127

Final Battle with Tom

Time: Seconds later

Place: Inside Pottermort's psyche / Outside the memory of the Dursley house.

Tom fired twin beams of magic at Harry and Susan, but she cried "Deflection," putting in some extra energy and getting an 16 from splitting it two ways. A split second before it hit both of them, punching through the Deflection, Susan realized that perhaps she had underestimated Tom and should probably have put some more energy into that spell.

He is the final boss, after all. No sense holding back anything now!

"Declare card 29- Wild as a Missed Me!" she said, making the attack go wide instead. "Declare card 38, Gimme Gimme! to get it back."

Whew.

"Thanks," said Harry, not realizing it was the card that saved him, not the spell. He shot a similar bolt at Tom but the ground rose up to deflect it.

"Destruction," cast Sparkle, targeting the wand in Tom's right hand. He just smirked and the wand stayed where it was.

"Just like the lava train," said Susan.

"Oh, right!" said Sparkle, understanding.

Myrtle, meanwhile, had been looking around for something to throw at him, and figured the car in the driveway was a good start. She gave it a burst of power and it popped into the air, arcing to fall on Tom. He saw it rise though and glanced at it, making it disappear before it could hit him.

"Keep him on the defensive!" Susan shouted. "That way he won't be able to attack!"

"Unless I use XP, like this," Tom said, spending an XP for an extra action. He fired bolts at Harry and Susan again. This time Susan and Sparkle both reacted, casting Deflection with maximum energy. With the bonus from Sparkle, Susan got a 23, and as ties went to the defender, it bounced off.

Harry sent magical bolts away from himself, left and right, and Tom looked at him like he was going crazy. Suddenly they arced around the ground and Tom threw himself backwards as they met where he had been standing and exploded.

"Oh, very clever," Tom remarked. "Yipes!" Myrtle grabbed his leg with Telekinesis this time, but Tom made his STRength check to throw it off.

Wish I knew how much she failed by, I could have used by Bonus card on her. Oh well, this battle is just getting started.

"Elemental Attack (Fire)," shouted Susan, and Tom snarled and created a barrier around himself. Susan didn't actually cast that spell, however, rather envisioning the Hogwarts Express to materialize above him and crush him. Tom looked confused when no fire splashed at his shield, but almost lost concentration as the train car landed on him with a crash. It held, but he was now pinned under it, his shield the only thing keeping it from rolling over on top of him. Sparkle saw an opening, and imagined the shield bubble full of water, and Tom jerked back, obviously not expecting this. He vanished, and reappeared on the top of the train, his barrier disintegrating and letting the train and water fall. Susan took a free action to stop maintaining the train, and Tom himself started to fall. Myrtle smiled and Tom slammed into the ground.

Climbing out of the pit he had created, Susan saw it was full of pillows, and Tom seemed unhurt. "Oh, I see," Tom had time to say before magical energy swirled around him. "No fair!" he said, looking at Susan, who wasn't casting anything. He looked confused, and ice suddenly materialized around him. Everyone looked over at Harry.

"So that's what using your kind of magic is like," he said. "Interesting."

"How-" Susan started to say, but Tom smashed his way out of the ice. "We'll kill you all!" he shouted.

We? He keeps saying that.

"You just imagined her magic, didn't you?" asked Myrtle with a grin. "Elemental Attack (Fire)." Fire shot out of Myrtle's hands, which Tom countered with his wands.

"That's right," replied Harry. "What shall we do next?"

Sparkle answered that question by darting sideways, so there was a line between herself, Tom, and the small mound of earth Tom had made previously to deflect Harry's bolts. "Thrust," she cast, getting a 22. Tom went flying but flattened the earth again before he hit it. He flipped over, skidding to a halt.

"This is going to take forever," Susan complained. "Someone hit him already!" Wait, I get one object… She held up a hand and a ring appeared on her finger. She made a fist. "For sacrifices made," she said, and her Legion appeared around her. Yup, that's in Harry memory too. It was his mother that made it possible, after all.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Tom, and torrential rain started to fall from inky black clouds overhead. The soldiers washed away.

"I thought you were supposed to be countering stuff he's doing!" Susan complained to Harry.

"I thought I could!" he shouted back. "Hey, here's something we know works!" Harry passed the wand in his right hand to his left, and was suddenly holding Susan's gun. He squeezed the trigger.

"That only worked because I allowed it to, in order to take you over," Tom sneered as the gun did nothing. "You think I would just let you shoot me again?"

"It was worth a shot." Harry punned, glancing disgustedly at the gun and taking up his wands again.

Everyone groaned internally.

Myrtle dashed over to where the rain was still falling and held her hands up. Long icicles appeared, which she flung at Tom, but he easily dodged them.

"He's got Acceleration going, that makes his dodge better," Sparkle said. "Try to get that car back or something he can't dodge as easily."

"Oh, that's why the train!" Myrtle replied, understanding. "Got it."

"Entangle," cast Sparkle, making vines and trees burst from the ground and start trying to grab him. The water in the area now worked against him as he stopped the rain and switched to fire, a ring of it leaping from his wands. It singed the plants, but they kept coming.

"Nice one," said Susan, conjuring up the Express again, and making it flatten the whole area. No barrier appeared this time. "Think I got him?" she asked hopefully.

"Get down!" shouted Harry, waving his wand. Susan felt herself pressed to the ground as beams of magic passed over her. Guess not. She looked over, and Tom was standing on Harry's house now.

"Thanks."

Sparkle looked over, and suddenly the troll that had been guarding the Philosopher's Stone was standing next to Tom, and took a swing at him with his club. Tom dodged, but lost his footing, tumbling off the roof. He let himself fall, but before he hit the ground was standing upright again.

Aarg!

Myrtle considered, and figured the troll was big enough. It went flying after Tom, who dodged both the troll and the club, as the troll took another swipe at him on the way down. He splatted into the ground and disappeared.

Maybe it's time for an old standby. If this works… "Dazzle," cast Susan, and Tom looked at her like she was nuts.

"You realize this isn't my body, right? You can't dazzle my senses when they're out there." He pointed up with a wand.

So I guess Hypnotic Field is out. It was worth a try.

"Dodge this," said Harry, the dark clouds coming back. He concentrated, and lighting stabbed down at Tom, something even he couldn't dodge. What he did do, however, was cause a metal tube to surround himself, so the lighting hit that instead of his body.

"I can easily anticipate what you're going to do, boy," he called. "You can't win against yourself."

"That means neither can you! And I have friends with me. Where are your friends?"

"I have something better."

"Uh, no?"

As Tom and Harry were staring at each other, Sparkle was looking high in the air. She imagined the dragon Harry had gotten the egg from during the Triwizard Tournament, and it dive-bombed out of the sky, spewing fire out of its mouth. Tom must have felt the heat because he yelped and rolled to one side. The dragon followed him, not letting up with the fire. Tom snarled something and suddenly was atop the dragon, wands pointed at its head. Twin beams lashed out and blew the dragon's head off, making it disappear. Tom was on the ground again.

He seems to be getting better at that, we need to take him out somehow before he really masters this place and our numbers don't mean anything. At least we seem to be keeping him from taking active actions against us.

Myrtle looked over at the house, and suddenly every piece of glass she could see shattered and sped towards Tom in a deadly cloud of sharpened glass. Tom raised his wands and all that got near him was a shower of dust that streamed past him.

"Come on, you're not even trying, Myrtle," he taunted.

Susan thought about heat, and the glass dust now around Tom melted and fused. Tom cried out and was suddenly elsewhere, clothes smoldering.

Finally hurt him?

"Working together, huh? Guess I should concentrate on taking one of you down at a time." He raised his wands to fire at Susan, but as she blinked, Harry was in front of her.

"Now we end this!" he shouted, firing twin beams of magic of his own. Tom's magic and his collided in midair, halfway between them. Both cried out and tried to pull back, but it seemed neither could. Their wands were locked together by the spells.

"Help me!" both cried, looking over at Susan.

Wait, what?

"What do I do?" she cried.

"I don't know, something!" Harry shouted back.

Tom was screaming, but it seemed to be with two voices. A dark aura began surrounding him, and Susan could have sworn it was glaring at her. Suddenly, in a flash, it all made sense to her.

It all makes sense to me! He keeps saying 'we' and talking to some unseen thing. The reports of his 'insanity' by his followers. I think he's possessed somehow!

Casting, she ran over to Tom and put her hands on his arm. She felt the magic backlash around her, but held on. The darkness around Tom seemed to notice her and tried to strike out, but couldn't seem to move while being pinned by Harry's magic. She smiled grimly. "Exorcise," she cast, and there was a magical explosion, throwing Tom, Susan, and a dark something away from each other.

Susan struggled to stand. She looked over, where Harry was being helped up by Myrtle. Sparkle was shaking her head, trying to clear it, and Tom was down, sprawled out on the ground. Above him stood a manlike shape made of blackness. It turned.

"So. Figured it out, did you? He gave you enough clues, the little fool. Useless." He kicked Tom but the "foot" went right through.

"What are you?" Susan demanded.

"And you," said the shape, turning back to Susan but ignoring the question. "I am coming to hate all Paragons. Your father has caused me no end of troubles on his little 'journey' to save his world. Looks like I should have tried a little harder with you."

"You know my father? What, your voice sounds familiar, now that I hear it from the outside."

The thing laughed. "That's right. You like history? I can give you a little history lesson, if you want. I guess I'll have to introduce myself though, so you have the proper context. I'm to you what are you to… ants. Yes, that's about right. To be technical about it, I'm a higher order being from outside your dimension. You don't have any trouble with that concept, do you? You know about other worlds, right? Well, mine is above them all."

"Okay?"

"And of course when I say 'above' I'm talking mathematical dimensions not physical space. Whatever, I doubt you could comprehend any but the simplest explanations. In any case, I've always known about the lesser dimensions you creatures inhabit, and watching you all amuses me sometimes. But I got worried. What if there were higher dimensions than mine, and something was watching me with the same amusement. I couldn't have that."

"So you came here? Why?"

Susan noticed the others had gotten up, and were slowly making their way over to her.

"That's easy enough to explain. If I'm going to break into higher order dimensions, I'm going to need a lot of power. And while a bit flat, your lower order dimensions can provide it. Not a lot per world, of course, but there are a lot of them down here, so it adds up."

"You're the darkness that covered my father's world, draining it of energy and life!" Susan gasped, realizing what she was talking to. It gave a little bow.

"The same. Some worlds I can act more directly in, others less so. Some are totally incompatible with my vibrational frequency, forcing me to work exclusively through agents, like you and Tom here."

"Me?"

"Of course. I saw your father come to this world and drew back, waiting for him to leave. After the trouble he's caused me in the past I began to recognize his presence in worlds I was draining. But here he conceived a child, and I knew that was my opening. I implanted just a tiny bit of myself into you, but not enough I guess. I wasn't sure how much of me the unborn you could handle, so I erred on the side of caution. The influence of that Luna girl certainly did a number on your potential, didn't it? You were supposed to go much further with my help. What you did to that Umbridge organism was inspired, and I thought your development coming along nicely. Then you started going against my inclinations."

"And you started whispering in my ear more directly."

"That part of me did, but essentially correct. Please don't think of me as one dimensional, as you yourself are." He sighed. "You're probably lost to me now, but I can take some comfort knowing you'll soon be questioning every decision you ever made, or will ever make. 'Is this what the creature wants me to do?' you'll ask yourself. 'Was that thing I did what I really wanted?' Oh, to feel every agonizing moment."

"You really don't see us as people at all, do you?"

"People? You're sentient fluid that walks around a little while, and then stops. Forgive me if I don't get all weepy."

"So if I'm following this," said Harry, now beside Susan. "You saw another chance when Tom here was reborn."

"You are masters of stating the obvious, I'll give you all that," he sneered. "Yes, through him I thought my plans would be possible. After all, I would get to use your own power against you, and he didn't seem the type to start taking other's advice. I also was able to put a bit more of myself inside, having learned more about your limits from studying you, Susan."

"But to what end? You want this world's power but what does that mean?"

"How to explain… Each world has a certain amount of potential. Be it for magic or science, it can only go so far before hitting a wall. Worlds like the one your father came from, that have a high amount of both, are pretty rare. But that's what makes them so valuable. Here's where I come in. I disrupt the natural order in any way I can. This increases the potential by decreasing the amount of magic or tech a world is using. I've done it various ways in the past. Here, I wanted Tom to disrupt the science of this world by making an army of wizards to destroy anyone non-magical. That would allow for greater magic in the world, which I would then have had him use to slaughter the wizards. That done, the potential of the world would be fully returned, ready for me to claim."

"Leaving the world like my fathers'. Dark and nearly lifeless."

"Correct. Having taken a world's potential it falls into darkness as nothing can get done on it anymore. It dies shortly afterwords."

"Like a spring winding down…" said Harry.

"Yes, that's it exactly. With less forces acting on the spring it winds up again, and then I steal the spring. Oh, these primitive metaphors. You realize that isn't actually close to how it even works, right?"

Susan waved that off. "And you're the reason he picked up my magic so fast. You were helping him."

"Naturally. While I was willing to wait for the whole plan, (your time means nothing to me), I also knew you would be improving your skills and learning more spells. You're not as good as your father, he has some unique backgrounds to help him, but I knew another Paragon would be trouble. I needed him ready to face you when the time came. But he too noticed something was wrong, that his desires were changing, and again some flat little no power organism pulled away from me! It was very vexing!"

"Forgive me if I don't get all weepy."

"Cute. So does that about cover it? Is your curiosity sated? I would hate for you to die with any ignorance, after all."

"Die?" Susan laughed. "We won, in case you haven't noticed."

"Really?" The darkness looked around. "I seem to still be inside the hybrid. Separating me from this mental construct of his hasn't changed anything. In fact, it's made your situation worse. Remember that energy I was talking about?"

They nodded.

"I've been staling," the creature said, holding up a ball of crackling energy. "While I brought some down from the dimension I inhabit. When this goes off, it'll take out a nice chunk of world. That will leave your world some energy, but given the destruction, I'm pretty sure the 'spring' will wind back up as you people kill each other off for the dwindling resources that are left. Any last words?"

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Harry asked.

The creature laughed. "I couldn't act directly, this dimension isn't compatible with me. Haven't you been listening? It was your friend Susan there that made this possible, forcing me out of Tom and allowing me to act directly. Think about that as you die!" He put the ball in both hands and started to squeeze.

"NO!" shouted Tom, leaping up and causing the creature to stumble back. Tom threw himself at the creature, and there was an explosion of energy, throwing everyone back and opening a hole in the ground where the creature was.

Seconds, minutes or hours later, Susan opened her eyes to see she was back in the blackness again, all trace of Harry's neighborhood gone. She staggered up, then went over to shake everyone else awake. They seemed unharmed, and Susan was surprised to find Tom laying there, breathing weekly.

"You survived that?" she said, walking over to him.

"Not exactly," he explained weakly. "I used an XP for dramatic pause. Wanted to apologize for all the trouble I caused you."

"What? You? Apologize? No way."

"Way." He weakly smiled. "I admit, my choices in life were probably wrong, but I did honestly believe what I was doing was for the best. We wizards shouldn't have to hide what we are, and die off. Of course, if that creature was telling the truth, it would free up 'potential' for greater science to be discovered if wizards all die off. At least, that's what I believed until that creature sort of took me over. Whatever else you think about me, you can't fault me for that."

"I guess. Wait, if you had an XP you could have used it to stabilize rather than just talk to me!"

Tom shook his head. "I've paid the price for my actions. And you heard what he said. He's probably still inside me. My making that energy ball blow up in his face may have driven him off to recover or whatever, but it didn't kill him. He wasn't actually here to kill, you understand."

"Yeah, I guess. I… suppose I owe you an apology. I never tried to save you. Looking back now I see I should have."

Tom shook his head. "No reason you should have. It took my death to see what was really important in life, but by that time it was too late. My Horcrux were made, and they would pick up where I left off when I made them. That was the point of them, after all. Didn't realize I had put one inside Harry, either. Sorry about that, Harry."

"That's okay. Without you I wouldn't be the person I am today."

"I suppose. That's about what I wanted to say, and I can feel myself slipping away. Thank you, Susan, all of you, for freeing me from that creature."

"Don't worry, you're only the first."

Tom smiled. "I figured. Good luck."

Susan slipped into blackness again.

When she next opened her eyes, she felt she was freezing, and blankets were being piled around her.

"It worked!" someone was shouting, and she felt people nearby dancing. She blearily looked over to see where she was.

Ah, hospital wing at the school. Guess I survived it after all.

"How do you feel?" asked Harry, stepping up next to her.

"Harry? You're yourself again!"

He grinned. "After Tom died our bodies separated again. Thank goodness."

"I'll say. Did everyone make it through the attack? Are the dark creatures rampaging around? What's been going on?"

"Everything will be fine," said Albus, stepping up behind Harry. "With Tom and his protections gone, the magical world has retaken what he stole and is now rebuilding itself."

"Thank goodness."

"You are Susan, right?" asked Myrtle, floating up.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"I sort of forgot which soul was which," she admitted. "So I had a fifty/fifty shot at getting it right."

"You mean I could have ended up in Sparkle's body? Where is she, anyway?"

"Here," said Sparkle, coming out from under the covers. "Staying where it's warm." She went back underneath again.

"Harry has been telling me about your adventures inside his soulscape, as he calls it. It seems we owe you greater thanks than we knew, given that you saved our entire world from being drained of energy."

"Not a problem," said Susan. "Did he tell you a little piece of that darkness is inside me? Always has been."

"I'm not too worried about that. You've chosen your path, I think, and turned away from that darkness. In any case, we all have some amount of darkness in us, it just seems you can talk to yours, that's all."

"I guess."

And so, Susan was congratulated by her friends, and she and Myrtle told the tale of what they went though to everyone who asked, and the magical world started picking itself back up. Susan was interviewed by Rita Skeeter, and had a hardly embellished story written up about her in the paper. Of course she didn't tell Rita everything. Tom's body was recovered, and given a proper burial. Of course, only a few people attended the ceremony, with the up and down nature of Tom's interactions with the wizarding world over his lifetime, Susan felt it best not to stir up trouble. Of course, those under the Imperius Curse came out of it, or were freed with Susan's help, and everyone began to piece the "real" story together.

Finally, after about two weeks, things calmed down, and Susan went to see the Headmaster.

"Good afternoon, Susan," he said as she entered his office. "Have a seat, as this doesn't feel like a social call."

"It's not," she said, dropping into a chair. "I want to know how to get permission to leave school early. I want to have graduated, but honestly this school isn't doing anything for me."

"I though this day might come. One moment please." He drew out his wand and sent his Patronus winging away. "Now, you were saying? Ah yes, graduating. I suppose saving the whole world does allow one a certain leeway. May I ask what your plans are, should I allow this early graduation?"

"I have to track down my father, and help him put an end to that darkness creature that's threatening our worlds. To that end I'm going to research the spell that brought my father to see Lady Inari, and ask for her help."

"I see. You think you can do it, then?"

"I tried asking my book, but I just got a weird result. I know it's possible, because my mother said the wizards in my father's world sent him on. It took them all, I now realize, because the world had so little power of life left. I think I can do it myself."

"Working together with Sparkle, I'm sure you can," said Albus. He got up and paced, looking at the various instruments around his office. "I have a confession to make," he said at last. "It probably won't surprise you, but your father found the magical world right away with his skills. He explained what he could to us about what he was fighting. Of course, he didn't have the details you did, only what he had observed from his travels. But he told us what to watch for. He then went about his business of trying to determine if this world was in danger. We know now, of course, that it was, but that danger was hidden, because this darkness creature knew he was here and hid. I do think he truly fell in love with your mother, Stacy, and conceived you in love, rather than just leaving behind a soldier to carry on his work. It struck me as being the kind of man he was. And there's something else. We knew you were coming."

Hey, is he finally going to tell me about…

"There was a prophesy made about an 'outside girl' who could help us."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yes. Tom took me to hear it a long time ago. About the time I stopped trusting you completely, strangely enough."

"I want you to understand, I had to let you choose your own path. If I told you about the prophesy, what you were supposed to do, it might have changed what you would choose to do. I hope you don't think too badly about me for keeping this from you."

"It seems everyone does for themselves what they think is best. It's only from the outside do we call it evil or good. If you can live with the guilt of your actions, I suppose I can forgive you them. I guess it didn't matter much, in the end, for all I disliked you for not trusting me enough with that knowledge."

"Some knowledge can only be appreciated at the proper time," he said, reaching up to grab a scroll from a high shelf. "This, for example."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" called Albus, and Luna entered the office. "You got my message, then?"

"I came as soon as I heard it. What did you need to see me about, Headmaster?"

"It's about your further schooling," Albus explained. "I'm about to give something to Susan which will determine her fate for the forceable future. I know how close you two are, so I thought you might want to make that decision together."

"What decision? What's that scroll?" asked Susan.

"This," Albus said, handing it over, "is something your father gave me before he left. He told me I would know if the time was ever right to give it to you, and he was right. Please, read it and you will understand."

Susan unrolled it, and Luna read over her shoulder.

My Dearest Daughter,

If you are reading these words, my fears have come to pass. This world was indeed in danger, though I could find no trace of it. However, it seems you have risen to the challenge, as is proper for the daughter of the greatest wizard even born on his world. ;-) It was always my intention to check up on you from time to time, and the fact that I have not means one of several things has happened.

The first, and least troubling, is that I am on a world where time runs much slower than it does here, so while you have aged many years, I have not.

The second, and most troubling, is that I have failed in my mission, either through my capture or death.

You now have a choice to make. Do you stay on your world and defend it (an action I would not think less of you for doing) or take up my fight and help others? To even make that choice however, you need a way to reach Lady Inari, and that is what the remainder of this scroll contains. The spell to open a doorway to her world, where you can seek her advice. If she knows I am captive somewhere she can advise you on the feasibility of a rescue attempt. If I am dead… at least you will know and can mourn the man you never knew. You have your own life. Please do not think this is your father commanding you to leave your home and fight for people who don't even know you exist. You must choose where your future takes you.

But I think the call of adventure will be as strong in you as it was in me, and we will see each other for the first time someday.

I look forward to that day.

My daughter, I congratulate you. You have obviously done well in coming this far, both in your magical training and in your personal maturity. You must be a hard worker, and I hope have made many good friends here on this world. It's an odd one, but I'm coming to understand that all worlds are, in their way.

Good luck, in whatever path you choose to walk.

Love Eternally,

Elysian Tarsisis

"I'm going," said Luna, before Susan even had a chance to say anything.

"How do you even know I'm going anywhere?" she protested. Luna just looked at her. "Okay, you know me too well. You better clear it with him though." She glanced at Albus.

"I believe that traveling to other worlds might be just as educational as staying and studying at this one," he said, a slight smile on his face. "If your father allows it, you may accompany Susan on her journey. Given what you'll face, I'm sure you'll get lots of practice in magic, and I'll feel better having a wanded magic user alongside you, Susan. You admit your magic isn't limitless."

"True."

"Thank you," Luna said. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," said Susan. "I'll need to pack some things, say goodbye to everyone, the whole bit. Plus study this spell so I can cast it. We've got some work to do. You'll need a good book of spells to practice, hopefully we can come up with one."

"I hope I see you again," said Albus. "And your father and I can get reacquainted. He seemed an interesting man."

"You will. I promise. This world is my home, but I know my duty now. Thank you for this." She rolled the parchment up and waved it. "It will save me some time, that's for sure."

"Thank your father. I just took care of it until you were ready. Good luck."

Susan nodded, then took Luna's hand. They proudly walked out of the office and towards their next big adventure.