Chrono Trigger: Redreamt

- V -

I Prigionieri

Before he knew it, Crono was handcuffed and being roughly led by two guards to the prison. He was numb all over and absolutely afraid, staring down as they passed across the great walkway to the building. Alphonz snarled inside his cage, which the guards kept knocking about as they carried it. Finally, they paused.

"What ought we do with the cat?" The first guard shook the cage. The cat screeched loudly, causing the two to laugh.

"Easy! They're bound to the same fate, right?" The other waved a hand at the edge of the bridge.

"Oooh! I see!" The guard, wearing gauntlets, pried open the cage and grabbed the cat harshly. The kitten squealed and tried to fight back. Crono stared in disbelief; the guard then laughed, "Look at it this way: You don't have to rot in the dungeon!"

To Crono's utmost horror, the guard promptly threw the cat off the bridge with as much force as he could muster. The poor feline fell out of sight rapidly with a yowl. He jerked to the side uselessly, and shouted, "ALPHONZ!"

"Good riddance!" The guard tossed the cage off behind Alphonz, "I've always hated cats!"

"Everytime you kill a kitty, God makes a person impotent. I think you might've just killed your sex life, mister!" Crono held back angry tears, "Good riddance to THAT!"

"SHADDUP!" A fist was drawn across Crono's head so hard the young man went out.

"Uhnn…" Crono sat up and held his head, which was open and bleeding, "Ah, Jesus mother fuckin' CHRIST on a pogo stick, OW."

"Eh, keep it down in there!" A guard shouted in.

"Difficult when I've got a gaping HEAD WOUND!"

"Deal with it!" A second guard bellowed, "Your head will be off in two days anyway!"

"I find your black humor deeply disturbing." Crono winced as they laughed. He groaned and lied down on the bed, trying to fight off his headache… for the longest time he kept his eyes closed and could only think of how he was going to die, and all the things he was going to be missing in life. Never have his own place or a house… never see his cute kitty Dog ever again… never kiss a girl! With a listless sigh, he tried to clear his mind… but for some reason, this nagging feeling kept grinding at him from through the wall. He sat up, staring at it, confused.

"…hey…" The guard fidgeted, "…ya feel something odd?"

"No. Why?"

"…nothing…"

Crono blinked. Danger, Will Robinson. Danger.

There was suddenly an ear-shattering BAMF! The guards yelped and Crono jumped, looking at the wall again. The guard shouted, "WHAT THE HELL?"

The second peered through the bars. A familiar 'miao' came out… "Open up this cell! Immediately!"

Hurrying over, the guard unlocked the door. When one of them walked in, a most violent hissing was heard, along with the sound of a sword missing it's mark repeatedly. The cat shot out between the guard's legs, leaping onto a switch. His weight barely pulled it down, causing Crono's cell to open. As soon as he could, Crono charged out. The guard yelled, "HE'S ESCAPING!"

Alphonz lunged onto the man's face and tore at it with a sense of fury. The guard collapsed, gurgling as the cat tore out his throat. The second swung his sword down at the feline, who leapt away and shrieked- a magic circle appeared under the man, causing him to explode into rainbow dust.

"You kick nine different kinds of ass, Alphonz!" Crono cheered, as Alphonz leapt onto his shoulder. He petted the cat, before looking down. He raised an eyebrow, since he had his sword still on him. "Although… this says very, very bad things about our government, indeed. Oh well! Escape time!"

Crono took off, preparing to fight… but every guard he came across lay slain. They were shredded and blown to pieces, obviously having been felled by the feline. Crono shuddered, "You know, I'm not sure if I should feel disturbed at how thorough you are, or overjoyed that you know how to get a job done right."

Alphonz bristled his fur in annoyance.

"For the moment," Crono laughed nervously, "Let's try that second option."

They wound through to the entrance area, where one guard Alphonz missed was sitting by the doors. As soon as he looked up, Crono and Alphonz froze. The man suddenly shrieked, having no doubt seen the carnage, "ACK! ESCAPEES!"

"E-er, n-no, I'm the cleaning guy!!"

"SPARE ME!!!" The man tore off sobbing.

"…Why do we hire these idiots anyway?" Crono glanced at Alphonz who mewed. He shrugged a little. "Oh well. Bet you money we'll have to go through some sportive backup now, though."

"…well… if everyone wasn't dead…" Crono paused and looked at the door at the familiar voice. He nearly jumped with glee when Lucca strolled in, "Oh! Crono! Got out yourself?"

"Heh!" Crono sighed with relief, scratching the back of his head. "Actually, I have Alphonz to thank for that. This kitty knows some serious kung-fu."

"Shucks, and I went to all the trouble of shooting those guards at my house!"

"…I didn't need to know that." Crono twitched. "Anyway, let's just get out of here before the cavalry arrives."

"I only got them with an airgun! I didn't kill them!" Lucca whined. "But yes. Let's flee."

She walked out calmly with Crono, grinning widely, "I think my translator is ready as well!"

"Groovy. Let's try it sometime when our deaths by cop aren't so assured."

"I don't know if your cat even left anybody alive around here!"

"Don't jinx it. Please." Crono sweated. Alphonz flicked his tail in annoyance.

"Uh…" She started out onto the bridge, "Think Dad's gonna be upset that I skipped out on my house arrest?"

"Lucca, we've gone past upset. We are now in the 'Holy fuck, she broke the law AGAIN' part of our lives."

"Think Mom's gonna disown me?"

"Naw. But you'll wish she had."

"Hahaha," She laughed flatly, "Like she'd take the effort to laugh at me."

"She doesn't need to yell. Just speak softly and stick you with a punishment God would say 'ouch' to…"

"Yeah, what-" Lucca was interrupted as the bridge began shaking violently. The grinding of gears and squeaking of wheels drowned out all other noise, causing her to take ahold of Crono in fear of toppling.

"Aw, now see what you've done?!? We've been jinxed!"

"Well EXCUSE ME, I DID make an effort to save you!!"

"We got 'em!" cried out the voice of the Chancellor on the other hand. "Send forward the Dragontank!"

It wheeled itself onto the bridge, indeed much in the shape of a dragon on wheels. Faded red metal, for the most part, looking like some party float gone horribly, horribly wrong. A few oil stains were visible down the bottom panels of the metal goliath, and it came to a shaky halt.

"…how primitive." Lucca sneered. "Gato's more advanced than this thing by a million years!"

"Dragon tank!?" Crono groaned, "I hate dragons!!"

In response, it opened it's maw and barfed flames upon the crew. Lucca and Crono yelped and shrieked, smartly dropping to the ground and rolling out the flames. Alphonz followed suit, hopping up first with singed fur.

"Thank God for Smokey Bear and his lessons!" Crono hopped back up, drawing his sword.

"That's IT! It's CHEESECAKE TIME!!!" Lucca whipped out an even -newer- gun, made from a spritz-cookie press. The entire idea was sick and wrong and would have sent most people fleeing in the opposite direction.

"You have WAY too many home appliances-turned deadly weapons, Lucca."

"I'M HANDY WITH MY HANDS! NYAHAHA!"

As she shot at the Dragontank's head, Alphonz merely cast a light heal over the group, since claws would have absolutely no effect on the metal body of the tank. The Tank made a ping noise as it was hit, and Crono muttered, "Riiiiight. 'Kay, time to make some salami!"

He leapt forward and sliced at the tank's head. It made a grinding, thinking sort of noise before charging, rolling everyone over. It rolled back into place with a jerky halt, the crew groaning in pain.

"My spine…" Lucca struggled to her feet.

"My appendix…"

Alphonz had barely missed a wheel by centimeters and looked frightened as well, having unfortunately been frightened enough to soil himself. However, he noticed a loose panel on the underbelly of the tank. He hopped upright and shook his head, and the dragon let off a… rather non-threatening "Ro-ar."

"Ro-ar? That's sorta… lame."

It thought a moment more, then charged forward and barfed scalding-hot oil on Crono. He yelped as it burned and saturated his clothes. "YEOW! You little tin-can bastard!! That'll NEVER come out!!!"

It then barfed hot tar onto the scientist, followed by a light dusting of feathers. Lucca screamed, before muttering, "I'm down."

She fell to the ground with a sticky 'thwap', and Crono was, naturally, dismayed. "Aw shit!"

"Miao!" Alphonz dove under the tank's belly and hooked onto the loose panel with his claws. Squeezing himself in painfully through a crack, he disappeared inside before the tank could do much.

"Forced Entry Alert."

Alphonz looked around, at a mess of tubes hanging ahead of him. He drew claws and took a lucky swipe, severing a thick black one. Suddenly gallons of that hot oil spilled out from the bottom, rolling off the edge of the bridge. The tank said in a monotone voice, "System Breach."

It spewed flames violently on the two teenagers. Lucca cried, "That just… made the tar… become solid. God."

Alphonz then saw the bottom of a tank very clearly marked 'fuel'. The kitten slammed it's claws into it, causing several holes. As soon as the gasoline became pouring out, the oily, icky kitty squeezed back out, spitting and coughing out gasoline. Crono shouted, "Get outta the line of fire, Alphonz! I'm gonna TOAST this bugger!"

"System failure. Contact Billy for repairs." Alphonz leapt out of the way, giving Crono a chance to run and leap mightily onto the tank's head.

"I!" He shouted, drawing up his sword, "HATE!"

With all his might he plunged it deep into the tank's head, screaming, "DRAGONS!!!"

The metal-against-metal created an inevitable spark, causing the tank to basically explode from the bottom up. Alphonz also -exploded- with a shriek, from the fuel trail he had left. Crono barely leapt off in time, but was very burnt himself. Lucca struggled herself to her feet, staring with a gaping jaw, "Dear GOD!"

"I'm an ash tray!" Crono coughed violently.

"Well Alphonz is a main course!" Lucca pointed at the barbecued, sizzling feline.

"Oh SHIT! Alphonz!!!"

"No time!" Lucca scooped him up as she ran past, "We gotta scram before they get a NEW tank!"

"R-right!"

"ACK!" The Chancellor fled into the castle, arms in the air, "ESCAPEES!"

"Escapees?!?" Marle bounded off her throne into the main entry way. Lucca and Crono soon came into sight, causing Marle to exclaim, "OH MY GOD! Lucca! You're tarred! And feathered! And Crono! You -gotta- cut out your smoking habit!!!"

"Yeah. Real harsh stuff, those flaming piles of debris." Crono groaned.

"Are you escaping?" She smiled sweetly.

"Hell yes!"

"Me too!" she jumped, excitedly.

"Absolutely NOT!!" The King hurried up behind her. She whipped around instantly, hands on her hips.

"And why the hell not?!!"

"You cannot desert your throne, Princess Nadia! Especially not with these… these commoners!"

"Can you feel the love?" Crono blinked.

"You treat me like some object!" Marle shouted back, "I can be friends with DIRT if I wanted to and you can't stop me!"

"I CAN AND AM!"

"I DESPISE YOU, OOOH!" Marle ripped off her tiara and threw it at him, "I'm LEAVING! RUN, GUYS!"

She tore off, with the others following behind her. She ran as fast as her feet could go, shouting cheerfully, "WOOHOO! This is the adventure I enjoy!"

"Nice exits we pull, huh?" Crono dashed right behind Lucca.

"Guards!!" The King bellowed, "Seize them!"

"God, I don't know why I bother to wake -up-!" Lucca nearly sobbed.

They tore out into the woods with guards hot on their trails. They all looked around frantically, but Marle waved them on down a pathway. "THIS WAY!"

Unfortunately with a error in calculation, this lead the group to a dead end. Marle stopped dead, looking around frantically. Lucca skidded to a halt, with Crono forcing a sharp stop behind her- she merely step aside, causing the young man to trip right over onto Marle with a 'thud'. Before them, though, was a glittery little distortion…

"Ah!" Marle pointed at it, "Isn't that a time gate?!?"

"It would seem that way!" Lucca approached it, adjusting and cleaning off her glasses.

"Ow! For the nth time this day…" Crono was just happy he had landed somewhere soft… oh, wait a minute, "Oh! S-sorry, Marle!"

He got off, and she did the same, dusting herself off. "That's okay, you look worse off than I do!"

"Before they get here!" Lucca swung out the gate key, making the distortion open wide, "C'mon!!"

"Right! Let me help, Crono!" Marle swept him off his feet and leapt in. Just as the guards came rushing in, Lucca hopped into the gates. She gave 'em a wink and knowing smile.

"Buh-bye now." The gate sealed closed, leaving the guards completely shocked and stunned. They hesitated for the longest time, looking among each other nervously.

"…how the HELL are we gonna 'splain this one to His Majesty?!?"

"My black brothers, I do believe we have seen God in action. Let us pray."

They all fell upon their knees in furious praying action.

After the racing, streaming path through the time gate, the group was able to hop out safely into a dark room lined with metal panels. Dust was heaped up in corners, and only a few lights in the room worked, some blinking. Lucca gasped sharply as Marle carefully set Crono onto his feet, dusting him off. "There we are!"

"Thanks, and…" He looked around, "Um… Yeah, this ain't 600 AD."

"T…THE WALLS!" Lucca ran her hands across the paneling. "THE WAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLSSSSSSS!!!"

"Somebody's excited." Marle giggled.

"You have NO idea. I'd rather take the dragon than Lucca when she gets this way."

"SO ADVANCED! THIS MUST BE OUR FUTURE!" Lucca -screamed-, "O, GLORIOUS GODS!"

"She's cute this way." Marle giggled again, before looking down at the charbroiled cat. "Oh? What's this? ,,,, AAAAAAAAAAH! ALPHY!"

Lucca snapped back to reality, "What's wrong?!?"

"Miao."

"HE'S SOOO CUTE!"

Alphonz was no longer burnt… in fact, he had a metallic sheen to his coat and had a thick, metal collar on with a digital readout. Everyone stared in silence, until Crono said firmly: "Lucca, explination now."

"Er, uhh," she wracked her brain, "AHAH! My theory is CORRECT! He's displaced his own timeline's threads in correspondance to the time we'd come out so basically changing his appearance's history and allowing himself to appear in different eras!!!"

Marle tilted her head, and Crono did much the same. "OK, now repeat that in English."

"TIMESPLITTING!" Lucca shrieked, shaking, "IT WAS THOUGHT TO BE MERE LEGEND!"

"Oh, I've heard of those stories!" Marle clapped her hands together.

"Brilliant, Marle. Could you please enlighten me?"

"There's a type of being called a Timesplitter. When a person acquires too much luck, good or bad, they're knocked out of alignment with the normal world. They become aware of distortions around them and are able to use these to send themselves just about anywhere. It's some magical mumbo-jumbo nobody believes in anymore."

"…for confirmation, though, we'd have to know about the cat…" Lucca whipped out a clip-like device, screaming, "SO I HAVE THE TRANSLATOR!"

"…yay for Quantum Leap kitty. Alright," Crono sighed, "Let's try out your little gizmo, Lucca."

She passed it over, explaining simply, "Clip it on his collar, then turn on the switch."

"Alright. Okay, Alphonz, hold still… " He knelt down and attached it firmly to Alphonz's collar, flipping on the switch.

"…" The cat blinked.

"…Hello? You understand us, right?" Lucca waited.

"You speak the common tongue, do you not?" The cat spoke in a flowing, full voice, "Of course I understand you."

"WOW." Lucca was knocked off her feet.

"Holy shit. It worked." Crono was about the same.

"Strange object, indeed…" Alphonz looked down at it, "Quite foreign to a man of my times. What is it you required my voice for?"

Lucca stammered, with Crono muttering, "Uh… just give us a moment, Alphonz. Lucca needs a reboot."

"Luuuccaaa!" Marle called, "Wake up now, silly chicken!"

She shook her head. "Okay, I'm back. What were we doing again?"

"Listening to the cat talk. Which is just about as freaky as listening to the frog talk."

"Don't remind me." Lucca shuddered.

"A frog?" Marle gasped, "A talking frog?!? HOW ADORABLE!"

"It is NOT!" Alphonz snapped with a hiss.

Marle jumped, and Crono scolded, "Woah, easy, kitty!"

"No doubt a victim of some sadistic curse brought forth by our enemies in the past…"

"I'm missing something here." Marle blinked.

"We've all been left at the door, Marle."

"It is as humorous as a man being stuck in a body of stitches and cotton. I laugh not." Alphonz huffed bitterly.

"She didn't mean any offense." Lucca spoke quietly.

"Alright," Crono nodded, "We get the picture. No talking about Frog then…"

"I'm… not good at asking questions since I'm so technical, but, you are the mage Alphonz in another form, right?"

"Pray tell, what is it to your business of I am? To anyone's?"

"Well… she kinda told your wife."

"No. Simply fiance… Even, not that. Accquaintences." He let his ears droop, "Or would be if I had the courage to speak… I can mutter my sweet's name on a breath but not a single word may I utter to her face."

"Aw, that's kinda sad!" Marle knelt down.

"Yeah." Crono nodded. "She likes you, you know. You're gonna have to get over your courage problem if you hope to sweep her off her feet. Which you WILL do."

"Time has been set to my disappearance. I cannot change what has been done without some consequence."

"…he's got a point…" Lucca shifted uneasily.

"Which I'm not taking."

"I do not deserve her love nor praise, but the full form of the curse which plagues me. I am akin to the foul beasts that lurk within dungeon lairs…"

"Hey!" Marle shouted, "Don't be such a downy-poopy-head!"

"I do not understand your terminology."

"STOP BEING SO NASTY TO YOURSELF!" She shouted.

"Think positive, for cryin' out loud!" Crono frowned.

"I tried for centuries. Yet I cannot regain my mortality. I shall just have to live to see the end of time again and again. It is what Fate has chosen for me."

"End of time?" Lucca thought a moment.

"Outside the door lies a sight your eyes will wince to see. But you brought yourselves here, so blame me not for the scenery."

"I dooon't like the sound of that statement." Crono shuddered slightly.

"As it may be, one shall have to leave in order to get back to one's own time."

"…I'll go first." Lucca sighed, slipping out of the broken door. There was the longest time, before she screamed at the top of her lungs, "HOLY FUCK!"

Marle and Crono ran out to aid her, with Marle instantly shouting, "What is I-…."

Before them lay a barren landscape covered in huge drifts of ash. The sky was a putrid grey, and the air was thick with flakes of dust and other debris. There were heaps of broken metal sticking viciously out of the deeply covered earth, and the wind howled violently. It was unbearably warm, as if the world had put on a giant sweater. The group stared in silence for the longest time, until Crono gasped. "Mother fuckin' piss bucket… IT'S ALL ASH!"

"A…Alphonz!" What happened?!?"

He simply mewed.

"This is absurd." Crono stared with wide eyes. "When the hell are we?"

"…the future. OUR future." Lucca shook her head.

"THERE'S NOTHING HAPPY ABOUT IT!" Marle shouted, "W-where's the happy ending?!?"

"No -god damn- way this is OUR future."

"We could ask the cat," Lucca gazed down at him, "But I don't think he wishes to talk to me anymore."

"We'll fix the attitude later." Crono looked back at the complete lack of a gate, "First, I wanna know how to get home."

"That will require some searching." The cat suddenly spoke. "I, myself, could spirit away within an instant and leave you all here… but I pity you. So I shall help you find the gate."

"Yay!" Marle clapped, "I knew that even if he was grouchy he was still our wittle kitty cat!"

"He didn't have to add the part about being able to ditch us though."

"But you wouldn't, would you?" Marle looked concerned.

"…" Alphonz gazed up at them, "I still need you."

"To get your old body back, yeah, we know. We'll get right on it when we can."

"No."

"Ahp!" Crono stopped him, "Think positive."

"I am. I'm thinking of the day I can finally close my eyes for the last-"

"SSH!" Marle scolded. She put a finger over his mouth, "Don't talk like that! Bad kitty!"

Crono nodded. "Think other thoughts. Like explinations for running away. 'Kay?"

Alphonz bristled in annoyance. Lucca started off through the ash, "Well let's start looking for a way home."

"Right." Crono followed, "Let's keep the pitstops to a minimum if we can."

Lucca soon began coughing, "Oh, all the ash in the air… this is terrible for my asthma."

Marle burst into singing, "Juuuust keep smiling! Lalala, Always smiling, lalala!"

"Smile in a wasteland?" Crono stared at her, "Sorry, I ain't that perky."

Lucca however chuckled, "You'll wake up something nasty wailing like that!"

Marle began poking Crono, singing, "Smiiiiling! Happy happy happy, woo! Smile!"

He grumbled, "Marle, I'm really just not in the mood right now."

PIFF! Crono blinked, having an ash ball thrown at his head. Lucca paused, looking back.

"Think of it as really dirty snow." Marle laughed mischievously.

"My clothes! Mom's gonna have my head on a PLATTER!" Crono was sharply interrupted by another ash ball thrown at him from Lucca's side. He looked over and she maintained a look of pure innocence. "…alright, you BOTH asked for it!"

He whipped one back at Marle, who deftly dodged. She scooped up a new ball, and Lucca gasped in a fake offended tone, "But Crono! You wouldn't hit a girl with glasses, would you?!?"

"I'd hit her with something much larger and heavier!" cried Marle.

"Hey!" Lucca laughed.

"Sorry," Crono smirked, "But counterattacks are ALWAYS allowed!"

He launched one at Lucca, who promptly fell over into the ash with a poof. Marle slung one hard at Crono, who spun around and caught the ball, shouting before throwing it back! "Right back at'cha!"

"Ack!" She fell over when it hit her, getting up and readying another. "Why you!"

She whipped it back, while Alphonz quietly watched. Lucca was busily making herself an ash angel. Crono was hit hard, and landed with a satisfying puff noise. Marle shouted an attack cry, and leapt onto him, making ash rise up around them. Lucca giggled but coughed, "Hey! It's all over my glasses!"

"Aaah!" Crono laughed, "I've been attacked by a Marle!"

"I conquer this land in the name of the royal family." She sat on him proudly.

"Nice piece of," Lucca coughed, "Real estate."

"I better be worth good money."

"The HELL I'm selling this land! It's probably full of goodies in the nooks and crannies!" She began viciously tickling him. He burst out laughing.

"H-h-hey! N-no fair!!"

"MUAHAHAHA!"

Lucca finally broke out into hoarse, violent coughs. "Guys, I really need to get out of the ash…"

"Oh!" Marle hopped off Crono, grey with ash.

"Hey, you alright, Lucca?" Crono was just as sooty, looking seriously concerned.

She simply hacked and coughed, so Marle snatched her up and began running, "Time to HAUL ASS! Dadadaaa!"

Alphonz followed after, leaving a trail in the dust, Crono hot on their heels.