by Bryan Young
From around a mile away, he heard a familiar roar and saw Dallas jump out from the forest floor towards the head of the giant, his arms outstretched and his tail-blade fully extended. The giant instantly noticed him and without warning, the flaps on its face retracted, releasing a massive beam of energy that hit Dallas and knocked him on to the forest floor.
Fearing the worst, Tye immediately nosedived into the massive crater left by the giant’s attack and saw Dallas flat on his back, dazed and confused. Tye rushed to his side to check on his still-monstrous form, but as soon as he had gotten close enough, Dallas sprung up roaring and hopped into battle again. The creature’s face folded back again, and another beam of energy fired from its face, this time cratering Dallas to Tye’s immediate left.
Tye figured that, albeit painful, Dallas could likely take the damage. He flew skyward to challenge the giant, passing by Ashley, who was doing her best to hold it back by shooting bolts of energy. Once he was above the giant, he unleashed a large beam of energy from his palms, aiming it at the top of the giant’s head and causing it to screech and turn towards him.
As it fired a stream of energy, Tye zoomed to his right, barely avoiding the powerful beam that collided violently with the top of the dome. As it held its ground, Tye ducked underneath the attack and landed on top of its head. As he tried to gain his balance, he looked over the edge and saw Ashley flying around the giant, trying to do damage wherever she could land a blow.
He walked to the center of the giant’s head, gritted his teeth, pulled back his arm, and shouted to the heavens. With a mighty thrust, he forcefully brought his knuckles down, causing a ferocious shockwave that collapsed the top of the giant’s cranium as it screamed and staggered in pain, throwing Tye off.
He recovered quickly in the air. As he assessed the damage he had caused, a red object glinted inside the now severely deformed head. Tye’s eyes lit up when he saw it and he immediately realized that it was most likely the marker the administrator had referred to. He shot to grab it but swiftly recoiled when he saw the giant’s head begin to repair itself.
Within an instant, its skull had completely regrown, covering the marker. “Damn,” Tye said to himself as he landed on the newly reformed crown and bent down to feel the dense surface. “If this thing can heal itself, that’s going to be a problem.” He stood up and fired a thinner, precise beam of energy from his palms, hoping to pierce through to reach the marker. After several seconds, he spotted the marker deep inside the giant’s head. As a test, he reached into the newly created hole, only to swiftly retract his hand again as the hole began to heal. “If any part of me is in that thing while it’s healing, I don’t think I’m getting out. Or breathing.”
Just as he was about to try blasting his way through again, a large projectile was ejected from the giant’s skin. It anchored onto his torso, clamping his arms against his side, knocking him off its head, and slamming him into the ground.
Panicking, he used his eye beams to cut off a large portion of the thing. He then flailed his arms out to break free from its grip before tearing the rest off his body in one fluid motion. Cringing, he looked down to see the crab-shaped clay object lying on the ground.
“That was awesome,” a voice from behind Tye said. He spun around ready to fight and he came face-to-face with Kato, who flashed a toothy smile and gave him a cheerful wave.
“Kato? Wha... Aren’t you supposed to be helping us kill this thing?!” Tye shouted in frustration.
“Yeah, I am. But...” Kato looked up and put his hands on his hips. “I just run fast, ya know? I’m not sure how I can help you kill—” Before Kato could finish his sentence, the giant blasted Dallas out of the air yet again with another beam of energy and knocked Ashley out of the air with its massive hand before letting out a war cry. “That,” Kato finished with a shrug.
“I dunno man! Throw stuff at it really fast?” Tye said with desperation.
“Oh, yeah man. Smart!” He picked up a rock and threw it at the giant’s leg, watching it bounce off with no impact. “That did a whole lot. Hey! Maybe I can try scolding it?”
Tye rolled his eyes. “Aight, fine. Do you at least know where Carmelita is? She should be able to crush this thing!”
“Yeah, actually. I’ve just been seeing her fly around. Not really doing much.”
“Thanks, Kato. Appreciate it. And while you’re here, could you try to do... Something?” With that, he shot up into the air once again, this time spotting Carmelita who was being harassed by what looked like large clay birds.
Tye soared to her, shooting bolts of energy at the birds and knocking them out of the air. The two stood back-to-back and just as one of the birds was about to dive towards them, Carmelita froze it in the air and it fell to the ground.
“Nice catch!” Tye said, as he alternated between firing bolts of energy and punching the oncoming birds out of the air. “But why aren’t you using that psychic ability to crush that titan to the size of a penny?”
“I... I don’t know. I don’t think I can,” Carmelita shouted back.
“Well, we’re gonna need to do something here, Carmelita! We have to aim to kill this thing. Not aim to not be killed!”
“I know!” she yelled, deflecting another bird. “It’s just... I can’t!”
Tye looked down to see Dallas climbing the giant’s leg and then looked back at Carmelita. “Okay!” he shouted. “At least cover Dallas! I think he’s taken the brunt of this thing’s force, so make sure he stays out of harm’s way.” He saw that Ashley had moved onto its shoulder and was actively fighting an assortment of clay creatures. “I’m gonna go help Ash out! Make sure no one gets hurt!”
“Roger that!”
He flew over to the giant’s shoulder, landing next to Ashley who was struggling to fight off smaller versions of the giant. “Yo!” Tye yelled. “Need some help?”
“Yeah!” she yelled back as she fought one of the creatures off her back. “Actually. Hold the fort for a bit!”
“What are you gonna do?” He blasted massive holes in two more of the creatures.
She winked and somersaulted off its shoulder. As she dove down, her hair whipped around her face in the wind and her eyes glowed a powerful bright orange. She pulled back her arms and then thrust them forward, unleashing massive orbs of energy that exploded off the giant’s back, sending clay shrapnel flying and causing the giant to wail in pain and stumble forward.
Tye cheered as Ashley emerged from under its arm and repeated her assault from the front, blowing out the giant’s chest and upper thighs, causing it to yell out in agony. As Tye looked on, the jubilant smile was wiped from his face as he saw the creature begin to heal itself. In place of the holes, a familiar energy was about to erupt. Unaware of the giant’s defensive tactics, Ashley was about to unleash another attack when Carmelita swooped in and jumped in front of her, creating a barrier that immediately took the onslaught of the steaming giant’s raw power.
Carmelita struggled to hold her ground and keep the force field together as the stream of energy hit it with unrelenting force. All Tye and the others could do was watch as Carmelita and Ashley were nearly fried by the beam.
Desperately, Tye looked up towards the giant’s head and was about to fly towards it to distract it and hopefully draw its fire, when Dallas appeared from nowhere and launched himself at the giant’s head.
As soon as he made contact, he began violently pounding the surface with such force that the giant immediately ceased its assault and began swatting at Dallas like he was a mere fly, throwing him to the ground with impressive force once again.
Tye immediately rushed over to Ashley and Carmelita who were catching their breath. “You guys okay? How are you holding up?” he asked, slinging Carmelita’s arm over his shoulder to help her stand.
“I’m fine,” Carmelita said in a shaky voice, still trying to catch her breath. “All that just took a bit out of me, but I’ll be okay. It feels like I did a 15-mile run in about two min
utes. So, I may need a bit to rest.”
“Take all the time you need, Carmelita. What about you, Ash? All good?”
Ashley nodded, “Yeah, I’m okay. I just want to know how we can kill that thing? It seems to be taking damage, but I have no idea how we’re going to put it down for good.”
Tye looked at the raging giant who seemed more ticked off by their assault than hurt. He thought about the marker he’d seen in its head and his eyes lit up. “We don’t need to kill it!” he shouted.
“What?” Ashley asked, confused.
“Where’s Kato?” Tye asked hurriedly. “I think I know how we can take this thing down.”
“Last I saw, he was still on the ground doing... something,” Carmelita reported.
Tye nodded and before flying off, he pointed at the two girls and said, “You guys take cover somewhere and keep Dallas safe!” He shot off to look for Kato, who was using a large stick to fight off a group of clay crabs by bashing them on the top of their shells repeatedly.
Tye soared in, landing on top of one of the creatures and crushing it into the ground. Sensing that he was about to be struck from behind, he spun around and blasted one of the larger crabs that was lunging towards him. Another tried to escape but by the time it reached the tree-line, Tye was already in front of it. He picked the thing up and tore it in half before looking up and seeing the last creature approaching Kato. He unleashed a powerful beam of energy from his eyes and completely disintegrated the creature, smiling and dusting his hands.
“Nice shootin’, Tex!” Kato cheered.
“Thanks,” Tye replied as he walked over. “So, I think I know how we can beat this trial.”
“I’m all ears, dude. Because—” the giant cut off Kato with another powerful roar as it beat its chest “—because right now, it’s looking pretty bleak.”
“I hear ya, buddy.” He extended his hand towards Kato. “C’mon. We're gonna win this.”
Kato recoiled slightly at the suggestion. As he slowly reached for Tye’s hand, Tye grabbed him and took off in the air within a couple seconds, while Kato screamed all the way.
Tye slowed down, and they hovered a few hundred feet above the giant’s head. He pointed at it and yelled, “So, here’s the plan. I’m gonna open a crater in the middle of its head. Inside is a red marker. It just looks like an orb. Grab that and jump off! I’ll catch you!”
“Tye!” Kato shouted back. “That’s a really cool plan and all but... I’m scared of heights!”
“I feel you, man!” he responded. “I’m afraid of giant clay people who shoot lasers from their body! Today we’re both gonna face our fears!”
Kato nodded and shouted back, “You’re right. The fate of the earth is at stake.” He lifted his fist into the air and Tye promptly fist bumped him as they flew to the giant’s crown.
Tye took a deep breath and stretched his hand before him. He felt the pool of energy within him begin to bubble and with a single push, he forced out a massive beam of energy that sheared off a third of the giant’s head, revealing the marker and throwing Kato onto what remained of its head.
Kato rushed into the hole and his eyes grew wide when he saw it. He quickly snatched it from the bottom of the crater and cradled the glowing orb. He had expected to feel some sort of power or energy flowing through it, but he felt nothing. Confused, he juggled it around as the wound slowly began to heal around him. He inspected the orb, unsure of whether it was really what they were looking for. Squinting to look at it, he saw what looked like tiny wires coursing through it.
Tempted to attempt to break it open, he looked around him to realize he didn’t have much time. He rushed out of the hole and just as his right leg followed his left out, a clay projectile hurled out and clamped on, forming a cast around it and causing Kato to scream in agony.
Tye, who had been fighting various clay offshoots instantly rushed over, only to be knocked out of the sky by a large clay bird that anchored onto his back and began dragging him towards the ground like a missile hurtling towards its target.
Meanwhile, Kato hung onto the marker for dear life despite the seething pain coursing through his leg and began to limp forward using his good limb in an attempt to jump from the giant’s head as he had been instructed, unaware that Tye was struggling to fight off his avian adversary. However, as he reached the edge of the giant’s crown, he felt it begin to shake. Looking down, he realized that the giant was beginning to fall.
Kato lost his balance as a result and fell from its head. Tye looked on in horror as Kato tumbled through the air, screaming. The bird’s wings were wrapped around Tye’s torso, attempting to crush him. In a single fluid movement, spurred on by the impulse to save his friend, his arms exploded outward, sending out a shockwave of energy and shattering the bird’s grip.
Tye dashed forward in a wild attempt to save Kato from crashing to the ground but was tackled mid air by another clay creature. Just as Kato was about to hit the ground, he was stopped mid air. Kato slowly opened his eyes to see Carmelita slowly lowering him to the ground from a distance. He flashed her a wide smile and she returned a relieved look. Her expression quickly changed when she saw torso of the mighty giant about to collapse onto Kato.
Kato looked up and tried to run out of the way. He immediately tripped and screamed in pain as the creature on his leg seemed to tighten its grip. He watched as the massive form of the now-lifeless giant was about to crash down on his defenseless body. It suddenly stopped mere meters above him. He looked over, expecting to see Carmelita holding it up but instead spotted Tye using all his strength to hold up the giant’s entire body by himself.
“Get Kato out of here, he’s hurt bad!” Tye yelled as sweat poured down his face with the strain of carrying the supersized load.
Ashley quickly flew in to grab Kato and move him out of the massive creature way. Tye let out a mighty roar and used his hands and eyes to blast a powerful beam of energy through the giant’s torso. It erupted through its back, clearing a hole straight through that allowed Tye to fly through as the giant fell over him.
He looked at the felled beast and let out the most relieved sigh of his life. “One down. Two to go,” he said under his breath.
He flew to the others and landed next to Carmelita, who was crouched next to a shaking Kato. She closed her eyes to focus and softly placed her palm on his forehead, putting him into a trance-like state. After about five seconds of silence, she removed her hand and shook her head, looking up at the anticipant Ashley and Tye.
“It looks like whatever is on his leg broke it pretty badly. I see at least ten small fractures and three massive ones. I doubt he’ll be able to walk anytime soon,” she reported in a hushed tone. “I’ve blocked all pain signals from his legs from reaching his brain but still, it’s amazing he was even able to stand at all.”
Ashley crouched down and placed her hands over the clay cast. “In the meantime...” Her palms lit up, instantly frying the surface. She then ran a finger along the cast lengthwise and cracked it open, freeing his mangled leg. “Might as well have it off, right?” She then turned to Carmelita. “Any chance you can fashion a makeshift splint with branches and vines? We need to set the bone if we want it to heal properly. Otherwise, this could be really bad.”
Carmelita nodded and used her telekinesis to break off two thin, straight branches from a nearby tree, placing then against Kato’s leg and binding it using vines. She then stood him up slowly and slung his arm around her shoulder. “I don’t think he’s gonna be able to walk back to the cave on his own, so I’ll fly him back there and you guys just meet up with us.”
“Shouldn’t we fly back with you?” Ashley asked.
Tye shook his head, “We’re still a Dallas short. We should go make sure he’s okay. If something happened and he’s not in any condition to move, it might be better to have both of us here.”
“Fair enough,” Ashley agreed.
Carmelita took off with Kato while Ashley and Tye searched the area
for the next half hour or so, desperately trying to find their lost teammate. With no success, they met back at the spot where Carmelita and Kato had left them to come up with a plan when they spotted Dallas slinking out of the trees in his human form with a noticeable limp.
“Dallas!” Ashley and Tye shouted in unison, rushing over to catch him as he collapsed from exhaustion.
“I just want to go home,” Dallas said weakly.
Tye looked over the bruised and beaten boy and put him arm over his shoulder as Carmelita had for Kato. Motioning for Ashley to follow him, the two took off back towards the cave.
When they arrived, Kato was fully awake and was surprisingly energetic, drinking water and having a cheerful conversation with Carmelita. “Hey, guys!” he yelled as they approached.
“You okay, dude?” Tye asked as he helped Dallas down to the ground.
“Yeah. I mean, as good as I can be. My leg is pretty messed up but ya know. Could be worse. I could’ve gotten like... impaled or something so. You win some you lose some.” He took another sip of his water and continued talking to Carmelita.
Tye smiled and leaned against the cave wall, grateful that their first trial hadn’t turned out as tragically as it could have. Ashley walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, I’m gonna be out hunting for a few hours. I think we could all use some food,” she said.
“After a fight like that, you’re gonna go out and face more creatures in this place? Do you need any help?”
“Nah, I got it. Just make sure everyone is alright. I’ll be back in a few.”
Tye nodded and sat down next to his friends, watching them until it got dark. Ashley returned with fresh kill that she prepped and cooked over a fire, too tired to heat it up with her hands. As they ate, Dallas had his eyes trained on Tye in a death stare. Uncomfortable, Tye stopped eating to ask him what his issue was.
Dallas grunted as he bit into his food and spit on the ground. “What’s my issue? We got our asses handed to us fighting that thing. The only reason any of us are still here is because we got lucky. You’re supposed to be our leader. Where was the damn plan?”
