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Milo was in the thick of it. Where the negative probability ions were destroying and flinging everything around, he had Ogthar's hand, and the other aliens were finally helping him. It was working.
As fast as it started, it was over. Everything flying slowed down and started falling. Milo saw it before Zack did — a random piece of metal falling toward them. Milo acted on instinct and pushed Zack out of the line of danger, falling, and the piece scratched him.
When he fell down, he winced, and Zack ran to help him up.
“Yo, dude — you okay?” Zack said, panic in his voice.
Milo laughed but hid the wince. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just won’t be modeling swimsuits this summer.” He smiled and got up, walking away to help others and clean up.
As Milo was helping, Diogee ran up to him and wouldn’t leave him alone, kept rubbing up against him — but they weren’t happy nudges, more like worried ones. Milo patted his head and gave him words of comfort.
“It’s only a scratch — I’ll be fine.”
Until he wasn’t.
He was pale and sweaty, petting Diogee with shaky hands. He moved to help an alien up, wincing — subtle but telling. Only Dakota saw how he winced while helping people and cleaning things up. That’s when he decided to move closer to Milo. He just had a bad feeling.
It wasn’t until Milo went to pick up a piece of trash that his knees gave out. Dakota ran over and caught him before he hit the ground, just as he coughed up blood. Dakota eased him down, resting him against a random piece of a building, scanning him for any sign of blood — anything.
Then he saw it. Milo was holding his side.
It hit him.
“Milo, what happened? What hurts? Your side?”
Dakota saw Milo’s skin — pale and sweaty — and realized he seemed out of it. He looked up to see Melissa and Zack running toward them, yelling something. He needed to focus back on Milo.
He gently moved Milo’s arm away from his torso, taking note of how cold and calm he felt. He heard Zack and Melissa fall to their knees next to him — Zack taking Milo’s hand, and Melissa gently tapping his cheek, trying to get him to look at her.
Dakota recoiled at the sight of Milo’s torso — dark, nasty bruising and a cut that was bleeding more than it should. What could have caused all this so fast? He looked fine — and then he didn’t. Dakota couldn’t put his finger on it.
Until Melissa spoke up — whether she meant to or not — saying, “H-his liver. That stupid piece of metal nicked his liver.”
Dakota stepped back and let Melissa rush to Milo’s other side. She tried to stop the bleeding, putting pressure on his side and checking his pulse. Zack was crying, and Diogee started to whine, nudging Milo’s leg.
The only reason Milo came to was when Melissa pressed harder on his side. Through hazy eyes, he spoke — even though it was clearly difficult.
“I guess Murphy’s Law finally got my back, huh.” He coughed up blood after but smiled through it — he always did.
Melissa took pressure off his side, shakily grabbing Milo’s hands in her own. Through trembling breaths, she tried to convince him to stay.
“No… this isn’t happening. You’re always okay. You have to be.”
Silent tears ran down her face.
“It’s okay, Melissa — I will be okay.”
Melissa looked down as more tears fell.
Zack spoke through broken sobs. “Why would you push me? Why? It shouldn’t be you. You don’t deserve this — all this pain.”
Milo looked into Zack’s eyes, drinking in all his features. Zack was doing the same.
“I’m glad it was me and not you. I would do it again if it meant you would be okay.”
Zack and Melissa cried harder after that, feeling Milo growing colder by the minute.
Milo spoke again, through pained breaths. “Remember when I met you both? You were both unsure if you wanted to be my friend at first. Then you both became my best friends — the same friends I finished my first board game with, the same ones who fought mutated plants with me… the same ones I would take the hit for, no matter the pain.”
Melissa and Zack both looked up at him, trying to remember every detail of his face — every smile, every joke he ever cracked.
Milo patted Diogee, whispering, “You’re a good dog… Keep them safe, good boy.”
They saw his body go limp.
His chest stopped moving. His eyes closed softly.
Melissa broke down, putting her forehead on his, closing her eyes — dreaming, wishing, praying that it was all a bad dream. That Milo would wake up, smile, and be okay.
But as she softly felt the blood start to slow, she knew she would never get that. Never again.
Zack put his head on Milo’s unmoving chest — the same chest that would stay forever still. The chest of the one person he wished he’d had more time with. The one person who could never be replaced.
Diogee wormed his way under Milo’s limp, cold arm, crying for his owner — the same boy he grew up with and would have to continue growing up without.
2 years later:
Melissa and Zack visit Milo’s grave a lot. They always bring Diogee.
Zack tells him about all the drama at school, all the little things Milo would’ve loved to know. Melissa tells him how his family is doing, how they built a memorial statue for him.
Her favorite part is the inscription. It reads:
“In remembrance of Milo Murphy:
A boy who always found the upside to any situation, and never hesitated to help anyone in need, no matter who they were.”
She thought it could be longer, but she still loved it. She loved how, when she walked past it, she felt safer. Or how she would sit there for hours reading, studying, or just thinking.
Eventually, things got easier for them all. They learned how to live normal again — as normal as you can without your best friend. But on the especially hard days, they’d feel a warm wind blow past them — almost like a hug whispering that everything would be okay.
And things would be fine, because a little piece of him always lived in them — and they carried that like a king carries his crown.