Author's Note: Here it is, the last chapter! I'm sorry the update took so long, I've been busy. Final exams and projects were my main concerns, then there was Christmas, and after Christmas...well let's just say Final Fantasy VIII and Halo are very addicting. Not to mention I had another fic to update and classes have started again. But anyway, enjoy the final chapter!

"Y-you!" Matt yelled, pointing at the man that had revealed himself.

"Dear boy, didn't your mother ever teach you it was rude to point?"

"Mortimer! You should be dead!"

The old man frowned. "Come now, must you be so harsh? You sound as if you want me dead."

Matt glared. "So you were behind all of this the whole time! Why? Why did you help us?"

"When you have lived as long as I have, you need something to entertain yourself with." Mortimer gave an evil grin that only hardened Matt's glare. "Besides, I needed to test you. Only those who pass my trials are worthy to become my servants."

Matt laughed, "Become your servants? Hah! As if! I would never serve under you!"

"I don't recall saying that it was voluntary. I couldn't very well leave you to your own free will, you might just end up betraying me. No, you will have no choice. It's disappointing though, I was hoping more of you would make it through. It appears you are the only one strong enough. Oh well, you will have to do."

Mortimer held his hand out so that his palm was facing Matt. It glowed with a bright aura, then began collecting in the center of his palm. Without warning, a beam shot out, catching Matt in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

Matt coughed and tried to get back to his feet, only to be knocked back down as Mortimer's cane came down heavily upon his chest, forcing him to the floor.

"Oh dear, is this the best you can do? Come on now, aren't you going to try to fight back? Don't tell me I overestimated your abilities."

"I'll never lose to you, old man." Matt spat.

The last two words seemed to bother Mortimer, as his mocking expression soon turned angry. "Respect your elders, boy. I have three and a half millennia of experience. I know things you could never dream of!"

"Tch. That's what they all say. Too bad your experience didn't teach you to disarm your opponents when trying to get them to submit to your influence."

Before Mortimer realized what was happening, Matt drew one of his daggers and stabbed Mortimer's left leg. The old man howled in pain stepped back. Matt quickly got back to his feet and drew his other dagger, ready to fight.

"You insolent brat!" Mortimer yelled, and fired another beam. Matt was ready this time, however, and easily dodged it. Despite whatever Mortimer might brag about, he was still an old man, and thus slower than Matt, and soon Matt was behind his enemy, his dagger to the man's throat.

"Sorry, old man, but you just aren't fast enough. Seems like those three and a half millennia have worn out your muscles."

Strangely enough, Mortimer began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Matt growled.

"If you value your friend's lives, I suggest you don't move."

"What are you-"

At that moment, two knights stepped into the room. Their eyes were devoid of emotion, much like Mello's had been when he had been Berserked. Caught in their arms were Alone and Scarlet.

"Let me go!" Scarlet yelled, struggling against the stoic knight. Both her and Alone's struggling ceased when they laid eyes upon Matt and Mortimer.

"You are kidding me..." Alone said, staring at Mortimer and clearly disgusted. "I thought we killed him twice!"

Matt's mouth dropped open. "Alone?! Scarlet?! I thought you two got defeated!"

"Oh, we did." Alone said in a greatly annoyed tone.

"Then how are you here?"

"We had an extra life." Scarlet answered. "Must have gotten one sometime when we leveled up or something. Unfortunately, these guys grabbed us before we got very far." She sighed. "Man, I really wanted to make a cool, epic entrance too."

"Enough!" Mortimer yelled. "Like I said, if you value your friends' lives, then lower your weapon!" The two knights raised their swords to the girls' necks to convince Matt to step back.

Matt clenched his teeth. He was so close, but he couldn't betray his teammates. He lowered his dagger from Mortimer's neck and stepped back.

"Good, now drop them and kneel before me!"

As much as Matt wanted to protest, he felt he didn't have a choice. His daggers clattered to the ground. Mortimer's laughter echoed throughout the room. "I told you! Ahahahah! You cannot defeat me!" His laughter was interrupted when he began coughing like a cat chocking up a hairball. Matt was sure the man was going to hack up a lung. Mortimer regained his composure, however, acting as if it had never happened.

"What is this?!" Scarlet yelled. "No way are we going play damsels in distress! I did not play this game to get captured like that stupid Ashley from Resident Evil Four! Why is it always the girls anyway? Matt! You pick up those daggers and fight him! I refuse to be used as the defenseless girl that just causes problems!"

Mortimer glanced over at Scarlet. "Watch what you say, girl. You have no choice. If you don't shut your mouth, then you won't have a head with which to speak."

Scarlet glanced over to Alone. The two grinned.

"They never do think of this in video games, do they?" Alone asked.

Scarlet shook her head. "Nope."

The two knights holding the girls suddenly yelped in pain, dropping them and falling to their knees. The girls retrieved their weapons, which the knights had also dropped after being kicked in the groin, and went to stand beside Matt.

"Told ya we weren't gonna play damsel in distress." Scarlet said to Matt while high-fiving Alone.

"Wow." Was all Matt could seem to think to say.

Alone sighed. "Can we finish this now? I'd like to get back to the real world."

Matt nodded. "What now, Mortimer? You lost the only leverage you had."

Mortimer scowled, but quickly covered it up, smiling instead. "Well, now I absolutely must have you three under my command!"

A sudden burst of energy from Mortimer blew the three back, not even sparing his own two knights. Before Matt, Alone or Scarlet had time to react, Mortimer charged for a powerful spell. Just as the three were getting to their feet, the air around them crackled with electricity. With a crack of thunder, bolts of lightning shot out from every direction around them. Mortimer laughed.

"Ahahahah! Not even you three can protect yourselves against my magic! Ahahahah-WHAT?!"

Much to Mortimer's dismay, the three stood, unharmed, in a spherical shield that surrounded them. Just as he was turning around, a gunshot rang out, and Mortimer fell to the ground, a bullet in his forehead.

"Mello! Near!" Matt called out as the two boys walked into the room.

Scarlet mumbled something along the lines of, "How come they get a cool entrance and I didn't?", but nobody seemed to hear.

"Tch. Doesn't that guy ever die?!" Mello spat, kicking Mortimer, who didn't move. "Hey, maybe he finally is dead this time."

Matt looked skeptical. "I don't know about that...usually the final bosses have some crazy final form."

The blond shot Mortimer in the head one more time just for good measure and rejoined his friends. "Nah, I think he's down for good."

Scarlet shook her head. "That's just what he wants you to think. Any second now he's going to rise up and scream something along the lines of-"

"YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!"

The group all turned their attention to Mortimer, who had gotten back to his feet as two bullets clattered to the ground.

"Told ya." Scarlet said.

"I didn't want to do this...but you leave me no choice!"

The entire room shook with energy. Power seemed to be radiating from Mortimer's body as a bright flash of light engulfed the room. As the light faded and the group was able to open their eyes, they found they were no longer standing in Mortimer's throne room. Instead, they were standing on seemingly nothing in the middle of space. Despite this, the laws of gravity still seemed to hold, and they stood as if they were on solid ground.

"What is this?" Near asked, looking around at the surrounding starry blackness.

"Remember when I told you about a crazy final form? Yeah...this is it." Matt answered.

Standing before them was no longer the fragile-looking old man, but what looked more like a cross between a demon and an elderly angel, and an impossibly large one at that. Apparently, the creators couldn't decide if the final boss should be angelic or demonic. Two large, white, feathered wings sprouted from his back. His can had become more like a large staff. Mortimer's body was more on the demonic side, his fingers extending into large claws and his once dark eyes glowing gold. Silver armor covered him, seemingly attached to his body.

"You will fall before my power!" Mortimer's voice was layered, as if several people were speaking in different tones.

The group got into their battle stances, standing in a line before Mortimer. Mello stood at the far right, Alone was beside him, Matt was in the middle of all of them, Near was on the other side of Matt, and Scarlet took up the left end.

Out of nowhere, music began playing, signaling the start of the battle.

"Why the hell is music playing and where is it coming from?!" Mello yelled, trying to find the source of the music.

"Epic battles need epic music." Matt said.

"Then why didn't we hear any music in the rest of the game?" Alone asked.

Matt shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they wanted the boss experience to feel more authentic."

"It's stupid." Mello grumbled.

The conversation was interrupted as Mortimer shot a small ray of light from a red third eye on his forehead at Mello.

The blond growled and tried to retaliate, only to find he couldn't move. "What? Why can't I move?!"

"I can't either!" Scarlet yelled, unable to do more than change her stance.

"It must be turn-based." Matt said, realizing he, too, couldn't attack.

Scarlet looked horrified. "What?! I don't like not being able to move! I can't defend myself from attacks!"

"Scarlet! Calm down!" Alone said, trying to stop her friend from having a panic attack. "Try not to think about it."

"I can move." Near said. "Does that mean it's my turn?"

Matt nodded, then looked at the meters above Near's head. "See that third meter, underneath your MP meter? That's the wait meter. When it's full, you can attack. Unfortunately, this is the kind the enemy doesn't wait, his meter is already going back up, so hurry and make a choice!"

Near nodded and quickly made a decision. Transparent shields surrounded each individual person momentarily. The life meters radiated with a blue glow, indicating a raise in defenses. Near's MP meter dropped slightly afterwards, and he found himself unable to do anything else.

Since Matt had taken time explaining, Mortimer had a chance to strike again. This time, he attacked Near. Thanks to the shields he white mage had raised, some of the damage was nullified, and the attack didn't do much.

"Near and Alone, on your next turns, take a couple of steps back. You guys are long-distance fighters and we need to keep you out of danger more." Matt instructed, "That way he'll attack you less and us more, but since we are close-range fighters it will be to our advantage."

It was Mello's turn, and he raised his pistol. Aiming carefully, he pulled the trigger, shooting Mortimer in the forehead just above his third eye. Much to Mello's dismay, Mortimer's life meter only decreased slightly.

"What the hell?! I shot him in the head! That should have done way more damage!"

"It doesn't matter where you shoot him, it'll take the same amount of damage." Matt explained.

The blond fumed. "That's retarded!"

Matt shrugged. "That's a video game."

Alone took a couple steps back as Matt had earlier instructed until she found she couldn't back up anymore, as if hitting an invisible wall. That done, she got her bow ready and fired and arrow. Next it was Scarlet's turn. She hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to run up to Mortimer's new form, then remembered he couldn't counterattack her. Unsheathing her sword, she ran up to him, slashing at his torso. After the attack, she was pushed back by some force, making her resume her original position beside Near.

"They really don't let you get in more than one hit." Scarlet mumbled, wishing she could have struck more than once.

It was Mortimer's turn again. His red eye glinted and a haze formed around Near.

Near looked around himself, trying to blow the strange white vapor away with his arms. "What is this? I feel...kind of...sleepy...". Without another word, Near fell to his knees, slouched over and asleep.

"Near?" Scarlet asked. She would have tried shaking him if it wasn't for the fact she couldn't move enough to do so. "I think he was put to sleep!"

Matt cursed, "Damn, he just had to get our healer." It was his turn, and he took his attack. Mello, Alone, and Scarlet all got attacks in as well before Mortimer attacked again. His third eye glinted again and a sphere of black light formed in front of it. It gradually got bigger, finally shooting a large ray straight at Scarlet. Her HP immediately fell to 1.

"Ooow...he has one of those...stupid attacks..." Scarlet muttered.

Alone frowned. "With Near asleep, if he hits Scarlet again..."

Mello shot at their opponent. "We'll just have to hope she doesn't get hit."

Alone tried aiming for the third eye. She doubted it would do anything, but it was worth a shot. The well-aimed arrow successfully hit it's target. Much to the group's surprise, Mortimer roared in pain and his third eye closed. Alone grinned, "I guess hitting some particular parts does work after all."

"Nice shot, Alone!" Scarlet said as she reached into her pouch that, ironically enough, Mortimer had given each member at the beginning of the game. She pulled out a potion and examined it. "I guess I drink it..." She pulled the cork out and sniffed the contents. It didn't smell like anything, but she still made a face at it. Hoping it wouldn't taste like medicine, she raised the bottle to her lips. Convincing herself it would taste like cotton candy, she drank. Her life meter rose as the contents were drained, finally bringing her back up to full HP when she was done. She flung the bottle behind her. "Strange...it tasted like...cotton candy."

"Cotton candy?" Mello asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of potion tastes like cotton candy?"

Scarlet shrugged. "I don't know, I tried to convince myself it would taste like cotton candy and not something nasty, and sure enough, it tasted just like I imagined it."

A few turns later, Near finally woke up. He quickly got to his feet and looked around. "Did I...fall asleep?"

Matt nodded. "It's one of his attacks. Luckily we all still had potions to heal us while you were out."

Near frowned. "I'm sorry. It appears my shields have worn out as well. I'll raise them again next time, I want to heal first." A soft glow surrounded Matt as the team's white mage healed him, re-filling the half of his HP bar that had been missing.

When it was Mortimer's turn again, he didn't attack. Instead, he seemed to be charging energy. His red eye opened and began glowing a bright red.

"That doesn't look good..." Alone said.

"Near, make sure you raise those shields again!" Matt instructed.

Near nodded, and after Scarlet attacked, raised the party's defenses again. Alone aimed for Mortimer's third eye again, but this time, the attack did nothing.

As Mortimer's turn came around again, he seemed to vanish, and the group was surrounded by complete darkness. White feathers floated down all around them and it felt as if the air itself was shaking. A beam of white light suddenly shot down from overhead, engulfing the entire group. When it was gone, they were all left with little HP, all of the meters glowing red indicating they were in the danger zone.

"Dammit...Near, is it possible for you to heal all of us at once?" Matt asked.

Near shook his head, "It is far more effective if I heal a single person at a time, and I don't have enough MP remaining to use my best healing abilities on everyone."

"Did you hear that?" Alone suddenly asked. "It sounded like a ding."

Matt looked above them all and spotted a white meter he hadn't noticed before. It was full and pulsing with a dull glow.

"Hey, I can move, but it shouldn't be my turn!" Scarlet said.

"Me too." Mello added. "What's going on?"

"It must have something to do with that bar. The ding must have been the sound of it filling up." Matt suggested.

Scarlet looked up at the bar. "A team attack maybe?"

"So then we all attack at once?" Alone asked.

Matt nodded. "Alright, everyone, let's make this really count! He has about a quarter of his HP left, I bet if we give it all we've got, we can take him down!"

Mello and Alone both aimed their weapons while Near started casting a spell.

"Everyone ready?!" Matt called out, "Let's finish this!"

He and Scarlet ran forward. Just as they were in front of Mortimer, Alone and Mello fired their weapons and Near cast his spell. Mortimer howled in agony as a sword, two daggers, a bullet, an arrow, and a holy spell all struck him at once. Matt and Scarlet jumped back, rejoining the rest of the group.

"No! How...how could this...be? How can I be defeated?!" Mortimer cried out in his layered voice. The feathers on his wings started falling off and it looked like his body was disintegrating into the air. "No...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

In seconds, Mortimer was gone, only the echo of his screams remaining. Before the group got a chance to celebrate, the invisible ground started was a brief flash of light, followed by a second, then finally a third, which lingered far longer than the previous ones, forcing the group to shut their eyes against the harsh light.

"Nnnn..." Matt groaned as he opened his eyes. "What happened?"

The cover of his pod slowly opened. He stretched and got out, looking around at the other pods his friends were in. "Guys? Are you awake?"

His response was a banging noise followed by a curse. Another pod opened and Mello stepped out, rubbing his head and mumbling something about the pod.

"Finally!" Alone said, crawling out of her pod as fast as she could and slamming the cover shut. "I thought we'd never get out of there!"

Near crawled out of his pod soundlessly while Scarlet jumped out of hers.

"Alright! We did it!" Scarlet said, grinning.

Mello and Alone did not appear quite as enthusiastic. Alone rounded on Matt. "I am never following your ideas again."

Matt frowned. "Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad!"

"Yes, it was. What if we didn't have an extra life like we did when we lost? What if we never woke up?!"

"I'm sure we would have woken up after losing."

"I agree with Alone." Mello said, glaring at Matt. "I believe I promised to kick your ass after we got out."

"Perhaps you should leave that for another time, Mello." Near interrupted. "We should probably hurry and get to bed." He pointed to a digital clock on a nearby table, which indicated that it was 5:30 in the morning. They had been playing the game all night.

Alone nodded in agreement. "Let's get what little sleep we can before we have to get up in a couple of hours."

The next morning, Roger had Matt, Mello and Scarlet gathered in his office. When the three hadn't showed up to their first classes, somebody had been sent to check up on them. When it was discovered they were still sleeping, they had been brought down to Roger. Near and Alone were both spared, having gotten up and to class on time. Both apparently could function on little sleep. The other three, however, were not quite so lucky.

"What is it you three were doing all night that left you so tired this morning?" Roger asked, his elbows propped on his desk and his hands folded.

"Playing a video game." Scarlet responded softly, ashamed.

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And where were you?"

"My room." Matt responded quickly. He knew that the game room was checked at curfew to make sure everyone was in their rooms. There had been several times where he had been yelled at to get to bed.

"You were playing too?" Roger asked Mello, surprised that the blond would be playing a video game so late at night since he wasn't ever seen playing during the day.

Mello crossed his arms. "I didn't want to, they were being too noisy and kept me up." It was clear he wasn't about to take the blame for the incident, even if he had also been playing. The excuse was legitimate, since he and Matt shared a room. Most of the kids were paired up since there weren't enough bedrooms. Alone had tried waking Scarlet up in the morning, as they also shared a room, but Scarlet had fallen back asleep on accident after Alone left.

"I see." Roger was quiet for a moment, figuring out what to do with the three. His eyes fell on Matt and Scarlet. "You two are both banned from the game room for a week. Also, your personal handhelds are going to be confiscated. They will be returned to you after the punishment time is up."

Scarlet frowned and Matt groaned. Mello chuckled.

"You, Mello, are not allowed to have chocolate for a week."

Mello's humored expression quickly changed. "What?! I didn't do anything!"

"Precisely. I find it hard to believe Matt and Scarlet kept you up all night playing video games and you didn't say or do anything about it."

"But...but..."

"No buts. That is the punishment. You are all dismissed, get to your next class."

The three shuffled out of the office where Alone was waiting for them.

"How did it go?" She asked Scarlet.

"We got punished for a week..."

Alone sighed. "I told you to get up. Oh well. Now you can come down to the library with me, maybe go outside for once."

Mello turned to Matt. "Just wait. I'm going to get you for this."

Matt sighed. It was going to be a very long week. One thing was for sure: they were never going down to that room again. At least now they knew what would happen if life was like a video game.

Author's Note: Well, that's that! A big thanks to all of my readers, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Remember, don't start playing with strange devices left unfinished in a hidden room full of abandoned experiments! XD Though I wouldn't mind a completed virtual reality game myself...hah hah!

Anyway, thanks again for sticking with this until the end! Bye bye! =)