Trials of Beta
Chapter Fifteen: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Beta and Alex stood at the elevator door, Yuno sitting on the floor with Uriko on her lap. The car crawled deeper into the ancient ship. Beta glanced at Yuno, gulped and spoke. "Yuno... I'm really, really sorry about your Hunting Partner. I wished... I wished there was something I could have done to help her."

Yuno blinked, then looked up at the FOmar. "Beta..." She said softly, moving Uriko off her lap and standing to her feet in front of him.

"Hmmm?" He said.

Yuno's left foot suddenly flew up, impacting Beta squarely on the chin with a high kick, causing the FOmar to stagger back into the door and slip to the ground into an unconscious heap. "She wasn't just my Hunting Partner, asshole. She was my sister!"

There was a whirl of movement, a hiss as something ignited to life and Yuno found Alex's Ice Brand at her neck. "Bitch, you didn't have to hit him like that." He said, his words icy cold.

"I'll do as I please, when I please, to whomever I please," She said, matching Alex's glare with one just as cold, "And call me a bitch one more time, I'll plant a Photon Bullet between your eyes, One Arm."

The stand-off was short lived, cut short by Beta groaning and shaking his head. "Ugh... What the hell hit me?" He said, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"I did." Yuno said, casting a glance at Alex before stepping back to be with her sister. Alex grunted, then doused his Brand, putting the hilt back on his hip.

"What'd I do?" He asked, pushing himself back to his feet.

"Does it matter? Don't ever do it again." Yuno said, sitting and stroking Uriko's hair with one hand, whispering 'I'll take care of you, I've always took care of you and I always will.' Alex arched an eyebrow, watching the Ranger's curious behavior. She's losing it. I don't think we can trust her anymore.

They rode in silence until the elevator reached the bottom, the only sound being Yuno whispering to Uriko. Once the car stopped, the door slid up into the ceiling.

"I've been waiting for you." Came HK-55's voice, the Soul Eater scythe resting on her shoulder. Behind her were three Delsabers, courtesy of Dark Falz.

"YOU!" Beta said, the pain in the lower half of his face completely forgotten.

"Yes, weakling. Behind me is the teleporter that leads to Dark Falz Himself. But you'll never get that far. I'll kill each of you, then be with my Master."

Alex frowned, igniting his Ice Brand. "Words are cheap, HUcasel." He stepped forward off the elevator.

"Yes, they are." She said, swinging her scythe into a ready position.

"Beta, let me handle her. You take care of the Delsabers." He whispered out the side of his mouth to Beta.

"No! I will fight HK! She killed Lunehhy!" Beta said, clasping his Shadow Rod with both hands.

"And she'll kill you if you fight her. Now, do as I say." Alex took a deep breath, then charged forward, letting out a vicious war cry as he closed on HK-55, both vanishing as the ship phased them somewhere else.

The three Delsabers leapt forward high into the air, coming crashing down around Beta, the ground shaking with the force of the triple impact, nearly toppling Beta. Growling, Beta swung his Rod out, hitting the nearest Delsaber on it's head. He swung his other hand out, a Gefoie spell leaping from his hand. The large orb of flame spiraled away from his hand in an ever-increasing loop, hitting each of the three Delsabers repeatedly. Pushing past the one he had hit, Beta ran beyond them and spun around, seeing one of the Delsabers leaping at him. As it fell down on him, Beta threw forth his hand, a cone of icy frost flying from it, enveloping the Delsaber and freezing it solid.

Beta dived out of its way as the large chuck of ice crashed into the floor, shattering into a million pieces. One down, two to go! "Hey! Over here!" He called, drawing Lunehhy's Bravace. The two remaining Delsabers, parts of their dark armor like skin still smoldering, began to walk to Beta. Bringing the Bravace to bear on the nearest, Beta drew in a deep breath, then squeezing the trigger. The Delsaber suddenly stopped, bringing up its left arm, the yellow Photon bullet impacting the energy shield there, doing no damage what so ever.

"Crap!" Beta cursed, now remembering about their shields.

Suddenly the second Delsaber staggered and fell forward, gaping holes in its body. Yuno was behind it, a Repeater in her hand. The other Delsaber turned to face this new threat, giving Beta the opening he needed. Smirking, he brought the Bravace up, aiming for the Delsaber's head and squeezing the trigger...

The first thing Alex noticed about where he was taken to was that it was dark. Then he became of other things, like the presence of HK-55 just across from him. They were alone in this room. It was just her and him. Gripping his Ice Brand with his one hand, Alex glared at HK-55.

"Why are we here?" He asked HK-55.

"So no one will interrupt us." She answered, then took a step forward, swinging her scythe in a slow, deliberate uppercut, easily blocked by Alex's Ice Brand. "Give it up. A handicapped old hunter like you'll never defeat me."

Alex didn't waste breath on answering, instead shoving the blade of the scythe down and stepping forward.

HK matched his move, taking a step back, twirling her scythe with one hand then grabbing the end with her free hand.

"What? No witty come back? Come come, if I'm going to kill you, the least you can do is think up an interesting insult." HK said in a snide tone.

Alex narrowed his eyes. She's playing with me. That's her first mistake. Damn rookies...

He was already within striking distance of HK, his Brand held off to his side. Relaxing his body, Alex let the tension flow from his body like old clothing, willing his weapon to be an extension of his body. In a single, quick fluid motion, Alex's Brand snapped up in an effortless swipe, the very tip of the Photon energy blade raking across HK's armored torso, slagging the armor plating there. He planned to continue the swipe into a downward slash and into a final killing thrust, but a sudden rush from HK threw the chain of attacks off, burying her shoulder into his chest and driving him back right into a wall. HK leapt back, out of Alex's strike range, twirling her scythe into both hands and swinging the crescent bladed end at Alex.

The wind was knocked from his lungs as HK drove him into a wall. He barely had time to let his legs fall from under him, dodging HK's scythe swing by a fraction of a hair. Landing on his back, Alex rolled to the side, kicking off the ground with his feet and regaining his upright posture. HK was already upon him, using a downward chop. Sliding one foot back, Alex twisted his body, then shoved his shoulder against the side of the blade as it came down next to him, lashing out with his Brand at the same time.

HK ducked the thrust, dropping into a crouch, then leaping up, arching her back and going into a back flip, kicking out with her feet, hitting Alex in the chest and face with both feet. She completed the back flip, landing again on her feet.

Staggering back, Alex moved forward again, keeping close to HK so she couldn't fully use her scythe. Spreading her hands out on the shaft of the scythe, HK brought it up, parallel to the ground and shoved it forward as Alex came to her. The blow caught him unaware, pushing him back again. Switching her grip, HK stepped forward, raking the scythe down on Alex as he was unbalanced by her last attack. The scythe buried itself into his side just below his ribcage at a 45 degree angle, invoking a scream of pain from the Hunter, his Brand dropping from his hand.

"What did I say? I'm more then you can handle." HK said.

Grunting with strain, Alex grabbed the blade with his hand, then pulled it out and pushing it away from him. "It'll take more then that to take an old dog like me down." He kicked the Brand up, then snatched it out of the air.

"You're good. Better then I expected. A shame you joined the losing side. One last jump strike, consider it a favor, old man." HK said as she started to walk backwards into the darkness.

Wincing as icy daggers of pain shot through his body, Alex repeated the motion, walking backwards. He knew what she was going to do. Stopping after a few steps, he waited until he heard the sound of HK-55 running forward, then followed suite. As soon as he saw HK, he gathered his legs and leapt at her as she leapt at him. The two Hunters crossed each other in mid-air, each striking the other once, then both landed some feet away. The two remained standing for a moment, then Alex staggered and fell. HK turned around.

"You are good..." She said, as the upper half of her torso started to slide off the lower half. Her two halves fell away from each other, the Soul Eater slipping from her unfeeling hands.

Lying face down on the ground, Alex heaved and coughed. "I think I'll take a little nap..." He closed his eyes, his breathing slow and deep.

Beta and Yuno stood before the large teleporter. Yuno looked at Beta briefly, then at the teleporter.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"I still think we should wait for Alex to come back..." He said, then sighed, "But we've been waiting for twenty minutes. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Nodding, Yuno's hand suddenly found Beta, clasping it tightly. "Let's do this." She said, then both stepped forward. Everything went white, then they found themselves someplace else...