A/N: I hope you guys are ready because Life is Abominable's fourth episode concludes with this update! I'll be able to hopefully start Episode Five by March, and end this amazing story. I have to say out of all the episodes I've written for this story, this is the one I've been the most nervous about writing for a pretty specific reason. You'll find out what it is in today's update. Now, let's conclude Episode Four: Hostiles! Enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
Peng discovers from Yi's postcards that once belonged to her late father were all the places they have been on their journey to get Everest back home to the Himalayas. Chloe has also expressed anger and outrage after learning of Emily Zara's involvement in Rachel Amber's murder and decides to go after Zara and kill her by herself, but was persuaded by Max as well as Yi, Peng, and Jin not to and swearing they would kill Zara together when the time finally came. The group also came across the Leshan Buddha, where Yi played her repaired and modified violin. Yi's music caused several flowers to grow all over the Buddha's body as well as heal Jin of all the bruises Zara had inflicted on his body back at the Yellow Mountains, leading her to discover that the strings made from Everest's fur had given the instrument magical powers much like that of Everest's and Max's power. Now, the six friends continue to make their way to the Himalayas and prepare for the final battle...
Inside a small forest miles outside the Himalayas. 8:42 PM
Everyone kept walking all day, only stopping once or twice to eat or to have bathroom breaks. Once it started to get dark and the night sky looked like they could see the entire milky way galaxy, Max concluded that they should stop and rest for the night since they'd make it to the Himalayas by tomorrow. Max and Everest used their combined powers to revive a dead tree and turn it into a healthy and strong weeping willow that bloomed beautiful pink cherry blossoms on it's branches and fireflies began to surround it after Everest turned some of the pedals into fireflies that illuminated the area around them. Now, Max, Everest, and Peng sat down against the tree's large trunk while they watched Chloe teach Yi and Jin how to fire a gun.
"Alright guys, since we're walking into a war-zone tomorrow, it's important you guys know how to use a handgun" said Chloe as she loaded the bullets into the magazine of her gun and loaded it into the handle of her glock. Yi and Jin did the same, following the blue-haired girl's example.
"Let's go over the more important rules right now. First, if someone's pointing a gun at you, you always assume that the gun is loaded, even if it isn't. Second, keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to open fire on something or someone" Chloe continued before she pointed the gun at a dead tree with wilting branches. Resting on the branches were five apples that Max bought back at the farmer's market in the Dahe Village.
"Third, you NEVER take your eye off the target. If you spot an opening, you always take the shot, no matter what" said Chloe before pulling the trigger and blowing the fourth apple to bits and chunks, leaving only four apples instead of five on the branch. The bang was very loud, and caused Peng and Everest to cover their ears with their hands and paws.
"Geez that was loud!" Peng complained.
"Did you expect it to be silent? Guns are loud weapons" Max pointed out without taking her eyes off Chloe, Jin, and Yi.
"Good point" Peng replied before he continued to watch the lesson. Jin and Yi then looked to each other and nodded once to each other without uttering a single word to one another and held their guns up to the apples on the dead branch. They discharged several bullets from their weapons, releasing many loud bang sounds into the air to try and destroy the apples similar to how Chloe did. The first three times they fired their guns, they didn't hit the apple, but they hit the thick branch they were sitting on, or the trunk of another tree. The fourth time, Yi shot the second apple and Jin blew the third apple to pieces.
"Oh, nice one" Peng said when the two apples got blown to smithereens before him. He then looked to see Max looking gloomy and decided to ask what was the matter, so he tapped on her elbow to catch her attention.
"Hey, Max? What's wrong?" asked Peng.
"Just... just a little nervous is all" Max replied.
"Nervous? What's there to be nervous about?" Peng continued with the questions.
"Truthfully? Everything. The battle, finally facing Zara, and then there's... letting Everest go" said Max. Everest then grunted confusedly at what his temporary mother meant.
"I can understand that last one. Everest thinks of you as his legitimate mother now, it's probably going to be hard for both of you to say goodbye to one another when we finally reach the mountain" Peng told the brunette girl.
"I don't know if I have the strength to say goodbye, Peng. I don't even think I WANT to say goodbye" Max said.
"Well then... what are you gonna do about that? When we finally do reach the mountain?" asked Peng.
"I'm not sure yet. I just wish there was a way Everest could stay with us" Max replied. Everest then pulled Max closer to him and began to lovingly nuzzle her head with his cheek.
"Don't worry about me, mama. I'll be okay" said Max using telepathy. Max then hugged Everest, her arms barely wrapping around his large belly.
"I'm gonna miss you, sweetheart" Max whispered using her own telepathy. She then remembered something and reached into her camera bag to reveal the sky lanterns she had bought in the Dahe Village.
"What are those?" Chloe asked as she, Yi, and Jin walked up to underneath the tree.
"Sky lanterns. I found these really neat ones when we were looking for Jin in the village. Every one of these have beautiful paintings of places we've been during our trip" said Max as she un-collapsed the lanterns and showed them all to the others. Everyone looked in awe at how beautiful the images painted onto the lanterns were.
"Why did you buy these?" Jin asked as he held the Gobi Desert lantern in his hands. Max smiled before she replied to his question.
"Because I wanted us to have one last good memory together before tomorrow. It's going to be the fight of our lives, and I just want something good to look back on before we finish our journey" Max replied.
"I like that idea. So how about we light these and send them up to join the stars?" Yi said. The others nodded in agreement and Chloe reached into her pocket to take out her lighter. Once she lit the flame, she held the lighter to the brunette who sat next to Everest underneath the beautiful pink tree.
(Start playing "Wastelands" by Amber Run as you read this next part of the chapter until it says to stop)
"Thanks, Chloe" said Max before she took the lighter from her girlfriend and began to light the Leshan Buddha lantern that rested in her lap and handed the lighter over to Yi, who lit the Mt. Everest lantern. Jin was next as he lit the Gobi Desert lantern. Chloe lit the lantern with Shanghai painted on it. Peng and Everest lit their lanterns last, Everest held the Dahe Village lantern, and Peng lit the lantern with the painting of the Yellow Mountains on it.
"Alright, looks like we all have our lanterns lit?" Max asked. Everyone else only nodded in agreement before Everest held his lantern up to Max to show it to her.
"Look, mama. It's so pretty" said Everest using his thoughts. Max gave a light chuckle before looking up at Everest and placing a hand on his cheek and caressed it gently.
"It's beautiful, honey" Max replied using her own thoughts. The six of them walked away from the tree and over to the edge of a cliff and stared all the way out to the sky.
"So what now?" asked Peng.
"On the count of three, we let our lanterns go and they'll go up into the sky" Max explained. She then turned to Yi and gave a lone nod, letting her know she wanted her to be the one to do the countdown.
"Alright guys, on three. One... two... three!" Yi said before she let go of her lantern. The others followed suite and released their lanterns up into the sky. They all watched in awe at how beautiful they looked as they began to slowly ascend from the ground and up into the star spangled sky. Max then got an idea and held up her right hand, opening up her palm and turning it to the side. The lanterns then paused in time, standing still in the sky.
"Max, why'd you stop them?" Jin asked, confused as to why she used her powers on the lanterns. Everyone just watched as Max took out her SX-70 from her bag and adjusted the compensation meter on the camera before placing her eye up to the viewfinder.
"Because this is worth taking a photo of" Max replied before pressing the big red button. The photo printed out the camera, and after Max shook the photo, she unfroze time and the lanterns continued to elevate higher into the night sky.
"You were right, Max. This was a really good idea" Chloe said as she still kept looking up at the lanterns as they got further and further away from them. Everest then walked up to Max with a gentle smile, which she happily returned and placed a kiss on the bridge of Everest's nose.
"I love you, Everest" Max whispered out loud instead of using her telepathic bond with Everest.
"I love you too, mama" Everest replied using his thoughts. Yi, Chloe, Jin, and Peng watched happily as they nuzzled one another's faces like lions in an affectionate manner. Chloe swiped Max's SX-70 from her bag without her knowing and took a Polaroid of Max and Everest nuzzling one another. Max and Everest then looked over to Chloe with a raised eye and a smirk on their faces.
"Sorry, couldn't resist" Chloe said with a sheepish look on her face.
"Alright guys, come on. Let's hit the hay everyone. We've got a big day tomorrow so we may as well get some sleep" Jin said. Everyone agreed with him and began walking back towards the tree except for Max and Chloe. The blue-haired girl handed handed the SX-70 back to Max after she collapsed it back down as well as the photo she just took.
"Don't worry, Max. I'll still be there to help you say goodbye to Everest when we finally reach the mountain" said Chloe before the two began to kiss one another passionately. The kiss lasted for a full minute and thirty seconds before they broke apart and walked back to the tree to rejoin the others.
(You can stop playing the song now)
Everest was the first to lie down underneath the tree. Peng lied down on his belly while Yi nestled herself in the crook of Everest's left arm, Jin rested in the Yeti's right arm. Max and Chloe lied down on Everest's belly with Peng right in the middle of the two girls.
"Will it be the same? You know, when Everest goes home?" asked Peng.
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
"With us, I mean. Like, will you guys still wanna hang out?" the nine year old clarified.
"Well, when we finish this whole thing, Chloe and I are probably going to book a flight back to California. We still have jobs and friends there. But I know for a fact it's not going to be the last time we're going to see each other" Max told him.
"You mean it?" Peng asked with hope in his eyes.
"Of course, Peng. In fact, you guys can come visit us whenever you guys want. Maybe over Winter holidays, Spring break, Summer vacation, stuff like that" Chloe said.
"Really? You guys would let us some stay with you in America if we ever came to visit?" Yi asked.
"Totally. This trip has brought us closer together more than anything else could have. Without this trip, I don't think we'd see such incredible things, or meet some amazing people" said Max in reply. Jin then rested his hands behind his head and looked up past the cherry blossoms to start staring up at the night sky once again.
"You know, I'll sure miss seeing these stars" Jin said.
"Yeah, but even though we can't see them, we'll still know they're there" Peng added.
"That's pretty cool, huh?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, Chloe. It's Hella cool" Yi replied. Everyone allowed sleep to take over them and closed their eyes, not worried about what they were going to face tomorrow and descending into a peaceful slumber underneath the weeping willow.
The Next Morning. 9:14 AM
After waking up the next morning, Max, Chloe, Everest, Yi, Jin, and Peng had a quick breakfast of the apples that weren't shot during target practice last night and continued to walk for three hours. Eventually, everybody found themselves getting even more closer and closer to the Himalayas than they were before. As they were walking, Jin was listing the possibilities that other mythical monsters could exist if Everest was real. Peng just laughed at his older cousin's rhetoric while they continued to walk and Everest was walking in front of them, taking the lead.
"It's not funny. Loch Ness Monster? Chupacabra? What if they exist?" Jin asked.
"I highly doubt they do. Just because Everest is living proof that Yetis are real doesn't mean other things like aliens or even the Loch Ness Monster or the Chupacarba is real" Max said in response to what the young man was saying.
"Oh, my god, my whole life has been a lie" said Jin with a pale expression on his face which made Yi, Max, Chloe, and Peng laugh at the sight of it.
"Not all of it, just a little bit of it" Chloe pointed out. The sound of Everest getting excited got their attention and saw he was running over to the edge of a cliff that had a beautiful view of Mt. Everest in the distance.
"Wow, the Himalayas" Yi said in awe. Max then took out her SX-70 her bag once more and took a photo after she tweaked the settings on the camera. Once the photo printed out, she shook it and placed it into her back pocket after collapsing her camera and placing it back inside her bag. The brunette then saw down below them the same bridge she's been seeing in her visions that she had been having before her Chinese vacation with Chloe began.
"Guys, look! It's the bridge from my visions!" she said. Everyone looked down and got serious looks on their faces.
"This is it. The minute we get halfway across that bridge, Zara's going to spring a full-on ambush on us" Chloe said as she took her gun out of her jacket pocket and loaded it with more bullets. Jin and Yi looked to one another and nodded before taking their own handguns out and checked to make sure they had enough bullets to fight off a few enemies before they found themselves having to reload.
"Wait, why doesn't Max have a gun?" Yi asked.
"Don't need one. Everest and I will be using our powers the entire time" Max replied. Jin then turned to Peng.
"Peng, I need to stay as close to both Max and Everest as you can. They're the strongest ones out of all of us because of their powers, so you'll be safe with them. Just don't run out into the middle of an area with rapid gunfire, okay?" Jin told his younger cousin, wanting to make sure he knew what to do so he would be safe and not be hurt during the upcoming battle.
"Okay, I got it" Peng said with a serious look on his face.
"Zara's not going to be easy to kill though. There's gotta be at least fifty or one hundred of those goons guarding her" Yi added.
"That's why we're going to have to take out some of them first. Once there's hardly any left, we go for the kill on Zara" Chloe told her.
"And we need to keep in mind that if we lose, everything we've done up to this point will have been for nothing. Everest will go back to being held prisoner and tortured for somebody else's amusement and my powers could be weaponized and possibly even used to take over the whole world" Max reminded them. Chloe then walked up to her girlfriend and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Which is why we're not gonna lose. We're stronger together, you said it yourself yesterday. Now let's get Everest home and get some justice for Rachel" the blue haired girl said. Max smiled and nodded in approval before running ahead of all the others as they followed closely behind her. Everybody scaled the cliff downwards until they finally got to the bridge. Once they all made their way to the very center, a helicopter appeared from right underneath it and hovered right where they stood.
"This is it! Get ready guys!" Max said as she held up her hand, getting ready to use her powers to fight back. Chloe, Yi, and Jin took their guns out once again and watched as both sides of the bridge were cut off by Burnish and Zara's armored convoy.
"We're not gonna get far with that helicopter hovering over us" Chloe said as she looked up at the whirlybird in the sky.
"I'm on it!" Max exclaimed before her hand and eyes began to glow bright blue. She focused as hard as she could and started to trap the helicopter inside a gigantic tornado. The vehicle began spinning out of control and could barely maintain altitude the more Max used her powers to interfere with it's flight patterns. Zara and Burnish stepped out of their own car to see what Max was doing and her eyes went wide in fascination.
"I can't believe it" she whispered.
"Well, I can!" Mr. Burnish said before he whacked Zara across the face with his pickax and punched her in the stomach.
"Mr. Burnish are you out of your damn mind!?" the redheaded woman exclaimed in outrage.
"You paid Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott to kill Rachel Amber because you were jealous that she chose Chloe over you!" Burnish said with an angry look on his face.
"What!?" she screamed in an English voice instead of her British accent.
"And attempting to weaponize that girl's superpowers for your own wealth? I'm sorry Dr. Zara, but you are a sick and disturbed person and you must die for the safety and well-being of not just the Yetis, but all of the human race!" Mr. Burnish exclaimed before running off to join the others. Max then tilted her hand sideways and made the helicopter crash into the side of a cliff, causing it to explode into flames.
"Nice one, Max!" Jin said as he didn't take his gun off the incoming goons.
"Thanks. But we still have to handle all these other guys" Max told her. They then saw Burnish come over to them and take a gun out of his fur coat. Max then held her hand up, getting ready to use her powers on the old man but he stopped her before she got the chance.
"Wait! I'm on your side! I know what Zara did to Rachel Amber. She's a sadistic woman who's too dangerous to be left alive!" Burnish said.
"What? You mean you're not here to fight us?" asked Max.
"No. I'm fighting WITH you. We have to get the Yeti back to it's home and stop Zara from hurting anyone else" Mr. Burnish confirmed. Max nodded with a smile on her face as she looked at him.
"Glad to know we've got a new player on our team. Welcome" she said before she looked to see Zara walk closer to the bridge but stop before she could get any closer.
"Max Caulfield! You have something that belongs to me. I want the Yeti back!" Zara shouted out.
"No! I'd rather die than let you lay one more hand on my son!" Max said as she stood her ground. Zara just chuckled and kept standing where she stood with several armed goons holding up their guns at her.
"Your son? Hehehehehehe. You actually think you're it's mother?" the woman replied.
"I will effing kill you for everything you done. To Everest, to Jin... and to Rachel" Max told her as she got closer and closer to her.
"Rachel Amber should have been with me! That little punk priss did nothing to deserve her!" said Zara in outrage when Rachel's name was brought up.
"She never loved you! You stalked and intimidated her using Nathan Prescott's money to get what you wanted. Now, you're finished, and you will be put on trial today for all the disgusting crimes you've committed. You're going to Hell, Emily! And everybody's gonna smile and laugh when you do" Max said with a scornful look in her eyes while her palms began to glow inside her clenched fists.
"Well then I guess I'll see you there" Zara said with a coy smile on her face before speaking into a walkie talkie that rested in her hands.
"Gun her down. We'll take the Yeti after we've taken out Caulfield" she said into the microphone of the radio. The guards then started to approach her and were ready to take their shot. But before they could get the chance, Max extended her arms out and opened up her palms to send the armed goons flying off the edges of the bridge with two powerful gusts of wind.
"What the Hell!? Open fire! Take her out now!" the head goon shouted into a megaphone. Max then held her right hand up and turned her wrist to the side. Many bullets were fired at Max, but the brunette froze all the incoming projectiles in time before she swung her arm to the side and sent them all flying back at the goons in black.
"Take cover!" another goon exclaimed. The bullets struck many of the armed men, and many died and fell limp to the floor the minute the bullets pierced their bodies.
"We need more firepower! She's too strong!" the head goon shouted before another bullet was flung back and hit him right in the back of the head, causing him to fall off the cliff and meet his doom below.
"No no no! This can't be happening!" Zara shouted. She then saw as Yi, Jin, and Chloe were fighting the other guards on the bridge with the help of Everest's powers, while Mr. Burnish fired his own gun at his former employees as Max deflected the bullets back to them using her own powers. Once there was barely a single henchman left, Max lowered her hand and walked up to Zara.
"You wanted me? Here I am" said Max in a hateful tone of voice that matched the one she had when she faced Jefferson while she was a prisoner in the Dark Room on the day of the storm.
"If killing you and that beast is all that stands between me and being rich for the rest of my life... so be it. You'll join Rachel Amber in the afterlife this day" Zara said before taking off her coat, dropping it to the floor and undoing her ponytail.
"No guns, no powers. Just our minds, and our fists" Max stated firmly as she took off her gray hoodie and her camera bag, leaving her in her t-shirt as she took a fighting stance.
"That's fine with me" Zara said in a snarky tone of voice. The two girls shouted as they ran towards each other and began facing one another in hand-to-hand combat on the bridge. Max punched her in the face, which knocked her glasses off and sent them off the edge.
"Only needed those for reading, so you haven't gained the advantage over me yet!" Zara said before she tried to land a punch on Max, but she dodged it before her fist could collide with her cheek. Max then grabbed some snow from the edge of the bridge and threw some in her face, temporarily blinding her before she tackled Zara like a football player and began to repeatedly punch her in the face. Bruises began to form on the older woman's face and her nose began to bleed the more Max continued to punch it over and over again. She was about to deal one last punch but she stopped herself and stood back up.
"You've lost" she stated plain and simply. Zara only chuckled at Max's words.
"I don't think so. Because I forgot to tell you..." she said before reaching behind her back.
"Sometimes I cheat!" Zara said before pulling out a gun. Max held her hand up used her elemental powers to seal Zara's hand in a block of ice before she got a chance to pull the trigger.
"Yeah... sometimes I do too" Max replied. Zara only growled before smashing her hand on the bridge's wooden surface, freeing it and the gun she held from the ice. Max then grabbed onto Zara's wrist just as she was just about to pull the trigger again, but she wasn't willing to lose or give up her weapon so easily. In the midst of the struggle, Zara fired a bullet but Max didn't see where the bullet went.
"Missed me" Max said before she forcefully slammed her palm on Zara's stomach. Zara was flung back and fell on her back, causing her to drop her gun. Now that she was disarmed again, Max held up her hand and raised Zara two feet above the ground by making powerful winds surround her, almost like she was using telekinesis to levitate her.
"You think you've won? You only just got lucky" Zara spat venomously at the young brunette.
"When you get to Hell, tell Nathan I said Hi" Max said before she lifted her left arm up and twisted her wrist to the left. Zara's neck snapped and and her body went limp. Now that she was dead, Max lowered her body to the bridge and just stood over her lifeless body. She smiled and took deep breaths while she stared down at the now dead Emily Zara.
"It's... It's over" Max whispered to herself. She barely had any power left and felt like she needed a recharge. But she couldn't be anymore happy now that Emily Zara, a woman who caused so much pain and suffering was now dead and would never hurt anyone else ever again.
"Max!" Chloe and Yi called out to her. The brunette looked behind her to see Everest lying on the bridge, a large red stain covered where his heart was. Max gasped in shock, she didn't realize that the bullet that came from Zara's gun hit Everest. Now he was lying in the center of the bridge bleeding to death.
(Start playing "Hold On For Your Life (Acoustic)" by Sam Tinnesz as you read this next part of the story until it says to stop)
"NO! EVEREST!" Max shouted while running over to the yeti with tears now staining her eyes.
"One of the bullets struck him. I didn't even see where it came from!" Yi said as she had tears streaming down her face.
"It was Zara. She had a gun and fired a shot, I didn't even see where it went until it was too late" Max said with sorrow in her voice. She then looked Everest in his beautiful blue eyes that were struggling to stay open.
"Mama?" Everest asked using grunts instead of telepathy. Max smiled while she still cried and nodded.
"Yeah, pumpkin. I'm right here" Max whispered out loud and caressed Everest's cheek comfortingly.
"I feel sleepy, and my chest hurts" Everest said in his thoughts.
"It's going to be okay. You're going to make it, I swear" said Max, trying her best to make Everest keep his eyes open. Everest didn't say anything this time, and just smiled at her, a lone tear rolled down his cheek as he stared at Max's face. He then pulled her close and planted a kiss on her forehead
"I love you, Max" Everest said in his mind, calling her by real name instead of "Mama" like he did many times before.
"I love you too, Everest. You're my baby boy, and... I'll always be with you, even in death" Max said out loud, trying her best to not break down in front of her dying adopted-son. Within a matter of seconds, Everest closed his eyes and his entire body went limp, his hands hitting the wooden ground. Peng was now crying in Jin's arms and Yi had her hands covering her mouth while the tears came down. Chloe just cursed under her breath while she cried and her fists were shaking. Burnish just looked down at his feet sadly.
"No, no. No!" Max shouted before she walked over to the edge of the bridge and screamed out the F-word out to the sky angrily. She then got down on her knees and banging her fist on the ground screaming every curse word known to man before she began bawling in front of her friends at the loss of her son.
"I'm so sorry, Everest. I failed you. You chose me to protect you and I failed" Max said in between her sobs. Chloe then walked up to Max and helped her back up to her feet and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sorry, Max. He's gone, he's in a better place now. There's nothing you could have done" said Chloe, doing her best to comfort her grieving girlfriend. Max then broke away from Chloe's hug and wiped her tears away.
"No. You're wrong, Chloe. There IS something I can do" Max said before taking the photo she took of Mt. Everest out of her back pocket and looked down at it. Chloe knew what Max had in mind.
"Max, the last time you jumped back in time it nearly killed you" said the blue haired girl.
"I don't care about that anymore, Chloe. All I care about now is bringing back Everest!" Max said. Yi, Jin, Peng, and Mr. Burnish saw the photo in her hand and looked to her in confusion.
"What are you gonna do with that?" Yi asked, trying to keep her speech resolved as she spoke.
"I took this photo just before we crossed this bridge. Now, I'm going to use it to bring Everest back to life" Max said. Everyone gasped at this, they had no idea it was even possible but Max claimed it was, and she was going to use the Polaroid in her hand to bring back Everest.
(You can stop playing the song now)
-This Action Will Have Consequences-
End of Episode Four: Hostiles
A/N: I'm so sorry, but don't worry! Max is going to bring Everest back! I promise! All by using Polaroid and the power of time travel. But the next episode is where it all ends. Episode Five: Endgame is where the journey finally comes to it's conclusion. I hope you guys will be excited to see what will happen when March comes and the first part of Episode Five will be posted. The journey concludes in the next update. Please review, thanks!