Epilogue

"And now we end this." Morgana hissed. She abrasively moved her hands to create large bursts of fire, which she then released in form of the most devastating stream since the one she used against Merlin's knights long ago.

"No!" Balthazar weakly yelled, having returned from his brief unconsciousness.

Dave instinctively jumped out in front of Balthazar and Arya with both hands stretched forward. To Balthazar and Arya's surprise, Dave unlocked the Prime Merlinean magic within, allowing him to block the blast with a conjured Fire Shield to protect the two. As if that was shocking enough, Dave realized that he doesn't have the ring, "No way." Dave looked back to Balthazar and Arya, "No ring!" He exclaimed with excitement.

Balthazar responded, standing up with a slight groan and stepped away from Veronica's body with a faint smile, "It is you."

"The Prime Merlinean!" Morgana shrieked. She stopped the blast before hurled supercharged plasma bolts against her enemies in anger, "Fools!" Dave and Balthazar conjured their respective magic shields together, but the bolts slam them into pieces.

One bolt went wide and came at Arya. She brought up her sword like Balthazar had taught her. She grit her teeth together as the bolt of magic hit the sword and forced her to take a couple of steps back. Her ears rang with the impact and she tasted metal. Boy was Morgana powerful, her attack felt nothing like Dave's or even Balthazar's.

Morgana's eyes widened and fixated on her sword, "Excalibur." She breathed, "I haven't seen that sword in a long time." Her focus seemed to waver but then grew more determined, "No matter. I'll take you out first. Easy picking." Morgana formed another series of bolts aimed at Arya, stronger than previous ones.

Arya blocked those that she could. Dave blocked another. They were so focused on Morgana that they failed to remember the other threat.

"Arya!" Balthazar yelled as he flung himself into a supercharged bolt's path that was aiming at Arya's back and got slammed by the projectile several feet away in process. Arya turned around, stunned to face a fuming Horvath who was no longer unconscious.

"Balthazar!" Arya screamed as she watched helplessly as Balthazar rolled a few times on the ground from the impact and laid still, unconscious. She turned around and brought her sword up in a defense position, facing Horvath. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Why didn't Balthazar just use his magic shield? Her fury at seeing Balthazar hurt grew as she stared daggers at Horvath, "That was a mistake." She growled.

Dave looks at his defeated mentor before looking at Arya, "You got this?"

Arya nodded determinedly, "Hell yes. I'm going to make it so that Horvath wished he was never born."

Dave nodded, "Good luck." He then turned his attention back on Morgana with a grim determination, "Now it's my turn." He charged a plasma bolt in each hand which he then combined into a larger bolt aimed at Morgana as Arya stalked towards Horvath. To the wicked sorceress' surprise, the bolt unexpectedly misses by a few feet, hitting the park's electrical cabinet not far from both combatants.

Morgana saw this and smirked, oblivious that the bolt released another spell which seeped into the electrical cabinet it struck the ground, "Is that the best that you can do, boy?"

"I sure hope not." Dave hurled another larger bolt, this time aimed straight at Morgana herself to keep his nemesis distracted from what he's up to. Predictably, Morgana distorts her non-corporeal form to evade the oncoming projectile. Feigning frustration, Dave hurls three more plasma bolts to no avail, with Morgana elude the last one by splitting her head apart out of the way before reforms, amused by the Prime Merlinean's "futile" efforts.

"And now it's my turn." Morgana quipped, she hurled plasma bolts in different calibers against Dave, prompting him to raise his most durable shield yet.

Meanwhile Horvath had transformed his magic into a sword using the same spell that Balthazar had for training. He brought it up to a holding position and then snarled at her, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Well, here's your chance." Arya hissed and charged right at Horvath who pulled his sword up at the last second. She twisted around so that she was now at his back and made a strike for his legs.

Horvath spun around and counter blocked, his frustration mounting, "You've had training. Not bad." He narrowed his eyes, "But I'm better." He swung, using his upper body strength to put as much force as he could into five consecutive blows, forcing Arya to scramble backward, blocking as she went. One of the attacks glanced off her sword and cut into her cheek, causing blood to trickle down it. She cursed, "Shit."

She made some different attacks, one at his right temple followed by an attack at the legs, again trying to make him fall. It seemed like he figured out what she was trying and he forced her to take a couple of steps back. Unfortunately, the ground of Battery Park wasn't as smooth as she thought and she tripped over a root and fell to the ground.

Horvath smirked, "Now, let's end this."

While Horvath and Arya's battle took a turn for the worse, Dave's turned better. Dave, enduring Morgana's plasma bolt torrents, watched as the bewitched electrical cabinet opens on its own. Wires within snake their way for lamp posts around two combatants, "Come on." He muttered while trying to concentrate on holding up his shield. The animated wires latch themselves on their respective lamp posts as the Morgana increased the magnitude of her assaults.

"Climb!" Dave muttered to himself as the last wire had been in a place as the rest just as Morgana's last few bolts demolished the remaining bits of Dave's shield.

Morgana laughed. The Prime Merlinean was pathetic. She would easily dispatch him, "You have Merlin's powers, but you don't have his strength or his skill. You are still weak!" She empathized 'weak' as she yelled at the boy.

Dave slowly straightened up, staggering a bit among Morgana's barrage of spells, "But I'm not alone. I brought a little science with me." Dave yelled back. He looked at the bewitched electrical cabinet, "Now!"

An animated mop, this time one that is completely under Dave's command, slammed the cabinet's switch on, activating the lamp posts which turned out to have been modified into makeshift Tesla Coils. Torrents of plasma mercilessly struck Morgana le Fay, painfully rendering her solid to the point of her regained physical form she lost from Veronica's Human Fusion spell, the electron composition of her non-corporeal form made her susceptible to the blasts.

The torrents weakened her and caused a small blackout in the general area of the city. Dave winced at that. Moments before the coils stopped working, Dave hurled a plasma stream for good measure and sent rapid bursts of plasma bolts that riddle her then-corporeal form with gaping holes. With the last few bolts, the greatest magical evil the world had ever known finally perished.

Dave huffed, slightly exhausted yet satisfied that he had fulfilled his destiny, "I did it!" He exclaimed, "Balthazar, Arya. I did it!" He turned around only for his eyes to widen in horror with what he saw. Balthazar was unconscious on the ground a couple of yards away from him. He looked pale which wasn't good. He looked further out into the park and saw Arya laid out on her back with Horvath bringing his sword down, "No!"

Arya faintly heard Dave's yell over the pounding of her heat. She didn't dare look over at Dave to see if he had won his battle with Morgana. She needed to concentrate on this fight. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Horvath brought his sword down and at the last moment she shifted to the right, lunged up, and stabbed him through the stomach. She watched his eyes widen and he looked down at her with surprise on his face.

"And that's for Balthazar." She hissed as Horvath dropped his sword and it magically dissipated as it hit the grass. He collapsed to his knees as Dave sprinted over to them. Arya kept her eyes focused on the dying Horvath.

"Arya! You okay?" Dave asked as he skidded to a halt at her side.

She nodded and stood up as Horvath hissed, "Death is just the beginning." He collapsed to his side and took a couple of shaky breaths before going still.

Arya's eyes widened as she realized what had just happened. Her stomach heaved but she managed to not throw up. She had just killed someone, "Dave?" Her voice sounded far away.

"Yeah?"

"I-" She paused, "I just killed someone."

Dave's eyes widened as the night's events came crashing down on him, bringing him back to reality. He had also killed someone. Granted they were an evil sorcerer, but still. He stepped closer to Arya and engulfed her in a hug. As adrenaline slowly left Arya's system, she sagged against Dave and began to shiver a little.

Dave responded with, "We saved the world. It'll… it will be okay."

Then Arya seemed to remember something, "Balthazar!" She exclaimed in a panicked tone. Dave let her go as the pair ran over to a still unconscious Balthazar.

"No, no, no, no." Arya muttered as she kidded her knees on the ground as she knelt over Balthazar. She had her finger over Balthazar's pulse but couldn't seem to find any. She looked up to Dave, desperation shown in her face, "You're the one with magic. Do something!"

Dave knelt on the other side of Balthazar. He shook his head, "It's not over. He can't die. I just... No, not now. Come on!" Dave pleaded with Balthazar but he remained still. Dave slumped to his knees in dismay.

For a moment, Dave and Arya begin to lose hope. But then, the dissatisfied Dave stood up with determination, "That's not good enough. Arya, would you please step back? If Morgana can stop his heart, maybe I can start it."

Arya gave Balthazar's body one last squeeze before standing up and backing away. She looked to Dave with tears in her eyes, "Save him, please."

Dave nodded in determination and summoned a blank fiery red circle around him and his mentor, flowing with Mana from the Matter Domain, "All right, here we go, bud. Here we go. Listen. You... You... You with all your stupid rules!" He slammed two plasma bolts over Balthazar's chest as makeshift defibrillators. While Arya stood off to the side, unable to help because of her lack of magic.

"And all those old man shoes!" Dave continued, slamming the mana bolts once again, "And you constantly saving me with that look in your eyes. Come on!" He slammed the bolts again, "Come on!" He slammed the bolts once again, "Come on!" He slammed the bolts for one final time, exhausted by sadness and drain of energy from both the attempt and the fight against Morgana.

He collapsed to a kneeling position beside Balthazar and put his hand on his chest. He breathed out a gasp of, "No. No you're not dead. You have to come back, if not for me, for Arya."

Just when Arya was getting ready to turn away, she heard Balthazar sigh weakly, "I had a dream." Dave gasped as Arya cried in joy, "You were insulting me, Dave. Repeatedly."

Dave shifted awkwardly, "Me? That's pretty weird, huh?" Arya ran over to the pair and got on the other side of Balthazar just in time to hear him reply to Dave.

"No, kind of makes sense."

Dave laughed heartily while passing the ornate necklace back to his mentor, "Yeah."

Balthazar closed his hand around the necklace and smiled at Dave, "Thank you."

"Welcome back, old man."

"Balthazar!" Arya leaned forward to hug the man while Dave stood up and let them have their moment together, "You're alive." Arya helped Balthazar into a sitting position.

"We have Dave to thank for that." Balthazar reached up and touched Arya's cut on her right cheek, "I see you have a new battle scar."

Arya gave a watery laugh but winced as the cut stung upon Balthazar's touch, "That'll be difficult to explain to my professors at NYU. I guess I can just blame Dave and an experiment gone wrong."

Balthazar chuckled, "Can I kiss you?" Balthazar asked.

"We'll do more than kissing later." Arya promised and the couple leaned in for a kiss.

After some time, Balthazar was strong enough to stand up with Arya's help. Arya had on the necklace that he had given her once they had finished their incredibly long kiss.

"What about Veronica?" Dave asked. The trio looked over to the fountain where Veronica's body lay where it had fallen.

Balthazar's face darkened a little, "We'll give her a sorcerer's burial. I have to build a pyre."

"We." Arya stressed, not wanting to leave Balthazar to this task alone, "We'll build the pyre."

"We still have to get her body out of NYC somehow without being seen." Dave stated, joining the conversation.

Just then, Dave heard cries from the distance. Someone was shouting his name, "DAVE! DAVE!" It was Becky.

Arya nodded at Dave, "Go."

Dave's face lit up with joy and he sprinted towards Becky's voice. He ran out of Battery Park and onto the street to see Becky rounding a corner, "Becky!" The two ran at each other and Dave swept Becky into a gigantic hug.

"Dave!" Becky happily hugged Dave back.

Dave broke away from the hug, still smiling, "You did it!"

Becky nodded enthusiastically, still high strung on adrenaline, "I know. And I'm still alive!"

"And, surprisingly, so am I."

Becky let out a relieved laugh, "I know." Then she remembered something, "Oh, the note. Right. Friend or girlfriend?"

"I don't care." Dave brought Becky in for a long-awaited kiss to which the blonde responds by kissing back with equal passion.

They broke apart and Becky responded with a huge smile, "Girlfriend. Definitely girlfriend." They exchanged another kiss.

Suddenly an idea pops into Dave's mind regarding their own proper celebration for saving the world, "Would you like to have breakfast with me? In France?"

Becky looked surprised, "France?" Balthazar's steel eagle landed beside the two much to their surprise, revealing that it answered to Dave and not just Balthazar.

"Yeah, I got us a ride."

"Okay, you're fun." Becky decided.

The mood dampened a little when the pair turned to see Balthazar and Arya walking out of the park. Balthazar was carrying the body of Veronica. Becky gasped and put a hand to her mouth, "Dave?"

Dave looked grim, "That's Veronica. Morgana possessed her for centuries, her body couldn't handle it."

Balthazar and Arya walked up to Dave and Becky. Arya spoke, "Do you mind if we borrow the eagle first? Driving through NYC with a dead body isn't a good idea."

Dave flew them out of New York City to a remote forest where they could have the burial for Veronica. Balthazar insisted that he could build the pyre but the combined forces of Arya, Dave, and Becky dashed his plans. They scavenged the floors of the forest for wood and met back up again.

Eventually, the funeral pyre was set and Veronica's body was laid on top. The trio stepped back to allow Balthazar a moment alone and then they gathered for the lighting. Balthazar spoke in a language that none of them understood.

"What language was that?" Arya asked Balthazar quietly as the flames took to the timber, "That sounded beautiful."

Balthazar didn't look at her but kept his gaze focused on the pyre, "Latin. The speech came from a time before King Arthur."

Arya took Balthazar's hand and squeezed it.

The next day, Dave dropped Arya and Balthazar back off at his lab in NYC. Dave told Becky to pack a bag with her passport. While Becky was getting her things ready, Dave called his professors to let them know he would be unavailable for the week. He just saved the world, he deserved a break.

He picked Becky up on the same skyscraper that the Eagle came from. Becky for the long-awaited breakfast in France. Dave and Becky were situated on the top of the steel beast, flying over the night sky of New York City.

Dave suddenly realized something, "Becky, there's something I forgot to mention to you. I really have no idea how to land this thing."

Becky laughed, "But didn't you land it in the forest?"

"That was all Balthazar." Dave replied and Becky laughed again in amusement and snuggled close to Dave for the ride as the Eagle made a sharp right turn and began to fly the pair off over the ocean.

The End!

A/N: A big thank you to everyone for sticking with me till I eventually finished this fic! Stay safe and healthy.