by Bryan Young
“Right here, boss!” Kato said, leaning against the wall. “Well, actually, I’m over there too,” he pointed in no particular direction. “And there,” he said, randomly pointing again. “Technically, I’m in a lot of places. I’m running so fast I’m essentially occupying multiple spaces at once. As for your question. I figured if I got those things to chase me around, I could keep them off your backs. No biggie.”
Tye looked on at the clash and back at Kato, a wide smile forming on his face. “Kato!” he shouted, catching him by surprise.
“Ah!” Kato yelled in response. “Dude, I can hear you. No need to scream.”
Tye rolled his eyes and said more softly. “Right. How rude of me. Listen. I have a plan.”
“I’m all ears, dude.”
Tye motioned at the floating crystals behind Kato with his head. “Think you can get those things to smash into each other while they chase you?”
“Easy,” Kato nodded. “But uh. How does that help us take down big boy?”
“Small steps towards a bigger goal, my dude. Small steps,” Tye said with a wink.
“Whatever you say,” he said with a shrug. “I’mma go and do that then. Peace.” With that, Kato disappeared to carry out phase one of Tye’s plan.
Alone, Tye inhaled deeply and focused his energy into his hands and eyes. Slowly counting to three, he suddenly burst from the clutch of the crystalline arm and dashed into the fight. He watched as the golem stood like a tank, withstanding heavy punches from both Carmelita and Dallas, and shaking off every one of Ashley’s energy bolts. With all the strength he could muster, Tye screamed for his friends to fall back.
“What?!” Carmelita shouted as she jumped out of the way of a wild swing. “We’re in the middle of trying to kill this thing and you want us to fall back?”
“Yes!” Tye yelled back. “Just... Trust me!”
Ashley grunted and reluctantly flew back to meet Tye by the stairs. Taking a blow to the head, Dallas jumped back of his own accord and Carmelita gritted her teeth as she followed.
Once it felt like there was significant space between them, the creature stood once more unmoving, almost as if it was trying to scan the teens and ascertain what exactly they were planning.
“The hell are we doing, Tye?” Carmelita asked furiously.
Tye shot her a coy smile, “Trusting ya boy is what. Look above us.”
She raised her eyebrows and looked up to see two large crystals hanging over them. “So?” she asked.
“So...” Tye continued. “Be prepared to do what you did earlier. We’re gonna have to move quickly.” He turned around to Dallas. “Yo, big dude. When he’s stunned, I’ma need you to give him the best two-piece you got, aight? Let ‘em hands go. BUT, you’ll need to do this in the dead center of its eyes or it won’t work.” Finally, he waved Ashley over and told her to prepare to let loose.
She nodded and told him to give her the signal. They both put their hands out, standing beside each other. He turned back to the other two and said, “Yo. If we die though... My bad,” before turning to face the golem once more. As he waited with Ashley, beads of sweat formed on his brow, unsure if his plan would work. He drew in a deep breath, tensed his muscles, and as soon as he heard the “Pop” of multiple crystals colliding into each other, he released his strongest beam of energy yet with Ashley following suit mere seconds later. Just as Tye had predicted, it retaliated with a concentrated burst of its own that tore through Ashley and Tye’s combined attack.
“Carmelita, now!” Tye shouted as he and Ashley dived out the way. On cue, Carmelita pulled out the two large crystals from the ceiling and directed them at the fast-approaching stream of energy, causing an explosion similar to the one that had accidentally occurred earlier. Having anticipated the force, Tye had taken shelter behind a large stone, which was now completely shattered. He looked over to Dallas and screamed that it was time for him to charge.
With a mighty roar, Dallas sped forward towards the golem who was trying to recover from the explosion. Before it could defend itself, Dallas was upon him. Surging forward, he thrust his massive fist forward like a ball leaving the cannon. It made a crushing impact on the golem’s face, cracking its armor-like skin. This was the opportunity Tye needed. A large grin across his face, he summoned his blade and flew forward with his left hand extended.
In that moment, time seemed to slow down. Victory was at hand. Tye could feel his heart beating, the blood rushing through his veins, every breath working its way through his body. Images of what he had been through for the past several days rushed through his head and with them, thoughts of everyone he knew he had to make it home to. His parents, his sister, his friends. He was about to save them all from certain doom in this moment. Just as all these feelings converged, he saw the blade deeply pierce the golem’s head, go straight through the top of the marker and out its back.
The challenge, however, hadn’t ended. For as Tye had lunged forward to defeat their final obstacle, the golem, in a moment of ultimate self-preservation, had frozen Tye and itself within a coffin of crystals. Inside seemed like a moment in time now frozen. The fate of the challenge, of Tye, and itself seemed indefinitely ambiguous as the other teens screamed and pounded away to no avail.
Chapter 18: I Haven’t Been Completely Honest with You
Tye stood up in a daze. He looked around the dark and empty space and saw nothing. “What the actual fuck, man? Why do I always end up in the weirdest places when I wake up?” He looked around into the chamber and walked in no particular direction, unsure if there was even anything to walk to. “I swear if this all turns out to be some bullshit prank or gameshow or a dream, I’m gonna be pretty sour.”
“This being a gameshow is what would make you mad?” a voice echoed from the void.
Startled, Tye jumped around and summoned his blades on both hands. “Hello?!” he yelled. “Whoever is out there, I just want you to know that I’m a smart six-foot-one black guy with laser hands and a hoodie. I’m basically white America's greatest nightmare.” He squinted to find the source of the voice but couldn’t see anything. Concluding that he was just going crazy, he retracted his blades and turned around, only to scream and jump back again when he saw the golem standing right before him. “Shit, man!” he screamed. “Please don’t tell me this is like one of those boss levels where I have to beat you again but you’re like three times as strong.”
The golem stood there, unmoving. It slowly moved towards him and unexpectedly, almost as if it had a mouth, it laughed. “No, young one. I am not here to fight. I never was.”
Tye slowly stood up and looked at the alien skeptically. “Not here to fight? Sure seemed like it back out there.”
“That was not my choice,” it said somberly. “I was chosen to be a guardian of these trials. As one of the few that made it past the first round but failed the test that came after, they felt it was best that I serve them this way. So long as I do it dutifully, at least my family can be safe. That was the promise they made me.”
“Okay,” Tye said, still skeptical. He studied the golem and walked around it. “Still doesn’t explain what this place is or why you’re talking to me casually.”
The golem didn’t say anything for a moment. In that time, Tye genuinely started to believe that he was somehow projecting at the alien and that it was not actually talking to him. But then, its calm yet powerful voice echoed through the empty chamber once again. “To put it simply, this is a place where our minds can communicate, cut off from their observation. I’ve brought you here because I have something very important to tell you. However, whether you choose to listen or not is completely up to you. You may sever this connection at any time.”
“And why should I listen to you? How do I know this isn’t some trick?” Tye asked, raising his voice slightly.
“Because if you weren’t curious about what I had to say, you wouldn’t be here,” it responded frankly.
Tye looked away for a moment, contemplati
ng what the alien could possibly want and how urgent it must really be if he was about to be free of the dome anyway. He chewed on his thumbnail, trying to decide if he truly wanted to give the golem his attention and then stopped and sighed, looking back at it. “Tell me what it is, boss.”
With a wave of its hand, images of the dome and the cosmos flooded their formerly empty space, now alive with vivid depictions of the grand universe around them. Tye’s eyes lit up as he saw the home worlds of the various species he had seen. He saw forests full of the grand trees, rivers connecting to mighty bioluminescent oceans, and cave systems with powerful crystals that dwarfed any he could’ve ever seen on earth.
“All of this is but a fraction of our universe. A mere speck on a speck on a speck of our tiny slice of all that is. The creators of this place took small bits and pieces from each of these places and put them into an environment that has the qualities of thousands of worlds—all in their ideal intellectual design. As you know, you all were lured here and once inside, the dome was able to fast-track the expression of genes that held your powerful superhuman abilities.”
“Thanks for the exposition,” Tye said with an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. “The first thing is kinda cool, I guess, but hardly the important message that would require such a light show.”
“Because you aren’t connecting the dots,” it said in its booming yet soothing voice. “Why do you think you were brought here? These tests aren’t random. Your abilities have a wide-ranging field of implications and yet, they’ve chosen to see how you fight and how you survive, specifically.”
Tye walked forward towards the golem, his arms now at his sides and his eyes growing wide. “You... have a point. But... What does that m—”
“It means,” the golem cut him off, “they’re testing you as weapons to see how much you can break without being broken. And let me be the first to tell you that there are other weapons out there. Some with very impressive destructive power. This isn’t the end. And I mean that in more ways than one.”
By this point, Tye was sweating and his mouth was agape. He choked on his words, tangible fear building inside him for what the golem was insinuating. “I’m afraid to ask you to explain, but at this point... I need the truth.”
“The truth,” it continued, “is that if you make it out of here alive, you will meet the other weapons and they will see which species has the biggest bomb. So, to speak.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Tye asked. “What do you gain?”
“Satisfaction,” it said coldly. “These creatures took my world. Took my freedom. Replaced everything with a burning memory of themselves. I’ve seen thousands of challengers come and go and I feel that you five may have the best chance to eventually bring this empire down. Prepare well. Warn your people. Make allies. I truly feel that you can lead a meaningful charge against them.”
“We didn’t sign up for that!” Tye shouted desperately, his voice cracking. “We didn't ask to be in this dome or kill aliens or take out a galactic empire! We’re just kids! Why should we have to bear that responsibility?!”
“Responsibility isn’t a matter of ‘why.’ It’s a matter of ‘is’ and ‘are.’ If not you, then countless worlds will suffer and you’d be foolish to think yours won’t eventually as well. It will. After you face your final challenge, you must prepare.”
“I...” Tye began, struggling to find words, his eyes looking down at the ground. “Wait... Final challenge? Wasn’t this our—”
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the void and Tye was forced to shield his eyes. In an instant, Tye found himself on the floor of the cave, surrounded by the others.
He sat up and gasped for air, reaching around his body and feeling himself to ensure that he indeed was back in the real world. Once satisfied, he looked around at the smiling faces, questioning why everyone was happy.
The next thing he knew, Ashley had rushed in to hug him. Still confused, he looked up at Kato for some kind of a hint as to what was going on.
To his amazement, Kato waved around the last marker and howled with pure excitement. Tye stood up and snatched it from his hands, looking down on it like a precious diamond. “We did it,” he whispered to himself. Unable to contain his excitement, he yelled out, “WE JUST SAVED THE WORLD!”
“That’s what teamwork gets ya,” Kato said with a wink. “And I gotta say, I’m happy to have done it with some new friends along the way.”
In typical manner, Dallas commented, “This sappy shit can be saved for later, in a group chat or something, right? For now, I really want to go the fuck home.”
Tye agreed, ready to leave the hell hole that they had spent the last couple of days in. He grabbed the final marker and rushed up the stairs and out of the cave with the other teens following behind.
Once outside, he stood with the marker in his hand, looking down at it and running his fingers over the surface. “This is it,” he said quietly. Quickly, he took off his backpack and gathered the other two and held them up into the sky, screaming “HEY! WE’RE DONE! WE’VE COMPLETED YOUR DUMBASS CHALLENGES. NOW, LET US GO HOME!”
Nothing.
Tye looked behind him and Carmelita shrugged. “Uh. Did they give us a manual or something?” he asked.
“No, but it looks like they did give us a middle finger,” Ashley commented.
“Yeah,” Tye responded. “I do feel pretty stupid doing this. Maybe we just gotta—” Suddenly, the three objects began to glow in his hands.
Kato pointed in the distance towards the floating black object which was now emitting a concentrated red beam of energy into the sky. “Is it just me or is that an omen? I’m getting bad vibes from it.”
Tye turned around and nearly gasped when he saw the sky, now blood red and cracking with thunderous booms. The markers in his hands rose into the air, spinning rapidly such that they appeared like a perfect ring rather than three separate orbs.
A thin straight beam shot out from the floating black capsule and hit the ring in the center, sending out a massive shockwave and creating what looked like a tear in the very fabric of reality.
The teens looked on in horror as a large figure slowly climbed out of the portal, its body easily filling the entire two-meter-thick gap. It slowly reached its leg out of the portal and set it down on the grass. Then, a massive hand pierced the tear, grabbing the edge of the ring and pulling itself forward. It was then followed by three more hands and arms that worked their way out. In total shock, they continued to watch as, in one fluid thrust, it flung its body out of the portal, jumping into the air and landing with a thud they felt in their chests.
It slowly stood before them on powerful tree-trunk legs with long two-toed feet. The humanoid figure towered over the kids, roughly ten feet tall, sporting glossy black armor. Each of its four hands only bore two fingers and a thumb, yet each appendage looked rather versatile, as if the missing fingers didn’t impact its abilities at all. Its helmet had two thin red visors with short spikes and a quadruple-hinged jaw that split into four even sections as it slowly opened its mouth to reveal several rows of serrated teeth. It was built like a tank and seemed to have a number of gadgets and weapons attached to its futuristic and otherworldly armor.
It chuckled as it took one step forward, taking pleasure in the way the teens scrambled backwards. “Why so scared?” it asked in a deep guttural voice that seemed to be slightly modified by its helmet.
Tye struggled to speak, completely unable to form words in the presence of the thing. He gritted his teeth and then turned towards his friends and saw their fear on their faces. Despite his heart pumping out of his chest, he slowly stood up and stared at the alien. “We want to go home!” he said forcefully. “We completed all your tests and the deal was that we get to go home!” This time, he was yelling and pointing at the alien in an accusatory manner.
It gave another chuckle. “Oh, yeah. I suppose one of the administrators did say that. Well...” it stretched its massive arm out
to indicate that the dome was still active. “They lied,” it hissed sinisterly.
A deep sense of dread and failure smacked the teens like a fully loaded truck. They questioned if they’d ever be free. Confusion and frustration rose inside all of them and it came to a head when Dallas, on the verge of tears, screamed from behind Tye.
“FUCK. YOU!” he shouted with deep-seated anger and rage. “YOU SAID WE WOULD GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! AND NOW YOU HIT US WITH THIS BULLSHIT?!”
“Dallas...” Tye said, attempting to calm him down
“NO,” he said, shutting Tye down before turning his attention back to the alien. “What do we have to do?! I swear to God if you don’t fucking tell us right the now, I—”
The alien laughed, crossing his arms and nodding. “Such an aggressive boy you are, Dallas,” it mocked. “But I respect your request. The last challenge... is me. Remember, we want to make sure that your species is strong. If five of you can’t defeat one of me then that’s all the proof we need that you aren’t worthy. As a result, I will show no mercy. If you wish to return home, you must kill me in combat. No markers. No goals. Simply a fight to the death. Upon my death or yours, the trials will end. Is that good enough for you?”
A sinister smile crept onto Dallas’s face. “It’s amazing.”
Realizing what was about to happen, Tye spun around to try and stop Dallas from charging but it was too late, Dallas had completely transformed and was leaping towards the alien. Anticipating this, it snatched Dallas by the head mid-air and slammed him into the ground. Effortlessly he picked him up again and drove two fists into his stomach, causing Dallas to cough up blood before being thrown into the dirt again. Casually, the alien walked over to the bruised body, watching Dallas struggle to stand before stepping on his head and smashing it into the ground.
