not on the platform,” Leo told him. “I’ll have some ready for tomorrow’s session.”

  Jimmy could not wait. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shane blowing kisses behind Leo’s back.

  “Maybe I could practice on Shane,” Jimmy said. “I think I’d enjoy that.”

  31

  The three contestants were led out into the cauldron of the arena together. The noise was unabated, but for the first time Jimmy could hear some booing from the crowd—it was clear it wasn’t directed at the three aspiring Zodiaks. It was aimed at those already a part of the team.

  Jimmy, Duane and Varsha were positioned under three spotlights in the middle of the floor, and Paul Jordan ran out in front of them to the whooping delight of the crowd.

  “Welcome to semi-finals night on ‘Becoming Zodiak.’ Tonight, our competitors
go head-to-head for the very first time as they face ‘Bull Ring!’”

  Ominous music filled the arena as indoor fireworks cracked off from each corner. The crowd roared to an even higher decibel and Jimmy’s ears ached.

  “Tonight, two shall become one…” Jordan paused as the section of flooring he was stood on began to lift up and rotate slowly into the air. “As Duane, Varsha and Jimmy battle each other for a place in the ‘Becoming Zodiak’ final!”

  With a dramatic gesture, Jordan silenced the crowd just as the spinning disk reached its peak. “The draw has been made and the first battle pits Varsha against…Duane!”

  Both of Jimmy’s adversaries waved to the crowd and their names were chanted over and over again. Camera flashes filled the auditorium, outshining even the fireworks.

  “The second battle pits Jimmy…”

  Paul Jordan had to stop speaking for over a minute, so intense and drawn-out was the support for Jimmy. He raised his two fists in the air and the volume grew.

  Finally, Jordan was able to continue.

  “…against Duane! And the final battle pits Varsha against Jimmy! May the best Taurus win!”

  The platform was lowered and the contestants led away. Jimmy was told to stay, once again, in his changing room, but to be ready to go the second he was called. William Walsh was there waiting for him.

  “I just wanted to say good luck, Jimmy, and to give you another piece of advice. Keep your focus up there. You could be easily distracted if you are not attentive.”

  “Sure thing, Mister Walsh,” Jimmy said, and then Walsh excused himself and left.

  His body armor was waiting for him, and he quickly pulled it on over his shorts and t-shirt; as he did so, he thought over Walsh’s words.

  And to give you another piece of advice.

  His last piece of advice had been not to watch the highlights show after round two. And if not for the fracas at training the following day, Jimmy would have had no idea that Zodiak had been made to look aggressive on television. On WWW News.

  He froze.

  Is that why he told me not to watch the highlights show? Because he knew they were going to show Zodiak in that way?

  He shook his head. He was worrying too much, he knew. William Walsh was a key cog in the mechanism of making Zodiak whole again. He would do nothing to jeopardise that now.

  Jimmy sent the thoughts from his mind and made sure he was fully warmed up. He had hardly broken into a light sweat when he was called back to the arena.

  As he strode into the amphitheater of the Dome, he was handed a crash helmet and the giant foam baton. He’d enjoyed using it to shove Shane around, but his next opponent was a different creature entirely. Duane Bullock was already in position and Jimmy was ushered onto the disk, facing his adversary. Slowly, the disk began to rotate and lift. Jimmy slipped the helmet over his head.

  “I beat her in ten seconds,” Duane called across. “You’ll beat her too, easily. All you and I have to do is make a good fight of it but play out a draw, and we’re in the final.”

  Jimmy kept his eyes on the floor. Walsh had warned him about distractions, and this was exactly the tactic Duane was employing.

  “So what do you reckon, Taurus? You and me in the final?”

  Jimmy looked up at the giant screen as the countdown, already so familiar to him, began.

  “Five.”

  Duane’s words became part of the background noise.

  “Four.”

  All Jimmy could hear was Walsh’s warning about getting some sleep, not watching the highlights show.

  “Three.”

  But Walsh had also said to focus on not getting distracted.

  “Two.”

  He briefly wondered whether Walsh had meant for him not to worry about what had happened during training between Zodiak and the film crew.

  “One.”

  Jimmy, at the last second, realized he’d been so concentrated on not losing focus that he had left himself completely confused.

  “Zero.”

  The screams of the crowd brought him back to the competition.

  Duane immediately backed away, circling to his left, and Jimmy could see that he was limping again, favouring his right leg. Jimmy advanced and Duane slipped to one knee. Seeing his chance, Jimmy lunged forward just as Brian yelled from the crowd.

  “Keep your guard up!”

  But it was too late. Duane thrust his baton up and across Jimmy’s jaw, and even though the helmet took most of the impact, starts flashed across Jimmy’s field of vision. Before he had a moment to react, Duane was all over him, swinging the baton from side to side and constantly keeping Jimmy off balance. He managed to recover, blocking one, two, three wide, arcing strikes, but then Duane turned his baton into a battering ram and ran it straight at Jimmy’s chest.

  Jimmy took a step backwards, planning on absorbing the blow, but there was no platform left; and even though Duane’s baton made no contact, Jimmy fell the five metres to the padded ground below. The descent seemed to take forever. As his feet sought purchase on the platform, he saw the faces of thousands of fans, some with mouths open mid-cheer, others’ mouths wide in shock and surprise. He saw camera flashes, people recording his worst nightmare. And he saw Duane Bullock watching him fall, that arrogant visage belittling him all the way down.

  “Duane Bullock is the winner!” cried Paul Jordan, and even before the revolving platform was lowered, Jimmy was placed on a stretcher and carried back to his changing room.

  A medical team was waiting for him in his room, and they gingerly removed his helmet and checked him over.

  He could hear Brian outside shouting that he wanted to see Jimmy, to check that he was okay.

  “He’s with the medics now, sir. They’ll decide if he can carry on.”

  “He’s hurt! He’s clearly hurt,” Brian ranted. “Let me see him now.”

  “Sir…if you go in there, Jimmy’s eliminated from the competition even if the doctors say he is okay to carry on.”

  Jimmy heard a loud smash and then heavy footsteps stalking away.

  One of the doctors played a light across his eyes. He felt like his forehead was going to explode.

  “Any pain?”

  “No,” he lied.

  They checked his neck and back and declared him fit to proceed. One doctor paused in the doorway just as the rest were leaving. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Jimmy said, and when he was finally alone he rushed into the toilet and threw up.

  “I’m not fine,” he whispered, and wondered where Brian had gone.

  He needed now, more than ever, the balance that his foster father had brought to his life. He needed the calm reassurance that he could achieve whatever he set out to do, because as things stood, Jimmy couldn’t see his way back into the arena.

  “Jimmy!” came a voice from outside his door. “They’ve called for you three times! If you’re not back out there in one minute, you’re disqualified!”

  He pushed himself up from the toilet, rinsed his mouth out with water, and then splashed some on his face. As he left the room, he crammed the helmet back on his head. He didn’t want anyone to see the true state he was in.

  The walk to the arena was a lightheaded blur, and before he knew where he was, the platform was being raised up yet again beneath his feet.

  “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the final fight of the semi-final,” Paul Jordan spoke slowly, building the tension. “Duane Bullock is already through to the final, having defeated both of his opponents, and now only one place is left. In a winner-takes-all contest, I give you Varsha Steer versus Jimmy Taurus!”

  He looked across and saw Varsha waiting for him. She looked fierce and utterly determined. Jimmy tried to pick Brian, Claire and Shane out of the crowd, but it seemed that no one would keep still long enough for him to focus. His breathing was loud and robotic inside his helmet, like he was a deep-sea diver. The world outside had a watery feel to it too; the air h
ad grown thick. The mass of people had developed a singular pulse of their own, and they surged back and forth, making Jimmy feel queasy.

  “Zero.”

  He hadn’t even registered the countdown had begun, but with the rush of noise from the crowd battering him from every side, he at least remembered to lift the baton to protect his face. Varsha made no effort to hide the fact that she saw Jimmy’s weakness and was going to exploit it. She hit him with two shots, bounced to the left, hit him again, leapt to the right, and Jimmy’s legs began to turn to jelly as his dizziness grew. He hit back, caught her across the top of the head and forced her backwards. Jimmy took the centre of the platform and tried to use his strength to force Varsha farther back, but just as he felt he had an easy shot, she was gone, leaping over his head in a somersault, landing behind him before swinging her foam baton across the back of his head.

  Jimmy didn’t feel the contact. He was out cold before his feet left the canvas floor of the platform. He didn’t notice the impact as he crumpled to the ground five metres below. He opened his eyes and tried to look up. He could just make out the front row of the crowd. Blurs. Shapes. Darkness and light. He blinked. Claire was crying. Or, he thought she was? Brian had his arm wrapped around her and Shane, who was moving. Shaking? He could hear footsteps rushing towards him, and then, what felt like a hundred years later, he heard the words he dreaded the most.

  “And the person leaving ‘Becoming Zodiak’ tonight is…Jimmy Taurus!”

  32

  Jimmy sat in his bed, holding an ice pack to his cheek. The bruise had already turned an ugly purple. He wasn’t sure which blow exactly had done the damage to the side of his face, but he was more than aware that he’d taken enough shots to be in a much bigger world of hurt than he really was.

  Nothing stung him more than his wounded pride. He had allowed himself to become distracted. He had let the circus that was going on around the competition take over, and he had taken his eyes off what he had come here to achieve.

  What we all came to achieve.