Chapter 29

Virtues and Sins

"Al, what is he talking about?" Kisa asked, looking over toward her boyfriend.

Alphonse's fists clenched. "If Pride absorbs Jacob like he has the other personalities, that will make him the prime personality, and give him total control."

"That's… that's bad. But we can still stop him- it's three against one. Technically." She added after remembering that both Pride and Jacob had absorbed all of Jacob's other personalities into themselves.

Pride smirked. "Not so fast- you really think I would've come here without backup?" A pounding began to fill the room, and the wooden doors began to creak and bend inwards until they finally splintered and broke down, letting the Censors and Personal Demons that had been waiting outside until now in.

"Can you guys handle them?" Jacob asked, his eyes on Pride, who was floating above all their heads.

"We'll manage. Just get kick his ass." Kisa said, slamming a Psychic fist into a wall of enemies. Jacob nodded, flying up after Pride.

"Ooh, lookit you, all powerful now." Pride laughed. "You'll never beat me, Jacob- you're too peaceful and kind to attack me. Besides, you can never come to terms with what you've let us do. Face it- you lost this battle before you eve- hurrkk!" Pride choked off as Jacob slammed a fist into his chest- literally. Jacob's white gloved hand sunk into Pride's core.

"I came to terms with myself- all of myself- a long time ago." Jacob growled, ripping his hand back and with it, Wrath. The manifestation of the blonde's anger disappeared into smoke, which crawled up Jacob's arm and disappeared inside of him.

Pride clung to the railing of the balcony he'd been thrown into. "What… how…?"

"I told you- I came to terms with my sins a long time ago." Jacob said, hovering in front of him. "Unfortunately, until now, I've never been powerful enough to face any of you. Now, I'm strong enough and sane enough to take them back. I was angry at everything, because I thought I was a freak for being a psychic," Jacob's hands plunged back into Pride's chest, making the black-clothed manifest scream in pain. Jacob removed one, holding a struggling, poison green version of himself, "I was envious of the power I saw in Kisa," Envy disappeared in the same manner as Wrath, and Jacob plunged his right hand back in as he pulled his left out, "And I wanted to be that powerful myself."

"Stop…" Pride gasped. "Please…"

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Oh, but I'm not finished yet." He growled, yanking his hands out again. "I was too lazy to develop my own powers or to fight off my pending insanity, and Lust… well, I don't think I need to explain that one." He muttered, absorbing both Sloth and Lust.

Pride was now too weak to even hold himself to the railing, back to his usual, golden self. Jacob held him up by the front of his shirt. "And you… I was too prideful to admit what was wrong with me. My ego got so out of control that I let myself misuse my powers because I thought I was better than everyone else. And I attacked Kisa to prove it." He smirked slightly. "Pride cometh before the fall indeed."

"No- I don't want to go back!" Pride wailed, thrashing in Jacob's grip.

"Oh, shut up, would you? It's not about you- it never was." Jacob growled. "Time to fix the mess you helped make." Pride exploded into a cloud of golden dust, absorbing back into Jacob.

About the same time, most of the Censors and Personal Demons that were left over disappeared in puffs of smoke, leaving a relieved Kisa and Alphonse. "Quite the speech you just gave." Al said as Jacob, now clothed in a full spectrum of colors, landed on the floor.

Jacob smiled. "You don't think it was too monologue-y? I felt a bit like a cheesy villain." There was a low rumble, and the castle shook, bits of stone and dust exploding from the ceiling and walls. "Looks like it's time for you two to get out of here." He looked over toward the throne, where a small light was shining. It expanded into a glowing white door. "There's your way out- hurry, before it closes."

"What about you?" Kisa asked.

Jacob smiled. "I'll be fine. But you have to get out of here- if that door disappears, you'll both be trapped in here while I clean up this mess."

Al nodded. "Good luck. Kisa, let's go."

Kisa gave the blonde boy a quick hug before taking Al's hand and running out the shining door. It disappeared behind the two, leaving Jacob alone in his mind. With a sigh, he headed toward the broken doors of the quickly collapsing castle, a small smile on his face. "Time to get to work."

When Kisa first realized she was back in her own body, it was a strange sensation. She felt heavy, like she didn't fit right, and had to fight to open her eyes- not so much to close them when she was blinded by the overhead lights. When she tried again, the light was blocked out by the faces of her worried parents.

"Kisa! You're all right!" Lili sighed in relief, hugging her daughter tightly.

"You really had us scared, Kisa." Raz said, not so subtly wiping his eyes.

"'m sorry." She said, hugging her parents back. "Where are we?"

Lili finally let go of her daughter. "The medical wing of Psychonauts' Headquarters. You've been unconscious for almost three weeks, Kisa." Kisa's eyes widened.

"What? Wait- what about Al? And Jacob?"

"Al woke up a minute ago, but Jacob… he's still unconscious, and his mind's completely shut down from all psychic entry." Raz explained. "What happened?"

Kisa gave her parents the short version of the story.

"That would explain the brief moment that we could feel Jacob's mind open back up." Sasha said, having joined the group just after Kisa had begun to explain. "But I don't understand why he shut it out again."

"He just wanted to fix things on his own, I guess." Al said.

Sasha nodded. "I see. Well, the two of you have done a great thing, stopping Jacob from spreading that gas across the world like he planned."

"How much did he have?" Kisa asked, sounding surprised.

"A lot. Enough to cripple or kill every psychic on the planet." Lili said. "You two are getting medals from dad for saving the psychic population."

"But you're both still grounded. Indefinitely." Milla added in a scolding tone.

"Yeah, we kinda figured." Alphonse sighed.

~Several months later…~

"Kisa, you're gonna call us sometime this summer, right?" A girl with curly blonde hair asked the redhead teasingly as the three sat on the steps in front of their private school

"Maybe. Depends on how long camp runs." Kisa replied with a grin.

"Or if she can tear herself away from her boyfriend." Another girl with darker hair commented. "She talks to him all the time."

Kisa's face flushed. "Shut up, Vicky." She ordered, looking up as a sleek, dark green sports car pulled into the curved driveway of the academy.

"Speak of the devil…" Vicky commented as the driver's side door opened and Alphonse Nein climbed out.

"The very handsome devil." The blonde added, eyeing the nearly-sixteen-year-old.

"He's taken." Kisa said dryly, standing up and grabbing her bag before running down the steps and hugging her boyfriend. There were whistles from behind her. Kisa pulled away from Al, flipping her friends off before climbing into the car.

"Very ladylike, Keese." Al told her, tossing her suitcase in the trunk and getting back behind the wheel.

"Ladylike is not a requirement with my friends." She retorted. "You've certainly changed your look." She commented, giving him a once over now that she wasn't fending off drooling teenage girls.

"Yeah. Dad nearly murdered me over the hair." Al said, referring to the fact that he now sported a short ponytail. "I'm about to cut it, just so Sarah'll stop trying to pull it. But this is definitely a new look for you. I like the plaid."

Kisa forcibly turned Al's head back to the road. "Eyes on the road, Nein, not my skirt."

"Wasn't looking at your skirt." He retorted with a grin. Kisa just rolled her eyes. "Sorry. So, what do you think about being junior counselors this year?"

"I think it's gonna be pretty fun, all things considered." She said, reaching into her bag as she felt her phone vibrate against her leg. Pressing a couple of buttons, she turned on the speakerphone. "Hi mom."

"Kisa, has Al come to get you yet?"

"I'm in the car with him right now."

"Hi Lily." Al greeted.

"Hello Al. Listen, Kisa, slight change of plans. I need you two to head for New York City."

Kisa looked over at Al, who shrugged. "What? Mom, why?"

"Your grandfather just called me. Jacob's awake. He's asking to see the two of you." Lily said. "You can fly out to Whispering Rock from there."

"Psychonauts HQ it is." Al said, pulling off the interstate and turning around.

~Psychonauts' Headquarters, medical wing~

"The receptionist said room one-oh-eight…" Kisa said, practically running down the hall.

Al grabbed her arm. "Right here." He said as the redhead almost ran past it. "You ready?"

Kisa nodded, pushing open the door. "Jacob?"

The blonde sat up in bed, his aura a calm, peaceful grey, and grinned. "Hey guys. What's up?"

SC: Okay, so, it's not by New Year, and I'm sorry, but it was just NOT coming out right. I tried to make the fight between Jacob and Pride longer, but it didn't work, so I just added the epilogue in, which was supposed to be a chapter on its own. So, yeah. That's it! Next Generation is over with! I may be working on a sequel, tho, depending on how my other stories are going. Keep your fingers crossed, NG fans ;P

Ja ne

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