A/N: It's time everybody! The final episode of "Life is Abominable" is finally here! Well, part one of the final episode anyways. I'm sorry if the ending to Episode Four made some or a lot of you guys cry, and I honestly don't blame you. But this is the episode where we try to fix everything that happened. And how are we going to do that? Read to find out. Episode Five: Endgame begins now! So, enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
After continuing their journey after discovering Yi's violin having magical properties at the Leshan Buddha, Chloe teaches Jin and Yi how to fire a gun to prepare them for the battle against Zara on the bridge that Max had been seeing in her visions on repeat. When the battle finally takes place, Max and Zara engage in combat with no powers or weapons, but Zara reveals she had been carrying a pistol in her coat pocket and attempts to fire a shot at Max. Zara fires a shot but it misses Max, whom realizes the bullet shot Everest close to his heart shortly after killing Zara with her powers. Now, with Everest dead, Max decides to use a photograph she had taken with her Polaroid camera to travel back in time and resurrect the young yeti back from the dead...
Miles Outside the Himalayas. 10:59 AM
After the battle, a funeral was held for Everest, and everyone did their best to give their white fuzzy friend the proper burial he deserved. All of Zara's goons that were killed in the earlier battle were not given a proper burial, but they were given a funeral pyre, and Zara was among those who were burnt. Chloe believed she didn't deserve to be buried after everything she had done and the others agreed with her. Now, Everest was buried underneath a giant pile of rocks, and right in front of it sat a wooden cross made from two very large and thick sticks to serve as a makeshift tombstone. Burnish actually helped them with the burial and actually apologized for everything he had done, not realizing he was being manipulated and controlled by a pathological liar and sadist. Chloe then saw Max staring out into the distance while standing on the edge of the cliff, so she worriedly walked over to check on her brokenhearted girlfriend.
"You doing okay, Max?" asked the blue haired girl.
"Honestly... no. I'm not doing okay at all Chloe" Max replied, not taking her eyes off the mountain in the distance that was supposed to be their final destination.
"But why? You still have the photo you took before the ambush, you can still bring Everest back" Chloe pointed out.
"I know that, but what if I fail again and find myself back at square one all over again?" asked Max. Chloe then placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"You won't, and I know that for a fact. You're Maxine Caulfield, time warrior, and you've come back from far worse than this. You escaped the Dark Room and saved Victoria's life because you knew what was going to happen, you helped Everest escape Burnish's compound, and we've always been one step ahead of Zara and her army because we had your powers to help us. One bad chapter doesn't mean the story is over, Max. You still have a chance to do everything over again and do it right" she told her girlfrield.
"You get that last part out of a self-help book or something?" Max asked with a small smile.
"Nah, I just heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool. I know for a fact it applies to where we are now" Chloe told her. Max took the photo out of her pocket again and stared down at it for a brief minute before looking back to her girlfrield.
"You're right... our story is far from over" she said before giving the blue haired girl a hug, and she didn't hesitate to return the hug. After they finished hugging, she walked back over to Everest's grave where Yi, Jin, Peng, and Mr. Burnish still stood. Everyone heard her footsteps approaching as each step she took make a loud crunching noise in the snow.
"Hey, everybody finish their eulogies for Everest?" asked Max.
"Yeah, Peng went last. But there's still one more left to hear" Yi told her.
"Yours" Jin piped in. Max was surprised, she had now just remembered she had yet to say some kind and loving words to her semi-adopted son before she made the jump back in time to resurrect him back from the dead. Max nodded and walked up to the makeshift headstone and got down on one knee before placing her right hand on said wooden cross.
"Everest... I don't know if you can hear me right now, but... I'm sorry. I thought we had the upper hand on Zara, but in the end I failed, even with the the powers of nature and time on our side we still failed. But it's not the end, our journey isn't over until we get to that mountain. And we ARE going to reach the mountain... with you by our side, alive and breathing, and not lying dead in some hole in the ground. You chose me to protect you, to make sure you got home to your family safely, this is me keeping that promise. I love you... son" Max said before placing her lips on the cross and planting a kiss on it.
"That was beautiful, Ms. Caulfield" said Mr. Burnish as he watched Max stand back up on her feet.
"Please, Mr. Burnish, call me Max. There's no need for formalities now that we're on the same team" Max kindly corrected the elderly man in front of her.
"Oh, of course. My apologies" Mr. Burnish apologized. Jin then walked up to Max and cleared his throat before speaking.
"So, how exactly does this work? You just look down at the photo and just like that you're back at the exact same moment in time it was taken?" the young man asked.
"I'm not entirely sure how this part of my power works, but yeah. All I need to do is concentrate and stare deep into the photo until I'm at the point in time I desire to be in" Max answered.
"What's the plan once you're back at the moment the picture was taken?" Yi asked.
"Max is going to tell us everything that just happened, and we're going to take another route. One that'll ensue we don't spring Zara's trap even though we know it's coming, and bring Everest back to life" Chloe explained.
"Are you sure it's going to work though?" Peng asked.
"Positive, I've done this multiple times. If it worked before, I know for a fact it's going to work again. But I'm not sure what the consequences for tampering with the fabric of time and space will be though" answered Max.
"We don't have time to think about that right now, Max. Our main focus needs to be resurrecting Everest and that we kill Zara before she gets a chance to trap us again" Chloe told her.
"She's right. We can't be thinking about the negatives" Mr. Burnish added. Max then nodded and took a deep breath before placing her jacket and camera bag back on.
"Alright, it's time" Max confirmed. Everyone nodded once in agreement.
"Good luck, Max. I'll catch you on the other side" Chloe told her. Max then looked down at the Polaroid again and began to stare deep into the image. She could feel the environment around her alter the more she stared at the picture. After a short while, she looked back up and saw that she was still on the mountain, but something was wrong. Everyone was gone, not a single person was there with her, and Everest's grave was gone, as well as Zara and her army's funeral pyre.
"W-What's going on? Why didn't it work?" Max asked as she looked around to see if Chloe, Yi, Peng, Jin, or Burnish was anywhere to be found. Max then noticed that the ground around her began to turn to burnt black particles and levitated upwards into the sky. And the sky began to turn bright orange and white.
"No, t-t-this isn't what I wanted! What's happening!?" Max exclaimed in fear. The environment around her began to behave like a burning photograph, the black particles were the ashes and burnt negatives of said burning photo. Eventually, everything around her went completely white until she was blinded and couldn't see where she was anymore.
Blackwell Academy. Arcadia Bay, Oregon
"Woah!" Max exclaimed as she woke up lying on the floor of a familiar and empty room. It was the Photography class of Blackwell Academy in Arcadia Bay. Max's confusion was now replaced with worry, she remembered what was going on all too well. She was trapped in a nightmarish purgatory dimension, just like when the storm was coming closer and closer to destroying the town.
"N-No! I can't be back here! N-Not after what happened last time!" Max thought out loud to herself. She looked around and began to see that she was the only one in the classroom, and the windows that gave a glimpse of the outside of te building were covered in layers of frost.
"Why does it feel different than the last time I was here though?" Max said out loud as she began to analyze her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was a picture facing downwards on her desk. She picked the photo up and flipped it to the other side to reveal a family picture of Yi, her father, mother, and Nai Nai, but their eyes were scratched out with a needle or the tip of a knife blade. Max gasped and covered her mouth with her left hand in horror as she stared at the defaced picture.
"Oh my God... that's so awful" Max said before placing the photo back on the desk the exact same way she found it before. Max then walked over to the computer in the back of the classroom that was mainly used for editing pictures, and she saw on the screen that the Adobe Illustrator feature was running and a photo was on display.
"Wait a minute, I recognize this photo. Oh my God, it's the Polaroid I took the first time I snuck inside Burnish's compound" Max whispered in horror as her eyes were fixed on the picture of Everest in giant cuffs being roughly handled and abused by Zara's goons.
"That is too creepy" Max said before turning away from the computer and walked up to the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. There were some more photos attached to the board with double-sided scotch tape, and Max got closer to fully analyze them. The first photo showed her, Chloe, Jin, Yi, Peng, and Mr. Burnish standing at the grave they had built for Everest after the battle.
"Everest didn't deserve any of this" Max said in her thoughts before looking at the photo placed right next to it. This one showed a first person perspective of Jin being beaten and tortured. Jin looked scared in the photo and looked at the electric cattle prod getting closer and closer.
"We're gonna make her pay, Jin. I swear it" Max silently vowed as she stared at the picture with sorrow. She felt like she was standing right there with Jin as Zara tortured him and made him feel helpless and scared, which only made her hate for Zara grow stronger. She then saw a laptop on the teacher's desk, and noticed the desktop wallpaper was for Burnish Industries.
"Wait a minute, I recognize this computer. It's Jefferson's laptop" said Max as she slowly approached the computer. The brunette then looked down at the bottom of the screen to see three tabs were closed. She clicked on the first tab to reveal a newspaper article about Zara unveiling the existance of the mythical Yeti to the public. The image on the front page showed a taxidermied Everest on stage and made to pose like a monster getting ready to attack and kill it's prey wile Zara was speaking at a wooden podium to the audience that couldn't be seen. Max was disgusted and enraged at this image.
"That's not gonna happen you sick mother effer!" Max hissed through her teeth. The next tab she opened revealed another newspaper article. This time it showed five separate mugshots, the first two were of her and Chloe, and the others were of Yi, Jin, and Peng. The article said they were arrested for breaking and entering as well as trying to break the Yeti out of their heavily secure compound, and the five culprits would be given life sentances in a maximum security prison in Fuhan China.
"We're not the real criminals here, Zara. You are!" Max said before exiting out of that tab. All that remained to look at was the third and final tab, so she moved the mouse over to it and clicked on it. Once the tab was opened, another newspaper article. This one was taken from the eulogy section of Arcadia Bay's local newspaper, and it showed a photo of Rachel Amber. Max saw the date and saw that Rachel was murdered the exact same day Zara left Blackwell Academy.
"No, this wasn't how she died. Nathan overdosed her, why is it saying she was repeatedly stabbed?" Max asked herself as she continued to read through the article. She then spotted another picture on the article of Emily Zara with black text below saying she was a person of interest given her history and mental health problems. Max couldn't bring herself to read anymore and she closed the laptop.
"This is getting way too weird, I have to get out of this place" said Max before she began walking to the exit door of the classroom. Once she opened the door, she didn't find herself in the Blackwell hallways, she found herself somewhere different, somewhere familiar, someplace she had only been to once in another reality.
Zeitgeist Gallery. San Francisco, California
"What? I'm back in the Zeitgiest Gallery?" Max whispered to herself as she took in her surroundings. She also saw she was wearing the exact same outfit she wore when she visited this place in an alternative reality where she had won the "Everyday Heroes" contest and her picture was put up on display in this very building.
"There's no one else here. Am I seriously all alone right now?" asked Max out loud as she began walking all around the empty gallery. Before she could make her way up the stairs to where all the photos were displayed, she felt something vibrate inside her pocket and let out an audible 'Ping' noise. The young brunette reached into her pocket and pulled out something she wasn't expecting to see, it was her old phone that she had gotten before leaving for Blackwell before replacing it after the storm destroyed Arcadia Bay.
"What's this doing here? I got rid of this phone years ago" Max said in shock at what was in her hand at that very moment. After Max pressed the 'Unlock' button with her thumb, the screen lit up and showed she had multiple new messages from several different contacts. Once Max entered the four digit passcode to unlock the phone, she began reading through her messages. She had messages from Chloe, Yi, Jin, Peng, Zara, and even Everest sent her one. If Max wasn't so terrified of what was happening right now, she would have let out a small chuckle seeing how Yetis don't own cell phones, and Everest couldn't send any texts with those giant paws of his. She began to read all of her messages one by one.
Chloe: You are singlehandedly the worst Yeti-Mama in history, Caulfield! How could you just let Zara kill Everest like that? There's blood on your hands now, Max!
Yi: Why, Max? It was bad enough I lost my dad, but now I've lost Everest too? What did you have to gain from this?
Jin: Whatever reason you had for letting Everest die, I hope it was worth it. You're a murderer, Max!
Peng: Everest was my best friend, the bestest friend any boy could ask for. Why did you take him away from me?
Zara: I should be thanking you, Max. You allowing me to kill your "Son" has given me the ability to bring the Yeti back to Shanghai without anymore complications. So, thanks for making me rich! XOXOXO!
Everest: How could you let me get shot, Mama? I thought you loved me!
Every one of these texts made Max feel sick to her stomach, but Everest's text made her start to cry. It was a reminder of how she failed to protect her semi-adopted son and how she failed to keep her promise that she wouldn't let Zara do anything to him as long as she was around. Max began to sob and let tears pour down her cheeks like waterfalls while covering her mouth with her left hand to slightly muffle her cries.
"I didn't mean for this to happen, Everest. And I do love you, I really do. Mama still loves you, Everest" Max said with a lump in her throat, her sorrow making it hard for her to piece the words together when she spoke. The brunette then wiped her tears away and got a serious look on her face before tucking her phone back into her pocket.
"No... none of this real. Nobody would say such awful things like that. Not Chloe, Jin, Yi, Peng, or even Everest. It's just this stupid place trying to toy with my brain... I-I can't let it. I have to keep going forward" Max said to herself before walking up the stairs and entering the gallery. As she walked, she noticed all the previous pictures that were there the first time she came to the gallery were all replaced by different photos, and these photos were something that made Max feel disgusted.
"W-What are all these?" she whispered. All the pictures were black and white photographs of her friends, Chloe, and Everest bound with duct tape and looking scared as they were looking up at the person who was taking the pictures. These photos reminded her of the pictures Mark Jefferson took of all the girls he kidnapped and drugged to be photographed in his 'Dark Room'. Max felt like she was going to projectile vomit onto the floor the more she looked at each and every one of the pictures, but shen she took a deep breath and just kept walking.
"None of this is real" she repeatedly said to herself while she just kept walking forward and didn't look at any more of the pictures.
"None of this is real" Max repeated as she kept looking around for a door or any form of exit to get out of this nightmarish purgatory dimension. She heard the 'Ping' noise again and she took her phone back out of her pocket to see she had a new message. The sender was someone she wasn't expecting, it was sent by Rachel Amber.
"What? Rachel?" asked Max as she opened up the message to read it.
Rachel: There's an "Employees Only" exit in the back left side of the building. Take it.
She wasn't sure what to think of this, but she knew Rachel was guiding her all this time, she had to trust her. Max then began texting back.
"On my way there right now. What happens once I walk out the door?" Max said out loud as she typed a response to Rachel's message before pressing the 'Send' button. Seconds later, she saw that Rachel answered her.
Rachel: I'll meet you on the other side. It's time I told you the truth about what's really been happening.
After reading the message, Max put her phone back into her pocket and began walking over to where Rachel told her to go. Once she finally made her way to the back left side of the gallery, Max saw a small narrow hallway and to the right was the exit that Rachel told her about in her text message. Once she saw it, she began to approach the door and reach her hand towards the doorknob but stopped just as she was about to unlock the door and push it open.
"Alright... I just need to find Rachel. Hopefully she can help me get out of this place" Max told herself before she finally placed her hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. The minute she walked through, a blinding white light caused Max to groan and cover her eyes with her arm.
"Ugh! That's way too bright!" Max exclaimed as she continued to shield her eyes from the light.
Two Whales Diner. Arcadia Bay, Oregon
When Max lowered her arm down from her eyes she saw she was back in Arcadia Bay and in front of the Two Whales diner, where Chloe's mom Joyce worked up until the storm destroying the entire town. Max was relieved but still confused. She was happy to be back in Arcadia Bay, as well as a place that brought back so many happy memories of her childhood that she spent with Chloe back when they were young, but still baffled as to why she was here or why Rachel wanted her to go through that door only to end up in front of the diner.
"I've never been so happy to see this place in my life" Max said as she stared up at the sign on the roof that dimly glowed with neon lights. After a few seconds, Max noticed that nobody else was around her. The streets and sidewalks were completely empty, just like the Zeitgeist Gallery she had just escaped from.
"Empty, again? But Rachel said she'd meet me here" said the brunette. She then felt something on her shoulder and looked to see it was a human hand. Max gasped in fright and turned around to see Rachel Amber herself. She was wearing the exact same outfit she was wearing in her last vision on the mountain while she was asleep on the train to the Dahe village.
"Hello, Max" she politely greeted.
"Rachel. I'm seriously so glad to see you right now" Max told her.
"Good to hear. Now, I think it's time you get all the answers you've been looking for" said Rachel.
"B-But I don't understand. Answers for what?" asked Max.
"Why I've been communicating to you in your dreams, what role you have to play in all of this, and most importantly... why I chose you the same way Everest did" explained Rachel.
"Chose me? But for what reason?" Max asked, still puzzled as to what she was talking about.
"Follow me into the diner. I'll take you back" said Rachel before walking up the stair and opening the door.
"Wait! Take me back where?" The brunette asked.
"Back to the beginning. Before the storm, before your powers surfaced, before your adventure began" Rachel answered as she walked into the diner. Max then ran up the stairs and walked through the door to join Rachel inside the diner. She could only hope that the things Rachel was about to tell her would help make more sense as to why she was experiencing these visions and anomalies.
A/N: Episode Five's first chapter is completed everyone! I am so sorry this took so long to upload/write. I've just barely had the motivation lately, but now I'm just starting to get my mojo back, and hopefully I'm able to create a final update to this story you'll all remember and enjoy. So now Max is back in the purgatory nightmare dimension from Episode Five: Polarized from the first game, and this time everything's completely different and Rachel is guilding her. But what are these "Answers" Rachel plans to give to Max? Find out in part 2. Please review, thanks!