The real Truth.
Iris mind was a blur, she barely registered what was happening around her. She could vaguely make out that she was put on a stretcher, then she blacked out. When she opened her eyes again, she was being rolled down a hospital hall at high speed, hearing doctors saying something about she was losing to much blood, then she blacked out again. After that, she had no idea what happened.
When she opened her eyes again she saw David was talking to a nurse "Mr. Madsen?".
David looked at her as the Nurse walked up to her and spoke "Easy there, little one. You had a close call".
Iris ignored her completely and focused on David "Mr. Madsen... I must tell you something".
"I'm listening" David said.
"Max... Chloe... they are... I don't know, but I think something horrible is happening to them... you need to save them. Please" Iris begged.
"Hey, save your strength" The Nurse said.
David walked up to her "Do you know where they are?".
"There is a barn... outside of the town... There is a hidden trap door... then a room... a horrible room... please..." Iris said, struggling to stay awake.
"I will find them. I promise... Iris" David said.
Iris managed a smile before she blacked out again.
After what felt like an eternity of a black void she could finally hear something. Voices... voices she remembered.
"Why did you leave, Iris?" One of the voices asked.
"Gladio?" Iris whispered, only her brother could sound like that.
"You left us all behind just so you could make a new life for yourself? Some friend you are" Came another voice that Iris remembered.
"Noct?" Iris said.
The two figures revealed themselves. And they were indeed her older brother, Gladiolus, and he good friend, Noctis.
"Gladiolus! Noctis! What are you two doing here?" Iris asked.
"Unlike you I don't just ditch my family. Why did you abandon us like this, Iris? Was I such a horrible brother for you that you would jump to another world just to get away from me?" Gladio asked.
"N-No, that isn't what I wanted at all. I wanted to be free from the chains of destiny. I wanted to make my own choices" Iris said, still feeling very guilty.
"Well that's not selfish at all. So you ditched your friends and only remaining family just so you could live the good life somewhere else? We even went on a date together, but now you are having sex with another girl. Guess you never liked me in the first place" Noctis said.
"Of course I liked you! I loved all of you guys. I just couldn't stand the thought that everything in my life was decided for me. I wanted a fresh start where all choices were mine. I would have brought you guys along if I could" Iris said in a pleading tone.
"But are your choices really your own? Looks to me like you've allowed those girls to make all the choices for you, and all you do is simply tagging along. How many choices have really been your own?" Gladio asked.
"I.. I chose to stay with them and help them. That's what our family does. I wanted to be their shield, like you are for Noct. And like father was for King Regis" Iris said, feeling like she was being crushed.
"And yet your new sister was shot in the head while you were wandering of. You are one useless shield" Noctis said.
"No!" Iris said before grabbing her head and then she felt like everything was going out of control. Her head flooded with memories she hadn't even experienced yet.
She sees Chloe in the bathroom with Nathan. She sees herself, Chloe and Max walking on the train tracks. But when she sees a cop eating breakfast, it's replaced by several cops investigating the Dark Room, Kate crying in the hallway replaced by Kate and the principal watching Jefferson being arrested, Kate on the roof replaced by the police discovering Rachel's body, Iris, Max and Chloe after finding Rachel's body is replaced by Max winning the contest, Jefferson killing Chloe replaced by Chloe helping Max pack for a trip, while Iris herself takes a nap on Chloe's bed.
Iris couldn't remember any of that. What was Max doing to the time stream? Iris felt the urge to scream, but no voices came out. She felt helpless and scared.
"Iris!" She opened her eyes and found herself in a warping reality and Max was there.
"Max! What the hell are you doing now!?" Iris demanded in panic.
"I am sorry Iris. But I promise, this will be over soon. I will fix-" Max began but Iris cut her of.
"No! You are not fixing anything! You are breaking everything around you! This is what happens when you abuse your power without thinking about what might happen!" Iris shouted.
"I am sorry, Iris. I will explain everything. But I need you to-" Max tried to speak but Iris was not having it.
"I have a fucking bullet hole in my side!" She shouts again.
"Iris!" Max grabbed her shoulders "I promise, I will fix this. Just give me one more chance... Please".
Iris looks at her for several moments before she sighs "You better have a damn good explanation. Or I swear to the gods that I will be done with you. I like you Max. You are my friend... more than a friend. Just like Chloe you are like a sister to me. But I can't take much more of this".
"You won't have to. I promise" Max said.
"Then work your magic. And do it right this time" Iris ordered.
"I will. Thank you Iris" Max said before everything went white.
Iris gasped as she looked around and saw she was back in the Blackwell Parking Lot at the exact moment when Max and Warren took the photo. Iris touched her side and flinched... she still had her bullet wound. She had almost forgotten that Max's powers didn't effect her the same way as the rest.
"We got no time for this shit. Come on, Max" Chloe's annoyed tone was heard again.
"Chloe!" Max runs and hugs Chloe.
"Jesus, dude... what is up with you?" Chloe asked in confusion.
"I'm just glad we're here together" Max said.
"I guess you need to talk. No worries... It's all good" Warren said as he leaves.
"I'm glad you're with me, too. What's going on, Max? We have to find Nathan right now" Chloe said "He's going to fucking pay for what he did to Rachel... Let's go, now".
"Chloe, wait! Listen!" Max said as she hurries after Chloe
"I can walk and listen, okay?" Chloe said.
Max grabs Chloe's arm "Stop and listen for once!".
"Fine, Max. I'm listening" Chloe said, barely keeping her annoyance in check.
"Chloe, you can't go in that party. You're gonna… you're gonna die if you do" Max said.
"You used your powers, right? And you fucked around with time, and I died" Chloe assumed.
"Not like that…" Max said.
"You're supposed to back me up. So there's no way that punk-ass bitch Nathan Prescott is taking me down" Chloe said.
"You're right, he won't. Mark Jefferson killed you... and others" Max said, she had to make Chloe listen.
"Jefferson, the art teacher? That's bullshit! Nathan is the fucking serial killer! We saw the proof! Now, excuse me, I'm going to that party to make sure he never hurts anybody again. Are you coming?" Chloe demanded.
"She is telling the truth, Chloe" Iris finally spoke up. Max and Chloe looked at her and were shocked when Iris pulled up her top enough to reveal the band-aid on her side "He killed you and shot me... I nearly bled out in your truck... and I would have if David didn't show up just in time to save me. I told him about the dark room".
"So it was you that sent him to get me" Max realized, remembering how David told her that a friend of her's told him about the dark room.
"OK, what the fuck is going on? Can you both just tell me what happened already?!" Chloe demanded.
"Chloe... Jefferson drugged and kidnapped me. I was tied up in his bunker. You have no idea what hell I went through to get back here… but I couldn't let you die. You brought me back here, and I can't lose you again. I won't!" Max said, doing her best to not break down on the spot.
Iris had wide eyes as all anger she felt against Max were now gone. Forget her nightmares, Max went through something far worse than she did.
Chloe looked horrified "Oh... Max. I'm... I'm so sorry... I was the one who dragged you into all this shit... Nobody, especially you, should have to go through that... Now we have to stop Jefferson... with one bullet".
"No! Not this way! Chloe, I… I can't keep fixing everything, if all I'm gonna do is just break it, over and over again. I know how this is gonna turn out and... I'm afraid I'm fucking up all these alternate realities" Max said.
"Wait... alternate realities? What do you mean, Max? What did you do?" Chloe asked.
"Max..." Iris said as she put a hand on Max's shoulder "I think we should tell her".
"Tell me what? What happened?" Chloe demanded.
"Chloe, I'm... I'm going to tell you the truth, no matter what. I changed your past and I had to make a terrible choice, and I... I..." Max struggled to say it.
"Max. Please tell me... I won't be mad at you..." Chloe assured.
Iris took Max's hand "Max, you got this".
Max nods and continued "I both was able to go back in time... to the last day William was alive. I stopped him from leaving, but... But you ended up in a car crash instead. And I utterly ruined Iris life in the process".
Chloe looked surprised "You saw my dad again?
"You... you were completely paralyzed. And you were in pain. You were slowly dying, and you… you asked us to… end your life" Max bit her lip at the terrible memory "But Chloe, there was no way I could do that... I had to return to this timeline... to see you again. I had to...".
"We both had to" Iris said.
"God, Max... That must have been... That must have been awful for you... I'm so sorry I had to ask that of your both..." Chloe said
"It was worse for you. But I had no idea what would happen, and... as usual, I messed everything up, and… I never want to hurt you, ever. You have to believe me" Max pleaded.
"Of course I do. Do you think I would even know how to handle that situation? Nobody would... The important thing is that we're together again" Chloe said.
"You're right. That's why you should come with us so we can stay together... and stay alive" Max said.
"I hear you, Max... but do you think we should let Jefferson get away with torture and murder?" Chloe asked.
"Of course not! If we tell David, he'll believe us and he can actually stop him... right?" Max said.
"I don't get it... Why do you trust him, after you totally reamed him the other day? He's not even at our house anymore" Chloe said.
"Chloe, no matter how much of a douche he's been, David truly cares about you" Max said.
Chloe scoffed "Right, after he all but threatened Iris with jail if she ever showed her face again".
"He saved me, Chloe. Had he not shown up when he did, I would have died, laying in a ditch, inside your truck. And if I had died, I wouldn't have been able to tell him where Max had been taken" Iris said.
"And if Iris hadn't told him, I also would have been dead right now" Max added.
"Max... Iris... I had no clue... I should have been the one to save you both, but... I'm so grateful David was there "So what's your plan?" Chloe asked.
"We tell him everything, including that Victoria is in danger" Max answered.
"Okay. You've both been through so much... I believe you both. After all, I'm still your faithful companion, Max. And your older sister, Iris" Chloe said.
Iris smiled "My awesome older sister".
"Yes, you are. So, listen... In a few minutes, me and Iris won't know any of this happened... nothing. We absolutely have to stay in your room and do nothing. Then we explain everything to David, and we finally let him do his job. You'll have to tell us exactly what I did and said just now. Just explain that I traveled through time using the photo" Max said.
"Will you believe me?" Chloe asked.
"I'll always believe you, Chloe" Max said.
"So will I. You haven't lied to me yet, Chloe and I don't expect you to start now" Iris said before looking at Max "And Max... I am sorry, for what I said".
"Don't be. You saved me Iris, and now, I need to make things up to you... will you make it with that injury?" Max asked.
"As long as I don't overexert myself. Let's fix everything" Iris said.
With that they all held hands and left. Then everything fades to white and scenes in the timeline are altered.
.
A shorter chapter since most of what happened in the final episode wouldn't effect Iris to much since she was trapped in the hospital due to a bullet wound.
But the next chapter might be the last one, meaning this story is getting closer to the end. Everything will be revealed next time.
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Tell me what you think.