Chapter 19 - The Final Showdown

Vic

The sound of gravel beneath my shoes echoed throughout the seemingly empty clearing in the abandoned quarry. It used to be owned by the Tobias family before they moved on to greener pastures. It was actually scheduled for demolition in a few weeks but I wasn't worrying about that right now. All that was on my mind was finding Jarek and Kobra. They would not stop until either they found Onaga or I was dead. I wasn't about to let that happen. I had risked my life to protect the citizens of this city for the past ten years. Recently, they had welcomed me back when I revealed who I really was on the news. I've read headlines like "Son of Local Actor Revealed to be ALIVE" and "Famous Stuntwoman, Racer and Daughter of Johnny Cage Confirmed to be Dating City's Hero. The Hero is Also her Former Boyfriend and They Have Rekindled the Relationship!" I never envisioned that my life would end up coming to an event like this. When I started out on this path over ten years ago, I simply wanted to save others from suffering as I had. Jarek and Kobra intended to kill everyone in this city if I didn't comply with their demands which I deemed as suffering. Now I know what you might be thinking, did I always plan to confront them alone? No. But I didn't expect to recruit so many allies to my cause over the past few months. I honestly believed it would just be Uncle Fujin and I who would take down Jarek and the cult and avenge my parents. That much has changed. As soon as that asshole threatened me and everyone I cared about, I knew the time to strike was now. I knew he was going to be lying about it just being him and Kobra so I in turn decided to play his game along with him. For all he knows, I will be showing up alone with no back up, intending to die for the city I protected.

As I expected, I came upon a small army of undead cultists with Jarek and Kobra standing in front of them with their backs to me. Before deciding to announce I was there, I instructed the winds to seek out the spiritual presence of my mom…but this time, there was no response. I felt everyone else getting into their respective positions but no radiant energy of Lauren and Dante Harris. That caused me to hesitate a little. I don't know if I could do this anymore…but then I felt Cassie's spirit. There was no trace of hate there, only insurmountable love and affection towards me. Before coming here, we had shared a deep passionate kiss that I hoped wasn't going to be my last one with her. Just recently, I had finally managed to secure a ring for her and it was being held for me at a local jewelry store. The husband and wife owners had tried to give it to me for free but I managed to talk them down to just half price. I guess I had saved their daughter multiple years ago and they wanted to thank me. Whatever, now was not the time to be thinking about that Vic. It was now or never. Jarek and his cult were going to pay for all of the suffering they caused me. I reached down and picked up a small rock. I tossed it in my hand a few times before I chucked it right at one of the undead cultists. The guy's head exploded in chunks of red, pink and gray. Jarek quickly turned around and saw me standing there unmasked with my arms crossed.

"That guy's bad at playing catch," I said and pointed in the direction of the headless corpse.

"Maybe his daddy didn't teach him," Kobra taunted with a malicious laugh. Jarek joined in. I narrowed my eyes in utter fury. The nerve of this guy talking about my dad like that!

"While I would like to taunt Vicky boy about his pathetic father, we have matters to attend to Kobra," Jarek said. "Now I understand you went to Outworld?" I didn't answer.

"I said, I understand you went to Outworld correct?!" Jarek repeated angrily. I clapped my hands together a few times.

"Congratulations, you can speak English," I retorted. From behind me, I could feel both Johnny and Sonya sniggering at my comment. Jarek however didn't like to be talked back to and hurled an ax at my face. Again I didn't really respond. Why? Because a green shadow clone had suddenly appeared in front of me and caught the ax by the blade with its palms. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my, hopefully, soon to be wife emerge from the shadows punching her hand into her other one while staring angrily at Jarek. As you could guess, Jarek was not at all happy.

"I told you," he began through gritted teeth. "To come alone." I shrugged.

"Oops," I said. Before anything else Kobra had disappeared and apparently had reappeared behind me but I heard Uncle Fujin grunt in effort. Then I saw Kobra fly back towards Jarek. Uncle Fujin had appeared at my other side looking towards his sister's killer with murder on his face. Jarek then…fired a laser beam out of his eye. Before that could hit us, a shield made up of lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere and deflected the laser beam. It flew off and made a nearby rock explode into dust. Then I heard the teleportation sound of Uncle Raiden followed by him doing a few combination attacks. I glanced over to see that his eyes were glowing bluish red.

"What the FUCK?!" Jarek growled.

"You remember my uncles Big Z?" I taunted. "They really really don't like you. They don't like how you manipulated their sister into hating them. Or how you made her leave them alone in Fengjian. Or how you attacked her and my father." Jarek snarled in response.

"FINE! IF I HAVE TO KILL YOUR FAMILY! FINE!" he growled. "THEY WILL DIE FIRST! THEN YOU HELP US FIND ONAGA!" The four of us all sniggered in response.

"You think this is all I brought? I have friends too pal," I said and cracked my neck. "More powerful friends. And they don't like you either." One by one, all of my collected allies had appeared. Kimi and Stryker showed up first. Both of them were dressed in full SWAT gear with helmets. Kimi was staring down Jarek with the most hateful look I have ever seen on my big sister. They were soon joined by Taven and Kabal. Kabal was carrying the hook swords Mavado had apparently stolen from him a while back. Jarek recoiled when he saw Kabal.

"YOU!" he snarled. Kabal cracked his neck and knuckles.

"Me," Kabal responded. "I have a bone to pick with you about stealing children." Jarek and Kobra exchanged looks. Apparently, neither of them realized that those kids were Kabal's. I saw the fear on their faces. Remember how fast Kabal was when I accidentally attacked him? They had every right to be scared. A demonic screech then pierced the silence. It was Sareena and Ashrah. Sareena was in her demonic form with her claws out and ready to start ripping heads off while Ashrah did some graceful movements with her sword. A wolf's howl followed that alongside the appearance of Nightwolf carrying two flaming green tomahawks.

"THE GIRL!" Kobra shouted. "Who killed Tremor!" Nightwolf reached into her pocket and tossed what I believe was Tremor's mask onto the ground and stomped it into the dirt with her boot while her spirit panther let out a roar and bared her teeth.. Nightwolf's appearance was followed up by the OIA crew. Johnny, Sonya, Jax and Kenshi were in the lead followed up by Jacqui and Takeda with those laser whips attached to his arms. Finally, to cap it all off, I felt Li Mei join me next to Fujin along with Kitana and that Umgadi warrior named Khameleon. I'm surprised she wanted to join this battle. Apparently she said she wanted to help the man Li Mei spoke so highly of. Honestly I was fine with that. Jarek and Kobra were looking at my assembled group of people with a mixture of terror and anger. I gave everyone around me one final look. They were looking towards me, their leader, for the order. I found Sonya and gave her a smirk. With glee she punched her fists together and started to charge up her pink ring energy launchers. I gave the order to attack and over the war cries of everyone I loved running towards the man who nearly ruined my life, I could hear Cassie's aunt yell "KOMBAT TIME!"

I used everything at my disposal to cut down any undead cultist in my way. From my explosive neon daggers, to my air constructed weapons and to my martial arts training courtesy of my uncle. Uncle Fujin never left my side as I advanced. We worked seamlessly as a team much like how I could see that Cassie and Kimi were. Kimi was tossing grenades every which way while Cassie's shadow clones assisted them in hitting targets. I even watch Kimi catch a shadow ball and redirect it towards some other ball went cleanly through three of their chests. Cassie and Kimi high fived before running off to assist Kurtis and Kabal. Kabal was indeed fast. Dude was like a blender with those blades. So much so that I noticed that both Kobra and Jarek were deliberately avoiding them. Uncle Raiden and Kitana were currently locked in combat with Jarek and he was trying to get to me. Instead, Uncle Fujin had motioned towards Kobra who was holding off the inexperienced Jacqui and Takeda with relative ease. Those whips Takeda had were pretty powerful if not blocked right but Takeda wasn't a fighter like his dad was. He and Jacqui got blasted away by a powerful roundhouse from Kobra. Both Uncle Fujin and I caught their flying bodies with the winds and eased them down on the ground before engaging Kobra. As expected, he went to me first and that was his mistake. I easily matched him in terms of fighting abilities. Every single thing he threw at me, I parried and counter attacked. Within minutes, Kobra's face was bloody and puffed up but the douchebag still thought he could win this fight. He had failed to notice that Uncle Fujin was right behind him with his sword drawn. With a quick and fierce swipe, half of Kobra's head was now flying through the air while a large fountain of blood erupted from the open wound. Jarek saw.

"NO! YOU FUCKING WIND BAG!" Jarek bellowed. This time Jarek was just a little too fast for Uncle Fujin. With a mighty backhand, Uncle Fujin was tossed into a pile of rocks and they collapsed onto him. I screamed in rage as Jarek laughed. He caught my punch on his forearm and we stood there locked in a staredown.

"You can't win Vicky boy," Jarek snarled.

"What makes you think you can?" I said and motioned at Jarek's so-called army. Most if not all of them were dead.

"Because. I'm…better than you!" he said and unleashed the most vicious headbutt I've ever taken in my life. I nearly blacked out entirely. Then Jarek grabbed me and punched me in the face three times, righting my body after every strike. I managed to catch the last one and shove him off me. But my head was still reeling from that headbutt. I could barely stand. Jarek capitalized on it. He got behind me, kicked the back of my knee causing me to stumble forward and wrapped his hands around my neck. I was currently facing the pile of rocks that housed my uncle. I reached out for him.

"OH HO HO! THIS IS FAMILIAR!" Jarek bellowed in glee. "YOUR DADDY DID THE SAME THING RIGHT BEFORE HE SNAPPED LIKE A TWIG! HOLDING OUT FOR THE WIND BAG! HE CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW!"

"RAHHHHH!" A bellow of fury came from behind me and I didn't need to smell the perfume to realize who it was. Kimi had launched herself onto Jarek's back and poked him in the eyes causing him to let me go. I fell on the ground face first, gasping for air. I heard a female grunt from behind me and turned to see that Jarek had managed to get Kimi off of him. He had tossed her at Johnny and Kurtis who managed to catch her. Jarek didn't care however, he rounded on me. The guy took two steps forward before he was bombarded by a multitude of projectiles. Purple firecrackers, pink energy rings, shadow balls, yellow beams of light, demonic blades, green spirit arrows, blue balls of lightning and yellow laser beams just to name a few. Jarek however was a big guy and fought through all of them, swiping his arms to and fro and managed to hit every one aside. While he was doing this, I was telling the wind to heal me as quickly as it could. It was…but this time, the wind felt a little hotter than usual. Like a summer breeze as opposed to a dessert's wind. Didn't really matter, Jarek had managed to get in front of me right when my head stopped spinning. He feinted a kick with his left foot which I fell for and caught a Sparta kick right to my chest. The kick sent me careening into some rocks. The impact sent a couple loose ones over my arms pinning me there. I raised my head to see Jarek knocking everyone else away while laughing with glee. He had picked up his ax…and was giving me a look of satisfaction. Oh no…Cassie…please…look away.

"NO!" I heard her voice say before she was knocked away by Jarek's backhand. That did it. The rage deep inside me was starting to bubble, screaming to reach the surface…but I still couldn't move my arms. Jarek lifted his ax over his head and started to charge. I still struggled in vain while my inner rage was clawing its way to the surface. Jarek hurled the ax at me, aiming for my chest. I closed my eyes waiting for pain…

"Gak…." Uncle Fujin croaked. No….NO! I opened my eyes to see him facing me with blood running down his mouth while he continued to make soft gurgling noises. He turned slightly to face the others and I saw that…the ax was almost handle deep in Uncle Fujin's back. He turned back to me and managed to run a hand down my face.

"Ane…I…didn't fail…" he said to the rocks behind me for some reason. Jarek walked over, lifted the ax and Uncle Fujin's bleeding and broken body into the air and hurled it at the others. Something inside me broke upon seeing my mentor and best friend for the last ten years be stabbed in the back and tossed aside. Like how Jarek had tossed my mother aside. Like how he intended to kill everyone here if I didn't stop him right here and right now. I screamed. I screamed louder than I have ever screamed in my life and the rage inside me broke through. Jarek was about to fucking DIE.

Tornado force winds answered my shout. They easily lifted the rocks pinning my arms down and lifted me into the air. Jarek was blasted backwards by the utter fury of the winds currently at my beck and call. I looked over towards the man he had just killed. Uncle Fujin was lying broken on the ground but bathed in some light for some reason. That didn't really matter to me at this moment. It was time to kill Jarek. Jarek had managed to rise and started to charge at me. I held out a hand and the tornado force wind blasted him backwards. He caught himself on the dirt with another ax and managed to look me full in the face. For the first time all night, I didn't see a cocky cult leader staring back at me. I saw a man consumed by complete and utter fear. I smirked at him but I soon realized that he wasn't looking at me but rather at a place behind me. Before I could fully turn my head, a female hand gently rested on my shoulder. A female hand with orange nail polish and a loving touch. Like a mother. Standing right next to me, bathed in glowing orange and yellow light…was my mother. Or at least, something resembling her. Something caught in my throat. I could barely say anything else but "Mom?" The being that resembled my mother didn't answer me, she was looking at Jarek with utter hatred in her face.

"Did you…Just stab my little brother after attempting to kill my sweet boy?!" she said in a voice I didn't really remember her using in my lifetime.

"NO! NO! STAY AWAY DEMON!" Jarek spluttered and started chucking rocks at the pair of us. The tornado force winds surrounding us caused the rocks to fly away harmlessly. I realized something as I watched Jarek run away from the being that resembled my mom. He wasn't scared of fire…he was scared of her. Yes…YES! That made sense! Uncle Raiden is the one who resembles her the most with his hair down! That's why he ran away that night! The being resembling my mom turned to me and smirked.

"The only demon I see here is you, Jarek," I snarled and sent another gust of wind in his direction. He flew backwards but I pulled him back over to me while shouting "GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!" I punched him in the face so hard, I felt his nose break in several places. Jarek scrambled away from us again.

"VIC! STOP HER!" Jarek pleaded. "SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

"YOU DARECONTINUE TO SPEAK TO HIM!" the being resembling my mother bellowed. "AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE?!" I used the wind to grab Jarek by the throat

"What makes you think I won't?" I growled. The tornado force winds did the old Rattlehead trick to my voice but this time, it sounded much more ferocious. Like if an EF-5 tornado had a voice.

"You think you're a big man just like your father?!" Jarek blubbered. Big mistake. I chokeslammed him onto the ground. The being next to me spoke again.

"YOU WILL NOT MENTION HIS FATHER IN FRONT OF ME! YOU ARE SCUM! FILTH! AN ABOMINATION OF A SOLDIER! DANTE IS MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU EVER HOPED TO BE!" she bellowed, making the rocks nearby shake a little. I addressed Jarek as well as the piece of shit managed to get to his feet.

"You abused my mother. You took advantage of her. You ripped her away from her family because you wanted her. She changed her name for you. She moved to America for you and when you were done with her, you tossed her aside. And she hid from you. She started her life without you. She reconnected with the family you stole her from. And you couldn't handle it. You wanted her back," I said still in that amplified voice. Jarek snarled.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" he shouted over the wind and started backing up. "DANTE HARRIS IS STILL DEAD!" Jarek ran into something as he backed up. Actually no, strike that. It was someone. The man emerged from the shadows. My eyes widened in shock when I recognized the red hair, beard and retro band t-shirt. It was…it was my dad. Dante Harris, star of the Cereal Killer franchise and recently the Wally West flash movie from ten years ago.

"AM I?!" my dad shouted at Jarek and punched him in the face with all of his strength. Jarek stumbled forward and right into my outstretched hand again. I lifted him up to my face and smelled his fear as well as his breath for what was to be the final time.

"Goodbye asshole," I snarled.

"Wait! You-you can't kill me! You have to uphold the law! You have to arrest me! Wait-wait! This is brutality! You can't do it!" Jarek spluttered.

"When have I ever listened to you," I said. Behind him I could see Kimi and my dad standing by with shotguns. Before Jarek could say anything else, I kicked him towards Kimi and my dad. The pair of them blasted Jarek's legs off with a shotgun blast each before my dad shoulder charged Jarek back to me. I caught him and shot into the air. The winds started to peel the flesh off of Jarek's body as he screamed in agony. When I was miles into the air, a beam of light appeared and I spiked Jarek towards the ground while he was bathed in it. He fell towards the ground and his body erupted in flames. I rocketed towards the ground myself and landed next to the female being who had been the source of the beam of light. I looked up to see Jarek's now legless skeleton falling towards us. It shattered on the ground and his skull rolled a little bit before stopping right at my feet. I raised my foot and crushed it into dust.

"Fatality," I growled.

It was over. I had won. Before I was able to fully comprehend everything, a gorgeous woman that loved me tackled me to the ground and started kissing my face. After a few seconds, I realized it was Cassie. She was saying things like "YES!" and "MINE!" in between kisses. Eventually, she let me rise and I saw that two more people had arrived. One I remembered. It was Liu Kang. I gave him a bow. The other one resembled an African American man with a shaved head. He had blue glowing eyes but a kind face. Liu Kang spoke first.

"Victor Harris, a true hero of Earthrealm," he said and gave me a bow. Then he and the other guy started making circular motions with their hands. The remains of Jarek and the cult turned into sand and were dissipated into the sky.

"Uh…what happened?" I asked Liu Kang.

"Jarek is officially erased from this timeline. Him and his cult. They will not be bothering you again," he answered with a smile. "I gave him a chance to better himself. He failed." Then I remembered he had fire powers.

"Oh hey, thanks for the assist back there," I said. Liu Kang and the other guy exchanged glances. The other guy spoke.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Guy had a deep but friendly sounding voice. Considering he's with Liu Kang, I had no reason to believe he was hostile.

"Didn't…didn't you help me defeat Jarek?" I asked. Liu Kang smiled again.

"Geras and I have only just arrived," he said. "We are not the only ones from your past who helped." I was still confused and looked over to Cassie. She had her hands over her mouth in complete and utter shock while looking at a place behind my shoulder.

"Vic…" Cassie whispered. "It's…sweetie...it's…" What?...Wait…no… Seeing Li Mei pull the same expression was what did it for me. I got choked up immediately. Liu Kang spoke again.

"The Elder Gods believed you should be rewarded for all you have done and all of the lives you've saved. We did as well. Your mother did not deserve to die so young at the hands of my mistake. She missed out on seeing you become the man you are. Think of this as my apology for not saving her before," he said and gestured behind me. I slowly turned around and…and…guys…I…I saw my mom. She was standing there with both my uncles, her beloved younger brothers, behind her. She was wearing clothes similar to the ones she always wore. Jeans, a red flannel, red Converse sneakers and her hair in a short ponytail. Uncle Fujin was alive and leaning on Uncle Raiden for support. My mom was smiling at me with tears running down her cheeks. I froze. There was no way this was real.

"M…M…Mom?" I croaked.

"My…my sweet boy," she responded. She held out her hands to me. Almost as if in a trance, I immediately walked over to them as if I was still little. My mom's hand touched my face for the first time in ten years and she started to sob. As did I. This felt just like it did whenever…whenever I needed my mom to comfort me.

"Is…is it really you," I managed to ask through the sobs. My mom smiled her radiant smile.

"You called your sister 'Mee' when you were a baby. You first said it right after saying 'Mama' when you saw me dancing with your father. You and I used to watch Scooby-Doo when dad was working and Kimi was at school. You said you were having the best day ever with me one day during the show. It's me sweetheart. It's really me," she said. That did it. I completely lost it in my mom's arms. She wrapped her own arms around me while softly saying "Mama's here," between her own sobs. I wasn't Thrash anymore. I wasn't even Vic. Right now, I was Lauren's son again. Her little Victor. Her sweet boy. My mom eventually lifted my face with her finger. I still couldn't believe this and I really had to know for sure. I managed to sing the first line of one of her favorite songs.

"P…Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane," I sang. My mom smiled and…sang to her little boy again.

"Touched down in the land of the delta blues, in the middle of the pouring rain," she sang back in the voice that used to soothe me to sleep when I was a baby. Guys…there was no doubt about it anymore…my mom was alive…and that means…

"Hey doofus," my dad's voice said from behind me. I turned to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets like he always did. His red hair seemed to shine in the moonlight. I didn't get to say much of anything to him before I heard Kimi's voice screech "DADDY!" before I saw her jump into his arms.

"Mama…" I said softly. My mom ran her hand up and down my back.

"Mama's here Victor. She's got you," she said to me softly.

"I…I…" I stammered.

"Shhh," my mom answered. "It's ok my sweet boy. Let it out. I…I missed you so much." She gently removed my dirty jacket and tossed it aside. Nightwolf caught it and folded it for me. Then she saw the tattoo I had got honoring her and she gasped.

"I love you Mom," I said, not giving a flying fuck about whoever heard me say that.

"I love you too, my sweet boy," she responded. Then she put a hand on my face again.

"I saw everything Victor," she began. "From your training with Fujin, saving innocent lives, saving Cassie, saving your sister. All of it Victor. Minus all of the private parts. You are truly my son. You are so much like your father when we were younger."

It just occurred to me that everyone was watching this entire scene because I managed to hear Cassie let out a sniff. My mom turned her attention to her. Cassie inhaled slightly.

"Mrs. Harris…I…I…" Cassie began before my mom cut her off.

"Cassie, stop. I saw how much you missed him. I saw how you embraced him after you found out he was still alive. I will always have his heart because I am his mother but you are the girl I'm willing to share it with," my mom said. "Also you're an adult, call me Lauren." Cassie smiled, walked over and gently kissed my cheek. At that moment, Li Mei had also walked over and addressed my mom.

"Hikari…" she said in a soft voice. "Is it…really?" My mom let go of me and proceeded to do some graceful martial arts moves before ending her demonstration with a bow. Li Mei immediately hugged her which surprised my mom but she hugged her back. I decided to check on my uncle. The wound in his back was healed but he still looked a little woozy.

"He'll be alright," Uncle Raiden said, looking over at his big sister. My mom saw him and then held out her arms to him too. Uncle Raiden raced over and lifted my mom off the ground in a hug. Uncle Fujin managed to stand on his own. He looked up at me with immense pride on his face.

"Thanks…for everything," I said and clasped Cassie's hand with my own.

"Anytime nephew," he answered. "My home will always be welcoming to you both but I recommend moving in with Cassie now. My time as your teacher is over. Her time as your partner in vigilantism has just begun." I looked over at Cassie who turned a little red.

"Did…did you want to…" she asked the rocks rather than me. She looked up at me after a few seconds and saw that I was smiling at her. She smiled back just as warmly.

"Sorry, let me ask you instead of the rocks. Victor, will you move in with me?" she asked me this time. I kissed her while Uncle Fujin smiled before limping over to hug his big sister.

"I mean, I suppose," I said sarcastically. Cassie lightly slapped me.

"You'll get a man cave," she answered and leaned her head against my shoulder. "Double promise."

"Sweet…I don't have a job though," I said. Cassie pointed at Johnny, my dad who had survived my sister's attack and my mom.

"You know damn well your mom would take you into her film composing business," Cassie said. "For all kinds of movies, not just ones our dads happen to star in."

"Right…" I said. "I mean I guess that works." My dad finally managed to come over to me and give me a hug. The same kind of hug he used to give me whenever he came back from long shooting days and I was still awake.

"Hey doofus," he said. "I missed you too."

"Likewise dad," I answered. "I mean The Flash." At that moment, Kitana looked over happily. She waved at my dad who waved back a little confused.

"Raiden's plus one," Cassie whispered. "Big fan of your movies." He smiled at me before he noticed Kurtis.

"Who's the bozo that thinks he can marry my cupcake!" he said. "Did you ok this?!" I nodded.

"Well, I'm about to go give him a piece of my mind!" my dad said, walked over to Kurtis and managed to give him a noogie.

"Like father, like son," Cassie said. I however had eyes for Liu Kang and that Geras guy who were still here admiring all of the happy people cheering.

"Liu Kang…thanks," I said. Liu Kang smiled and bowed.

"A hero is to be rewarded for his efforts," he answered. "You as well Cassie."

"I don't need anything," Cassie said and squeezed my hand. "I have everything I want again. Vic and I back together and him being happy."

"Hold onto her Vic, she's a keeper," Liu Kang responded. "Just like your former selves." Liu Kang winced a little bit upon saying this.

"Former selves?" Cassie asked.

"Forgive me, I misspoke," Liu Kang added. Geras filled us in though.

"Past versions of you. I have seen multiple timelines with both of you in them. Most if not all of them have you ending up together. The most recent version before Liu Kang's involved the pair of you being in a special military unit called the Special Forces," Geras explained. "But if you ask me, these versions of you are far superior." Hmm, so how about that…Cassie and I were in fact always meant to be together. She meant everything thing to me…and…she saw my mom and I get reunited.

In the Basement of Fujin's House

My mom and I were standing in the basement dojo of Uncle Fujin's place about an hour or so later. She was admiring the old photo of the three of them while I simply watched. There was still no way this was real. I was going to wake up at any moment now. Instead, my mom turned back to face me with her radiant smile again. She held out her arms to me.

"Come here my sweet boy," she said. "Dance with your mother." I obeyed her orders at once. After a few seconds of swaying to nothing, my mom started to sing again.

"And I'm dancing, with my little man. Spinning ay-round, hand in hand. Cause I know, that there'll come a day when some lucky girl will dance in my place. I'll hold on as long as I can, to my little man," she sang through a few sniffs and sobs. I held my mom tighter in my arms. I was taller than her, yes, but to her, I will always be her little boy.

"I'll always have a dance for you mom," I said into her ear.

"The girl that's going to take my place is Cassie isn't it," she asked.

"I mean…yeah," I answered. "Always has been." My mom ran a hand down my cheek again.

"I know Victor. The moment you called her pretty, Johnny and I knew you two would be together forever. She's allowed to steal you from me," she said. "You hear that Cassie?" I turned around to see that Cassie, Kimi and my dad had joined us downstairs. Cassie looked as though she had been crying a little and Kimi…well, was pretty much a wreck. She had her daddy back. Her actual favorite man in the whole world. In fact…she too had gotten her entire family back.

"Dance with her Victor," my mom ordered. Her? Her who? I pointed to Kimi in confusion. My mom chuckled as did Kimi.

"Not me Bud, but take that Cass," Kimi said while Cassie pretended to pout.

"I see why you love him Cassie," she said. Cassie walked over and relieved me from my mom's arms.

"He's a big doofus," Cassie said and pecked my cheek. "But he's so sweet."

"Just like his old man," my dad added. He placed a hand on Kimi's shoulder and Kimi let out a squeak of happiness.

"You know what Dante said to me when I accidently told him I loved him on our second date? He said we were reading the same book but I was a few chapters ahead," my mom said to Cassie. My dad shrugged.

"I was right, wasn't I," he answered. "Come on. Let's let Vic have some alone time with his other special girl." Cassie looked over at me with sparkles in her eyes.

"I'm your special one?" she asked softly.

"Since we were ten Cass," I said and pulled her close. The rest of my family left us alone for a few moments as Cassie and I slowly swayed to nothing. Eventually Cassie spoke.

"You did it," she said and caressed my face.

"No," I retorted and kissed her hand. "We did it. Couldn't have done it without you guys." Cassie started to kiss my cheek and neck before she started nibbling on my ear a little.

"Sing to me," Cassie whispered into my ear.

"Ah ah ah, no," I answered. "Your turn." Cassie turned a little red.

"But…but," she began. I gently pressed my finger to her lips.

"Who's going to judge you? Me?" I asked. "Sing along to a karaoke track if you have to." Cassie smiled, pulled out her phone and searched for the karaoke version of one of her favorite songs. It happened to be a duet and I joined in on the male part. Afterwards, we simply stayed down in the basement dojo holding each other. I still couldn't believe what just happened in the past three or so hours. Jarek was gone but my parents were back. My life was finally back together.

And for the first time in ten years, I couldn't wait to see what tomorrow was going to bring for us.