A/N Here it is as promised! Next chapter should be up tomorrow, but I do want to make sure it is as good as can be because, as far as I can see right now, it will be the end of this story :(. Thank you to all who have read and especially those who reviewed the last chapter: Guest and chinaluv (Thank you so much for being with me on this story since way back when haha :))

WARNING: I upped the rating because of this chapter to K+ because there is some violence, a lot of action, and I'd say minor coarse language. There are no major injuries to main characters but there is a gun involved if this would be a problem for any of you guys when reading.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 14: The Final Showdown

Rikki's P.O.V.

"Rikki! Rikki!" When I woke up to the sound of my name being incessantly called it was already considerably dark outside. Ash was the one who had been shaking me.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked once he noticed I was coming to.

"Yes, I think, what time is it, and why … Oh," I was slowly coming into consciousness. Nothing hurt, but I couldn't move my legs, which made sense when I realized I was in mermaid form. The tide must have come in. I immediately set to drying myself off with my powers. It only took a few seconds, then Ash helped me up and away from the water, back into the Juicenet that was already closed.

"What happened?" Ash asked, concern written all over his face.

"I'm not sure …" I asked, trying remember, "I was with Cleo, we were looking for Emma then … someone knocked me out! Where's Cleo, did you see her?"

"No, I only found you," Ash asked, I was starting to panic and I could tell he was too, but he covered it up better, "Did you see anyone?"

"No, the beach was empty," I searched my memory for something, anything, we needed a clue as to what happened.

"Okay, you were looking for Emma, why?" Ash asked.

"Cleo got a text saying to meet out here, but she was nowhere in sight," I recalled.

He looked as stumped as I felt. We, or at least Cleo, were led into a trap, but by Emma? That made no sense.

"What is that? Sticking out of your pocket?" Ash asked.

I pulled out the small piece of paper that was sticking out of my front pocket.

"It's a note," I stated, I read it then handed it over to Ash.

One more chance, or things will get messy.

Send me Lydia and no one gets hurt.

I will send Lewis the details. – G.H.

"G.H., it must be that Garry Hennings guy who was after Emma," I stated, Emma had told her about her birth name.

"Wait, what? How did you get that?" Ash asked confused, rereading the note.

"Look I don't know what Emma told you so far so I'm just going to fill you in on what I know, which I recently discovered isn't all," I told him, there wasn't time to take it slow or consider what Emma hadn't told him or why, the situation is too dire, "This guy, Garry, told Emma she was the princess of some island called Sirenthia, her name was Lydia, said he recognized her because of this mark of a crown that she says appeared overnight, and he wanted her to sign over the place to him. After some time and exploring that ufo thing you told her about she decided she couldn't trust him and told him no and he was pretty angry but she got away from him. And … Well I'm worried about Emma, neither Cleo or I have heard from her or seen her besides that text, and now this."

I gave Ash some time to take it all in. He paced a bit in deep thought, but eventually he sighed and once again looked over the note.

"Good thing I called Lewis," Ash mentioned, "He should be here any moment."

"Wait, you called him? When?" I asked.

"When I found you. I tried Emma and Cleo, cell and home phone first, but neither answered, so I called Lewis. Why, was that something I wasn't supposed to do?" Ash asked confused, "It looks like we're going to need him."

"No, it's fine. You're right, we need him," I conceded, "He's just been really weird lately, and I wonder why this guy singled him out."

Suddenly the beads covering the entrance jingled alarmingly fast hard as a figure rushed through the entrance, setting both Ash and I on edge. Of course it was Lewis.

"Rikki, are you okay? Where's Cleo?" He asked immediately.

"I don't know," I replied, responding to both questions, I relayed the story of what had happened to Lewis same as I did to Ash, "And he left a note."

I handed him the note, he read it very closely.

"I don't understand, I haven't gotten any –" Lewis started, but he was cut off by the beeping of his phone, "Never mind."

"What is it?" I asked, approaching him to get a better look at the message.

"Look, I don't think you guys should get any more involved than you already are," Lewis said, addressing Ash and I, "It's way too dangerous."

He began searching his pockets for something, but he turned up empty. I took the opportunity presented by his evident confusion to grab his phone.

"You're one to talk, you can't handle this alone," I stated, reading the message. It was from Emma, or at least her phone: This time you come to me Lewis, that is if you wish to see your girlfriend alive again. Bring your sister, you only have until tomorrow's sunset. Below was the name of a pier and a picture of a boat and signed G.H.. What does Lewis have to do with Garry Hennings? Since when did Lewis have a sister? And what does SHE have to do with Garry Hennings? He has a lot to answer for. I handed the phone to Ash.

"Lewis, explain yourself," I stated giving him a pointed look. He wasn't looking at me, instead at a wall, seemingly deep in thought. What could he be hiding? I thought I knew him pretty well before recently, but now I'm starting to think I never knew him at all.

"You have no idea the forces you're dealing with," He stated.

"Then maybe you should explain it to us," Ash countered.

"Forget about it, go home, I can deal with this and it is just safer for everyone if less people are involved," He took his phone from Ash and was about to leave.

"It's too late Lewis. We're already involved. Cleo's and probably Emma's lives are at stake here, there is no way I can stay out of it," I stated firmly.

"Emma's fine," he replied, "I need to go."

"How do you know that?" Ash asked angrily, I could tell he was catching onto Lewis' secrets as well, "He's sending messages from her phone. He even used it to lure out Cleo and Rikki. How do you know that he didn't capture her after or during the full moon last night? The only person who seems to have talked to her since is you, not even her family, I called them. Isn't that strange? And why is this guy trying to get to you? You've run into him before, when? How do we know you aren't working for him? How do we know we can trust you?"

With each question he moved closer to Lewis, backing him against a wall. But this Lewis wasn't the same guy as when I first met him, he was not backing down or cowering. Even with his back to the wall he matched Ash's gaze with an even stare. There was a moment of silence, I could tell he was coming up with another lie or excuse, and frankly I was getting sick of it.

"Lewis, you know what I can do," I stated threateningly, "I want to trust you, I want to believe you're on our side, but my friends are on the line. You keep saying it's too dangerous, how can you think that doesn't make it all the harder to just walk away? We, Cleo and I, figured you were hiding something with Emma, and that note and text are proof. Just tell us everything we need to know and we can help, you know this. And if you need any more persuasion to tell us the truth, I have just the thing." I curled and uncurled my fist to emphasize my point.

He rubbed his head, looking incredibly frustrated. Then he sidestepped slowly around Ash and took a seat at a table, "You're right. It's pointless to argue any further … I'll tell you everything but you should both probably sit down," He finally surrendered. Ash and I pulled up two other seats.

"Well first off, I'm not completely sure what Emma had told you all before I got here, so I'm just going to go over all the pertinent information," Lewis began hesitantly, "Also, please try to understand I told Emma we needed to keep this all secret for your safety. It is incredibly dangerous and I had hoped unawareness would keep you all from being targeted, though of course that isn't the case currently.

"I do know for sure Emma is safe though. Well, you can tell this from the note, he doesn't have her, he wants us to go to him. He must've stolen her phone from her during one of their other encounters. Now I know what you're thinking, how did I contact her earlier then? Well, to explain that I'm going to have to reveal something you probably won't believe at first. Emma and I … we're related. Twins actually." He paused, knowing this new information would take a bit to sink in.

"You're her brother?" Ash stated, incredulous. Lewis nodded.

"She's your sister?" I asked, he confirmed, "And you didn't think we should know this?"

"My identity has been kept secret since I came to Australia when I was three. For my protection, and for the protection of those around me," He stated, showing just a hint of regret, "I didn't know who I was myself until I was thirteen. I then helped look for my sister, but I didn't know it was Emma, I didn't recognize her. She recognized me when we met in the Juicenet, and I told her all she needed to know and convinced her it needed to be kept secret.

"I believe she showed you the birthmark? It appears 17 years after a member of the royal family is initiated in Sirenthia. I have it too. It marks the time when one's powers would begin to show themselves. One of these powers we found was a psychic link between us. Last night, moonstruck, she found her way to Sirenthia and is there now. I know because she told me, telepathically."

So that's what she was doing when she said she was 'meditating'.

"So you're saying that you Lewis, the man of science, now have magical powers?" I asked, "Isn't there a bit of a conflict of interest there? I thought you believed there was a scientific answer for everything."

"Well yeah, I've always loved science, it's amazing what it can tell us about the world around us. I wasn't really exposed to magic until you guys became mermaids, besides when I was a tot and I don't remember that so well. In fact, someday I want to bring some of the scientific advances back to my home country, magic is great but even it is not a fix all," Lewis explained.

"So what kind of powers do you have?" Ash asked curiously.

"I'm still figuring it out, but mostly object manipulation, similar to my father's. I haven't got control over it yet, a few times I've slipped up, mostly when my emotions are running high. Outside of training in isolation, I've never intentionally used my powers. Too new, I'm afraid something will go wrong, people could get hurt," Lewis stated, in some sense hoping his word would be enough proof to his claim, but at the same time knowing they deserved more since his word has been iffy lately, "But maybe I can try something small. Give me something inanimate and I can make it appear from nothing, well not nothing, I think it's more converting energy to matter but you get the idea."

"How about a rose?" Ash suggested. Lewis closed his eyes in concentration, but it was probably less than 10 seconds before a beautiful red rose appeared on the table before them.

"I can also move objects with my mind, but that's more difficult to control, I wouldn't want to destroy the place," Lewis sighed.

"What about Emma," I wondered, "If you have all these new powers you can't control and you're siblings, why didn't she have any new powers?"

"Well she did," Lewis replied simply, "She just didn't know it. For one, her mermaid powers have increased tremendously as you witnessed during last night's full moon. But also those memories she was getting back weren't just natural reactions to familiar triggers. She's gaining the power of a seer, a person able to see both the future and past … which now that I think about it we will probably be seeing her soon. I doubt this confrontation to come would get past her. Dammit, I was hoping to get this done without getting her involved …" He put his hand to his head in frustration once more.

"I don't understand, what happened on the full moon?" Ash asked.

"Emma turned the bathroom into a winter wonderland," I explained.

"Can't we just put that on the list of full moons we never talk about again?" A new voice came from the door.

Emma's P.O.V.

The swim was terribly long and tiring, as I had feared but expected, but at least I didn't get lost. I first checked the moon pool but found it empty. Then I went up to the beach by the Juicenet. It was very dark, I could tell it was late, but there was still a light on in the Juicenet. I figured Ash was there, and when I saw Felix at the door I knew Lewis was in there too. I knew something bad had happened already.

"Emma! I'm so glad you're alright," Ash exclaimed meeting me at the door. I guess I looked as fatigued as I felt, my legs were as sore, if not more, than they had been when I arrived on Sirenthia just this morning. He helped me to the table where Lewis and Rikki already sat, Cleo's absence was evident.

"You were supposed to stay in Sirenthia, I told you I could handle this," Lewis reprimanded. I was surprised by his directness.

"You were supposed to keep me in the loop," I returned, "I know something bad has happened."

"Here you are in more danger than before," Lewis complained, "We're only closer to giving him what he wants."

"And that's my fault?" I countered, "You know you need me, now I'm not arguing with you anymore. I'm here, I'm helping and that's that. Now give me the details."

Finally, Lewis let it go and told me everything. He showed me a note and a text, from my phone. That asshole must have taken it the first day I met him! How could I have missed that? Granted I had a lot on my mind, but still, I should've told them when I thought I had simply lost it. Oh well, the past can't be changed, it's time to deal with the situation at hand.

"So Emma, what exactly did you see in your vision?" Lewis asked.

"I was in some room sitting across from Hennings, about to sign the papers to hand over Sirenthia because in the corner Cleo was bound and gagged," I relayed, "Is there any way we can avoid that from happening?"

"I am not positive, but I think the scene itself is inevitable, but what happens after isn't set in stone, so we just have to work around it," Lewis stated, "We need a plan."

"We have some time, we can stay here as late as we need," Ash affirmed.

"I don't think that any of us will be able to sleep anyway," I conceded, "He's giving us until sundown tomorrow, but we can't leave Cleo there that long. We need a plan by morning."

Everyone agreed and so we all called our parents, and I called Cleo's, to excuse us for whatever reason for the night. Then we got to work. Coming up with plans, shooting them down with 'What ifs', and coming up with new plans around the problem was a long and tedious process, but the gang was determined to get this down perfectly.

Third Person Perspective

By dawn they had come up with a plan they could all agree with. They knew it wasn't foolproof, but with the limitless power he got from the Stone of Magic, no plan would be. So Lewis filled in his guardians and they began to put their plan into motion. They arrived at Hennings boat before 8 AM. Emma and Lewis lead, flanked by Felix and Ash dressed up in traditional guardian uniform, like those Emma saw at the palace. Including helmets, as a precaution in case Hennings would recognize Ash from the Juicenet. Luckily there were few people out this early so they didn't catch too much attention. Rikki followed them from the water.

It appeared Hennings was waiting for them, or somehow knew when they would come. He met them on the docks before the ship without them having to make a sound.

"Glad to see you guys made it here so soon," Hennings greeted, "I trust you are as impatient as I am to get down to business? Follow me to the cabin where we can sort this all out."

We followed him onto the boat, startled but not surprised when we saw someone else on the ship as well. When we passed Hennings whispered something to him, the man nodded and untied the boat from the dock. He then went to the helm and steered the boat into the sea, away from land.

"Just a precautionary measure," Hennings stated by way of explanation. The group was very okay with this, it worked with their plan and meant it was even less likely they'd be seen by any innocent bystanders. In fact, if Hennings himself hadn't ordered it, Rikki was set to burn the rope and let the boat drift off.

He lead the way into the cabin, which was a decent size, but mostly empty. Emma recognized it, it was the room from her vision. There was a table, one chair on either side, the special paper and pen from Sirenthia lying on top. Also on top of the table, but unrelated to the writing utensils, was her phone. Hennings gave it back to her with a snarky "Thanks for letting me borrow it." Against the wall on the far side of the table was a briefcase, Emma recognized it from her first meeting with Hennings. And in the back corner, Emma was almost too afraid to look, too afraid to confirm her fears, was a bound, gagged, and conscious Cleo. Her eyes were red, it looked like she had been crying. From her location Emma could see bruises forming on Cleo's neck she couldn't even imagine what her friend had been through. Hennings took a seat on the far side. His moves were confident, he felt he had already won. He took the stone out of his pocket and held it firmly, and visibly, in his left hand.

"It's simple. You give me what I want, I give you what you want," He stated, gesturing between the paper and Cleo, "Of course you can try to resist, but I must warn you, to keep us on even playing fields, there is now a barrier around this ship, your magic is useless in here. And if things get out of hand? I cannot guarantee your friend's safety."

So far everything was going as expected. The barrier was a bit of a throw but didn't discourage Emma or Lewis, they would only have to get him to use the magic of the stone on something else and the barrier would be down.

"Are you certain we are safe on this boat?" Lewis asked, looking around, aiming for a nervous expression, "I heard there was a storm rolling in."

As if reading his mind, though really it was just impeccable timing, Rikki began to put the plan in motion. Her role? Mainly distraction. Through the window they could see a flash of lightning, then they could smell burning. They knew it was controlled of course, but they tried to put on a show of alarm.

"Is this ship on fire?!" Lewis exclaimed.

"I suppose so, hm," Hennings replied, getting up he went back to the door of the cabin, he shouted some orders, so he must have a crew. Possibly more people than they had thought. He didn't leave the cabin, trusting his men to handle the situation. Water was not in short supply, they doused the fire rather quickly. But it wasn't long before Rikki started up another one, at least she was keeping the crew busy. The crew was smarter and more numerous than they thought though. Hennings had five allies on his ship, and while a few scrambled to keep the fires from getting out of hand, the other couple were growing suspicious. The sky was not dark, no sign of a storm, before long he suspected magical foul play, and he began to search the ocean around the ship itself for the source.

Rikki was careful, or as much as she could be. She couldn't exactly use her power underwater, and she didn't expect anyone to be looking for her. Her attacks happened all over the ship, she kept on the move, not staying at the surface too long, but eventually she was seen.

Unfortunately, she hadn't known she had been seen until five harpoons charged down into the ocean. Most missed, but one snagged her tail, leaving a nasty gash. She cringed in pain, retreated under the boat, safe as the harpoons were pulled in, and four shot into the water once more. The leader had left to report to Hennings.

"A mermaid was the cause, but the threat had been neutralized," He stated.

"Thank you, Herald," Hennings replied, glaring at the group, he saw the concern they tried to hide and knew they were behind this attack, "And could you please lead Lewis and his guest out of the cabin, guard them on deck so I can get this business done without further distraction."

This twist of events threw them for a loop, they hadn't exactly planned for this though they knew there was a chance it could happen. Emma hoped Rikki was alright and did her best to keep a straight face, nodding to Lewis before he followed Herald out of the shed. 'Just tell me when,' He thought to her. At least this ability seemed unaffected by whatever magic Hennings had used to prevent them from using magical attacks against him.

"Sit," Hennings ordered, and Emma complied, he had an anger in his eyes that made her awfully nervous about his next move. She recognized the scene before her, it was one she had hoped to avoid, it was the one from her vision. Sitting across from Hennings, Cleo bound and gagged in the corner, she could feel herself on the brink of tears though she managed to keep herself together, because now she also felt Ash's presence just behind her, ready for anything. She watched as he set down the glowing stone onto the table.

"It didn't have to come this far, I offered you the easy way out" He stated, "Now you must make a choice. Your throne or your friend."

She picked up the pen, unsure of her next move. She needed him to use his powers for something else, but that means putting their lives in serious danger, there was no telling what he would do. However, it was the only way they could ultimately leave him powerless.

On deck Lewis found himself feeling pretty good. Despite Herman's statement, Rikki continued, despite her injury, to keep the crew busy. The fires and lightning strikes were fewer than initially, but aggravated the men enough that she took the focus off of Lewis. 'Ready when you are,' He thought to Emma. With that, Emma made her decision. She had to act quickly, she lunged for the stone where it rested, but she wasn't quick enough. He swiped it up and stood, his fury written all over his features.

"You insolent little girl" He shouted.

Initially he attacked Emma, an invisible hand wrapped around her neck, but, like the first time he tried to grab her, it was shocked away by her mark. She hadn't been expecting the blow, but before she knew it, his attention turned to Cleo. The invisible hand grabbed her around the neck and lifted her up, quickly to the point she was floating above the ground and gasping for air. 'Now Lewis! Now!' Just as Emma sent this message, Ash dove at the man, knocking him, and consequently Cleo, to the ground. The stone tumbled out of his hand but not far. When Lewis received Emma's message, he focused in on his power, and he was able to teleport the stone to him. Emma let out a triumphant laugh when it disappeared.

Ash got off of Hennings and went off to Cleo, knowing the threat was over he began to untie her.

On deck Lewis had the stone, but his newly gained weapon did not go unnoticed, and soon the attention of most of Henning's henchmen turned back to him. They were sharper than he had originally gave them credit for, and it was harder than he liked to admit to keep them from getting the stone back. He hardly had time to use it when he had it firmly in his grasp, but he focused on making sure they didn't either when it was out of his possession. He only hoped that without the stone Emma could deal with Hennings in the cabin without him.

"It's officially over, you have nothing left to stand on," Emma stated, "You are surrounded and powerless. Give in now and we might just let you and your men live."

"If I go down I'm taking you with me," He groaned, almost too quietly for Emma to hear, followed by the sound of a gun cocking. Emma felt like everything began going in slow motion. Hennings pulled a gun and aimed it at her, firing with no hesitation. The sound was deafening, and was followed by silence. She couldn't even hear the gentle sounds of the ocean anymore. She couldn't think quick enough, she didn't move. The sound of her name just barely pierced the silence and suddenly she was being pushed to the ground. She watched as the bullet grazed Ash's shoulder, tearing the armor, before piercing into the wood of the ship. It was impossible to tell if this injury pained him in the least, because all his attention was focused on Emma.

"Are you okay?" He asked, very concerned. She could feel the tears streaming down her face now and she couldn't bring herself to speak, so she nodded.

She gasped as she saw Hennings come up behind Ash. He pointed the gun at Ash's back. Ash knew he was there, he held his ground, he didn't care if he got hurt as long as he kept Emma safe.

"Touching," Hennings smirked, fingers on the trigger starting to squeeze. Emma couldn't take it anymore, she screamed. As loud and as long as she could, eyes closed, with some far-fetched hope that when she opened them she would find that she had just been stuck in a horrible nightmare.

When she opened her eyes, Hennings still had his finger on the trigger, it was squeezed and a bullet had been fired. But this bullet hung in midair between the gun and Ash's back. It was frozen. Emma forced herself to exhale the breath she had just realized she was holding and took in her surroundings. Everything, everyone was frozen. Perhaps this was another advantage of her recent power boost.

She didn't have time to waste, she didn't know how long it would be until this wore off.

She squeezed herself out from under Ash, moving as quick as she could she took the gun from Hennings and moved the bullet so that its path would have no chance of hitting anyone. She then went to Cleo, finished untying her. She used the rope to tie up Hennings, his hands were easy, since they were both on the gun she tied them real tight. His legs were a bit harder, but she did her best to tie them together and it should at least slow him down. What had been a gag she turned into a blindfold to cover Hennings eyes.

Then she went out on deck, happy to find everyone there frozen in time as well. She winced when she saw their weapons, and quickly disarmed them. She found the stone in the air, and safely tucked it into Lewis' pocket.

That done she returned to the cabin, ready for time to pick up where it left off, and it did. Amidst Hennings initial confusion and struggle Emma pulled Ash and Cleo to their feet with little explanation. When they made it on deck, Lewis had the stone in hand and all the henchmen were unconscious. They had what they needed, and without words they defaulted to the original plan, having gotten what they needed, together they set off. They jumped into the ocean, heading for safety. When Rikki saw them she began to follow but took time to look back at the ship, finding Hennings, his face an expression of pure rage, aiming the harpoon at her friends (still visible above the surface because of Lewis and Ash's inability to hold their breath for too long). So instead of running and letting the guardians arrest this guy she took matters into her own hands and, from a safe distance, used her power to explode their fuel tank. She didn't wait to see the damage but she was sure this guy wouldn't be causing any more trouble. Then she caught up with her friends.

The danger was over, they were all overcome with happiness and gratuity. Most were injured, but all were alive. The future was looking very hopeful. And to make matters all the better, a new, huge, beautiful ship came into view, bearing the Sirenthian crest.

A/N Please let me know what you think in reviews! Again Chapter 15 should be up by tomorrow BUT I will say by Wednesday at the latest.

If you have any questions regarding any parts of this story, please review now! If you don't have an account this is a way for me to address your question in the next chapter, and if you do have an account you can review whenever you read and I can PM you the answer :)