In every hero's life, there are several slow-mo moments portrayed in movies and comics, a key one being a major tragedy that defines who he or she is throughout the rest of his life.

   I'd never understood the dramatics of making that moment in slow-mo till now. The reason I believe that situation is slowed down is because through the hero's perspective, the process of it those kinds of traumas that don't hit you until after you're fucked up in your entirety.

   So when Camila raised the Neuroskel above her head and let go, I experienced the next few seconds of life through the eyes of a sloth, until the device hit the ground with a loud crash and shattered into pieces.

   Just like my spirit. Like my hope.

   Like her face was going to be when I was through with her.

   I lunged at Camila Mendez for the second time today.

   Yet again, I didn't make it very far. Rav's steel-locked grip around my waist, however, was starting to waver. I was so fixated on Camila that I didn't even notice when Dorian joined us till his hand rested on and warmed on my shoulder.

"What have you done?" Since yelling was the only thing I could make possible at this point. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

   It was like talking to an immobile object. Camila's head was sloped so low toward the destruction she created that her hair had fallen over her face, making her expression unreadable and appear every bit psychotic as she was.

   What do you call a person who destroyed the one thing that will trigger the deaths of hundreds in the next thirty minutes?

   Oh, that's right... a serial killer!

   Who would soon be responsible for the Talise, my best friend, Viola, her best friend, Minji, my friend and her family, Landon and many others with loving families and friends as well.

   But before I could drum that into her manipulated skull, all it took was one more glance at the disintegrated Neuroskel for the emotional weight I didn't know I was carrying to become too heavy to bear. And in that moment, I stopped struggling in Rav's arms and instead immersed myself in them, wetting the chest area of his suit with my tears. Soon, I felt Dorian becoming one with Rav and me.

   The series of muffled cries and subsequent sniffs that followed for God knows how long did not all come from me.

   Eventually, we broke away from our shared hug of sorrow.

   I gazed at the Neuroskel at the end of the stairs, still broken, still in pieces instead of whole. The person I expected to see behind the Neuroskel, however, was no longer there. My eyes shifted toward the stage to see a trail of blood– rather than Mr. Speck– at his previous that travelled all the way to one of the now ajar assembly pod doors. Clearly, our depression was just what they needed to run away like the cowards they were.

   I shook my head, glad that I didn't even feel disappointed in Camila. She made it clear that there was only one life she cared about and it didn't matter how many other lives had to be sacrificed for it.

   I can already imagine her and Speck working on finishing the other Neuroskels he mentioned and executing a newer, more widespread version of his plan, not giving a damn about the many who died from their selfish actions.

"Guys," Rav rasped. "What are we going to do?"

   The only thing I wanted to do was go to Ridgeton, crawl into my bed and not come out until this nightmare of a situation ended.

"Nobody's going to die." Dorian's words lifted me from that depressing fantasy.

"What?" I blinked.

   He repeated himself with such certainty that I began wondering whether he was now going through his denial stage of grief.

"Dorian..." Rav said. "The Neuroskel is smashed. Everyone we know should be dead."

"No." He shook his head. "Speck said 30 minutes. The mind-control devices would only self-destruct after an hour passes without the Neuroskel being repaired and I know it's not been thirty minutes since Camila destroyed the Neuroskel."

"But eventually it will be," I remarked. "And when time arrives... well, what Rav said."

"Not if you fix it."

   Those simple words caused my heart to somersault.

   I didn't reply to Dorian. Rather, I walked down the stage's stairs, stopping at the end to bend and get a good look at the destructive mess before me.

   Dorian joined me. "I know you can fix this."

"But I–"

"Beth," he rested his hand on my knee. "I've seen you work. I saw your mountains of creations in your garage when I came over. You recreated the world's smallest drone for our first mission in the bunker."

   I scoffed at that, refusing to meet his eyes. He means our first failed mission in the bunker. I had good sense to not voice that out though.

   Dorian was unperturbed, "You designed and built our weapons for this one, most of which serve as the reasons we got into Zavlon and have survived this long. Although I hate to agree with him, Speck wasn't wrong in noticing how good you are, because, Beth, you are. If anyone can put this device back together, it's you. I believe it, Rav believes it and I can confidently say that Speck believes it too. The only thing that matters though, is do you?"

   Stifling a sigh, my eyes met the Neuroskel again, but to my surprise, couldn't look at it the same way. It seemed like though the device was broken, the parts had come apart in such a way that all they needed was to fit into each other to restore the Neuroskel to its former harmony. Very similar to a jigsaw puzzle.

   But, unlike a jigsaw puzzle, the parts weren't going to automatically stick and come alive. We needed materials to make that happen. Materials we did not have.

   While I was letting Dorian know all this, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to be astonished by the numerous devices overflowing in Rav's hands.

"I carried out quick body searches on Landon and the Yunies and found these," he explained. "This should help right?"

   Right. They were still unconscious.

   From Rav's collection, I settled on one of the Yunies' laser guns, the piercing ends of placement guns, the wires in Landon's gun and a glow in the dark marble in a Yunie's pockets for some reason (not any less useful though). It seemed I was ready to fix the Neuroskel.

"Wait," I held up my hand.

"Beth," Dorian sighed. "We don't have much time."

"But that's my problem," I insisted. "How will I know when an hour has been exhausted? The wrist watches we all had and phones were taken when we got caught the first time."

   A minute of pondering came to end by Rav snapping his fingers and saying, "I've got it! Landon will be our way of knowing since he has the device too. If his head blows off, then we know we're finished."

   As crazy as that sounded, it was the only way of knowing that made sense.

   With no further worries and after keeping a sound distance from Landon (on an unrelated note, how far can exploded head guts travel, by the way?), I sat crossed legged on the floor, between Dorian and Rav and got to work.

   My mind went to several places as I worked. The first was Ridgeton's Mini Haven, the junkyard where I'd gotten the parts needed for my Neuroskel. Then I was in my garage, assembling these parts after much polishing and manipulation to suit what I was going for. The last place my mind wandered off to was also the last time I'd seen and held my Neuroskel until now; the Tunnels, where I'd carried out the final touches on my creation. Now more than ever, fixing the Neuroskel, despite Speck's modifications, felt like time with my device. And the certainty and confidence that came with that gushed within me and took me through to the very end.

   Using the laser gun and wires, the Neuroskel was jump started, the red, glowing light within it an indication of its rebirth.

   And all before Landon's brain guts could make their way down our pants or something.

   Not that his brain exploded after or anything since if I didn't make it clear before...

"I FIXED IT! I FIXED THE NEUROSKEL!!!" My excitement ruled over every part of me as I sent Dorian and I sprawling to the floor with my hug. As soon as I did so, I remembered everything with Mr. Speck and his bruises and tried to recoil, an apology already formulating in my thoughts.

   But Dorian's grip on my waist only tightened in response, pulling me further into him as he still laughed at my outburst. "You did! Told you you could do it."

"Yeah." I smiled down at him. "You did. And for the record, I knew you could do it too if you helped."

"So did I." He complimented his mock serious tone with a dramatic hair flip.

   The proximity that came with our entangled bodies gave me a much closer look at Dorian's true form. This time, it didn't end with me being taken aback and pulling away, but with me admiring and appreciating the beauty of who he was as an extraterrestrial being. My fingers made their way to the crescents under his eyes tracing it with all the .

"You're stunning," I used the one remaining part of my breath he hadn't taken away yet to whisper. "You know that, right?"

   I watched the rise and fall of Dorian's throat as he took a large swallow. His voice acquired a sandpaper edge when he finally responded, "Me? Beth, you are–"

"Okay, that's it!" Rav shocked us by dragging me to my feet, ruining my chances of hearing what Dorian was about to say. "First, you dry hump on enemy territory and now, you want to top it up with pillowtalk?! I'm this close to shooting myself with this laser gun."

   While Dorian rose to his feet, I gave Rav the look his statement deserved.

   Rav, being Rav though, smiled back at me and threw his arms around my and Dorian's shoulders, drawing us closer as he said, "Soooo... we've fixed the Neuroskel. What now?"

A/N: Really though. What now? Any guesses?

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