Alright, so this is kinda the penultimate chapter, and as you can see some events are not chronologically related, but you will get a bigger and clearer picture in the next chapter which might also be a little longer than this one. Furthermore, the next chapter might be followed by an epilogue which will introduce you to the possibly upcoming sequel, which's probable future existence depends on you! So don't hesitate to let me know about this future project by reviewing or private messaging me!
Also thanks for reading my story and for reviewing, it means alot to me to see that you enjoy reading this story despite some boring parts that constitute it!
Also, sorry for any mistake that passed my thorough inspection so please notify me about any error that might affect your red asking experience, so that I can remove it.
JC Rebel
Chapter 12- Battle of Fates
Part 1-Death
"Hi guys!" Max said, doing his best to make the situation less awkward.
"Stay back!" Hank said, quickly pulling a small gun towards Max.
"Wow! You know, Dad, this is the third time today when I am threatened with a gun-"
"What do you want?" Hank said harshly; he was able to forgive Max for turning his back on his own family, but his eldest son joining the superheroes' arch enemy in the world was, however, unforgivable.
"Well, I think its obvious!" Max exclaimed while barely cracking a smile. "I want to help!"
Hank pointed the gun and put his finger on trigger; one, two, three-
"Wait!" Phoebe commanded, gently placing her hand over her father's arm, convincing him in the same delicate manner to put the gun aside.
Max said nothing, he just stood there, contemplating his dad and twin sister with glowing eyes. Even Billy could have told that the atmosphere was overly stiffened.
"Max!" Phoebe cried out, rushing toward her twin brother, only to hug him tightly. "I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry! I-I didn't mean anything like this to happen!"
Max, against his better judgement, hugged back, a huge smile taking over his face, making the possibility of war slightly fade away.
"First off , I'll still need my ribs; this battle might not be so doomed, after all. And secondly," Max said, gently pulling Phoebe away from himself, so that he could see her better, "I'm glad to see you too! Thanks!"
"Now what?" Hank muttered, and all the three Thundermans, although they weren't necessary in the disposition to accept it, knew that Hank was tired of fighting- crime. Pitifully, he wasn't the only one.
"I think that the answer is self-evident-", Phoebe said.
"Now's the fighting part!" Max finished his sister's thought.
They appeared from nowhere and some decays later it was said that they used futuristic teleportation devices, made on other planets, although Max has never officially admitted the hypothesis. However, no one was able to determine the exact spot from where Dark Mayhem and his troops camps from. Dark uniforms and silver masks that successfully resembled a human skull-the Dark Army was somewhere between awfully frightening and awfully creepy.
Barb and Hank tried their best to avoid fighting as much as possible; not that they were afraid-they weren't - but their entire equipment, except from what they were wearing-the Thundersuits- was on the other side of the superheroes' camp... And Max couldn't help them with his superspeed as he and Phoebe have already got engaged in the fighting, quickly getting caught in the sea of people fighting each other.
Max supersped throughout the people engaged in the life-or-death combay, his main goal being to permanently defeat Dark Mayhem and put and end to this battle as soon as possible.
"Looking for someone?" the ever-menacing voice of Dark Mayhem's boomed from somewhere behind the Chosen One. Max turned on his heels, gritting his teeth-oh and how he hated that voice...!
Max did not reply, keeping his guard up and doing what he knew to do best: kick butt. He tried to attack Dark Mayhem with his globes of Light, but his enemy deflected the shiny blue spheres effortlessly. Still, Max did not give up and proceeded to fight the masked villain in single combat. Then Dark Mayhem grabbed the Chosen One by his favorite leather jacket and, with extraordinary strength, threw him up into the air; and again Max had to think quickly: he remained suspended into the air, but was soon joined by Dark Mayhem, charging at him with mighty moves, swopping daringly at Max's pressure points. Luckily, the 15 year old boy managed to dodge the attacks successfully.
And then, in less than a second, Dark Mayhem got out of sight, leaving a puzzled Max floating in the air.
"Where did he go?!" Max exclaimed internally, doing his best to keep calm.
The Chosen One scrutinized the hundreds of superhumans dueling with power blasts and breathtaking moves, only to see the masked Dark Lord again-with Phoebe.
"Leave her alone!" Max screamed, causing some windows to crack into the distance. "This fight is between you and me!"
Dark Mayhem said nothing, probably to busy with tightly grabbing Phoebe by the neck while concentrating a greenish light in the palm of his gloved hand.
Max attempted to land right behind his arch-rival but as Dark Mayhem's hand started to come dangerously nearer his sister's neck, the young Chosen One realized that such gesture would have been a death sentence for her.
"What do you want from me?"
"Give up," Dark Mayhem replied, without the slightest hue of hesitation.
"And if I do-"
"Yes, yes I will leave your dumb sister alone..."
"I don't know if I can trust you!" Max said, but all he'd earned from the Dark Lord was a loud burst of laugh, and a very frightening one too.
"I don't think you have any other choice, Maxi!"
Max gritted his teeth for the hundredth time that day- he definitely hated it when people called him Maxi!
Max looked at his sister mouthing a sorry before turning to see Dark Mayhem's sinister mask.
"I give up."
"Took. You a while, you know!" Dark Mayhem said and if it weren't for the mask, Max could have sworn that his arch-rival was smiling. "Stretch out your right hand!" Dark Mayhem ordered and Max had no choice but to comply reluctantly. The Chosen One stretched his hand and couldn't help but close his eyes in anticipation.
"Ahhh!" Max screamed opening his eyes, clearly in pain, his entire arm being engulfed in green flames that were slowly starting to envelop his body; millions of pictures, of his life and family started to pass one after another in a crazy sequence. And then the soothing touch of darkness took over, accompanied by the destructive green glows.
"Noooooo!" Phoebe's voice echoed through the spreading darkness, being the last thing Max has heard for a long, long while...
And then, upon seeing what happened to Max, the Last Chosen One, all the superheroes trembled:
"The Chosen One is dead."
Part 2- Hope
The large golden cloud was impossible not to be spotted-it was too majestic to be ignored, its presence on the grey, laden with threatening black clouds and stricken by lightning, sky was far too magnificent to be overlooked-it was the perfect touch of an exquisite Impressionist oil-painting. And despite Dark Mayhem's icy gaze or her low chances of survival, Phoebe was the only one brave enough to remark the unusual color of the soaring formation of vaporized water out loud. She raised her chained hand slowly, doing her best to ignore the sinister sound provoked by her courageous movement.
"What's that?" Phoebe said, panting loudly but nobody answered, as everyone, both superheroes and supervillains were looking, some of them in an enquiringly or just puzzled manner at the golden cloud. Even the ever-menacing Dark Mayhem was starring at the skies. Soon, it became obvious for all the spectators, regardless of who they were, that the cloud was approaching the earth at a fast pace. And as it continued to do so, all the combatants realized that the oddly colored cloud was not a cloud at all, but a blinding light descending from the world's highest elevations to the earth's surface at an alarming speed. Phoebe gasped and so did everyone else for the matter. And how could they not? The approaching light was bright and clear, while if you looked closer, it was not golden, but stricken with hundreds of different colors, all amazing together in a perfect soothing harmony. Phoebe's eyes mostly welcomed the peaceful beams, tired of seeing the death and sufferance around their young possessor.
Then, with a deafening boom that almost shook the earth, the bright multicolored light struck, carving an enormous pit in the red Californian soil, only a couple feet away from Phoebe and her chained parents.
The earth shook again and Phoebe wondered if Dark Mayhem's Seed of Darkness has already started to do its job-destroying the world... And then she saw something rather unusual:light, the same beautiful light that struck moments ago, springing out of the deep red hole. The light took the shape of half a sphere and inside, rising slowly but definitely in a gracious manner on its feet was a dark silhouette. By the look, the dark shape belonged to a man and immediately as she realized this, Phoebe's heart has started to take a faster pace. The brunette girl took a deep breath urging herself to calm down; the shape couldn't have been Max, right? After all, once dead, something was gone forever, Chosen One or not. And still she couldn't help but hope...
"It's impossible!" Dark Mayhem exclaimed, slightly staggering on his feet. "I-I've defeated you, Chosen One! I have destroyed you!"
The dark figure did not reply, nor did it make any attempt to react in any way. The apparent lack of concern provided by the unknown person seemed to enjoy Dark Mayhem even more: the masked supervillain launched a ball of Green Fire towards the surrounded by light unknown entity and soon after, other deadly spheres followed. The person hadn't even raised a finger and still, all the greenish balls of fire faded as soon as they started approaching the unknown figure, finally merging with the surrounding shell of light.
"Alright, if that's how you wanna play!" Dark Mayhem said, stepping firmly towards Phoebe.
For one short moment their eyes locked -Phoebe's bright chocolate eyes and Dark Mayhem's hollow eyes, filled with a devilish spark, that could not be contained by his silver mask. Just for a second, Phoebe had the sensation that those barbarous eyes will engulf her. Dark Mayhem's gloved hand seized her throat, giving her less and less air to breath. Then she saw his other hand springing up holding the coiling fire, the death-bringing green flames. The teenage girl looked at her executioner's hand, the hand of a monster and a killer, awaiting her death.
With eyes closed shut, Phoebe waited and waited and waited... Was Dark Mayhem playing her? The 15 year-old girl opened her eyes reluctantly-did Dark Mayhem want her see her killer?-expecting the worst. The scene going on before her eyes was however shocking: the dark silhouette was still there, still not moving; on the other hand, neither was Dark Mayhem as his arm, still holding the deadly flames was suspended into the air. And by the looks of it, Phoebe guessed that Dark Mayhem's hand was pulled away from her own body by an invisible hand, belonging to an unseen entity. Or maybe not so unseen as she had previously thought...
Slowly, the masked Lord of the Dark side dropped his hold of Phoebe's neck; up to this moment, she has survived, but she was wise enough to refrain herself from celebrating too soon-the war was not over yet!
In a matter of seconds, immediately after Dark Mayhem had dropped his seizure of Phoebe, the masked Lord was thrown by an unseen force on the ground, feet away from Phoebe. The move was as surprising for Phoebe as much as it was for Dark Mayhem himself. The girl looked at the dark figure, still surrounded by the unusual light and then something struck her: two new points of the same light appeared on the entity's body-Phoebe directly presumed that those were his eyes. "Now he looks even more query than before!", the the dark/haired teenager thought. She again had the feeling that her savior, the dark silhouette surrounded by light, was her twin brother Max, but she dismissed the idea quickly, before it could have taken over her mind and she would've lost her focus-the situation was still shifty!
"What are you?" Dark Mayhem said, having difficulties standing up; apparently the throw he had suffered was pretty rough.
"I am Justice," the voice replied in a deep female voice. "I am Peace. I am Balance. I am Hope. I am Happiness. I am Freedom. I am Light."
"Avirra!" Dark Mayhem half whispered through gritted teeth, not even bothering to hide his hatred. "But no, this is not possible! I've just killed you!"
"You did not kill me, but Max Thunderman, a Chosen One as you used to be," Avirra said, and Phoebe had the impression that the entire world was trembling at the sound of her deep calm voice. "You and your Master cannot destroy Light, any more than I can destroy Darkness; you cannot live without me and I cannot exist without the Dark Side. This is the Eternal Law, Klaus.
"That name means nothing to me, not anymore," Dark Mayhem said.
"Than you are lost," Avirra said, sadness obvious in her voice.
Part 3-Victory
Dark Mayhem arched his arms graciously towards the ground before quickly pointing them at what Phoebe presumed was Avirra body.
The earth started to shake violently and much to Phoebe's and everybody's amazement, gigantic rocks raised from the ground, leaving crimson scares in the dusty soil.
"Watch out!" Phoebe screamed at Avirra, but then she realized that there was no need to warn the Spirit of Light about anything- before the huge rocks could have even approached the unusual light surrounding Avirra's body, they were transformed into ounces of brown powder.
Phoebe was deeply impressed: the dark silhouette hadn't even moved and yet she was able to turn blocks of rocks, and of impressive dimensions too, into tiny piles of dust.
Completely opposed to Phoebe's feelings were Dark Mayhem's, who hasn't given up yet; now he was using all the resources he had, like fire, water, earth, air, and even the Green Fire-against Avirra it was all pointless.
"Ughh!" the masked man grunted while he was charging with frozen water... in Phoebe's direction this time. The better girl closed her eyes in fear, going that everything will be over soon. And then she heard a crack, and then another and another one, as when she had opened her eyes the young girl saw herself surrounded by large fragments of ice, scattered throughout the blades of grass- Avirra must have protected her again.
"Enough, Dark Mayhem!" Avirra ordered, causing the earth to tremble again at the sound of her deep authoritative voice. "Please, before we proceed, show them how you really look like. You have done enough harm already."
For the first time Phoebe saw him, Dark Mayhem complied; the man raised his gloved hands and slowly, almost teasingly, took off the sinister silver mask. Phoebe gasped-although she was not directly facing Dark Mayhem, and therefore was not able to see his face, the girl recognized the brown hair, usually laden with hair gel, but now stuck to the steamy handsome, familiar face. She was looking at her own twin brother's face!
Avirra's body came closer and closer to Dark Mayhem's, still surrounded by the wonderful light.
"I think you have something of mine, Mayhem!" Max's voice made heard and Phoebe threw Dark Mayhem a puzzled look. But it wasn't him the one who spoke.
Rays of light derived from Avirra's protective shell, surrounding the Dark Lord in a colorful dance that contrasted violently with Dark Mayhem's black-themed clothes. One of the rays struck the Dark Lord in the head, while simultaneously another one bumped his chest. Dark Mayhem collapsed on his knees. Phoebe was expecting the final blow but it has never occurred, at least not then. Dark Mayhem's mouth opened involuntarily wide and throughout it pulled out a blue gracious form, resembling a fog. However, this fog was literally floating. As the foggy object parted, Dark Mayhem's face started to lose its youth and slowly ceasing to resemble Max's. Soon it was stricken by wrinkles, his nose started to loose substance, while creases spread throughout his face, deepening and surrounding his dark deep eyes. What was once Max's face, full of youth and vigor was now disfigured, almost nonexistent, the skin spread to thin over the large skull. Dark Mayhem's face slightly turned towards Phoebe, earning a squeaky scream from the young girl-she was half scared and half disgusted.
The blue fog came nearer Avirra, mixing with her protective shell of light. And right then the light surrounding the Spirit of Light's body faded , leaving an unusual glimpse to Phoebe's over exhausted eyes. Max was standing right in front of her, in his favorite jacket, the black leather one that actually she has bought for him some time ago, and with his hair, arranged as usual and slightly shining due to the large amounts of hair gel that covered it. Phoebe was confused: were there two Maxes and she didn't know?
But she hadn't time to think about all these as Dark Mayhem hit the ground with his right foot. Everyone was expecting another rock attack from the Dark Lord but nothing happened. Dark Mayhem repeated the gesture but again, nothing. But the man did not give up and soon he was able to launch flames of Green Fire towards Avir-Max. But Phoebe's brother seemed to handle the situation very well, dodging and occasionally attacking his opponent with fire or water. Using his telekinesis Max threw Dark Mayhem nearer the gaping hole, expanding at a fast pace and engulfing everything that was in its way. As Max repeated his attack Phoebe and Dark Mayhem both figured out Max's tactic- he wanted to throw the latter into the emerging Seed of Darkness!
"Oh no, you won't!", Dark Mayhem exclaimed, barely blocking Max's eye-laser attack.
The 15 year old boy did not reply; he just continued fighting: he made the piece of earth Dark Mayhem was standing on, float into the air, blocking his way to escape by surrounding its edges with fences of fire and ice. Then a massive blow of wind engulfed the flying rock... A blue light started to emerge, taking the shape of a sphere.
Phoebe's mouth popped open as she couldn't believe her eyes- she was seeing pure light!
"For your crimes against the human kind, for your treason to the Light side, to balance, peace and justice, you will pay the ultimate price!", Max said but instead of hearing his voice, Phoebe heard Avirra's.
"You can't kill a ghost, idiot!" Dark Mayhem cited out, but his menacing voice was gone-his fright was obvious.
Avirra-Max did not respond, maybe too caught up with making the blue sphere both fly and move towards the target. The sphere moved slowly towards the Seed of Darkness, a thick dark fog starting to surround the floating light ball.
"It is your Darkness that will end you, remember?" Avirra said calmly still maneuvering the large sphere. "I warned you, Klaus. And I told you that once surrounded by Darkness you must not give up, but find the Light in the Dark, make everything easier by keeping your soul light... I told you, but you haven't listened."
Dark Mayhem jumped at the blue light surrounding him and hit it with his foot-it was solid.
"You will pay for this! My master will revenge meeee!", the Dark lord cried out before Avirra dropped her telekinetic hold of him and the sphere, both of them falling in the spreading abyss. And Phoebe couldn't believe it-right in front her eyes the one who tormented her and her family for so long was dying, his body hit with purple jets of lightning that he himself has cast, in order to take over the world.
"Max?" Barb panted, raising her head off the wet grass she laid it on. "Hank is that Max?!"
Her husband raised his head too and looked at the silver mask lying on the ground, only some feet away, the spreading Seed of Darkness and the only person standing up and the victor: Max Thunderman.
"Yes, it's Max," Phoebe said patting her mother's chained hand, gesture kind but bringer of the sinister sound made by her own chains.
"Max, is that you?", Hank said slowly and off tone.
"There's no time for this, we have more importance things that require assistance," Max said with Avirra's deep voice, pointing at the Dark Seed in the same time.
Barb and Hank did not reply but starred at their eldest son in pure bewilderment.