Finally did it! As promised I give you the epilogue and the end to this whole mess. I did my best to wrap what I could up, and fought against myself with throwing in anything that could potentially lead me into making a sequel to this whole thing.

As always, thank you everyone for the continued support for this as it's meant the world to me.


After two hours of being poked and prodded for his blood, Kai approached the foreign hospital doors as they opened for him and Kain who had stayed by his side the entire time once the battle had ended, leaving Lee and Kenny along with Emily back at the small lab to run the blood they'd extracted from him to find a way to get rid of both Black and Dranzer from within him.

Despite it being roughly six in the morning now and it felt like he hadn't slept properly in ages, he felt wide awake as his feet carried him on through the entrance of the hospital that was packed with others in the halls and waiting area as doctors, nurses, and whoever else had been stationed there to tend to the wounded and newly reverted rushed about to do their jobs.

Though Kai had targeted the reception desk at the front, Kain's head swiveled from one side to the other taking everything in from the wounded, to the confused with a soft frown on his face at the damage that had been caused all thanks to Anette and her 'dream'. While he was sure they weren't going to have an accurate count of how many people had died in the fray so soon, he couldn't help but feel his heart clench at the prospect to start with.

What they had done with Anette's frozen body left on the rooftop he didn't know either, but could only assume they were going to put her behind bars like his father had said they would do.

While his eyes continued to sweep through the open floor and at all the people getting medical attention, some familiar faces catching his eye in the crowd, he was only brought out of his staring when Kai called his name once he was given the room and floor number to where Ray had been taken.

Adverting his eyes from the others, Kain followed after Kai to the elevators that would take them up the five floors though when they approached the metal doors they both paused and glanced at one another and their wings neither had yet to retract; and Kain wasn't even sure how to do it either.

As if seeing the question floating about in Kain's head, Kai turned to him more fully as they waited for the elevator to reach them on the main floor.

"Just breathe deeply and relax, will them back in." He instructed, taking in his own deep breath that made his scarred and bare chest rise while the blood-red wings at his back began to retract slowly behind him.

Kain copied, eyes on Kai's wings as they got smaller in size and winced at the slight pain he could feel rush across his shoulder blades, making his breath more ragged as he was letting it out.

"It'll pass." Kai tried to comfort him at the face Kain made, his own wings having fully retracted while Kain's were struggling between getting smaller and then growing back out.

Taking another deep inhale, fighting against flinching at the pain again, Kain tried to will his wings to shrink yet the more he forced it the more painful it became as they finally shrunk more and more until they were fully retracted and a painful gasp came out of him.

"Damn that hurt…"

Kai gave a small nod in sympathy, "You'll get used to it. Guessing Brooklyn never taught you how to do that though."

Kain shook his head back, "I couldn't ever get them to come out until today." He explained almost sheepishly, the elevator beside them pinging just after as it reached their floor and the metal doors slid open.

Kai made a noise to let him know he heard him, stepping in first and hit the button for the floor they needed as Kain jumped in after him.

With the slow ascent up, the elevator fell into a silence though neither could say it was a tense one yet they both could feel the sudden awkwardness dripping in the air around them that had Kain scuffing the tips of his shoes into the bottom of the elevator while they waited.

After that brief hug after all was said and done they hadn't really spoken much to one another even with having followed behind Lee and spending two hours in one another's presence. Kai had barely uttered a noise when his blood had been drawn and while Kenny had explained the process to Kai about what they were hoping to do with his blood, Kai had barely spared the other man a word either.

It was like he was just going on autopilot now to get to where Ray and Tala were, just doing what was asked of him by Lee to appease him while also knowing it needed to be done if he were to be free of Black for good.

Once they reached their floor, Kain noticing Kai going back on autopilot and stepping out of the elevator first to lead them to the room, Kain rushed out to follow behind him like he had been.

Truth be told he didn't even know if there was anything left to say at the moment, the silence between them not fully bothering him much as it felt like he needed the time to process all that had happened the past several hours himself.

While he didn't feel like he needed any medical attention since all the cuts and wounds he'd received during their fight had healed over on their own, he knew he could use a bath to wash off the dried blood and get the dirt and grime out of his hair.

Before they even reached the door to Ray and Tala's room it was flung open, gold eyes beaming at seeing Kain making his way down the hall towards her that Nikita rushed out to grab hold of him around the neck.

"What's this for?" He chuckled, putting his arms around her back.

"Shut up and let me hug you." She bit back, squeezing around his neck tighter for a second before letting him go and stepping back with her arms dropping to her sides.

Kai had paused beside the two, waiting for them before going further and to the room on his own while Kain let out another soft chuckle at his sister.

"Fair enough. How are they?"

Nikita frowned some before shrugging her shoulders half-heartedly, "They're alive. Baba's kind of in and out of it at the moment cus of the medicine they gave him and Papa is trying to stay awake long enough to get the run down on everything wrong."

"Sounds about right." Kain commented, taking the first step this time to get them to the room.

Nikita trailed after him, Kai hanging back till the two disappeared through the door before he began to follow behind them, bracing himself for what he was fixing to walk in on.

His own imagination of what the other two looked like had been everything but kind to him, knowing the state Ray was in before he was whisked away by an ambulance Kai hadn't been holding out much hope for him, while Tala didn't look as badly broken and beaten as Ray did their small reunion gave Kai an idea that Tala was more exhausted than anything but that hadn't stopped him from worrying about him too.

Upon entering the room he was greeted to Ray first as his bed was right across from the door on the opposite wall looking to be asleep with tubes and wires sticking out of him, his heart monitor beeping every so often with soft sounds while his chest rose and fell evenly.

His right arm was in a cast, it left to lie over his chest, and while most of his face was covered in gauze and stitching Kai couldn't see what other damage there was given the hospital gown and sheets covering the rest of him.

Beside Ray's bed, Tala lay beside him in his own with an IV bag hanging beside his bed keeping him hydrated and attached to his own heart monitor just to keep an eye on his vitals while his cane laid up against the side of his bed.

At Kai walking in behind their children, Tala's eyes that had been on Ray quickly shifted towards him as he had only stopped just inside the doorway while Kain had already made it over to the empty space beside Ray's bed looking down at him with a lump caught in his throat.

"Well don't just stand there and stare, aint like this is the first time you've seen us in a hospital bed." Tala commented to get Kai moving since he seemed to be frozen to the floor.

Even with Tala trying to crack a joke Kai's lips didn't dare even twitch into a smirk as he finally peeled his feet off the floor and stepped into the room further.

"Where you been anyways?" Tala asked, eyes following Kai's every move till the other was stood at the side of his bed.

"Kenny needed my blood to make a serum for me." Kai explained quietly as his eyes scanned over Tala carefully.

"What about you though, they say anything?"

Tala flicked his wrist at him, "It's not me that we need to be worried about here, this is all just precaution more than anything. A little dehydrated and tired, but otherwise I'm fine."

At that Kai's eyes moved past Tala's bed to Ray's, watching as Kain ran his fingers through Ray's bangs quietly while Ray still had yet to open his eyes.

"How bad is it then?" Kai asked around the sudden clog in his throat, tearing his eyes away and back to Tala.

Tala let out a sigh, shifting to get more comfortable on his bed. "Broken ribs, concussion, dislocated shoulder, internal bruising, and a broken ankle." He listed off in a solemn tone, having taken a quick glance to the man on his right briefly like Kai had down before turning back away as if it was too painful to look at Ray at the moment.

"Sounds like he got off easy…" Kain commented from the opposite side of the room.

Kai's eyes snapped to him, frowning hard at the choice of words his son had decided on to say.

"Kain." He barked, grabbing the teens attention quickly and noticing the way he'd slightly jumped.

"This isn't the time to be joking."

"I wasn't." Kain defended, "I'm just saying that after everything he went through he's lucky that's all that's wrong."

Tala had to bite his lip so he wouldn't laugh and have Kai scolding him next, but reveled in the whole situation as now Kai could finally get the same kind of lip he and Ray got the past several weeks since Kain learned how to talk. Honestly only seemed fair now too since the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"How long is he having to stay then?" Nikita cut over before Kai could speak up again, having gone and took up one of the chairs in the room near Ray's bed.

"A week, is what I was told when they brought him back from getting X-rays and a CT-scan." Tala answered her given she had been in her own room getting looked over by a doctor per his demand.

"And what about you?" Kai asked, eyes having dragged back down to Tala the moment he replied to Nikita.

"Few more hours they said, make sure that I'm 'hydrated' enough." Tala seemed to mock.

"Told them I'm fine, that I wasn't even really in the fight as much as everyone else was."

"'Cept you collapsed from exhaustion." Kain commented again.

"And you got yourself thrown off the side of a building!" Nikita snapped at him before either of their fathers could.

Kain let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck with no words of his defence there.

Despite the chuckle coming from Kain, a cold guilty feeling slipped down Kai's throat where it settled in the pit of his stomach, making it churn on him.

While Black had been in control most if not all of the things He'd done was just a blur to Kai as he'd been trapped in his own kind of darkness, unable to see or even hear what was going on around him while his body had been used by something else, but that instance of when Black went to throw Kain off the side of the building he could remember that almost vividly as the hold Black had on him had been slowly slipping.

Black had hesitated to throw Kain off the building because he was trying to fight Him from doing it, somehow he had seen Kain through the darkness that had encompassed him and while he'd fought as hard as he could against Black he hadn't been strong enough to stop Him from throwing his child to his potential death.

The more they had fought one another the more the haze had started to clear for him, and he would be forever grateful that Kain had been there to bring him back from that black hole he'd been in for what seemed an eternity.

Getting brought out of his own thoughts as a nurse let herself into the room since he'd gone and left the door open, she greeted them all and went to checking over Ray's vitals, Kain stepping aside and taking the chair beside his sister to get off his feet for the time being as it felt like he'd been standing for days now, all the while Tala and Kai watched every move of the woman checking over Ray while he slept until she came away and went to Tala next.

Between checking his blood pressure and temperature, Lee was the next person to strut his way into the room unannounced with Mariah behind him.

"How is he?" Mariah asked, coming to stand just shy at the end of Ray's bed, worried eyes looking him over.

With a sigh, Tala relayed all that he knew to the two newcomers, getting the same kind of reaction from the two of them that he had when he'd been given the news of just how badly his mate had been hurt.

Once the silence fell, the nurse having taken her leave and Kai finally taking a seat himself beside Tala's bed in a chair he'd dragged closer to him, Lee cleared his throat some to get their attention from where he stayed by the open doorway.

"For now we're still gathering data on how many we've lost, right now from our last brief we were at fifty casualties and forty more wounded-not including Ray. We have over one hundred reverted still needing treatment and figuring out who they are and where to place them for the time being.

"As for Anette, we were able to get her off the rooftop and placed one of those devices that had been around Brooklyn when he arrived here around her neck to void her powers until we can put her through the Reversal Process. As for those who had to flee from the Village, we're sending out who we can now to go and bring them back since Brooklyn vanished." He explained, taking a minute to catch his breath and rub at his tired face.

"I know that when Ray wakes up he's going to want to know all of this, as well as try and help but for now he needs to rest and take care of himself, so if you could relay all this to him I'd appreciate it." He said, mainly looking to Tala though knew Kai was listening just as intently.

Tala gave a nod in understanding, while Kain piped up from his chair.

"Is there anything we can help with?"

Lee glanced over to him, shaking his head. "Not at the moment or for you or your sister to get into. We'll be able to get things going once everyone settles enough and then get things going into a better motion." He said, turning back to Kai and Tala.

"Kenny wanted me to let you know that he's not sure how long it'll take to make a serum for you, but that it shouldn't take more than three months to come up with something sufficient enough."

It was Kai's turn to give a small nod back to the shorter male, taking in the information that was being given.

"Where'd you put Anette?" He found himself asking just before another silence fell upon the room.

"She's in jail. I was actually going to ask what it was you wanted us to do with her since she's your sister."

"Put her through the Reversal Process and then keep her in there until she dies, or do what you want with her after, I don't care either way." Kai answered with a short shrug of his shoulders, looking as though he really didn't care one way or another what happened to her.

They may be siblings by blood but to him he had no sister or any other family aside from the one he was sitting with now.

"Would you like to be kept informed?" Lee asked to which Kai shook his head back to him.

"Do what you want, leave me out of it."

"Understood. I'll leave you all to it then." Lee sent back, turning on his heel and taking his leave while Mariah stalled for a moment more.

"If you all need anything you know where you can find me." She gave before taking her leave after her brother, shutting the door to the room behind her to give the family some privacy.

Once the door was shut, Tala glanced over to Kai who had hunched over in his chair some, elbows resting on his thighs and hands clasped together between his knees and his head down.

"Why don't you take the kids home and get some rest? They can show you where it's at."

"I'm fine…" Kai started only to look up at the two teens across the room and rethought of his answer.

While he was fine sitting there with the other two till Ray woke up and Tala was given the go-ahead to go home himself, he was sure the kids needed to get some rest and food in their systems before they collapsed and were in a hospital bed beside their fathers.

"I'll take them home and come back."

"No, you go home and get some rest." Tala argued almost pointlessly, narrowing his eyes in challenge.

"I'll be fine here, and it's not like Ray is going anywhere anytime soon either. Go home, take a shower, get something to eat, rest."

Kai's mouth moved to protest though just didn't have it in him to do so with the way Tala's eyes got harder staring him down, once more glancing at the kids intently watching the two of them argue and let out a sigh through his nose before he rose to his feet.

"Alright." He conceded defeat, motioning for the other two to get up from their chairs to go with him and lead him 'home'.

Tala held back the small smile as he watched them head out of the room after Nikita had ran over to him to give a farewell hug before heading out ahead of Kain with Kai following behind the two.

"Oh!" Tala called just before Kai got out of the room, "Don't drink any of that stuff in the dark bottles in the fridge, shits nasty."

Kai's brow arched a little in question and confusion though nodded back before slipping out of the room, shutting the door behind him while the kids waited for him in the hall just shy of the door.

"It's not that far of a walk, and it should have been protected by Brooklyn's barrier." Nikita informed as they headed towards the elevator.

"Where do you think he went?" Kain questioned now that Brooklyn had been brought up a second time, remembering seeing the man drop Anette on the rooftop before just disappearing without a word to any of them.

Nikita shrugged as she didn't have an answer, having questioned it herself on where he would have gone and turned to look at Kai to see if he had any input only for him to keep quiet as he followed behind them.

"Guess he felt the job was done so just left." Nikita voiced, stopping at the elevator and jabbing her finger into the button.

"Can't wait to get out of this armor." She huffed, shifting her shoulders and adjusting the breast plate that sat over her chest some where she stood.

"Surprised you're still wearing it." Kain mused with a slight upturn of his lips, "But I get the shower first." He said just to rile her up.

"Like hell you are!" Nikita bit back, "And don't give me that whole 'I'm the oldest' bullshit either!"

Kai felt himself take a step back the moment Nikita blew up on her brother, wondering whether he should step in or not and let them handle it themselves.

Could definitely tell she was Tala's child though with that short fuse as if the red hair wasn't indication enough.

Kain just laughed at her, not bothering to rile her up anymore as the elevator reached their floor and jumped in before she could.

"Should actually let the old man here take a shower first." He said as the other two followed behind him.

"I'm not old." Kai seemed to bite back which only made the teens laugh back at him.

"Old enough." Nikita seemed to tease as Kain hit the button for the ground floor.

"Older than us, so that makes you an old man." Kain joined in with a coy smirk that showed off his fangs in the corner of his mouth.

"Do you do this to Ray and Tala?" Kai asked in a sigh.

"Nooooo." The two sent back in unison, shaking their heads while trying to contain their laughter.

"Then don't do it to me!"

At Kai's desperate outburst Kain and Nikita let out howls of laughter that echoed around the elevator, Kain going as far as holding his side like he had a stitch in it.

Not sure exactly how to feel, Kai brought his arms around his chest and looked the other way while the laughter between the other two died away just before they reached the ground floor.

"We're only teasing you, lighten up." Kain grinned at him as the door reopened and he stepped out behind Nikita.

"Save it for another time." Kai huffed back as he stepped out behind the two.

"You worried about them?" Kain asked, tilting his head back towards the elevator that was already closing behind them.

Kai gave a nod as he didn't think he really had to voice his concerns or why he even had them to start with.

"Well Papa said they just want to make sure he's hydrated and rested, we know he'll be alright." Nikita voiced.

"They both will be." Kain cut in, "Sure Baba got beat up pretty badly but he's still alive and that's what matters. He'll be okay and be able to come home soon. It could have gone a lot worse." He said not just for the benefit of his father and sister but for himself as well.

He almost didn't want to question how they'd all come out of the battle alive, especially him and Ray given how they were mere inches from death themselves when it concerned the fighting. If it hadn't been for Nikita breaking Ray's fall he would have been dead, no questions asked, and as for him if it wasn't for him finally getting his wings to come out he'd have been gone too.

If anything he just wanted to focus on the positives at the moment, that they all were going to be able to go home at some point even if they had a few bruises that needed to heal over time. It was better than the alternative at least.

While Kai wanted to protest, but with what he didn't know for sure, he kept quiet as did Nikita after Kain's little speech, choosing to lead them back home in silence now amongst the rubble and debris that had time to blow further throughout the Village now that the fighting had stopped.

By the time they reached the small house Kai's eyes were getting heavy on him, not even sure when the last time his body had an actual rest since Black woke up.

He barely spared the place a look around as Kain directed him to the back where the rooms and bathroom sat, grabbing him a towel from the closet in the hall and leaving him to it after pointing to the bedroom on the left of the bathroom that was Ray and Tala's and now consequently his room.

"I'll get something ready for lunch while you're in there, Papa should have some clothes that fit you since you're about the same size." Kain informed before heading back through the doorway of the hall.

Kai watched him go before taking himself into the bathroom and shutting the door, catching sight of himself in the mirror for the first time since he'd been back.

New scars decorated his face from where Ray and Kain's claws had got him during their fights, where more littered up and down his shoulders, chest, and arms that hadn't been there before as well as whatever wounds he'd received thanks to Nikita's last attack that had pinned Black down by the ice by which He'd been entrapped. All his blood that had previously spilled out when he'd gotten the wounds was now dried, his hair was more of a mess than he could ever remember it to be in his life and longer too.

He almost couldn't even recognize himself.

Tearing himself away from the mirror and sink, he went to stripping the clothes he'd been in but didn't have any memories of when he put them on to start with. Leaving the ripped dark jeans on the ground behind him, with the boots he'd been wearing by the door, he stepped into the small shower and jerked the water as hot as it could go while he stood under it as it poured down over the top of his head.

Watching the dried blood wash away with the grime and dirt that had been caked into his hair and along his skin, the rusty brown colors mixing as it drained with the water until it started to run clear before he even reached for a bottle of soap.

While the quiet and alone time was something he didn't mind, he couldn't stop thinking about the other two he had to go and leave back at the hospital, couldn't stop thinking about all the destruction that had been caused by Black and just what he was supposed to do about it all now that he was awake, or if there even was anything to do about it.

Was he just supposed to go on with life like nothing had ever happened? Supposed to put on a smile and act like everything was fine? Were they going to have to live in the Village for the rest of their lives? Would he even be able to live a normal life now that the last puppet master was put away for what he hoped was a long and lonely existence?

For all the questions he could ask himself he had zero answers for any of them. It always seemed like he had answers before but now he just couldn't produce any to even slightly appease himself. While he usually was the kind of guy to take the days as they came, this time it felt like he really didn't know how to do that.

If it wasn't for him, his grandfather and Boris and now Anette none of this would have happened to any of them but there was nothing he could do about any of that, had always known he couldn't do anything about it from the get-go.

But not having a set path, not knowing what the right direction to go in was now, he didn't know what to do at all and it was eating him alive.

"Hey, you okay in there?" Kain's voice shook him out of his thoughts as Kain knocked on the door.

"You've been in there an hour, foods gone cold."

Kai hadn't even realized that the water had gone ice cold on him while he'd been lost in his thoughts, let alone realized an hour had passed by him since he got into the shower without so much as getting a drop of soap on his body.

"Y-yeah, be there in a second." He called back, grabbing the first bottle he locked onto to scrub himself down quickly.

By the time he finally came out, being mindful of a lady present in the house for the first time ever and having clutched to his towel around himself tightly as he made the few steps over to the bedroom for clothes, said lady was passed out on the couch longways, her armor left in a pile at the front of the couch and an arm over her eyes with the other dangling off the side of it, feet kicked up and resting on the back of it with her mouth open in sleep.

"Wouldn't she be more comfortable in bed?" Kai commented as he walked over to the table Kain was sitting at waiting for him in a pair of Tala's sweats and a shirt he'd managed to find that actually belonged to him in one of the drawers.

"Good luck getting her up and moving." Kain snorted a little into his drink.

"Did you two eat?" Kai asked as he sat down, looking at the plate of food in front of him.

"Yeah, we ate." Kain seemed to wave off his concern, "Was gonna let her shower after you got out but again… Would rather she wake up on her own."

"Must get it from Tala. He's a night owl, so isn't the easiest to wake up in the mornings."

Kain nodded along with what Kai was stating, "Oh, but it's alright that she can literally fling herself on me to wake me up in the morning but how dare I try and do the same, or even approach the bed when she's out cold." He seemed to pout.

"Know that feeling too." Kai mused, finally picking up his fork and digging into what Kain had made for him.

"Seems you get your cooking talent from Ray." He commented after swallowing the mouthful he had.

A smile stretched out along Kain's face at what he assumed was a compliment.

"Taught me all he knows."

"Did well." Kai confirmed, letting the table go quiet after as he kept shoveling mouthful after mouthful down the hatch.

Kain didn't mind the silence, taking a few more drinks of his water while Kai ate with the feeling that he really needed it at the moment by the way he was taking forkfuls and shoving it down like he hadn't eaten in months.

Waiting until Kai's plate was cleared in seconds, Kain put his empty cup down and relaxed back into his chair to mimic what Kai had done after he pushed his empty plate away from him.

"So, what now?" Kain asked as he looked over to his father.

Kai's shoulders went up a little, "I really don't know. Been gone nearly a year so think it's up to Ray and Tala on what they want to do once things settle and Ray's healed up more properly. If you meant more of 'what now' right now, why don't you get a shower and some rest?"

"I'm fine." Kain brushed off again. "But yeah, I was kind of meaning the first thing to your answer. If we were gonna stay here in the Village or if you were going to be arrested for what Black did."

"I don't know." Kai answered in a quiet tone, "It's very well that I could be, if world leaders know it was me out there doing all that mess, or what even happened. I don't even know of all what He did when awake."

"It's pretty bad…" Kain informed, "From what I know, since Uncle Lee had the news cut from circulating around here when I was still a baby, is that it got pretty bad out there and there were militaries from all over trying to stop Black. So you could be a wanted man for all we know."

"I see…"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much though, it's not like they'd be able to find you here or anything and I don't think Baba and Papa would let anyone around here just hand you over." Kain said quickly at the heartbroken look that had swept over Kai's face.

"Doesn't mean they won't try." Kai said in another heavy breath.

"Well I won't let them either." Kain said quickly, "And we don't even know if it'll happen, so no reason to worry about it right now anyways."

"Get your hopeful optimism from Ray too I see." Kai commented almost offhandedly.

Kain's shoulders went up, "Better than the brooding doom and gloom you seem to have."

Kai rolled his eyes at the statement. Wasn't the first time in his life he'd heard that before and probably wouldn't be the last either.

"Get some rest." He said, pushing away from the table to get some himself.

Kain rolled his eyes back at him, "Yes Daddddd." He let out in a drawl.

A small smile curled up the corner of Kai's lips as he walked away from the table, heading back through the doorway to the hall and slipped into the bedroom before closing the door behind him.

Glancing over at Nikita still passed out cold, Kain let out his own breath before getting up from the table to take a shower himself and do as he was told for once, his own bedroom door closing shut behind him after his much needed shower.

It was almost noon by the time the front door opened to a silent house, the first thing Tala catching sight of being his daughter still sound asleep on the couch and then hearing the soft breaths of Kai and Kain in their respective rooms fast asleep as well.

Tip toeing his way into the house, his cane at his side and making sure he didn't clack the end of it too hard on the floor as he went, he finally reached his bedroom and gently eased the door open so as not to wake Kai up.

Setting his cane against the wall on his side of the bed and slowly climbing in beside Kai who had forgone the covers, Tala laid on his side in order to face him, draping an arm over Kai's that made the other flinch a little in his sleep and his eyes to flutter open for a brief second only to flutter close again.

"T-Tala?" Kai mumbled out in his sleep.

"Just go back to sleep Kai." Tala cooed, scooting closer to him and breathing in the long and almost forgotten scent of the other while soaking up Kai's body heat.

"Your hands are freezing." Kai mumbled out.

Tala let out a soft quiet chuckle, "Sorry. Pay back for all the times you've burnt my ass."

Even in his sleep filled daze Kai's lips tried to smirk, "Sorry."

"S'fine." Tala just grinned back, letting his weight sink into the bed more beside him as Kai dozed back out.

It took Tala a while longer, fighting his eyes from closing just to look at Kai more before he couldn't fight it any longer and he too finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep beside him with his arm over Kai, holding onto him loosely and not wanting to let go a second time.


Relentless tears streamed down her pale cheeks, her right shoulder and the side of her head pressed into the cold stone wall of the cell they'd dragged and thrown her into some days ago that she hadn't bothered to get up from as she felt lifeless.

Unable to call forth her heat she was left to shiver in the cold damp air that surrounded her, the tiny needles biting into her neck while her eyes had a far off look in them like she wasn't all there nor did she even want to be.

The dream she had envisioned all along had been so close within her grasp only for it all to slip between her fingertips like sand, and now they took the last thing they could from her and she had never felt more empty in all her life than now.

What more was there to live for? If they weren't going to kill her themselves then she could just save them the troubles herself.

With a slow push of her shoulder off the wall she'd been slumped against since they put her there she let the weight of her body fall back into it, the side of her head bashing into the stone wall where the pain washed across her skull quickly and blood dripped down from her temple along her cheek to her chin.

At the continuous sounds of her bashing her head against the wall, the guards posted just outside the main door of the cells came rushing in onto the sight of more of her blood running down her face and her lips upturned into a sadistic and pathetic smile as they rushed in to stop her from doing further damage only for her to laugh in their faces and slam the side of her head into the wall harder until the guard closest to her grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her from doing it a second time.

In the guards hold she continued to laugh and cry more hysterically at them as the side of her face was drenched in her blood, the wound she'd gone and created unable to heal over now with Dranzer's powers being voided out.

The guard that was stood outside Anette's cell quickly called for a doctor to be brought to close the wound, his voice urgent over the top of her ever growing laughter.

Having to bound and tie her, leaving her on the ground instead of pressed against the wall and with a cushion under her so she couldn't try and do more damage it was an hour before the doctor arrived to patch her up, though no words passed between the two of them and more tears rolled down the side of her pale face.

It wasn't until the doctor and the guards had left her once more before a guttural scream ripped through her throat as the heavy door shut closed behind them, leaving her in the cold darkness alone and forgotten.


Four Months Later:

As the rising run could be seen peaking over the horizon and the gagged mountain tops, both Kai and Kain took in heavy breaths as the new morning air swept past them, ruffling the blood-red feathers of their wings and tossing their hair about gently in their faces.

Sitting on his perch on the ledge of the mountain top they flew up to, Kai's eyes stayed on the sun as it made it's slow climb into the sky while Kain stood just to his right on the small ledge offered to him when they'd landed, his eyes too not straying away from the warmth and soft glow of the sun the higher and higher it got.

"You nervous?" Kain questioned quietly.

Kai shook his head in response, leaning a bit onto his leg he had bent in front of him where his right arm was resting over his knee, his left leg laid out in front of him and his left hand supporting his weight at his side.

More cool morning summer air swept past them, the two enjoying the quiet and view given to them together just like all the other mornings they'd fly away from the inner Village to bond and give Kain a chance to learn how to properly fly before Kai would no longer be able to give him lessons.

The time had finally come, the Reversal serum meant for him had been completed a week ago and it was nor or never to go through it himself and get rid of Black for good.

While part of him hurt for having to get rid of Dranzer in the process he knew, just like everyone else around him knew, that it was for the better regardless.

Ray and Tala had already gone through it themselves once Ray's broken bones had healed over properly, even Tyson had been through it while the rest of the Village was busy picking itself back up after the battle four months ago.

Lee's hands had been swamped with appeasing the other world leaders and Elders of the Village when they did come looking for Kai, trading Anette who had been forced through the Reversal Process the moment it was ready over in Kai's stead as it had been her plans and her that had caused most of the destruction and chaos, and while the world leaders seemed satisfied with the tradeoff Ray and Tala felt it best to live out the rest of their days in the Village instead of returning back to Russia altogether.

Kai had no qualms about it, the quiet Village life had seemed to grown on him the past four months of already living there and he couldn't see a reason to want to go back to Russia or even care for what might have happened to his grandfather's company in all the months he'd been gone.

This was now his home just like it had been Ray's and Tala's.

Hilary had even seemed interested in staying in the Village instead of going back to Japan with the others who wanted to go home, and once Tyson had been through the Reversal Process he finally conceded to her wishes to stay.

What Max was choosing to do was still in the air at the moment despite Judy having already taken herself back to the states with whoever else lived over there, and no one was sure if Emily would go back once Kai was done going through the Reversal Process himself as it was her, Max, and Kenny that had worked tirelessly on it the past several months.

Albeit slowly, things were starting to fall back in place. Everyone who had been part of Anette's Savage army were being relocated back to where they belonged, and those that had been a part of Dickenson's army were just as slowly going back to life as normal and to wherever they'd come from if they so wished.

Those that had fled the Village were back, helping to rebuild the parts of the Village that got destroyed in the cross fires of their battle. It was a slow progress either way even with the entire Village coming together to rebuild it to what it had been.

The only one who hadn't returned was Brooklyn, but neither Kai nor Ray and Tala really cared all that much to know where he'd vanished off to or what it was he was even doing.

Tala had come up with the idea that Brooklyn left so nobody would put him through the Reversal Process, and even Ray had seemed to accept that idea until the other wasn't even a blip on his mind now that he had his full family back.

Nothing mattered anymore, the war was won and over, and all that was left was the last hurdle of getting Kai taken care of before they could peacefully live out their days together; a prospect they all seemed to relish in.

As the bottom of the sun finally hit the peak of the mountain range several miles away from them, Kai began to rise to his feet in order to get back to the Village on time.

The last thing he needed was Tala getting onto his case about being late like the day before.

"Happy birthday." Kai sent to Kain with a soft smile sitting on his features.

Kain gave a sloppy grin back, "Funny how I'm actually supposed to be two but seventeen instead." He laughed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"If you haven't gotten used to yet it then I doubt I ever will." Kai commented, raising his wings where the feathers ruffled and the summer air rushed through them.

"Any plans on having another one since you missed me growing up?" Kain asked as his own wings raised up.

Kai let out a snort, shaking his head. "Think you and your sister are enough for the three of us as is."

A laugh came out of Kain at that, "Yeah, I can agree with you there."

The soft smile returned to Kai's face, shifting his feet before he took the dive first off the ledge of the mountain top where the wind rushed up through his wings and against his face until he spread his wings out, catching the air and soaring higher up into the sky.

Kain followed after him, free falling down the side of the mountain before his wings spread out and caught the wind at his back, it taking him higher where he came to circle above Kai before their wings beat back and they headed back for the Village.

Scouting out the lab that was still undergoing renovations due to the battle, the two circled over the top of it before Kai landed first, his wings folding in behind his back the moment his feet touched the ground with Kain coming down to the side of him, catching himself before he hit the ground with his face as his feet tried to keep him running when he landed.

"Quit coming in too fast, that's the reason you fell last time."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Kain sighed, pushing his bangs out of his face with a huff.

"But I'm getting better!"

Kai gave a nod to him in agreement, turning to the door of the lab that quickly opened with Tala stepping out without his cane at his side.

"Was wondering when you'd show up, you know we can't start this without you."

Kai shook his head at him, retracting his wings before stepping through the door to the lab where Ray and Nikita were sat waiting for him and Kain along with Max, Emily, and Kenny standing around with them.

Tala and Kain came in behind him, Tala closing the door after them before coming back up alongside Kai who was stood staring at the giant cylinder glass tank that was waiting for him.

Although he'd watched Ray and Tala go in and out of the same tank barely two months ago he felt a tight lump in his throat as looking at it now only brought him to the first time he'd ever had to step foot inside one when Boris had subjected him to the Fusion process all those years ago when he was just a child.

At seeing Kai's slight hesitation Tala put a hand on his shoulder while Ray got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and grasped at his hand.

"It's going to be okay." Ray tried to soothe.

"We're not leaving without you." Tala added beside him, giving the shoulder under his hand a gentle squeeze.

Kai gave them a nod to let them know he heard them and believed every word from them, but their words did nothing to settle the twisting and turning in his stomach as he pried himself from their gentle holds and stepped closer to the tank where Max and Emily met him at the front of it with the sticky pads ready for him.

Shedding the shirt he had on and letting it drop to the floor and then toeing off his shoes, he stood there while they placed the pads over his chest and back, some down his arms and over the backs of his hands.

Letting Kai step into the tank where the wires hung through open top of it he turned back around to where he met Ray and Tala's eyes before their children's gazes, offering them a small smile more for his benefit than their own while Emily followed in behind him, placing the ends of the wires to the backs of the pads to get him hooked up.

Once the wires were connected, one of them being his heart monitor the computer began to beep in time with it, while the screen of the computer read off his other vitals they were going to watch over.

"He's good Kenny." Emily announced as she stepped out of the tank, giving room for Kenny to step in after her.

"Deep breath for me." Kenny instructed.

Kai did as he was told as Kenny took the needle to his skin, pushing the plunger down quickly and administering the drugs that would put him to sleep.

Grabbing the oxygen mask Max fed through the top of the tank, Kenny handed it to Kai to fit over his face on his own.

"We won't be putting the tubing in until you're more out of it, so just count to twenty." Kenny said.

Kai began his count down as the bottom of the tank began to slowly fill with water, Kenny already going around and taking the protective caps off the needles to the other wires and tubing that were hanging from the top of the tank.

By the time Kai reached ten his eyes were harder to keep open, the water at the bottom of the tank now coming over the tops of his feet and Kenny inserted the first needle between Kai's shoulder blades.

Kai flinched as a hiss passed through his teeth, the mask on his face fogging up more with the harsh expel only for it to do it again when Kenny inserted a second needle around the top of his shoulder.

Once all the smaller needles and tubing were connected Kai had fallen asleep and the water we nearing his knees now, Kenny inserting the last needle in the side of Kai's neck before sloshing his way out of the tank only for it to close up and the water that had been slowly pouring in rushed in faster with a press of a button that Emily had pushed down just before Kai's body could hit the ground as his body became suspended in the water inside the tank that was now filled close to the top.

Stepping closer to the tank, Ray and Tala's breath seemed to be caught in their throats, grasping at each other's hands while they both seemed to pray silently that the Reversal Process would work.

Taking up the chair Ray had gotten out of Kain sat himself down beside his sister, eyes watching the tank like he'd done the other two times when Ray and Tala had gone through the same thing.

Off to the back, the three in overseeing the whole process talked in quiet mutters to one another, flipping more switches and pressing more buttons to start the injection sequence while carefully monitoring Kai's heart rate.

The minutes seemed to stretch until finally an hour had passed yet it was only the first phase and more switches were flipped and more of the serum was slowly pumped into Kai's veins.

It was a slower progress than any of the others before him, just how Kenny had explained it all a week ago to them, given Kai having two bitbeasts Fused inside him.

Their main goal was to get Black out first and then the next day get Dranzer out, and while the others before Kai had only had to go through the whole process once they had to do it twice in order to rid him of both bitbeasts powers.

The hour stretched for what seemed ever and all was going well for what it was worth yet that didn't help settle Ray and Tala's nerves any even when the second hour hit and they hadn't moved an inch and barely blinked or looked away from Kai suspended in the water before them.

Just around the third hour mark, a sharp pain jolted through Kain's chest causing him to grip at the front of his shirt and double over on the chair he was sitting in, a sharp gasp coming out of him at the pain that flowed from the center of his chest to his arms.

"Kain?!" Nikita gasped and jumped herself, hand going to his back as Ray rushed over to the two of them.

Inside the tank a wall of bubbles were expelled from under the oxygen mask, Kai's body twisting where it was suspended in the water almost violently and the once calm beeps of the heart monitor became more frantic and louder.

"Kenny!" Tala yelled out for some kind of information on what was going on.

"It must be Black, he's fighting it." Kenny informed in a shaky tone, turning to Emily and Max and directing them to what they needed to do quickly in the slowly building up chaos.

"Just breathe through it Kain, you're going to be okay." Ray tried to soothe as Kain let out ragged breaths, his heat expanding and retracting rapidly that had the air in the small lab fluctuating rapidly with it.

Inside his chest it felt like someone had grabbed a hold of his heart, intent on pulling it right out of him with the kind of pain he was feeling, knowing that it was probably the same kind of pain his father was enduring at the same time with the way Kai's body kept violently thrashing in the water that had started to bubble and boil around him.

Another alarm on the computer began to screech and scream as Kai's body temperature began to climb higher and higher, the water coming to roiling boil now as the heat inside was trapped inside with no way out, steam starting to rise out the opened top of it.

"Nikita!" Tala called to her quickly and she was up out of her seat just as fast.

"Try and cool it down." He instructed as she gave him a questioning look.

"O-okay…" She shakily sent back, pressing both of her palms to the heated glass, hissing through her teeth as it felt like she'd touched a hot pan.

Slowly, frost and ice began to form under the palms of her fingers, it spreading out slowly, some of it trying to melt from the heat of the glass and what was in the air that kept coming from her brother as he continued to struggle to keep his own heat in check.

The ice and frost grew further out and around the cylinder tank, nearly covering the front half of it where the boiling water began to slow and come to a dull simmer, the glass cooling with it but not enough to stop it completely.

"How long can she hold that?" Emily asked from her spot by her computer.

"As long as you need me to." Nikita sent back, not taking her eyes off Kai who had finally stopped thrashing inside the tank.

"You don't need to expend yourself." Tala said gently, carefully watching her fingers to make sure they didn't become frostbitten in the process.

"I'm fine Papa." Nikita smirked back at him.

Emily gave the two a nod despite them not looking her way, turning back to her computer and flipping the last switch up and pressing on the last button.

With a start, Kain's body lurched forward into Ray's chest, claws piercing right through his shirt he had yet to let go of and into his own flesh as his mouth gaped but whatever noise tried to come out of him was choked out.

Whatever kind of connection he had with Black was snapped and he had felt that connection severing like someone had taken a knife to his heart and split it in two, the pain that coursed through him not one he could even compare it to that left his body trembling from the adrenaline rushing through him.

Letting Kain's weight fall into him from where he was knelt in front of him, Ray wrapped his arms around Kain's trembling back to hold him tighter where a lone tear rolled down Kain's heated skin and fizzled out before it reached the corner of his mouth, as a similar lone tear managed to roll out of Kai's tightly sealed eyes.

When Kain's breathing relaxed, Ray gave him a minute while Kenny and Emily were shutting down the computers and releasing the water inside the tank.

"Take your time." Ray warned as Kain began to pull away from him to sit back into the chair.

Kain gave a weak nod, his forehead drenched in sweat from the way his heat kept trying to overtake him and having to fight it back.

Leaning up, Ray brushed his fingers through Kain's bangs, unsticking them from his forehead that was flushed while Kain kept taking in heavy breaths to get more air into his lungs.

At the tank, Nikita dropped her hands away from it and stepped back, letting Tala go in once the doors were open in order to catch Kai before he hit the bottom of the tank that was still flooded with some water.

"I got him." Max called as he rushed over to help carry the weight of Kai in his arms.

Tala didn't have any protests in handing Kai's limp body over to Max while he went to pulling out the needles and unhooking the wires that made Kai look like a puppet on strings before Max carried Kai out to the awaiting bed on the opposite side of the room.

"Is… Is he okay?" Kain asked through his heavier breaths, weak eyes trying to follow Max to where he carried his father to the bed and laid him down.

"He's going to be alright, and so are you." Ray interjected, cupping the side of Kain's cheek and bringing his attention back to him.

"Just rest for now, okay?"

Kain gave a weak nod back, unable to fight his eyes from staying open for much longer and let them close.

"What happened?" Nikita asked in a quiet whisper.

"It must have had something to do with his and Black's connection, that when we pulled Black's DNA from inside Kai we essentially were severing that connection between all three of them. So Kain was able to feel it because part of his DNA is made up of the three bitbeasts." Kenny explained.

"But he didn't have that happen to him when Baba went through it?" Nikita continued to press.

Kenny shifted his glasses on his nose while he went into thought, while even he questioned why it hadn't happened when they put Ray under.

"For once, your guess is as good as mine at this point." He finally answered with a light laugh.

"Do you suspect it'll happen again when we extract Dranzer's powers tomorrow?" Emily questioned from beside him.

"It's hard to say now. He had no reaction to when we took out Driger from Ray, had a reaction to Black, so it's possible he could or couldn't tomorrow."

"Maybe it comes down to Black being a stronger entity than the other two?" Max suggested.

"It could be." Kenny shrugged, "But we'll be better prepared tomorrow just in case for him."

Ray and Tala nodded, Tala having come to stand at Kai's bed side where he was slowly coming in and out of his drugged induced sleep.

"Slowly." Tala cautioned as Kai began to sit himself up.

Holding his arms out at Kai's back just to catch him if he were to fall, Tala held his breath once more as Ray came up to the other side of the bed to assist in case they needed it.

It took a minute or two before Kai was sat all the way up, his eyes slightly rolling around in his head as his vision stopped being blurry enough he could make out the familiar faces either side of him.

"Take it easy, we're in no rush." Ray cooed softly, resting a hand on Kai's wet and bare shoulder.

"I don't…. I don't want to do it again…" Kai said in a wobbly tone, trying to shake his head but it looked more like he was a bobble head doll at the moment with the way it swayed around loosely on his shoulders.

Ray and Tala looked at one another over the top of him, both concerned and worried but neither were going to push him to go through it again if that was what Kai wanted.

"Okay, you don't have to."

"Yeah, not everyone is going through it, but we did need to get Him out of there." Tala added behind Ray's own words.

As Kai tried to move his head again he looked like a bobble head doll once more while trying to nod, his weight going back as he went to lay down and with the other two helping him he was able to fall back more gently.

"Need a damn vacation…"

Ray chuckled a little under his breath, doing what he'd done for Kain and moving Kai's soaked bangs off his forehead for him.

"You and me both."

A soft laugh came out of Kai, reaching out and grabbing Ray's hand and then Tala's either side of him where the other two squeezed back as he let his eyes close once more before attempting to get up a second time. He could sleep in the lab for the rest of the day, he really didn't care.

It wasn't until almost noon when Kai's eyes slowly cracked open again, his two partners running back to the bed he'd been left to sleep on while the kids had been sent home hours prior once Kain had come to himself.

Feeling like he could get home this time around he let the other two fuss around him, helping him to his feet once Tala got his shoes on for him and Ray helped get his shirt back on and his jeans had finally dried after being soaked inside the tank.

Having stayed back with the three of them Max offered to help but Kai waved it off when he brought his feet to the ground, wobbling only a little bit before he regained his balance only to have Tala and Ray come up either side of him and sling his arms around their necks.

He guessed he couldn't really stop them given he'd done the same for the two of them when they'd come out of it themselves not too long ago and let them drag his sorry self out of the lab and to the Jeep sat waiting for them outside to finally take them home.


And that's a wrap! Know I said I did my best to tie everything up but then left the question of where Brooklyn went to after everything, but I honest to God have no idea myself. He just said peace out and that was it. Did his part in thinking he helped after he kind of helped cause all this mess in the first place.

I enjoyed this story a bunch, and it's always that bitter sweet moment when you finish a fic and at points you don't want to but you need to and I felt this was the best way I could do it without dragging this thing to close forty chapters.

While my mind has tried to come up with a plot for a sequel I feel it would come too close to a fic I've already done so was trying really hard not to lead into anything like that. They all lived happily ever after in the Village, that's about all I can say for this one so there won't be a sequel to this one.

With this, it'll be my last update and fic on here as I'm moving to AO3 permanently. I have appreciated everyone of you who has come and read, reviewed, and followed me these past few years. With that, take care!