Trials of Beta
Final Chapter: The Last Act

Beta screamed and struggled up into a sitting position, his arms and legs trashing against what tried to hold him down. He couldn't see, something was wrong with his eyes.

Something grabbed his arm, and he reacted, swinging his other arm and punching whatever it was. Then his other arm was grabbed by something else, and then he was forced back down.

"Damn! He gave me a black eye!" He heard a voice say. He recognized it as belonging to one of the doctors on the Pioneer 2.

"Calm down! You're safe." Came a nurse's voice. He felt something cold press against his neck, then a hiss sound reached his ear. Suddenly he felt good, happy almost, and relaxed, nestling into the comfortable hospital bed.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice horse and dry.

"A Ranger and an Android brought you in. You've been asleep for nearly three days."

"What happened to Red Ring Rico?" He continued his questioning, his vision starting to clear.

"I wouldn't know. I'm just a nurse. Wait here, I'll be back soon."

"Oh." He could see dimly now at last. Vague shapes and blobs of color. Nothing distinct, but at least he could see.

"What are we going to do about this one?" He heard a nurse say over to his left somewhere. He turned his head to look and see what she was talking about, but they were behind a curtain.

"He's definitely going to need a replacement arm. That looks self-inflicted, doesn't it? Why would he do that?" He heard the doctor say.

"I don't know. Wow... Look at this chest wound. Whatever did this to him meant business." The nurse commented idly.

Beta's vision was progressively getting better. Sighing, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Here, hold this here... Okay, there goes the body armor..." The doctor said.

"It matches his hair."

"Just put it on the ground somewhere... It's amazing he's still alive. Look at all these scars. Hmmmm... Think we should do something about that scar on his eye?"

Beta heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Risking a look, he could see some blue body armor laying on the ground, partly hidden by the curtain. He knew someone who had blue body armor. Or was that a dream? He wasn't sure anymore. Everything was indistinct, like it was a dream.

Probably the drugs they gave me. He reasoned calmly.

The doctor and nurse continued talking as they worked on the patient next to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something important.

What happened? I... No, we. It was me and Yuno. We were fighting... Something. What happened? Did we win? How did I end up here? Where's Yuno?

Grunting, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his head with his hands.

Suddenly it all came rushing back to him, like someone had opened a floodgate of memories.

Dark Falz's form was truly a hideous sight. A human torso sticking out from a bloated body sitting on a set of eight fat tendrils, mouths on the end of each. These mouths would spit pieces of the Monolith out every so often. His body was a dull gray color, with splotches of yellow that flared brightly, and yet, it was always in a state of decay and regeneration, a constant, grotesque state of death and rebirth. The entire thing was as large as several buildings stacked on top of each other, and as wide as such.

Beta gasped as he laid eyes upon the beast before them. "How are supposed to kill THAT?!"

"Don't ask me, I left my 'How to Kill Gods for Dummies' book at home. Just... Shoot it!"

Beta shook his head as Yuno let loose with her Repeater. Was shooting things her answer to everything?

The pain in his head subsided as the memory ended. But Beta still had unanswered questions. It was in there, he knew it was. But the medicine the nurse had given him to calm him down was interfering with his ability to recall what happened exactly.

Laying down again, Beta resigned himself to sleep...

Dark Falz loamed over the two humans, a God among the insects. Yuno began immediately making hit and runs strikes against him, but to no avail. Beta let loose with all of his most powerful spells, calling down the elements ice, fire, and lightening upon the God. But all for naught.

"We're not affecting it!" Beta shouted to Yuno, watching as his Gafoie spell fizzled upon the God's bloated form.

"I can see that! Shit!" Yuno cursed as she dived out of the way of one of its tendrils, fanning her Repeater back and forth across the limb as she fled from it. Dark Falz seemed to be focusing mainly on her. "For the record, we REALLY should have come up with a plan beforehand!"

"Yuno! Watch out!" Beta shouted as Dark Falz bent his body over, attempting to grab Yuno. He was in no position to help her, a good hundred yards between him and her. But he started running anyways, pumping his arms for speed.

Yuno spun and stopped, screaming as she fired her Repeater at Dark Falz's face, or what she assumed was his face. "Eat this!" She could hear Beta screaming at her, but the roar of her Repeater as well as she own screaming drowned him out.

The constant hail of Photon bullets chipped away at the human-like face of Dark Falz as he bent and snatch Yuno up in his hands. She screamed definitely at him, still firing her Repeater despite its ineffectiveness. Like a rag doll he flung her aside, sending her body flying through the air end over end as such.

Time froze for Beta as he watched Dark Falz hurl Yuno away like so much garbage. He could see her, the look on her face, her mouth opened in a cry, screaming his name. He was helpless to save her.

"Kill me." Came a voice in his head. Suddenly his attention was drawn to Dark Falz. Inside Dark Falz was Red Ring Rico, the one thing that linked him to this realm. She was staring straight at Beta, "Kill me now. It's your only chance!"

Tears stung Beta's eyes as he formed another Gafoie spell. Rico stared at him, then nodded slowly as the fireball started expanding from her body outwards, engulfing Dark Falz whole.

The spell incinerated Rico, Dark Falz rapidly decaying into nothingness.

Beta collapsed, alone on the plateau. Tears stung at him then flowed freely down his face. "They're all dead... All of them... Alex, Lunehhy, Uriko, Yuno... Dead... I... I..." He wasn't sure if his mind had done so, or if his hand was acting of its own fire will, but it was grasping Lunehhy's Bravace pistol. He stared at the gun in his hand, then put the barrel into his mouth, closing his eyes...

Beta struggled upright out of his dream, sobbing loudly. "NO!" He screamed, tears streaming down his face.

"Again?! Nurse, double his dosage! For love of- Someone hold him down!" He heard the doctor say. His vision was blurry again, he felt people holding him down, and something cold pressing against his neck again. Everyone I ever cared about is dead...

Darkness consumed him...