A/N: So, we're finally here! Everything has lead to this one moment. The finale of "Life is Abominable" is finally here. This has been one of my favorite stories to write, and I'm actually so happy that many people enjoy it. As I'm sure you all remember, the last update was super intense, but now we will continue where we left off and conclude Max and Chloe's journey to return Everest home to the Himalayas once and for all. The "Final Choice" Rachel's spirit foretold about will be revealed as well. So, let's wrap this story up! Enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
After sharing the knowledge passed onto her by Rachel's spirit in the Purgatory dimension, Max, Chloe, Yi, Peng, Jin, and Everest take another path to avoid the bridge and make sure the battle from the previous timeline never occured. Yi reveals on the map the route to an abandoned village at the bottom of the mountain that was evacuated after an avalance, and everybody agreed it would make an excellent place to seek shelter and avoid Zara's convoy. Once arriving at the village, Max sees that somehow Zara saw them sneak past her trap, leading them to have the final battle take place in the ruins of the village they've traveled to. Now, Max and Zara face one another in combat once again, but not before Max destroys Zara's gun using the element of fire, the hardest element even for a Yeti like Everest to master. All eyes are on Zara and Max as the fight progresses through the ruined village...
Abandoned Village. 10:16 AM
Zara kept throwing rapid punches at Max every few seconds, only to have her fists blocked by Max's defensive moves and counter attacks. Max created a giant glowing light blue sphere of cryogenic energy from her palms and then pushed it forward to seal Zara's entire arm in ice just as she was about to send the next attack straight at the brunette's face. The weight the ice placed on her arm caused Zara's attack to fail and now she struggled to pick it up off the ground as Max stood over her.
"You just wanna cause trouble and hurt anyone everywhere you go. Wasn't killing Rachel enough for you?" Max asked as she kept her guard up, preparing for Zara to attack just in case she had a trick up her sleeve.
"It won't be enough until you and the yeti are joining her in the ground once I kill you and harness the secrets of your powers for myself!" Zara said before she swung her leg underneath Max's feet and sent her tumbling down to the stone pathway that made the village's street up. The redhead then smashed her frozen arm on the ground and freed it of it's icy prison.
"Well that's not going to happen! Because unlike you I actually have someone and something worth fighting for!" Max shouted as she got back up and tackled Zara like a football player before backing a foot away from her. The brunette's hands began to glow bright orange and scorching hot flames began surrounding them. In regular circumstances, fire would usually burn and scald a person's skin badly, but Max felt absolutely no pain from these flames, and her skin didn't burn either.
"And what might that be?" Zara asked as she stood back up.
"My girlfriend" Max began before throwing a fireball at Zara which struck her chest and left a hole in her turtleneck sweater right below where the collar would be.
"My son" she continued before launching another fireball at her enemy. This one hit her knee, and causing the leg of her pants to emit embers from where the fireball hit the knee. Zara shouted in pain as she was now down on one knee.
"And my family!" Max concluded before repeatedly hitting Zara in the face from multiple angles with fire-punches. Embers emerged from her face with each and every punch she inflicted on the redheaded woman's skin. Knucklemarks were visible on Zara's face, they were pink and fleshy due to being burnt from the fire Max's powers created.
"Your family? You're even more foolish and naive than Rachel was" said Zara with a weak chuckle while she struggled to stand back up. Max's leg began glowing bright orange as well, and she gave Zara a fiery roundhouse kick to the face, sending her flying all the way to the edge of the cliff that the abandoned village rested upon. Max's pants remained in-tact, not a single fiber of her pants was scorched from the fire, not even her converse shoes.
"Rachel was a more kind and loving person than you would ever hope of being. And Chloe and Everest are my family now, so are Yi, Peng, and Jin. Every single one of them are good natured people who know what it's like to be loved and to give it to others" Max said before her hands began to glow blue instead of bright orange, and formed a small tornado to lift Zara up to her tip-toes. Zara was now scared for her life, she was at the mercy of Max and her elemental powers.
"Please. I'm begging you! Mercy!" Zara begged.
"Oh, like how you showed Rachel mercy?" Max asked with her eyes fixed on Zara. The brunette then saw a large shard of glass lying on the stone street and then looked back at Zara.
"Please... I loved Rachel. I only wanted to be the only girl in her life" the redheaded woman whimpered.
"Well now you can see her again..." Max said before using her other hand to levitate the large glass shard with the wind and launched it into Zara's midsection. The minute the glass penetrated through her abdominal region, Zara's eyes went wide and she let out a loud gasp through her teeth.
"IN HELL!" Max concluded her sentence screaming before pushing Zara off the edge of the cliff. She screamed as she fell until a loud thud was heard when she hit the bottom. Everybody winced when they heard Zara's body hit the ground, some of them heard the sound of loud cracking and crunching noises, meaning that the impact of the fall left many of her bones broken and crushed. Max was now happy, Emily Zara was dead and Rachel Amber could now properly ascend from the In-Between into the afterlife to finally rest in peace.
"MAX!" she heard many other voices shout as they got closer. Max saw Chloe, Yi, Peng, Jin, and Everest running over towards her with smiles on their faces. Everybody formed a giant group hug around Max.
"You did it! I can't believe it! You did it!" Yi cheered as she hugged Max tightly.
"She's finally gone!" Peng exclaimed. Chloe then looked into Max's eyes and placed a hand on her cheek.
"I told you we'd finally kill her" Max whispered lovingly.
"And Rachel can finally move on now, right?" Chloe asked. Max's only reply was a chuckle and a nod before pulling the blue-haired girl into a passionate kiss. Yi and Jin smiled at the sight, as did Peng and Everest. Once the two broke their kiss apart, Max turned to Everest with a smile.
"Is she really gone?" Everest asked telepathically.
"Yes, sweetie. She's gone. I promised nothing bad was ever going to happen, didn't I?" Max replied out loud. Everest's only response was a nod. Everybody watched as Max and Everest hugged tightly, and both of them had a tear of happiness fall down their face and drip down from their jaw into the snow. Jin sniffled and sobbed at such a happy sight, and Yi's eyes glistened with tears of happiness. Chloe nodded with her arms crossed against her chest while trying her hardest not to cry at what she was seeing right now.
"I love you, mama" Everest said in his thoughts.
"I love you too, my sweet Everest" Max replied in her mind as well. The two eventually broke the hug and turned to see Mr. Burnish standing before them. After the old man cleared his throat, he looked up at the Yeti and spoke softly.
"Everest, you are by far the most extraordinary creature I've ever seen. And that is exactly why the world... must never know you exist. They would never understand, not like how Miss Caulfield and Miss Price would" Mr. Burnish said with a warm and kind smile on his face.
"Actually, we'd be alright just being called Max and Chloe. We're not all that into formalities" Max awkwardly told the elderly man.
"Oh yes, of course. My apologies, Max. Now, may I please help all of you get back to the city?" he offered.
"Thanks, but our mission's not over yet. We still have to get Everest back home to where he belongs on the mountain" Chloe politely declined before looking all the way up to Mt. Everest. Mr. Burnish now looked bewildered at what the blue-haired girl had just told.
"You're going to take Everest all the way to Everest? That's almost impossible" he asked.
"Mr. Burnish, if there's anything I've learned from all this besides that Yetis exist, and that people with powers do indeed live among us... NOTHING is impossible. Especially when Max sets her mind to something" Jin said. Max couldn't help but smile at what the young man had just told Mr. Burnish. She was happy that he was now a changed person instead of the social-media savy aspiring medical student she knew back in Shanghai when her trip with Chloe first began.
"Very well then. But is there anything I could do for you before you go? Anything at all?" Mr. Burnish asked. Everyone's eyes then looked over when they saw Peng shivering at how cold the air had just gotten, and a small windchill began forming around them.
"Actually, think you could maybe lend us some coats?" Max politely asked.
"The ones your surviving cronies are wearing over there should do the trick" Chloe piped in. Without a moment of hesitation, Burnish instructed everybody to hand their coats over to Max, Chloe, Yi, Jin, and Peng who took them without a second thought. Everybody was now feeling much warmer than they did before.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Burnish" Yi gratefully said.
"No problem. I'll be waiting right here for when you get back" said the elderly man. Peng then looked up at the mountain with concern on his face, and spoke to his friends without taking his eyes off the mountain.
"Uh, guys? It's a long way up there" the nine-year-old said. Jin then got an idea and turned to Max, who only nodded in reply with a smile on her face to let Jin know she was thinking exactly what he was thinking right now.
"Everest?" Max and Jin said in unison. Everest then began to hum and the familiar blue aura began to surround the yeti's body. From the clouds came three giant Koi Fish with bodies formed entirely of clouds.
"Okay, now that is awesome!" Chloe said in awe at what she just witnessed before her.
"Everybody hop on guys! We're about to end our little trip the minute we get to that mountain" Max said as she got onto the back of the first cloud Koi with Chloe and Everest. Yi got on top of the second, and Peng rode with Jin on top of the third fish's back. Once everybody was seated on their own separate fish's back, they began to elevate high up into the sky and make their way towards the mountain.
Mt. Everest. 10:32 AM
The cloud koi had landed safely below the top of the mountain and allowed Max, Chloe, Jin, Everest, Yi, and Peng to get off and run up towards the mountain. Four whole minutes of hiking up to the mountain's large top had passed before they stopped and looked around in confusion.
"Where are all the other yetis?" Yi asked.
"Yeah, shouldn't there be a ton of them here right now?" Chloe asked in addition to everybody else's confusion. Everest then began to hum and used his powers to lift the fog from where they stood and revealed something absolutely horrifying. Many Yetis were lying dead in the snow, not moving nor breathing. Max gasped in horror at this as did everyone else. She recognized this from her vision, it was foreshadowing the other Yetis dying on the mountain before they could even get the chance to arrive and deliver Everest back to his biological family safely.
"No! W-What happened?" Peng asked in horror as he saw all the lifeless Yeti bodies surrounding him.
"This doesn't make any sense. Why would this happen?" Jin said as he analyzed one of the corpses. Max began to cry when she realized what caused all the Yetis to die.
"This is my fault! My tampering with time caused this!" Max exclaimed as the tears began falling down her face. Everyone gathered around her to reassure her, but could only watch as the brunette girl continued to blame herself for the horrors they were witnessing.
"When I brought Everest back, I ended up changing the course of everything. My interfering with how the timeline was meant to play out just created nothing but horror and death!" Max said as she looked over to Everest sadly who was now looking over the corpses of his parents sadly, crying into their fur and begging for them to come back even though there was no hope for them to do so. Chloe shook her head and walked up to Max before placing a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Eff all of that, okay? You were chosen by Everest and Rachel to help him get home! I know things didn't work out well because of Everest dying in another timeline but... look at what's happened! Zara's finally dead, Jin has become a changed person, and so has Burnish. Yi has finally started letting people in, and you... you got to experience what it's like to be somebody's mother! Everest loves you, and he'd still love you regardless of what happens" Chloe told her. The distraught brunette then reached into her camera bag and took out the Polaroid she had taken of Mt. Everest when they reached the bridge. When Chloe saw it in her hands, she looked up to Max and shook her head.
"Max, no!" said the blue-haired girl.
"What if it's the only way to bring back the other Yetis?" asked Max. She then began to realize this was the "Final Choice" Rachel was telling her about in the In-Between. Travel back in time and allow Everest to die to save the other Yetis? Or allow Everest to live and become the last remaining member of his own species. Yi then placed her hand on Max's and spoke.
"Max, listen to me. I know you feel guilty but this... this isn't the right way to go. If you allowed the events of that timeline to happen, Everest would still be dead. You'd be allowing Zara to win" Yi told her.
"What about Rachel? She'd be stuck in the In-Between forever" Peng piped in. Max had to admit, all these points were very good ones, but she still wanted to find a way to make up for the loss of Everest's birth family.
"But what about Everest? He'll be an orphan and die without someone to take care of him if we don't do something" Max said. Chloe shook her head before speaking to her girlfriend once more.
"He won't... because he does have someone to take care of him. You" she said.
"What? Chloe..." Max was about to continue but the blue-haired girl interrupted her and spoke.
"He already sees you like a real mother. He loves and trusts you unconditionally, and he'll be so happy he's with you and not in a cage living the rest of his life like some zoo animal for people to poke fun of" Chloe told her. Max looked down at the photo and then back at Everest who still wept over the loss of his family before looking back at the picture and tearing it in half before tossing it up into the wind. The two halves flew throughout the sky until they disappeared from their views.
"You're right, Chloe. I am Everest's mother, and I'm gonna let him know he has a home with us" Max said before she walked over to the mourning Everest. Chloe followed closely behind her as they approached their crying fuzzy friend. Once Everest saw Max and Chloe standing in front next to him, he looked into their eyes with tears freely falling down his face.
"My family's all gone, mama" Everest said using his thoughts to communicate with both his semi-adopted aunt and mother.
"I know, and I'm so sorry about your family. But you don't have to live the rest of your life alone like this. Come back to California with us, we'll take good care of you, we promise" Max said in her mind. Everest was surprised to hear this, she was actually wanting him to come back home with them to the country they lived in.
"Y-You mean it?" Everest asked telepathically.
"We may not be Yetis, but we promise we'll be good moms to you. We both love you with all our hearts, Everest" Chloe said using her own mind to telepathically communicate with her nephew. Everest sat in silent for a moment but after he finally finished thinking, he looked to Max and Chloe and nodded with a smile on his face, his eyes still glistening with sorrow-filled tears. The two girls smiled knowing that Everest accepted their offer and got closer towards him, both giving him a loving and comforting hug. The Yeti then wrapped his two large arms around the both of them, returning their hug to show how much he appreciated them taking him in.
"Everything's gonna be fine, I promise" Max said in her mind.
"We'll keep you safe and love you to the end of time" Chloe said using her own thoughts. Everest's heart felt warm hearing his new mother and aunt's words. The hug eventually broke apart, and the three looked over to see Jin, Yi, and Peng staring in worry.
"So... now what?" Yi asked. Max and Chloe then looked over to one another and turned back to face their friends with reassuring smiles on their faces.
"Chloe and I have decided to take Everest back to California with us. We're going to be his new parents from now on" Max told them. The three friends were in shock at first, taking up the seemingly impossible task of parenting an unknown species with the capability of telepathy and controlling the elements, but their looks softened up seconds after Max had made the announcement.
"Good idea. I couldn't think of anybody better suited to taking care of Everest than you two" Yi replied.
"Absolutely. Big guy's definitely safer with you two than anybody else on this planet" Jin piped in. Peng then looked a little sad, but Max walked up to him and got down on one knee before placing her left hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Peng. This doesn't mean you have to say 'Goodbye' to Everest forever. You guys can hopefully visit during the next Summer break and you'll have all the time in the world to play with him" Max reasurred.
"You really mean it?" Peng asked excitedly, his sorrow replaced with excitement and enthusiasm within seconds.
"Absolutely, in fact... I PINKY SWEAR" Max said holding up her right hand and extending her pinkie finger up to the nine-year-old. Peng then locked his pinkie with Max's and the promise was made. After they broke their pinkies apart, Max looked to the others with a small smile forming on her face.
"Come on guys... let's go home" she said happily. The others nodded and began following her down the mountain to break the news to Mr. Burnish. Even though their journey had ended in such a heartbreaking and sorrowful discovery, they couldn't have been more happier that they had taken such a breathtaking and exhilerating trek all across Asia together.
One Year Later
Santa Monica, California. June 15th, 9:00 AM
(Start playing 'Halcyon On and On' by Orbital as you read this next part of the story)
Max and Chloe were sound asleep in the bed they shared in the large house Mr. Burnish was kind enough to help purchase for them upon returning to the United States. It took a while to find the right house to accomidate a being of Everest's large size, but they had finally found the perfect place. The house was two stories tall, and the backyard lead down to a private beach. The garage was remodeled and restored to become Everest's new bedroom, they had to make the door slightly wider and bigger to help the Yeti get in and out but seeing the look on Everest's face when he finally saw his finished room was worth it. The two had also changed their looked as well, similar to how Max saw their future-selves in the In-Between with Rachel.
"Mmmmnngh" Max grunted as she sat up in bed and looked over to her wife. Yes, Max and Chloe had indeed married months after moving into their new house, and Everest served as the ring bearer at the ceremony while Yi served as Chloe's maid of honor and Kate was Max's. Everyone who survived the storm had attended the wedding, including Warren, Victoria, Daniel, Alyssa, Stella, Evan, Dana. David and Joyce attended as well, as did Max's parents.
"Wake up, Chloe. C'mon, today's the big day" said Max. Chloe then rose up out of bed revealing her long green hair and Illuminati pyramid tank-top.
"Huh? Oh yeah! Yi, Jin, and Peng are moving in today!" said Chloe before springing out of bed to take a shower, making Max shake her head and chuckle at the green-haired girl's reaction.
"I better go wake up Everest" said the brunette before getting out of bed and walking over to the garage. Upon entering, she saw Everest sleeping soundly on his bed made up of four King-sized mattresses covered in the same blue colored bed-sheets and gigantic pillows Max and Chloe had to get one of their neighbors to help them sew and stuff.
"Wakey Wakey, sweetheart" Max whispered into Everest's ear while gently nudging his shoulder. Everest's eyes fluttered open and the two's matching ocean blue-eyes locked with one another.
"Good morning, mama" Everest said in his thoughts.
"Good morning, Everest. Today's the day you're gonna see Yi, Jin, and Peng again, remember?" Max reminded him out loud. Since the end of their journey, Jin and Yi signed up for foreign exchange student programs at their own schools. Peng was egar to do the same as well, and did it shortly after Yi and Jin had told him about what they were planning to do. Once Max and Chloe found out, they were more than happy to help provide a place to live until they graduated and found jobs. A loud rumbling caught both the human and Yeti's attentions and they looked down to reveal it was coming from Everest's stomach.
"Hungry buddy?" Max asked using telepathy. Everest only nodded before getting up out of bed and kicking the large blanket off and began following Max into the kitchen.
"What do you want for breakfast, honey?" asked Max in her mind.
"Pop Tarts! Blueberry!" Everest happily cheered his answer using his thoughts.
"Alright buddy" she replied out loud before taking two pop-tart packs out of the pantry. One was cherry, the other was blueberry. After they finished their breakfast, Max took a shower after Chloe was finished with hers and then put on a black tee-shirt with a picture of a full moon on it and some brown skinny jeans. Chloe had put on a hot-pink tank-top as well as black shorts. Once the two were all dressed and ready to greet their friends when they arrived at the door, they sat down on the couch and watched some cartoons while they waited. After an hour and a half had passed, they heard the doorbell ring.
"Oh! That's them!" Chloe exclaimed before turning the TV off and placed the remote back down on the coffee table.
"I got it" Max said as she walked over towards the front door. Before she reached for the knob, she took in a deep breath and exhaled before turning it and opening the door to reveal Yi, Jin, and Peng happyily waiting.
"Max!" the three of them happily exclaimed before wrapping their arms around her in a big group hug.
"Hehehehehey guys! I'm so glad you're finally here" Max said before inviting the trio inside.
"Peng wouldn't stop going on and on about how exicted he was to finally be living with Everest" said Yi.
"Hey! I was not!" Peng retorted.
"Yeah you were. You rambled the entire plane ride to LAX" said Jin in response to Peng's denial.
"Good to see you all again" Chloe piped in.
"Chloe! Love the new hair color!" Yi complimented.
"Thanks. Everest helped pick it out" replied Chloe as she twirled a strand of her bright green hair with her index finger. The minute they saw Everest, everyone ran over and began hugging their big fluffy white friend whom they haven't seen in so long since last summer. After a short while of watching Everest happily hug Yi, Jin, and Peng, she spoke up.
"Hey guys. I figure since you're already here why don't we go down to the beach?" said Max.
"Are you sure?" Yi asked.
"Yeah, we can save the packing for later. Besides, how often do you get to play with a Yeti on a private beach in our backyard?" Max replied.
"That's an awesome idea!" Jin said in agreement with Max's idea.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Peng excitedly said while jumping up and down where he stood.
"Guess it's settled. Let's go" Yi replied.
"Oh wait! We need drinks!" Chloe said before running into the kitchen and took six bottles of Dr. Pepper out of the fridge.
"Hey Max. These drinks still feel a little warm. Mind giving me a hand?" asked the green-gaired girl.
"Not a problem" Max replied before holding her left hand up. The blue aura began to surround her hand and she emitted a small cloud of frost from her palm, dropping the temperature of the drinks down to the perfect temperature.
"Thanks" Chloe said before handing the bottles to Yi, Peng, and Jin. Max then walked over to the back door and held it open to reveal the white wooden stairway that lead down to their backyard private beach.
"Last one to the beach is a rotten egg!" said Peng before running ahead of everybody else. The others followed and chased after him except for Max who calmly walked behind them and stopped at the foot of the stairs to look out to the beautiful blue sky and then down to see her wife, son, and friends happily playing together in the sand. Max thought to herself how blessed she was to be where she was right now, with a nice house, a loving wife, and that her son was happy living the life he was right now.
"Hey Max! You coming down or what?" called out Chloe.
"Yeah, I'm coming! Don't start playing without me!" Max called out before walking fastly down the stairs and began chasing after Everest and the others. The seven of them happily played tag in the sand and even splashed one another with ocean water everytime they passed by the water. As they played, Max knew she made the right choice adopting Everest, and it was her choice that lead to the life she was living right now.
(You can stop playing the song now)
~The End~