The Grand Canyon 5:04 AM
Two shadows crept through the eerie silence, quietly sneaking through the brush and trees that lined Havasu Creek, letting the ever-growing sound of running water drown out their footsteps
Making sure not to make a sound, they kept going, neither saying a word to the other, until they reached the waterfall
They exited the tree line, and Chase was the first to speak
“Here we are…Moony Falls.”
But Max only stared blankly, memories flashing in front of him,
Run! Run and don’t look back!
Max had made it a point to never think about this place, he had made it a point never to come back… and yet here he was
Kill them all/ I love you… so much/ won’t hesitate
The pale moonlight shone across the surface of the peaceful scene, the waterfall crashing calmly in the background, and in the low light, you could just make out what the two boys wore, Max was wearing a T-shirt, a bathing suit, and a waterproof backpack that Chase had given him. Whereas, Chase, on the other hand, was wearing his Slash suit, and his own, waterproof, backpack
He turned to look over at Max noticing that something was wrong… his eyes were glassy, but he refused to let a tear fall… He didn’t seem to be happy to be home like Chase had assumed he would be. But why wouldn’t he be?
And Chase realized that there was a question that he hadn’t asked yet… a question that had been staring him in the face the entire time, that had been right there, begging to be asked, and he was only now seeing it
“Why did you leave?” Chase asked
Max didn’t turn his head, his face showing telling a story, that Chase couldn’t seem to read
“Just be ready” He replied
Chase didn’t speak for a moment, then he reached into his backpack, pulled out a black mask, and threw it to Max
“Put it on, and press two fingers in the left space right under your jaw”
Max complied and immediately felt the fabric of the mask conform to his face and neck.
“Well that’s kinda weird” Max commented looking out through the lenses
“Now it’s calibrated to you” Chase replied
“And these will act as goggles?” He inquired one last time, just to be sure
“Yeah” Chase confirmed, putting on his own red and black mask
“So where’s the entrance?” He asked searching the area with his night vision, yet still coming up with nothing
Max smirked
“I think you’re gonna like this”
Still being as quiet as they could, the two waded into the fridged water and got to where the waterfall was right in front of them
Max looked at Chase, “Now take a deep breath, and follow me”
And with that, Max disappeared into the waist-high, icy water, and Chase followed.
Ugh, Chase hated the cold, he was much more of a warmer temperature type of person.
With the waterfall pounding on the surface above him, Max swam into the slightly deeper (Like a foot deeper) section below it. He faced a rock wall and got to the very floor, where the rock wall and the ground meet, with water surrounding them. Right there, if you looked hard enough, you could see that there was a small hole in the rock wall just at that very point, only big enough for a single person to fit through.
Bingo
Max immediately took his backpack off and shoved it through the hole, then he himself swam into the slightly bigger, but still cramped, natural, dark, and water-filled tunnel that it became. With lungs starting to burn, Max continued to wriggle his way down through the twists and turns of the small space, pushing his backpack through ahead of him the whole time. This used to be so much easier!
The tiny tunnel went on for about fifteen feet. Max was not usually a claustrophobic person, but this was testing his limits, and just as he thought his lungs were going to give, he finally reached the exit and swam into the much less cramped space, immediately aiming up. He burst through the surface of the water, gulping in as much air as he could, (Which was surprisingly easy even with the mask on his face) While sliding his arms back through his the straps of his backpack
“Wow!” He shivered, still panting and struggling to stay afloat in this much deeper area “I’m actually here”
The words echoed in the pitch blackness that he swam in
Suddenly Chase broke the surface right next to Max,
“Holy!” He exclaimed, taking in as much air as he could “This is Awesome!”
Quickly Chase looked, around. It was absolutely pitch black, but with his enhanced vision, he could see the area around them. They were in a cave pool, inside of a secret cave.
There was a splash as Max started swimming in a random direction, hoping to get to the edge of the pool, but instead only hitting the wall
With the roll of his eyes, Chase tapped the right temple section of his mask twice, immediately causing a bunch of tiny little LED’s around the lenses of his mask to activate and illuminate the space
Max turned around in surprise, but still said nothing
Swimming to the edge of the small pool, Chase clambered up onto the dry, but still cold, surface.
Shakily Max then levitated out of, and above the water, and onto the cave ground next to Chase, his feet making a Splat as they hit the ground
Before Chase could say anything, Max used the light Chase was emitting to find the lever in the wall
With a grunt he pulled it, instantly causing about five lights to illuminate the area around the pool,
“Not many know about this place,” Max commented admiring the now disturbed waters of the pool “Just me and…” he trailed off “Well mostly just me”
The two turned and stared at the tunnel stretching out before them, a tunnel with a noticeable lack of cave lights to guide them down its twists and turns.
“So… down the dark and scary downward tunnel?” Chase guessed
“Down the dark and scary downward tunnel,” Max responded
Chase sighed, then reached over and double tapped the right temple section of Max’s mask, causing the tiny, but dimmer, LED’s around his lenses to light up as well
“Thanks” Max muttered as he turned the cave lights off and started walking
They walked for about nine hundred yards, and as they did, Chase noticed that there was a sound that was starting to get louder.
For the most part, the walk was nothing special, just a walk on the cold cave floor, but again Chase couldn’t get over the ever louder sound that he was hearing, it was almost like a…
Suddenly Chase knew what the sound was
“Umm…” Chase started, but Max quieted him
They stood on the edge of an opening in the tunnel, it was a pitch black, very big, drop. Two waterfalls spewed from above on either side of the drop and crashed into each other in front of the exact spot where the two boys stood
Max pulled another lever and illuminated the area around the waterfall.
“It’s at least twenty miles deep!” Max called as he approached the edge, the cool air from the hole whipping him in the face as the waterfalls splashed together, wetting the lenses of his mask.
“And we’re going to…” Chase yelled over the roar of the waterfall
“Yup!” Max yelled back, finishing his thought
“…How!?”
Max pointed to where the wall of the cave ended and became the drop, but it didn’t quite do that, instead the wall ended about three feet early, whereas the floor kept going out by that much. And in that empty space, was an elevator
“A mine elevator” Chase smiled “Cool”
“Get in,” Max said as he himself opened the gate of the elevator and walked in
Chase did the same, as he and Max turned off their LED’s to conserve battery
Max hit the button, and the elevator’s lights turned on, reflecting off the crashing water, and started down.
The process was long and slow, and the two often couldn’t hear each other because of the roaring water.
But after fifteen minutes, Chase decided to ask some questions
“So what? They’re just going to let us waltz right in!?” He yelled, once more trying to outdo the water
“Remember how I told you to be ready?!” Max replied coldly
“And do you remember how I asked you why you left!?” Chase replied unfazed
“Long story that I’ve spent a long time moving on from… And one that I don’t want to talk about!” He snapped
“Well I have a feeling that I’m going to find out anyway,” Chase muttered
Max rolled his eyes
The shaft just kept going down, illuminated by the shining elevator lights. It was a beautiful sight, the waterfall, but it was also a very long, and very cold sight. In fact, Max was having trouble feeling his toes
Finally, after around forty minutes of nothing but the elevator ride, it came to an end, touching down at the bottom
The now merged waterfalls crashed into the water to their left, and into the river that they formed. The river then went forward into a new cave, with a walkway on the right side, and a couple of lights to guide the way. The water was the loudest here than it had ever been so far, but surprisingly the river was pretty calm.
Chase opened the gate and stepped onto the paved cave floor, it was about ten feet wide, and went about five feet outward before turning and going around the right edge of the wide area going into the new tunnel ahead of them.
“Come on,” Max sighed, “this is the longest part yet, but once we reach the separation point it’ll be smooth sailing, or walking, I should say”
“And how far is that?” Chase inquired
“Like three thousand feet” Max responded starting to walk
But Chase had had enough of this, “Yeah no, let’s just get there now” He said turning on his lights again
“What was th-HEY!!”
Chase scooped Max up in his arms and jumped over the water that formed the gap separating them and the rest of the cave. And as soon as he touched the ground, he took off at three-hundred MPH!
“NoNONONONONONONO!!!!!!” Max protested “I don’t like to be carried!!!!”
But Chase ignored him, he was sick and tired of being cold and miserable. The Cave was a straight shot, so Chase ran all the way down it as the river flowed to his left, and within seconds he was at the split-off point.
Digging his claws into the rock he came to a stop and set Max down
“I hate it when you do that!” he yelled
But suddenly they both stopped in their tracks, as a pocket of slightly warmer air hit them in their masks
Chase looked to his left, the path they stood on was about ten feet above the flowing water, and at this point, it split off into a smaller cave leading more to the right, whereas the river kept going straight. This was also where the lights ended, the tunnel they were about to go down was dark. But at least it was warm.
“Alright, here we go” Max sighed, pulling yet another lever, and turning the cave lights off for good. He was suddenly not very happy… But Chase didn’t pry
They continued to walk, their lights illuminating the dark tunnel as the cold air filled their lungs, neither saying a word to the other. It was a pretty uneventful walk from here, but it was long.
After a mile, they reached the end of the cave
It was a dead end… Or that’s what it was supposed to look like at least
After a quick examination of the ceiling, Max jumped up, his hands seemingly phasing through
There he hung until he raised his body, and completely phased through the ceiling and into the rock
Chase stared in amazement
“Come on” Max called
Chase jumped and hooked his left-hand claws right next to the space where Max had phased through, and tenderly touched the area
Sure enough, his hand went right through
“It’s a hologram” He muttered to himself in wonder, immediately he swung in through the hologram, gripping his toe claws into the smooth rock ceiling about five feet above it so that he hung upside down. He was in a crawl space, about as big as an air duct, and it seemed to go on for about twenty feet before it dropped down again.
Max was crouching in front of him.
Carefully Chase crawled in with Max
They silently crawled the twenty feet till they came to the end.
Max suddenly stopped, like he had hit a wall, afraid to look down into the hole in front of him
BANG!!!
Max shuddered, that horrible night still burned into his mind, this is where it had happened, where it had all changed.
Are you alright?/ Where are your parents?/ BANG!!!
“Max?” Chase pried
Max took a deep breath and looked down
Crash!!! Lighting flashed in front of him, he saw him reach for his gun. He wanted to stop him, but he was paralyzed with fear! The man raised it, and-
“Max!” Chase snapped, shaking Max from his memories
He turned to face Chase
“Is it clear?” Chase asked for the second time
Max nodded and turned back. The room was empty.
With a grunt he jumped through the hole and hit the dirty floor below, Chase followed closely
behind
The two boys stood up, their lights illuminating the dark room, and with a quick look to each other, they stepped outside, and to the edge of the ground, the moonlit night sky illuminating the canyon in below them
“Holy…” Chase gasped at the sight in front of him
And Max couldn’t help but smile,
“Yeah…” Max sighed “Chase… Welcome to the largest Paradox City in the world… Welcome to Dragons Canyon”
Neither said anything after that, they only stood and watched as the waterfall flowed from the mouth of the dragon statue that was carved into the rock, and into the canyon below