by Bryan Young
As the teens gathered again, Dallas had resumed his human form and showed off their new trophy. He then handed it to Tye to put in his backpack. Once it was safe inside, a huge sense of relief washed over them.
“So. Just one more and then we’re out of here for good,” Tye said.
“Yeah.” Dallas nodded. “Not gonna BS you guys, shit got rough back there, but it feels pretty good to only have one more to go.”
“Agreed,” Ashley commented. “It’s nice to know that we’re nearing the end of our time in this awful place. I can’t wait to get home and take a shower.”
“Speaking of...” Tye followed. “When’s the last time any of us actually cleaned ourselves?”
The group paused and Tye crinkled his nose at the thought of how they had gone this entire time without proper physical hygiene and fake gagged.
“Well actually!” Kato began. “I cleaned myself yesterday when everyone was asleep.”
“No shit?” Tye replied. “Is there a dome lodge somewhere we don’t know about? Cause a brotha stank.”
Kato shook his head and pointed his thumb in no particular direction. “There’s some hot springs not too far from us. So, if you guys don’t wanna smell like stinky bums, we should make a trip.”
“Sure, why not?” Tye shrugged and turned to the others. “You guys down?”
They all sniffed themselves and became aware of their own foul odors. They agreed to go and with that, Kato led them to the springs.
They opted to walk to the springs, and jovial conversation filled the entire three-hour hike. For the first time, the teens truly felt like a tight-knit group of friends. They joked, made references, and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, going so far as to make plans to meet each other after the dome was but a distant memory. Happiness and comradery had now become a point of strength for the intrepid adventurers and their bond seemed to grow deeper with every conversation.
At the springs, they all took turns washing themselves, deciding to let one person go at a time so as to give each other privacy. By the time they were all done, night was already upon them and a collective decision was made to fly home.
As they prepared for flight, Tye told the rest of the group that he’d catch up with them. He wanted to stay at the springs for a bit and admire the wildlife. Curious at his odd request, Kato suggested they all stay with him and make it a group activity, but Tye politely declined, saying he’d be back at the cave soon.
Confused but accepting Tye’s desire to be alone, Ashley and Carmelita flew Dallas and Kato to the cave. Once they were out of sight, Tye made his way towards his familiar spot overlooking the waterfall.
He breathed in the air, deep in thought about his time in the dome and what the future might hold. As he approached the familiar area, he saw another large figure drinking from the river, which was now lit up with streams of bioluminescent fish.
He landed softly a few meters away from it and leaned on a tree as he examined the new animal. Like the last one he had seen here, it appeared similar to a stag. It stood on four powerful legs with golden hooves that appeared to be metallic. It had a long strong neck with a small round head and two short horns, a dark face, and a long mane that seemed to stay upright. The rest of its body seemed to be completely hairless. Instead, its skin was a smooth pearly white with what appeared to be a boney golden ring around the middle with four protrusions pointing outwards. Apart from its head, the only other place it seemed to have hair was on its short bushy tail.
For a moment, it stopped drinking and looked around, potentially looking for something. It made a sound akin to a distorted digital horn, and fine thin lines on its body became visible, opening up slightly to display a rainbow of colors along each line.
Thinking he had been spotted, Tye was about to move when the beautiful stag he had seen the day before came from the trees. The two animals stood opposite each other, locked in an intense stare-down. Fascinated by what he was witnessing, Tye reached for his phone but realized it wouldn’t work so instinctively knelt down in the hopes that making himself smaller would decrease his chances of scaring them away.
The two were locked in confrontation, blaring out alien whines to each other and flashing a cacophony of different colors. The new creature changed its skin pigmentation to a dark red, seemingly in a show of aggression. Just as they seemed to be close to a clash of an unimaginable magnitude as they approached each other, suddenly and without warning, they stopped. The larger red creature suddenly changed color again to a milder yellow and bowed its head. The smaller blue creature followed suit.
The two seemed to embrace, rubbing their heads together and calming down. They then took a step back and walked off into the woods together, the conflict apparently settled.
Once they were gone, Tye stepped out from under the tree, speechless by what he had witnessed, still trying to process the scene. He contemplated the fact that despite the darkness that the dome represented, there was still beauty to be found. As he turned towards his spot, still in awe when without warning, a dark figure jumped out at him, causing him to scream and fall backwards.
Reacting quickly, he raised an arm up and conjured his energy blade. The figure jumped back, gesturing for him to calm down. Perplexed, he stood up and to his surprise, he saw Ashley with her hood up, giving him a wry smile.
“Jesus Christ, Ash!” Tye swore, retracting his blades and putting his hands on his hips. “You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack. Watcha sneakin’ around in the dark like a friggin’ naked mole rat for?”
Ashley chuckled at the absurd assertion. “Naked mole rat?”
“Yeah, Rufus! Jeez. You scared me half to death. What are you even doing out here?” Tye asked, still upset.
“Following you,” she said shrugging.
“Oh wow. That’s definitely not creepy as hell. Glad to know I’m worth being stalked.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Relax, egomaniac. I was worried about why you suddenly felt like you needed to be alone. And I know you’d be here.” She then turned to look towards the trees before turning back to him. “So, you saw them too?”
“Yeah.” He then looked past her in the direction they had walked off together and saw a faint rainbow glow emanating from deep in the woods. “They were beautiful,” he said softly, his eyes darting back to meet hers.
“Is that what you came out here for? To be alone and look at nature? I can’t blame you if you did. The life here is... amazing.”
Leaning against the tree again, Tye shook his head. “Nah, I guess I just wanted to think. In a good way though.”
“Oh?” Ashley said, her interest piqued. “Mind if I pick at those thoughts a bit?”
Tye shrugged and motioned for her to follow him. The two flew to the spot where they had their conversation a couple days ago. As they took their seats on the familiar log, they stared up at the sky and Ashley leaned her head on Tye’s shoulder.
“So, what’d you come to think about?” she asked softly.
“Life,” he said chuckling. “The fact that this is all almost over, I dunno. So much has happened to get me to this place... this point... this moment... And to think that it could all be over is wild.”
“Got anyone waiting for you back at home when this is all over?” she asked, holding his hand.
“My family. I really miss my bros. Brodie, Jax, Nathan, and Tony. Those guys are like brothers to me. Believe it or not, they actually wanted to come with me to this crazy place. And you know? That probably wouldn’t have even been the craziest adventure we’ve been on.”
She giggled, “True pals! Anyone... special?”
“Like a girlfriend?”
“I dunno. Maybe. Yeah.”
He thought for a moment, “I guess... There’s this girl, Gemma. I’ve had a thing for her for a while and I honestly don’t know if it’s some deep affection or just a crush. Either way, even though we’re close, I don’t think she’s into me like that but even still. She’s special. S
he’s the whole reason I’m here and I want her to know how much she meant not only to me but to the world.”
“I’ll take your word for it that she’s special. You’re not bothered by her lack of interest?”
Tye shrugged, “Nah. No one is obligated to return feelings just because they’re friends with you. She’s still in my life and we’re still cool so that’s good enough for me.”
“That’s a good way of thinking about it. I wish more guys felt the same instead of creeping on girls that happen to not have interest. Speaking of getting out, what do you think happens after this is all over?”
“Ellen? Meeting her would be pretty dope. I’m sure we’ll get a bunch of talk shows. Maybe we could start a podcast? I think we’ll have options. Of course, the government is probably gonna have a million questions for us but being super-powered kids is gonna change our lives. At least, if we decide to tell people.”
She laughed at his assertions. “Ellen, huh? I don’t know if I can handle everyone being in my business like that. But... What about us? Are we gonna see each other?”
He paused for a second and answered, “I’d hope so. You guys are all really cool and we’ve been through a lot together. I’d like to think we can all stay in touch and chill after this. I wouldn’t even mind seeing Dallas’ crazy ass once every 70 years.”
She laughed again. “That’s nice to know. Especially about how much you love Dallas but that’s not what I meant...”
Tye raised an eyebrow. “It isn’t? So, what’d you mean?”
She went silent for a second and then raised her head from his shoulder. Looking down, she said, “I meant what happens to you and me? Are we gonna see each other after this? I feel we’ve really hit it off and I... I want to see you more after this. A lot more.”
Tye looked at her with wide eyes and for a long moment, he didn’t say anything.
Sensing his awkwardness, she quickly said that if he felt too awkward about it, she’d drop it and he could forget she even asked but in response he shook his head.
“Ash!” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not that. It’s just... There’s a lot going on right now with... ya know. The massive blue alien thing around us for starters.” He motioned towards the walls around them and then shifted his attention back to her. “And honestly, I never thought you’d be interested in that sort of thing. I can’t promise anything now, but... once we’re out of here and things calm down, I’d love to see you.” He gave her a warm smile and a large one crept onto her face.
The two embraced then spent the rest of the night in deep conversation, observing the beauty of the life around them, only returning when night was close to becoming dawn. They sneaked into the cave with everyone asleep and said their goodnights, with what seemed a great future to look forward to.
Chapter 16: Kato on the Track
The teens spent the next day relaxing in and around the cave. As their final challenge awaited them, a certain tense feeling seemed to take over all of them. They had overcome the giant clay monster with brute strength and beginner’s luck. For the second challenge, which was significantly harder than the first, they had relied on their new-found team spirit and had made it through alive. How much more difficult would the last challenge be than the last two? What would they use to face it?
The day was mostly spent lazing around and being playful. Dallas took the opportunity to do some quick strength and stamina training, claiming that he wanted his endurance to be in “peak form” for whatever awaited them. Ashley hunted a strange squid-like creature with four tentacles and a shell on its head, which was adorned with barbs. Carmelita meditated in her own corner of the cave and Tye took the opportunity to get as much sleep as possible, slapping away anyone unfortunate enough to try and wake him.
Suspiciously, Kato was nowhere to be found. As Ashley, Carmelita, and Dallas attempted to find him for various reasons, he seemed to be AWOL, only showing up to eat once dinner was ready to be served. Even when grilled about his whereabouts, he responded with shrugs and ambiguous answers until the others chose to drop it and leave Kato to his weird activities.
The day quickly turned to night and the teens went to sleep, comforted by the various activities they felt would improve their chances of success for tomorrow’s final challenge. Tye relished in the opportunity to sleep a whole sixteen hours and was the first to bed after eating. However, barely three hours into his slumber, he shot up as someone shook him awake in the dark. He was about to yell for help, fearing that he was being attacked, when he felt a hand on his mouth and heard someone telling him to shush.
Immediately, he recognized the voice as being Kato’s and moved his hand away from his face and spat on the ground. “Why are your hands salty, man?! What the fuck are you touching?!” Tye whispered in anger.
“Dude. Just come outside for a second,” Kato whispered back.
“Totally ignored my question, but okay,” Tye responded, slowly standing up and stretching so he could follow Kato outside.
Once they were a sufficient distance from the cave, Kato spoke in a normal voice. “So, since it’s our last day here, I figured I should show you something.”
Skeptical, Tye raised an eyebrow and drew out his words. “Whaaat is this... thing?” he asked with his arms crossed.
“Something really special,” Kato replied with a large smile and a twinkle in his eye. “I just feel like I can’t be the only one to experience it. I don’t know if it’s for my own sanity, knowing that what I saw is real, but it’d mean a lot.”
Tye sighed and rolled his eyes, expecting this to turn into a ridiculous adventure with an unsatisfactory ending. “Damn it, Kato. Aight. If it means that much to you, then I’ll go. But why me in particular?”
Kato thought for a moment. “Well,” he said, scratching his chin and looking up at the sky, his eyes darting back and forth, searching for an answer. Out of nowhere, he snapped his fingers. “Because Dallas is still a ‘uge dick, Ashley is an unapproachable hot chick, and Carmelita scares me because she could literally turn me inside out if I bug her?”
Tye nodded in acknowledgment and responded with, “Those are all really good points, actually. Lead the way then, homie.”
Kato cried in glee. As he turned to head into the forest, the grass before his feet lit up with a bright orange flame that quickly died out.
“Oh shit!” Kato shouted and jumped back. “What the hell was that?!”
Unfazed, Tye looked up and saw Ashley flying above them. He shrugged, casually greeted her, and then looked at Kato on the ground. “You okay, dude?”
“Does she do that a lot?” Kato shouted, his heart still racing.
“Yeah, kinda,” Tye replied, his arms still crossed.
As Ashley floated towards them and landed, she helped Kato off the ground. “Sorry,” she said, laughing. “I thought it’d be funny... And it was! So, mission accomplished?”
“Right,” Kato responded. “What are you even doing out here?”
“Bored. Couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I guess a little hyped for tomorrow. What about you guys? Something happen?”
“Nope,” Kato replied. “Just a little... guy adventure.”
Ashley rolled her eyes and looked at Tye who shrugged. “Right... Got room for one more?”
“I... Um…” Kato stammered. “Tye?”
“Whatever, man,” he said casually.
Turning back to Ashley, Kato reached out his hand and said with large smile, “Welcome to the team!”.
She shook his hand with a laugh and asked, “Where are we heading?”
Kato pointed to his left. “That way. Oh. And, we’re not flying there. You guys gotta follow me on foot.” He headed into the woods with Ashley and Tye following close behind. He made odd twists and turns through the brush, seemingly retracing his steps, losing and gaining progress as he went. There were various moments where he appeared confused and seemed to just be wandering.
Tye asked multiple times h
im if he knew where he was going, and he responded with a smile every time and claimed he knew exactly where he was headed while continuing to truck forward with bounds of confidence.
After nearly an hour of walking and listening to him speak, Tye stopped the group and, so as to not hurt his feelings, politely asked Kato where exactly they were heading because it seemed like they were just getting lost in the woods for no particular reason.
Kato looked past Tye and his eyes lit up with a yelp of excitement. He dashed forward with blinding speed towards a mossy rock overlooking a small pond that was almost completely obscured by thick vines that hung above it. Once there, he jumped up and down, waving his arms, trying to get their attention. Ashley and Tye looked at each other skeptically and made their way over and sat down on the rock with a visibly giddy Kato rapidly tapping his feet for whatever was about to take place.
Looking down at the serene pond with eight rose-gold lily pads in a perfect circle in the center, Tye turned to Kato and quietly said, “This is admittedly really nice to look at, but I still don’t see that p—” Kato shushed him and pointed downwards at the pond, bringing a finger to his lips and then completely fixing his attention on the small pond.
As they waited in the cold night, a faint green light made its way from under the water in the center of the pond. They continued to watch as the light slowly morphed from green to blue to purple to red, orange, yellow, and then back to green in a repeating cycle while its glow seemed to expand further and further, reaching the edge of the still lily pads. The water under the mysterious light then began to bubble ferociously until a massive pillar of water was streaming in the air, dancing around in a manner that put even the most spectacular fountain shows to shame. The colors that accompanied this water show were so vibrant and luminous that they almost completely redefined what color could and should be, making the earthly colors seem bland in comparison.
At the bottom of the dancing pillar were the lily pads, which were now moving and waving around as if they had minds of their own. Upon closer inspection, Ashley and Tye noticed tiny creatures under them, seemingly dancing in the splendor of this wondrous event as if it had the same effect on them as music on a ballerina.
