Dante hoped she would be okay, but he had a role to play as well as he looked at the anti-serum that she had placed in his hand and the crystal.

“They are the only things that can stop terrigen,” said Astrid in that frozen moment of time. “My dad created countermeasures were his design to fall into the wrong hands… there was a way to stop it. I trust you to be able to stop it.”

“Explain it to the others for me,” said Astrid. She touched his cheek gently. “I love you.”

Dante ran down the hallways alone now. He stopped when he met Caleb.

“Where’s Astrid?” asked Caleb.

“Fighting Nox,” said Dante. “She gave me these and told me that it could stop the device. How much time is left on the clock?”

“Around thirty minutes,” said Drew. “And not to press you for time but my shimmery force field won’t last forever so hurry up.”

“Stop pushing us,” said Caleb. “We are almost there at disarming the explosive.”

“I’m only saying this device is very sensitive and go off any minute,” said Drew. The force field shimmered. “And I can’t hold this force field for long.”

“Uh… Astrid, we have not touched anything major yet,” said Dante. “The light started blinking.”

He could hear Astrid curse over the earpiece. He had to smile at that.

“It must have a secondary trigger. Look for that.”

“A secondary trigger,” said Dante as he looked the device over until he found a second switch. “Okay… we can do that.”

Meanwhile, Astrid used her superspeed to push him against the wall. They both were banging up each other pretty good but none had the upper hand yet.

She also knew that she could not defeat him. He was simply way too powerful for her to defeat. She was aware of the consequences too if she used all her energy, all at once. She knew the risks.

“Astrid… we stopped the device,” said Caleb.

“Need any help in there?” asked Dante.

“No,” said Astrid. “I can handle it. Good, now get the hell out of there and get any prisoners out of the dungeons. I can handle Nox.”

That was a lie. Astrid thought to herself as she dodged another blast of darkness. She knew she would have to make the choice soon and she did not want her friends around when she made the choice.

“What she said,” said Caleb. “We have to free the prisoners.”

What about you? Asked Dante.

I’ll be fine. Astrid backflipped away from another blast and threw up a stronger force field. The energy was becoming static which was never a good thing.

“Give up?” asked Nox.

“Never,” said Astrid. She blasted him again and he threw a blast at her, and it hit her on the side. She got up shakily and let out of a breath. “Not until you leave this planet and others alone.”

“You know me… that’s never going to happen,” said Nox.

“I know everything,” said Astrid.

She ducked away from another blow that he threw at her as beads of sweat rolled down her face.

“I also know you betrayed my father and tried to take over the planet that you both are from,” said Astrid as she dodged another blow.

“Your father never listened to me,” said Nox.

“Maybe because you were crazy,” said Astrid.

She dodged another blast. Not to toot her own horn but she was holding up well against someone who was way more skilled than her.

“Astrid!” said Dante.

“What are you doing here?” asked Astrid.

“The prisoners are safe,” said Dante. “Need any help?”

“No and I thought I told you guys to get out of here,” said Astrid.

“We’re not abandoning you,” said Caleb.

“I have a plan,” said Astrid. “Dante, can I borrow some energy from you?”

“You’re not thinking…”

“It’s our only option, Dante,” said Astrid. “You knew I would not if I had the choice.”

“It’s too late,” said Nox. “I didn’t come alone after all.”

“Neither did I,” said Astrid. “And I didn’t come unprepared either.”