A/N: Just a tip to writers everywhere: When writing sad parts, NEVER listen to Evanescence while doing it! XD Anyways, this one is long! And… I got it up on time! YAAAYY! I'll try to get the last chapter (gasp!) up sometime over the weekend.

Fair warning: Lots of POV switching in this chapter!

May 9, 2775

Nega's POV

Once Wolfe and Ace had finished barking out orders (literally in Wolfe's case,) we had all sprang into action. I saw Tech, Claire, Laela, and Sive take off towards the machine, and Rev, Slam, Buzz, and the twins break into two groups- the twins were one group and Rev, Buzz and Slam were the other,- and each group took one side of the room and started swatting shadow creatures like flies. They were being more cautious than usual to avoid getting hurt, but they were still kicking butt.

Meanwhile, Ace, Lexi, and Duck were all taking on Velvet. She was good enough to hold her own against all three of them and barely break a sweat, and she wasn't making it easy for them, either. Wolfe, Psycho, and I, however, got separated by a new swarm of shadow walkers from Celeste. Psycho was a ways away from us by then, but I could see him out of the corner of my eye, and he was doing fine on his own. Wolfe was right behind me, cutting them all down with his sword to keep them off of me so I could handle Celeste. I could handle her on my own, but not for forever, so I was hoping this wouldn't last for much longer.

I was currently battling Celeste near the edge of the platform. There was about a fifteen foot drop to the bottom, so I was trying not to fall. Unlike Celeste, I couldn't fly.

She shot a dark beam at me, and I had to duck and roll to avoid it. I stopped as soon as I could and retaliated with a shot of my own, but she slightly shifted her position in midair, and easily dodged it. She tried throwing some short, explosive bursts, but I easily zigzagged and dodged them. I had run closer to Celeste throughout that, and when I was practically directly below her, I jumped up and gathered shadow energy around my hand to slash at her. She realized what I was doing just in time to fly backwards so I went right past her, and she shot another beam at me as I passed. I landed on my feet, and did a flip up onto my hands to avoid her blast, and did another flip to get back on my feet.

"At this rate, we'll be going all night!" Celeste sarcastically moaned. I ignored her and shot another beam at her, but she dodged it by spinning and quickly retaliated with a short burst. I couldn't move back fast enough, and it exploded at my feet, sending me flying in the process. I tumbled down the fifteen-or-so feet of slanted wall to the dip in the floor below, but managed to roll back onto my feet.

I turned around as Celeste lightly floated down from the platform above and floated a few inches above the ground in front of me. "Maybe not all night..." she said thoughtfully as she looked up at the machine behind us. I looked back, too, and saw the black beam charging in the barrel of the cannon. It was getting larger by the second, and there were probably only a few minutes left until it would go off.

Hurry up, I thought, willing Tech and Claire to work faster.

I turned back around just in time to see Celeste shoot another beam at me, and I leaned back on my knees to avoid it. I straightened up as I sent a whip-like burst of energy at Celeste, and she dropped to the floor and ducked down to avoid it. As she straightened up, I saw something on her wrist.

She caught me staring at it, and she smirked. "Like it?" she asked as she showed off the gauntlet on her wrist. "I just got it earlier this evening."

"So you did kill Ceci!" I spat. "You haven't changed a bit, you know that? Ceci trusted you! She was your friend!"

"Who needs friends?" Celeste asked with a shrug. "All I've ever done is use people to my advantage, and I'm pretty happy with where it's gotten me."

"And where's that; a freak of nature about to destroy the future?" I asked angrily as I shot a series of short blasts at her. I couldn't make them explode like she could, but they would still do some damage if they hit. None of them did, though; Celeste hopped back into the air and did a series of maneuvers to avoid them.

"You think I'm a freak? Take a good look at yourself!" she exclaimed as she sent another beam my way. I ran around her to avoid it. "You've been a freak ever since I first knew you! No one ever liked you, you're so different, you've never done anything right by anyone-" I stopped listening there. I knew I shouldn't let her get to me, but that one stung.

Celeste noticed that I was distracted, so she shot a wide beam at me that I was only just able to dodge by running off to the side. Celeste had anticipated this, though, and rushed me. I didn't see her coming until she was right in front of me, and by then it was too late to move. She socked me full-force in the jaw, and that force coupled with the speed she had been flying at was more than enough to send me flying backward.

xoxoxoxox

Celeste's POV

I smirked as one of my hits finally connected and sent Nega flying a good twenty or thirty feet away. She didn't move after she landed, so I took a second to survey the situation.

The cannon was charging and would fire in another minute or two. Velvet had taken precautions to prevent the Loonatics from stopping it while designing it; it didn't move, and once it started, she had assured me that there was no stopping it manually, or any other way. She had also taken out any and all light sources to prevent a repeat of what had happened when she first tried stealing the converter.

I looked all around the room, and was far less pleased with everything else I saw. In fact, I was just plain ticked, and a little worried.

The two groups of Loonatics that were taking on the shadow creatures at the sides of the room were winning by a lot. They were almost through with all of the shadow creatures on those ends of the room, and were going to go help the others in the near future. The group at the cannon was also doing a good job holding off the shadow creatures, and the two who had originally come with Nega to fight me had joined them. Velvet was still holding her own, but it was a pretty even fight, and since it was three on one, she would tire out first.

We need more time! I thought, seething frustration. Then, I had an idea. I formed as many of the small, pellet-like spheres of energy as I could- about five of them- and fired them off in multiple directions at the Loonatics and L5.

xoxoxoxox

Donny's POV

The fight was going well. Mei and I were kicking butt, and so far, none of the shadow creatures had been able to touch us. Mei and I were fighting back-to-back, each of us morphing into another person every few seconds. It was fast-paced, and I had to pay close attention to everything around me to avoid getting killed.

We were almost through dealing with the shadow creatures around us when it all went downhill like an avalanche. I heard Mei let out something between a scream, a gasp, and a cough. I turned around just in time to see her fall to the ground, morphing back into herself. A large, red stain was quickly spreading over her chest, and shocked expression was plastered on her face, her eyes staring unblinkingly forward.

Before the shock of what had just happened hit me, something else did. Whatever-it-was hit me in the side of my head with enough force to make my head snap in the opposite direction, which probably almost broke my neck. Everything felt numb afterward, except for one spot on my head where I had been hit. I felt something wet rapidly moving down my neck and back, and when I reached out to touch it, my hand came back covered in red. Then, I blacked out.

xoxoxoxox

Rev's POV

This was one of the easiest fights I had ever been in. I was running around, keeping a bunch of the shadow walkers away from Buzz and Slam so they could deal with them without getting swarmed. Buzz and Slam were doing pretty good, though; one swing of one of their arms and three shadow creatures were out.

I was running around and around the last group of shadow creatures- about a dozen of them, maybe a little more. I was effectively keeping them in one place, and none of them were fast enough to touch me as I ran past.

I was about ready to move on so Buzz and Slam could deal with this group, when suddenly, something hit me. It went into my arm, and kept going through my side. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to knock me off course and slam into Buzz, almost knocking him off balance.

I slumped to the floor, gasping for breath, but it felt as if I couldn't breathe. I vaguely heard Buzz shout "Slam!" but I was so dazed it didn't really register. I got lightheaded, and blacked out a moment later.

xoxoxoxox

Tech's POV

Wolfe and Psycho had started helping Laela and Sive keep the shadow creatures away a moment earlier, and I was grateful for it; they seemed to be more interested in getting us away from the machine than anything else, and the two of them were struggling a bit on their own. I briefly wondered what had happened to Celeste and Nega, but I was too busy trying to crack the machine at that moment. It was proving to be impossible, and I was worried we wouldn't be able to hack it in time. We would've just disabled the converter if we could, but it was built into the machine somewhere, and we didn't have time to dismantle the thing.

I looked up for about two seconds, and almost immediately wished I hadn't. The following events happened all in a matter of seconds: At first, I was glad to see everyone doing just fine in all of their battles. Then, Mei fell, followed closely by Donny. As far as I saw, nothing had hit them, and yet the sight of the front of Mei's shirt and the side of Donny's head were enough to prove me wrong. I was so shocked, I stopped working and fully looked up and around. I heard Buzz yell out to Slam, and I turned to see him supporting an unconscious Rev. A pool of blood was collecting on the floor underneath him, and Buzz looked totally panicked. Slam did, too, when he realized what had just happened.

I turned back around just in time to see Laela fall to the ground, a large, red stain spreading across her back. I didn't even see what had hit her.

I turned around to yell to Sive and Claire, to warn them about what was happening, silently panicking to myself, but I was met with another terrible sight; Claire had just collapsed. I knelt down next to her immediately, though I had figured out what was wrong with her; Rev. If he had...died, then Claire would fade. I didn't even want to think of that possibility, though it looked like the only one; as far as I could tell, there was nothing wrong with her, though she was staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

I looked up to Sive to tell her what I knew, when I saw something behind her heading right for her. It looked like a small, black, pellet, and it was coming in at a high speed. In about a second and a half, I put two-and-two together and realized that those things were what had hit the twins, Rev, and Laela, and I knew I had to do something before it hit her. She wouldn't be able to recognize the threat and phase in time to avoid it.

"Sive!" I shouted as I tackled her to the ground. I felt something tear into my side, and then Sive and I landed in a heap.

xoxoxoxox

Sive's POV

One second, I was shooting a wide wave of electricity at an approaching wave of shadow creatures, and the next thing I knew, Tech had shouted "Sive!" and tackled me to the ground. I wasn't really sure how to react to that.

I sat up, turned to Tech, who was still lying on the ground, and said, "Tech, what are you-?" I immediately stopped talking when I saw the pool of blood collecting around his midsection. He was covering a spot on his side with his hands, just above his hip, he was breathing hard, and he had a pained look on his face. "Oh my God! Tech!" I shouted as I half-ran half-crawled to him from my position on the floor. I turned around and shouted, "Claire!" She was a medic, and I had no idea what to do. Unfortunately, she was lying on the ground with a blank expression that was just a little creepy. She didn't move at all, and I realized with a sickening feeling in my stomach that I was on my own. I couldn't see anyone else from where I was, and odds were, they wouldn't hear me over all of the noise.

I turned back to Tech, pushed his hands out of the way, and put pressure on his wound. Everyone who has ever seen a crime drama or doctor-related sitcom knows to at least do that. He gave a grunt of pain and winced in response to the pressure, but I didn't let up. "Sorry," I muttered to him.

"It's fine," he grunted quickly, saying as much as he could with one quick breath. "Are you alright?"

"Me? You're lying here bleeding to death and you're worried about me?" I asked incredulously. That was when I realized something; he was bleeding to death. He wasn't regenerating. "Tech…why aren't you regenerating?"

"I think this is…shadow energy," he replied quickly. "Can't…regenerate from it." I remembered our incident with Velvet when she first tried taking the converter. It had taken him almost three days to recover from that. I also remembered my conversation with him that night; he had said that so long as he wasn't fatally wounded, he would be fine. This looked fatal to me.

"Tech…why did you…?" I asked, but I lost my voice somewhere in-between.

"I wasn't just going…to let you get killed," he said. He sounded tired, and he was getting weaker by the second.

"But you-" I began before he cut me off.

"Sive, I said earlier…that I would protect you," he said with a little more strength than before. "I didn't mean…just for that mission…I meant…always…I don't want to see you…get hurt." I felt tears coming to my eyes when he said that. I wasn't really sure what to say, so I stayed silent for a moment. "Sive?" Tech said. "Try not to be…so reckless in the future…"

"Look who's talking…" I whispered. "Have you ever thought that I'm so reckless because, like you, I care for those close to me?"

"Yeah, it crossed my mind…" he said with a slight smile that rapidly changed back to a grimace of pain. "I just-"

"Care for me, I know," I cut in. I wanted him to save his strength. "I care for you, too, Tech… I don't want you to go…"

Tears were streaming down my face, now. Tech's breathing was getting shallower and shallower, and I didn't know what to do to help him. I felt pretty useless right about then.

Tech gave me another weak smile, and slowly closed his eyes.

xoxoxoxox

Wolfe's POV

I was spinning around, slashing anything with my sword that got within range. Nothing was stopping me at that point, and the best part was that there were fewer and fewer of the shadow creatures with every second. This fight would be over in a matter of minutes. After Psycho, who was fighting right behind me, and I were done there, we would go help Ace, Lexi, and Duck with Velvet.

Just as I finished off the last of the shadow creatures, I felt Psycho freeze up behind me. I turned to him curiously in time to see him fall to the ground, a blank expression plastered on his face.

"Psycho!" I shouted in shock as I knelt next to him. He seemed totally fine, other than the blank expression. It seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it…

I looked up to call to someone for help, but I was met with a horrible sight. Donny and Mei were both lying, side by side, dead on the floor on one end of the room. Slam was supporting Rev, who also appeared to be dead, on the opposite end of the room, while Buzz was holding off the remaining shadow walkers. Ace, Lexi, and Duck were still fighting Velvet, oblivious to their surroundings. I still couldn't see Nega and Celeste. Laela was lying dead on the stairs to the machine.

The other two things I saw let me know what had happened to Psycho: Claire was lying on the ground, with a similar expression. A few feet away from her, Sive was kneeling next to Tech. There was a lot of blood near them, Tech wasn't moving, and Sive was sobbing.

I looked down in horror at Psycho. His ancestor was dead; he was fading, and there was nothing I could do about it. That was why it looked familiar. It was happening a lot faster than it usually did, and it was probably only a matter of hours before he disappeared completely.

With another glance around the room, I realized something; we had lost. Both Tech and Claire were out of the equation, the machine was still online, and Velvet and most likely Celeste as well were still there. Not to mention the fact that almost half of the team was dead.

I looked back to the machine, hoping for some random miracle to happen that would disable it, but it wasn't going to happen. Both Tech and…and…

No, I thought. It can't be…

The female roadrunner, our techie… I had already forgotten her name.

I turned back to the lavender coyote, only to find that I couldn't remember his name, either. In fact, I couldn't remember much about him at all…

xoxoxoxox

Nega's POV

I sat up after landing from that punch Celeste had given me, and looked up in time to see her shoot a number of small, bullet-like spheres around the room. Two hit the twins, one hit Laela, one hit Rev, and one looked as if it was about to hit Sive, but Tech pushed her out of the way and was hit instead. I heard some of their exchange as I watched Claire and Psycho fall a moment later.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the machine had finally charged up a couple minutes later. It fired, sending a pitch black, very wide beam roaring over my head. It wouldn't affect anyone until it came back down to earth in the form of waves from the satellite, and that would probably take about a minute.

"You're too late," Celeste stated gleefully as she turned back to me. "Your teammates are dead, and the world is doomed. Odds are, you'll be erased from time. Have fun with that."

I shakily got to my feet, still trying to process everything that had just happened. I was in shock, and not without good reason. Five of my teammates were dead, and two from the original Loonatics were gone, too. And I could've stopped Celeste eariler, but I froze up at just the wrong time.

Time… I thought curiously.

"Face it, fox!" Celeste shouted triumphantly. "You've lost!"

I turned my head just a bit, and I saw a strange, black field surrounding the city, and getting closer by the second. That was what would affect the world, and eventually, the whole planet would be surrounded by the field. Celeste then chose to rush me, gathering energy around her hand in a finishing blow.

"Maybe not…" I whispered thoughtfully as the field was about to engulf the building.

I need to save myself… I need to save my friends… I need to save…everyone.

Suddenly, Celeste started slowing down, as did the field. Both stopped completely right before they reached me. Then, the strangest thing started happening: Everything started moving backwards, including myself. Any moves I had made were repeated backwards, as were everyone else's around me. It went faster and faster, until suddenly, it stopped, with Celeste floating in front of me.

"You think I'm a freak? Take a good look at yourself!" she exclaimed as she sent another beam my way. I ran around her to avoid it. "You've been a freak ever since I first knew you! No one ever liked you, you're so different, you've never done anything right by anyone-"

I stopped listening there. I don't believe it… I thought. It worked!

"Maybe I can do something right…" I muttered to myself as I prepared for what was coming. Right on cue, Celeste rushed me. Instead of freezing up, though, I sent a powerful right jab to her face, making her flip once in the air before landing face-first on the ground.

Without hesitating, thinking as I went, I ran up to her, took the time machine off of her wrist, put it onto my own, (it was a very tight fit,) and ran up so I was standing directly under the line of fire from the machine. I pointed upward, and fired. A time portal flew into the air, and then stopped.

I looked back over at Celeste, and she was just starting to get up. She glared daggers at me, but before she could do anything, the machine fired. Instead of sending the laser into the sky, though, it fired straight into the time portal. I hoped that it didn't send it to a populated area; I would've set the date myself if I knew how, but I didn't, so I just had to hope for the best.

The portal closed after the full beam had traveled through it, and I looked around at the room. Donny, Mei, Rev, Tech, Claire, Laela, and Psycho all appeared to be okay, much to my relief. Donny, Mei. Rev, Laela, Sive, Psycho, and Wolfe had just dispatched the last of the shadow creatures, and I turned my head just in time to see Ace plaster Velvet against a wall with a powerful laser blast. She was out cold.

I walked up to Celeste, holding a shadow-energy charged hand out to her as a warning not to try anything. "This time around," I began, "you're the one who lost." She looked very confused, and that's when I remembered that I was the only one who knew anything of what almost happened, but I wasn't going to bother wasting air explaining it to her.

"Nega!" Wolfe called to me as he slid down the wall to my level. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied, never taking my eyes off Celeste, who was still giving me one of those if-looks-could-kill looks.

It was finally all over.

A/N: Yay! Endings! Of the good kind! XD So, yeah, dramatic, huh? The next (and final) chapter will be an Epilogue of sorts to wrap some things up… R&R!