How's everyone doing?

Wow, I can't believe there are this many chapters.

The finale is coming soon. But not yet!

I'm still pretty busy, but I am trying to update.

Here is All's Fair:

Warriors and the Wiser

Coral Grove… Nora's POV

Back from the Reality Border, I wasn't sure what to think. My powers had made me able to guide Lee and Holger to safety, for a few brief moments. Dr. Ping was warned and I had a conversation with him about how he should have told Lee from the beginning. Right before his long-lost, firstborn took him prisoner to who knows where! "THAT COLD-BLOODED FREAK!" My own scream sent me falling back onto the floor. What did we gain? A painful and badly-timed truth? And The Serpent! What's his deal for real? What could he be showing Dr. Ping right now? And Lee… he has enough going on and now he has to figure out this mess? I banged my head onto the floor in defeat. Today had really been just too much. Looking over my way, Finnwich stopped playing.

"I say, what?" My uproar had apparently disturbed the other resident of the prison suite. Finnwich was now working with a metronome on his desk.

"Again!" I screamed throwing my fists up in the air. "Serpent messed everything up!" I didn't occur to me that it looked like I was throwing a tantrum for no apparent reason. "Why can't he just stay in his stupid casino with his creepy snake? His father wasn't even there and he went so far as to break into the elevator! Then not only does he tell his theory in the worst possible way, he does it right in front of the poor kid and then literally kicks him down! He didn't even attack him." I flopped my entire body onto the floor with a thump! I am so frustrated, ticked off, mad right now!

"…" Finnwich looked over at me completely confused and bewildered. "…I… see? I take it thing did not go your way as intended, did it?"

"Not. At. All." I answered him.

Finnwich looked over at me, sympathetic. "Well, even I, the Amazing Finnwich, have found myself with such times. In fact, I believe the day the Pyramid was destroyed was such a day!" Well yeah, it landed him here. "On first arriving, I thought myself to be out of the game completely. However, to the contrary I was needed here to work! Cassandra, possibly even bossier than Liz if not just so, is well aware of my great knowledge. She offered me a deal. In exchange, she allows me this room. Oh, she thinks she has me trapped, but the reality is she has no such hold on me."

Finnwich's speech wasn't helping. I've gotten passed being imprisoned, this is something else. This is beating me down hard.

"Hey, Finnwich?" I turn my head to him. "What if your research… failed?"

He was already looking over at me, when he asked. "Failed? Highly unlikely, my dear."

"Well, more like your plan and objective were met, but some force you had no idea about came in and ruined everything?" I explained.

This got Finnwich to contemplate. "Hmm…" He began stroking his moustache. "Yes… that would be off-putting to say the least."

I groaned exasperatedly. "Every time I go back it seems like things are getting worse and worse! Before the whole world falls apart it looks like we're going to fall with it! Finnwich, I'm not sure I'm of any use anymore. No matter what I do to prevent it, bad things happen! Serpent gets away, objective not reached! Why do I even have these powers? Just to watch the world crumble around me? I can't do that. I promised to see this thing through, and all I'm seeing is us falling faster."

It's true. Right at this very moment I felt like finally giving up. Every time I use my powers I just witness more failures. Despite whatever I tried to do the end was still the same. Even if I help along a little, it's the fact that I could do more that really gets me! When I see things happen I just think that I should be there. I should be doing what I promised to do. "I need to get out of Coral Grove and rejoin the real world! That's the only way I can-"

"Nora!" Finnwich was suddenly in front of me with both his mechanical hands clamped over my arms. His voice was urgent, and there was a bit of fear in his features. Why? Then he was calm. "You need to calm down. No matter what you saw you just have to accept now that it has happened and it cannot be undone."

"I know but… Even if I do I can't help feeling that I could have prevented so much!" Then I told Finnwich how The Serpent had revealed his relation to Lee Ping, and how their father confirmed it. "He needed to hear the truth from his father, Finnwich. Not the crazy-ninja-killer who's been after him since day one! No one's still sure what really happened back then, but he just made it look like Dr. Ping was the bad guy. And now Lee is really screwed up because his family is a labyrinth of lies by itself! Add that to list of problems right now and I'm not sure how any of us are going to hold together!" I looked up at Finnwich and took a deep breath to calm myself down. It isn't fair put this on him, who's been stuck here longer with me and has his own problems.

"I know," I said, trying to use my more practical thinking, "I know that this is Lee's family, and his problems to work out. But it's just…" I had to phrase this the right way, and not do it hurtfully. "Lee's in the same boat as me. We already have a connection, plus both of us have family secrets. And the way Lee heard about his is the worst possible way to learn it…" Compared to Lee, I'd gotten the gentle approach. Finnwich told me the truth himself, he and a little help from Sensei made it a bit, maybe not easier, but more comprehensible. Even then I had a freak out, but at least I was told the truth by the people responsible for telling me.

Finnwich's grip on my arms was never hurting or tight, when I finished talking though they became even looser. "Then… do you want to stop?"

His question didn't quite register, my mind instantly ceased thought. I looked up at him in surprise.

"You know that you can." He told me. "The game is almost over, I promise you. Once it is done, all you have to do is never speak to anyone again. You can completely leave the city; I have funds that have been untouched for years that you may use. You and your father can completely disappear. Not Cassandra, not Lee Ping, not that Serpent-fellow will ever find you. Any life you desire will be yours to pursue." Finnwich told me all of this in a reassuring and somber tone that told me he meant it.

I could go.

I know I should go…

On the day I had been sent to Coral Grove, I had been given the same offer by a con-man who would play games with the deal. This time the offer was coming from my great-grandfather who was worried about me and sees that this really may be too much for me to take on. The Amazing Finnwich would be able to do the perfect disappearance, he would know how to by now. I could still finish my online courses for another school no problem. I could leave this all behind and let the gang take care of the rest. They could pull this off. This has already gotten way out of hand for me.

"Mr. Finnwich?" I asked him.

"Yes, Nora?" He looked at me with understanding eyes.

"ARE YOU NUTS?!"

He jumped back, frightened. And he should be; I'm getting really sick of answering this.

"I've come this far and you think I'm just going to back out?!" How many times has this deal been thrown at me? The answer still hasn't changed! "I have run from every-single-last obstacle that's come into my life! I hid from the bullies, I hid from Dad's questions, I hid from my neighbors and it didn't stop there! I've been hiding from every potential harm to the point where I didn't even want to go to college to avoid people who might know of the Incident! I thought that by training with Sensei Hong I would be able to hide the Beast behind all the control! But you know what? That's the greatest illusion in all of this!

"I have weird powers. There's no hiding from that! It's there, it's always been there, and it will always be there. It not yours or anyone else's fault, I just have it. As much as I would love to sit and have the quiet normal life Dad and I set up, that isn't an option anymore. And don't think I'm saying this because I'm mad or I want revenge. Honestly, I could care less about whose fault it is I'm in here. This isn't about escaping either. This about doing what is right because I can fix it. I WANT to stay in this, but I don't see how I'm making things go along any better!"

I really need to learn how to conserve breath when I get upset. I was standing in an underwater room with my great-grandfather justifying my reasons to stay and breathing like I had run a marathon in under five minutes. Maybe anger is just exhausting for me. I think what made me go off so much was that Serpent's offer was coming out of Finnwich's mouth. That meant the promise could really be fulfilled. But by no means was I compromising the promise I made on that silver long staff the day I moved away from Sensei: I will never run from a challenge again. So many people had helped me since then too. Some of who are currently being targeted.

"Well there's no reason to be so dramatic, young lady." Finnwich said. "You should not be stressing yourself in your current condition."

I sighed. "Sorry. That guy just really burns me up. At every turn he's there with a vampire grin and a glint of evil in his eye!"

"Hmph." I was suddenly more interesting to Finnwich now than when I had left. He stopped his note-taking to talk with me. "Not your cup of tea at all, eh?"

"Nope." I said, rubbing my head and standing up. "But… something really weird- and I mean really weird happened while I was there."

I walked over to Finnwich's desk. I realized that despite the talks we've had over the past day, I never really asked him what he is doing, I just assumed. He's been alternately playing the organ, studying the one hundredth page, writing notes, and now there's a pair of old glasses next to a metronome on his desk. "What exactly are you working on anyway?"

"Did I not tell you?" Finnwich asked. "Well, I suppose we've had other things to discuss haven't we?" I nodded yes, and he continued. "What I have here are two artifacts left for me by Alexander Nigma himself!" He pointed to the page and the glasses. "One I found inside the Pyramid, the other from the book. Principal Nigma must have known that these two things together would reveal a very important piece to the puzzle."

"What do they do?" I ask.

Finnwich looked down t hid objects, and then back to me. "I have no idea."

My face fell. "Really? You must have some kind of clue?"

"I'm afraid this is my only instruction." Finnwich held up the missing page. Then he began to muse about it. "Ah, at times I do miss old Alexander Nigma. Now let's see… oh, yes!" He wrote something down. "Now we're getting somewhere!"

"At least one of us is getting some headway." I sighed. It's good that Finnwich is doing something that could be useful. As for me, the situation hasn't changed much.

"Indeed!" Finnwich said. "I can sit here for hours and hours, and not see the answer right in front of me. But when I do, I see that I needed every minute of every hour of thinking in order to finally see it! Of course if I find the answer right away there is more time to spend, but I would never have seen all the pieces if I did!"

I don't understand this man. Right now slow, isn't what we need.

"Slow and steady wins the race! Ho! And I would know. Many times I would compete with Arty to get the answers first. He would right them all down all fibble-fabble and have to go right back to find the right answers again. Frustrated him every time I handed in a test first and was declared done."

"And it looks like he's still doing that." I said under my breath. Wurst has cloned himself over and over a hundred times, while Finnwich aged. A part of me wonders if that is some kind of immortality race between them. Though after all this time, it was more like he was trying to stay alive long enough for the Pyramid to open again. If Liz Mann was anything like Cassandra, why didn't she clone herself and stick around?

"Perhaps so." Finnwich had still heard what I said. "So much has changed, yet so much has not. Did I ever show you that picture of us, Nora? Why I believe I did! Best friends to worst enemies, children to old men, good to…." I waited and listened. Then finally he looked back at me. "… I'm sorry what were you saying, my dear?"

Over a hundred and twelve years… It's amazing that his memory is as good as it is anyway. "I said that The Serpent was really out of character this time."

He raised both eyebrows at me. "Oh? How so?"

Where do I begin? "He came to the hospital to confront his dad, Dr. Ping. He thinks that his father traded him to escape the Council when he was young. But when he came all he did was talk. He revealed some… frankly shocking information, before realizing the person he was talking to wasn't Dr. Ping at all."

"Egad!" Finnwich exclaimed. "What did the boy do?"

At Finnwich's age, just about everyone is a child to him. "He didn't kill him! Or Dr. Ping when he found him!"

"And… you see that as a bad thing?" Finnwich asked.

"No. But it's not like him." I said. "The Serpent's been known to be sneaky. Anyone he sees as against him has no chance of coming out fine. It doesn't matter if they're younger or weaker; he shows no mercy no matter what the case."

"Hmm…" said Finnwich, "that does make it more interesting."

What could have made The Serpent change his mind about getting revenge? He said that the dream he had may have influenced him, but which part? Did it have to do with Noa or me? He did wake up screaming. I smiled at the memory. "I guess I did have some margin of success, Grampa." I clamped my hand over my mouth as soon as I said it. That was kind of rude. Finnwich was surprised by it too. "I-I'm sorry! I know you haven't said that I can-"

"No, no! It's perfectly fine." He was smiling as he said it. "Our times were not meant to overlap so. But it seems appropriate enough. In fact, it is very welcome." I can comfortable say he is smiling in a grandfatherly way now.

I thought of the earlier conversation I had with Dr. Ping. I had said how family is connected, even if they will never see each other. Dr. Ping thought that since his first son was gone forever there was no point in telling Lee about him and reliving the sorrow their family went through. Dr. Ping seems to have also realized that the mark on his arm is actually for something important. Maybe his father never really said what they were for. Secrets or lack of communication? Either way, keeping the information to themselves has cost Dr. Ping.

Finnwich… his is the generation that started everything, and told me about it in person. He was honest about it, and told me how important it was. He even shared how sad he felt when Elena suddenly left him and never told him why. She must have had a son, who had a daughter, who had me. It makes me wonder how much Mom knew about all this, or if she didn't want to tell me until later on. But she never got to. I don't even know how to cover my mark the same way Elena did. Hopefully I can Dr. Ping later if he can tell me how his family does it.

Like Finnwich did the day I woke up and he told me everything, I went up behind his desk and I hugged him around the shoulders.

"Well, I say!" Finnwich said with a chuckle, "What is this for?"

"For doing everything right." I gently told him, "You told me the truth and in a way I could handle it. I've seen today that I am lucky for that." Poor Lee. After a drama-bomb like that, what can he do now? "I don't why Elena left without telling you beyond protecting her baby, but if Mom had had the chance to meet you… you would have been a good grandfather. I know she would have loved you." I don't know the full story of what happened. But I can at least feel sure about that.

"Nora…" from the sound of his voice it sounded like he might be close to crying. "I'm… so sorry for all of this."

"Don't be." I straighten back up so he could turn around and look at me. A natural, confident look came to my face. "This still isn't over. I'm worried about Lee still, but I hope he can handle this pretty well. He's still got his friends with him, and they've been able to handle just about everything thrown their way. I'm really ticked off at Serpent for this, and he's gonna answer for it if it's the last thing I do! But I'm probably the only one getting upset about that right now. I mean, really, it's not even lunch!"

Meanwhile…

No one's POV

Lee was running out of the hospital with Holger trying to get back to class in time. When…

"What's the point?!" He shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Point to be making flan?!" Holger asked, "To be eating!" Then in a rare moment of staying on track for Holger, he asked "What you be thinking?"

"Forget the flan, man! I might have an evil brother. And my dad knew about it the whole time. And we all have the same birthmark-thingy, but my dad and I have tattoos that cover them up! Why?"

"Uh," Holger tried to answer. But Lee was too far in to his freaking out.

"And what does my mom know? It'll freak her out if she doesn't, but maybe I should tell her so I'm not the only one freaking out!"

Holger tried again, "Well you know-"

"And Nora! She's alive but it felt like she just faded away in the hospital. Did she know anything about this? Who am I supposed to believe!?"

Holger finally clamped both his hands over Lee's mouth. "No more, okay?" He said. "Lee be no happy with life. Holger no happy because Lee of Pings no happy! And now Holger be wishing Nora of Prowlers was back because Holger no know what to say!" Then Holger pulled his best friend into a tight hug. "So Holger do the big-sister hug, yah?"

Lee knew what Holger was trying to do. No one around was going to give him the answers to his questions, and he didn't know who to believe for the truth right now. They both wished now more than ever that Nora was back. She was always rational and comforting to them in a complicated situation. A hug was probably close to what she would do. It reminded Lee of what he had felt after the doors to the elevator closed, it was cold and at the same time comforting.

"Thanks, Holg." Lee smiled to his friend stepping out of the hug. Remembering Nora was still out there, and that she had left behind two items for them, gave Lee an idea. For trying to save his dad and then being there to comfort him after a world-stopping reveal, Lee finally decided to give the second key to Holger for safekeeping.

Later that day…

Chaz was media-attacking Cam in the worst possible way.

The cloned teachers were going haywire and acting like teenagers.

Tina was missing.

Lee and Biffy managed to sneak back into the cloning room where they confirmed Mrs. Ping is a clone.

Holger managed to smooth things over with Chaz using flan.

Brandy came too late to save Cam with her Carmen persona.

And Jenny and Tina were both shipped off to Coral Grove in a giant crate!

Nora's POV

10:12 am

It's been a relatively quiet morning. My stomach is still acting up, but I don't feel much sense of danger at the moment. I think that after that hospital thing that the Council is done for today, and I really need a break. I even take a shower to help me relax. Grandpa Finnwich is working at a leisurely pace, but I can tell he's making progress by the way he's not looking away from his work area. All things considered: I feel pretty good right now.

I trust my kids. No one can call them kids except me. I don't have much energy for another venture right now, so I'll have to take that rest. After my shower I picked up a book and tried reading it.

"You seem so quiet, my dear." Finnwich said after a while.

"This is actually how I usually am." I told him. "When I can't train or help stop a conspiracy, I can actually sit still for more than an hour."

"Is that so? Heh, after you're recent escapades I thought you would be restless and eager to get back to your comrades as quickly as possible. You've shown to be a true warrior at heart."

"Oh, I still want to get back." I shrugged, "But there's nothing I can really do right now. Besides, the Council usually does just one thing to mess us up in a day. And since the hospital thing was done so early, maybe we'll get a half- day from this craziness." I looked back at the book and sighed. "Poor Lee… After this morning he'll definitely need down time. I don't know how it could get much worse for him."

"I wouldn't be worried about Manifestum just yet." Finnwich assured me. "You take some well needed rest, Nora. Something tells me that moving day will be upon us soon!"

"Intuition?" I asked him.

"Well, let's call it that for now."

I giggled and went back to my book.

No sooner that I did, Finnwich's own giant T.V. screen flipped on to reveal the face of Cassandra McAdams.

"Finnwich." She stated his name. Like she was placing a food order. That is really disrespectful. "What are you doing?"

Finnwich calmly regarded her, and spoke as he continued his work. "Speaking with my granddaughter. Unlike some people, she is an excellent conversationist."

You go Grandpa.

Cassandra ignored his statement. "I've given you time, Finnwich. And now I want answers."

He tisked her. "Did Elizabeth really raise her family to be so rude? Cassandra, it truly frightening that women like you are allowed to become mothers."

"Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither."

This all sounds kind of familiar to me…

"Sarcasm, the lowest form of wit. So good to see you bettering yourself, Mrs. McAdams." Finnwich said.

Cassandra was really angry now. "Good to see your brain is still working, after all this time I thought it didn't have a job."

Finnwich smiled and tapped his forehead, "A few things slip my mind from time to time. Things that with your IQ would be impossible to understand."

Cassandra looked close to growling and growing fangs! Is this how fun it was for Veronica? Now I'm the one watching.

Cassandra spoke next. "You can blather nonsense all day to your great-granddaughter. I just need you to know something, old man."

"Hey!" I stood up, angrily at him being called that. "No one calls you 'old lady'!"

"Pipe down, little girl." She snapped at me. Bad move, old lady.

"It's alright, Nora." Finnwich held up a hand to tell me to stand down. He then turned back to Cassandra. "Now what have you interrupted our perfectly fine day for?"

Cassandra said. "Thanks to your granddaughter's recent plundering of my prison-" a bit of pride and curiosity of what she was saying swirled inside me, "security has been low." Finnwich himself sent me a look. However, it wasn't a look of pride or approval.

"But here at Coral Grove, we like our guest to know that they come first." The doors to the prison suite opened and in walked a single white hazmat. "Our security and staff will be combing shifts. Meaning the one that serves you food can also crystalize you."

The robot came and stood by the unconscious Lynch and Council member. "I also see you haven't made any progress with my colleagues. Has your sick grandchild been distracting you? I can have her removed easily."

There's when Finnwich stood up. "You brought her into this! All the children, minus your own, have taken part in your evil scheme. Nora remains with me, or you receive nothing. Those are our agreed terms." I came down the steps and stood beside Finnwich as he stood against Cassandra. I already decided I would stand with my friends against this woman. If my family is involved, I'll go to war if I have to.

"Fine, Finnwich." Cassandra stated. "But you better deliver. Or else." The screen went blank.

"Yep." I said once the screen was off. "She could be The Serpent's mentor."

"The who?" Finnwich asked.

"No one. But what are we going to do now?" I jabbed my thumb in the direction of the hazmat.

Finnwich simply said. "What we've always done here." He sat back down on his desk and began playing the organ with one hand and writing with the other. "I think you're going to like this song once it is finished, Nora." He told me over the music.

"I am a music fan." I know that Finnwich is up to something with whatever he's been working on. It has to do with this song! I've heard that a song can hypnotize people, so I have a strong belief that the song Finnwich is working on isn't just mood music. I looked back up at the now blank screen where Cassandra had been. A confident smirk came to my face. Dragon Lady, prepare to be slain. Bring on your minions, weapons and monsters; we'll be ready. You've tried to break me down, but I've been built up stronger than ever this time. And my team's not without its own secret weapons.

After all… All's fair in love and war.

A/N: Okay so not much happened.

And it's not because I've been busy, I just don't want to mess with these episodes! Nora needs a little break too.

Lots more will happen next time, okay?

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