Note: This is my first submission so if it seems bad, I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm a diehard Ned, Veronica fan and if anything, I'm ticked off that they were hardly even covered in season 3. They had such a sour ending and I felt obliged to write this, mostly for myself but also for anyone else's enjoyment. If the first chapter seems depressing, don't worry, there is a twist.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Lost World characters, I'm just writing about them. If you have a problem with that, get an imagination, I'm not using them for profit anyway.
Water splashed in all directions as Ned Malone dashed across a shallow creek and into the brush on the other side. His newly made hide-skin boots absorbed the impacts of the sharp rocks beneath him and allowed him to keep up his grueling pace. Behind him, somewhere, was some sort of disturbance and it seemed to be coming for him.
For the past three days, Malone had been chased by some sort of rippling wall. Some times it came barreling at him and other times it stopped its chase long enough for him to catch his breath before advancing again. Stop and go, stop and go, it was getting very nerve racking and made it impossible to get any sleep.
It had started three days ago, when Malone was on his way back to the tree house for a reunion he had anticipated for months. Then, he found himself in a very tricky situation. He was attacked by a pair of raptors while he was sleeping. His instincts kicked in, waking him up and sending him for his weapons. Unfortunately, he had put his knives down a little too far away. Reaching out, he managed instead to grab a flaming log from that night's fire and whip it across the first raptor's face. It had backed off enough for Malone to get to one of his knives before both attacked him.
With one knife and one log, Malone's only chance was to flee to the nearest tree and that he had done. For thirty minutes, the raptors waited until they started to loose interest. One started to wander away when it suddenly disappeared, leaving only a ripple of air where it had been. Malone was stunned and almost fell off the branch as the wall of rippling air advanced. The other raptor, a little closer to it then Malone, soon disappeared as well, leaving Malone alone.
With all the agility he could muster, Malone half climbed and half jumped out of the tree and took off running. Direction meant nothing, he knew he had to escape it. Malone looked back and could have sworn that the phenomenon sped up because he had to accelerate to a sprint to keep it from overtaking it. Once morning hit, it seemed to slow down and stop for around an hour before taking off again. That had been the story for the past three days, an hour of rest, and then several hours of constant movement.
Three days of no rest and lots of movement had taken their toll on Malone. He would have given anything for one good nights rest but it was not to be. He peered back through the trees as he jogged along. There it was, just under a half a mile away and advancing at a steady pace. He didn't know how long he could take the stress but he forced those thoughts away as his adrenaline kicked back in and he forced his blistered feet to go faster.
He peered at the sky, which had just recently become dark. The clouds swirled around one point, marked with a bright yellow light seeming emanate from the ground. The source was dangerously close to where the tree house had to be, causing him to worry about his friends. "Wherever you guys are, I hope you're better off than I am," he muttered silently to his friends and continued on.
"Mother, am I destroying the Plateau or destroying it!" Veronica yelled as the light burned away at her hand with the Trion in it. All around her, the light enveloped her, leaving her blind to everything else. Her body shook as she found herself in overwhelming pain. It seemed like the whole plateau was fighting itself and she was caught in the middle. She could almost feel the planes of reality as they tried to collapse on her.
She screamed as the pain went from horrible to unbearable but the scream was lost in the ray of light. I have to stop this, she thought to herself, I can't let them die. Reaching up to support her raised arm, she felt like she was fighting against the entire plateau to keep her hand with the Trion up.
The light intensified and the pain became indescribable. Her screams fell out one after another but were once again lost in the light. Everything seemed to flash before her eyes. Her parents, her friends, her adventures, and her love. Suddenly, as if the world was quieted, everything went black and silent. The last thought that crossed her mind was Ned, I love you. With that, Veronica Layton fell to the floor of the tree house, lifeless.
Just as the blade descended on Challenger to dissect him, Challenger screamed in one last vain effort to escape his fate and closed his eyes. He could hear it get closer and closer to him, and then it suddenly stopped. Opening his eyes, he was stunned to find himself lying right outside of the electric fence for the tree house.
Joy overwhelmed him as he stared at his wonderful home. "I never thought I'd be this happy to see you," he said to the house in the trees. All around, things had returned to normal. The buzzing of the electric fence obviously meant that electricity was once again flowing through it. The tree house looked like it always did, as if it didn't even notice what had happened.
Just as he thought joy would overwhelm him, he heard someone yell "Veronica!" from the tree house. Spotting the elevator, he dashed at it at full speed to see what was wrong. As the elevator reached the top, he stepped out into the room to see Finn sobbing silently over a fallen figure.
When he approached, he immediately recognized the familiar features of Veronica lying there not moving. He approached and put two fingers to her neck only to find that the pulse he had expected to find was not there. Fear gripped him as he checked for any sign of life but there was none.
Sitting back on his heels, he found himself completely at a loss of words. He felt like he needed to comfort the now hysterical Finn but the lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything. Veronica had been family to him and now she was dead and he was living.
A tear slid down his cheek and the air fell silent. All around, the normal sounds of life hushed, as if the world itself was paying its last respects to the blond beauty. Not daring to break the silence, Challenger and Finn sat in relative silence, sobbing over the friend who died to save them.
The blade in the Druid's hand thrust downward and Marguerite screamed at the top of her lungs, fighting against her captors for an escape but none came. Just as the dagger touched her chest, everything simply disappeared. Looking around, she found herself in the middle of a field.
She clutched at her chest, finding a small dribble of blood, where the point of the dagger had touched her. Slowly, she slowed her heavy breathing and fell back into the grass, never so glad to be alive. Her heart felt elated, knowing that it was going to get to keep beating.
Suddenly, she remembered Roxton, where is he. "Roxton!" she
yelled but no response came back. "ROXTON!"
she yelled again but still got no reply. Fear gripped over her and she had to force it
back behind her normally uncaring façade.
Get a hold of yourself, Marguerite, if Roxton survived then the he'll head back to the tree house. Go there first and then you can worry about him.
She looked around to get her bearing and finally realized she wasn't more than an hour away from the tree house. Grabbing at her side, she was relieved to find her firearm. With that, she headed off towards the tree house with a mixed feeling of happiness and worry.
Launching himself at his enemies, John Roxton rushed forward with a splitting war cry. All around him, their inaccurate guns tried in vain to bring him down, but he continued forward. As he neared the first one, he launched off his feet, tackling the Conquistador and knocking him out. Ignoring the pain, he tripped the second warrior as he approached.
As confidence started to overcome him he saw a third one approaching. Again he launched through the air to tackle his foe. As they landed, the man fought back, pulling a pistol out and aiming at Roxton's stomach. Roxton fought against him in vain, trying to move the gun off its aim but the struggle was stopped by the burst of the gun going off into his chest.
Just when Roxton thought everything was over, everything fazed out of existence. The Conquistadors just disappeared and Roxton found himself exactly where he had been before he was hit by the shifting plane.
Immediately he looked around for any sign of anyone, only to find no one. "Marguerite!" he yelled to no avail, causing him to repeat again. He finally got his bearing and decided the best thing to do was head back to the tree house. If separated, head to the tree house, he lectured himself in his mind.
With a worried look, he headed off at a fast walk towards the tree house, stopping every once in a while to yell Marguerite's name or listen for any sign of her.
Malone couldn't take it anymore, his legs felt like jello and he hadn' t eaten in several hours. The phenomenon was no longer stopping, it was going faster and faster and Malone's pain's were forcing him to go slower and slower. It had slowly crept up on him until it was now a couple of hundred yards off. He was still a good day away from the tree house, not like it would provide him any safety. The thing seemed determined to get him and his willpower was fading with every second.
He turned to face forward again but what he saw made him stop in his tracks. Another wall of the ethereal substance was advancing from in front of him. He looked around for an escape, only to find none. Both walls stretched for miles, leaving him trapped.
Giving into his aching feet, he fell to his knees. The sky had gotten unbelievably bright and everything seemed to be sucking into the ground around one point. But it didn't matter to him anymore, all that mattered was getting out his last statement before he was taken.
"I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry for going," he said as he imagined the people who had been his family for the last three years. "Challenger, you've always been my friend, thank you for giving me the greatest adventure of my life. Marguerite, I know we've had our differences but I've always admired your strength and courage, even if I never told you. Roxton, you've been like a big brother for the past three years, looking out for me and being there when I needed you. I wish you the best if you escaped this."
"Veronica…" His thoughts drifted, picturing her perfect face and beautiful blond hair. "of all the people I've met, you are probably the most kind and gentle person ever to grace me with your presence. I wish I could be there with you, wherever you are, but fate, it seems, won't let me. I know I've always been afraid of saying this, but it doesn't seem as scary now." He looked around to see both walls only a few yards off but yet he didn't feel rushed to say the last part. "Veronica I love you." With that, he felt completely resigned to his fate. He stared to the sky and waited for the inevitable.
The walls came closer and closer until they were nearly converged. Then suddenly, the sky flashed with an almost blinding light. Malone shielded his eyes and when they opened, he heard the sounds of life. In the distance, a couple of raptors ran off after their prey, while birds and other animals filled the once silent air with their sounds.
Malone stood, stunned, as everything carried on as if nothing had changed. There were no signs of the evil mist and the sky was a cloudless, blue again. Standing up, Malone ignored the sores on his feet. It was as if fate had given him a new lease on life. All the things he said in his last moment passed through his mind, making him think about the people he thought to never see again. Finally, he could see them all again and tell them how he truly felt.
As he thought of them one by one, he finally came to Veronica. Fate had given him another chance with her and he was determined not to squander it. He would find her whether she was back or not and he would tell her. No more skirting the issue, this experience taught him that life was too short to be afraid of expressing his feelings. Rejection he could live with, but keeping his feelings hidden inside had been tearing him apart and the thought of dying without ever telling her was almost unbearable.
Slowly, he limped off towards the tree house, overcoming his pain by thinking of his friends faces and of Veronica. The pain was worth it if he could just see her one more time.
Okay, that's the end of the first one. Sorry if it was bad. If you have suggestions, review this so I know what I did wrong or right. In all honesty, I wanted to go further into the story so people wouldn't think this is a depressing story but time constraints prevented it. I'll try to think about the next chapter and write it as soon as I can figure out what's going to happen.