After so much time being cooped up in the basement with machine parts, it was finally time for me to account for those many hours spent bringing my designs of the weapons to be used against the Yunies to life.

   Rav, Dorian and Cami were already at Ridgeton's Mini Haven, trying to find the right spot for the exhibition and test run of the weapons.

   Meanwhile, Landon and I, still at the motel, had just finished packing up the last set of weapons into several large zip tight duffel bags and were carrying them into the Ride car he'd ordered to the junkyard.

   Speaking of Landon, even though he completed his initial task of getting the weapon parts I needed from his links on the web long ago, he still stuck around with me in the basement the following days while Cami and Rav were in her room planning our infiltration of Zavlon Academia.

   After apologising about the combat attack he'd pulled in the basement during our last sparring session, I soon remembered that Landon wasn't just great company, but of huge help too.

   When I began building the weapons days ago, Landon scanned the designs I'd drawn into his laptop and displayed them as holograms like he'd done with the camera recordings in Camila's room. With the weapon parts that didn't exactly match my designs but similar, also provided as much information as he could of the weapon parts from the web I wasn't too familiar with.

   And as time passed by, I got used to the terrible pick up lines he had for me every single day in his sorry excuse of flirt attempts.

   And he was the first person to offer his help in packing the weapons while the others made their way to the junkyard.

   As our taxi made turns through familiar corners of Ridgeton, I made the mistake of letting my head drown into thoughts of how my presentation (was that even the right term?!) of the weapons was going to turn out.

   Like clockwork, my fingers crept to the sides of my thighs, giving them frequent taps as I tried to focus on the fast declining breaths that escaped me.

   What if I choked? What if my sweaty palms dropped the devices when I tried to pick them up from the bags? What if none of the weapons worked? What if I forgot the proper use of a particular weapon and hurt one of my friends as a result? What i–

   A sudden warmth around one of my hands disrupted the crazy direction my train of thought appeared to be headed.

   I didn't bother looking down toward the soft, slightly calloused light skinned hand that enclosed mine, staring instead straight into the bright blue eyes of its owner. Landon didn't hesitate to maintain eye contact we'd assumed as his hold around me tightened. The ends of his mouth then lifted into a smile that could even be reassuring to someone who had just been told that her dog was a crack addict.

"Thanks," I whispered after moments of silence passed.

"You'll do great, Beth." His deep tone was a few pitches lower as well.

   Giving Landon a small nod and a smile of my own, I gave his hand a tight squeeze right before proceeding to let go.

   My brows, however, pinched from the surprise and confusion that arose within me when Landon didn't appear ready to release me yet. Before I got a chance to ask what all this was about, his eyes met mine again. This time though, it wasn't easy to figure out the reason behind the strange gaze directed to me. But I did know that his hand around mine didn't seem to have the same comforting effect anymore. It just felt different...

"Beth," The blinks by his eyes were way too much for the seconds he paused. "There's something you need to kno–"

"You've reached your destination," The overly enthusiastic voice assistant from the self-driving Ride taxi piped up. "You may now exit the vehicle..."

   Something in Landon's eyes changed right before he broke our shared gaze. Noticing that the warm feeling in my hand had declined, I glanced down to find that he wasn't holding it anymore.

"I'll tell you later," were the last words he muttered before opening and exiting the vehicle faster than I could register.

   Okay.

   As much as my mind would have wanted to poke and prod like it usually would until I discovered the reason behind this eerie behaviour Landon just portrayed, the weapons weren't going to be exhibited and tested by themselves.

   With everyone pitching in, all the weapons were arranged on an almost rusted, rickety table earlier than I'd liked.

   Soon enough, standing behind the table, I could feel myself shrinking under the stares of Rav, Cami, Dorian and Landon who were direct opposite me and my tech.

   Oh God.

   The churning in my stomach that appeared to rise to my throat triggered regret for not skipping breakfast today. Gulping it down, I wondered why this scenario– me standing in front of people about to present my tech— seemed so familiar?

   Then the memory of me before my peers about to discuss what I'd built in Mr Sacury's Electronics class hit me. It was right before I and the entire school were interrupted by the alert of the impromptu assembly.

   Well, at least Viola wasn't around to kill my spirit this time. And even though it wasn't always the case, the people here were now really great friends who weren't going to ruin my presentation with snide comments.

"So, with this," I ignored my shaky tone as I picked my first creation, waiting for everyone to gather around for a closer look.

   In my hand was a finger long device with round ends supporting its hollow, stick straight body. At its side was a small hole with a roundish end.

   After making sure they had each gotten a chance to observe it, I carried on, "Rav mentioned long ago that the hearing ability of the Yunies is quite unique. When i read more more about them in those books Landon brought, i was able find out how and design this device tuned to a frequency only Yunies can hear—"

"So..." Camila, who had her arms folded, shrugged while asking, "it's a dog whistle, but for Yunies."

   I could tell from her tone that she was coming from a place of pure curiosity but it wasn't easy trying to not hear a Viola-level bitchiness tone in her question. Fortunately, my mind did a good job of just continuing. Her query was going to be automatically answered as I did so anyway.

"I plan on putting in several doses of Blackout in—"

"Wait, what?" Rav's wide eyes moved from my face to the device in hand several times before he finally stuttered. "I-Isn't that the brain numbing, lethal sedative drug so many states banned just five years ago? More cocaine than cocaine and crack than crack? There were even videos of some people who took them on a fine line between dead and a level of unconsciousness that was basically next to dead. And how about those who were actually dead? Beth, where are you going to get that dangerous drug?"

"Will you calm down?" Landon scoffed. "I'll get it for her."

   The look Rav shot Landon was anything but friendly, muttering "I should've known" before turning to me and staring like I was obligated to just start spilling everything.

   Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'll have you know, Rav– you know what? I'll have all of you know that it was me that asked for it. Landon would not do something like that without my permission so could you just chill, Rav?"

"But why?"

"Okay,'' I could tell from their faces that no one expected my voice to drop so low. But I was too on the verge of being pissed to care. And to think I was actually nervous at some point. "How about everyone," I made sure to direct that word and my eyes to Rav and Camila, "save their questions till the end? I haven't even been able to get through the first device. And let's not forget that Dorian is yet to present the protective body suits he made and that we'll start training with the weapons while wearing the suits today. So please."

   I took the lack of response from anyone as a good sign.

   Picking up the device I'd set down a little too harshly on the table during my meltdown, I began with a much clearer voice this time.

"As I was saying earlier, Rav mentioned something about the hearing ability of the Yunies. From my further readings, I was able to find out more and design this device tuned to a frequency only Yunies can hear. If you observe the other end facing all of you right now, you'll notice something like a metallic ball acting as a seal. The seal is for the doses of Blackout that will be stored within the vacuum walls created by the double layered body of the devi–"

"Ughhh..." A more annoying version of Rav's voice cut my words short.

   A tired breath escaped me. I guess my whole rant about everyone shutting up didn't get through to everyone.

   With gritted teeth, I asked, "What? Rav?"

"We need a better name for your creation." he palmed his forehead with a scrunched expression etched in his features. "If you keep saying, device, I'm going to jump off a cliff."

"Do you have a better name?" I rolled my eyes.

   Rav just gave me a wide, blank stare in response, revealing that he obviously hadn't thought that far.

   Just as I was about to consider letting him off the hook, the corners of his lips raised into a full-fledged grin before he blurted out, "Challenge accepted."

   This time, I chose to ignore him altogether. And the sudden pit in my stomach at those two seemingly harmless words.

"Anyway," My fingers moved to touch the seal. "There's a string within the, er, device that the ball is attached to and when you pull on the ball, the string pushes the Blackout powder closer to the end of the tech's body. Now listen very carefully to this part because it's really important. Once the ball is pulled, you cannot just blow on the device like normal unless you're expecting the powder to come out through the perforated hole in the ball and make the Yunies pass out."

   At least I hoped that was what happened. Rav's rave about how deadly this drug was was no joke. In an article I may or may not have read last night, Blackout user survivors were only about twenty to thirty percent.

   But based on what I also read, the Yunies were ten times bigger and stronger than humans in every area, including their immune systems. The worst that could happen to them was just getting knocked out. It had to be.

   I hoped.

"We have to be very careful when using this," I warned. "Make sure you have your Yunie target locked and that the rest of us are at a safe distance at that moment."

"But what about the person who's supposed to get close to the Yunie and blow on the whistle?" Camila asked.

   I explained that the inner parts of the device which involved the Blackout had been narrowed in a way that made the powder shoot out in a straight line when blown until it reaches the target.

"And when that happens," I continued, "that's when the powder now spreads. Which is why, like I said, you have to be careful with who is around when you blow on this. Unless it is another Yunie, of course."

"Damn, Beth." Rav whistled. "This is your first invention? At this point, I don't know whether to be terrified or excited to see the rest. Except the Blackout part of course. I'm certain that terrifies me."

   Looking over to his wide-eyed stare and that of the rest and struggling to bite back a smile, I realised that there was nothing to be nervous about after all.

"My next invention," I said with a much clearer voice than ever while picking up the next device from the table, "is one I really think is going to be useful in taking down the Yunies. Literally."

   The gadget constituted a pencil thin steel string which had slightly more than medium lead balls at both ends which created a massive gravitational pull, taking whomever it came into contact with down with it.

"Then why are you still on your feet?" Dorian cut off my description of the device mid sentence to ask.

   My eyes met his for the first time today. I couldn't find anything beyond those green eyes that had a slight glint which could be attributed to curiosity. Or any other emotion.

   Did everything that happened between Dorian and me nights ago have any changes on the days that followed? My answer to that would have to be no... and yes.

   No, in the sense that Dorian didn't stop his disappearing act during daytime that had become practically normal by now.

   But when the night arrived, things were different. He always had a spot on his bed saved for me, where we settled next to each other and his arms engulfed me in an instant, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

   And in less than a few days, it was.

   But it wasn't nighttime now. I had to focus.

"I'll get to that in a minute," I replied. "As you can see, the steel string isn't that long, so the best place to get this device is around the Yunies' legs. And with regard to Dorian's question, the gravitational pull needs to be activated. There's actually a button right between the left lead ball and its side of the string. And there's a three to four second timer to ensure that we don't get dragged when the button is pushed before throwing the device. Which is why we have to practise our throws, by the way."

"Great thinking, Beth!" The ends of Camila's eyes crinkled as she beamed from her side.

   After thanking her, I made sure to add that the strings were also laced with shock waves which would serve as extra reinforcements in keeping the Yunies immobile. And that everyone was going to receive at least three of these weapons since we may face more than one Yunie at the same time and therefore couldn't wait till a Yunie was too weak to attack before we removed the weapon and used it on another Yunie.

   While everyone smiled and nodded my way and I reached for my third creation, I didn't bother shielding a grin this time.

   Like I'd said, nothing to be nervous about.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment! 

Who's excited for the weapons presented so far and those to come?!