(A/N: The final part of the Climax! Woohoo! But don't worry folks, this isn't the last chapter, so enjoy!)

Disclaimer: Sky High belongs to its legal owners.

Chapter Thirteen: Final Battle

Serenity ran, it was the only thing she could do. She could feel the darkness following her and clouding her thoughts. Sometime during her run, she had begun to get cold. Wait how long had she been running for? She didn't know anymore, this forest seemed to go on forever and all she knew was that if she stopped moving even for a second it'd get her. She looked up for a moment and saw a castle, 'Okay so there's a castle in the middle of a forest…right like this doesn't scream trap.' She thought to herself. 'But…' She looked back, 'it's the best bet I have to find cover.'

Her legs led her to the castle with ease and when she pushed the door shut she leaned against it cradling her wrist to her chest. She tried to remember how to breathe, though every time she took a breath her side ached. She kept the tears from falling from her eyes, "Dreams aren't supposed to hurt." She muttered as she pulled away from the door and headed down the corridor. She shuddered, 'How am I cold? I ran all the way here. Something's not right…I feel sick.'

She saw the twisting staircase down the hall and it seemed like something was calling her to it. She walked up what seemed like the never ending set of stairs, "Why do I feel like I'm caught in a really bad Rapunzel story?" She looked at the door waiting for her at the end of the stairs then opened it, and saw a spindle sitting there causing her to smile sardonically. 'Make that a really bad Rapunzel Sleeping Beauty crossover.' She walked over to it, "Is this where I let my hair down and fall asleep for a hundred years? Then wait for my prince to come and rescue me? What am I some damsel in distress?" She looked at the spindle again and somehow it was oddly enticing. She ran her finger up the needle, even though she consciously knew what would happen if she did, her fingers slowed down near the top and she was just about to prick her finger.

"STOP!" A small voice called out to her causing her to pull away from the needle.

"Oh God what now? We're severely steering off course from the story here." She stared at what she assumed was a fairy. "Didn't Sleeping Beauty have three fairies?"

"The other two have already bestowed their gifts on you." The small fairy crossed her arms.

"Right…okay and what were those?" She tried to prevent another shudder from running through her but it only caused her side to throb. 'If this continues, I'm going to vomit…maybe sitting down would be a good thing.' She sat down on the floor, but still maintained eye contact with the fairy.

"The first one was your power boosting ability and the second was your power neutralizing ability." The fairy held up two empty orbs which Serenity felt an instant connection to.

"And what's your gift?" She asked. "Is it if I poke that spindle am I going to go asleep for a hundred years instead of dying?"

"No." The fairy glared at her, "I am here to give you the gift of light."

"The what now?" Her eye brows furrowed. "Last time I checked humans already mastered the ability to make light."

"You're running out of time and that's what you say to me? Serenity! You're friends are in grave danger and your making sarcastic remarks?" The fairy hit her on the head with her wand.

"Ow! Sorry!"

"You better be." Serenity watched as the fairy placed her hands in front of her chest and from it a small ball of light appeared.

The ball of light floated toward Serenity and it grew when she reached for it. She carefully held it in her hands as she pulled it closer to her. She held it near her face and lightly rested her head against it, "It's warm." She whispered.

"It is your parents' final gift to you. Do you accept it?"

Serenity swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat and blinked back the tears in her eyes. "I do." The light exploded and put her flat on her back. When she opened her eyes the fairy was gone, and that's when she heard someone coming up the stairs causing her to freeze; her eyes closed and she nearly stopped breathing as the door slammed open. She pretended to be dead as whoever walked into the room, 'Let this nightmare come to an end.' She pleaded.

The person walked over to her and held her, cradling her on their lap though now she could tell from the structure of the muscles that they were a male. He whispered, "Come on Serenity, open your eyes."

'This voice…' She felt warmth coursing through her. He tilted her head up and pressed his lips to hers.

Serenity's eyes fluttered open and she looked at the person holding her then smiled as she whispered, "My Prince." She saw Warren smile back at her and her senses went into hyper drive. She pushed away from him but his arms kept her from falling off of him. Her face paled but then blush quickly covered it. 'Oh God did I just say that? Did I seriously just call Warren Peace a prince? More importantly did I just call him my prince?'

"Morning Sleeping Beauty." He whispered it was obvious that he was enjoying this.

She looked anywhere but his face, that's when she saw Jason and Eve looking at her. "Serenity!" Jason grinned.

"It's good to see you, Jason, Evelynn. But I've got a bad feeling…where are the others?" She tried to get up again and this time Warren let her. She avoided touching her ribs in order to avoid showing just how injured she truly was.

"They went after Brian." Evelynn told her.

"Shit…" They all looked at her, she never swore, "We need to get going. Jason I need your help." She reached her good hand out to him and he took it. "Expand your senses and try to concentrate on Will, I'll do the rest." He did as she told him and she boosted his power enough for him to sense the vague energies of Will, Layla and Zach. But there was something else…a different energy that he'd never encountered before.

"I sense them, but I also sense someone else." He told her.

"Brian?" Warren asked.

"Mia…" Serenity whispered. Her hands clenched onto Jason's shoulders even though her broken wrist screamed at her. "Take me to her!" He looked at her like she was crazy. "NOW!" He nodded, mostly because he was terrified of her at this point. He led the way to the strange power and the first thing Serenity noticed was the sound of a heart monitor. She ran towards the sound and opened the door then for a moment she was blinded by the light.

"You!" Warren called and suddenly a fireball was in his hand.

Serenity stood in front of the girl as she sat by a bed occupied by an older woman. "Don't even think about it Warren." She warned him and he hesitated but ultimately put the fireball out.

Mia looked up at Serenity, "Why are you being so nice to me? I attacked you! You should hate me!"

Serenity turned and knelt beside her, "Because you didn't want to, that icy glare that you gave me…it was just an act."

Mia's hand shot out and latched itself around Serenity's throat. "Why are you still looking at me like that?"

Serenity's hands gently pressed on Mia's wrist, "Because you're scared. You want someone to help you." Mia's hand loosened, "You've been waiting a long time Mia, but it's alright…I'm here now, I'll help you." Mia's hand dropped but she didn't pull away from Serenity's hands. Her hand's brushed Mia's bangs out of her eyes and then slid down enough to lift her face to look at her. "Is that your mother?"

Mia nodded, "She's been like that for the past ten years."

"What did he do?" Serenity got up but kept Mia's hand in hers. "Did he place her in a nightmare?" Mia nodded. "Then…" Serenity looked at Jason, who was checking the IVs "I should be able to neutralize the power without hurting her, right?"

"You should everything seems to be in order. Though she might not regain consciousness for a couple of days and we still have to get the others." He looked at her.

"Is that alright with you Mia?" She placed her right hand's index finger onto Mia's mother's forehead, though she didn't power up. "However if I do this for you, I need you to do something for me." Mia nodded frantically. "I need you to help me when the time is right. I'll need you on our side."

Warren watched as Serenity easily took charge of the situation. Something had changed her over the past two days, something he couldn't describe. She seemed older, more mature then when he had seen her in the nurse's office stubbornly refusing his help. Somehow it felt like if he took his eyes off of her she'd run right past him without looking back, leaving him behind to chase after her. He watched as she powered up slightly and as the woman's face seemed to change marginally; if he hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it. He watched as Serenity's lips curled up into a smile, then as she pulled away from the woman and then turned back to Mia offering her a hand. That's when he noticed that she was using her right hand for almost everything, which wasn't strange considering it was her dominant hand but it still made him look at her left hand that's when he noticed the small piece of fabric that was wrapped around her wrist. "Serenity, are you…" He was cut off.

"Alright let's get going Jason lead the way!" She called out, her right hand still holding Mia's as she nearly dragged the poor girl out of the room.

They followed Jason to where the other three slept. Evelynn, Warren and Jason checked their pulses then looked at each other than at Serenity. "They're alive." Warren told her, "Will's pulse is steady, how about the other two?" Evelynn and Jason nodded.

"We've just got to wake them up." Evelynn told her.

"Leave it to me." Serenity looked at Mia, "Stay here; if you disappear I'll be very upset." She let go of her hand then walked over to Zach first and then used a small portion of her power to neutralize Brian's nightmare power. She repeated the process with the other two as Zach woke up.

"What happened? And why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck?" Zach asked as he sat up holding his head.

Will sat up, "I feel like I'm waking up the morning after the party of the century."

Layla squealed when she saw Will and tackled him back down, kissing him passionately. "I thought you were dead!" She quickly turned and looked at Serenity who seemed to be ready to hide the moment their eyes met. Layla tackled her too but Serenity kept them upright though she was trying not to scream or cry because Layla's arms crossed over her ribs.

'Oh yeah…there is definitely more than one broken.' Serenity let out a hissed breath, "Layla, you're hugging my fractured rib."

She pulled away instantly, "Are you alright? He didn't do anything to you did he?"

"I'm fine…so what are we going to do now?" Serenity looked at the others trying not to show how much pain she was in.

"We need to stop my father." Mia told them.

"Your father?" Layla asked, now noticing the girl who nearly blended into the shadows just by standing there.

"Oh right you mentioned that before…" Serenity looked at Mia while extending a hand out to her hoping she'd come closer. "So this means…"

Mia walked up, "That we're cousins, yes."

"That still doesn't explain why you two look so much alike." Zach said while rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing doubles.

"Our fathers were twins…that's the only reason why I can think of." Mia looked at Serenity who simply shrugged. "Anyways back onto the point of where we take out my father…"

"She's right," Warren told them, "If we don't end this now, this will keep happening. We can finally get this over and done with."

'But then…I won't be able to see him on a daily basis anymore…' Serenity frowned, "But how do we defeat shadow?"

"The same way it's been defeated since the beginning of time, with light." Layla told them.

It all came crashing down on Serenity until she sincerely thought she might vomit. The nightmare she had wasn't just a dream it had been real in a fictional sort of way. She acknowledged the new power inside of her and she felt it warm her to her toes. She suddenly understood why she and Mia looked so much alike and suddenly the world seemed so much clearer. She wasn't sure how long this clarity might have lasted so she looked at the others. "I have a plan. But we need to get on the other side of those bars."

"They're electrically charged." Will told them.

Mia shrugged, "I can take us across to the other side."

"No!" They all looked at Serenity, "What I mean is save your strength…Warren can easily melt the bars. Right?"

"Yeah…" He raised an eyebrow, 'What are you planning?' He went over to the bars and began melting them from a safe distance.

Will looked at Serenity, "So are you going to fill us in on this plan of yours?"

"I can't he might be listening. But trust me on this one okay?" While they waited Serenity began undoing the hair style that Layla had put it in on the day of the dance. She split the hair enough for her to make two ponytails that almost hit the floor. When she was finished she heard Warren throw a fireball at the now melted bars blocking the way. "Mia and I will go first, that way if he's back there I can quickly neutralize his power, but if it proves too much then she can get us out." She took Mia's hand and led her past the newly formed entrance way to the other side of the bars.

When they were through Serenity looked at the others apologetically, "Sorry guys…" Mia placed a barrier of shadow behind the bars so that the others couldn't follow them. Serenity touched her shoulder, "Keep that thing stable, I'll be back." Mia watched slightly as Serenity ran towards Brian's command room, she looked at the floor and there were small footprints that weren't covered in shadows.

"What is that girl?" Mia muttered as she flinched when she felt the Stronghold boy punch the barrier she made.

Serenity ran towards where she knew Brian was waiting for her. She paused when she reached a door, she knew with every fiber of her being that he was behind this door and she kicked it open. "I know you're in here you might as well come out and fight like a man!" She called.

"What a shame. To think that they had the ability to wake you up…not even I could have imagine they had that much power." Brian told her from where he sat on the chair in the back of the room.

"You really think your stupid little nightmares would convert me to evil?" She placed her hand behind her back and she tried to create a small ball of light in it, ready to throw it the moment she got a clear shot.

"Strange your mother said the same thing when she stood in that same spot." He got up and began walking towards her.

She sensed that his shadows were expanding around her ready to attack her at the opportune moment. 'Keep yourself calm Serenity,' She told herself, 'No matter what he says do not use your trump card until you know it's going to hit him.'

"Do you want to see where she died?" His hand reached out and touched a machine causing it to light up.

She watched in horror as the sparks shot from one end to the other, "Speaking of my mother…" She prepared her neutralizing power a few more steps and he'd be close enough for her to use it. "Are you ready to pay the price for killing her?"

"And what are you going to do? You don't have any offensive powers." He laughed as he continued to stalk towards her.

She counted down the steps he took until he was close enough, '3...2...1' He stepped into her fully expanded power neutralizing zone then she threw the ball of light. It hit him square in the stomach throwing him a couple of feet away from her.

"How did you do that? That power died when my stupid brother did!" She could see it dawn on him, "No it's not possible."

"It is." Her tone was dark; this was no longer a game. "I am the Yang to Mia's Yin. I am the light to Mia's dark, and unfortunately you're throwing the balance out of order. I am here to fix that problem." Another ball of light formed in her hand as she walked closer to him keeping him inside of her neutralizing barrier. She hurled the ball at him, "That was for all of the pain you caused Mia over the years."

He watched as she straddled the lines of good and evil he had always known that she was close to the edge but he had never imagined that it'd go this far. The look in her eyes was the look of a killer, not of the innocent fourteen year old that she was raised to be. He laughed, "You're not that different from me."

She paused, giving him time to gather his shadows, "I am nothing like you." She growled.

"Oh really, I killed my sister-in-law but you…you're ready to kill your own uncle, now tell me where exactly is that different." He grinned as the ball in her hand faded out and his shadows covered her completely.

She hadn't seen it coming, she hadn't even sensed it. She had been too busy with getting her revenge, with finally ending this, to see what she was becoming. 'So now you're trapped in a pack of shadows what are you going to do?' She mentally scolded herself. 'What would the others think of you? Layla would probably look at you with wide scared eyes. Will probably wouldn't even look at you…but Warren would probably sneer and call you a hypocrite and that would be the end of that, wouldn't it?' She opened her eyes and felt power build up inside of her. She sent it outward causing the shadows around her to shatter. She looked at Brian as he stopped laughing. "I am nothing like you." She told him.

He cringed back as he saw the clear unclouded look in her eyes, it was the same look his brother had given him time and time again when they were kids, but it was also the same look Hope had given him when she had come to fight him. It was the look of every hero he had come to despise. He glared at her as he tried to figure out what to do next.

Will punched the shadow barrier again and this time there was a change, he heard it crack. "Once more." He hit the spot again and it shattered. The six of them looked at one very surprised Mia.

"Hi." She squeaked as they looked at her. "I'm sorry! But she helped my mother what was I supposed to do? I told her I'd help her when the time came."

"That's not important, where'd she go?" Warren asked.

"She went to go face Brian." Mia pointed in the direction.

Warren ran a head of the others, "Warren!" Layla cried. The others followed him and she was planning to follow them but she noticed Mia was still standing there. "Are you coming?"

Mia looked at Layla as she ran after the others, "Hey! Wait for me!" Mia cried as she followed them.

Warren followed the sounds of the battle going on and his legs propelled him forward. When he approached the doorway he saw flashes of light bright enough that he had to cover his eyes. He heard Will and the others approach, "What's going on?" Will asked in a hushed voice.

"I think that their fighting." Jason told him.

"I know that but how? Serenity doesn't have any offensive powers." They cringed back as a flash of light happened near the door way. "Maybe I was wrong."

Layla peered into the doorway and saw Serenity and Brian standing on opposing ends of the room gasping. She looked at Serenity and noticed how her left arm seemed to be in utter ruin, she could nearly see where the bone was damaged in it. "We've got to stop them!"

"If we distract her he might us that chance to get away." Evelynn hissed.

"Her arm is broken!" Layla snapped.

Mia looked at them like they were completely oblivious, "So is her left wrist and her ribs…"

They all looked at her, "Why are you just telling us this now?" Will glared at her, "I mean we knew about her rib but we didn't know about her wrist."

Their heads turned as Serenity's voice was heard, "Not bad old man…but this is where it ends." Her breath was labored and she knew she was bruised all over. 'I can boost other peoples' powers…why can't I boost my own?' She looked around the room, wherever her blasts that had missed and hit the wall, the shadows didn't formed back. 'I can win this…I just have to concentrate. Focus all of your senses on your hand, find your remaining energy…all of it and then take the shot.' She focused everything she had to her good hand, she felt the energy build up there, then she put everything she had in her to boost her own power. She felt the pull and tug of the powers from the people behind her.

Layla looked at Warren, "You're on fire!" She squeaked.

"And you've got flowers growing in your hair." He raised an eyebrow.

She pulled out a small flower of honeysuckle from her hair and went to hand it to Will, only to notice he was off the ground. "Will you're floating…"

"Yeah…I can't seem to get down." He frowned.

Zach turned, showing off his super glow, "This is even brighter than the time your power went out. I like it. But I think Serenity's using her limit breaker right now."

"Are you seriously making a Final Fantasy reference right now?" Evelynn asked as she stared at her hands which seemed to be made of ice, "Though this is pretty awesome if you think about it."

Jason and Mia looked at each other, both were unaffected by Serenity's sudden boost in power. He spoke, "Okay I can understand why I'm not affected but why aren't you?"

"Serenity at this point can't tell the difference between my power and my father's power, she doesn't want to risk giving him more power then he already has." Mia watched from the doorway.

Serenity opened her eyes to see the energy ball that had formed in her hand, there was all different colors in it, fire red, leaf green, neon yellow, sky blue, ice blue and comet white. 'Everyone's power, it feels so warm.' She looked up just in time to see Brian lunge at her. She aimed it at him, but a sharp pain ran through her causing her to lose control of the energy in her hand. The next thing they all saw was the energy exploding.