chapter twenty-one:
the final battle

I carefully slipped through the narrow, cracked entryway of La Iglesia and stepped into the ruins of the church. Moonlight streamed into the room through gaping holes in ceiling, the soft glow illuminating the crushed pews and the dusty piles of rubble that covered the floors. I felt a chill shake me as I looked around at the broken remains of a place that was once filled with life.

"This way," Peter directed, beginning to head toward the opening of a darkened tunnel.

Stiles let go of my hand and gave me a small nod of reassurance before he went on ahead of me to catch up with Peter. Trailing close after Liam with Malia behind me, I vaguely wondered how Peter knew where he was going, but eventually brushed the thought away as we journeyed farther and farther into the heart of La Iglesia.

The tunnel was spotted with moonlight just as the previous room was, but was still rather dim, making it a challenge for me not to trip over my own feet as I hurried to keep up with Liam. Instinctively, I found myself reaching for his hand as the stone walls—covered in some form of ivy—on either side of me looked like they might crumble in on us at any second.

"Okay, stop, stop, stop!" Peter shouted as he abruptly skidded to a halt, causing the rest of us to crash into each other like dominoes, one after the other. With his arms held out in front of him, Peter turned around to face us as we stumbled to regain our balance. "We need to figure out where we are," he said. "And then figure out how to find Scott and Kira."

Peter twisted his body slightly to peer around the corner, and I used this moment of rest to my advantage, taking the opportunity to gulp down some air as I tried to even out my breathing.

The faint beeping of a cell phone echoed throughout the quiet tunnel, causing Peter to turn back around. Leaning forward slightly, I looked around Liam to see Stiles frantically rummaging through his pockets. I watched him pull out his phone and glance down at the caller I.D. in disbelief.

"How do I even have service?" he muttered before he quickly slid his thumb across the glowing screen and brought the device up to his ear, taking a few steps away from us. "Hi, Dad." I nearly winced at the muffled sound of the Sheriff's voice. "Okay, um, I know you're angry . . . well, when I get back, you can ground me."

Being the only one present without supernatural hearing abilities, I couldn't decipher what the Sheriff was saying, but by the expressions crossing Stiles' face, I assumed the conversation wasn't going well.

"Do you want me to lie?" Stiles then asked, his eyes flickering back to the rest of us. There was another muffled response from Sheriff before Stiles began to speak once more. "Lydia's at the school. We called Mason to look for her, but now we're not hearing back from either of them." He let out an uncertain sigh. "I don't know, Dad, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to save my friends." I felt my eyes soften with sympathy as Stiles met my gaze. "Dad, if it's one of the berserkers at the school, you're going to need firepower—a lot."

Leaving it at that, Stiles disconnected the call and walked back over to stand beside Peter.

"What do we do now?" Liam asked, looking down at me.

Malia glanced over at us, probably wondering the same thing, before her brown eyes went wide. "Duck!" she shouted, reaching an arm across me and Liam to shove us down as a bone-covered hand crashed into the wall, narrowly missing all three of our heads. She pushed me ahead of her and I lost my grip on Liam's hand as I stumbled to gain my footing enough to run after Stiles and Peter.

The heels of my riding boots slapped the ground hard as I stayed on Peter's heels, my heart pounding in my chest as adrenaline coursed through my veins. All I could hear was the terrifying rumble of growls behind me and I didn't dare glance back at what was chasing us, already knowing what creature I'd see.

I continued to push my legs to move faster, feeling a sense of déjà vu as I remembered the night at the high school over a year ago when Scott, Stiles, and I had been running from Peter in his vicious alpha wolf form.

"In here!" I heard Stiles yell out before we were all taking a sharp turn into another room. There were stone pillars everywhere and old antiques scattered all over the floor, covered in layers of dust. Before I could stop to think, Stiles called out to me in a rush. "Joey, come on!"

"Joey, go with him," Malia urged hurriedly, tossing me Kira's katana. "Go find your brother."

Gripping the sword tight in my hands, I hesitated as I locked gazes with Liam. I didn't want to leave him, especially with a berserker, but I couldn't just let Stiles wander around on his own. He'd been a second brother to me my entire life and I would never forgive myself if something happened to him.

Liam stared at me, his crystal blue eyes speaking volumes of words I hoped I'd get to hear him say someday. "Go," he told me firmly with a nod toward Stiles. The room then shook with a distance growl, causing pieces of stone to fall from the ceiling. "Go now, Joey."

I backed away slowly—reluctantly—before I turned around entirely and followed after Stiles as he rushed through an arch-shaped opening leading into another tunnel. I glanced over my shoulder, getting a glimpse of Malia and Liam preparing themselves to fight the berserker bursting into the room, before I forced myself to look away as I jogged to catch up with Stiles.

I followed close behind him as he waved his flashlight around in the darkness. "Scott?" he called out, his voice echoing into the seemingly endless tunnel.

"Kira?" I shouted.

The shuffling of rocks sounded from beside us, and Stiles moved back closer to me as we both froze in place, listening carefully for the possible threat.

I heard him inhale sharply before he abruptly shined the flashlight to our left.

I breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of Kira, but my worry rushed back the second I noticed the blood on her forehead and at the corner of her mouth. Her black hair was a matted mess, her clothes were disheveled, and she suffered a slight limp as she walked toward us on wobbly legs.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked as we met her halfway.

"It's Scott, Stiles. It's Scott," Kira spluttered.

"What?" Stiles questioned, his voice barely audible as he stared at Kira in alarm.

"The berserker. It's him. Kate did it."

My blood ran cold. "Kira, what are you talking about?" I pressed as my heart started to beat at a panicked pace.

It couldn't be Scott. He couldn't be one of those things—one of those monsters.

Kira shook her head, swallowing tightly. "She made him into one of them, Joey. I don't know how, but it's him," she clarified. "And if they don't know it, they could kill him."

I could feel myself go numb. "That's why Lydia's not here," I heard Stiles voice say, but it was muffled and sort of floaty, like I was listening to him talk underwater. The walls surrounding me were starting to spin and my vision was beginning to blur. "They won't know they're killing Scott."

The words shook me to the core and suddenly everything came back into focus as clear as crystal.

They won't know they're killing Scott.

Before I even realized I'd moved, I was turning and running.

I could vaguely hear Stiles calling after me, but my mind was screaming, Scott. Scott. It's Scott, and I couldn't listen to anything else as I sprinted down the tunnels back to where we'd left Malia, Peter, and Liam. My heart was thumping at an untamed, erratic speed and my breathing was loud and labored, but my physical state did nothing to deter me as I ran faster than I ever had in my life.

I stumbled into the room within seconds, and my eyes blew wide, my heart nearly stopping at the sight of Malia about to strike a fatal blow to my brother's head with a bone dagger. "Stop!" I screamed, and Kira flew in from behind me, drawing her katana to slash the knife right from Malia's hand.

With heavy breaths, I watched the sharp piece clatter to the dusty floor before I looked over at Kira in mix of relief and astonishment. I didn't even remember handing her sword back to her.

Malia gaped at us—I could tell by her expression she thought we were betraying her again—just as Stiles entered the room in a rush of flailing limbs, coming to a stop beside me. "It's Scott," he stated, a look of trepidation spreading across his face. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he looked around at our friends. "It's Scott."

Liam's distressed blue eyes met my gaze and I nodded faintly, confirming what Stiles had said was the truth. Looking back to Scott with furrowed eyebrows, Liam squinted slightly and peered into the mask of the berserker. I didn't have to look to know my brother's warm brown eyes would stare back at him.

In our moment of hesitation, Scott knocked both Peter and Liam away from him, punching Malia with enough force to send her to the ground. The berserker that used to be my brother then turned and approached us with hulking steps as Liam weakly scrambled backward along the floor, staring up at Scott with fearful eyes.

"Scott?" Kira questioned as he strode past her without a glance. Her katana was poised in front her, prepared to fight if necessary. "Scott, don't!"

I hurriedly knelt down beside Liam, trying to help him to his feet as Stiles shuffled in front of us, moving warily toward Scott.

"Scott, it's me," he tried, but was backhanded into silence. Stiles narrowly deflected the blow with his arms as he soared backward and fell to the floor.

"Stiles?" I questioned in concern, turning my head to look at him.

Stiles eyes widened as he gazed behind me. "Joey, watch out!" he shouted in warning, and I whipped around just as Scott grabbed a hold of Liam, shoving him into one of the stone pillars by the throat.

"Scott, no, please!" I screamed, tears beginning to blur my vision as I watched helplessly from the ground as Liam struggled in my brother's tight grip. "Please don't hurt him!" Scott raised his fist, and despite Stiles' shouts of protest, I scrambled up to my feet, wrapping my hands around Scott's bone-covered arm as I gazed into the mask of the monster he was trapped inside. "Scott," I whimpered.

"Scott, listen! Listen," Liam pleaded, taking advantage of Scott's hesitation, causing him to turn his head back to Liam. "You're not a monster. You're a werewolf." Liam's breaths were heavy and anxious as he repeated the words Scott had said to him—the words that made him accept himself as he was. "Like me."

I stared at my brother in wide-eyed wonder as he slowly lowered Liam to the ground and staggered backward away from us. I quickly reached out to steady Liam as he stumbled slightly off balance and our gazes clashed for a brief moment before we both turned to look at Scott along with everyone else.

He began to shed the bone armor of the berserker, dropping each piece to the floor, until only the mask of the bear skull remained. Scott gripped it on either side with both hands and pulled with the strength of an alpha. The skull cracked down the middle and the tear in the bone glowed a vibrant yellow as it was broken in half to reveal my brother's face—his features shifted into those of a wolf and his eyes a luminescent red.

I trembled in Liam's arms as Scott released a booming roar, shaking the stone walls around us and causing debris to fall from the ceiling as he threw the broken pieces of the berserker mask to the dusty floor.

My brother's howl rumbled into a low growl as he tilted his head down to glare at the one person I'd never trusted: Peter.

"You," Scott snarled as he stepped forward. I slowly followed the gazes of my friends as we all turned to stare at the oldest Hale with mixed expressions of weariness and surprise. "The only one who knew as much as Argent about berserkers—about the nahual. You taught Kate. You helped her. All for power."

"For my family's power," Peter bellowed, sounding just as infuriated as Scott looked. I found myself instinctively coiling into Liam at the pure malic I heard dripping from Peter's words like venom from a snake. "To be rightfully inherited by me. Not usurped by some idiot teenage boy so incorruptible he wouldn't shed the blood of his enemies even when justified. You don't deserve your power. Not power like this." His last words held a dark, animalistic undertone as his face began to distort into a wolf-like creature that reminded me vaguely of Deucalion.

Peter's eyes shined the icy, brilliant blue of a killer as he fully shifted into his werewolf form. A roar tore up his throat, but before he had the chance to attack Scott, Malia growled and prepared to lunge at him. Peter snarled and used one hand to send her flying into a wall across the room.

"Malia!" I shouted reflexively, taking a step in her direction, only to be held in my place by Liam.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Peter apologized mockingly. "We'll talk about this later."

He returned his glaring eyes to Scott, and Kira drew her katana for the second time that night, preparing herself to defend my brother.

"Kira!" Scott called out before she could attack Peter.

Kira hesitated, but eventually gave a look of understanding and stood down.

This had to be Scott's fight.

"You were my beta first, Scott. It was my bite that changed your life," Peter spoke in a low growl, the sadistic gleam in his eyes sending a chill through me. "And it's my bite that can end it."

"Then end it, Peter," Scott challenged. "Because you won't get another chance."

The two werewolves let out deafening roars and ran head-to-head, leaping into the air to attack one another. The vicious battle commenced with a series of snarls, scratches, punches, and kicks. Liam tensed each time Scott was knocked down and prepared himself to intervene as we watched anxiously from the sidelines, but I held tight to his arm, keeping him safely in place beside me where—for the time being—we were out of harm's way.

The blue mutation of a werewolf Peter had transformed into grabbed Scott by the arm, swinging him around and tossing him into a stone pillar—an impact that would have broken a human's spine. "Come on, Scott," Peter taunted. "Fight like an alpha." After being thrown into two more columns, Scott gained the upper hand, slamming Peter to the floor and repeatedly ramming his fist down into his chest. Peter retaliated worse than before, landing a few punches to Scott's body before he grabbed him by the neck and shoulder. "If you want to beat me, you're going to have to kill me!"

Peter flung Scott high into the wall, and my hand clamped over my mouth to stifle a gasp as he bounced off the stone barrier, slamming to the ground with a grunt of pain.

Liam stepped forward in concern, and I followed after him, grasping his hand to halt his movements. Peter's head then whipped around to face us and I wanted nothing more than to cower away as his icy eyes studied us.

"The beta and the alpha's sister," he spoke derisively. "How cute."

Then, without hesitation, Peter lifted a pew and hurled the wooden structure toward us. Liam tugged harshly on my hand, yanking me down to the floor and bringing his arms around my shoulders just as it crashed into the corner of a nearby pillar, the old wood breaking into pieces. I kept my head ducked, huddled against Liam as I felt the debris of the pew rain over us.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I hesitantly drew away from Liam and looked over at Scott with wide, frightened eyes.

Scott stared back, his gaze shifting between me and Liam before he let out a growl, pushing up to his feet to face Peter. He rose to stand as Peter advanced on him once more, but this time was different. Scott looked menacing in the best possible way as he effortlessly deflected every single punch Peter threw at him.

Scott motions blurred with the speed at which he moved, and then, in one swift swing of his arm, my brother sent the former alpha soaring through the air with a final punch to the jaw.

Peter flew backward over the table of bones, crashing into a dusty pile of wood on the other side of the room.

With the moonlight fanning around him, Scott leaped onto the table and scowled down at Peter. "You were never an alpha, Peter," Scott told him somberly. "But you were always a monster."

Snarling in response, Peter tried to rise once more, but Scott jumped from the table, his fist colliding with Peter's face and knocking him unconscious.

The five of us—Malia, Kira, Stiles, Liam, and I—cautiously moved forward as Scott turned to face us. With dirt smudged on his face and blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, he walked closer to me, but didn't say anything and he didn't need to.

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his chest with a smile on my face as I felt his arms wind around my shoulders, returning the warm embrace.

The final battle was over.

And we'd won.

x

A/N: There's one more chapter left and I can't even express how excited I am. As corny as it sounds, this has honestly been such a journey for me. Developing Joey's character and her relationship with Liam has been so much fun and I can't wait to continue their story in the sequel!

Teen Wolf has been my favorite show for years and maybe I'm a little too emotionally invested in the characters, but it's so much fun to write this because I feel like I'm a part of the show.

I don't know what else to say but thank you. Thank you for supporting me and supporting this story with such kind and positive words.

Also, like I mentioned in the last chapter, if there's anything specific you'd like to see happen in the sequel or in a specific episode from season five, let me know in a review and I'll try my best to include your suggestions!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter and I'll be sure to have the next one up ASAP! :)