Destined: 2 Be Continued

16. ANTILIFE

"The last five ingredients are what we need," Vespira told Penny, as if they originally didn't need the last five ingredients. Penny looked at the list. They had scratched off twelve of the seventeen pieces, and, as Vespira had said, only five remained. That was the slowness compound, the messiness compound, the darkness compound, the sight compound(which was a reverse of the blinding compound) and the sadness compound. Why there was such thing as a sadness compound, Penny had no idea. However, Vespira assured her that it was real, and she could actually make it. Penny was legitimately interested in such a thing.

"Alright, make another reverse compound," Vespira commanded. Penny nodded, then drew the elements she needed from wherever they came from. The red and the green, the blue and the orange, the yellow and the purple. She combined them all into a reverse compound, shiny and new, ready to reverse speed. "Combine yellow and orange," Vespira asked. Penny did so, pulling out a yellow and an orange and combining them. Penny knew what to do without instruction--simply morph those two together. The fridge was open to Penny's left, so she steadily floated the slowness compound into an open socket.

"Wonderful, my dear," Vespira praised. "You know what I always say to people like you?"

"I"m not as incompetent as I look?" Penny answered, reading Vespira's mind.

"Brilliant! You get less and less incompetent every day!" Penny loved Vespira's strange humor, but she didn't know why. Maybe it was how it was sometimes violent, sometimes completely out of place, and sometimes seeming like it was pretending to try to act not condescending. There was also the matter of how it definitely didn't fit her elegant and pretty appearance.

"Alright, the messiness compound," Vespira demanded. Slowly and painfully, slowly draining her power, Penny obeyed. Now was not the time to mess around. She was breathing heavily by the time she finished it, but Vespira obviously had a tight agenda, and she didn't want any delays. So, as per her master's orders, she persevered and kept on going. She formed another reverse compound, sweat forming on her brow.

She made light, which was simply combining two white elements together, then combined the two. Darkness was down. Only the sight and the sadness to go. Penny wiped her face off and kept on moving along.

Another reverse compound was formed, and Penny was beginning to get exhausted. She was wondering: If she died from exhaustion in the dream, did she die in real life? Would her brain just stop working? This was the thing to be contemplating as she formed a blindness compound, made of black and purple, then reversed it into sight. She kept trucking along as Vespira watched approvingly. One last reverse compound. 

It was grating now, every single step. The blue and the orange, the red and the green, the yellow and the purple. Penny could barely even stand, so weak that she felt Vespira's hands on her hips, holding her up so that she could keep on working without having to worry about little things such as standing up.

Finally, the two yellows and the white: happiness. Penny was almost done. She drew the two compounds closer and closer, nearly making it, nearly there...

Penny collapsed.

Vespira gasped, but was able to hang on to the compounds in time. She linked them together quickly, then grabbed a flute from her pocket. She blew into it, but it made no noise. Suddenly, as Penny was fading away, a lady, in an elegant dress made of fern leaves and vines, stepped into the laboratory. She saw Penny and took pity on her; golden essence flowed from the lady's mouth and hands, which healed her.

"Thanks, Flora," Vespira gratified as the other lady left and Penny stood up slowly. Once the door was closed, she gave Penny an evil grin. "Well, now we have every piece. Let's put this last one in the fridge and close the door." Penny did so, floating the compound over with renewed strength. The last socket was filled, and Vespira clicked her fingers together impatiently.

"Good, good," she muttered, then closed the door. "Now, watch and see." 

The fridge, almost immediately, began to shake profusely. It shook like there was no tomorrow. Penny sat down and watched the spectacle of endless shaking. The fridge even seemed to bounce around a bit, its feet acting like they were tap-dancing on Broadway. It was frightening, watching the fridge shake and bounce like it was about to explode. Penny turned to Vespira. Her mentor was simply sitting and looking on with excitement; clearly she had done this before. Seeing Vespira's face relaxed Penny a bit, and she went back to watching the fridge, which was beginning to slow down a bit.

"Here it is..." Vespira muttered again as the fridge steadily slowed to an eventual halt. She stood and opened the fridge. Inside, the sockets that they had put the compounds in were all gone, for some reason. Instead, there was a single tray in the very center of the space. There was a small, full needle in the center of the tray. It was almost as if the ricketing and rocking had had no effect. Odd, that.

Penny slowly stepped forward and looked at the needle. It was three inches long, and shaped like a narrow pyramid, with a vial full of blue liquid inside. Penny looked at Vespira, who gave her an approving nod. She picked it up and gave it a closer look.

"This is all that we were working for?" she asked. 

"Of course," Vespira answered, as if there could be nothing else. "The single fluid ounce of ANTILIFE in that needle is enough to kill everyone in the United States, if used correctly." Hearing that, Penny looked back at the needle with reverence. 

"So this is it," she said finally, accepting the insane power of the liquid.

"That's right," Vespira concluded.

"ANTILIFE," they uttered in unison.