A/N: I hope everybody's excited! Because after this update will be the final entry of Episode Five, and the finaly of this story that has come so far and has developed many loyal fans and readers! Thank you all so much for taking this journey with me, making my first video game crossover with one of my favorite animated movies has been one of my greatest challenges since writing "Sherman of the Apes" and I'm looking forward to making stories similar to them. So now, let's continue the story we've got going on right now, shall we? Enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
After showing Max how Zara negotiated and bribed Jefferson into assisting in her kidnapping and murder, Rachel reveals that she has been guiding Max from an extradimensional plain of existance between life and death known as the In-Between. Max has also learned that Rachel is responsible in Everest's choosing of her to help take him back to his home in the Himayalas, and that she cannot properly ascend to the afterlife until Zara has been killed and Everest makes it back to the mountain alive and breathing. But before sending Max back to before the battle on the bridge which cost Everest his life, she warns her of one last choice she will have to make before they finally reach the mountain, but refuses to tell her what that "final choice" actually is. Rachel also gives Max a vision of Max and Chloe playing with Everest on a beach years later. Now, Max has finally returned to the past with the knowledge Rachel's spirit had bestowed upon her and proceeds to tell Chloe, Everest, Yi, Peng, and Jin everything she had just learned as well as what is to happen if they do not take action to change the future...
Outside the Himalayas. 9:19 AM
"Well... I-I mean... damn" Yi said. Everyone was in shock at everything Max had told them, how the battle cost Everest his life, how Rachel had been guiding them this whole time. Chloe was quick to believe every last bit of what Max said right on the spot since she knew traveling back in time using a Polaroid and changing the outcome of the future was possible since it happened before back in Arcadia Bay, while the others were still processing everything that had just been told.
"So, Zara was really behind all of it? Bribing Jefferson with the Prescott's money to help kill Rachel" asked Chloe.
"Yeah, I know it's a lot to take it in right now but I know Rachel wouldn't have told me all this back in Purgatory if it wasn't important that I knew everything" Max replied.
"And that she's the reason Everest chose you? Communicating to both you and him from the afterlife?" Jin piped in.
"Not the afterlife, the In-Between. Souls with unfinished business are stuck there until their business is done" Max corrected him.
"Auntie Chloe? Who's Rachel?" asked Everest telepathically.
"Rachel was someone very special to Auntie Chloe. One day she went missing, and I would end up spending six whole months trying to find her. After Max came back we discovered she was kidnapped, murdered, and buried in the junkyard we used to hang around at" Chloe explained to her nephew out loud instead of using her thoughts.
"I thought time rewinding powers, yetis, and manipulating nature was bizarre but ghosts sending messages from the afterlife in order to bring the one who killed them to justice? This is some "Lovely Bones" type stuff" Yi said.
"Not gonna lie, Yi, I was thinking the same thing" Max replied with a chuckle at the end.
"So what are we gonna do? We can't just go onto that bridge and let Everest get shot" Peng said with a worried tone.
"We're not. We're going to take another route and sneak past Zara's trap underneath her nose" Max explained.
"But what about Mr. Burnish? You said he takes our side and joins us, right?" asked Chloe.
"We'll figure that out later, all that matters right now is making sure the battle deosn't happen and that Zara doesn't kill Everest while it happens" Yi said.
"She's right. Making sure Everest gets back to the mountain alive and breathing is our number one priority right now. If it means we have to fight and kill Zara afterwards, then so be it" Max agreed.
"Okay, so if the bridge is down on the right... does that mean we should be going left instead?" Jin asked. Yi then walked over to Max's camera bag and pulled out the map before she set it down on the ground by their feet. Everybody gathered around and looked down as Yi pointed where they were.
"Alright, this is is where we are, and the bridge is right over there. So if we were to go the other direction, we would be walking into this village right here" Yi told them.
"I think I remember this. It was evacuated and abandoned after an avalanche nearly wiped out half the village" said Jin.
"It's perfect. That means there won't be anybody around to see Everest and if Zara and her cronies show up, there won't be any casualties should another battle take place" Chloe said. Once Max tucked the map back into her camera bag, she turned to the others and spoke.
"Guys listen. There's still one more thing I have to tell you. In a few minutes, I won't know any of this happened. Everything between now and when we reach the village will be a complete and total blur from my brain. You'll have to tell me exactly what I did and said just now. Just explained that I traveled back to the past using the Polaroid I took of the mountain, got it?" Max instructed.
"Absolutely" Chloe said with a nod.
"I understand" Yi piped in.
"No problem. We're in this together, aren't we?" asked Jin.
"Right" Peng said. Max then looked over to Everest and held her hand out to him.
"Don't worry, sweetie. I promised I'd keep you safe and wouldn't let anything happen to you. This is me keeping that promise" Max said to Everest in her thoughts. The young yeti then took her small hand into his larger one and was guided alongside her while everyone else walked ahead. And in a big bright flash of yellow-orange light, Max could feel herself being transported forward in time, to another timeline.
Abandoned Village. 10:02 AM
After the giant flash of light, Max gasped loudly and looked all around to see she was standing in a desolate town in complete ruins. Tiny little snow flurries fell down from the sky slowly, and the sky was partly cloudy with small rays of sun shining down on where she stood every few seconds. The buildings that surrounded the village were partially or fully destroyed, some debris even littered the dark gray stone streets the young brunette girl stood upon. She looked right behind her and saw Chloe, Everest, Jin, Yi, and Peng staring off towards somewhere in the distance. Max was now smiling happily, she had successfuly changed the future and Everest was still alive.
"Everest!" Max shouted as she ran over and gave the Yeti a loving and relief-filled hug.
"Looks like Super-Max is back from her little time trip. You doing okay?" Chloe asked.
"Never better, Chloe. It's never felt so good to hug my son again" Max said with a great wave of relief filling her voice.
"I'm okay, mama. I didn't get shot like you said I would" Everest said using telepathy.
"And you have no idea how glad I am that you're still alive" Max replied in her thoughts. She had never wanted to stop hugging someone so much before, she felt like she wanted to hold onto Everest and never let go because of how happy and relieved at the same time she was that her semi-adopted child was no longer dead. Chloe then looked up into the distance again and she had a worried look on her face.
"They're getting closer guys. And I don't think they're to happy that we figured them out" the blue-haired girl told the others.
"This is so not good. This is not good at all" Peng nervously said. Max then looked up to where Chloe was looking and saw a line of bright lines that went on for at least a whole mile. It was Burnish and Zara's convoy, which made Max's heart drop down to her stomach in fear, this was what she was hoping to prevent. Max then turned to the others and worriedly spoke to them.
"Guys, I need you to explain to me what happened in between now and when we left" asked Max with distress in her voice.
"After you told us everything, we started walking towards this place. It took us a while seeing as how a ton of Burnish's troops were on the ground below the bridge area, and we also had to climb the mountain wall downwards to get here" Jin began.
"We thought we got here without being spotted by the ground troops, or at the very least the occassional helicopter flying around. We thought we were in the clear until a few seconds ago" Yi continued for her friend.
"Somebody must have spotted us and told Zara where we were hiding. Now the convoy's getting closer and closer by the second" Peng concluded. Max then clenched her fists tightly and turned to the others with a firm look on her face.
"I hoped we wouldn't have to deal with this until we finally got Everest back to the mountain but... it looks to me like we're going to have to fight another battle" said Max. Everyone gasped at what she had just said, they were hoping they wouldn't have to fight another battle after the one that took place in the previous timeline which resulted in everyone having to bury their big white fluffy friend, but now they had no choice.
"Are you sure, Max?" asked Chloe.
"I'm sure. Nobody's going to be able to reach the mountain until we kill Zara and every last one of her troops" Max said with a nod to reasure her girlfriend that she was positive about fighting once more.
"What's the battle plan this time?" Jin asked.
"Everybody pick an abandoned building and hide there. Once the fighting starts, you start firing at Zara's cronies. The less we have to deal with them the better" Max said before turning over to Everest.
"Everest and I will stay out here. It's me and him Zara wants for both our powers, so we'll serve as the bait until we're ready to start fighting" continued Max.
"I'm scared, mama. What if I die again?" Everest said using his thoughts. His big blue eyes looked like they were about to unleash a waterfall of tears down his eyes.
"You won't. Because this time, we'll be using our powers to their fullest extent to take out whoever tries attacking us" said Max out loud so everyone would be able to hear.
"You think it'll be enough to work?" asked Yi.
"If we're both using our abilities, nature and time fighting alongside one another, it should be more than enough to overpower them completely" Max told her friend.
"Okay, if you say this'll work, I believe you. And I hope this is the last battle we have to fight on our journey... for all out sakes" Yi said before taking out her pistol. Chloe and Jin followed suite and loaded a clip of ammunition into the weapon before splitting up and choosing a place to hide for the surprise attack. Max and Everest then nodded at one another as they stood their ground and faced the entrance of the village. Now, all they had to do was wait until they finally arrived.
Six Minutes Later
After a brief waiting period, black trucks and SUVs began entering and surrounding the village. One of them carried a giant metal cage on wheels, which Max could only suspect was for Everest, which made her blood boil at the thought of Everest being dragged out of the village in that cruel and cold metal contraption. Everest was scared, but Max telepathically reassured him and told him to be brave, and that was all it took for Everest to be ready to fight.
"Maxine Caulfield is it?" Zara said, continuing to speak with her obviously fake British accent as she approached the brunette and stopped once she was four feet away from her. Seven armed men carrying stun-batons surrounded them as well and prepared to attack if either the human or Yeti tried attacking.
"MAX. Nobody calls me Maxine. And I know who you are... Emily Zara" said Max.
"Really now? What else do you know?" Zara asked.
"That you bribed Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott into helping you kidnap, torture, and murder Rachel Amber... a girl who loved somebody else and you just couldn't accept that. So you allowed envy to take over and you resorted to hiring someone to commit the most heinous crime a human being can commit" said Max, her hands clenched tighter. Zara was in awe at how she knew all this.
"How do you know all that?" Zara demanded to know. Max ignored the question and kept on talking.
"I know you want to weaponize my powers too. Well, I hate to burst your bubble Emily, but you're not getting them. And you're not getting my son either!" Max said while she now began speaking through her clenched teeth in rage.
"Your... son? You really think that beast is your son? He's not even human!" said Zara.
"Everest is more human than you will ever hope to be. And just stop with the BS accent, you're not fooling me" Max said while not taking her eyes off the redheaded woman.
"That thing belongs to me, as will you once I subdue you both" Zara said with her regular American voice. The sound of a loading gun was heard from behind her and everyone looked in shock to see Mr. Burnish holding a gun up to her. Burnish spoke to Zara as he slowly walked backwards over to where Max and Everest were surrounded.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Ms. Zara. The Yeti needs to go home to where it belongs... I was wrong for wanting to prove their existence to the rest of the world. And you... you're... YOU'RE A BARKING MAD SADIST PRICK!" Burnish shouted just as he was finally standing by Max's side. She smiled at Burnish's betrayal and looked at him before letting four words escape her lips.
"Welcome to the team" Max said before extending her arms out and having her glowing blue hands open up to have powerful gusts of wind knock the armed goons to the ground. Completely enraged, Zara pointed at Max, Everest, and Mr. Burnish before screaming the word "ATTACK!" at them.
"This is where the fun begins" Max said out loud before using her pause ability to protect herself and the others from the rapidly oncoming bullets, pausing them in mid-air and sending them flying back at where they came from, killing the troopers holding the guns that had originally fired the bullets.
"No! No! No! This can't be happening!" Zara screamed in disbelief and rage. Everest then let out a loud roar and slammed his fists down on the ground, causing giant glowing green crystals to emerge from the surface to destroy multiple vehicles and killing more armed goons by impaling them through their chests.
"Eat lead, you traitorous slimeballs!" Mr. Burnish shouted as he began firing at his own hired goons. He fired above the chest area where their bulletproof vests wouldn't be protecting them and each bullets killed the soldiers on impact.
"FOR RACHEL!" Max heard Chloe scream. She knew now that she, as well as Jin and Yi would be firing at the other goons they wouldn't be able to take out without abandoning their positions.
"Dr. Zara! Follow me!" the head goon said before taking the redhead by her arm and taking her to the heavily armored truck that served as their leading vehicle and locked themselves inside the front. Seeing how many have already been killed, Zara got an idea which caused an evil wicked grin to form on her face. She turned the keys that were still inserted into the ignition and floored it towards Max, Mr. Burnish, and Yeti.
"I thought we had to keep Caulfield and the Yeti alive!" The head goon pointed out.
"Dead with have to do!" Zara furiously said as she began picking up the speed to turn the three into roadkill. However, Max noticed and raised her glowing blue left hand in the air and slammed it down on the ground to have a gigantic vat of crystals appear in front of the truck. Since this took Zara by surprise and gave her very little time to react to that she just saw, she crashed the truck into the giant crystal formation. The impact of the crash was so great, it launched the head goon out of his seat and through the windshield, causing him to the on impact when his body in the ground.
"Good riddance, never really liked him anyways" Mr. Burnish said. Zara was still in the driver's seat, but her head hit the steering wheel, causing blood to emerge from the top left side of her forehead and it trickled down her face as well as over her left eye.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Zara screamed while pounding her fists on the horn like a five year old who was just put in time out for not playing nice with the other kids would do. She took her gun out from her coat and undid her seatbelt before getting out of the car.
"How is this even happening!?" Zara asked as she marched over towards Max.
"Because I fought you before..." said Max before holding her hand which was surrounded with Everest's signature glowing blue aura and sent a powerful gust of wind her way to knock her down. Zara was pushed back two feet away and knocked down to the ground while Max continued to speak and walk even closer towards her.
"...In an alternate timeline. You lost, but before you did you killed Everest..." Max continued before she stopped walking and saw more of Zara's cronies aiming their guns at her. Using her pause ability, she froze them in time before using her nature abilities to have tiny little windchill tornadoes surround them and encase their bodies in ice. Once the gunmen were completely frozen, she continued what she was saying to Zara."
"...I reset the timeline to redo everything over. But this time, to do it right" she concluded.
"So in the previous timeline I actually killed the yeti?" Zara asked to make sure she heard Max right.
"You won't get the chance to do it again" the brunette said as she got closer. Zara then held her gun out at Max and tried to fire a shot, but it was too late. Max had grabbed the barrel of the gun, and her hand was now glowing orange instead of blue, and it wasn't just her palm, her entire hand was glowing orange. Zara then watched in awe as extreme heat emitted from Max's glowing hand and completely melted her gun's barrel, even the trigger was jammed due to the heat fusing it to the metal.
"Don't think you're going to take me on so easily just because the stupid animal infused you with it's power!" snarled Zara before attempting to throw a punch at the brunette. Max hated when Zara said the words "Beast" or "Animal", anything that was meant to make Everest sound like an object instead of what he really was.
"His name..." Max began before grabbing the redhead's fist with her other hand.
"...Is Everest!" she shouted before slamming her orange glowing palm on Zara's chest and emitting a powerful blazing stream of fire from the center of her hand. Chloe, Everest, Burnish, Peng, Jin, and Yi were in awe to see that their friend now had mastery over the element of fire. Everest was more surprised because fire was the hardest element for a yeti to master, and to know his temporary mama could harness the power of fire blew him away.
"Ahh! I'm on fire! Fire!" Zara screamed as she unzipped her coat which was being chewed away by Max's flames.
"And he's not an animal... he's my son!" Max shouted before using her nature abilities to create several sharp tipped icicles in the air and send them flying towards the redheaded woman. After successfully getting her burning coat off, she ducked and dodged every icicle Max sent flying her way.
"You couldn't have Rachel, and you sure as Hell can't have either me, nor my son!" said Max as she kept her eyes fixed on Zara.
"Stop denying reality, Caulfield. That Yeti is going to make me the richest woman in the entire world! And so will your powers! You are not standing in my way of becoming more rich than even Bill Gates would ever hope to be all because of your stupid motherly affections towards a dumb animal!" Zara ranted at the brunette before she found herself getting kneed in the stomach and an elbow to her jaw.
"I told you NOT to talk about my son like that!" Max shouted before headbutting Zara so hard her nose began to bleed. Zara didn't even flinch, she just wiped the blood away with the sleeve of her turtleneck sweater and took out a pocket knife.
"You know Max, I bet you were expecting a fair fight. But I figure I should just tell you that..." Zara was about to continue but Max interrupted her and finished the sentence for her.
"That you cheat? Heard it before, you said that before you tried shooting me. And you wanna know what I said after that?" Max asked. Zara then ran towards the brunette shouted and attempted to stab her, but she felt her arm which held the knife being weighed down. She saw Max had completely sealed her arm in ice.
"Sometimes I do too" Max finished before punching Zara right in the face, causing some bruises to form underneath her eye. Zara slammed her frozen arm on the ground and the ice was completely shattered, but the knife she was holding before was too.
"This time... we fight my way. No powers, knives, or guns. Just our minds... and our fists" said Max. Zara gave a sadistic chuckle and stood back up on her feet.
"That's fine by me, hippie trash" the redhead replied before holding up a boxer's fighting position.
"And the most important rule... no cheating" Max hissed through her teeth.
"Fine! I'm going to enjoy killing both you and the Yeti! Nobody ever said getting rich came easy" said Zara as she cracked her knuckles.
"I promised Rachel Amber I would kill you so she could escape the In-Between and move on to the afterlife, so she wouldn't have to worry about you hurting anyone else ever again. I'm not someone who makes false promises, Zara, I'm going to kill you, and Rachel will finally get the justice she deserves" Max vowed. Zara was shocked, her look softened at what she just said.
"You... you actually SPOKE to Rachel? How?" she asked.
"I'm guessing you never watched a single episode of Ghost Hunters in your life huh? Ghosts always have unfinished business, and Rachel Amber's... is making sure you die" Max answered.
"You really think you're going to be the one who walks away from this fight alive?" Zara asked, her evil and sadistic grin returning to her face.
"Watch me" Max snarled as she took her jacket off and set her camera bag gently on the ground. The two girls engaged in hand to hand combat, and the fight was on. Everest, Chloe, Yi, Peng, Jin, Mr. Burnish, and the surviving goons kept their eyes fixed on the fight, awaiting which one would emerge the victor and walk away with their lives.
A/N: And there is part one of the final battle before the final update is posted! And I hope you're all excited because the epic conclusion and the final choice that Rachel had mentioned back when Max was still in the purgatory dimension will be revealed. Please review, thanks!