Hey, before I start the final chapter of The Sacrifice, I want to thank all of you for being loyal and patient, especially since there were a few unplanned hiatuses. This story has been a lot of fun to write, and it was good to know that you all like it. I sincerely hope you enjoy the finale.

Enjoy!:

Chapter 13

Oliver and Skylar watched Deathblade's corpse until it hit the water below.

"We did it," Oliver said. "Deathblade's defeated."

"No, you did it," Skylar said, turning to Oliver.

Oliver shook his head. "But I couldn't have done it without you."

Skylar put a hand on Oliver's chest. "And now you're gonna be Caduceo."

Oliver wrapped his arms around Skylar's waist. "Caduceo or not, nothing will change the way I feel about you."

There was a pause that lingered for a few seconds. Then, Oliver and Skylar leaned in towards each other.

A portal suddenly opened nearby and Kaz and Caduceo walked out onto the cliff.

Skylar and Oliver jumped apart from each other and blushed.

Caduceo raised his eyebrows. "Were Kaz and I interrupting something?"

Oliver opened his mouth to answer, but Kaz put his hand up.

"Caduceo, I'm gonna answer that question for you," Kaz said. "The answer is yes, we were interrupting something."

"I apologize," Caduceo said. "I just wanted to congratulate you for successfully completing your training. Very few before you have managed to do that. This is an incredible honor."

Oliver nodded. "Thank you, Caduceo."

Caduceo smiled. "Come now. It's time for you to get your new powers."

Skylar, Oliver and Kaz followed Caduceo through the portal, which opened into Caduceo's bedroom.

The four of them walked through the mansion until they got to the Transference Chamber.

"Whoa, where are we?" Oliver marveled.

"The Transference Chamber." Caduceo re-explained what it was.

Oliver took a deep breath. "Wow, I…I can't believe that this is actually happening."

Skylar smiled. "I'm proud of you."

Oliver turned to Caduceo. "Caduceo, thank you for everything. This has been such an amazing opportunity."

Caduceo held out his hand. "I no longer want you to call me Caduceo. I want you to call me by the name I had before becoming a superhero: Barry Queen! That's right. My name is Barry Queen! I…I was born in 1909 in the great state of Florida. My favorite NFL team is the Jacksonville Jaguars and my favorite NBA team is the Orlando Magic. I don't really care about any other sports. Reading is a hobby that has stuck with me all these years, even in the digital age. I've always been a huge fan of the DC Comics since their start in 1934. Before I became Caduceo, I had been married twice: my first marriage being to Jordan Panerta for six years and then Katie Richardson for two. I haven't seen either of them since becoming Caduceo, which has become my biggest regret: losing touch with those that I love."

"Why did you tell us all that?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, the Jags suck," Kaz said.

Barry (Caduceo) shook his head. "They won't suck in in the upcoming years! Their offense is already starting to make noise in the NFL. And once they get a good defense, no one will be able to stop them! But alas, I have digressed."

"Gee, ya think?" Skylar said. "All you and Kaz talk about is football!"

"Because football is cool!" Kaz said. "Especially the Eagles."

Barry sighed. "My main point was to tell Oliver that he can live his new life as Caduceo however he pleases. Just because I chose a life of isolation doesn't mean that he has to do the same. But if you do choose to keep in touch with your loved ones, they will be put in danger. Many villains who target Caduceo will use anything to gain leverage, sort of like what Deathblade did with Skylar."

Oliver nodded. "I understand. And I am ready for the challenge."

"That's good to hear." Barry reached into his cloak and pulled out a long sword and held it out to Oliver. "Now kill me."

Oliver frowned. "What?"

"The powers and spirit of Caduceo need to be released," Barry said. "The only way for that to happen is for me to die."

"But…I can't," Oliver said. "I just can't do that."

"It's the only way!" Barry sighed. "Killing me is the last thing you need to do before you can become Caduceo."

"But—"

"Just do it!" Barry snapped.

Oliver slowly took the sword and gripped the handle. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Barry whispered.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut and fatally stabbed Barry in the lower chest region.

The light of life left Barry's eyes as he dropped to his knees, then fell to his side.

Suddenly, a slightly transparent gold orb with a faded face shot out of Barry's chest and began to bounce off the walls of the Transference Chamber.

"DUCK!" Kaz yelled. He, Skylar, and Oliver dropped to their stomachs.

The golden orb bounced off the walls for about ten more seconds before rebounding into the funnel on the capsule.

Kaz got to his feet and brushed his shirt. "Well…that was terrifying."

Oliver stood up and helped Skylar to her feet. "No kidding," he said.

Skylar looked at Oliver. "Are you ready to get your powers?" she asked.

Oliver nodded. "It's all led up to this. All those long weeks on the island have finally paid off."

"Actually, it's been more like a day or two," Kaz said.

Oliver widened his eyes. "What?"

"Yeah, time on the island went by faster than time out here," Kaz said.

Oliver shook his head and shrugged. "So that's why you and Skylar looked exactly the same after all this time. And Kaz…I was so disappointed you didn't grow a beard."

"I know!" Kaz said, rubbing his smooth chin. "I'd be disappointed in myself too."

Oliver took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing." He walked over to the capsule, opened the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

Oliver turned around, did a small wave to Skylar and Kaz, and then pressed a button inside the capsule. A mix of gold and red light flooded into the capsule.

"I'm a little jealous of Oliver," Kaz said. "I feel like the both of us were meant to get powers. Wait, wouldn't that be a great twist in the series finale of my TV show, Superhero Hospital? Like if both of us touched something that gave us powers? And it would be a perfect way to set up the spinoff!"

Skylar shook her head. "That's ridiculous! Nobody would believe that!"

The gold and red light in the capsule faded. The door opened and Oliver stepped out.

"Did it work?" Kaz asked.

"If I remember the comics correctly, Caduceo has many powers, including resurrection, flying, and energy manipulation," Oliver said. "So let's see here…"

Two white balls of energy appears in Oliver's hand. He fired them both into the opposite wall of the Transference Chamber.

Kaz sighed. "I'm gonna take that as a yes."

"How do you feel?" Skylar asked.

Oliver walked over to Skylar and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm feeling…super," he replied.

Skylar took a deep breath. "Look, there's something that I wanted to tell you."

Oliver smiled down at her. "I'm all ears."

Skylar looked at Kaz. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Oh yeah, of course." Kaz turned around and faced the wall.

Skylar frowned. "Is he just gonna—"

"Yes," Oliver finished. "Yes he is."

"Whatever," Skylar said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, remember how at the start of all this, just before you left for your training, you told me that you loved me?"

"Yeah, I remember that," Oliver said. "And I still love you."

Skylar nodded. "Well, after you told me that, I didn't know how to respond, because I didn't know how I felt about it. But once I figured it out, you were already gone. But since then, so much has changed: you're Caduceo, you've aged, and Kaz wants to write a TV show."

"He does?" Oliver said. "That's news to me."

Skylar nodded. "It's weird, I know. But even though so much has changed, how I feel about you hasn't."

Oliver suddenly let go of Skylar and squeezed both his eyes shut.

"Are you okay?" Skylar asked, startled.

"I think I have a migraine." Oliver dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers to his temple. "Or maybe not…aaaaaahhhhhh!" he screamed.

Kaz turned around. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know!" Skylar panicked. "He just started doing this!"

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" Oliver continued screaming.

"What do we do?" Skylar said.

Suddenly, Oliver stopped screaming, let go of his temples, and stood up. When he opened his eyes, the irises of his eyes were blood red with small black pupils in the middle.

"Oliver, are you okay?" Skylar asked. "What was that all about?"

Oliver kept his hands at his sides, looked forward, and did not respond.

Kaz put a hand to his chin. "You know, Oliver looks good with red eyes."

Skylar ignored Kaz and frantically waved her hands in front of Oliver's eyes. "Oliver, can you hear me?"

Still no response.

"Kaz, something's really wrong!" Skylar said. "Oliver's not responding and his eyes are red!"

"Do you think he has pink eye?" Kaz said.

"What if he—" Skylar paused. "No, he doesn't have pink eye!"

Kaz shrugged. "Just sayin'."

The door to the Transference Chamber suddenly opened. "Skylar's right," a familiar voice said. "Oliver doesn't have pink eye. He has something that is much…much worse."

Skylar immediately recognized that voice. Please don't let that be who I think it is, Skylar thought.

But it was. Experion had entered the Transference Chamber.

"What are you doing here?" Skylar snarled.

Experion put a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Just dropped by to pick up my soldier."

"Your soldier?!" Skylar said. "You did this to him?"

Experion nodded. "Yeah, I thought I made that blatantly obvious."

"You did," Kaz agreed.

"Thank you," Experion said.

"But what exactly did you do to him?" Skylar asked. "And why?"

"When I performed my 'maintenance' on the capsule, I tampered with the machinery that would temporarily hold the powers and soul of Caduceo," Experion explained. "In there, I placed a virus that would infect the powers and soul of Caduceo so that that way, the new host would be evil and under my command!"

Kaz tapped his chin. "That sounds familiar…"

"Yeah, the Annihilator practically did the same thing to me!" Skylar said.

Kaz shook his head. "No…that's not it."

"And now, with Oliver under my control, I can resurrect every villain who was every killed, including the Clan of Nightmares!" Experion continued. "No one will be able to stand in our way!"

Skylar grabbed Oliver's shoulders. "Oliver, you're being controlled!" she pleaded. "You have to fight it!"

Oliver blinked, but did not respond.

"He can't hear you," Experion said. "The Oliver you know is probably dead. And if he isn't, well, the virus will kill him soon enough."

Skylar let go of Oliver and backed up, glaring at Experion. "Not if I kill you first!" Skylar rushed forward.

Experion snapped his fingers. "Caduceo! Stop her!"

Oliver flicked both of his wrists and a telekinetic wall of energy slammed into Skylar, blasting her into the opposite wall. She bounced off the wall and landed on the floor.

"Skylar!" Kaz ran to her aid.

Experion chuckled. "It's been nice catching up with you, but Oliver and I have a world to destroy! Caduceo! Follow!"

Oliver followed Experion out of the Transference Chamber.

Kaz shook Skylar. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Skylar sat up and rubbed her head. "No! Oliver's evil and being controlled by Experion! Plus we don't even know where they're going and even if we did, they're too strong for the two of us to fight. And once they resurrect the Clan of Nightmares, they'll be unstoppable."

Kaz pulled the wormhole transporter out of his back pocket. "Don't worry, I have a plan: We go back to Mighty Med and tell Horace what happened. He'll know how to handle this!"

Skylar sighed. "The worst part of it all is that everything went wrong at the worst possible moment! I didn't get to tell Oliver how I felt. I couldn't tell him that I love him."

Kaz put a hand on Skylar's shoulder. "We will find Oliver," he said. "And we will rescue him from Experion."

Skylar grabbed Kaz's arm. "Okay. Then let's go back to Mighty Med. Horace'll know what to do."

"That's what I just said," Kaz complained. He pressed a button on the wormhole transporter and he and Skylar were teleported back to Mighty Med.

THE END

Can Oliver be saved? Will Horace know how to solve this new problem? Who are the Clan of Nightmares? Well, since this is the finale, you won't that find out… on The Sacrifice.

However, the story is not finished. So it goes without saying that I am happy to announce that I will be writing a sequel to The Sacrifice, entitled The Rescue. Everything that will happen in the sequel is stuff that I wanted to happen in The Sacrifice, but I was afraid of it dragging on and losing steam. So I decided to conclude The Sacrifice after I finished the story arc of Oliver becoming Caduceo.

So I hope that you liked The Sacrifice and I hope you'll enjoy the sequel as well. Keep an eye out for The Rescue in the coming weeks (I already have the first couple of chapters written, it's just a matter of finding the time to type it up).

So long for now.

~Jameer14