Chapter Three: Thirty Minutes

When her world had gone pink, shortly after their battle with the armored whip-tail lizard had begun, she didn't notice anything odd or out of place.

But from the moment that flash occurred, her whole reality had changed. She had no way of knowing at the time, but everything she saw at that time was wrong. Different.

Horrible.

At first, things were much the same. Her energy attacks weren't doing much, but at the very least she could use her shields. They held up ok.

Ben attacked as Big Chill, freezing wind blowing at the creature.

Half of the creature was frozen, and for a moment it was immobile. Then, all at once, it let out a mighty roar and burst from the ice in a show of strength. Without wasting another move it hurled it's tail at Ben, catching him by surprise in the middle. The force of the attack sent him flying into a half-finished building, the iron frame wobbling with the impact.

"Ben!" she called, "Look out!"

CRASH!

It was too late; the whole structure collapsed, burying him under it in moments.

Gwen tried to slow down her suddenly panicked breathing- she was worried, but Ben had survived worse. All the two remaining heroes had to do was keep the creature busy until Ben bust through the layers of steel as Humungousaur or something.

Yes. Ben was fine. He had to be.

Kevin smashed into the lizard's side. As if he were nothing more than a small toy, Kevin bounced right back off, not even managing to make the thing lose it's balance. It growled, a low sound deep in it's throat, and aimed it's massive tail directly at Kevin. Gwen jumped forward, throwing herself in front of the boy and bringing up a shield.

Wham!

The tail caused the shield to fracture, and she held strong to the remnants. It wouldn't last another direct hit, but she was sure she had enough Mana to call up another one. Still, all that did was buy them time. Without Ben in action, the two of them couldn't hope to take out the monster.

"Any... grunt... bright ideas, Kevin?" She asked, grimacing as she held her shield against another swipe of the thing's tail. It shattered completely, and she called up a new one just in time.

"Um... we... hit it again?" Kevin tried, and Gwen fought not to roll her eyes. His eyes tore across the construction site, clearly searching for something to absorb. The place was full of metal, but he was already encased in iron. What else...

"Steel!" Kevin yelled, gesturing at a carefully stacked pile of metal beams. "Maybe that will help?"

"Go!" Gwen yelled. "I'll keep him busy!"

Confident in her abilities, Kevin didn't hesitate. He ran towards the beams across the field, very near where Ben had collapsed.

What was taking him so long?

Maybe Ben was seriously hurt?

The creature tried to follow Kevin, but Gwen raised a wall in front of it, keeping it where it was. "Oh, no, buddy. You're gonna stick with me for a minute."

It growled again, slamming into the shield and breaking it in one go. Before she could react to that incredible show of force, it's swirled around, slamming it's whip-like tail into her. The impact hit her hard around the middle, sending her to the ground several yards away. She fell hard, the breath knocked out of her. She gasped at the air, trying to draw breath, and when she finally did she realized it hurt. A lot.

She must have broken a rib when the thing smacked her. She knew she was broken and bruised all over from such a fall, but the rib was almost more than she could bear. Forget about standing up and fighting when breathing felt like a huge task...

"K... Kevin..." She managed to wheeze, raising herself on one elbow to look for the boy. He was running to her... and so was the creature. She had to move. She knew she had to move. But struggle as she might, her body just wouldn't listen to her.

He reached her just in time, picking her up in his arms and throwing them both to the side to avoid the lizard's stampede. It barreled past them, snorting in rage.

Gwen tried not to scream at the agony that hit her body the moment Kevin lifted her. Even with all of her strength, she couldn't avoid a small cry from escaping her mouth, belying her pain.

"Gwen?" he asked, looking down at the girl in his arms. He set his gaze back on the creature, now turning to make another pass at them. His eyes were steely and set, and he narrowed them in resignation. "We need to leave."

"But Ben..." She wheezed past her pain, one eye closed as she fought to breathe.

"You need help, and I can't beat that thing on my own." They were already running towards the car as he spoke. "Ben's alright. Ben has to be alright." The last part was whispered, as if he were trying to convince himself as well as her.

Ben wasn't alright. Not if he wasn't moving by now. What if the omnitrix recharged while he was still under that heavy pile? His human body would be crushed...

The creature barreled past them again, Kevin jumping to the side. This move jarred Gwen more than she could stand, and she cried out as her leg bounced in Kevin's arms. It must have been broken, too... or at least sprained.

"Sorry." Kevin said, his face twisted up as if he could feel her pain, and he continued towards the car. He opened the backseat, shoving her inside unceremoniously and jumping into the front fast. The creature was coming towards them again- Gwen could see it from the side window she was facing. She couldn't sit up or move or even talk... but she knew urging Kevin to hurry was pointless. Of course he was hurrying.

He shoved in the key, started the car, and...

BAM!

The lizard smashed into them, sending the shiny green car tumbling. Gwen was flung to the roof, then back down to the seat, then to the roof again. A seat belt would have helped the situation, but Kevin hadn't had the time to worry about that.

They were both pretty smacked-around after that collision, but at least Kevin had his metal armor.

"Gwen! Are you ok!?" He yelled from the front seat. The car was still upside down, and she opened her eyes to slits to find Kevin struggling to reach her. Finally he gave up on opening the door, and instead just started to pry away the metal frame of the car to get to her.

She almost found the strength to smile. He was destroying his car to save her. She had no idea why this was funny- maybe she had hit her head too hard?

"I'm just... fine..." She said softly, and it scared her how soft her voice sounded. She hadn't meant to whisper.

Kevin finally managed to grab the fabric of her shirt, and pulled her from the wrecked car just as the creature aimed a careful swipe of it's swift tail at the wreck, sending it flying with a tremendous roar.

Kevin was breathing hard, now, and Gwen wondered just how long he could keep this up on his own. If Ben wasn't ok... they were going to die, weren't they? Kevin couldn't run and carry her at the same time. He was strong, and he was fast... but he wasn't superman.

"You have to... go..." She managed to whisper. She tried to look up at the boy she cared about... loved... but was scared to find her vision getting very fuzzy. How much blood had she lost? Was she bleeding? She hurt so bad, she had to be bleeding.

Kevin gritted his teeth, looking up at the thing. Then... he ran.

He left her and ran.

She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Good. At least he'll make it out alive. If Kevin was alive... well, that was ok.

"Over here!" She heard a voice call out, and with all her willpower she managed to fling her eyes open. Slowly, ignoring the pain, she moved herself on her side so she could look across the construction site to where the monster now loomed over Kevin.

He hadn't left. He had led the alien away from her.

"No..." She said, choking on the word as breathing became harder. Internal bleeding? Probably. She had to get to a hospital.

But the more pressing matter on her mind was Kevin, facing off against the monster alone.

They were all going to die. Even Kevin...

"No..." She managed again. Not him too. She couldn't lose him too...

Schwoop!

The creatures tail cut through the air towards the metal boy, and he just barely dodged it. His movements were labored, and Gwen decided that the crash must have hurt even him more than he let on.

He raised a clubbed fist, driving it into the thing's side as it moved to swipe again. He wasn't letting it position itself to hit him with it's tail- he just kept moving, circling the alien. The creature roared and charged. Kevin moved again, keeping at it's side.

Smart boy.

Gwen wanted to grin as she watched Kevin. He was keeping to the monster's side, punching it again and again. It seemed to be working- she swore she could see cracks in the exoskeletal armor. Meanwhile, the creature was too large and lumbering to attack him. Right at it's side it was vulnerable- it couldn't charge sideways and it couldn't reach with it's tail. Gwen wondered if maybe, just maybe, she had underestimated Kevin. Maybe he could beat it...

And then he tripped.

The piece of debris had been lying there for a while, ever since Ben had smacked into the building, but Kevin had only been concentrating on keeping to the creature's broad side. He hadn't noticed the piece of scapmetal until his heel smacked into it, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The creature wasted no time stepping on him.

His body was coated in steel, and took the impact better than expected. Gwen saw him struggling to get up, something a normal human would never have done again after being crushed by a 10 ton giant lizard. The creature stomped at him again, and she could see the cracks appear in his armor.

And again. Kevin yelled this time, hurting.

Enough. Gwen had had enough. This. Could. Not. Happen. Kevin couldn't die.

No way.

It was as if a dam had broken, and all the energy trapped inside her sprung forth, encompassing her body. Light and strength and energy filled her in a way she had never thought possible. She was a being of pure power, strong and sure. She could do anything- anything at all, and she knew taking out the creature would be child's play.

She raised her hands, looking down at her purple-glowing skin. It was beautiful, really...

Her body didn't hurt anymore.

Did she even have a body anymore?

She stood, and without hesitation she flew straight at the alien. With a few hand gestures, the thing was in pieces, lying scattered across the site as if a bomb had gone off. Chunks of orangish reptile meat coated the brown dug-up ground.

Whoa.

She hadn't meant to do that. Perhaps this was why it took so long to learn to control Anodite powers? She didn't care- the creature deserved to be mincemeat after...

Kevin! She had almost forgotten about him! The power flooding through her had made him seem... insignificant. A small point in the story rather than the main plot.

She was suddenly frightened of the power that made her feel so good, horrified at what it was doing to her mind. She drew back, trying hard to force the power back inside her. She was scared- so scared- at how easy it had been to forget about her friend. Kevin and Ben. This power wasn't important- they were.

She could feel it working- the energy was dimming, and she imagined it as a ball being crushed smaller and smaller in her heart. She knew the moment it had worked- even before she saw her skin return to it's normal color.

Finally managing to draw the power back inside her, she fell to the ground only feet away from Kevin. She studied her hand in front of her. Yep. Back to human. No more strange purple-glowy skin.

And her wounds were gone, too.

"Kevin?" She asked hesitantly, moving over to his still form. He was lying face-up, his armor almost entirely cracked off and lying around him in pieces. He was bleeding badly, though Gwen had no idea where from. It seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once. She was breathing hard, now, and she tried to keep herself calm and focused. There was just so much blood!

Freaking out wouldn't help. She had to get him to a hospital.

The only way she even knew he was alive was when he coughed, more blood coming from the corners of his mouth. He opened one eye.

"This..." He sputtered weakly, "...reversed."

Only minutes before it had been her near death. Before her inner Anodite power fixed her up...

"Yeah, Kevin." She said, trying not to sound scared. "This is certainly reversed."

"...How?"

"I guess the Anodite in me won out, somehow... it's not important. Don't talk- I'll call for an ambulance..." She grabbed at her phone in her pocket... and found it to be so broken, it was almost dust. Pieces of plastic hung off it pathetically, the screen in a million tiny pieces.

Her clothing was still a wreck, too. Only her body had been healed by her miraculous transformation.

"Crap..." She muttered. "Ok. Don't panic." She said to herself, her own voice getting higher. "I'll just go to the road and flag someone down. There have to be car's passing by here... even though it's late... and off the main road..."

Don't panic don't panic don't panic.

If he was talking, then he would have to be ok, right? Dying people don't talk much, right?

"Kevin? You're going to be alright..." She said, trying to blink away her tears. She never cried in front of anyone- ever- but she just couldn't seem to stop herself. "I have to go for a minute. Just... just stay still, ok?"

Before she could stand on shaky legs his hand shot out, gripping her wrist. His grip was weak; hardly there. He didn't say anything, but his eyes were on her.

"I have to go get help..." She managed to choke out past a sob. He wasn't talking now. Why the hell wasn't he talking now? Why did he stop her?

Then, without warning, something changed. His eyes were still open, still looking at her, but they were dull. He wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing.

Before she could even process the horror of what had just happened the pink light flashed again, and she found herself back to the beginning, watching as Ben and Kevin battled the creature. She could only stand, shocked, and watch the scene play out. It wasn't the same scene- everything was different. Ben didn't die. Kevin didn't die. It was different.

Even when the creature left, she still couldn't fully believe it. It was too good to be true. The universe didn't work this way- people didn't come back from the dead. Death didn't give second chances. So... was the whole thing in her mind?

Was the winning battle even real? Or was this happy outcome the vision and the other world was real?