First my friends thought grandpa was absurd for telling us not to alert the cops. Then it was me who questioned grandpa for disagreeing with the whole Neon City thing.

But when you discover the truths that lay behind the lies... you can't help but feel so stupid and ashamed for questioning your grandfather's will. 

Forty-five minutes left.

Before humanity in Westdale would be swept away.

"Would suffer brain cancer if they stay in Neon City for exactly seventy-seven days...?" Harvey read aloud. "What does this mean?" 

I took the paper from Harvey. "Explains why you all lost your memory about Westdale."

Isabela sat on the couch, facepalming. "I don't get it. Once the clock hits twelve we're just suddenly getting brain cancer?"

"Don't wanna stick around to find out, do you? Right now, the only solution is..." I paused, kneeling down, holding up the emerald key, "to abort the Porter 3000."

Sabrina crossed her arms. "So, you guys with us?"

 They both exchanged glances but finally nodded. Dewayne reached into his backpack, pulling out a big piece of rolled paper, unrolling the blueprint into the coffee table. We all leaned in and watched as he pointed to the bathroom. "Here's the weak spot. There's a ventilation pipe here... we can sneak into the building this way."

"There's no way I'm climbing in that thing, no," Isabela protested. 

"You got any better plans, little girl?" Dewayne said.

She crossed her leg and laid her hands on her knee. "The main door, duh. Just pull on a mask like yours and go right through it." 

Dewayne chuckled. "It's not as easy as you think. Listen, the Grand Lodge has a five-star security system. It has no flaws. Trust me, I work there." 

I held my hands up. "Listen, we should all cooperate, alright? We've only got less than an hour to pull this off. So let's follow whatever the expert, Dewayne, has in mind."

Isabela rolled her eyes. "Well then call the cops!"

"Here we go again," I said, sighing. "The cops in here are practically useless! We got to do this ourselves. Grandpa said so." 

Dewayne nodded. "Okay, that's enough. Follow the plan, or not." 

Isabela didn't say another word, which I took as an agreement. 

"The Porter 3000 is in this room," Dewayne continued, pointing his finger in the middle of the map. "After we sneak in, two of us will be on the lookout. Volunteers?" 

Isabela shot her hand up, along with Sabrina. 

"Alright, then the boys at the frontline. Alex will be disguised as the maintenance, sneaking into the room. Harvey, you'll pose as a guard. Standby in case something happens." 

Harvey opened his mouth to say something, but Dewayne handed us our uniforms before he could say another word.

"How about you, grandpa?" Sabrina asked. 

"I'll be playing Mayor Claud," he said. "I'll hack Hutchins' laptop, unlock the doors to the Porter 3000, and give you guys access to the CCTVs. Use your cellphones to keep watch." 

"How's that even possible?" Isabela asked. 

He grinned. "Hypnotized. I can handle it." 

I frowned. That was five minutes wasted. 

Dewayne handed us our mini microphones, and we got into the van. We buckled up, and Dewayne held his hands up as he shut the door behind him. "Let's do this. And like every operation has a name, let's call this Operation Abort." 

Silence filled the air as the van picked up speed, as everyone inside the van had no idea what kind of operation Operation Abort would be. 

 —

"Here we go, so far so good," I whispered to the hidden mini microphone up my sleeve. 

"Watch out, patrol guard coming your way to the right," Isabela warned from her end. 

I bent my head low, keeping a low profile as I made my way across the fifth floor of the Grand Lodge, carrying my "toolbox" with me. Then suddenly, the guard pulled out his hand to stop me. "Excuse me, sir, ID please?" 

Dang it, I thought. Did Dewayne remember to pack fake IDs with the suit? "Ehem, sir, me no speaks English? Mm... Spanish me!" 

The guard widened his eyes. "Identificación por favor." 

I'm screwed. "Si?" 

The guard leaned into his walkie-talkie, still eyeing me. "Lieutenant 11, suspect right here. Fifth floor please." 

"Run for it!" Sabrina shouted. 

"Wait, try to stall. I'm still getting the doors unlocked," Dewayne said. 

Isabela gasped. "Hutchins is getting the elevator!"

"Stall, Harvey, stall!" Sabrina yelled.

"Alright, I'm taking the elevator," Harvey said. 

"Repito, identifícate por favor!" the guard demanded. 

I pretended to cough on my sleeve, then I whispered through the mic, "Dewayne! Guards demanding ID!" 

"It's in your breast pocket!" Dewayne said. 

I quickly reached in my pocket, pulling out an ID holder, handing it to the guard. He grabbed it from me, scanning it. 

"Cuál es tu nombre?" I cleared my throat. "Hm?" 

"Cuál es tu nombre?" he repeated impatiently. 

"He said what is your name!" Isabela told me through the microphone. 

"Zach Sprouse!" Dewayne whispered. "Name on the ID!" 

"Zach Sprouse, sir," I said in my 'Spanish accent'.

"Pst, guys. Hutchins is right beside me!" Harvey whispered. "He managed to take the elevator!"

"What?! Hang on..." Dewayne said, and we heard furious keyboard typings from his end. "I can't hack the elevator!"

"Alex get, out of there!" Sabrina shouted. "Hutchins's almost there!" 

"Move it!" Harvey whisper-shouted.

I coughed, grabbing the fake ID from the guard. "Sankyu mm... sir," I said, turning to leave. The guard didn't move a muscle, but raised his left brow. Before he could say another word, I quickly picked up my toolbox and hobbled past the guard. 

"Gosh, Isabela, for a moment I forgot you were half Spanish!" I told her through the mic. 

Isabela didn't say anything until she suddenly gasped through the radio. "Hutchins is on the fifth floor now!"

I gulped. "Where???"

"BREAK COVER NOW!" Harvey yelled, followed by a bang sound from his end. 

"They got their hands on Harvey!" Isabela yelled. "Harvey down!" 

"I'm coming up!" Dewayne shouted. 

I dropped my toolbox, then made a run for it, the guard behind me breaking his walk into a run. "Where next?!" I hollered.

"Left!" Sabrina ordered. I skidded to the left, only to find myself surrounded by a few other armed guards. The guard tailing me took a leap toward me, and I merely ducked and let him fly over me. 

I grabbed one of the guards, ramming him into the other, pushing both of them into a room, locking the door behind them.

"In further there you'll see room 51A," Isabela said. "Got it," I replied, running further into the corridor. Then suddenly, "HANDS UP!" someone yelled from behind me. I stopped dead, turning around. There stood Hutchins pointing a gun at me, along with two of his comrades, one holding a tied-up Harvey. 

"So. We meet again, little jerk," Hutchins jeered. "No surprise. Knew you would come after me. That's why..." he held his hands out, looking around. 

"Alex! Do something!" Sabrina shouted.

"Five more minutes and the clock will strike twelve!" Isabela exclaimed. 

"What brings?" Hutchins asked.

I frowned at Hutchins, walking slowly to him. "You don't understand. You don't..." 

Hutchins loaded his gun, sneering. "Shut the heck up and tell me, what are you doing here?" I looked back and saw a few guards approaching me, guns held up high aimed at me.

I smirked. "Really want me to tell you? And everyone here?" Hutchins pounded me onto the wall, gritting his teeth. "TELL. ME."

"Listen up, people," I said, brushing Hutchins away from me with a single push, knocking off his gun. "In..." I glanced at my watch, "One minute and ten seconds, precisely, you will all suffer brain cancer. Which is why, I came here... to stop Hutchins' evil forces before we all die of brain cancer." 

"What in the world is this kid talking about?" Hutchins protested. 

"You know what I'm talking about," I said. "I know you know." 

The guards slowly piled up and formed a small crowd around Hutchins and me. "You guys!" Hutchins raised his hand. "Don't listen to this kid! He just broke in and... is spreading false stories!" 

There were murmurs. I shook my head. "Don't believe me if you won't," I said confidently. I quickly jumped onto the table beside me, pulling out a fire-lighter. I pressed the trigger, aiming it on the sprinkler. 

"AFTER HIM!" Hutchins ordered, bending low to pick up his gun. Too late, colored water came down raining on the guards, Hutchins, and everyone.

"Lesson learnt. Always have a plan B," I grinned.

"After him!" one of the guards yelled, running after me. They kicked the table, and I fell off. I fought back, kicking and punching. I quickly bounced back up, pushing back those who came after me. I glanced at my watch.

Fifty seconds! Then the guards started coming after me in all directions at once. I took a jump up and watched as they collided with one another, and I effortlessly dodged them.

Forty-five seconds.

I landed right in front of Hutchins, who pulled out another gun from his pocket, aiming it at me. "You never learn do you," he said. "And I'm afraid, you might never have a chance to learn again. This time, I ain't hesitating. I shoot when I want to."

I clenched my fist. "You don't understand! I'm doing this... practically for y-you! If no-"

"And why do you expect me to believe that?" Hutchins smirked. "I killed your grandpa, and you still want to save me? Why, thank you!"

Fumes made it's way out of my nose. "You scumbag now admit it, do you!"

Forty seconds. Snap. I looked behind the back of Hutchins, smiling faintly as I watched Harvey slowly cut through the ropes tied to him.

"Don't play games with me. That's an old trick, nimrod. There's nothing behind me," he said. In fact, there was. 

"Look. I need to tell you something... before you blow me up," I heaved. 

He frowned. "Quickly," he demanded, adjusting his grip of the gun. 

Thirty seconds, I sweated. Faster, Harvey! I thought.

"Speak, use your mouth," Hutchins glared at me. "Or I'll shoot now." 

I didn't say anything, just a grin. Then I watched as Harvey cut through the last thread of rope, freeing himself. Then he crawled behind Hutchins, punching both the back of his knees with full force just as he was about to pull the trigger. 

"WHAT THE-" Hutchins spluttered, falling onto his knees, dropping the gun. I grabbed the gun and tossed it to Harvey, grinning. "I'll say this: I'm sorry, loser. But seems like you've lost... once again," I beamed at the Goon. 

Twenty seconds.

"Go, Alex! It's all up to me now to deal with the sucker!" Harvey hollered, and I quickly ran across the hallway. 

"Dewayne! How's it??" I shouted to my mic, screeching to a halt in front of a room with a sign '51A' printed in big bold letters. Only splutters made their way from Dewayne's end. 

"Dewayne?" I repeated. C'mon, c'mon!! Work! We're this close!

There was a shout from the other end, and loud thuds, then finally Dewayne made out, "Ten, one, five." Then there was a loud boom! from his end. 

"GRANDPA!" Sabrina shouted. "GRANDPA!" 

"What the heck?!" I shouted. "What's going on? What did he just say?" 

"Dewayne's down! Go, Alex! Just do it!" Sabrina cried. 

I took a deep breath. DO WHAT?!

Ten seconds. The most intense ten seconds of my life. I suddenly spotted the number pad on the wall beside the door, gasping. 

Then I dialled '1015' on it, and I gasped as the door slid open.

Dang yes I was right. I dashed into the room. Seven seconds. There were glass cases all around, trophies and medals filling the inside. "I'm in!" I shouted, then I ran to the glass case with the Porter 3000 in it. 

Five seconds. I punched the glass case. It didn't work. 

Four seconds. 

PUNCH! How hard is that? I told myself. I rammed it again. Still, the glass held. Everything was now down to just three seconds. Three seconds!!

Dewayne died for this. Everyone risked their lives for this. It's all up to me now. Everyone's fates are in my hands... and.. and... you can't even break a piece of glass, you wimp?! 

That was all it took. I punched the glass free, ignoring the ray of pain that shot my hand. The glass shattered into a million pieces, and a few pierced my skin. I didn't care. Two seconds. I nervously grabbed the emerald key from my pocket, jamming it into the keyhole. 

One second. That's it. I'm ending Neon City. Now. With a heave of mixed emotions - angriness, relief, tiredness, sadness, agitation, I twisted the emerald key to the right with all my might. 

I crashed on the floor, just as the clock turned twelve. I sat there watching as the key turned bright green. Then I watched as everything that happened in Neon City unfolded before my eyes backward.

Until I found ourselves back to the opening scene.