Rift

Max pointed to the base of the valley. He covered his mouth, thinking they may have been too loud. Recognizing his fear, the other two peeked over the lip to see what was below.

 

It was a group of four or five Combine standing in a circle, staring at each other and doing something that looked like a cult exercise. It seemed like they could mindlessly stand there for hours, but since there was no foliage to block them from being seen, the brothers quickly ducked back over the lip of the crater to discuss what to do next.

 

Sitting on top of a rock, Max twirled around his backpack for a moment before looking inside. There were a few things in there: a towel, some food, extra water. Nothing for fighting.

 

Max’s eyes danced between himself, his brother, and the land around them, looking for any combination of things that could help them. There was nothing that could close the gap fast enough to let them have an advantage.

 

‘Ugh. I wish we trained our moves more. If we had, maybe I could have been able to strike them with lightning or something,’ Max thought. Ideas flashed in his head, but none of them seemed to be very good.

 

Gordon wandered off in search of something that could help, but neither of the two knew what he had in mind. With no leads, the brothers began to consider alternative solutions.

 

“Can we just avoid them?” Ben asked, looking below for any alternative route.

 

“I think so, but right now we’re only seeing one group, there could be more on the other side,” Max countered.

 

“Okay… What if we just wait until night and sneak past?” The Pikachu’s suggestion was quickly overturned by Max again.

 

“They have lights on their heads, dummy. Remember our first encounter? They’ll see us! We’ll be at a disadvantage here since we don’t have a light of our own.”

Max was interrupted by a soft popping sound behind him, and they turned to see Gordon smiling, a bright white light emanating from his chest. Another pop and the light vanished. Gordon was carrying a thick log, almost the size of a small tree. It was huge, even to Gordon’s standards.

 

“Damn! Seems we won’t be at a disadvantage,” Ben chuckled, then looked puzzled. “But seriously, what’s with the log?” Ben asked. 

Gordon didn’t respond. He only set the log down and stared at the combine below.

 

The two fidgeted while they watched the human carefully and strategically position the log on top of a rock, adjusting it to face the Combine at the bottom of the hill. Gordon knew the time to strike was now. With a flick of his wrist, the log shot down the hill at the speed of lightning, barreling straight toward the group. 

 

“Woah! What the hell?!” Max yelled, having expected Gordon to just shove the log down the hill and let gravity do the work. Having already seen enough of this guy, he just shrugged and accepted it as yet another thing Gordon could just do with zero explanation needed.

The log kicked up dirt and dust as it rushed down, creating what was almost like a cloud of smoke in its wake. The Combine conversing below didn’t even notice it rocketing toward them until it was already too late. 

 

It knocked down all of the Combine, like a bowling ball to a set of pins.

Gordon ran ahead first, but he was quickly outpaced by the brothers when it came to running downhill. 

 

There were four corpses left behind in its wake, and one pinned underneath the log itself.

 

Inspecting the group first, they cautiously inspected each of the bodies while Gordon caught up. 

 

Rather than wait for an answer, Gordon took the initiative and smacked each one with his crowbar to ensure that they were all dead. Having thoroughly confirmed that there was no possible way any of them survived, the group proceeded to the center of the valley.

 

A loud bang rang through their ears, and a sudden reminder of which body they forgot to check took the form of a bullet ricocheting off of Gordon’s suit. The three turned around to see the combine they thought for sure was crushed underneath the log feebly holding out a smoking handgun. 

 

“I’ve… got… eyes on Freeman…” it feebly spoke. 

 

Acting quickly, Gordon used his mysterious seemingly psychic log powers to shoot the log down again.

 

Sighing, he turned back and continued to the center of the valley. However, the brothers stopped him.

 

“Hold on, they can talk?!” Ben asked. Gordon shrugged as if he didn’t find it to be that big of a deal.

 

“Can you talk?” Ben inquired. Gordon refused to answer, turning away. 

 

Without his answer, Ben drew a conclusion.

 

“So you could talk the entire time, and you’re just refusing to do it?!” He demanded. Noticing what Gordon was holding in his left hand, Max screamed.

 

Gordon cringed upon being found out. He held out the Espeon tail, inspecting it.

 

“That is just terrible . Why do you even need that?” Max asked. Gordon didn’t answer, and his face didn’t shift either. He just stared back at them. 

 

Standing in front of his brother, Max trembled as he awaited his next move.

 

Turning around, Gordon attached the crowbar to his belt and grabbed the Combine’s pistol to investigate it.

 

The brothers stared at him, trying to piece together what he was doing.

 

Turning back to them, Gordon held out the tail and dropped it on the ground. His face relaxed, but Ben and Max continued to stare at him dumbly.

“You know what? That’s fine. I’ll just pretend like I never saw anything at all. Let’s just get this over with and we can go our separate ways.” Max stated.

 

“Agreed,” Ben mumbled, and they continued to the center of the valley.

 

Even though they said they would pretend as if nothing happened, Ben and Max still kept their distance.

 

The pillar in the center was remarkably easy to climb, being much less steep than what they imagined from a distance.  It was much more akin to a rough trail on mountain than si a steep clifface. 

 

“Hey Max, you know what this place needs?” Ben started.

 

“A big ladder?” Max replied, trying to guess the punchline. 

 

“No… about five million more loose rocks would be great,”  the Pikachu said sarcastically. Each step they took moved the ground beneath them, dispersing rocks and slowing them down. Gordon especially struggled, clumsily trying to keep up.

 

A few more minutes of suffering later, they finally made it to the metallic structure within. Ben’s wish partially came true, as dozens of rocks taller than them were scattered across the floor.

 

As soon as they cleared the final steps, a subtle vibration began to ring through them, like a speaker that was playing just a bit too loud. Looking at the source of the disturbance, they saw a purple crystal attached to the ceiling, beaming downward onto a strange object below.

 

There was a black circle in the middle with a purple firey outline. Max furrowed his brow staring at it, tilting his head back and forth. No matter how much he swayed, the object was always facing him. He also noticed how flat it looked, like if they approached it from the wrong angle, they would see an edge. 

 

Max told his brother this, who said he was experiencing the same thing. No matter where they stood, it was always facing both of them at the same time.

 

“Hey, look over here!” Max called out from the other side of the room, and his brother ran over.

 

There was a tiny metallic shine coming from the inside, beckoning for the brothers to investigate.

 

Cautiously moving toward the circle, Max brandished his stun stick forward and let electricity pulse through his arm. Again, the stun stick lit up like a torch.

 

“Ben, d-do you see… anything?” Max choked, barely able to produce enough electricity to keep it lit. Ben leaned in every direction, trying to figure out what kind of texture he was staring at.

 

That’s when it hit him.

 

“Max, that’s not a power source at all! That’s a portal!” Ben gasped as it all clicked in his head. “I know it! I saw some kind of a floor on the other side.”

 

“Woah,” Max uttered in response before pausing momentarily, scratching his chin as he thought. “That’s why it was always facing us! It’s a three-dimensional hole!”

 

Neither of the two wanted to touch it until Gordon caught back up, breathing heavily.

 

He noticed what the other two were doing, and with a small pop, a much greater extent of the room on the other side was illuminated.

 

The setting resembled a lab, featuring a hard concrete floor and dirty steel-blue walls littered with dusty computers.

 

Looking around for a moment, Gordon was the first to step inside. Ben followed.

 

“Ben, I’m not so sure if going in there is a good idea,” Max said, remaining outside. 

 

“Oh don’t be such a baby!” Ben taunted back, blowing a raspberry in his direction.

 

“But I’m older than you,” Max grumbled.

 

“Well then-” Ben grabbed the Raichu and yanked him inside, “-How about you start acting like it!”

 

Now that they were all on the other side, Max Admitted defeat, and joined the two slowly making their way around searching for clues. They spotted a door, but it was covered by rubble, meaning their only way out was to return through the portal. There was nothing else around; just pure darkness and the eerie atmosphere keeping them company.

 

“Well, looks like there’s nothing here,” Max announced, eagerly walking back to the portal. “This place was giving me the creeps! I’m out of- OOMPH!” Max tripped and fell onto the ground. 

 

Running over, Gordon lifted the object he tripped over with both hands and inspected it. It appeared to be a collection of rusted copper and steel, matching the same dingy blue of the walls around them. 

 

Messing with its various strange objects and greebles, Gordon eventually found a red switch and mindlessly flipped it. Max watched as the object he tripped over hummed to life, emitting a light blue glow into the surroundings. 

 

After finishing his inspection, he flipped the switch again, turning off its light. He then used a hook to attach it to his backpack, freeing both hands.

 

Now that there actually was nothing for them to see anymore, they went back outside to confront the crystal again.

 

“I think if we destroy that crystal, everything will go back to normal,” Ben said. He was silently already thinking about just going back to the simpler times, just picking up rocks from the field, or working through crossword puzzles– anything but this.

 

Without warning, Gordon fired his pistol at the crystal, and it shrieked and pulsed in response.

 

Max and Ben both covered their ears in pain, and the crystal trembled and shot out a blinding purple light.

 

Much to their surprise, Gordon quickly picked both of the brothers up, and dove behind a large rock. Unhooking the Tau Cannon from his back, he flipped the switch and it hummed to life again.

 

Gordon took on a power stance and slowly turned the handle. Tubes at the back of the weapon began to turn, faster and faster. It whirred and howled, higher and higher until it was begging to be released. Clenching his fists, he let loose.

 

The weapon fired a sudden and intense laser at the crystal, screaming out with a loud bang before being quiet once more. 

 

There was a moment of silence- then, the crystal cracked. It writhed and screamed like it was about to explode. Gordon ran as fast as he could to cover, but he wasn’t fast enough.

 

The crystal burst, shining out a blindingly bright light in all directions.

 

Ben ran over to Gordon, who was lying on the ground. The Pikachu held his breath,  fearing the worst had come. However, with the absolute silence all around him, he was able to hear Gordon’s breathing, signaling that he was still alive.

 

It lasted only for a moment, and then it was over. 

 

It was finally over.

 

“Max! We did it!” he cheered, practically smiling from ear to ear. There was no response. “Max!” he called out, but nobody answered. “MAX!!” he screamed again and again. 

 

Realizing that there wasn’t just no response, but also no sound at all, his breathing went heavy, and he began to frantically scramble back to the rock they were hiding behind.  

…

“ MAAAAAAAX !”