Freya's POV:

Once we make it back to where everyone else is fighting, my eyes widen in surprise at Beth and Sofus staring in horror at the flipped-over car in front of them with Yolanda sitting on the ground, who was barely a couple of feet away from it.

My heart swells in relief, seeing that she didn't seem as injured as Kaitlyn described her to be. She's alive.

I limp faster to them and Beth turns around, her eyes widening once they meet mine. "Woah--! Is Inza...?"

I shake my head, tossing Inza's crushed helmet to the floor. "Long story but let's say this thing can't control her anymore." She takes Kaitlyn's other arm to wrap it around her shoulder and I quickly bend down to Yolanda's level in concern. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Yolanda snaps her attention away from the car but her eyes widen once she sees me. "I'm okay but Freya you're--what the? Are you seriously asking me if I'm okay when half of your face is bloody and bruised?"

"It might be the adrenaline," I weakly smile as she sincerely cups my face. "but so far I don't feel my injuries yet."

Before I could stand, my eyes trail to the pair of legs I recognized to be Lily's sticking out from underneath the car with a pool of blood spilling out.

Oh.

"I didn't do it." Yolanda quickly explained.

"My remorse for her left the second she almost killed you." I scoff. "Good riddance."

"This is your last chance, Courtney." Jordan menacingly aimed his hand emitting a white mist towards her as she tried to help Rick stand up. "Pledge your loyalty right now."

Before I could move to block the attack, a familiar medium-sized arrow plunges into his shoulder which causes him to stagger back.

"Aah!"

"You're not going to hurt anyone else, Mr. Mahkent."

Dressed in her combat suit, Artemis quickly reloaded Paula's crossbow with a glare as Barbara stood behind her. "Stay away from my daughter."

I immediately smile. "Artemis."

"Mom?" Courtney asked in surprise but Barbara quickly runs over to her and helps Rick stand to his feet.

Jordan lets out a groan as he yanks out the arrow which gives me the chance to sprint across and protectively stand in front of Barbara and Artemis with my fists up. "You'll have to get through me first."

He shook his head in disbelief, seeing as I now blocked his path. "You know, it's such a shame. This was gonna be so perfect...for all of us!" He growls but Cameron briefly glances behind at Yolanda, Beth, Inza, and Sofus in hesitance. "You and Cameron will be together. Barbara, I know what we had could have been reignited." Jordan pleaded.

"We never had anything!" Barbara exclaimed.

"Delusion isn't a good look, Mr. Mahkent." Artemis remarked, handing Barbara the crossbow and taking out her baseball bat. "Or desperation."

"It's not a surprise." I scoff. "Clearly after Mike ran him over with the truck and shattered into pieces, his mind probably scrambled into small little ice cubes thinking he still stood a chance with you."

Jordan's brows twist into anger as he swirled his hands. "I will make this as painful as I can for you, Freya...goodbye, Barbara."

"No!"

I lift my cape as much as I could to cover us and waited for the cold prickles of ice to pierce our skins but...nothing happened.

I glance behind and my eyes widen in surprise, watching as Cameron went against his father, firing and blocking the ice attacks.

"Cameron, don't do this!" Jordan scolded.

Beth and Yolanda quickly guide Sofus and Inza across the pathway, managing to avoid the blasts.

Once they pass through, I raise my hands up and instantly a wall of cosmic energy emerges from the ground and creates a barrier to trap Cameron and Jordan inside.

"How long will that hold?" Rick worriedly asks as Yolanda helps Inza lean against the car next to Sofus.

"Enough for Courtney to get the staff." I say which causes Courtney's eyes to widen. "To finish this."

"Well, you are a slippery little devil, aren't you?" We hear Sylvester antagonize which is soon followed by another explosion.

"The Staff belongs to you, Courtney." Barbara emphasized, noticing her daughter's hesitance.

"Then why does it work for him?" She frantically asked.

"Because you thought it should." She sternly spoke. "It's why Sylvester couldn't just take the Staff. He had to make you believe it worked for him."

Another fiery explosion erupts again and I yank Courtney's wrist to make her properly stand up to her feet. "Since the day I saw you hold the staff, you've proven from time to time that it didn't make a mistake. With your selflessness and heroic skills, it chose you, Courtney! It could've chosen anyone but it decided that you were the hero because you brought everyone together. Now go show that psycho why you're the true wielder of the cosmic staff. Not him."

The sounds of Cameron's cries cause us to turn, seeing as he and Jordan continued to block each other's attacks but from the looks of it, Jordan has the upper hand.

"I'll help him, okay?" I reassure her with a small smile. "Now go!"

She quickly nods and sprints towards where Pat and Sylvester were fighting.

I snatch Inza's helmet from the ground and turn to Artemis. "I know how much you've been waiting to get back at Jordan, but I need you to guard this until I'm finished with him." I explain, pushing the helmet into her hands. "If he gets his hands on this thing, it will be a hell of a lot tougher to beat him. Can you do that for me?"

She hesitantly glances behind me before she meets my eyes. "If I even get the slightest feeling that you need backup, I—"

I place my hand on her shoulder. "Will get the helmet of chaos out of town. Prioritize thousands of lives instead of mine, okay?"

She covers my hand with hers with a resolute nod. "Finish this."

I step away and turn back towards the barrier but before I could take a step, I feel a tug on my arm which causes me to turn.

Despite seeing the hesitance in Yolanda's eyes, I didn't say a word. "I can't convince you to let me help, can I?"

"You can help me by keeping an eye on Inza."

"Freya--"

"I know, I know what you're going to say." I say, reaching for her hands and squeezing them. "We still have a ton to talk about and I promise you we will. Unless you sort of regret what you said before, I'll understand if it was a sort of spur-of-the-moment thing."

"No, it's not about that. I just—"

I nod. "I made the barrier to prevent anyone from getting in. So unless one of you can miraculously jump from that high above, I'm not letting Jordan have the opportunity to hurt any of y--oomf!"

Before I could finish my sentence, she grips my amulet and tugs me forward to press her lips against mine.

She pulls away with a soft smile and readjusts the necklace. "Promise that you'll come back to me."

I start to smile. "I always do."

She steps away and I wave a hand over my face, causing my helmet to cover my head once more. I step through the wall at ease which causes the barrier to ripple at the contact before closing behind me once more.

Cameron falls on his back and just before Jordan could fire another ice blast, I conjure another forcefield in between them. The blast instantly bounces off which causes Jordan to stagger back in confusion.

"Court says you needed an assist." I say as I pull Cameron to his feet. "And I have some unfinished business with your father."

"Who doesn't?" Cameron grumbled.

"I knew I should've killed you the night Brainwave woke up from his coma." Jordan growled as he held his fists up. "But it looks like it'll be tonight."

I throw short blasts one after the other in which he quickly shields himself by conjuring a tower of ice spikes. Cameron rushes to the opposite side, attempting to sneak a blast at him but Jordan deflects it, destroying the ice to split into shards.

Jordan harshly swipes his hand across, knocking Cameron a couple of feet away to crash into the car. He tries to quickly get back on his feet but Jordan beats him to it by encasing his chest with ice, forcing him to stay in place.

I tap on my amulet before I flick my arms out, successfully creating duplicates of myself and forcing them to sprint over to Jordan as I flew up.

I swirl my hands, conjuring a large ankh as the rest of my duplicates try to pin down Jordan as he ferociously fights through their grips. Even as far as stabbing some of them with his ice shards which causes them to disintegrate and make another duplicate appear.

Once the tip of the cosmic ankh sharpened, I thrust my hands downward and like a sword, the ankh's energy pierces through Jordan, electrifying his body which causes him to let out a cry.

My balance slightly staggers at the contact in which I let out a groan in frustration. I can't use too many abilities at once, but I have to keep the barrier.

I dive towards him, ceasing the clones, and tackle him to the ground which disintegrates the ankh.

I move to strike a punch but he lifts his hand, using his ice to deflect the attack before blasting me off of him with his ice abilities.

I roll across the gravel but dig my heels to skid to a stop, holding my hands up as they crackled with electricity with a glare.

Two more ankhs appeared on opposite sides of Jordan and I swipe my hands across, forcing the electrified ankhs to pierce through his body just before he could lunge at me again.

His knee buckles to the ground as he howls out in pain, watching as the ice in his fingertips melted before he helplessly looked over to his son trying to destroy the ice that trapped him against the car. "C-Cameron!"

"No, this time you have no one to come and help you. That pain you're feeling? It's nothing compared to what you put Artemis through. To what you put everyone through!" I growl as I take a step closer to him and twist my hands further, watching as the electric surges pierced deeper into his body which earns another groan from him. "It's over Jordan! Give up!"

"I don't need my hands to get free." He abruptly snaps his eyes to meet mine. "That's where you're wrong." He blows a cold harsh breath which sends me flying backward away from him.

I dig my heels to the ground, making sure I didn't roll across the ground. Before I could throw another attack, instantly I feel thousands of small needles pierce through my stomach which causes my knees to buckle to the ground as I felt the cold spread across my chest. "Agh!"

"No!" Yolanda cries out, hearing her slash her claws to try to break the barrier down along with Artemis who continuously slammed her baseball bat in frustration. "Freya!"

"Just when you think you're about to succeed, it all comes crashing down." I hear him dryly laugh since my vision blurred. "Even worse, you're forcing your loved ones to see your demise."

I rub my throat in frustration, trying to scratch off the ice but my lungs went haywire as they desperately tried to look for air.

"Running out of air, Freya? You know, that tightening ache in your heart is exactly how I felt the moment you turned against the ISA. You could've been something more...what a shame." Jordan shakily stands up from the ground and dusts himself off. "You blame me for all the lives that were lost only because you can't admit that it was partly your fault as well." He remarked as he made his way over to me and kicked my ribs, knocking me to the ground. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? You may have defeated Doctor Chaos but she still managed to exhaust your energy. It's a shame she was weak-minded like your father."

I shakily try to push myself with my hands but instantly he shoots at them, encasing them with ice to hold me down as I felt the ice creep closer to my jaw.

"I think I've had enough of making you suffer so it's only right to finish what I started." Jordan easily forms an ice shard with a smirk as he presses the sharp end against my neck. "Getting a little deja vu, huh? Say hello to your father for me."

Before he could slash the ice shard across, a form flips over me and harshly kicks Jordan's chest, sending him to stumble back.

I feel the coldness cease from my throat which causes me to let out a gasp of relief but my eyes widen in surprise at the sight of Cameron protectively standing in front of me this time.

Jordan's expression twisted into disappointment. "Don't force me to do what Brainwave did to his son." He pleaded. Cameron's position wavered slightly in surprise, watching as Jordan still lifted his hand emitting ice. "I'm begging you!"

Suddenly, loud warbles from above cause us to look up at the figure coated in bright energy easily flying over the barrier. Courtney slams the staff into the ground which creates a shockwave hard enough to flip Jordan on his stomach and shatter the ice encasing my chest.

"The fact that you went there says everything." Courtney remarks before she sprints after Jordan.

He attempts to swing but she jumps and somersaults over the hit at ease. I watch in amazement as she blocks each of his attacks with the ice, maneuvering around to make his attacks hit the cars instead.

Swiftly, she slams the sharp end of the staff across his face which sends an energy blast that scorches the floor. Jordan angrily turns to us with a cry, showing a part of his face scorched which causes my eyes to widen in horror.

With an eery crack from my now-deformed wrist, I yank my hand free and as Jordan shoots another ice blast, I throw up another shield that protects Courtney from the ice.

However, she twirls around the staff, switching positions with Cameron and I quickly lower the shield just as he shoots ice from his hands, sending his father to collapse to the ground.

He quickly scrambles back to his feet but slowly stood back up, tired breaths escaping from his lips. "I only wanted what was best for you." Jordan held his arms out in annoyance. "That's all!"

"Then listen to Freya." Cameron stated, his voice slightly shaken. "Give up."

Jordan raised his hands again, mist beginning to emit from his hands. "Then do what you have to...or I will."

Cameron's hands begin to emit mist before he stomps his foot forward with a loud cry. A surge of ice immediately rushes at Jordan which causes him to recoil back, letting out a cry of agony as his body began to disappear into a cloud of smoke that soon enough rushed into the skies and disintegrated.

"Where did he go?" Courtney quietly asked once I lowered the barrier and Cameron ran passed us to go to his grandfather.

"I don't know," I trail, nudging my foot with hers which causes her to look down at me. "but a little help? I would do it but my wrist is...a little broken...along with the rest of my ribs."

Courtney sheepishly smiles. "Right. Sorry." She uses the staff to break the ice enough for me to pull my other hand out myself. She helps me stand back up by wrapping my arm around her shoulder, carefully walking us back to the others.

"Grandpa." Cameron calls in concern, rushing to his side once he noticed the pained features on his face.

Courtney pleadingly turns to me but I unwrap my arm from her shoulder with a nod. "Go."

Once Courtney walks away to her mom, within seconds Yolanda rushes to my side with a small smile and embraces me into a hug. The action alone causes me to groan as I felt the shot of pain in my ribs worsen. "Agh, Yolanda--!"

"I knew you should've let me help!" She scolded. "But you wanted to be so damn stubborn by keeping the barrier up! You could've gotten seriously hurt or worse! I was terrified! Even on the way here!"

"What—"

"I was beating myself up springing over that last thing I said to you. I was worried that I said it way too soon or should have waited for you to say it. But then...I worried that I wouldn't get the chance to say it to you at all. I still worry! I just—I know you suggested that maybe we should pause our relationship but...I can't lose you."

"Hey," I whisper, slightly pulling away from her embrace and meeting her saddened eyes. "I'm a tough fighter. Nothing hurt me. Never will."

Her eyes slightly crinkle in amusement. "I'm sorry, did you just hear yourself? What you said was phrased so poorly." She lightly laughed.

"I slammed my head into an ungodly amount of cars and the ground so there's a chance I have a concussion." I say and she slides her hand along my side but instantly a shot of pain twinges my side once more which causes me to wince. "Agh—! And I think I shattered my ribs...but I definitely need a hospital or Beth's mom."

"Oh god, sorry." She quickly pulls away but carefully wraps my arm around her shoulder so I would put most of my weight on her and Artemis rushes to my other side. "I'll ask Barbara if she can give us a ride."

From behind Yolanda, I could see Courtney take a step toward the Mahkents. "Cameron?

Cameron's eyes flicker to us but he slowly shook his head. "Stay back."

She immediately pauses. "What?"

"I'm taking my grandfather to get help...and then I'm leaving." He rasped as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "I betrayed you. I betrayed my own family. My grandmother's dead. And my father..." His voice wavered as he tearfully shut his eyes in despair but Sofus comfortingly pressed his head against Cameron's.

"I can help you through this."

"Goodbye, Courtney." He muttered, lifting his hand that brightly glowed white.

He chucks the ice blast into the ground which causes us to quickly cover our eyes as a cloud of smoke covered them, making them disappear.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. *✭

Since I didn't want to intrude on Beth and Rick's apologies to Mr. and Mrs. Chapel by asking them to do a check-up for my mom and I, I decided to tag along with Courtney and Pat to the hospital.

Well...after Mrs. Chapel helped with my injuries at the hospital before she went back home. Thankfully the smaller injuries healed on their own while the serious ones were still in the process.

With Pat hitting Sylvester--or well, the Ultra-Humanite's head with a rock and hard enough to render him unconscious, Pat decided to call Charles McNider to see if there were any severe damages.

"Miss...apologies, how would you like to be addressed?" Charles gently asked Inza, seeing as she timidly sat on the large couch, nervously drumming her fingers on her knees.

"Kaitlyn, please."

He nods. "As far as I can tell, and with the data provided with the helmets, I don't see any chaos residue in her system. From what Freya explained, she cleansed the negative energy from her body."

"And what about her memories?" I curiously ask.

"To treat it as an ordinary memory loss, take it one day at a time instead of throwing in a ton of mementos. We want to avoid possible permanent damage to her brain. We can retrace the steps of what Kaitlyn does remember."

"I don't know how I feel about remembering my time as Doctor Chaos for almost ten years." Kaitlyn muttered in discomfort. "It's still a bit of a blur but I went searching for the helm for someone that threatened to hurt my family if I didn't abide by their wishes. When I found it...something forced me to put it on."

"So in a way, you were technically in a coma?" Courtney suggested. "Freya saved you."

"Yeah...yeah she did." Kaitlyn warmly smiled before she pressed a kiss against my head. "You were incredible. Thank you for saving my life, Freya."

"It wasn't easy." I chuckle, slightly lifting my shirt to show off the bandages. "But at least now we can take a break."

"Correct. After the hard hits you took to your stomach, you need to take it easy. Not just physically, but mentally as well since you took many blows to the head." Charles added before he patted my shoulder. "But it shouldn't take more than a day. When you absorbed Kaitlyn's chaos energy, not only did it cleanse but it boosted your abilities."

"So what's the point of the wrap if I'm gonna heal anyway?"

"To make sure it heals properly. You don't want it to misshape, am I right?" He chuckled before looking over to Sylvester, taking a moment to examine his body, seeing the blue tube attached from his mouth to another medical machine next to his bedside.

"Sylvester's body is still perfectly fine, but there was a brain bleed that has left the Ultra-Humanite's mind irrevocably damaged." He glances behind us. "For all intents and purposes, he's brain dead."

I scoff. "So in other words, he's stuck in Sylvester's body?" 

Courtney quickly stands up from the chair to walk closer to the bed. "What do we do now?" 

Pat shrugged. "Well, we don't worry about the Ultra-Humanite anymore."

"But I mean...Sylvester." Courtney emphasized. "What about his brain?"

"He said it was gone."

"But then again," I stand up from the chair as well to stand in next to Charles. "he lied at every chance he got to divide us. Would it be really surprising if he lied about Sylvester?"

Pat looked at each of us before he resolutely nodded. "I say we keep him on life support...just in case."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A/N:

These last few chapters are gonna be longer than my usual ones :')) almost the end!

I hope you all have/had an amazing day! Bye!

~Cimbello