Gamer4 in. Ow... ow... ow... you guys have no idea how painful and difficult it is to stick all these needles in my eye... Yeah, just kidding, I'm writing this less than a week after the last chapter. I just put that in there in case something happens and this chapter isn't actually posted until after my self-imposed deadline- which it really shouldn't, I just want to cover my bases. Anyways, this should be the final main chapter of the Live Alive mini-series- there will be one more after this, but that'll just be an epilogue to wrap everything up, so... let's dive right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: It doesn't have lyrics, but I'm fond of Wings that Don't Reach, Oersted's theme from the original game...

Chapter VI

Queen of Demons

"It's about time," Fireheart growled.

"Indeed," Link agreed. "I've been aching to see our hostess's true face."

"Come on, guys," Ness spoke in a much gentler voice as they set off into the tower and searching for some stairs. "Remember what the Titans said- when we stop her, let's be doing it for her, not for revenge, a'ight?"

"Speak for yourself, Ness," Akane shot back sharply. "Like I said, I've got a friend in the hospital because of this witch- I'm not letting that go lightly."

There was an air of tension between them for a brief moment, but as they looked around at each others' faces, they took a collective deep breath.

"If there was ever a time to put our differences aside... it's now," Harry spoke what was on all their minds, taking the lead through the tower's halls.

"Quite," KOS-MOS agreed. "To turn our anger towards each other at this juncture would simply be playing into Raven's hands."

"Divide and conquer," Shinji noted quietly. "No need to do half her work for her."

As they continued their ascent, Akane turned to Ness again. "Any chance you can sense her?"

Ness closed his eyes, breathing deeply, and raised his hands to his forehead in the classic psychic stance. Lowering his eyelids halfway, Harry interjected. "Is that really necessary?"

"Nah, not really, but it's such a cool pose, isn't it?" Ness smiled.

"Perhaps now is not the best time to be joking," KOS-MOS frowned slightly.

"Well, haven't you ever heard that laughter is the best medicine?" Ness retorted. "Hmm... yeah, I can sense her. Not a projection- for real this time. She's way up there... pretty much at the top."

"I have located an elevator," KOS-MOS noted as she approached the doors to said device. "Perhaps we would be better served to utilize it to ascend to the top of this tower."

"Elevator?" Link asked, eyebrows raised. Fireheart seemed equally confused.

"Ahead of your time," Harry, Ness, and Akane explained in unison. Shinji kept his eyes fixed on his shoes.

However, when KOS-MOS returned, a slight look of dejection on her face, it was Shinji who first addressed her. "Problem, KOS-MOS?"

"The elevator is out of service," she explained. "We will have to utilize the stairs."

"Hmm..." Ness appeared to be deep in thought. Slowly, he made his way over to a light switch on the wall and toggled it a bit. "No change..."

"No power, huh?" Akane nodded. "Guess we really shouldn't have expected anything different, given what the rest of the city looks like."

"I don't know," Ness admitted. "I guess I just kinda figured she'd at least have reserved some power of some sort for herself..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and frankly, I don't care," Fireheart noted. "Come on, we have to find Raven."

The climb was slow going- the tower was clearly constructed with the use of the elevator in mind. The stairs seemed more like an afterthought- a passing nod to the idea that there might be a fire or a severe power outage one day, without really taking either idea seriously. They were contained within a dark shaft, all the darker for the lack of power to the lights that were clearly supposed to illuminate it. There was no way of telling how high up they were- the only gauge they had for themselves was Ness occasionally reaching out with his powers to determine how far away Raven was. Twenty floors, ten floors... five floors...

"The stairway has reached its conclusion," KOS-MOS noted, gazing around the shaft with eyes that pierced the darkness. "We can ascend no further."

"Well, that makes no sense," Ness looked genuinely confused. "She's still a floor or two over us!"

Harry turned his green eyes towards a door nearby. "Why do I feel like we're still playing by her rules?" he wondered, searching for a knob.

"Because we are," Link noted darkly.

Finally, Harry found a handle on the door, which he grasped firmly and used to pull open the door. On the other side was yet another hallway.

Fireheart's eyes widened. "I can smell her," he mewed. "She's just ahead!"

Without another word, he took off into the hallway, leaving the others to chase after his brilliant orange fur. He swung around a corner and dashed to the very end, where another door impeded his progress. "She's on the other side," he meowed confidently. "I'm sure of it."

"Kind of hard to open the door in your situation, huh?" Akane noted.

"Shut up," Fireheart growled. "Graystripe would never believe this..."

"Somehow, I doubt he'd believe any of this," Link noted as he approached the door. "Much the same as the last one..." He grasped the handle and opened it up. On the other side was a set of stairs. "Hmmm... and where do these lead?"

"Oh, that's easy," Ness smirked, glancing over at Akane and Shinji as he spoke. "They go up."

Harry, Link, and Fireheart seemed confused, but Akane sighed and Shinji cracked a slight smile. "Never mind, guys, never mind. Ness is just being... Ness."

"In that case, let's find out for ourselves," Harry once more took the lead.

The air became even cooler as they climbed, and none of them failed to notice that this stairwell was illuminated much better than the previous one they'd climbed. Eventually, it ended in an open doorway, through which they could spy the dark, blood-red sky.

"The roof," Akane muttered. "Of course the roof- why anywhere else?"

The roof of the tower was large and rectangular, and held what appeared to have once been a volleyball court, in addition to a basketball hoop placed at either end- though the nets seemed to have long since rotted away. Where the volleyball net once stood, right in the center of the court, and the roof, was a figure crouching down on the ground. "Raven," Fireheart hissed, dashing forward again, the others hot on his tail.

Abruptly, however, a sheet of darkness appeared, blocking them off from their adversary- a wall of what appeared to be dark energy. "Stand down," came a rather throaty voice from the figure before them. "I don't want to fight- not yet."

Coming to the understanding that things wouldn't move forward any more until they did as they were bid, they stood down- Fireheart sheathed his claws, Link, his sword. Akane stepped out of the martial arts stance she'd adopted, KOS-MOS lowered her arms and stood still, Harry lowered his wand, and Ness brought his bat around and began using it more as a sort of cane.

Slowly, the wall of darkness dissipated, allowing them to finally see, for the first time, the true form of their foe.

The huddled mass in the center of the roof had her back turned to them, allowing them to see only a blue robe. However, slowly, she rose to her feet and turned towards them. She certainly had changed a great deal from what any of them had witnessed before- even from the projection. The projection had been a young, well-cared for woman of about fourteen, with neat, shoulder-length blue hair. The woman standing before them now was older, and much more haggard-looking. Her hair was incredibly disheveled, coming down to her back, and the leotard she'd once worn was torn up in several places. There was a slightly crazed look on her face that hadn't been there before, and her whole image gave off the impression of extreme neglect. The only thing the same was her robe- the one thing that appeared to have been taken care of.

"I've been waiting for you," Raven spoke in a croak that her namesake would have been proud of- clearly, she wasn't used to using her true voice. "I brought each of you here from your homes because I needed to ask you some... very important questions."

She hesitated for a moment, gazing around at them as if waiting for something- however, they didn't intend to give her the satisfaction, remaining quiet. Shaking her head slightly, she spoke again. "First, I would like to run this by you- each of you may be-"

Harry moved rapidly, almost faster than any of the others could see. He whipped out his wand once more, the ring given to them by the Titans slipped on his finger. "Azarath, Metrion-"

Wordlessly, Raven waved her hand, and a bolt of dark energy snapped into Harry's hand, knocking his wand out of it to be caught by Link, acting on swift reflexes, and knocking the ring from his finger to fly off the side of the tower and fall, noiselessly, to the ground.

"Good effort, but maybe you should find some shorter magic words," Raven suggested scathingly, seemingly oblivious to the looks of horror on her guests' faces. That had been their one chance...

"Now, as I was saying before I was so... rudely interrupted... my first question. Each of you may be heroes in your own time, in your own ways. Only a fool would deny it. The fire that would save the clan, a key member of the Nerima Wrecking Crew that saved that town almost as often as destroying it... the once and future hero of Hyrule... the Boy Who Lived... the leader of the Chosen Four... the pilot of Unit 01 who protected Tokyo 3 on so many occasions... and the light that would lead humanity into the future, even past the dissipation of the universe," Raven concluded, passing her eyes over each of them in turn, beginning with Fireheart and ending in KOS-MOS. "Impressive things, all- you really should put them on your resumes. However... what has anyone ever done for you in return? A little pat on the back, a brief moment of commiseration for the hardships you faced, and then... what, everything moves along as normal, and soon enough, everyone forgets you ever existed? Is that truly just?"

The group remained silent, glaring right back at her. Raven continued. "Think about it- all they ever do is rely on you to do all the dirty work for them, go out and risk your life again and again to keep them safe, while they watch from a safe distance, ready to forget about you as soon as you aren't useful anymore! Do they even deserve help in the first place?"

The first to speak was Harry, breaking the previous code of silence and speaking up, fury in his voice. "Why don't you shut up?" he growled. "Talk about how cruel the rest of the world is to you all you want- all you're doing is coming up with excuses for why you could never have been anything else, avoiding the truth- you chose to be like this!"

Raven turned on him, fury in her eyes. "I'm surprised you, of all people, feel that way, Mr. Potter! After all, what is the 'thank you' you've gotten for everything you've done to protect the wizarding world? Oh, right- they've turned against you already, libeling you in their papers and dismissing you as a madman for attempting to tell them the truth! Do such people really deserve the help you're always offering them?!"

"No, Harry's right!" Akane objected, standing tall and glaring the other woman down. "You go on and on about how the world rejected you, forced you into this, but we know the truth! We talked to your friends in the tunnel on the way here- one person did all of this to you, that Terra girl, and you decided to punish the rest of the world for what she did, and then you come and try to tell us about justice?!"

"Terra?" Raven grunted. "Oh, no, I don't hate her- if anything, I'm thankful to her! Without her, I would never have realized the truth about the scum that clings to this planet- she set up the plan, yes, but it's humans that walked so willingly into it! Humans that so readily forgot everything I'd ever done for them, so quickly turned against me in a time of hardship, humans that never would have forgiven-"

"Oh, dear Giygas, do not use that line on us!" Ness objected, sounding and looking far more scathing than any of the others had so far heard him. "So many of the villains on my journey, all going on about how there was never any other choice, because people would never have forgiven them for what they'd done already! Jeff calls me childish, but even he thought that was more petulant than anything I ever did! Because guess what, I'm coming at you with something you'd have never, ever predicted- I forgive you! If you're really sorry for what you've done- and I can tell- and you truly want to make amends- I'm always ready to forgive anyone and help them-"

"Shut UP!" Raven burst out, and abruptly, all of them found themselves silenced by dark magic crossing their mouths. Raven stood there for a moment, her chest heaving, before finally calming herself, dissipating the magic and continuing. "Alright, question 1 answered, time for question 2- why do you keep fighting despite that? What are your reasons? To protect the weak? For truth? Love? Why keep on fighting when it's all going to end in death anyways? Why? Why keep going? Why persist?"

"Because I'm part of the clan," came the next answer, this time from Fireheart. "My clanmates will always have my back, and I'll always have theirs! We stand together against the cruelty of the outside world, working together to survive, because if we turned our backs towards each other, we wouldn't survive for long! Only the lowest warriors of the low would ever turn against their comrades the way you did against yours!"

"Are you referring to those shades in the tunnel?" Raven asked, looking down on the feline beneath her. "I'm not certain you could really call them my comrades- my comrades died a long time ago. Those... those things in the tunnel are just pale recreations, images of what they might be like, were they still alive today. They have no more sentience than that doll over there!" She glowered at KOS-MOS.

Fireheart hissed back, but Link was the next to speak. "That's a lie, and you know it! They are your friends, revived in those forms! They wish for nothing more than to see you return to the way you were before, to see you redeemed for your sins! It is a pity that it seems their wishes cannot be fulfilled..."

"In addition, I am far more than a lifeless doll," KOS-MOS spoke up. "There is a phrase I believe is relevant here- I think, therefore, I am. My mere ability to wonder if I truly possess a soul confirms that I do, in fact, possess such free will. And I pride myself on having used it much better than you have- I truly act upon my own desires, while you simply gave in when people turned against you, becoming the very thing they thought you to be. In short, I keep fighting... because I choose to."

Raven's eyes narrowed further than ever before, but then she cast her eyes around, looking somewhat confused. "And what about that pilot? What does he have to say on the subject?"

The group glanced around, but all came to the same conclusion- Shinji simply wasn't there. He seemed to have vanished. "He didn't," Akane growled. "No... no, he did not!"

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Ness spoke quickly. "I'm sure, wherever he is, he'll be back soon, and he had good reasons for... for running out on us..."

XXXX

Shinji panted as he exited the door at the very bottom of the tower, glancing up at the roof once as he did so. What must they be thinking right now? He didn't know, but he hoped they'd understand soon. What he was doing had to be done, after all...

He was shaken out of his brief reverie by a shaking, crashing, and flashing of several lights from the roof, and quickly turned around once more, running as fast as his legs would carry him, eyes on the ground the whole time.

XXXX

The others all showed varying degrees of betrayal on their faces, but no one else had the chance to speak as Raven interjected. "It doesn't matter," she shook her head. "It's just as I thought- you're all the same. Victorious in your self-important battles, willing to kill for your own greedy ends... you get better reputations, but at the end of they day, you're just as low as the rest of the scum on this planet."

As she spoke, the group began to return to their fighting stances, drawing sword, wand, bat and claw...

"If you still refuse to see the truth," Raven growled as she slowly began to hover over the ground, her glare becoming more and more pronounced, "Then you can die along with them!"

She raised her hand and fired off a bolt of dark energy at Akane, but before it could make contact, Harry raised his wand and shouted, "Protego!" The light in front of Akane shimmered, and the energy bounced off of it- right back at Raven. Akane retaliated by leaping forward and aiming a kick at Raven's chest, but the woman in blue dodged out of the way, leaping to the side and deftly ducking under Link's swinging sword. Ness swung his baseball bat, but another wave of Raven's hand, and the bat was surrounded with dark energy and wrenched from the boy's hand, send skidding across the rooftop. KOS-MOS leapt into the air and brought her feet down towards Raven, spinning around as if attempting to drill into her, but once again, she was met only with a barrier that she couldn't penetrate.

"You seem to have missed this vital point," Raven growled, spinning around and slamming an elbow into Akane as she charged forward, knocking the martial artist to the ground. "This is my world! You can't beat me here!"

Well, they seemed keen to give it a shot anyways- Link produced a bow and arrow and fired at her. Moving quickly, almost as if they'd planned it, Mario pointed his wand at the arrow and cried, "Incendio!" The arrow burst into flames as it hurtled towards Raven, but another wave of the sorceress's hands summoned a portal that redirected the arrow back at them. It was only a quick cry from Ness of "Psi Shield!" that prevented them from almost literally being impaled upon their own sword. Speaking of Ness, he'd produced another weapon from his backpack- a yo-yo that he was spinning around and around. "Like my technique?" he smiled. "Time to bring it around town! Bring it around town! Bring it around town!"

"What are you event trying to accomplish?" Raven snarled, ducking under the first swing of the yo-yo and subsequently dodging all the rest.

"Distracting ya, fool!" Ness grinned brightly. Raven spun around to be met by a punch to the face from Akane.

"About time we landed a hit on her," Akane growled, lashing out with a kick- that was deflected by another barrier.

"For the first and last time, I promise," Raven snarled, thrusting the barrier forward. Akane leapt out of the way.

"Ness!" came a call from the end of the roof. Ness spun around to see Fireheart next to his bat.

"Roger!" the boy grinned wildly, leaping forward and catching the bat as Fireheart slammed it forward. He spun around and managed to catch Raven in the back this time- she'd been pre-occupied defending herself from a flurry of spells from Harry and sword-strikes from Link.

Raven flew into the air, winded. Link was snarling as he drew his bow once more. "Oh, yes, attacking six people at once who are all furious at you and trained in fighting. What's the word for that?"

"Mouse-brained," Fireheart growled.

Raven, heedless, dropped herself down, bringing her foot towards Akane, who dodged out of the way and made to grab said foot, only for her hand to be blasted back by a bolt of dark energy. "OW! Dammit!"

Ness popped up next to her and quickly muttered, "Quick, off to the side, I'll take care of that for ya..."

Akane held her damaged hand out for him, and he muttered a few words under his breath. A faint light surrounded his hands that passed to hers, and miraculously, her hand was healed entirely. "Ness... that's amazing!"

"Well, you didn't think my psychic powers are just for reading minds, did ya?" Ness smiled.

"Over here, you two!" came a shout, and they spun to see Harry and Link caught, bound by dark magic. However, before they could get over, Raven let out a cry of pain and lashed out with her foot. Looking down, they saw Fireheart careening across the rooftop, leaving behind a nice set of teeth-and-claw marks in Raven's leg.

"Fireheart!" Harry called out. Looking down, he realized that he and Link had been freed.

"You will pay for that," Link snarled, drawing his bow again.

"Please," Raven retorted. "Do you truly believe that you can land a hit on me?"

"Likelihood of landing next four attacks- great," came the reply from behind her, but she didn't have time to turn before KOS-MOS seized her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides in a grip stronger than a vice.

The remaining four all moved at once- Harry summoned the happiest thought he could think of and shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Ness, meanwhile, began twirling his baseball bat, shouting out, "PSI ROCKIN' OMEGA!" Akane too the opportunity to draw her famous mallet and leap in the air, driving it down towards her, just as Link leapt forward with his blade.

One by one, every attack made its mark. A silver stag caught her around the chest, the mallet slammed her head into the ground, (whereupon KOS-MOS finally released her,) a gigantic burst of psychic energy blasted her in the chest- and before she could recover from any of the above, Link landed on her, driving his sword into her chest with all the strength he could muster.

"Ness... Fireheart," Akane growled, standing over Raven alongside the others. Ness nodded and quickly ran over to where Fireheart was wiped out on the roof.

"Lifeup Gamma!" he belted out, running his hands quickly up and down his feline form. Fireheart trembled, twitched, and finally opened his eyes.

"Did you get her?" were the first words from his mouth.

Ness smiled. "Yeah, we got her. Good thinking there- may have won us the fight-"

However, before he could speak again, he found himself caught in a pincer-like grip. He could see Fireheart, surrounded by that dark energy Raven seemed to champion, and could only assume he was in a similar situation. He found himself being lifted from the ground and turned to face Raven, rising from the floor and holding her hands aloft. From them sprouted six streams of dark energy, holding every single one of them tightly, ensuring they couldn't escape. "You... you fools!" she snarled. "Even after everything that's happened... everything I've shown you, everything you've seen... you still refuse to acknowledge the truth! I thought I could save you, show you what humanity is really like, but you just won't see it! Well, enough. No more holding back- it's time to end this!"

Slowly, she began to levitate in the air, glaring around at them all, and, before their eyes, began to transform. She closed her eyes, and as she opened them up, they multiplied- rather than the two large blue eyes she'd had before, there were now four, smaller, furious red eyes- not just the irises, either, the entirety of the eyes were red. She was surrounded by a blinding light, and even as it died down, it refused to do so around her- the only features of hers they could make out through the white light that seemed to have replaced her body were those red eyes, glaring at them. Only a few other vague features were apparent- a set of wings, spreading out from her back, her arms, still outstretched to hold them in place... the dark energy binding them changed too, turning from black to white to match the... thing Raven was becoming, throwing off all of her human side, allowing her demonic blood and her own hatred to consume her...

"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"

And suddenly, it was over. From the direction of the sudden new voice came a pulse- a shockwave of sorts that moved swiftly across the rooftop, dissipating Raven's magic along the way. As each subsequent member of the group felt it, the magic that had previously bound them vanished, and they were dropped to the roof. But the person who felt it the most... was Raven. When the shockwave hit her, it slammed her across the roof and into the basketball hoop, wiping away the light that had surrounded her and returning her, largely, to normal.

The now free members of the group quickly cast their eyes around for their savior- and found him. Standing by the top of the staircase, trembling as if he still couldn't fully believe what he'd just done, was none other than Shinji Ikari.

"Shin-Shin!" Ness cried, dashing across the roof and pulling him into a hug. "I knew you'd come back, I just knew it!"

"Where did you go?" Harry asked, tucking his wand away back up his sleeve as he crossed the roof as well.

"Well... they said... they said we'd need the ring... to beat her, so when... when it went over the side... I thought I'd go get it and bring it back. And when I did, I saw what was going on, and... well..." Shinji kept his eyes on his shoes the whole time. "Sorry."

"Sorry, nothing!" Akane shook her head. "You just saved all our butts!"

"Very interesting," Link agreed. "You have no magic ability, and yet had no problems using the ring... you must have used some very strong emotion... how?"

"Easy," Shinji muttered. "I just remembered what she did... as Karasu... and I got all the emotion I needed..."

"Well, you remember when I said you'd knock our socks off?" Ness grinned. "All I want to say is: I hope someone picks up that phone, because I flipping called it!"

"Well done, Shinji," Fireheart nodded. "I regret the brief moment that I doubted you when we realized you'd run off. I'm proud to be your mentor."

Shinji gave a weak smile. "And I'm... proud to be... your apprentice..."

"So, what shall we do with Raven?" KOS-MOS spoke up, and a jolt seemed to pass over the group. Slowly, they turned towards where Raven was still laying in a heap where Shinji had left her. Moving towards her, they heard a faint noise coming from her.

"K...K...Ki..."

"What was that? You'll have to speak up, even I can't hear you," Fireheart growled.

"K...Kill...me..."

"With pleasure," Link growled, drawing his sword again. However, Ness raised his hand.

"Hold up there, Link."

Everyone turned to Ness, ready to offer him truly exasperated glances, only to see him looking down at Raven with pure animosity in his eyes. A shadow seemed to have crossed his face as he moved forward, brandishing his bat threateningly. "I'll take care of her," he muttered. Bending down, he asked, "So... you want us to kill you, huh?"

Raven seemed greatly weakened after what had just happened, but she forced a nod nonetheless. Abruptly, Ness brightened up, a smile appearing on his face. He reached out and gripped her nose between his index and middle fingers. "*EGH!*" he made the classic buzzer sound. "Wrong answer!"

"W-wh-"

"What, you think we're gonna let you off that easy?" Ness pointed out. "Leaving you here, in your own personal hell that you built yourself? Somehow, I think that's way crueler than just killing you off right now!"

"...Indeed," Link nodded, sheathing his sword. "That does seem a more fitting punishment, now that I think on it."

"Leave her to stew in her own crap?" Akane noted thoughtfully. "Yeah... yeah, I'm seeing the appeal here."

"Dumbledore always was saying there are things much worse than death," Harry nodded.

"Starclan themselves couldn't have ordained a worse punishment," Fireheart agreed.

Shinji remained silent, but KOS-MOS spoke up. "In that case, may I suggest we return to the tunnel? We have a promise to fulfill, after all..."

All seven turned their back on the huddled blue mass and crossed the roof towards the stairs. A few steps later, they were back in the hall. Shinji was the first to speak. "So... how are we going to get home, then?"

"Well, if the Titans were able to put something like that together," Harry thought out loud, glancing at the ring, "I'm sure they'll be able to put together something to get us all back to our own times."

"And once that happens," Akane picked up the conversation, "I expect to see you soon, Ness."

"Wait, what?" Link asked. "How?"

"Like I told them, back at home, a friend of mine is building a machine that will let anyone travel through time!" Ness grinned brightly. "We figured that, soon as it's all together, I could take a little round trip, pay all of you a visit!"

"Yeah... yeah, I'd like that," Harry smiled. "I want to go back to my own friends, of course, but seeing all of you again... it's not a bad idea."

"I'll keep an eye out for you in the tree-cut-place," Fireheart noted. "I don't normally go out of my way for twolegs, either, so consider yourselves lucky."

"The clans won't even notice you were missing," Ness smiled.

"I have located the door to the stairwell," KOS-MOS announced, pulling it open. "Let us enter, shall we?"

One by one, they all filed in, only to look up in confusion on the other side. "Er, KOS-MOS... not questioning your intelligence, but..." Ness noted slowly.

"This... this isn't the stairs," Shinji agreed.

"Are you sure you remembered the way?" Link asked, turning to the android.

KOS-MOS looked just as confused as the others. "I was certain that this was the proper door... I recorded our journey from the tunnel entirely in my data banks... Could I have been... incorrect?"

The room they were in now was clearly not the stairs- it more closely resembled a hybrid of living room and kitchen, mostly taken up by a carpet, a large couch, and a plasma-screen TV behind which was a large window with a fantastic view of the city, but the corner contained a table fit for six or eight people, along with a kitchen unit, complete with refrigerator, stove, and microwave.

Akane took a few tentative steps into the room, the others close behind her. "No, I think she's right... I remember this being the stairs, too..."

"And so they were," came a cold voice from the door. "But I couldn't let you get away that easily..."

Everyone spun around to see Raven in the doorway, looking more furious than ever before. She seemed to be locked into her human form, but her eyes were still in that state where there were four red eyes rather than the two blue ones. Before any of them could react to her presence, she raised her arms again, binding every one of them in dark energy. Shinji opened his mouth to say the spell again, but another strip of black magic covered his mouth, as yet another wrapped around the ring, wrenched it off of his finger, and tossed it out of the window, breaking the glass to do so.

Raven was practically frothing at the mouth as she spat out, "I told you all once already... you cannot kill me! As long as hatred exists, so will I! From the ancient past..." A twitch of her wrist, and Link was sent hurtling across the room into the corner, bound by magic, "to the distant future!" Another flick of her hands, and KOS-MOS met the same fate. "In times of peace..." There went Ness, "and times of war!" Fireheart. "In every time..." Akane... "and every place!" Harry. "The basis of all conflict, the basis of all humanity..." With nowhere along the walls left, Shinji was left being slammed into the ground, bound and unable to move... "It... is... HATRED!"

One by one, the members of the group began disappearing. KOS-MOS, Akane, Link, Fireheart, Harry, Ness, and, finally, Shinji vanished from the room, as if they'd never been there to begin with.

XXXX

KOS-MOS looked around a plain of total darkness. Finally, a voice spoke out of it: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

"The RV-10 system," KOS-MOS guessed. "I have been returned to the ship, at the moment I hacked into its core AI. Is this incorrect?"

"It is not," the voice spoke again. A burst of data occurred in front of KOS-MOS, and in the center, the voice took form- Raven stood before her once more. "There is nothing more to say. Things will not happen as they did before. By the end of this, you will be even more of a lifeless shell than you were before."

KOS-MOS allowed herself the faintest of smiles. "If I were human, I believe my reaction would be... 'Come at me, sis.' If I were human."

And with that, the two leapt at each other.

XXXX

Akane collapsed to the ground, nursing a black eye, blood flowing freely from her mouth and nose. Panting, she gasped out, "How... how did I get into this mess?"

Looking up, she saw Raven approaching. "Do you see now?" she asked, grabbing Akane's hair and pulling it back as if she were about to slit her throat. "How worthless you are? Martial arts are about strength, not any sort of idealistic crap. Now for your final demonstration."

Akane looked around. That's right... this was exactly how things had happened last time... except this time, Ryoga was nowhere to be seen... but then, neither were any of Wu Ya's followers...

"No more interferences," Raven explained. "Not this time- it's down to you, and it's down to me."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Akane smirked, lashing out with a foot that connected with Raven's stomach. The young woman staggered backwards, eyes filling with fury as she adopted a martial arts stance. The two women glared at each other for a moment, then leapt forward.

XXXX

Link opened his eyes to find himself in a large room made of stone. "Feeling sentimental?" came a dry, mocking voice from behind him.

"Raven," he growled, spinning around and drawing his sword. Sure enough, there she stood, rapier in hand, looking just as she had back when she called herself 'Lady Gavran.' "Well, I guess we don't have anything else to say to each other, do we?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Gavran agreed, and without another word, leapt forward, brandishing her blade.

XXXX

Fireheart found himself surrounded by darkness, with dirt underpaw. Peering around and allowing his eyes to adjust, he found himself in a dark, earthy tunnel. Above him was a gap, as if someone had just fallen through, opening up to a view of the stars. Looking around, he found himself entirely alone... until he heard an oncoming growl and the thuds of heavy feet. Turning, he saw Raven, once more in the form of the Blue-Eyed Beast, approaching, growling in pure rage. However, instead of fear, he felt only fury. "I see you left Blackfoot, Graystripe, and Sandstorm out of it this time," he noted. "Well, that's fine by me- I'll take you out myself!" With that, he leapt forward, claws unsheathed.

XXXX

Harry stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his balance- he was on the stage in the center of the Great Hall once more, and in front of him stood Raven, wand out and pointed directly at him. "Relax... I gave them quick deaths- just long enough to savor the look of terror in their eyes as they realized their day of judgement had come. Talia, Mclaggen, Malfoy... they all fell to me, and now, you'll join them. No suicide rounds this time- one of us walks away, the other dies here."

"If you insist," Harry responded quietly, then quickly drew his wand and fired off a patronus. Raven dodged to the side and began firing off jets of green light...

XXXX

Raven marched forward down the streets of Onette, the sound of the fight between the townspeople and the Blue Bloods raging around her. Ness smiled as he drew his bat. Glancing to his sides, he noted that Jeff, Paula, and Poo were nowhere to be seen. Looks like he'd have to actually try this time...

"You've proven harder to kill than I'd ever thought possible," Raven growled. "But that all ends now."

She raised her guns and fired them, only for them to disappear, just like last time. Growling in fury, she shouted, "HOW?! Your friends aren't here to protect you anymore!"

"Oh, they're always by my side!" Ness retorted, positively writhing in excitement at getting to give this speech. "Friendship is the most powerful force in the world- or didn't you know? Time and distance mean nothing to it!"

"I can't believe you're giving me this speech again!" Raven raged, advancing menacingly.

"How many times do I have to tell you- we- the people of Onette, me and the other Time Warriors, and everyone in the world- we all stand together, and that gives us a protection that some dirtbag like you could never understand!"

Raven could only say, "...Time Warriors?"

"It's the name I just came up with," Ness explained jovially. "We're warriors... from across time, so yeah! Time Warriors!"

"That is the most ridiculous, asinine thing I've ever heard!"

"You know what else is ridiculous and asinine?" Raven didn't give him the satisfaction, but he went ahead and said it anyways- "Psi Rockin' Gamma!"

XXXX

Shinji flinched slightly, and suddenly found himself in the entry plug of Unit 1, rocketing upwards towards Tokyo-3. Looking around, he saw that Rei wasn't at his side this time- whatever he was being thrown into now, he was being thrown into it alone.

Unit 1 launched into the air, finally landing in the city, and Shinji raked his eyes around, searching for what he could only guess was the reason he was back here...

And, sure enough, off in the distance was Raven's Evangelion, laying waste to the city. Shinji felt fury course through him- Raven thought she could do whatever she wanted, torment his friends, and destroy his city? Not anymore- he was at home in his Eva, and it was time for this to end.

He drew his prog knife and rushed forward, attacking Raven from behind. Raven spun around and grabbed his Evangelion's wrist, punching him in the chest. Shinji felt his Evangelion's pain, collapsing to the ground as Raven's Eva grabbed Unit 1's other wrist as well, forcing him into submission.

A transmission came through- Shinji looked up to see Raven's face in front of him. "Have you forgotten my powers? I can read you like an open book..."

"No, I haven't forgotten," Shinji gasped out, wincing in pain as Raven jerked his Evangelion's arms around. "But... but I think you've forgotten... how my Eva's designed!"

With that, he rammed his head forward, piercing the chest of Raven's Eva with the horn at the top of his own. Raven let out a screech as she felt her Eva's pain, letting go of Unit 1 by instinct, giving Shinji the time he needed to back up, stand, and charge forward, slamming Raven to the ground and finishing her off with the prog knife.

XXXX

Ness dodged to the side as Raven opened fire once more. He was growing tired... he was running out of psychic energy... if he was going to finish this, he'd have to do it soon...

"Feeling a little strained?" Raven taunted as she closed in on him. "I think I've had much more practice with psychic powers than you ever had."

"Yeah, well, you know what they say..." Ness muttered, falling to the ground and allowing Raven to approach. "About... beginner's luck!" He closed his eyes, and abruptly, a bright, brilliant light emitted from his body, blinding the unprepared Raven and sending her staggering back. Ness wasted no time in leaping to his feet and smashing her in the head with his baseball bat, sending her reeling across the street. "Oh, man, that was so awesome! I've never managed to use Psi without talking before! Imma try it again!"

He spun his baseball bat around, laughing and cheering, but not speaking, even as diamonds of energy flew out of him and rushed towards Raven... definitively ending the fight.

XXXX

Harry fell to the ground as another killing curse soared over his head. Another narrow dodge... he couldn't keep doing this...

"You're slipping," Raven noted, approaching steadily.

"And your technique isn't any better than last time," Harry recalled. "Still haven't learned any other spells, I see..."

"Does it matter?" Raven asked. "I only need to know enough to kill you- after that, what more do I need?"

"Well, if you knew a bit more about wizard's magic, you might have known... PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

Raven, caught off guard, suddenly turned stiff as a board, collapsing to the ground with her arms and legs pinned together. Harry approached her and pointed his wand down at her. "I could end it right now," he reflected. "Two words, and this would all be over... but somehow, I don't think the others would want it that way. We're not like you- I do it like this, and we might as well not be fighting you at all. And that's why- Stupefy!"

A jet of red light shot from his wand and hit Raven square in the chest, blasting her across the room.

XXXX

Fireheart swung around, managing to dodge another strike from Raven's mighty paws. This wasn't good... true, he'd been avoiding her strikes so far, but without the help of his comrades, he was finding it much more difficult than before to land a single hit on his adversary. He had to think...

His usual strategy of playing dead and letting his foe come in for an easy killing strike? Not the best idea- that was a ploy developed for use against other cats. Against something like this, that would be remarkably foolish...

Toppling the Beast would be the ideal strategy, but again, he was on his own this time- no Graystripe, Sandstorm, or Blackfoot to help him out...

Well, no matter what, he certainly wouldn't get anywhere just standing around waiting to be killed. Throwing all caution to the wind, he charged directly at Raven, dodging another strike and digging his claws into her side. She gave a yowl of pain as he scrambled his way up onto her back, where she began twisting and turning, trying to knock him off. Well, it certainly had been harder without his fellow warriors, but he thought, from this vantage point, he might be able to pull it off anyways. Careful to dig his claws as far into Raven's flesh as possible to ensure he didn't get thrown off, he began making his way forward, until he was just behind her neck. Baring his teeth, he opened wide and plunged them into Raven's neck.

XXXX

Raven, apparently, had become much better with a sword since their last encounter- while Link wasn't losing much ground, he wasn't gaining any either. Every offensive strike was parried by his enemy, and she was keeping him on the defense so often that said strikes were few and far between.

"This is getting boring," Raven snarled. "How about we just skip to the part where you die?"

She leapt back, and began floating up into the air. Raising her arms, she began gathering her energy into a ball of dark magic. Link, looking up, felt a sudden familiarity in the situation... but could it work this time?

Raven swung her sword, sending the orb of black magic hurtling down towards him, only for him to swing his sword and knock it right back at her. Realizing what was happening, she quickly swung her sword and sent it straight back. Link brandished his shield, pushing it forward just as the black magic made contact and sending it back to Raven. Back, forth, back, forth, gaining momentum all the time, until Raven was the first to mis-time her swing, and was struck by her own dark spell.

She let out a scream as she fell to the ground, dark energy crackling around her, and Link wasted no time rushing forward, leaping into the air, and driving his sword down into her with extreme prejudice.

XXXX

Raven and Akane had yet to make any sort of contact with each other. "Have you been working out since our last fight?" Akane asked. "It's just, I recall that last time, the fight was over without you even standing a chance!"

Raven's snarl grew more pronounced, and she began fighting more and more furiously. Something occurred to Akane- fury in battle- both a blessing and a curse. She herself knew how strong it could make one- it was, after all, what had assisted her to defeat Raven the first time- but if she could figure out how to exploit it...

Akane flipped over Raven and took the fight to the other side of the room. Raven followed suit, charging directly at her. Akane braced herself, waiting... waiting... NOW!

She flipped out of the way and allowed Raven to slam directly into the gong erected behind her old chair. She reeled back, dazed, and Akane didn't waste the opportunity, diving forward and slamming Raven into the ground. The next step- chopping the ropes that held the gong up and allowing it to crash into the ground- and into Raven.

XXXX

The battle between KOS-MOS and Raven was certainly going much differently from before- rather than turn-based combat, the two were punching and smashing each other back and forth across the S.S. Tasha's computer grid. "Based on the alteration in fighting mechanics, would it be safe to assume that you have altered the game being played on the console?" KOS-MOS speculated.

"Indeed," Raven confirmed. "I removed the RPG and replaced it with an old fighting game- Super Bash Sisters, or some such nonsense."

"Fascinating," KOS-MOS noted, blocking a strike from Raven with a shield she managed to summon out of nowhere. "Hmm... I could not have done that under normal circumstances... truly fascinating."

"You've played many video games, haven't you?" Raven speculated. "Unfortunate. A paragon of intelligence, and you choose to play such mindless things? Truly a waste."

"I am not certain," KOS-MOS shook her head. "It has offered me... certain advantages."

"Such as?"

KOS-MOS leapt over Raven's head and landed right next to a glowing sphere that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Spinning around, she reached out with her hand and smashed it open, whereupon she began to glow. Pointing back at Raven, her arm was suddenly replaced with a large gun of some sort. "Maser... CANNON!"

A beam larger than the two of them combined fired from the gun, enveloping Raven thoroughly, obliterating her entirely.

XXXX

One by one, each of the Time Warriors reappeared in that living room, dropping to the ground from where they'd previously been bound. Raven, panting and heaving, collapsed to the ground once more, leaving the Time Warriors to reconvene.

"Are you all okay?" Fireheart asked, concerned.

"Yeah... yeah, I think I'm fine," Shinji checked himself.

"All systems functioning normally," KOS-MOS confirmed.

"Looks like we all pulled through," Harry agreed, gazing over them all. "Now..."

They all turned towards Raven, looking even more disheveled than before. Slowly, she turned her gaze up to them, and her eyes had returned to their normal state. "Why... why can't I kill you?"

"No one needs to know why," Link shook his head. "But, perhaps... perhaps it's because there's some part of you that knows that all this was wrong."

"That definitely sounds possible," Ness agreed. "I mean, bringing us Time Warriors together was pretty awesome, but all the other stuff... not so much."

Everyone turned their gaze to him at the mention of 'Time Warriors,' but KOS-MOS was the next to speak. "Indeed... you claim to hate humans, but at the end of the day... you yourself are human. Perhaps the humanity within you wouldn't allow you to give in to the demon."

Raven looked at the ground, gasping. "Human... I... am... human..."

"I can see why you might have lost it," Akane put in. "After everything that happened, you cut yourself off from the world, afraid something like it might happen again... but that wasn't exactly healthy."

"No," Fireheart concurred. "All forms of life are born longing for companionship. It's certainly possible to go it alone... but no one would truly desire to."

"Eventually, you'd find yourself wanting to be with others, to be with anyone besides just yourself," Shinji spoke from experience.

"And when that happens... what can you do?" Harry shrugged. "I don't know- the answers never come easy. All I know... is that I want to go back home. To Ron and Hermione. All I want... is to go back home."

Raven looked as though it was costing her all the effort she had to keep looking up at them. "You... you... you're... right..."

For a moment, they seemed taken aback- they hadn't expected her to actually agree with them. The smallest of smiles crossed Raven's face- not one of the nasty smiles they'd grown accustomed to, but a genuine smile. "All this time, hating humans, cutting myself off from the world, dwelling alone in my own... you know... and I couldn't see the truth. I... I'm human... myself."

A long silence hung over them for a long moment, and eventually, Raven was the one to break it. "I'm dying," she muttered. "I used up all of my energy with those last battles against you... there's nothing you could do, even if you wanted. This is the end of the road for me... when I die, you'll all return home. I think... I think all the damage I did... will be undone... from here on out, it will be like none of this ever happened. Go back to your homes... and be heroes. But... but don't forget...

"This may not end with me. In any time, in any place, given enough hatred, anyone could follow the path I did. Keep your eyes open, and do what you can to make sure... nothing like this... ever... happens... again..."

Raven slumped to the floor, and didn't move again.

Turning to the windows, the group saw the clouds over the city beginning to dissipate. "It's over," Harry smiled. "It's... it's finally over..."

"There are many things I would wish to say to you all," KOS-MOS said, gathering the others' attention, "however, my time is short."

"KOS-MOS, you're-" Akane gasped. KOS-MOS was fading away, turning more and more transparent as they watched.

"It is okay," the android shook her head. "I am simply returning to my own home. Before I go, I would simply wish to say that, despite it all, I am glad to have met you. The feelings I have experienced over the past 24 hours could be quantified as... enjoyment. I wish... to see you all... again..."

And with that, she was gone. Looking around, Link wondered, "Who's next?"

"Me, it looks like," came a voice from their ankles, and they looked down to see Fireheart going through the same routine. "Well, I suppose I should say it- not all twolegs are steaming heaps of fox dung. If I could see all of you again- if the opportunity arose- I think... I think I might..."

But before he could conclude the thought, he was gone.

"I believe I'm next," Link noted, looking down at his hand, which had a gaping hole in it. "I don't have much to say to you all. From what Ness has said, I know this is not goodbye, so I won't say that, just... until we meet again."

And he disappeared as well.

Harry turned to Shinji. "Well, it seems like quite a while since we woke up in that cell, huh?"

Shinji nodded, eyes downcast. Harry smiled slightly. "Don't worry. Ness's friend will finish that time machine, and then we'll all come to your side. You won't have to be alone anymore."

Looking down, he noted that his entire body had vanished except for his head. "Well, looks like my time's up..."

And then there were three. Akane looked down to see her stomach vanishing. "Well, see you two around, I suppose," she noted. "Ness... don't keep me waiting, got it, baka?"

"Scout's honor!" Ness grinned, crossing his heart with one hand and raising the other in a salute. Before he could finish his heart-crossing, it was just him and Shinji.

Shinji looked up at him. "You're sure you'll be able to come?"

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it!" Ness nodded, grinning. "And maybe we'll even be able to see about cancelling out that whole Second Impact thing! While we're working on the machine, I'll be sure to ask Jeff about what the consequences might be, a'ight?"

"Thanks," Shinji gave a faint smile. "I... I'll look forward to it. Another adventure..."

"Yeah, there's always another adventure," Ness agreed. Looking down, he noted, "Well, looks like I'm going. Just remember, Shin-Shin- when on your way out, be sure that you say goodbye, and lock the door tight."

Shinji raised his eyebrows, but before he could say anything else, Ness had disappeared, leaving him to turn towards the window overlooking the city.

The red of the sky was steadily giving way to blue. As he felt the sun on his skin for the first time in quite a while, he thought he could see a distant shimmering over the ocean. He didn't know, and none of the others were left to ask, but he liked to think that it was the spirits of the Titans, finally released, rising up into the sky. Looking down, he saw that he was fading away- much less frightening this time. "Goodbye," he muttered. Looking at where all the others had disappeared, he smiled and spoke one last phrase. "And soon... hello."

And then there were none. The sun continued to shine over the abandoned city, and while it would be many, many years before any humans set foot there again, as summer came, the birds would return to their old trees, chirping brightly as they began to bear, once more, small, sweet apples.

XXXX

And... the end. Well, not quite- there is one more chapter after this, but it's just going to be an epilogue to wrap everything up with a nice little bow. Shouldn't be that long, five or six pages, if that. As such, it'll probably be up really soon- tomorrow or the day after sounds pretty reasonable. I'll run my usual credits then, but for now, since this is effectively the story's end, I guess I'll give my end-of-story notes now. Next time will just be the credits and a sign-off. Okay, so... this mini-series.

Well, to begin with, I expected this to be done almost a year ago, now, but I fell off the wagon in a really bad way. I'm really glad to be coming back and finishing it up, and I'm sure anyone who was waiting for the conclusion is equally glad. This is certainly not one of my more popular stories- I have more reviews on some of my other stories than some of the Live Alive stories have views, so you can do the math on that one. But I wasn't writing this story for popularity- I was doing it to have fun. And isn't that what fanfiction is really about, in the end? Having fun? And this series was certainly a lot of fun to write- bringing all the different fandoms together and working with them in the vein of an underrated classic... seriously, if you enjoyed this story, or even if you didn't- if you disliked this story but liked the concepts behind it, I implore you to go check out Live A Live. If you have any appreciation for RPGs at all, you really owe it to yourself to give this game a whirl. It plays absolute havoc with typical RPG tropes, happily subverting them as often as play them straight, with very unique gameplay and story. And it was the inspiration for Chrono Trigger, one of the most highly-rated games of all time, so that's something. This series had its good moments, it's not so good moments, and... well... the hiatus. I want to give a big thank you to Feline Within, who faithfully reviewed every installment, as well as placing them all on her favorites list and encouraging me to keep it up. It's probably not any exaggeration to say that without her asking what happened to this series, this story would still be sitting in the 'unfinished' category. (Well, technically, it's still not finished yet, but you know what I mean.) (Also, everything I just said will probably be really awkward if it turns out Feline Within is a guy.) So, concluding thoughts? Go play Live A Live, and, if you enjoyed the story... please R&R, constructive criticism embraced, flames not so much, Gamer4 out.