[Chloe's House (AU)]

Max woke up in Chloe's room but something was off.. She wasn't in her usual body but rather in her 13-year-old body. And the bedroom wasn't filled with the smell of drugs and the style of a punk. This universe.. Max had been here before.. Max proceeded downstairs to find William in the kitchen on the phone to Joyce and Chloe in her teenage body too.

"Good morning Max!" Chloe said as she walked over to Max giving her a morning hug.

"Chloe, what happened? Alex Mercer killed James Heller. I tried to stop him but.. now i'm here."

"Alex Mercer? James Heller? What are you talking about? Did you have a bad dream?" Chloe said concerned.

"No, Chloe! I'm being serious!"

"Max, chill! It was just a dream or you're just super paranoid right now!"

Max decided to leave it at that and join Chloe on the couch to watch TV

Max then put her arm around Chloe's shoulder while Chloe did the same. William called to Max and Chloe: "I'm just going to the Grocery Store to pick up Joyce! You guys better behave while I'm gone! Don't mess up the house!"

"Okay Dad!" Chloe replied.

William went out of the door to his car. Max thought about what's possibly coming next and she was scared.

Suddenly.. everything faded to white..

Memories and flashbacks.. being torn apart..

[Dark Room]

Suddenly, Max woke up in the Dark Room back in her 18-year-old body. Mark Jefferson's Dark Room. Max knew this was a nightmare and she couldn't wake up. While Max tried to wake up, she instantly thought of the horrors that Alex Mercer might be causing in the real world. Max then looked up at the approaching silhouette which then revealed Mark Jefferson but he had Claws just like Alex Mercer.

"What the fuck is going on?! Why is this happening again?! I have to stop Mercer!"

"What do you think Max? It suits me doesn't it? It would capture the perfect moment, thanks to Alex Mercer." Jefferson said whilst looking down at Max with a creepy smile.

"Now, let me just grab my special recipe and I'll be right back." He said before going to get the syringe.

Max had to find a way out before Jefferson could inject her with another dose and to her luck, she saw her open photo album by her feet.

Max looked at the book of photos and luckily, it was a picture she took hours before she, Chloe and James went after Alex Mercer.

"This photo! I can go back to the moment before we went after Alex Mercer!"

Max focused on the picture with all her power and everything faded to white...

[Blackwell Academy]

Max woke up in Chloe's Truck.

Chloe: "Wake up Max! We're here! Let's go kill that fucker Mercer!"

The two then step out of Chloe's Truck and rushed out to find Mercer and James and they were seen fighting outside the Boy's Dormitories. Max had to prepare for when the fatal moment occurred to rewind and turn the tables on Mercer.

"Ah, I see your point, but you can't stop me." Alex said before he pulled out the revolver from his jacket pocket.

"JAMES! DODGE IT!" Max screamed. It was too late, the bullet had already cracked James' skull wide open.

Max stuck her hand out to rewind, pulling back time by a few seconds to the point where Alex pulled out his revolver. Suddenly, the unexpected happened..

Black Tendrils erupted from Max's body, Mercer and Heller jumped straight out of the way. Chloe watched in shock. Alex then ran off.

"HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE HELL?! YOU GOT A NEW SUPERPOWER?! OH MY GOD, YOU GOTTA DO THAT AGAIN!" Chloe screamed in excitement.

"No, I think that's enough." Heller said with sigh of relief. "You totally saved my ass." Heller then noticed the two moons in the sky with a half-red half-white moon in the middle of the other two moons. "Oh shit."

"What is it?" Max said.

James replied: "The Blacklight Storm. Mercer unleashed it. Once the tornado hits this place, thousands and hundreds of Infected will swarm Arcadia Bay and reduce it to rubble to build a Hive that they like to call 'home'. If there's no possible way of stopping it, this whole town will be home to the Infected, Brawlers, Juggernauts and Evolved."

"Oh god.. My powers.. I created this! I altered everything so much that I gave Mercer a chance to unleash the virus!" Max said almost crying.

"Don't say that! Mercer would've unleashed the virus anyhow!" James assured her.

Suddenly.. Max's vision again faded to white..

[Chloe's House (Normal Timeline)]

Max's vision slowly regained itself as Max tried to make out where she was. When her vision was fully clear, it appeared that Max was back in Chloe's house, in the normal timeline.

"What happened? Did I save Heller from Mercer? Do I have a new power?"

Max walked downstairs hesitating to turn to the living room but curiosity got the better of her and she turned to the living room. A sigh of relief escaped Max as she saw that everything was how it was before. Max started to look around for Chloe, Joyce or David but nobody was in. "Strange, there's usually someone down here every time I come here." Max thought to herself as she went upstairs and kept looking for them.

Max checked the Bathroom:

No-one.

The Garage:

No-one.

Joyce's Room:

No-one.

The whole Price household was empty. Max was all by herself, suddenly her phone was ringing. Max checked who was ringing, It was Chloe. Max immediately answered.

*Max picks up*

Max: "Chloe?"

Chloe: "Max! You need to get over here NOW!" Chloe was panicking on the other end.

Max: "Chloe?! Where are you?"

Chloe: "The Lighthouse! Hurry!"

Max: "I'm coming!"

*Max hangs up*

Max made a mad dash for the door but it was locked so Max jumped out of Chloe's bedroom window and got to the front porch and David was there waiting.

"What?! Didn't James kill David a few days ago? Maybe James spared him when I altered the timeline." Max thought to herself.

David: "Come on! We have to go!"

Max: "Hit it, go go!" Max said as she got in the car and they sped off to the lighthouse.

[The Lighthouse]

Max and David arrived at the bottom of the Lighthouse. Chloe came running towards them. Max and David stepped out of the car.

"QUICK! COME ON!" Chloe cried out as she ran back up to the top of the hill while Max and David followed suit.

As they all got to the top, Chloe pointed to someone who was standing in front of the bench near the Lighthouse who appeared to be Alex Mercer, facing the ocean.

"It's Alex Mercer! I don't know why he's just standing there!" Chloe said with a feared expression.

"Well, we better go see what he wants. Max, Chloe, be careful." David told them as they all slowly walked up to Alex Mercer.

Alex opened his mouth to speak:

"They called me a killer, a murder, a liar, a terrorist. I 'was' all of those things. I 'was' the reason this virus existed in the first place, I 'was' the reason of The Blacklight Storm being released in Arcadia Bay and Oregon."

Max: "What? I.. What the.. Alex?"

Alex: "The Blacklight Storm is coming.. There's no way I can fix this. We're all doomed."

Max: "But Alex, I saved James from being killed by you! I can go back in time and stop it from being released."

Alex: "No Max, no matter how far back you go, the Blacklight Storm will always stay put. Damn the Spirit of Whitelight."

Chloe: "The Spirit of what now?"

Alex: "The Spirit of Whitelight was something that Blackwatch invented 5 years ago to cure any type of infection, but not the Blacklight Storm."

Chloe: "There has to be a way to stop it!"

Alex let out a sigh before turning to Chloe. "There is a way, however, a sacrifice must be made."

"I must get into Gentek's Laboratory in Oregon and take the life of the Head of Project Blackstorm."

Chloe: "And getting rid of it? What's that gonna do?"

Alex: "You worry about Max and everyone else you care about. I'm getting in there and doing what needs to be done."

David: "Alex." David said as Mercer was walking away.

Mercer leaned over his shoulder to face Madsen.

David: "Stop Project Blackstorm before it's too late! I will keep Max and the others safe!"

Alex then turned away and jumped off into the trees, onto the forest area's pathway and sprinted off.

Max then suddenly thought about Heller, James Heller. Where was he? Is he alive? Max had to know if there was gonna be any chance of the Blacklight Storm being stopped.

Max got out her phone, went on Contacts and tapped James' name. Max was panicking as it was ringing. "Please answer." She said.

*James picks up*

James: "Max?! Is that you?!"

Max: "Heller! You're okay! Alex Mercer's going to stop the Blacklight Storm."

James: "Well, thanks to your fucking around with time and space, we got the real Alex Mercer on our side, plus we have more chance of stopping the virus with him by our side than just us. Anyway's, I've finally gotten wind of those Blackwell bastards near Blackwell Academy."

Max: "Who?"

James: "Victoria Chase and Nathan Prescott have been spotted just outside the Blackwatch checkpoint. They have classified information on Project Blackstorm but they're not giving it up that easily. I'm gonna have to take it from them the hard way. Won't be easy though, Blackwatch and Supersoldiers crawling all over the place."

Max: "Just try not to kill them."

James: "I'll do it if I have to."

*Heller hangs up*

TO BE CONTINUED IN: Blackwatch Academy