27: Hendge Collapse

After crossing the ravine, it was a few days of pure walking in the forest. The track was originally for vehicles to trek across but they were going by foot so they had no choice. All their eyes witnessed for days was trees, leaves and grass. Every so often, stopping to rest and eat, however they didn't want to drag the journey for longer. It was also a question to whether Machi would survive.

"Drama queen much?" Rocco sassed as Machi stopped to massage his legs and the rifter just rolled his eyes as they decided to stop for a bit while Machi regained energy. "That's the guy who fought and saved us all... huh?" Karma asked and Rocco watched as he lost all stamina to the hill they climbed. Steep hill, with about a 30% gradient. The others were trained for endurance, Machi wasn't. Endurance like this was hard for him.

"Excuse me!" Machi yelled. "If it wasn't PAINFULLY obvious," he revealed his arms, "I HAVE LITTLE TO NO ENERGY ANYMORE!"

"No one said keep them on." Mira whistled as she started walking.

"You are stubborn just take them off." Karma added and Machi glared at them.

"It doesn't suppress your ki." Rocco dealt the final blow and Machi just laid on the ground and they just rolled their eyes at his dramatic act. But then, they watched as he took off one claw, just one, from the cuffs digging into his arms, and the girls went silent as the pressure filled the air. It was suffocating, yet intriguing. They knew the power could not hurt them, hence the lack of a fight, flight, freeze or fawn response from them.

"If it wasn't painfully obvious, if Freed is looking for me, he'd be tracking the energy I leave behind. So, extremely strong enemy no one can seem to beat or CAN I REST?!" He yelled. Never had Rocco seen Machi so in distress and agreed that they needed a break from the constant walking. Not just for the fact that they were tired, but Machi needed to escape into the world of dreams to regain the brain power the group would need when they arrived at Hendge Collapse.

***

"Human?" Cain asked and Vince nodded. "A human... child?"

"Did this child in my arms give you no hint?" Vince chuckled. "Cain Briers you never cease to make me laugh."

He smiled sadly at his close friend. "Despite everything Vince, they refuse to give the title to anyone apart from your bloodline. They will come after you and your children now."

"They are not like us Cain--"

"But are of your blood." He him stressed.

~

"Hmm." The man before looked to the doll sitting and smiled. Using his powers, the doll was awoken.

"What's your name?"

The doll looked to the man before him. "Sir Carbine." The doll replied.

"I'm Rylan. Rylan Hallows." He smiled.

***

"Machi?" Rocco woke him up and noticed they were walking to Hendge Collapse. "Finally you're awake. We decided to carry you while you slept." Rocco explained and Machi didn't bother getting down and leaned on Rocco. He looked distant, like he was trying to remember something, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hey buddy you ok?" Rocco asked and Machi looked to the destroyed labs in the mountain. Quarry foundations untouched and grassed over.

"Mhmm."

"Oi! Boy duo!" Karma yelled. "Stop confessing and get over here."

Rocco rolled his eyes and Mira chuckled as they arrived. "We aren't gay for each other Karma."

"Then stop trying to get me alone." Machi teased and Rocco dropped him and walked to the edge. Yelling some curses, Machi got up and followed them to the edge.

"What the hell happened here?" Rocco asked as Machi wiped the mud off his cargo pants and looked over the edge. "Hendge Collapse is missing?" Karma asked. Mira knew they went on this journey without much information but they didn't know they didn't know this little. "Hendge Collapse is this." Mira said. "A temporal distortion." Unable to see further down confirmed that for the Harkness. But also how his fingers tingled at the closeness of the distortion.

"Can we get to the labs?" Machi asked. "Without using Rocco?"

"Hard to be fair. My father used carts to get around. You need the authentication key which… oh we don't have." No one told her she had to be so judgemental but fair. "Why can't we use him though?" Karma asked.

Machi looked at the blue and purple waves within the Collapse. "It would use too much energy. The disorder of the area would interfere with Rocco's powers. Temporal distortions are like teleportation gates without a stabiliser. They'll transport you to god knows where and that end location may not have a distortion of its own. And if it does there's zero guarantee you'll arrive back to your start destination. Rocco's powers are basically a stable version of that he controls. Like forces repel."

Satisfied with his explanation, they noticed all their watches malfunctioned and turned off. "Nothing technological is gonna work here." But it wasn't just the watches that gave it away, but a combination of things confirmed his suspicions. The lack of pictures of Hendge Collapse - only aerial photos but they were from hundreds of miles away or drawings of different landscapes he noticed were in the file Zac had given him. The section of Hendge Collapse had only contained handwritten notes, nothing electronic was used to write these first hand accounts and notes.

Looking about too confirmed his suspicions. His eyes noticed the destroyed wiring and the burnt down labs that would have survived knowing the technology here was highly advanced.

"So what you're saying is that we gotta get to the labs old school?" Karma asked. Machi looked up at her as she trained her eyes into the distance. "For me and you sure it'd be easy." Machi said without hesitation. "For you two," he turned to Rocco and Mira, "a little harder."

But unlike his past memories, he didn't plan to leave those who couldn't come behind. He wasn't like his mother - who focused on getting the strong stronger and leaving the weak. Centralising power to only a few people. Growth can stagnate and Machi didn't enjoy that people were told to remain there by some higher power. Be it a leader of an actual higher power.

"We'll be fine... I guess?" Mira looked to Rocco and he nodded.

"Come on you think we are this level for fun?" Rocco asked Machi despite his friend giving no indication he was listening. Rocco sighed and looked to the other side of the distortion and gulped. He didn't want to fall through.

"Well I had an easy way to get up but it seems you want to go the hard and long way, be my guest." Machi stood off to the side and the teleporter just glared.

"Get on with it then." Rocco huffed and Machi broke a smile.

A week since they left. And that was his first smile.

"Stay in front of me." Machi said and they did. Feeling their feet drop in temperature, they noticed an ice path begin to form. "Run or walk?" Mira asked. He shrugged, uncaring about whether they wanted to run or walk. "Just remain within the radius of my ice. Or you'll drop to your death… or disappear across the universe." He explained.

They stuck to walking.

*

After almost an hour, the ice bridge was completed but also gone at the same time. Since Machi was using the water in the air, it was bound to melt back into water. But they arrived at the entrance to the broken labs. Seeing the metal hang from the ceiling, the wires all torn and broken, maybe a beast came out. But Rocco didn't think so. There was no claw marks, or signs of life at all. Nothing signalled that human life was ever here. "Why did you come here?" Karma asked the all important question. Seeing a fire be set up, Mira began making something to eat as Rocco set up the blankets for the night.

"My father." Machi finally said. "My father was tracking his past. Zac never stopped looking and they first tracked something of his to this place. If it gives me answers to why Freed came after my father and me... then yeah I'm following what a ghost was looking for."

Maybe the most insane thing that came out of the man with an IQ of 217.