TUoC: Chapter 9

Author's Note: All three scenes happen around the same time.

Ed was face to face with Matthew, who decided to target him first. Ed could see Matthew charging a small fireball in his hands before throwing it at him. He quickly got out of the way of it easily, much to his surprise that he could be that nimble.

"Matt! You gotta stop this!" Ed tried to yell at him, trying to see if he would snap out of this weird trance.

Matthew continued to stand there without saying anything to him. He started to raise his hand again towards Ed. He could feel himself starting to sweat in fright.

"Ed!" called out a voice to his right. He widened his eyes to see Serena coming down the lift next to him.

"Serena! You need to get out of here!" Ed started to say as she ran over to him, "Matt is being controlled by those scientists!"

"What?!" Serena asked in shock as she looked back to her brother, "B-But why would they…?"

The two felt another small fireball fly past them to their left, "Ah!" They both yelped, trying to cover their heads.

"W-We got to do something! I can't leave my brother like this!" Serena stated with a small bit of panic before widening her eyes, "Maybe we should both try and get closer to him and give him a good slap to the face! That could work!"

Ed arched his unibrow in confusion, "Really?"

"Yes!"

Another fireball flies past them to their right, but it goes way off target than the last one.

"A-Alright, I trust you!" Ed stated to her with a big grin, giving her a peace sign as he did, "His aim is as bad as a Storm Trooper! We won't get hit!"

Serena smiled, "Thank you."

The two teens start to run towards Matthew, dodging a lot of the fireballs he was sending out. They could then see him start to change up for a very big attack; the fireball he was making was almost bigger than himself!

Of course, the two teens were about to move out of the way of the attack… That is, until Ed tripped and fell to the ground, "Oof!"

Serena widened her eyes when she looked back; the fireball her brother had charged flew by Ed's head, almost hitting him. If he had not tripped, that would have probably killed Ed! That's when Serena narrowed her eyes in seriousness as she started running towards her brother again. As she finally got up to him, Serena slapped him very hard across the face, "Matthew! STOP THIS, RIGHT NOW!" she shouted to him in anger and desperation.

Matthew started to blink at what happened, she could see his eyes started to return to normal, "S-Serena?!" he gasped in shock.

"Oh, thank god! You're alright!" Serena cheered as she hugged her brother for a short moment before glancing back at Ed.

She could see Ed getting back up from where he fell, a small bit of his jacket was burnt around the lower back of it. Thankfully, that was the only kind of damage done to him.

"Are you alright now, Matt?" Ed asked Matthew.

"Y-Yeah…" Matthew stated with sadness, "I'm sorry about that, they…"

"L-Let's try not to think about that right now!" Serena stated to them when she noticed everything else going on behind them, "I think the others could use our help! BADLY!"

Layton was standing in front of Double D with Jennifer behind him. He could see Double D start to grab one of the short swords off the walls. Layton went to do the same, much to Jennifer's shock, "M-Mr, Layton?!"

"Don't worry, I know how to use a sword, mainly from fencing," Layton stated to her, "But I'm not going to hurt him, I promise."

He could see Double D started to hover his left hand over the sword; the blade itself started to freeze over until the outside of it was completely covered in ice, "… Well then, that seems a little unfair."

Double D started to run up to Layton with the ice sword above him to strike, but Layton blocked it easily with his sword.

'I can see that Eddward doesn't have the best stamina,' Layton thought to himself when he noticed how slow Double D's swings were to try and attack him, 'If I can just wear him down by defending against his attacks, then maybe he will come to his senses!'

Jennifer, in the meantime, looked on in horror at what was going on in front of her.

'T-There has to be something I can do to help! Something to make them stop fighting!' Jennifer thought to herself in a panic, closing her eyes with another thought, 'Why do I always have to be so useless?!'

Suddenly, she heard metal clashing to the floor. Jennifer saw that Layton's sword had broken in half! She widened her eyes at that and, before she could think about what she was doing, Jennifer ran in between Layton and Double D, holding back his ice sword by gripping onto his right wrist with both of her hands.

"E-Eddward! You need to stop! Please come to your senses!" Jennifer shouted to him.

They could both see that his right arm was growing pale white again. Layton gasped at what that meant, "Jennifer, you need to let go of him! Touching him while his arm is like that will hurt you!"

"I-I don't care!" Jennifer retorted, using all her strength to hold him back, "I… I need to save him! I don't want to lose him again!" She could feel herself fall to her knees as she felt the ice starting to rapidly form around her hands and arms from holding onto Double D's wrist for so long. Jennifer looked up at him before closing her eyes, smiling at him, "I… I f-forgive you, Double D."

That was when Double D's eyes started to blink rapidly from her words, he was coming back to his senses. He looked down to see that Jennifer was holding onto his right wrist before realizing the horrible scene that was now happening. The ice that was forming around her hands and arms where she touched him started to spread to her shoulders, going to both her face and chest.

"N-No… Oh please god, NO!" Double D screamed in a panic as he got his arm and hand away from her to stop the ice from covering her any further, dropping the sword he held to the ground as he did. But the damage was already done, the top portion of Jennifer's body was now enveloped in ice.

Tears started to fall from Double D's eyes as he breathed in and out at a rapid pace in disbelief; his worst fear had finally happened. He froze someone with his unstable ice power… And it was the person he loved the most.

Eddy was running for his life, trying to keep himself a good distance away from Zoey. He could see that there was electricity crackling all around, especially around her arms and legs.

He then felt a sudden kick to his chest from her, sending him flying back a few feet towards a wall behind him that he crashed into. Eddy started to cough in pain, trying to get back on his feet to run. Before he even had any time to react, Zoey ran up to him, pinning Eddy against the wall behind him, her right hand started to squeeze into his neck. Eddy tried to find his voice to tell her to stop, but nothing came out due to her tight grip. Zoey then slams him into the ground behind her, making a small dent in the floor where Eddy landed, which was several feet away from her.

Eddy was in a great deal of pain, coughing up blood as he tried to get his breath back, looking towards her in sadness. He could see Zoey holding out her right hand, charging up some sort of strong electrical attack to hit him with.

"I-I… I got to stop her somehow!" Eddy coughed, wiping away some of the blood from his mouth that he coughed up, as he got back up from where she threw him.

He reached into his back pocket to take out the promise ring he was going to give her later tonight. Eddy held onto the ring tightly in his hand, "Zoey, listen to me!" he started to shout to her in desperation, "I don't want you to be controlled by these freaks anymore! You gotta snap out of it!" he started to tear up to her, "You mean so much to me, Zoey! I NEVER want to lose you!" he closed his eyes for a moment before shouting at her again with all of heart, "I LOVE YOU!"

Eddy opened his eyes to see her eyes flicker slightly at him as if she was trying to regain control of herself, but she was still charging her attack. Without any more hesitation, Eddy began to run up to Zoey right as she finished charging the attack, which fired towards him at point-blank range. He stopped for a second when he was hit by the strong attack; his chest began to hurt more and more from it, but he did not get knocked down. Instead, he continued to walk up to her slowly in a very weak state, despite being in tremendous pain from the electricity that now surrounded him.

"H-Here…" Eddy stuttered to Zoey as he grabbed her left hand, putting the promise ring on her ring finger, "This is… It's f-for you, Zoey," He looked up at her with a smile before pulling her down to him. He gave her a very passionate kiss on her lips.

Eddy's body and mind finally gave in to all the pain he received.

Zoey loudly gasped in horror as she immediately came back to her senses, "Wha…" She could feel something heavy; it was Eddy, his body had collapsed in front of her and started to fall over.

"Eddy!" Zoey yelped as she caught him before his head hit the ground.

She laid Eddy on the ground in front of her, his head limped weakly to the side. He had so many cuts, bruises, and gashes all over the parts of his body that she could see. Blood was coming out of most of his injuries, including a very big gash on his chest that she could see from a rip in his shirt. It looked like his breathing was starting to become more and more shallow.

Zoey started to tear up, slowly realizing what had happened; she had attacked Eddy with those weird powers from the drug they injected her with. And now he was dying in front of her.

"E-Eddy?!" Zoey choked out in disbelief as she hugged her boyfriend, "Please…! P-Please don't die! I'm begging you!"

Eddy said nothing in response. He was no longer breathing; she could see and feel his body starting to lose its color, becoming colder.

He was successful in making her come to her senses. But it came with a price, his own life.

Zoey's whole body started to tremble in fright, feeling guilty for what happened.

"O-Oh… oh my god! EDDY!" she screamed out his name before starting to sob uncontrollably, hugging him even tighter in her embrace.

Author's Note: And now, the three scenes converge into the present.

Ed and Serena started to run over to Zoey and Eddy while Matthew made his way over to Double D, Jennifer, and Layton. Meanwhile, Vergil and Rita watched everything unfold from the viewing window on the upper floor, on the other side of the room. They both growled at the fact that the drug they made to control them wore off so quickly.

"God DAMMIT ALL!" Rita shouted as she turned to her husband, "We need to get down there and punish those failures for letting some of them live!"

"I'm on it!" Vergil nodded his head.

As he was about to push the button to make the lift go down, the two scientists both felt a light tap on their shoulders, "Hey, we have a very special delivery for you two!"

They started to turn around, only to be greeted by both a baseball bat and a metal pipe to their heads! Their heads slammed together from the impact, knocking them both out instantly.

It was Kevin and Marie that made the hits to them. Serena told them earlier there was another way into the room the scientists were in, so they took that route to get to them, knocking them out for the count.

"That's what you BOTH get for hurting my friends and everyone else, assholes!" Marie growled to them in anger.

Kevin looked out the giant window to the scene below before turning to Marie, "You should go tell them that I'm gonna get the police and ambulance for them! They could be at the entrance now!"

Marie nodded her head to him before pressing the button to go down the lift.

Author's Note: These two scenes happen around the same time. Again.

Matthew ran up to Double D and Layton, only to see what happened to Jennifer. She was currently lying on the ground, her upper body still being frozen. He could see Double D was inconsolable while Layton looked on with sadness at the two teenagers. He narrowed his eyes in determination, he had to help his older brother and the one he loved!

Matthew went up to Jennifer and placed his hands on the ice that was covering her. He used the small embers forming in his hands to melt away the ice around her face first, hoping that she was still breathing after being stuck in the ice for a few minutes. Thankfully, it looked like she was breathing, but it was very faint. Matthew quickly used more of his stronger embers to melt away the ice around her. It did not take him long to do; all the ice had melted, but now Jennifer was violently shivering, and her clothes were soaked from the ice that melted off her.

"Double D! Mr. Layton! She's alive!" Matthew called out to them both.

Double D gasped at what Matthew said, he could not believe it. Both Double D and Layton came over to Jennfier and Matthew to check on her.

"He's right, Jennifer is still alive, but it looks like she's suffering from hypothermia," Layton stated.

He took off his brown coat and placed it over her body to try and keep her warm as Matthew laid her back down on the floor; it was the most they could do right now until help arrived. Double D could only watch them with worry; he wished he could help, but he could not do so without wearing some sort of gloves. He would only make things worse.

Layton and Matthew got up from where Jennifer was, "Eddward, please look after her while we check on the others. We know she will be alright now, but still be cautious."

"Y-Yes sir," Double D muttered as he saw them run off to the others.

He sat down next to where Jennifer was lying down. He took Layton's coat sleeve to lay it over her left hand before placing his right hand over it. This was the closest thing he could do to holding her hand without hurting her again. She continued to shiver from what happened, but at least she was alive.

Double D made a heavy sigh in relief to her, "Everything will be fine now, I promise."

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him; it was Marie, much to his shock.

"Double D, Jennifer's a strong person. She'll make it through this," Marie stated with a smile as she patted his head, "So don't be sad, okay?"

"Yes… Yes, I know. Thank you."

Ed and Serena rushed over to Zoey and Eddy, only to see her crying over his body. Ed's face grew pale at the sight, "E-Eddy?" he questioned as he fell next to him, shaking Eddy on the shoulder to wake him up. He did not respond to him at all.

"S-Stop it, Ed," Zoey stuttered to him, closing her eyes in despair, "H-He… He's dead!" she choked out, more tears started to fall from her eyes, "… I-I… I killed him with my own hands, against my will! I'm a monster!" she screamed.

Serena stayed silent for a second before walking over to them, kneeling next to Ed and over Eddy's body. She could see how he died; the wound on his chest looked very severe. Serena narrowed her eyes in determination, now was the time to put all those horrible years of training to the ultimate test.

"Zoey, I need you to shock his heart."

Both Zoey and Ed widened their eyes at what Serena said, "What?! But—"

"I don't have time to explain, just do it quickly! Please!" Serena shouted.

Zoey could only nod to her; she could tell how serious Serena was. She rubbed her hands together as she placed her trembling hands over Eddy's still chest before giving him a very small shock, one powerful enough to potentially help him make his heart start again. His body jumped a little from it. They all waited for a second to see if it did anything. Nothing. Zoey tried it again, this time doing it with a stronger shock. There was still nothing, he was still not responsive.

Zoey started to tear up for him again, "Eddy, please!" She tried one more shock; the strongest one she could do without hurting him any further. His body violently jolted up from it. The three teens waited a short moment before realizing his chest was starting to move up and down. He was beginning to breathe again, his heart was beating once more!

As soon as she noticed his heart started beating again, Serena held out both her hands and placed them over Eddy's chest. She began using her powers to heal his chest wound. It took a few seconds to see the big wound start to heal, slowly closing more and more.

Suddenly, Serena started to wince in pain, making her stop healing Eddy for a moment, "Serena?!" Ed questioned her with a worried tone.

"D-Don't worry about me," she responded to him before going back to what she was doing, "I know what I'm doing, trust me."

Author's Note: And now, the two scenes converge into the present. Again.

A few more seconds passed by before Matthew and Layton came over to them, only to see how bad Eddy's condition was. They could see Serena was healing the severe wound on his chest.

It was Matthew who noticed how pale Serena's face was becoming, "Serena, you can't keep using your powers like this for very long, you'll—"

"I know Matt," Serena interjected to him, stopping him from saying anything else, "This is my choice. I don't want anyone to die, even if it…"

Serena started to wince in pain again, this time more viscerally than before, much to everyone's horror. She placed her hands back over the wound once again, continuing what she was doing.

"Serena, please stop!" Matthew yelled to her, "You damn well know you're using your own life when you heal with your powers! If you keep doing this, you'll die!"

Ed widened his eyes in horror at what Matthew said before he felt Serena start to fall to her right, next to him. He caught her before her head hit the ground. Ed then looked over to Eddy, he could see the wound in his chest was now gone; he still had other injuries to him, but they were very small by comparison.

"I-I don't believe it…!" Zoey started to stutter to herself before she started to cry in relief, "He's alive!"

Layton also sighs with relief. Everyone was still alive from all of this, with some of them in critical condition. This terrible nightmare was over.

Author's Notes (September 21st, 2023): And there you have it! The climax is done! There will also be several more chapters after this as well, so stay tuned for those!

Chapter 9's Song Title: "You're Not Alone" - Final Fantasy IX