A.N.: The time has come to put this arc of the story to bed. I know everyone was expecting this story to keep going, but I'm afraid that as far as this story goes, it is over. But, in a sense, it is also not over, because I plan on writing a sequel very soon! So you won't see any more updates to "Battle Royale", but a new story will be in the works! Be sure to subscribe to my author alerts to learn about it as soon as I post the first chapter! The sequel will be a direct continuation of the characters as I have them now, but be an entirely new adventure for our young wizards!

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Alex indeed got her powers back after the month-long suspension, as was promised. She was glad to have them back and promptly ceased her study of Mortal Ritualism. Justin however, continued to study it. He put even more work into it than he had in his previous wizard training, if that can be believed.

The Wizard Council HQ was repaired of its destroyed doors and walls, and things went back to relative normalcy. Even the arrival of the Martians only caused a few people to claim to see flying saucers, and these reports were discredited as much as any other UFO sighting claim. Perhaps Old Chuck's reservations were for naught, and perhaps the Martians should have been summoned earlier, to avoid the problem entirely. Well hindsight is 20/20 and no one blames Old Chuck for what he did. He was given a wonderful funeral, and eulogies about his bravery to the very end were given, despite the fact that no one really knew for sure what had happened. Nevertheless, they did say that he made the right decisions.

Max's punishment for mass homicide and conspiracy to destroy the Wizard Council was to remain in the gem for all eternity. Additionally, extremely powerful magic was used to compel him to answer any question asked of him, to the best of his knowledge. One only needed to activate the gem in order to speak with him. The gem was given to Alex for her service to magic.