Trials of Beta
Chapter Sixteen: The Nearest Place to the Heavens

Yuno and Beta appeared in a small cave, more like an alcove really, the opening leading out onto a field of grass and flowers, sunlight shining down on the meadow, surrounded on all sides by sheer cliff face. It was like something out of a dream. It couldn't be real, but yet it was. Beta stepped out from the cave, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face.

"Oh... That's nice... Really nice." He said.

"I've forgotten what fresh air smells like..." Yuno said, drawing in a deep breath, she then looked at Beta, chuckling. "You're filthy."

Beta smirked, "You're not exactly Miss Clean yourself, Yuno."

Looking around, Beta searched for a water source, but yet there was none. He sighed. "I suppose we gotta climb up now?" He asked no one in general.

"No... Let's not. Let's just... Stay here. For a while." Yuno said, lying down in a bed of flowers. Beta sighed, then plopped on the ground next to the green haired Ranger.

"This would have been a..." Beta caught himself just short of finishing his sentence, remembering what happened in the elevator.

"A great burial place for Uriko? Yeah, I agree with you." Yuno said, staring up at the crystal clear sky, not a cloud in sight, "Too late now, and I don't see a way back... Hey Beta?" Yuno rolled on her side, propping up her head with her hands.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for being a bitch all those times. You're really a nice guy." She said.

Beta blushed, nodding his head quickly. "Thank you."

"You're really cute, too." She giggled at Beta's obvious embarrassment.

"Uh... Th-thank you." He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing about the meadow. In the center was a tall monolith, runes etched all over the surface of it. "When'd that get there?" He honestly couldn't recollect seeing the Monolith when he and Yuno first came here, and that's not something one could easily miss seeing.

"I don't know, but it wasn't there a short while ago." Yuno said, pushing herself to her feet, Beta following suit.

"You feel that? It's like its calling to us." Beta said, his tone uneasy. It was true, he felt... Drawn to the monolith, like something was calling to them to go closer to it.

"I feel it too. What do you think?"

"I don't know. Let's go check it out. As Alex once said, 'The brave accomplish more in a minute then the cowardly do in a lifetime.'" He took a step forward, but was halted by Yuno grabbing his arm.

"Beta! I'm scared..." She said, her body trembling slightly.

"It's okay. I'm scared too. But... Everything will be okay. I just know it will."

"It's a great place to die, isn't it?" Came a female voice. Beta and Yuno spun on the source, seeing a red haired girl with a red armband on her right arm, standing by one of the cliffs.

"You're Red Ring Rico!" Beta exclaimed.

"In the flesh." She started walking to the monolith. "I've... I've tried resisting Dark Falz. But his will... It drives me crazy... Screws with your thoughts. I... I cannot resist anymore... He's in my head, always talking, commanding. I'm really, really sorry you two are here. When I kill you, know that I didn't mean, nor want to."

Rico touched the Monolith. Both her and the Monolith began to flash bright colors of light, then the meadow, the cliffs, everything around them, shattered like a virtual reality program, revealing the true location. They were in some sort of plateau in the middle of a wasteland, nothing but darkness and death as far as the eye could see. Then came the screaming. Millions of voices, all were screaming in terrible, great agony. The source seem to be coming from directly below them, so Beta looked down, and saw that the ground he stood on was a living carpet of screaming faces. The faces of the crew of Pioneer 1! Yuno retched as she too saw what they stood on. The Monolith began to billow smoke and debris as it fell apart, scattering into a thousand smaller pieces, spinning rebus shapes, sprouting spikes. One of these pieces landed between him and Yuno. It flashed red, then exploded, the force knocking the two away from each other. Beta's shoulder broke his fall, and he slid a few feet. Scrambling to his feet, he saw that Yuno was already up, a Repeater in her hand as she blasted madly at the pieces all around her. Cursing and throwing himself flat as a volley of Photon bullets flew his way, he covered his head and yelled.

"Watch your fire! You almost hit me!" Snatching up his Rod, Beta swung and knocked one of the Monolith pieces away, it crashing into a handful of others and exploding. "What the hell's happening?" He screamed.

"I don't know! Just keeping shooting!" Yuno replied, moving to be closer to Beta, shooting at anything that got too close to her or him. Suddenly, the pieces fell, melting into the ground.

"It's over?" Beta asked tentatively.

"I don't know..." Yuno turned around in a full circle. The screams suddenly became ear drum shattering louder, causing them both to cover their ears and double over. After the screaming came a blindingly bright light, and then all went to darkness...