A Dark Cloud 2 Fanfic
Chapter 3: Into The Nothing!----By The Several
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The Several: I'm so glad everyone liked my fic! I thought everyone would be mad that I keep torturing Max and Monica with painful events. Sorry, I've been inspired a lot by watching Fullmetal Alchemist (Oh, Nina… Nina…)
You know, I really cried at that episode where Nina dies. It affected me so badly I stopped watching TV for a week. The FMA anime was really well done… but I'd still like to beat up the creator for killing Nina
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Darkness. Pure darkness. There was nothing elsein the middle of non-existence. Stuck in the limbo of time, the only thing remaining in Palm Brinks was its famed train station - a gathering of all souls left alive in Max's time.
Luckily enough, the station was big enough to house everyone in Palm Brinks, thanks to the renovations the mayor added months ago to celebrate its opening. Need had no clue that his decision on renovating would one day save them all from a most horrible end.
But now, their next decision was a long awaited answer.
"Damn!" Doctor Osmond cursed as he stomped the floor hard with his foot. "Doctor Knobb's gone… and the Ixion – maybe our only hope for survival – is also gone… Damn it! Can't anything go right?"
Donny understood his dilemma clearly. But being Dr. Knobb's ancestor, as well as being overly clever and smart, Donny came up with ideas that most people would have to analyze in hours.
Donny headed over quickly beside the Blackstone Ragna, and hummed. Humming to him was only done in rare occasions, and was very uncommon. But at this particular moment, their problem was an uncommon one as well.
"Hey, Osmond… come 'ere!"
Osmond, still worrying under his breath, walked over to where Donny was. "What is it?"
"Do you still have the Ixion's blueprints? Or at least remember how it works?"
"…I have some of the original blueprints, but I do know most of the final version's mechanisms."
"Great," Donny replied, as he showed his idea by patting at the metal body of the Blackstone Ragna with a smile. "Well we have 'ere a volunteer!"
Osmond quickly realized his idea and did a full body scan of the "primitive" train. "I can't believe it… the train prototype… The Blackstone Ragna!" He then quickly took out his bag and looked at the earliest blueprints available. "…There are some differences, but it's the original one… The Blackstone Ragna Version One – a historical marvel!"
Donny felt a sweatdrop come down as Osmond hugged the train saying, "Oh magnificent… Kill me now, I must be dreaming…"
Donny shook him violently to snap him out of it. "I'd loooove to kill you for disturbing me with your intimate love of trains, but we still need you. Can you handle it?"
Osmond gave a thumbs up. "Leave it to me! But first…" Donny was bewildered again as Osmond hugged the train for a second time. "…Do you mind if I kiss it?"
"Yes."
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"Hey, Max… you alright?" Monica said worryingly as she tapped his shoulder.
Max turns to her, looking slightly unwell. "…I'm fine."
Monica touches his forehead to feel if he had a fever. "…You don't feel fine."
"I know what you're thinking… and thank you," Max rhetorically answered to Monica's invisible but obvious question. Monica couldn't look at him straight in the face.
"But… you lost your parents…"
"Like you did…" Max continued her sentence. "Look, Monica… I swear I'm fine… what we have to worry about now is what to do next."
Monica didn't reply. "Look, Monica, I said I'm f---"
"Max," Monica interrupted in a low tone. "Feeling insensitive doesn't make you stronger. I learned that the hard way. Weren't you the one who taught me that?"
Max listened to her words; they sank too deep into his heart to ignore.He remembers the caring touch of his father's hands and the soothingmelodyof his mother's voice - andfinally released the tears he'd been holding onto for so long under his eyes. He leaned on Monica crying as hard as he could to let the pain go away. Monica let him cry for a few minutes, until he finally dried his tears. "…Thanks."
"Thank yourself," Monica smiled. "Just give me some credit as you do."
"Hey, Max! Monica!" Donny suddenly shouted from far away, waving. "Come over here to the side of the train!" Max and Monica nodded to each other as they ran towards Donny's direction. "We'd have called you earlier, but Osmond wouldn't stop kissing the train… even though I told him not to."
"Thanks for not calling us earlier," Monica commented, imagining what the scene looked like with a feeling of throwing up. "I wouldn't want to see THAT disturbing sight."
As they arrived, Donny, Osmond (who had stopped train-kissing), Cedric, and the mayor were there too. Mayor Need walked over to them and patted them both on the shoulders. "Max. Monica… Looks like it's up to you two again."
Max tightened his fist in agreement.Althougha lot of people he cared about were gone, there were still a lot of them left. These are the ones he has to careof now.There was still something he had to do. "...We're up for it."
"Good," Cedric said. "Let's gather over here then, and we'll explain the details."
They all sat on the floor where Osmond laid a diagram. He took out some of his notes and said, "Now listen. The train's still no good I'm afraid, but I looked at the current notes I have on the time-eating beast we have to fight against."
"So what do we have?" Monica asked.
"It doesn't say much other than describe its destructive invincibility, but the notes I translated says that more information can be found on a stone slab located in what is now Palm Brinks."
"Great," Donny shuddered. "What's the good news?"
Osmond grinned triumphantly. "Good news… is that the stone slab can't be erased from time."
They all gasped in amazement as Osmond continued. "Yes, that means the only location it will end up as said in the scriptures is somewhere along The Nothing."
"That's all fine and dandy," Cedric interrupted, "but where is this… "The Nothing"?"
Osmond pointed to every direction available. "…Where there."
"The Nothing…" Max gasped as he admired the starless space in the sky – a destruction of existence known as The Nothing.
"That means," Osmond continued, "that that stone slab is still floating out there… somewhere…"
"Not only that," the mayor added, "but that could also mean that we could analyze that slab to protect ourselves from this beast's time-destroying powers."
"NOW you're thinking like a talking rabbit!" Osmond praised, although no one really understood what that meant. It must've been a rabbit joke, everyone thought.
"Question is," Donny this time interrupted, "how're we gonna get out there without protection? Even the train ain't gonna last out there in that Nothin' thing!"
Everyone sighed simultaneously as the plan went back to square one. It sounded simple enough, but as everyone knows: the good guys never have it easy.
But as everyone thought of an idea, Max suddenly heard an anguish scream. "What was that?"
"I heard it," Cedric commented as he took out his wrench. As an inventor, his weapon is also a heavily modified battle wrench. "It's those space-distorting hooligans again."
Max and Monica took out their weapons and readied for a fight… as the distortion demons entered the shielding of their station and charged with hostility.
To be continued…-------------------------
NEXT CHAPTER: A new form of these nameless creatures arises, this time with huge wings, a deadly scream, and a significant secret. Monica's transforming powers might be the trick this time! But what about the Ancient One's stone slab? What possible wisdom can it give to defeat the undefeatable?
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The Several: As you can see, I revived the power of Monica's monster transformation, realizing I've never used it in a previous fic. In my opinion, monster transformations kinda sucked! I mean, transforming into a Baron Balloon or a Spider Witch? EWWWW! And transforming into a skeleton with a jacket isn't all that cool either. Why couldn't they just let us transform into a BoneLord or a Golem? Now THAT would be awesome! (Transforming into a boss wouldn't be so bad either)
Also, if you've noticed, I've never done a story WITHOUT a happy conclusion. This one (hopefully) will be no different. But what separates this particular story from the rest though, is that Max and Monica will lose more here than any other story I've ever done.