Serge has to face the hardest decision he has ever made here. On one hand he needs to complete his objectives but what will be the price? It always seems that we have to lose something we really love in order to ensure the safety and protection of others. This is the final part of the ending, but there will be another installment in the form of an epilogue. As always, read, enjoy, and review.

Ending Part 7

Leena and the others had raced toward the top of the dome but it seemed as if they couldn't move fast enough. The cocoon was shaking violently and the light was flaring all across its surface. A cracking sound suddenly burst all around them.

"I don't think we can make it!" cried Miki.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" coaxed Orlha.

Pings sounded off one by one as the cocoon began to fire its outer portion off. The shrapnel narrowly missed the companions as the shards embedded themselves into the dome. This was going to be close.

"Ze light iz almost 'ere," remarked Harle.

"Just a little..." said Schala but her words were interrupted by a massive explosion. This was the big one. The cocoon was no more but the blast would surely engulf the travelers.

Everyone shielded themselves from what would surely be the end. Eyes were shut tight and screams were frozen in their throats. They waited for the end. And waited. And waited some more. When no one felt anything else around them, everyone opened their eyes.

They were all sitting on a giant rock, a good distance away from the remains of the cube. To the immediate right of them was the portal, now closer than ever. Some of the sharper eyes could have sworn they could even see into a room of Chronopolis, but that notion was absurd.

"How did we get out of there?" Norris wondered.

"I got us out," Leena huffed. She was obviously exhausted. Her muscles twitched and her form still shimmered in the aftermath of the power she had used.

"Teleportation of yourself and others," surmised Schala. "I'm impressed."

Movement out of the corner of Doc's eye brought the physician on the defensive. There was something moving toward them. And fast.

"Incoming!" he shouted, warning the others.

Everyone readied themselves for the ensuing impact. The fragment raced toward them on a collision course. Right before contact the form slowed down. It wasn't a piece of the cocoon at all, the companions realized. It was a person.

"Serge!" yelled Orlha as she placed her arms around the boy in a crushing bear hug. "We've missed you so much."

"I know, Orlha," Serge responded with even tones. Leena gazed upon the one she had worked so hard to save. She wanted to say so much to him but all she could do was crack a slight smile.

"You've done it-hee!" shouted Razzly, overcome with joy. "We knew you would!"

A spark showed itself off in the distance. It was the same woman that had appeared to Serge within his mind. Trutin said she would come again once he was whole. And she had kept her word.

The Arbiter of Time nodded to her. Trutin then pointed toward the portal. Serge understood what had to be done.

"It's great to see you all again," Serge said. "But there's still one more thing that needs to be done." He then raced toward the portal, focusing on something that had appeared on the other side.

Lynx looked around the room until he found what he was searching for. There, next to FATE's shell, was a portal to the other dimension. He could even faintly see Leena and the others in it. Oh well, he knew that it didn't matter, for he had won anyway.

"What is taking so long?" Lynx asked impatiently. "FATE should be ready by now. It better hurry up before the rest of the group gets here. Hopefully, the robots stopped them. What is going on over there?"

Lynx peered into the portal again to check on things. As he looked through the portal a hand came out, grabbed him, and pulled him through the rift.

"Get your hand off me!" the feline demi-human shouted. His protests were too little, too late, though. Looking around, Lynx realized he was once again in the place he had come to despise the most;: the veritable prison that was the space beyond reality.

"How dare you!" a voice shouted back at Lynx, anger flowing outward from it in waves. "You thought you could get away with turning the universe into your plaything. The lives of all meant nothing when compared to the nightmarish utopia you had planned. That's all about to change now. I'm sorry, but your manipulations will end here and now!"

The cat-man looked down at the face of the Arbiter of Time in shock. The demi-human had noticed bits of metal and other scrap pieces floating around but it never dawned on him as to their exact meaning. It was only when he glimpsed the shattered husk of the entity that he had worked so hard to revive did he finally realize a major problem was afoot.

"How did you...?" Lynx began, as his eyes wandered around his surroundings even more. There was Serge in front of him in full defiance and chunks of burned and desiccated metal swirling around. Seven adventurers stood behind the boy from Arni, each with a mixture of disgust and boldness etched on their faces. It was only when he saw the form of Leena in the back, her body still shimmering with a cascade of colors, that he began to finally understand what had happened.

"You!" the feline demi-human growled, as he sped off toward the village girl and Champion of the Gods. He snarled and swiped his claws at her. The seven companions tried to halt this onslaught but no one could move fast enough. Lynx became ecstatic as he would at least be able to take revenge upon the one who had ruined his plans. Leena did not flinch, though. She simply nodded her head once, as if responding to an unspoken instruction, and closed her eyes.

Lynx slammed into a prismatic barrier with bone-crunching force. Dazed, he scratched at the unwelcome separator but to no avail. He was unable to get through. In a haze of fury he wheeled back upon the small mob that was slowly closing in upon him.

"She was too weak...this shield could not have come from her!" Lynx cried out.

"You're right," responded Serge. "She didn't make the barrier. I did. I said I would put a stop to you and that wasn't a joke."

"You?!" Lynx chuckled. "The weakling who fell so easily into my trap? The son who could never be good enough for me? The mute who was too afraid to form his own words? Don't make me gag!"

Serge did not speak a word to the man who had once meant the most to him. He simply looked at Lynx with a sad and pained expression. The thought of what he must do next was hard to swallow but it had to be done.

"For far too long have I neglected my role as the Arbiter of Time," Serge explained. "And even when I did use the title to enter Chronopolis and defeat you before, I failed to understand what it really meant. The Frozen Flame was more than just a piece of Lavos. It was a gateway to a higher plane of existence, a window to the realm of the gods. Anyone who made contact with it was able to tap into that energy source and use it for his or her own desires, whether they were good or evil. They could only use a portion of that energy, though."

"The Frozen Flame is nothing more than a fragment of one of the most destructive forces of our time," Lynx sneered. "This 'gateway to the gods' is complete and utter nonsense. FATE has utilized this power source a number of times. It's only a living battery with limited reality warping properties. It may be the stuff of dreams to some but I find it quite boring. For one who seeks to become a supreme being in his own right the Frozen Flame becomes a severely limited tool."

"That is where you're wrong," Serge continued. "When the fragment of Lavos splintered off and touched the soil of our planet a startling reaction occurred. The struggle between those two opposing forces tapped into a realm which should never have been accessed. Balance between the two was perfect at that time, creating an ideal situation for one god in particular to ensure that this force was maintained. Trutin was able to insert a piece of her divine being into the artifact then. Hidden beneath the layers of shell fragments and dirt, this was the true power source of the Frozen Flame."

"And how did you come by all this information?" asked Lynx, skeptically. "Not even Atikon mentioned any of this and he was more powerful than you could ever hope to be."

Serge just laughed.

"More powerful than me? Please. We are one and the same now. He realized he needed me as much as I needed him. I had bottled up all my angers, doubts, and frustrations for far too long. You just aided in providing those feelings form and substance. But even when he thought he had blocked me out of the world, I still had some sway. Atikon had tapped into more power than I desired but in doing so he opened his own inner portal to become more receptive to messages from all over. Since he was not aware as to what was going on I just acted as a filter of sorts. I took what I needed to know, shielded it from him, and let him try to process the rest. That's why he never knew about your proposed meeting point or Guile's warning. He also missed out on the most important message of all: the one from Trutin."

"Lies!" screamed Lynx. "Your dark side was an improvement upon you! He had full control over you and knew everything you did! I made sure of that!"

"You're wrong," Serge sighed. "He was as flawed as I was, just in a different way. Whereas I had a problem in letting things out he had a problem in keeping things in. I merely found my niche and filled this gap. Trutin explained to me what my friends had planned and what I needed to do to help them carry it out. I took advantage of every opening I could to realize this vision. I couldn't let the wonder of free will be torn out of our hands when we had just freed ourselves from the oppressive yoke of FATE not too long ago. Trutin told me there were two things I had to do to fix the problem I helped create. First, I had to convince Atikon to join with me again and throw off the corrupting influence that you had sown. I've done that, thanks to my friends, the people who never stopped caring about me."

"And the second?" Lynx wondered.

"This," Serge replied, as prismatic power flooded into his hands. He slowly floated towards the cat-man. Lynx began to panic and started to retreat from this new force. Serge raised one of his hands into the air and shackles materialized around the feline's feet. Try as he might the demi-human could not move.

"What do you plan to do?" Lynx questioned, fear edging into his normally calm tone.

"I think that's pretty obvious," Serge answered. "I'm going to destroy you."

"But why?" whined the demi-human. "We could accomplish so much together. There's still time to take control of the power of FATE. Make this world an acceptable one and end the problems that stem from not enough control. Free will was not meant to be abused in the hands of mortals. It does not belong in our realm."

"You're an anomaly in this world and as long as you exist there's always the chance that you'll find another way to come back. You will never stop trying to force your twisted dreams on others. You aim to take away free will. I can't allow that."

Serge had now closed the distance between him and Lynx. In a frantic swipe, Lynx brought his arms around to try and wound the advancing threat. Without flinching, the Arbiter of Time caught the feline's claws and trapped them within his own hands. The cat-man could not break free from Serge's iron grip.

"I have finally come to terms with myself and I now know who I am," Serge proclaimed. "The true power of the Arbiter of Time comes to those who seek and strive for balance. I embrace this power. By Trutin's will and mine, you will be gone. So it begins."

Serge's hands glowed once more. The power was not limited to just his form, however. It seeped out of his fingers and into Lynx. As the spectral energy entered into the feline he reared back his head and screamed in agony. It was clear that this process was traumatic but it was not until the adventurers saw Lynx's feet begin vanishing into wisps of smoke did they realize what was taking place.

"You...cannot do...this to me!" Lynx said, each word a struggle to get out.

"It's the only way," Serge responded.

"No, there's always...an escape route," the feline huffed. His legs were now completely vanished and the prismatic glow had reached his waist.

"You care nothing for anyone other than yourself," Serge countered. Something was different about his tone, however. The thought of what he was doing to another living being, however evil Lynx may be, began to register itself in his head. The Arbiter's resolve had begun to waver.

"Stop...it...hurts...son..." Lynx whined. His voice began to sound different. The disintegrating glow was just below his chest but as everyone watched in amazement the demi-human's face shifted before their eyes. It lost its snout and the teeth retracted. Fur disappeared and was replaced with skin. Eyes that had been huge and mysterious now shrunk down to more normal proportions. Finally, the regal cat-man's hat fell off, revealing a mess of dark blue hair.

"D-dad...?" Serge asked, a visible look of shock on his face.

"Yes...my son..." Wazuki replied.

"I-I can't b-believe it's really you!" Serge stammered. "All this time..." The Arni villager lowered his arms back down to his sides. As he did this the torturous glow that had been ripping his target apart subsided. A cloud of smoke began to coalesce underneath the man's incomplete form.

"You have freed me from FATE's grasp, Serge," Wazuki smiled. "Now stop all this Arbiter nonsense. Let's go back to Arni. Your mom is still there and so is everyone else we care about. It'll take some time but with enough effort I believe we can be a family again."

"I don't know, Dad," Serge sighed. "I promised Trutin I would be her partner. The balance needs to be restored..."

"And it has been. Lynx is gone. There's nothing to worry about anymore. Aren't you happy to see me once again?"

"Yes, I am, but..."

"But what? Together we can create a new life. The power still courses through your veins." The smoke cloud now began to take on a more solid appearance, forming the outline of Wazuki's lower torso and legs.

"The power?" Serge wondered, almost in a daze. "Yes, I do still have it, from both Trutin and FATE. I have chosen my path, though, I can't..."

"Why do have to chose between one or the other, son?" Wazuki mused. "Why not combine the two? You could create your own paradise on our world. With you leading the people it would become a heaven. No wars, no strife, no hate..."

"Yes," Serge assented, dreamlike. "I could control them all and strive for a better tomorrow. I would be the ruler of my own nirvana."

"That is exactly why you have to come with me," Wazuki sneered. "Let us work together to rid this world of its uncertainty. Chaos does not suit this land. People do not know what they should do. They need us to guide them, as they have no capacity for choice."

On the word "choice" Serge's eyes opened wide.

"You're not my father!" he cried out and once again grabbed hold of the being's arms. "You're still Lynx!" With a sudden influx of power the cloud, which was almost entirely solid, dissipated out from underneath the feline trickster. With a snarl his face again transformed, becoming a mixture of Lynx and Wazuki.

"I could have given you everything!" Lynx hissed. "And yet you continue to defy me. Your father, your past, your complete family; they will never be yours again. And do you want to know why? Because you pushed me away!" The glow had now reached the bottom of the demi-human's chin.

"I have to do what's right," Serge said, his eyes growing heavy with water.

"A failure! That's what you'll always be! A...failure..." Lynx trailed off. The final surge of the spectral light pulsed around the feline's mouth. It had done its job. The threat of Lynx was no more.

"I'm sorry," Serge said, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, Dad. But I had to do it. Please forgive me."

"And I do, son," a voice whispered from behind the Arbiter of Time.

"Huh?" Serge wondered, as he turned to see where the words were coming from. Nothing became clear to the naked eye.

"I am not outside but rather within you," the voice continued.

Taking a steadying breath, Serge closed his eyes and became attuned to his father's presence. There was an abundant amount of love and forgiveness coming from this spirit. Even though the wisp had no true form, Serge could almost see Wazuki smiling at him.

"You've really done it," Wazuki laughed. "You've freed me from Lynx and given all living things a chance in determining their own destiny."

"But Dad...how...?" Serge asked.

"Lynx did take over a large portion of my mind, but there was still that part of me that loved you and would never let go. I wasn't as crafty as you were with Atikon so I could barely leak through. But I was there. Whether it be a small hand gesture or a chuckle at a stupid joke, I was still around if people knew how to look for me."

"There's so much I want to tell you," Serge said, talking quickly. "I've seen so much, met so many people..."

"I know," Wazuki interrupted his son. "I saw them through FATE's eyes. That's why I have to let you know that no matter what anyone tells you, two things will always remain true: you're my son and I couldn't be prouder of you." The spirit form of Serge's father began to disappear.

"Dad, I...want to tell you one more thing," Serge blurted out.

"And what is that?" asked the disappearing form.

"I love you," Serge said, with as much conviction as he could muster.

"I know, Serge," Wazuki said. "And I love you as well. Now and forever." And with that Wazuki disappeared. He was in another place now. The troubled man had finally been granted his rest.

Serge began crying hard. Turning away from the others, he floated over toward a nearby rock and let out a piercing wail. He soon found two lithe arms around him, holding him tight. Serge looked up and saw the girl that he had known for most of his life holding him close. There were no words said between them as Leena's mere presence consoled her dearest friend. Still sobbing, he rested his head on her shoulder.

By: Daredevil3181 and Alanna82