Arrows - Animo Sequel {Completed}

Chapter Thirteen: Ex Machina

Chapter Thirteen: Ex Machina

Mo's P.O.V.

"You're sure this'll work?" I said quietly, standing on my toes to look over Banner's shoulder. We were alone in one of Stark's labs, the one that he had reserved specifically for Banner's use. Everyone else was upstairs, preparing for the oncoming fight. I had my own costume on, boots laced tightly in case I needed to make a quick getaway. Hopefully the jets in them still worked; it'd been a little while since they'd been used.

Banner didn't respond for a moment. A beaker full of some pink liquid was on the table in front of him, and he was rapidly stirring it around with a thin glass rod. The more he stirred, the more the color faded out, until all traces of pink had vanished and the solution had become entirely clear. With that finished, he poured the liquid into a test tube, pressed a stopper into the top of it, and handed it over to me. My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped it; Banner closed my fingers over top of the serum, a grim smile on his face. "Yes, I'm fairly certain this will work," he said.

I raised an eyebrow, examining the liquid warily. "That doesn't seem very reassuring," I said slowly. "What even is this?"

"Tetrodotoxin B," he said, beginning to clear away the tools he'd used to prepare this serum in the first place. "I originally designed it as a solution for stress - to stop myself from turning into the 'other guy.'"

I move back a few paces and perch on the end of the stool he'd dragged over earlier for me to sit on. "It didn't work?"

Banner's lips twitched into a wry smile. "He's...persistent. To say the least." He motioned toward the test tube I still held in my hand. "But this should work fine on you. The effects should only take about an hour to kick in, and should wear off after about a day."

"A whole day?" He nodded. I looked at the tube again. This tiny thing, hardly more than a couple swallows, would knock me out for an entire day? "Okay, um, explain what exactly this is going to do to me again?"

Banner pulled the other stool over and sat across from me, momentarily taking the test tube back. He rolled the glass between his palms, eyes fixated on it for a little bit before his brown eyes looked back at my blue ones. "Essentially, what this toxin does is slow your heart rate down to one beat per minute. If anyone were to take your pulse, they'd think you were dead. And that's what we're hoping Garfield thinks when he comes to take you."

I nodded slowly, taking the tube back from him. "You think the rest of the team will go for this?" We hadn't exactly told them why we were disappearing down to the lab.

He scratched the back of his neck with one hand and adjusted his glasses with the other. "I wasn't planning on telling them," he said slowly, as though gauging my reaction. I was silent. "I thought it would be better for them to find out after. Their reactions will be a lot more convincing if they're real; Garfield should believe your death a lot easier. You think he'll just leave if you're dead?"

I nodded again, much more vigorously this time. "There'd be no reason for him to stick around. He'd have to go back to his planet and find a new girl to be his queen." I shuddered involuntarily, imagining what would happen if Garfield didn't believe the act. I turned the toxin over in my hand, rubbing my thumb against the glass. "When should I take this?"

Banner checked his watch. "Stark suspects they'll appear at dawn, if not a little after that. If he's right, you'll need to take it soon. Fifteen minutes, at least."

I didn't respond for a moment. Fifteen minutes was really soon. I couldn't help thinking how Barton would respond to seeing me suddenly drop "dead." That could be traumatic, wouldn't it? Not just for him, but for everyone? Maybe I was placing too much value on my own life and none of them would really be that affected by it, but, still... "And this is the only option?" I asked quietly, looking up at Banner.