"Are you ready, Victoria?"

Dressed to impress in a gorgeous red jumpsuit, with the yellow feather jacket stolen off of Lord Laundry's back, a pair of fancy black sneakers on her feet, and a snappy red beret on her head, she tells her spiffily dressed mother, "I suppose this can be fun. Open bar?"

Colin laughs as he tightens his tie: "In your dreams, kid." As he looks at himself in the mirror and combs his silver hair, he states, "Oh, so, about Monty. He's serving food tonight."

Victoria grins and exclaims with a snap of her fingers, "I knew it!" She snickers to herself, happy to see the old man again. As she crosses her arms, she asks, "You don't think he's still mad about the vodka thing, is he?"

Colin shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not."

"Yeah, me neither,'' says Zara by his side. "It was a long time ago."

"Cool." Victoria plants golden-rimmed sunglasses over her eyes and tells her parents with a thin smile, "Then, let's get this party over with."


In the Main Hall of Blackwell, Max clinks a spoon against her blue Solo cup so as to get everybody's attention. Looking at her many friends as they look back at her happily, she says to them all from the head of the looooong dining table, "Thank you for coming, all of you. Tonight will be a very big night for the world. And I'm happy to have you all here to help save it. There are more people who I wish were here to help out - friends. Family. You're all my family. And so are the people who couldn't come, for reasons of their own." She looks at Kate with a knowing smirk and continues: "But, no matter what, we will fight to save the world and save each other. Before we get to the delicious food before us, I want you all to make a vow. That we do whatever it takes to keep each other alive. Have each other's backs, aid one another, fight until your very last breath, and maybe even after that. I'm… so happy to call each and every one of you my family." The heroes applaud her and Max returns to her seat with Chloe by her side. "Now, for a prayer from our dearest friend, Kate Marsh."

The applause gently dies down as Kate rises from her seat. Floating just inches from the ground, she summons a cross from the light surrounding them all. "Thank you. Lord, please grant us health and protection in these times, as we approach what may be the end. Give us the strength to make sure the world sees even one more day past what could very well be its last. Give us the strength to sacrifice what we must to ensure that our fellow man live their lives to their fullest conclusions. And that our greatest loves achieve peace in these trying times. Amen." She smiles to herself as she does the Sign of the Cross, keeping Victoria in her heart.

While the cross dissolves over the many warriors, murmurs of "Amen" are heard. Max too tells her friend, "Amen. Thank you, Kate." She nods and heads outside the building with Max and Chloe for a brief discussion. Just moments prior, she had learned of the sacrifice, the duality of the final choice, and just how important it was to victory, and to Victoria. She had also learned of Bedlam's current location and that she'd be vital in his defeat.

Both Max and Chloe wrap Kate in their arms, sharing their sympathy for the ensuing plight. Max tells her, "I'm sorry that it has to happen. But, if we need the best ending…"

Kate shrugs her shoulders, not out of spite but out of acceptance and to convey some relief between the trio. "Don't worry, Max. In this line of work, we do whatever it takes to save the world. Whatever it takes to save the people we love."

Max crosses her arms and sighs, keeping a smirk on her face so that Kate too can be kept at peace. At least for the moment. "Vic wouldn't agree, would she?"

Kate places a hand on her shoulder and looks out at the Ocean in its shimmering beauty. With the light in her eyes and the love in her heart, she assures Max, "She'll understand."


TEXT FROM VICTORIA

Wow

It has sorta sucked over here

And sorta not

TEXT FROM KATE

Are you ok?

TEXT FROM VICTORIA

Actually

Yes

My parents DIDN'T screw me over

Someone else did :$

And Im gonna find out

TEXT FROM KATE

Chase them down babe!

TEXT FROM VICTORIA

Ayyy thx

Also, you look hella cute in that costume

Up and at em, Super-Katie!

TEXT FROM KATE

It's warm too

But it'd be warmer with you

TEXT FROM VICTORIA

Dawwww

Well, good luck with the evil tattoo

I love you 3

TEXT FROM KATE

Good luck with the Agency!

I love you too.

Always.


At the door to the party, a soldier stands. A soldier clad in black with an elf hat on top. He asks a father and son, "Names."

The dad, smug and sweaty, tells the soldier with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Jebediah Holloway. And this is my eldest boy, Eric."

The soldier checks his list, and he checks it twice. Can't let in no dirty metahuman mice , per Prescott and the other higher-ups' orders. "You two are invited. Come in." And the two snakes slither on in, reclaiming their metal belongings as the detector clears them under a green bulb.

The soldier moves on to the next person on line, boredly asking a simple request: "Name." No response from the man standing before him with a dusty trenchcoat and a stuffed backpack, nor any metal belongings placed on the side for clearance. He asks again, "Name?" The trenchcoated trader takes out a business card - or rather, an index card with the word "MERCHANT" shoddily scribbled on it - and hands it to the soldier. He checks his list and sees the name (alias?) "You are invited… for some reason. Come in." And so, the Merchant steps inside with a violent DEETDEETDEETDEETDEETDEET of the metal detector, under a harsh red "this person could be a threat" light. He's clearly packing heat. A LOT of heat. But that's to be expected for a man of his speciality in the Christmastime winter wonderlandscape.

The soldier rolls his eyes before swiftly moving on to the next three invitees with their metals tossed aside for clearance. "Names."

"Colin Chase. This is my wife, Zara, and our daughter, Victoria."

Before the soldier can even check his list, Sean Prescott pushes past him in an overjoyed hurry, nearly dropping the Santa hat off his head. Basically dragging them "You three are definitely invited! Come along! Come along, the night is young!" The elder Chases step in under green. Victoria, on the other hand: DEETDEETDEET with a blinking red light. Sean scoffs at the notion of a dangerous Victoria, telling the three, "Oh, ignore that thing, it's always broken!" With their metals reclaimed, they head inside. "So, how have things been, you three?"

Colin pats Prescott on the shoulder and says, "Things've been good in Seattle. Lotsa traffic coming through the Chase Space.

Victoria looks around at the prelude to partying, as the rich strike up conversation with one another about many, many things: war, campaigning, business, sales, "Edge of Tomorrow". Both the movie and the show.

"YO. What's going on with you?"

Victoria regrettably turns her attention back to Prescott and tells him boredly, "Me? Oh, just got married. Had a fun honeymoon."

He laughs in shock at the mere idea of this kid's current lifestyle, asking, "Ma-married?! At 19? Kids today, getting married like… uh, like."

She rolls her eyes at him, annoyed by him more and more every second. "Yeah, me and Kate got married. Young. Fun honeymoon in Tokyo, Hawaii. It's been… it's been the best time of my life. Not even marriage, really, just being with Katie."

Although he's slightly taken aback by this monologue of hers, Sean looks around with a stunned grin on his face and asks, just a little bit hurt inside, "Why'd no one tell me?"

Colin answers, "We figured you wouldn't be interested." Victoria feels like laughing in Prescott's face. Of course, she doesn't see herself doing that, but it's nice to feel the idea of it.

The Prescott patriarch snaps his fingers, like the thieving fox he is, and declares in feigned defeat, "Aw, maaaan!"

That feeling Victoria had - the happy one - gets overtaken by her usual feeling toward Shit Prescott. She spitefully tells him, through gritted teeth, "Yeah. 'Aw man', of course you weren't invited. Just as I wasn't invited here."

And although Prescott feels like shooting back, he knows she's right. Yet he doesn't know how she would know. So he masks it with some humor: "Feistyyyyyy. It was worth a shot asking." The Chases and their friend walk through the fog they're in, awkwardly in silence. "So my day's been good too. Thanks for asking."

Victoria looks out the window, out at Independence, and remarks, "That sucks to hear."


Outside and unseen, the Enforcers are at work planting a potted thornbush just outside of the base. It speaks, with a golden skull head, "Little bit to the left, just a few feet forwaaaard. Here!" They plop it down on the ground, an audience for armageddon. He giddily tells the goons, "See you on the other side, boys."

And they march forward to the base, ready for war.


The sun sets on Arcadia Bay as clouds chock full of light snowfall approach from above. Also making their entrance, into the graveyard rather, are Arcadia Bay's top fighting girls - Max, Chloe, Rachel and Kate. They're all dressed up for a fight, one they hope will end early and with minimal damage. One Max knows won't end like that.

Passing by the gravestones of dead new and old alike prompts Rachel to say, "This place gives me the creeps."

Chloe tells her, with a reassuring smile, "That makes two of us, Rach."

Max tells her friends, "They're in here somewhere."

Kate asks, "'They'?"

"Bedlam and Damon. Everyone else is in Missouri."

Rachel asks, "Should we give Vic a heads up?"

Kate tells her, and the other two friends accompanying her, "She knows already."

Remembering Vic's sort of "Spidey Sense" granted by the Surging Champagne, Rachel remarks, "Oh. Yeah." She looks over to Max and asks, "Will she be okay?"

Chloe speaks for Max, and with the utmost confidence, "She'll be fine! Everything will be fine."

And so, they march on, deeper into the darkness. But in unity, they stand in the light. Namely Kate's light. Because she can do that.

As they move along, someone else accompanies them. An old soul, literally, who wishes to help them. That old soul taps Chloe on the shoulder and asks, "Need any help, Chloe?"

She turns to face the familiar spirit and calls out to him happily: "Dad!"

Kate looks at the apparition, recognizing the familiarity between the two, and asks, "Mr. Price?"

"Call me William. I've heard of you two. And I know you, of course, Max."

Max wraps her arms around William in an attempt to give him a hug. She asks, "What brings you here?"

"Tonight is going to be an important night for the world. And we're here to back you up."

Chloe squints at her old man and asks, "We?"

From nowhere and from everywhere, ghosts appear. Ghosts with the faces of Arcadia Bay's deceased. Ghosts who stand behind William, and stand with our heroines in defiance of death.

William tells the girls, with excellent timing, "Oui oui. Bedlam thinks he can control death. And he kinda can. But that's just a bunch of nonsense. Teach that bully a lesson and kick his ass." William pulls a coin from his pants pocket and flicks it to Chloe.

She catches it and laughs, remembering an old tradition. To herself and to her friends, she mutters happily, "Dollar for the swear jar."

"That's my girl." William looks to the crowd of ghosts and tells his deceased daughter, "No offense, Chloe."

The ghost snickers, well-aware of the confusion to arise from a statement like that, and adds, "None taken!" As the four heroes move forward, Ghost-Chloe tells the crew, "We'll have your back, guys." She ascends into the sky and dozens of ghosts follow after her, all headed back into town.

Max tells her friends triumphantly and with resolve, "Let's do this." And so, they march forward into battle, knowing Bedlam is not too far away.


"Name."

"Tangi T. H. Clown, Elmer Henson and Lord Laundry, uh, Cunningham. Of France."

The soldier doesn't check his list because they aren't on there, obviously. Still… "You three are expected. Come in." He tells them this with a robotic, hypnotized cadence to his voice. He clears the way for them without a care in the world. Not completely without care, but with a mind clouded in a psychic cocoon.

Elmer pats the soldier on the head as he and the other two Enforcers come in. "Thanks, pig." Entering their sight as they themselves enter the facility is Dolly Doctor Court, grinning from ear to ear.

She walks by their side and says giddily, "Ah, we've be- uh, I've been expecting you."

Tangi yawns, having driven day and night from Oregon to Missouri, and asks, "Could you have not just teleported us here or something?"

The Doctor looks around nervously and shushes the clown. "No, I can't really do that. Especially when I'm so busy with so many bodies. Most I can do is, maybe, cause a blizzard or something. You've got the shield generator?"

Elmer pulls the briefcase from his leather jacket and tells her, "Of course. You heard about Damon?"

Court jokes, "That guy, he's got a lot on his… palette."

Nervously looking at the soldiers staring back at them, Tangi asks, "Can we have some disguises?"

Knowing that those soldiers are under her control and thus won't be seeing anything, Court tells them, "No. Remember, you won't be in the center of the Ballroom first, you'll set up the generator outside in the center of the base by some bushes or some shit and put it on a timer. Like, ten minutes. Then, you'll be hiding in the grates until the time is right. Then, I will strike, and that'll be your cue to bust out of the Ballroom" She leads the trio of terror to a ventilation shaft, one that leads to both destinations. She opens it with her hand as it disassembles into a series of tendrils and pushes the villains in: "Now, scurry along. Tonight, we feast on the oligarchy." She kneels and closes it as they enter.


Back in the Ballroom, Sean Prescott is busy singing his heart out front and center at the party. He sings Christmas classics with a deep, trained bravado:

" Friends call me Snow Miser

Whatever I touch

Turns to snow in my clutch

I'm too much "

Victoria tries to get her attention off of Prescott's oddly pleasant singing with a bite of a corn dog from the snack bar. She jokes with her parents, annoyed as all hell, "Good god. He sings now too."

Zara sighs in subtle agreeance and informs her daughter, "He's always sung at these functions."

"He has? Hm." Looking around at the party going on and all its self-aggrandizing nature, thinks to herself, " Must've shut it out of my head. "

With the song wrapped up, Prescott gets off stage and approaches the Chases to ask, "I killed it out there, eh?"

With a smile more forced than even the Force itself would be, Zara tells them, "Totally, Sean! Good work!"

Colin also gives snaps with his forced smile, adding, "Rock on, dude!"

Victoria tosses away the stick of the corn dog she was eating and bluntly tells him, "Could've been better."

To hide his hurt, he comforts himself and the people around him with a harsh laugh, almost like a howl, before telling the girl, "Always a critic, kid. Nathan used to say as much. Must've sucked to be him, what with my morning practice!"

"I'd say it sucked to be any one of the many people he hurt."

Sean shakes his head, telling her with a sly smirk, "You're not wrong." The party people around him laugh at the dark humor. Well, everyone whose last name isn't Chase.

Victoria clarifies, "That wasn't a joke! He's a monster."

"Seriously-" A last laugh escapes his throat, but he perks up and continues, "Seriously, you're not wrong. He was a messed up kid. And I wish he wasn't as messed up."

She knows that, while he wasn't innocent, Sean Prescott was still his father. And as his father, it was his duty to help him. Disgusted on so many layers, she tells him with a look in her eyes that could poison someone, "Hey, maybe you can wish upon a shooting star for him to get better. Maybe two so you can actually give him a hug for once."

Considering the madness of the past few months, Sean admits half-jokingly, "Maybe I did." Victoria looks at him with a raised eyebrow, kinda shocked at this admittance. "And it didn't work, but I tried anyways."

"You're an impossible bastard."

Sean grins his trademark sinner's smile. Behind his sunglasses, he glares at her with a heavy ire. "I'm an indomitable one, kid. Please, keep on trying to spite me. You and all the other Blackwell kids are all the same, with your Twitters." He escorts a random group of partying "philanthropists", telling them briskly, "Come now, let's talk somewhere else, guys."

As they leave, Victoria scoffs in disgust. "We'll see. Old man."

And surprisingly, her parents aren't upset with her. Rather, they pat her on the back and whisper to her simultaneously, "Proud of you." She looks over her shoulders and sees their honest smirks. She laughs and smiles at them too. They break away, spotting someone behind their backs that Victoria can't see. And this unseen person speaks to her with an uppity posh accent that she remembers all too well: "He is rather 'indomitable', isn't he?"

She spots the man talking to her, this fatherly being. And she smiles. "Monty?"

"Yes, that is my-" Victoria wraps her arms around him in an intense hug and that small smile on her face. "Miss Chase, I must be following my duties, and your hug is in my way."

She puts her arms at her side and tells him as he starts walking away, "Sorry, sorry, I'll just follow along."

"You might as well." And so, Victoria does as she pleases, walking by his side.

She asks, "How have you been?"

"I have been good, all things considered. Mister Prescott pays very well, and that is all my NDA allows."

Slyly, Victoria says, "That's funny."

Dryly, he informs her, "As is sarcasm. Ha ha." Passing through a small circle of aging Richie Riches, he adds, "If you're looking for the bar, I am surprised you haven't found it."

Victoria points to him: "You're the bar!"

"No." Looking around at the partygoers, he asks, "Don't you wish to be hanging with the other eccentric youths of America?"

"Uhhhh… No thanks, I'm good. I was forced to come."

"Care for a bargain?" Victoria looks at the odd speaker - the Merchant - and shows him silence in response. She shakes her head and continues walking with Montrose. The Merchant is unbothered, telling her with a friendly wave goodbye, "Another time then!"

Victoria asks her old family friend, "So anyways, about that thing a couple years ago, at Mount Rushmore?"

"You think I am still mad about that?" She nods her head. "Because I'm not. That was a long time ago. Three years, to be precise."

Victoria hums in astonishment, adding, "Holy shit, it's been so long. Thank you for forgiving me, Monty." She wraps him up in another hug, something that Sean Prescott can see.

The butler lightly leaves the hug and tells her, "I appreciate the hug, Miss Chase. But I must return to my duties. Please, do enjoy the party."

"Thanks! You too! It was good seeing you."

"Aye." And like that, he disappears into the party. With a smile, Victoria pulls out her phone and texts her parents.

TEXT FROM VICTORIA CHASE

Guys, just saw Monty. He forgives me!

Happy face!

TEXT FROM ZARA CHASE

That's amazing sweetie! *star emoji* *star emoji* *star emoji*

TEXT FROM COLIN CHASE

Two thumbs up!

*thumbs up emoji* *thumbs up emoji*

Victoria grins openly at the messages and her parents' unusually perky demeanor. To celebrate, she heads to the bar, which she finally spots, and asks the portly bartender with a fiery energy, "What do you have here?"

The bartender crosses his arms like a guardian at some gates. "Depends on if you're over 21."

Victoria laughs defiantly. "Oh, I'm over 21. Obviously. So, I'll take, maybe, a…" She spots her parents and Monty too, all in the crowd having the time of their lives. And she figures, maybe now would be a good time to just be their good little girl they've raised. And not the party animal Blackwell once knew her to be. Except towards scumbags like Prescott. Fuck that guy. "A virgin rum and coke."

"You want the Happy Meal with that too?"

Victoria accepts her drink and mouths a message for the bartender, figuring that a minute reminder of the Queen Bee is in order: "fuck you". And she walks into the party to have a good time, only elevated by the bartender's astonished laughter. She laughs too, shooting a smirk his way out of not-so-spiteful forgiveness. And it feels nice.


Looking up at the jumbo-sized Jumbo, Penny of the young drifters asks with great intrigue, "So your deal is you grow large?"

"Mhm."

Daniel tells his friend, "It's so cool!"

Warren walks by and asks him, "Can you grow small?"

Jumbo shakes his head, telling him, "No."

"Can you grow to the size of, uh, the Empire State Building?"

Jumbo shrugs his shoulders as he looks off into the sunset skies of Arcadia Bay. "Maybe. That'd be rad as shit."

Suddenly, Chloe speaks from out of the blue: "So you're the new guys? I dig it." She waves at them all before spotting Steph and Mikey setting up traps in town. She floats over and says with a smile, "Hi, Steph. Hi, Mikey. Long time no see." She puts up two fists and allows her old DnD friends to bump them with their own fists. Or at least they try, what with Chloe being a non corporeal being and all.

Jumbo bows his head to catch a glimpse at this ghost with the people on the ground. Worried, he exclaims, "Chloe! Oh, no, you're dead? Again?!"

"No. Yes. It's weird. You know how there was a Chloe from here?"

"Yeah." Everyone's silence answers her question. "Ohhhhh." He nods his head and states, "So ghosts exist. That's neat."

Chloe shakes her hand, explaining, "Kinda. We can only really show up in dreams, unless we're at full power. Then, we can pull some 'Avengers Assemble' shit." Seeing as the reference is lost on everyone, she realizes her mistake: "Crap, that movie isn't out yet. Forget I said anything about that!" Everyone decides to, just to escape further confusion.

Waltzing over with his cane, Master Gohdo asks, "What is everyone's status in the cemetery?"

"Oh, they're approaching Bedlam right now."

Daniel speaks for just about everyone when he exclaims shockedly, "Already?"

The ghost Chloe shrugs her shoulders: "They can't really beat the shit out of him without getting closer, can they?"

Taking charge, Jumbo stands with his head in the clouds and tells everyone, "Crap, it's happening. Get ready!" The warriors enter their battle stations as the friendly ghosts of Arcadia Bay's past flutter through the skies and Arcadia Bay's best defenses run around to prepare for WAR.