Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse Chapter 1: Prelude, a Chrono Trigger + Chrono Cross Crossover fanfic

Our Planet yet Dreams on...

and the Pendulum of Time continues to swing...

because two bands of heroes dared challenge the darkness.

But not all dreams are of epic journeys and great battles...

and sometimes even heroes need a rest.

So let us open the book once more...

and read a tale quite unlike those that have came before.

Chronos the Cat and Norstein Bekkler Present

A Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross Fan Fiction by Chronos Cat

Chrono Crossover: The Funhouse

Preface:

The following story is set after the main stories of both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, and as such has spoilers both games. The Trigger elements are based primarily on the English Super NES & Playstation versions of Chrono Trigger, though I have in a few instances incorporated elements of the original Japanese version and the DS version where I felt they fit with my story. The Cross elements are based on my understanding of the events of that rather confusing game (based on the English version); I do not expect all to agree with my interpretation.

Incidentally, I probably ought to warn new readers; I engage in both canon and not-so-canon shipping.

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Prelude to the Funhouse

"Serge...

"Serge!"

"Huh?!" Serge looked up from his drink to see Leena scowling at him. They were sitting at a table in the Arni cafe. Serge guessed she must have been talking to him- he had been too caught up in his thoughts to notice.

He had been thinking about the dream again; the one he had had that time he had passed out on the beach. It had been several months now, and he still couldn't get it out of his head. He had dreamed he had woken up in a strange world where he was supposed to be dead. In the dream, he went on many adventures, passing back and forth between that world and his own, fighting a mysterious feline demi-human named Lynx. Along the way he met many people, including a fierce girl named Kid. Then, after the final battle, he had woken up back on the beach, as if nothing had happened.

When he'd told all this to Leena, she'd said it must have all just been a dream... but Serge wasn't so sure...

"I was saying," Leena said, making sure she had his attention this time, "I'm going up to Termina to buy some things, and wondered if you wanted to come along?"

"Sure!" Serge agreed, happy to have the chance for some time together with her.

They headed out of Arni village, and headed north, through Fossil Valley to the city of Termina.

Even though the Viper festival was over, the city was still a bustling place. Every time he came, Serge was amazed by how accurate his dream of Termina had been. Though Leena had been there before, Serge had never been to Termina prior to his dream- and yet, it looked exactly the same as in his dream.

...Well, perhaps not quite exactly. In his dream, in his own world, Termina had been conquered by the Porre military. Even in the other world, they had invaded by the end. But if Kid were to be believed, the destruction of the Time Devourer resulted in the two worlds merging. Serge guessed that if the dream were true, this merging must have altered history enough to prevent, or at least delay, Porre's attack.

As they were walking along, Leena pointed out a poster on a wall. "Look at that, Serge!"

Serge glanced at it. It said, in bold letters, "Do you dare to enter... The Funhouse?" Below this was a picture of what looked like a circus tent. At the bottom of the poster, it said in smaller letters, "The renowned entertainer/scientist Dr. Norstein Bekkler is proud to present the 'reality game' 'the Funhouse'! Two teams of six players will stay in the Funhouse for a little over a month, performing crazy dares and contests to win money and the right to stay in the game. At the end, a final challenge will determine the winning team, and the remaining members of that team will win at least 12,000 GP, in addition to any money they may have earned during the course of the game!"

Serge couldn't believe his eyes. Who in their right mind would want to play a game like that?! he wondered.

Leena said excitedly, "Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Err...Yeah!"

She grabbed his arm. "Come on! Let's go sign up!"

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the Island, just north of the mountains surrounding Mount Pyre, a strange assortment of humans, demi-humans, and enchanted objects were busy erecting a large, colorful pavilion.

Nikki, guitarist and lead singer of the Magical Dreamers stepped inside the dungeon-like lobby of the structure. A white floating face, accompanied by two white gloves drifted down from the ceiling giving a strange cackle.

"Hello again, Nikki. Welcome back. What can I do for you today?"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel my plans to stay in the Funhouse."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask why?"

"I was talking with my agent, and it turns out I'm scheduled to perform up in Choras later this month, so I won't have time for your game. Sorry, Bekkler. Maybe another time."

Bekkler sighed. "Yes, I fully understand. Another time, then."

"Well, I've got to be going. See ya." Nikki turned and headed towards the door. As he neared it, he stopped. "Oh, hi there, Marcy. Fancy meeting you here!"

"Hello, Nikki," Marcy said coldly. Marcy, Zoah, Karsh, and Glenn walked into the room.

Bekkler visibly perked up. "Ah, the four Devas of the Acacia Dragoons. Welcome to my lab. I am the world famous Norstein Bekkler. How may I help you?"

Glenn said, "General Viper sent us here to inspect the facilities. We want to make sure this place will be safe for your contestants."

"Of course. I'm sure you'll find everything well in order- though we aren't entirely done constructing the place, you understand."

Glenn nodded.

Bekkler snapped his fingers, and the iron gate at the other end of the lobby rose. Three old men stepped out, dressed in armor reminiscent of that worn by soldiers of Guardia 400 years ago.

Bekkler said to them, "Vicks, Wedge, Piette, please show these gentlemen around the premises."

"Yes, sir, Dr. Bekkler," the old men said, saluting.

Nikki shifted his weight, and said, "Um, well, see you later Marcy."

"What-ever."

Nikki walked out.

Sometime later, the Acacia Devas returned to the lobby.

"Everything seems to be in order, Dr. Bekkler. You may proceed, for the time being. We may wish to look things over again later."

"Anything General Viper wants. I have nothing to hide. ...By the way, while you're here, would any of you like to sign up to participate in the Funhouse?"

Marcy asked skeptically, "Is there any fighting involved?"

"Well, there shall be many competitions, possibly including wrestling, boxing, or the like. As for actual dueling or out-right fighting, no, there shall be none of that."

Marcy yawned. "Bore-ing."

Glenn cleared his thought. "We have many responsibilities, so no, I don't believe any of us would have the time."

Bekkler spread his hands. "Ah, well, it was worth a shot. Good day to you."

Glenn nodded. "Good day." He turned and headed out the door, followed by the other Devas.

Bekkler sunk down to just a few feet above the ground, and gave a great sigh. "This is never going to work. The game's scheduled to start in less than a week, and I only have two people signed up!"

"Don't worry," a voice said from the darkness of the inner gate. Only the slightest of light reached the figure, outlining a muscled humanoid body, and a face like that of a cat... "Everything is going according to plan."

o-o-o-o

A few days later, in the skies above the Northern Continent, there was a flash of light, and a small, winged vehicle appeared.

Inside the cockpit, Lucca exalted. "We made it!"

Marle looked over at her. "You sound surprised. I thought you said you were sure this would work."

"Well, in theory. I've never programmed the Epoch to travel to a new time period before, though, so there was a chance I could have done something wrong..."

"You mean we could have ended up in some completely different time period?!"

"Of course not. There are only a few points in time that are safe to travel to. If the co-ordinates were wrong, the temporal turbulence would have simply torn the Epoch apart- and us with it of course."

"WHAT?! You mean we could have been killed, and just so we could have a glimpse of the world twenty years into the future?! We probably would have seen this future eventually, anyway, just by living our normal lives!" Marle grabbed Lucca by the neck and began shaking her violently.

In the pilot's seat, a sweat drop formed on Crono's forehead. Deciding to ignore the two girls, he began looking around for a good place to land.

Thinking the best place to gather information about this time period would be in town, he headed towards Truce. But then, something caught his eye. He glanced to the northwest, towards Guardia Castle, and had to do a double take.

The Castle was in ruins.

Crono couldn't believe his eyes. How could this be possible? According to Lucca they were only twenty years in the future, give or take a year or two. What could have happened?

Crono flew the Epoch over to the clearing south of the castle, and landed.

Marle looked up, and gasped. "That's... not possible!" She was so shocked, her hands went limp, and Lucca was able to break free of her grip.

Forgetting their argument, Marle turned to Lucca and said in distress, "This can't be 1020 AD. This is the distant future right? You just sent us to the wrong time, right?"

Gasping for breath, Lucca shook her head. "No... This... has... to be... 1020. Or, at least... within... a few years... of it. ...Like I said... before, ...if I... had the wrong coordinates... we wouldn't even... be here."

Marle looked back up at the castle, then quickly looked away. "But then, what could have happened?"

The three got out of the Epoch, and headed up to the castle to investigate.

The castle looked even worse on the inside. Weapons, damaged armor, and human bones littered the floor.

"There was battle here," Lucca commented. "Some time ago, at that."

Marle closed her eyes, and put her hand to her head. "I can't stand to see the castle like this."

Lucca took a deep breath. "Let's continue on. Maybe there'll be a clue somewhere as to what happened..."

The bridge to the Prison Towers was broken, and the Court tower had collapsed. The throne room was in shambles. But by far the most depressing thing was at the top of the keep, where they found what appeared to be a makeshift barricade, blocking the King's chamber. But the wooden parts of the barricade were charred black, and the trio easily broke through, to find the entire chamber covered in ash.

There were several skeletons in here, all charred. Near one lay the king's crown. Upon seeing this, Marle fell to her knees and burst into tears. "Daddy..."

Lucca walked over to her and put her hand on Marle's shoulder.

...As they walked down the steps back to the throne-room, Lucca said, "What I don't get is, where were we?"

"What do you mean?" Marle asked, as she dried her eyes, unknowingly smudging ash on her face.

"I mean, whatever happened here, why couldn't we stop it? We were powerful enough to destroy Lavos, for crying out loud. You'd think we could handle... whoever or whatever attacked the castle..."

Marle shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe we weren't here when it happened."

"That might explain it... And due to the difficulty in precision time travel, we wouldn't have been able to go back and change things, either. Yes, that's certainly a viable theory. Still, it'd be nice to know for sure."

As they stepped out of the castle, Lucca turned to Marle. "Are you going to be all right?"

Marle nodded, and said in a voice still not completely steady, "Yes. After all, it's not like my father is really dead yet, not for us. And who knows? We may still be able to change all this."

"That's the spirit. Oh, by the way, you might want to brush off your pants."

Marle looked down at her pants, and exclaimed "Oh!" From the knee down, they were filthy, from when she'd knelt on the ash-strewn floor. She tried brushing them off, but they wouldn't come completely clean. "That's the trouble with wearing white..." she grumbled.

They boarded the Epoch and flew to Truce. They then began exploring the town, looking for answers.

The town had changed a bit – there were many new buildings, and most of the old ones had been remodeled. However, it was still inhabited, and it didn't take long talking with the townsfolk to get a general idea what had happened.

It seemed that in 1005 (one year after Princess Nadia's marriage to the young hero Crono) the Porre army had invaded, armed with guns and other weaponry far more advanced than what the Guardia military was in possession of. The Porre forces had quickly taken Truce, then proceed on towards the castle, decimating the Guardia military along the way. King Guardia XXXIII had been killed in the final assault on the castle.

No one knew whether Prince Crono, Princess Nadia, or their friend Lucca had fought in that short war, or what had become of Crono and Nadia afterwards. However, Lucca at least had survived, for afterwards she converted her house into an orphanage, which she ran until her tragic death several years later when the orphanage burnt down.

Also of interest to our group were rumors of an outlaw group known as the "Radical Dreamers". According to some they were merely a group of thieves and terrorists, but others claimed they were a rebel group devoted to overthrowing Porre. There was a lot of speculation as to how large the group was – some thought there must be hundreds of people in the group, but the only person known for sure to be a part of it was a blonde teenage girl skilled in fire magic.

Back at the Epoch, the three discussed their discoveries.

"Guardia was destroyed by Porre?! Who would have thought?" Lucca said.

Marle commented, "And after we went through all that trouble getting the mayor of Porre not to be so selfish, so he'd give us back the Moon Stone..."

Lucca speculated, "Maybe the Porre military overthrew him as well."

"Maybe. ...I'm surprised you're not more concerned about how you died."

Lucca shrugged, and looked down at the ground. "Like you said, it hasn't happened yet for us; it might not even happen this way at all. And if it does... well, we all have to die sometime. I'm just happy to know I made the world a better place."

Marle nodded, then smiled. "And at least it wasn't all bad news..."

"What do you mean?" Lucca asked, looking over at her.

"Well, we found out that Crono and I are going to get married! Isn't that wonderful?" Marle put her arm around Crono affectionately. Crono gave a nervous laugh, as a sweat drop formed on his forehead.

Lucca frowned for a moment, then forced herself to sound cheerful as she said "Yeah, wonderful." Changing the subject, she asked, "So, what do you think about that 'Radical Dreamers' group we heard about?"

Marle said, "I think it's great that someone is fighting back against Porre." Marle put a hand to her chin. "I wonder if we're a part of that group? I know that if I survived the invasion, I would have wanted to fight back..." Her eyes narrowed, and she added quietly, "...make the people who killed my father pay..."

Crono stared at Marle, and Lucca raised an eyebrow at her. The only other they'd heard that tone of voice from Marle had been just before they faced the Lavos Core.

Not quite sure what to do about Marle's mood, Lucca decided to ignore it for the moment and hope for the best. Adjusting her glasses, she said, "Well, we know I'm not in that group . As for you and Crono being in it... I suppose it's possible, but we don't really have any evidence to suggest it."

Marle said reluctantly, "I guess you're right. The only way we could know for sure would be to get in contact with the group!"

"Unfortunately, no one seemed to have any idea where they could be found – not surprising, given that as wanted criminals they can't afford to be found by the Porre military..."

Marle's shoulders slumped. "Yeah." She sighed, then said, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking around. I'm sure if we do we'll eventually find something to help us figure out how to fix things..."

o-o-o-o

Later, Crono, Marle, and Lucca headed up into Truce Canyon, to what they knew as Leene Square, the site of the Millennial fair. It was a melancholic place. The memory of the Fair that had been held there twenty years ago was still fresh in their memories, but now the place was deserted. At the center of the square stood the stone arch where Leene's bell had hung for four hundred years, and where they had watched Nadia's bell be raised. But that bell now lay on the ground, cracked, the engraving on the arch telling of it's dedication seeming cruelly ironic: "1000 AD. Nadia's Bell. May it ring for everlasting peace..."

Deciding to explore a bit more, they headed down to Porre. Unfortunately, the town was now under military control, and civilians (as Crono and the girls were assumed to be) were not welcome. Disappointed but not discouraged, they flew northeast to Medina. The town was under Porre control now, but no worse for wear- certainly the citizens were much better off than they had been under the reign of Ozzie's descendants.

While on the continent, they headed over to Melchior's hut, but the house was abandoned.

They then headed south, to El Nido. This was area was an odd one – it hadn't even existed until several changes in history after the defeat of Lavos. However, the group were familiar with it by now, having visited it in 600 AD and the all of the time periods they had access to after that. In this era they found it to still be under the control of the Viper family.

In Termina, they stopped by the Element shop.

As Crono looked over the selection, Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I wonder why it is that El Nido is the only place in the world where you can find Elements?" she mused.

Marle shrugged. "I don't know, but they sure are a lot more convenient than the magic Spekkio taught us, aren't they?"

"In some ways, yes. It is nice being able to buy whatever spell you want to use, rather than having to wait to reach a certain level of skill and being restricted to only certain types of magic. On the other hand, it's really annoying only being able to use them once per battle..."

As they continued to explore the town, Marle spotted the Funhouse poster.

"Crono, Lucca, look at this!"

Lucca glanced at it. "Well, well, so our old pal Norstein Bekkler's made his way to El Nido."

"Wasn't he the guy we got the clone of Crono from so we could rescue Crono from Lavos?"

"That's the guy, alright."

Marle studied the poster. "Hmm, that sounds like fun."

Crono smiled – it was nice to see her acting cheerful again.

While Lucca was also glad Marle was no longer brooding, that didn't mean she had to agree with Marle's ideas about what would be fun. She raised an eyebrow, and said, "Are you kidding?"

"What, you don't think it sounds fun?"

"No, I don't. I think it sounds stupid. Besides, we have more important things to do."

"Like what? We beat Lavos, we rescued Crono's mom, what more do we have to do?"

"Well..." Lucca held up her hand, lifting up one finger for each thing she listed off. "Find out what we need to do to save Guardia from Porre, find Schala, stop the Mother Brain from taking over the future, help Frog regain his human form, investigate-"

"Alright, already, I get the point."

Lucca decided she wanted to see the ruins of Fort Dragonia, so they headed there. As luck would have it, a group of Acacia dragoons happened to be investigating the ruins as well, led by a woman in a lab coat. When she saw Lucca, she seemed shocked.

"It couldn't be... Lucca? No, it iz impossible, Lucca iz dead, and you are too young... but you look so much like her!" She looked at Marle and Crono. "And you two look just like Princess Nadia of Guardia... and her husband, Crono of Truce..."

Marle put her hands on her hips. "That's because that's who we are!"

Lucca grabbed Marle's shoulder urgently. "Stop it, Marle! It's not safe to reveal our identities in this time period!"

The woman smiled. "Do not vorry, Lucca. I would vould not reveal your friends vhearabouts to the Porre army. Besides, dey are not here!"

Lucca stared at her. The woman gave her a knowing smile. "So, your tales of traveling through time ven you vere younger vere true, den. Fantastic!"

The trio's eyes widened, and they all exchanged glances.

The woman introduced herself, "I am Luccia... a student of yours. …Tell me, vat brings you here?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "You mean to this time? Or Fort Dragonia?"

"Both."

"Well…" Lucca glanced at her companions, then continued reluctantly, "ever since we first discovered how to travel through time, we've been trying to guide history on the best possible course, and to help out a few friends along the way. But it's been pretty difficult, because our time machine, the Epoch, can only travel to a few different years.

"Well, the other day- relatively speaking- we stopped by the End of Time- our `headquarters' if you will- and discovered that someone else had been there. Gaspar- a man who lives at the End of Time- said he had been visited by a feline Mystic- or demi-human, as they're called here in El Nido. The cat apparently knew of us, and left us a letter. The letter described how to program the Epoch to travel to a new time period- this one.

"Naturally, I was a bit skeptical, but it worked."

Luccia was intrigued by this. "I vonder how dis demi-human knew how to program the Epoch? Do you have any idea who dis demi-human might be?"

Lucca shook her head. "Not a clue."

"The letter- did it zay anyt'ing else?"

"Only that we could never hope to create the best possible future if we didn't visit this time period. I suppose that's already been proven true- we knew Guardia didn't last forever, but we had no idea it fell so soon!"

"Indeed. Dat vas most tragic... So, dat is vhy you are 'now'. And vhat brings you here, to Fort Dragonia?"

"Well, the Dragonian ruins fascinate me. We've seen a few ancient civilizations on our trips through time, but we've never actually visited the time of the Dragonian civilization. In fact, it seems to have been confined to El Nido. We've never found any traces of it anywhere else.

"So, naturally, I'm curious about it."

Luccia nodded. "Yes, I find it quite fascinating myself. Come, let me show you around."

Luccia gave them a tour of the Fort, telling them everything she knew about it. Then she invited them to return with her to Viper Manor. As Lucca wished to continue talking with Luccia, and Crono loved exploring new places (thought he preferred places with someone to fight) they accepted.

The three hardly expected to see any familiar faces in Viper Manor, but when they entered the library they were shocked to see...

"Belthasar?!"

Belthasar gave them a strange look. "That is indeed my name, but I do not recall ever seeing you before. Have we met?"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Not really. We've met you, but you haven't met us before. What I mean is, we encountered you in an alternate course of history, in the year 2300 AD."

"And how is it that you find yourselves in this time period, then?"

"By using the Epoch, the time machine you gave us."

"Indeed? I believe I might be interested in hearing your story. Do continue."

Belthasar was upset to learn there had once been a future where Lavos devastated the world, and where Belthasar died finishing his time machine. He was very grateful to Crono and his friends for destroying Lavos and bringing about a better future.

Belthasar explained that in the new future, he had discovered the technology to be comparable to that in the day of the Kingdom of Zeal, and had been able to continue from where he had left off in his time-travel research. As a result, he had been able to complete his time machine without too much trouble.

Once he had his time machine, however, he had decided to explore history a bit before returning to Zeal. He had discovered clues that there might be something special about the El Nido Archipelago, especially in this particular point in time, so he had stuck around for a while to investigate. And that was how he had happened to be around when the trio had arrived.

After he had finished his tale, Belthasar mentioned that he was curious to see the Epoch, so they took him to where they had parked it. When he began to examine the machine, he was amazed.

"The technology this is built from is so... primitive. No wonder it took me all my life to complete it. It also looks rather well used."

Lucca nodded. "Yes, well, we've had to do quite a bit of time traveling, and since we killed Lavos, the time gates have closed, so this was the only way to get from one time period to another."

"I see. Since you have saved the world from a terrible fate, not to mention greatly improved my life, I feel it only fair I give you a gift. If you'll let me borrow the Epoch for a little while, I can upgrade it for you."

"Upgrade it?"

"Yes, I now have access to technology hundreds of years more advanced than what was used to build the Epoch. Using that technology, I can make the Epoch faster, roomier, and more efficient. I can also enhance the time travel circuits, to allow safe access to a wider range of time periods."

Lucca looked at him with something close to awe, and even Marle was impressed. "Wow! You can do all that?"

"Certainly. It will take a little bit of time, however."

"How long?" Lucca asked.

"Well, that's rather difficult to say. There are so many variables... I'd say, most likely a month, give or take- assuming I don't run into any unexpected difficulties."

Lucca didn't like the sound of that. "An entire month without the Epoch?!"

"Quality takes time."

Lucca sighed. "I suppose it's worth it. But what are we supposed to do in the mean time?"

Belthasar shrugged. "I have my own time machine, but I'm afraid I can't let you borrow it. I'll need it to gather materials, and I'd rather not see it suffer the same abuse the Epoch's had to endure. I could take you home however, if you wished."

"No, wait!" Marle spoke up. "I have a better idea!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "Like what?"

"We could stay in the Funhouse!"

"What?! You can't possibly be serious."

"Why not? If we can't travel through time, we don't really have anything better to do, and I still think it sounds fun."

Lucca turned to Crono. "Back me up here Crono. It's a stupid idea, right?"

Marle put her hands on her hips. "No, it isn't. It's a great idea, right Crono?"

Crono thought about it a moment, as the two waited in suspense. Then his eyes narrowed, just a little bit, and a smile spread across his face.

Lucca groaned.

o-o-o-o

The dungeon-like lobby of the Funhouse looked just like the entrance to the Tent of Horrors had. There was even the same annoying sound of dripping water in the background.

Cackling madly, the floating face of Norstein Bekkler drifted down from the ceiling, and greeted them warmly. "Welcome, welcome. My, my, I haven't seen you three for a while. Not since the Millennial Fair, as I recall. You haven't changed a bit! How do you do it? Did you discover the Fountain of Youth? Or is it just really good anti-aging cream?"

Lucca shook her head. "Never mind that. We're here to sign up for the Funhouse, if you've got any space left."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Come right over to my desk."

Marle looked around. "What desk?"

Bekkler waved his hand, and a desk appeared with a puff of smoke, near one corner. On it was a stack of papers, and a pen. He floated over to the desk and picked up the pen. "I'll need your name- or nickname if you'd prefer; your gender; and what clothing you intend to wear."

They all stared at him. Marle asked, "What does our clothing have to do with anything?"

"I believe the flier mentions crazy dares and competitions? Some of them involve clothing."

Lucca's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How so?"

"In various ways. Some might require you to turn an article inside out, or switch it with another player... or possibly even, in a few rare instances, to remove it out-right."

"I knew it!" Lucca said angrily.

"Please, relax. You will never be forced to perform any dares or challenges you do not wish to- they are all entirely by choice. If a dare or challenge bothers you, you are perfectly free to refuse."

"With no consequences?" Lucca pressed.

Bekkler looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well... I can't exactly say that... Whether you perform dares and participate in challenges will determine how much you win in the end beyond the basic 12,000 GP (if you make it to the end of course). Also, under certain circumstances, which you will be informed of, refusing may put you in danger of loosing the game, and having to leave the Funhouse..."

Lucca, Marle, and Crono looked at each other. "I don't know about this..." Lucca said to the others.

Marle agreed with her. "I don't want to loose the game just because I don't want to take off my clothes."

Bekkler tried to reassure them. "I assure you, the chances of that happening are really quite low- we have a variety of dares and challenges, and only a few have anything to do with removing clothing."

That seemed enough to convince Crono, but the girls still looked a little uneasy. Bekkler tried once more to reassure them. "Why don't you give the game a chance? If you don't like it, you may quit at any time."

Marle shrugged. "Well, I guess, in that case, what the heck. Sure, we'll give it a shot." She walked up to the desk. "Put me down as 'Marle'."

"Very well." He wrote that down. "Gender?"

"I'm a girl, obviously."

"Just making sure. ...Now, as for your clothing, we have ten categories: two shoes; two socks; one place for pants, dresses, skirts, shorts, and the like; one place for shirts; one for underwear; one for a jacket; one for a hat or helmet; and one for a bra or an accessory. You may bring several articles of each category (though there will be a limit to the amount off luggage you can bring), so long as you only wear one article from each category at a time. If you wish to wear more than one at a time, we will need to work that out now... Also, if there are any of these categories you do not intend to use- that is, if you don't intend to wear anything of that sort- you may trade it in for a spot for one or more accessories, or for a voucher that can be used instead of any article of clothing- for instance, if you were asked to remove something you'd rather keep on wearing."

"Wow, that's a bit complicated."

"I'll run you through it then. Do you intend on wearing shoes?"

"Do my sandals count?"

"Of course."

"Then, yes."

"How about socks?"

"I never wear socks."

"'No', then. That gives you two extra articles to work with. ...Next, I assume you'll be wearing pants, or a dress or skirt."

"Well, obviously," she said a bit hotly.

"And a shirt, too?"

"What do you think?" she said sarcastically.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bekkler commented, scribbling it down. "Do you expect to be wearing a jacket?"

"Will I need one?"

"We have a small, walled in yard you will be able to earn the right to spend time in, to get fresh air and exercise; it might get cold out there at night or in the early morning. ...Otherwise, no, you won't need a jacket."

"Well, I don't have one anyway, so I suppose I won't be wearing one."

"How about a hat or helmet?"

"I have a helmet... I usually only wear it in battle, however."

"You won't be needing it here, in that case."

"Well, I suppose I won't wear it then."

Bekkler nodded, and wrote that down. "And what about underwear and/or a bra?"

Marle blushed. "I really don't see that that's any of your business."

Bekkler looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "In this instance, it is. But if you don't feel like discussing the matter, I'll just put you down as 'yes' to both." He wrote that down. "That leaves you with four extra spots. Now I see you are wearing several bracelets," (she wore one on each wrist, and one on her right arm) "a band to secure your ponytail, a pendant, and... an armored, belt-like thing... Since you are wearing more than four accessories, if you wish to wear them in the game, you will need to 'combine' some, either with other accessories, or with some of the articles we've already discussed. For instance, you could count all three bracelets as one article; or, you could count your belt as part of your pants."

Marle thought about that a moment, then shrugged. "Sure."

"Er… Which option are you referring to?"

"Either one. Or both. It doesn't really matter to me, just so long as I'm able to wear everything."

"Well, if we count the belt as part of your pants, and count all the bracelets together, we can let the pendant stand alone, and you'll still have one more spot. Do you have any other articles of clothing you might want to wear?"

"Hmm… I might want to wear a dress at some point..."

"So long as you don't wear your pants at the same time, you can switch between pants, dresses, shorts, skirts, et cetera; whenever you want. The same goes for nightclothes- it's the part of the body it covers that matters."

Marle thought. "In that case, I can't really think of anything else..."

"Very well then, I'll give you a voucher for one article of clothing. If at any point, you are asked to remove, replace, reverse, or otherwise manipulate an article of clothing, you may use this voucher in its' place. However, you can only use it once."

"That'll be useful. Thanks. What now?"

"Now you simply sign here."

After she had signed the paper, he filed it away. Looking over at Crono and Lucca, he asked, "Next?""

Crono stepped forward, and Marle stepped aside.

After Crono had provided his information, it was Lucca's turn.

"I can't believe you guys talked me into this," she grumbled. "This is so stupid."

Bekkler looked up. "Of course it is. That's what makes it fun. Now, your name?"

Lucca sighed.

Once they were all signed in, Bekkler pointed out a rack of pamphlets. "The rules will all be explained as you go along, but if you'd like to have an idea what to expect, feel free to take a copy of them."

Crono grabbed one, and they prepared to leave. Marle decided to double check on when the game would start. "Next Monday, right?"

"That's right... at least, if we can get enough players... I'm afraid my advertising campaign wasn't as successful as I'd hoped."

"What do you mean?"

"We need twelve people to play the game properly. Counting you, we only have eight."

Marle thought about that, then a smile slowly spread across her face. "I think we just might be able to help you with that..."

o-o-o-o

While Belthasar went to the future to get the necessary parts for the Epoch, Crono and Marle decided to finish exploring this time period. Although Lucca wasn't too thrilled at the idea of playing the Funhouse, Marle's idea for recruiting more players intrigued her, so she was happy to stay behind and work on a new invention. Luccia even offered to help her.

After checking out some of the other islands of El Nido, Crono and Marle flew the Epoch north, to Choras.

The eastern continent, like El Nido, had yet to face the might of Porre, and in fact the only change that had occurred was that the Northern Ruins had been completely repaired. However, the structure was currently unoccupied, and rumor said that the place was still haunted.

When Crono, and Marle got back, Lucca and Luccia had completed their device.

Lucca began a long spiel about the machine. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, the Temporal Teleporter, Mark Two! As you know, one of the limitations of the original Tel-E-Porter is that due to the Conservation of Time theorem, it is necessary to balance the mass traveling through sub-space. This means that when one wishes to translocate something or someone to one's current location, one must transfer a similar mass to the other location. However; what Luccia and I have done is to create a force-field which acts as a counterbalance, thus-"

"Oh, just get on with it!" Marle interrupted.

Lucca coughed. "Um, er- yes. Stand back." She pulled a lever on the device, then hastily moved away from the machine herself. The machine pulsed, bolts of blue energy sparked, and then there was a blinding flash of light.

When the light faded, Frog, Ayla, Robo, and Magus were standing there.

The four looked around at their surroundings.

Ayla asked, "Where we be? Ayla no seen this place before."

Marle explained. "That's right, this is a new time period. It's about twenty years after Lucca, Crono, and my home time- not that that really means much to you, Ayla."

Magus raised an eyebrow. "I thought the time periods we've already explored were the only ones the Epoch could go to?"

Lucca nodded. "That has always been the case. However, recently a time-traveling feline Mystic left instructions with Gaspar at the End of Time telling us how to program in the coordinates for this time-period. I tried it, it worked, and here we are."

Frog croaked, and spoke up. "Pardon me, but I have a question as well. Thou hast transported all four of us to this age, and yet ye three still remain. How is that possible?"

Lucca indicated the Teleporter. "It's all thanks to this device- the Temporal Teleporter Mark Two."

Marle moaned softly. "Here we go again."

"As you know, due to the Conservation of Time theorem, under most circumstances the original Tel-E-Porter requires an equal transfer of mass- that is, to teleport someone to us, we must send one of us away. But thanks to the modifications Luccia and I have made, the device can now-"

Ayla interrupted. "So you fix machine. Big yawn. Now tell, why you bring us here? You need us help fight?"

Marle shook her head. "Sorry, Ayla, no fight. At least, not a normal one. Actually, the reason we called you all here is that we found Belthasar, and he offered to upgrade the Epoch."

Frog protested, "Is the Guru Belthasar not dead?"

Lucca shook her head. "Not in this history. In this history, without Lavos to destroy civilization, technology kept advancing after 1999. When Belthasar was thrust into the future, he found technology much more advanced than the previous history, and was able to build his time machine much more easily. Also, part of the reason the other version of Belthasar died was the hostile climate of the world he was in."

"Ah."

Ayla asked, "What this upgrade thing you say he do?"

Marle explained, "He's going to make the Epoch better- faster, stronger, able to go to more points in time, that sort of thing."

"That good."

Marle continued, "Anyway, while he's upgrading the Epoch, we won't be able to travel through time. Instead of waiting at home, we thought we'd pass the time here and now, playing a game they have here. However, we don't have enough players, so I thought I'd invite you guys to play too."

Magus scowled. "You have got to be kidding me."

Robo responded, "I would be happy to assist you."

Ayla raised her fist and shook it, a wild grin on her face. "Ayla play game, Ayla win!"

Frog hesitated. "Pray tell, what sort of game dost thou refer to?"

Marle explained, "It's called the Funhouse. We stay in this house for a month, competing in all sorts of challenges and dares, and the winning team gets a lot of money."

Magus crossed his arms. "I don't have time this nonsense."

Lucca shook her head. "We didn't think you'd be interested – the main reason we transported you here was because we figured you would want to try looking for Schala in this time period."

Marle said, "I thought he might be interested." Turning to Magus, she said, "Come on, it should be fun!"

Magus scowled at her. Marle tried a puppy-dog-pout on him; he just scowled harder. After a minute or two of this, Marle's puppy-dog-pout began to weaken and change to a disappointed pout.

Magus finally spoke, saying simply, "No." Without a further word he turned and glided off.

Marle watched him leave for a few moments, her disappointment still showing on her face.

Lucca adjusted her glasses. "I don't know why you even bothered, Marle. I don't think fun is even in his vocabulary."

Frog croaked. "Actually, I can attest that Magus does on the rare occasion take the time to enjoy what he considers 'fun'. If this were not so, I would have died a human the same day Cyrus died."

Lucca paused in surprise for a moment, then said, "Oh. Yeah."

Marle had by now had time to gather herself, and now turned to Frog hopefully. "So, what about you, Frog? Won't you play in the Funhouse with us?"

Frog thought about it for a few moments, then said grimly, "If it is thy highness's wish, then so be it." He nodded. "Yes, I shall assist thee."

"Aw, come on Frog, cheer up! I keep telling everybody, this is going to be fun!"

Lucca folded her arms. "Give it a rest, Marle. Not everybody enjoys this sort of thing."

o-o-o-o

After Crono's friends had all signed up, and had headed to Viper Manor to rest, Norstein Bekkler consulted with his associate.

"See?" the cat said. "I told you it would all work out..."

"We still need one more player," Bekkler reminded him.

Just then, a voice came from the main lobby. "Pardon moi, is anybody here?"

The cat raised his left eyebrow and smiled. "You were saying?"

o-o-o-o

...And soon, it was time for "the Funhouse" to begin...

o-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-o

Author's Note:

As long-term readers of this story may remember, Magus did not appear in the original version of this chapter, and throughout those portions of the story written prior to my 2006-2010 hiatus I was ambiguous about whether he even survived the events of Chrono Trigger.

However, I have came to realize that Magus couldn't be dead in this story – for one thing, as from the Trigger cast's perspective this is set after the scenes that play during Trigger's credits, Frog should be human if Magus was dead. For another, Cross strongly implies that he is alive, and this story accepts Cross as canon.

Furthermore, I now find those scenes where I went out of my way to avoid saying whether he was alive somewhat awkward, and it occurs to me that admitting he's alive opens up interesting story possibilities...