The Beginning! Meet the Heroes!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize
What was the start of all this?
When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?
Perhaps it is impossible to answer this question now,
From deep within the flow of time...
But for a certainty, back then,
We loved so many,
Yet hated so much.
We hurt others,
And were hurt ourselves.
And yet, even then, we ran like the wind,
Whilst our laughter echoed,
Under cerulean skies...
History has a tendency, to repeat itself...
The alarm was blaring out the beat to 'Happy Days'. The large lump in the soft twin bed shuffled irritably beneath the covers and a hand protruded, grasping blindly for the source of daily irritation, but to no avail. Finally, the figure gave a sigh of surrender and rose from his soft haven, to the sight of a bespectacled young man at his doorway.
"Why the hell, were you messing with my alarm?" the tired looking youth asked the smirking face at his door, he turned to look at the alarm , which was still blaring that god-awful song. "It's only 8:30, you nitwit!" he said with a hint of surprise and irritation, "and do you think that it's funny making THAT, the first thing I hear in the morning?"
The man at the door chuckled. "Poor Kage, it seems you have forgotten. Today is the day we return to active duty. Chief took us off standby when you dropped your Pepsi in his lap last week at The Pizza Barn," The man said still chuckling, "And I thought you would like that song. It suits you, don't you think?" he said, now full out laughing.
Kage looked around his room, black painted walls, window with the shades closed, an array of dark colored clothing strew across his floor, and various electronic devices such as a stereo and television.
"You're kidding me Xang, I'm still known as 'That Goth guy' at the mall."
Xang chuckled again, "Well, you were wearing black leather..."
Kage looked at him "So?"
Xang looked back at him "It was July."
"Oh."
Xang sighed, "Get dressed, we need to be there by 9:15."
Kage stopped pulling on some black jeans conveniently set on his dresser, "I think I need to get used to getting up early again. I'm out of practice."
"Right, just hurry up, I'll wait outside."
Kage quickly pulled on a black short sleeve shirt that said 'Revenge is a Bitch.' on the front, and said 'Mine.' on the back. A pair of black boots later and he was on his way out the door, he picked up a duffel bag lying next to the door and opened the door, as he was walking outside he turned and looked at the small apartment he and Xang occupied.
"Man, this place needs a maid." And he shut the door.
Xang was leaning on the railing looking down at the floor below, he also had a duffel bag, but his was blue as opposed to Kage's gray. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and some blue Nike's. The sun reflected off his glasses bringing attention to his eyes, showing off his obvious Asian ancestry.
"Took you long enough, we missed the bus so we're gonna have to walk, and that means we're going to be late."
"Oh well, we better get started, maybe Chief won't be mad if we're not too late." Stated Kage
"Right, and demi-humans are allowed to vote." replied Xang
"That would be the day, perhaps maybe then, we wouldn't have to hide and disguise ourselves as Humans." He smiled then, showing off his long fangs. Xang looked at him, and gazed down to Kage's hands, where it was easy to see that his nails we're longer than average, much longer.
"You look really scary when you smile man, when your hair covers your face and all you look feral." Commented Xang who pretended to shiver
"Ha-Ha, makes a good Halloween trick." Kage said, looking at his Raven locks that fell before his eyes. "You should let your hair grow out more Xang; bangs are so much fun to have."
"Hey, I do have bangs, they're just not very long." said Xang, brushing his hair self-consciously as they started walking down the stairs.
"Right. Hey Xang, I wonder how come it's been so quiet? Usually the Syndicate is doing something or other, but we've been on leave for a lot longer than normal haven't we?"
"Just be grateful, if they were up to something, we would have been off of standby a long time ago."
"I don't know, it just makes me uneasy, they're always doing something. We still don't know why they're always making trouble for us. I don't buy that blood purity bullshit for a second." Stated Kage
"True, it makes me uneasy as well. I've heard that there is a rumor going around that the 'Big Boss' of the syndicate is looking for something, and is using the drug money and other crimes to fund his empire and search for whatever it is." commented Xang
"You mean like some ultimate element or something?" asked Kage
"I have no idea, but haven't the scientists at New Origins already supposedly found all of the existing elements in the world?"
"They haven't found the Chrono Cross."
"Ha, you know that's just a myth. I'm surprised you keep bringing that fairy tale up."
"Yeah, I know, but it could exist though. You never know what's out there."
"Maybe, but it's not probable, besides, the stories say that the Chrono Cross was made of all SIX elements, but there are EIGHT aren't there?"
"Yeah yeah, red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, silver, and clear. I did pass grade school you know." Said Kage listing them on his fingers
"Fire, water and ice, lighting and ground, grass and wind, gravity and shadow, divinity and light, metal, and finally, glass." Continued Xang "And I know for a fact you cheated most of the way through school."
Kage looked around taking in their environment. Walking on the sidewalk of a bustling metropolis, he felt the breeze pass by as automobiles raced down the streets. Skyscrapers stood tall around him, people of all colors and shapes brushed by him, and billboard ads burned his eyes with bright colors and moving images. It was a very beautiful, if not crowded place. Much had changed in 1000 years, since Serge and the Chrono Crossers' fight against Lavos. This city, which was named Crescent Sun in honor of its diverse, though still unequal, populace, was made in the year 763 A.F., 763 after FATE. It was now, 1028 A.F. The people of this world now had the ability to choose their own fates, but for some people, Destiny still has a tight hold.
Elsewhere...
In an old rusted van, two pale men wearing jackets were stuffing their faces with two big double-meat hamburgers from the local burger joint. The skinny male on the left, in front of the steering wheel, balled up his paper wrapper and threw it into the back of the van as he looked at his passenger.
"Ok, get ready, we go in, we grab it, and we get out. No dilly-dallying around, boss said if we screwed this one up, it's our asses on a stick. You got me?" he said somewhat nervously, yet forcefully to his friend
"Yeah, I gotcha, don't worry about it. How hard could it be? I mean, it's just a museum. I don't even know why the boss wants that piece of junk. Last time I went, it just looked like some rusted piece of scrap. Not even shiny." Replied the burly man riding shotgun
"Maybe he just wants it added to his collection? Who knows? We don't ask questions, we just do the dirty work and reap the riches." suggested the former
"Naw, it has to be something important, he's been having us do a lot of these retrieval missions lately. Remember when we used to just assassinate certain political adversaries or protesters? Or when we'd rob a few banks, or raid a few ruins? That was fun, but this is just plain weird. And boring." He replied again
"Oh well, I'm confused. How about we just do this job, give the shit to the boss, and then we go get drunk at a nudie bar? That's always a lot of fun!" said the skinny one as he started the van.
"You're a sad piece of trash aren't you?" asked the burly syndicate officer as he pulled out his Spaz 12 shotgun and cocked it.
"You better believe it." Replied the thug as the car zoomed off towards the museum three blocks away
Back to our Heroes
"So, whatever happened between you and that blonde chick?" asked Xang
"You mean the one at the park?" asked Kage
"Yeah" replied Xang
"The one who poured her coke on your head when you tried to ask her out?" asked Kage
"...yeah" said Xang irritably.
"Oh yeah, we broke up, it wouldn't have worked out." said Kage nonchalantly
"Why not?" asked Xang
"She a little preppy and big-mouthed, if she ever accidentally found out what we do, she would freak out and tell everyone in the city, thus jeopardizing our mission, especially if the wrong people found out the wrong things. I'd like to still be able to walk the streets reasonably safely thank you. Cops and Syndicate Thugs don't take kindly to vigilantes you know."
"I guess so, you think you'll ever find the right one?" asked Xang
"Probably not, too busy to look really, but hey you're lucky!" said a thoughtful Kage
"Why do you say that?" asked Xang interested
"Because you'll take any kind!" said Kage excitedly
"Shut the hell up." Said Xang laughing
"STOP THOSE MEN!" yelled a voice.
Kage turned his eyes toward the voice, a security officer stood at the door to the local museum, running feebly after two men in black. The big one had a black sack slung over his shoulder as he headed for a blue van directly across the street from the museum, about twenty feet away. Just as the two thieves were about to reach their van, a huge spear of solid blue ice jettisoned into it and blew it up into flames. Kage looked next to him, where the ice spear appeared, just in time to see Xang lower his hands. Xang looked at Kage when a look of intense concentration.
"I haven't used an element in a while." He said with a tired breath.
Kage looked at him. "At least you still have good aim."
Xang smirked, but his face changed abruptly when he noticed the two men running down the street, still making an attempt to escape.
"We gotta go after them" he gasped, and ran forward after the men, slinging his duffel bag over his back.
"I didn't see this coming." said Kage as he sprinted to catch up with his long-gone friend.
The two men were running full speed, panting every other second. They darted to the left, dashed to the right, and were beginning to lose hope of ever ditching their pursuers. The skinny one stopped abruptly and ran into an old abandoned building. The big one soon followed him inside. It was cold and dark inside, with spider webs dangling from the ceiling and a few doors and stairs being the only decoration.
"What the hell, where did those two come from?" asked the big one as he lowered the bag to the ground.
"I have no idea, but those two shitheads are about to get an ass kicking for trying to get in our way." The other thug said as he pulled out his glock and checked the ammo.
"You want to fight them?" asked the big one bewildered "You're kidding, did you see what that guy did?"
"Yeah, I saw him blow up my motherfucking van!"
"It was a piece of trash! But that's not the point, I don't want to end up like it." said the burly one nervously
"Stop being a pansy, you act as if you've never seen an element before."
"Not one that strong! The ones I've seen would maybe crack the window, but not blast it to hell and back!"
"Then you haven't really seen one. Here take these, you may not have seen a strong one, but you do know how to use them right?" the little one said as he passed 3 element stones
This was about the time that Kage caught up with Xang outside the entrance to the old building.
"They're still inside, I can hear them talking. I wasn't about to run in there without you backing me up, who knows what they can do." Explained Xang
"Ok then, make sure to check your grid while we have time. I haven't even looked at mine this week," said Kage as he pulled his grid out of its belt strap.
"I don't understand why you only have black elements in yours," said Xang as he refitted one of the yellow stones into his grid.
"They're all I need." He said as he dug into his bag and pulled out two handguns. They were custom made, and were even engraved with silver lettering on their sleek black bodies. 'Peace' and 'Chaos'. With both guns in hand, Kage kicked open the door and ran in.
As soon as the door opened, Kage dived to the left as a blast from the Spaz 12 the burly man was holding was released. Xang was just missed by the widespread shot. Kage rolled and fired two shots at the man. The man ducked behind a desk and tried to hit Kage again but he dodged once more. Meanwhile, Xang ran into the building after brushing off the door debris. He saw Kage dodge again and was about to move into position to use an element on the man when a shot rebounded off the wall near him, and he was smashed in the face to the left. The skinny one had appeared and was wearing brass knuckles and had a gun in his other hand.
"You're gonna wish you had never got in our way kid." The man said menacingly
Xang swept his foot and tripped the idiot, knocking the gun out a cracked window. "I'm no kid." He said as he stood back up and entered into a stance, tearing his focus away from Kage and onto this new threat.
The man stood back up and ran towards Xang, swinging his right fist towards his face. Xang ducked and inserted his left fist into the man's stomach, then punched him in the face with his right fist when the thug keeled over. The man staggered back, lifted his hand, and was soon covered in a green light. Xang watched as the bruises on his face healed, and then stepped back when he pointed his hand at Xang and a flaming red ball appeared in front of the man's outturned palm.
"FIREBALL!" he roared as the flaming sphere propelled towards Xang, who quickly lifted his hand and said "AQUA BEAM!" A jet of water erupted from his hand, negating the fireball, and saving Xang from a painful end.
The man took advantage of this opening in Xang's defense to send another spell immediately after his fireball.
"PHOTON RAY!" the beam of pure white light energy slammed into Xang's shoulder and sent him flying back into a corner, right next to where Kage had taken cover.
Kage stopped shooting at the man and used a restorative NOSTRUM on Xang, who sprung up and ran back at his foe. Kage ran parallel to the wall before him and used his momentum to run on the wall and jump over the desk, towards the thief. As Kage flew through the air, he emptied his clip at the man, catching him unaware. The thief, unprepared for this technique panicked and shot wildly, which greatly diminished his accuracy, even with a shotgun. As Kage landed, he sent the man whirling into the wall by grabbing his gun arm and using all of his might to swing him. The thug crashed into the wall and staggered back up into a standing position, only to be drop kicked by Kage, and sent into the wall again. He slumped down, defeated.
Xang on the other hand, was still having an element war with the skinny thug.
"ICE SPEAR!" yelled Xang
"MAGMA BOMB!" shouted the thug at the same time.
The Ice Spear flew through the air towards the thug, which made him lose his control, the Magma Bombs shot out around Xang at extremely high temperatures, but luckily missed, leaving Xang unharmed, the same could not be said for his opponent. Xang looked over at where his opponent had been standing moments before, in the distance he could see the man impaled onto the wall by the spear which was starting to disappear.
"Ha, now this is irony," were the last things that came out of the thug's mouth, other than blood, as he slid to the ground when the spear had completely disappeared.
"I apologize, I wish I didn't have to kill you," said Xang solemnly with a bowed head He looked up at Kage who was picking the burly thug up off the ground.
"Where's the bag?" said Kage glaring at the defeated man.
The thug's eyes glanced towards his fallen comrade. "Please, don't kill me!" he begged.
"I'll consider it, if you tell me where you hid the bag right now!" yelled Kage, annoyed by his own weakness.
"It's over there, in the corner, next to the stairs," said the man, looking slightly calmer.
Kage looked over to where the man indicated but quickly turned back around as a small knife plunged into his shoulder, he shouted and let go of the thug, stumbling back and grasping his shoulder. The thug, glad that his plan worked, cast a quick, weak 'Fireball' at Kage to knock him back, and dived towards the fallen Spaz 12, cocking it as he rose up into the air. He aimed the barrel at Kage, ready to shoot. Kage knew there was no way he'd be able to dodge the bullets from this close up. He could barely hear Xang's voice yelling out on the other side of the room, too far to reach him. Kage closed his eyes and prepared for his anti-climactic end. A sharp screaming pierced Kage's ears and forced him to open his eyes. There in front of him, the thug's body was being pulled down into an abyss filled with ghouls and ghost, the man's body was being distorted and he appeared to be screaming in fright, until his entire body was sucked into the pit. Kage looked behind him and noticed Xang, still about 30 feet away, bent over and panting.
"Thanks Xang." Said Kage, as he pulled the knife out, relieved to still be alive.
Xang took a deep breath and stood upright. "I didn't want to use a HellSoul, but none of my other elements would have reached him in time. You're lucky I decided to steal one of your elements from your grid as we walked in." he said.
"Huh?" questioned Kage as he examined his grid and noticed that there was indeed, one missing element in his grid.
"Well, I'll be damned." He said with a chuckle
"No, he would." Said Xang smiling wryly
"You know, under normal circumstances, I'd have to hurt you for taking one of my elements without asking, but since you saved my life, I'll let this one slide." Kage joked.
"I hate black elements, they take so much out of you, and most of them are either gruesome or disturbing," commented Xang.
"That's why I like them," said Kage.
"That's says a lot about you," replied Xang
"Whatever, let's get this stolen item and return it to the museum," said Kage seriously.
"At least now, we have a suitable excuse for being late." Xang commented as they walked towards the stairs where the thug said the bagged item would be. The two reached the stairs and noticed the bag haphazardly thrown into a dusty corner. Kage picked it up and set it down near Xang and opened the bag to see what was inside.
"What the Hell?" asked Kage in confusion.
"It's a Record of FATE. I wonder why they would steal something like this? I mean, it's useless. It doesn't work anymore, it's just some pretty artifact!" expressed Xang as he scrutinized the Record.
"Maybe they were collectors," suggested Kage. Xang gave him a look. "or maybe whoever they worked for is?"
"I don't think so, the museum has a ton of nice little goodies collectors would love to get their hands on, why only this?" pondered Xang
"Oh well, it doesn't matter, we beat the bad guys, got the goods, and now we'll be heroes of the city!" said Kage nonchalantly, already brushing his curiosity off.
"Eh erm."
Kage whipped out one of his guns and aimed at the source of the new voice. He saw an old man standing at the ravaged entrance to the building. He noticed Xang had his left palm facing the man also.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Kage suspiciously
"Ah, good reflexes my boy, you would make a fine Chrono Trigger. Good thing too, you'll need good reflexes for what's to come."
"What the hell are you talking...Answer my question!" demanded Kage.
"My name, is Lazarus." Smiled the old man "I am a scholar at the museum in which that artifact was stolen from."
"Oh right, well sorry old man, but I don't really trust you or any other strange people right now. I think I'll go take this to the museum myself."
"Very good, but I must point out, that your friend is mistaken." Said Lazarus
Kage looked over at Xang, who still had his arm raised, but now had a curious expression upon his face.
"What I mean is, these criminals that you two have disposed of didn't know it, but it's not the Record that they were after."
"Then what were they after?" asked Xang
"What's inside the Record of Fate, of course," smiled Lazarus knowingly.
"Huh? You mean there's something in here?" Kage said as he shook the bag in his left hand, while lowering his gun slightly.
"Yes. Something very precious. Something that sadly, is going to change your lives forever."