A Step Onto Chronos Chapter 10 Master of Shadows
Shadic the Hedgehog
We traveled back to Frog's house to hand him the completed Masamune, pausing on occasion to rest and battle some rouge Mystics. We reached the Cursed Woods and saw a Nu, hurrying towards Frog's underground home. We caught up to it and trapped it, in order to force a battle, right above Frog's house. He came out to investigate the noise and I tossed him the Masamune. To my amazement, the Nu moved faster than I thought possible, and caught the sword itself.
"What in the...!" I blurted.
The Nu sneered and said, "So, it appears Magus's bane has been reforged. He will not be pleased."
"You work for Magus!" cried Lucca. "But why?"
"Because I am no Nu. I am a Doppelganger contracted to his service."
"Why didn't you warn us, Joe?"
"Because this wasn't part of the game. It was just a normal Nu," I replied.
"I told you," shouted the Doppelganger. He changed forms to look like Frog. "I'm not a frickin' Nu!"
"Aw, shyt!" I looked to Marle, Lucca, Crono, and Frog and began charging a Chaos Flare without letting the flames emerge from my blood stream (It really freakin' hurt). "This battle could be very tough. We have find a way to be sure we attack the Nu-Frog."
"I thought I told you..." the Doppelganger jumped into the air. "I'M NOT A NU!"
Crono blocked with his katana, having figuring out my plan, and yelled, "Now!"
I materialized the Chaos Flare and held it up. Lucca and Marle had also figured out what I was doing and turned my Flare into a Antipode Bomb. I threw the sphere and Frog caught it on his sword. The Doppelganger turned to face him and Crono added lightning to the sword. Frog stabbed his copy and it howled in pain as Shadow and Flame energy erupted from avery pore in it's body, causing complete disintegration.
"Yeah! We did it!" cheered Marle. Frog picked up the Masamune and looked around.
"I would not be too sure of that," he muttered. "The blade quaketh as it once did in Magus' presence."
"Very good, boy," a cold voice echoed through the forest.
"Was it truly a Doppelganger? Or a Shadow Mage in disguise?" I asked.
"I would not be so foolish as to hold that which could kill me," Magus stepped into the clearing. "I merely sent him to gauge your strength."
Lucca tried to shoot Magus in the head, but the shot went through him and hit the tree behind.
"An illusion," growled Frog. "Thou wouldst never come here in person as long as I hold the Masamune."
"You are overconfident. I shall be waiting for you in my castle. The Magic Cave will be open and waiting." His illusion faded.
"That fiend. He darest insult me! He shall die by my hand!"
"Still, you'll need more power than just the sword," I told him. I turned to Crono and the others. "Let's get him to Spekkio."
"Right," Crono nodded. We headed north and dropped Marle off at the Castle, because she wanted to visit some with her ancestors. After entering the End of Time, we introduce Frog to Robo and Gaspar, before heading to Spekkio's Room.
"Well, now. Normally, I woulda put you as a Water Caster, but since the discovery of the other elements, it looks like you're a Wind type," said Spekkio. He looked different again, but I couldn't place the species. Spekkio chanted and a tornado rose around Frog. When it settled, his eyes were shifting from a bright yellow back to normal. "There, now that you've got magic, ya wanna test it out?"
"We'll do that in a bit," said Lucca.
"After all, we know the perfect training spot," I agreed. We grabbed Frog by the arms and took him to the Hunting Grounds in the prehistoric age, where he learned Cure and Heal, in addition to the Wind spell from Spekkio. In the meantime, I worked on adapting my attacks to look like moves from Dragonball Z, but it still hurt like hell. Like all the moves were powered by the Kaioken times a hundred and one. Lucca learned Fire 2 and Crono learned Lightning 2. It was still a mystery how our Area attacks keep from harming us, or our allies.
We returned to 600 AD, picked up Marle, picked up Marle, and headed for the Magic Cave. Magus was true to his word, and had it open. As soon as we entered, I noticed a small bat flutter down and fly just out of sword's reach.
Avoiding most of the monsters in the path, we traveled for the "back door." When we reached it I whispered, "Leave the new techniques for Slash, Flea, and Magus. Especially Magus."
"Why are we whispering?" asked Marle.
"Magus has eyes and ears in many places." I glanced pointedly upwards at the bat overhead. We walked up to the castle and opened the front gates. Then as we approached the top of the stair well, Ozzie appeared, laughing at us. The "bat" flew over to his ear and then flew away
"So, you've made it all the way here, Froggy and friends. I'd love to teach you a lesson, but instead..." Ozzie raised his stubby arms, and we were surrounded as two Bats, Henches, and Gargoyles appeared. We drew our swords in response. "You'll have to fight all one hundred monsters in the castle!" He faded out, laughing at us.
"Remember the strategy!" I jumped into the air, slicing one of the Bats in two. Frog had cut off the head of a Gargoyle, and was jumping to take out the other Bat. Crono sliced up the second Gargoyle with a Cyclone, and the two Henches vanished in the flash of blue and red light that comes from an Antipode 2 spell.
Then Marle just had to ask, "Do we really have to fight 100 monsters?"
"No," I replied. "But we will have to fight quite a bit." I first led everyone down the left path, towards Slash's room. We walked past a bunch of villagers looking hopeless, got some stuff, then headed towards Flea's room down the other hallway.
We walked slowly around the Shadow Children, who were watching their treasure with great want. Then we reached the Room of Regret. Before we entered I tried to explain what was in the room.
"Inside there are memories given form. Somehow, Flea was able to create illusions of people we know. They aren't very good copies, though, for they can only say enough to make us wish we hadn't started our journey, or something to that effect. Do not be fooled."
"Thy world doth know much, Joe," Frog nodded. "Will thy knowledge help us defeat Magus?"
"Yes, I know his weaknesses, as well as those of Slash, Ozzie, and that batty Flea." The "bat" flying overhead gave a startled squeak and fluttered a little faster. We then entered the room.
"Mom..." gasped Crono.
"Where have you been! I've been worried sick!" scolded "Crono's Mom."
"Well, I'm, uh-"
"Crono," I warned. "Remeber what I said? that isn't your mother, just an illusion. Let's move on."
We encountered Queen Leene, King Guardia XXXIII, and Taban, Lucca's Dad, as well. Next was my turn, and I was ready. Or at least, I thought I was.
"Joe?" It was my sister...
"'Manda? How'd you get here: I replied, shocked.
"I found my own Gate and ended up here."
"So there's a way hom?" I gasped, then I blinked and thought, 'something's not right here...'
"No, it closed up behind me. But maybe if we talked to Magus later, he could get us back home!"
"You're not Amanda." I put my hand behind my back and concentrated.
"What are you talking about? Of course I am."
"I've found a slight continuity problem," I winced as I summoned a small fireball in my hand. "I told no one back home of the Universe Gate, and you just said that you found your own Gate.' How could you know I hadn't merely walked from our universe to this one. Now die, blasphemous illusion!" I threw the fireball at the illusion and ran past not wanting to see it burn or hear any screams of pain. Everyone followed me into Flea's room and I sat down on the chair, hand's covering my face. Flea the Bat squeaked, indignently at my audacity.
"Flea, you gender confused fool! Stop flapping around the ceiling! Get down here and fight me! One. On. One." Amazingly, s/he came down to do just that.
"You wish to battle, foolish Human? It shall be your undoing!" s/he cackled.
"I think not." I stood up, placed my hands, fingers to wrists, by my side. "I was going to save this, but you just had to make me mad." I charged a fireball in my hands, compressing the energy as it emerged, chanting, "Kaaa... Meee... Haaa... Meee... HAAAA!" I thrust my hands foreward, changing the position so that my wrists were touching. The ball of fire stretched out into a beam aimed at Flea's head.
S/he blocked with an ice shield then held out just long enough for my flame to run out. "I thought you said you knew my weaknesses." I replied with an evil grin and grabbed the hilt of my sword, charging Flea. S/he prepared to block a physical attack, but was quite surprised when I opened my mouth and a jet of fire flew out, in a modified Purification spell.
In response, Flea jumpedover my head and I pulled out my sword, spinnig to attack hir on the other side of me. Instead s/he landed on my sword, cape twirling. I turned the blade, causing hir to fall. S/he grabbed my sword with both hands and spun, shattering the blade.
"Good job, girl. Now I can try my Icebane technique," I grinned again.
"I'm a man!" Flea protested. I laughed and threw the remains of my sword at hir. S/he dodged and bagen laughing, but the laughter was cut short when I sliced off hish left arm with a blade made of fire. S/he shrieked in pain and vanished.
This isn't... over..." I panted, just before I fell unconcious.
--line break--
"Hey look! He's waking up!" Marle's voice. I groaned. I tried to lift my arm, but something was weighing it down. Something warm, and kinda squishy...
I opened my eyes and looked over. "Er..." My face flushed when I saw Lucca hugging my arm, asleep. I looked beyond her and saw a Safe Sphere. I carefully slipped my arm out of Lucca's grip and stood. We were in Slash's room, and his sword was missing from the wall above the chair.
Crono and Frog approached me, and I asked them what had happened since I had fallen unconcious. Apparently, after I had banished Flea, Crono had carried me out, while Frog, Lucca, and Marle were in a vanguard formation. They defeated everything in their way until they reached Slash's room, and along the way Marle learned Cure 2 and Frog learned Wind 2.
Slash was a rather tough battle for them, but as decided, only our known attacks were used against him. Crono and Frog learned quickly that X-slash useful, and Lucca and Marle enchanted the swords with Fire and Ice.
Once Slash pulled down his sword from the wall, they stopped using magic and just went with normal attacks. Until Crono came up with the idea for a move called Slash Piñata. Frog lifted Slash into the air with a Wind spell, and Crono used Slash on him. There was a loud crack as the attack hit Slash's right arm, bending it in an unnatural way. Slash dropped his sword and vanished.
"Then this Safe Sphere showed up and we all took a well deserved nap," Marle concluded.
Lucca yawned and sat up as I replied, "Mind if I use Slash's sword? the Icebane technique is far too draining."
"Of course," Lucca replied. "We already put it in your scabbard." I blinked and looked down.
"Oh. I guess I've gotten so used to the weight of a sword I didn't noticed." We laughed and I pulled out the Slasher. It was a little thin for me, but it would work.
Frog croaked at us and said, "Wherefore art we standing still?"
"Right" I nodded and re-sheathed the Slasher again with a click. "We should be going after Magus. Let's head back to the entrance."
When we reached the entrance hall, there was what appeared to be a Safe Sphere, but what I knew to be a transportation device. We stepped into it, after a small explenation, and faded out, one-by-one, to appear in a hallway lined with gargoyles.
"Now where are we?" asked Marle.
"It's Magus' next gauntlet," I explained. "Between each pair of statues is a battle. Watch out for the Jugglers because their defenses switch between magic and physical."
"Isn't there a way to avoid them?" asked Crono.
"I've tried, the gargoyles contain real creatures."
"Then why not destroy them before they wake?" asked Frog.
I blinked. Then I smacked myself on the forehead. "Duh! We're not actually in a game right now, so they can be killed outside of battle! Crono, you remember that Kamehameha Wave I used earlier? Well, there's the basic idea, but I'd like to teach you another move: it's called the Supreme Cannon. Basically, you channel your energy into your fingertips, and after you get enough, you release it forward in a beam that's got two more spiraling around it. You try it out on the left row. I've got the right."
We got into position and Crono used the attack almost completely identical to the way Piccolo did it on DBZ. Instead of using the Kamehameha Wave this time, I used Prince Vegeta's Gallic Gun attack. It looked about the same, but was less focused in the ray itself, but more powerful.
All of the statues in the room were either shattered or completely destroyed. We then, in hope that it was safe, traveled through the center of the room. It had worked, we didn't get into a single battle. After we got through that room, we walked into a room filled with conveyer belts and guillotines. Looking towards the back of the room, we noticed Ozzie turning a crank. He spotted us and stopped the crank.
"Welcome to my first hall of horrors! Think you can make it through alive?" He laughed and then began turning the crank again. We looked around for a way to get through easily and I glanced up to the ceiling. Apparently, the guillotines weren't attached directly to the ceiling.
"Glenn, think you can carry us over there with Wind 2?" I asked.
Frog blinked and looked up at me, "H-how didst thou knowest my true name?"
"'Nother world remember?"
"I see. Yes, I do believe I can carry us all with my magic."
"Good. By the way, would you prefer being called by your real name?"
"Y-yes, it would be much more... Comfortable..." Glenn then turned forward and raised his arms, chanting softly. A wind began to stir at our feet, raising a small cloud of dust and whipping our clothes around. Eventually, it gained enough strength that it picked us up off the ground. Glenn started chanting louder, and it carried us over the guillotines all the way to the door on the other side of the room, landing next to Ozzie.
Ozzie blinked, then turned towards us before he phased off into the next room. We walked out the door and found ourselves on a small fire escape-like set of stairs outside the castle.
"We need to go up!" I shouted over the cold, biting wind. "But be careful! The path is covered with Outlaws, Jugglers, and Bomb Rolys!" I looked ahead. "Here comes a Bomb Roly now!"
Glenn quickly began chanting again, picking us off the path and carrying us up to the doorway, which we entered.
"Well, that's one way to do it," I assented. Looking down the hall, I saw... nothing. Nothing but hallway with a corner at the far end.
"What're we waiting for!" called Marle, starting down the hallway.
"No! Wait!" But I was too late in my warning, there was a loud clanking noise and a hole opened up in the ground beneath Marle. As she fell in, the rest of us dove in after. Even Glenn followed as opposed to casting Wind as I had hoped. As we reached the bottom of our descent, we slowed, like we were falling through water. We landed in a completely empty room, with four sparkling spheres at each end, over twenty floors down.
"Whoa, where are we?"
"The basement. Ozzie had another trap set up in that room. Four pit traps, Marle just activate the first one."
Glenn stared up at the darkness above us, "My Wind cannot even lift us that far."
"So how do we get out?" asked Crono.
I pointed at one of the sparkles, "One of those is a Safe Sphere, another is a Teleport Sphere, and the other two are enemies disguised as Safe and/or Teleport Spheres."
"Which is it?" asked Lucca.
"Unknown. It's different every time."
"Greeeat. So how are we supposed to get outta this one?" asked Marle.
"Simple," stated Crono, he pulled his katana out. "We fight our way out!" Just by making eye contact, we agreed that Crono, Lucca, and I, being the most experienced, would investigate three of the Spheres on our own, while Marle and Glenn would investigate the last one together. Things went smoothly. It turned out that Crono and I had the Monster Spheres, Lucca had the Safe Sphere, and Marle and Glenn had the Teleport Sphere.
Crono and I battled our way out of the monsters, and met back up with Lucca before we headed to the Transport Sphere. I took a small detour and opened up a couple of chests that happened to be there. I found a helmet and a potion, that was amazingly labeled "Ether." I smiled, 'Glenn's gonna need this before too long.'
After we emerged at the entrance of the room, Glenn lifted us off the ground again and carried us to the other end of the hall where Ozzie was. As usual, Ozzie freaked and flew off. Glenn landed us and as we started moving, he stumbled, as if he were drunk. Marle noticed this too and looked over at him.
"What's wrong?"
"I do not know," he muttered, shaking his head. "I feel odd. As if I was spun about rapidly, as I had been when Sir Spekkio gave me my Magic."
"Side effect of using too much Magic," I said. "I was wondering what yours would be. Here, I found this in the basement." I handed him in the Ether and he drank it down quickly.
"Much better. My thanks to thee."
"No prob, let's get going." We headed through the door and found ourselves in another Gargoyle-lined hallway. Crono and I merely walked to each side and used Gallic Gun and Special Beam Cannon again. We proceeded through the rubble and found ourselves in a large room with four cranks and a throne. Ozzie was in front of the throne.
"Amazing," he said. "To think that a frog and four humans could survive the powers of the Great Magus' army of Mystics."
"Pfft. Do you really think we would lose to a bunch of idiots like you, Flea, and Slash when I happen to be from a universe were I've beaten all of you by controlling just Glenn, Lucca and Crono? I know more than you could ever fathom. I know that you will be killed by a cat," I said. Ozzie blanched. "That's right. A CAT! It'll be orange with black stripes on it."
Ozzie regained his composure, "Hmph! Like I'm going to be beaten by you chumps! And a cat! Give me a break! If you think you're going to win, just try it!" He waved his hands and was covered by what appeared to be a dome of ice.
Crono prepared to attack, but I held him back. "There's only one way to beat him: the pully closest to the door, on the left when you face the door, will open a pit right beneath him. It's being held closed by an invisible hench."
Marle and Lucca took aim at said crank and both fired at once, there was a small scream and the crank suddenly began spinning. When it stopped, there was a grinding sound and the floor fell out from beneath Ozzie's shield. As it fell, Ozzie screamed: he couldn't phase through his protective shield, nor could he fly under it's weight.
After we could no longer hear his screams, a Safe Sphere and a Teleport Sphere appeared. We rested up a bit and went over our inventory, putting the Potions, Midpotions, and Ethers at the top, before we headed through the Teleport Sphere.
Once we emerged on a stairwell, we hightailed it to escape the Bats that were chasing us, just to save more of our energy. Entering the door at the bottom of the stairs, we found ourselves in a dark room, filled with the sounds of murmured chanting. I took a step forward and six blue flames lit up, three on either side. We continued forward and more blue flames lit. It was then that we heard Magus' voice.
"Nuega Nuega Zeiber Zom... Now the Chosen Time has come... I trade this World for..." We reached him just before he could finish his ritual.
"Lavos?" I asked. "He's too powerful for you at this time, Magus. How about you settle for us?" The blue flames continued to light, coming to a circle around Magus. Then a large, six-armed statue carrying torches lit up. Magus turned, his blue hair sliding across his shoulders, violet eyes flashing.
"You made it. Excellent. I guess this means you truly wish to battle me?" he said, coldly.
"It does, foul one! Now thou shalt taste the might of the Sacred Sword, the Masamune!" cried Glenn, drawing the sword.
Magus' hair and cape began fluttering, in a breeze none of us could feel. "The Black Wind howls. Come to your doom, on the edge of the Dark Blade, the Murasame!" He, too drew a sword, but this one looked oddly famaliar. As he held it in the light, I gasped.
"My father's sword! I-it has become the Murasame! But, this can't be possible! The Murasame never existed in the game!"
"I found this sword seven years ago, in the region of the Magic Cave. It was after that that I discovered the Magic Cave and had my castle built on the other side. Now, shall we begin?"
Glenn attacked, starting with a feint that Magus attempted to block. But the Masamune danced around the Murasame and sliced a thin, red line into Magus' forearm that began to steam from the contest of magical energies.
Magus re-sheathed the sword, "I guess cannot win in a contest of swords just yet, so we'll have a battle of spells!" He cast a spell that caused a wave of heat followed by a set of explosions. "Once you've lost enough energy, the Murasame will drain your souls, making me all the stronger!"
"He cast Fire 2! Lucca, cast a flame spell on him!" I called. Lucca nodded and blasted him with her own Fire 2. He narrowed his eyes and cast another spell that caused electricty to permeate the air around him.
"Crono! Your turn!" Crono focused his energy and used the Kamehameha Blast on him (making me realize just how like Goku he really was). Magus seized up for a moment, electricity dancing across his body, then cast yet another spell. This time, things suddenly got really chilly, followed by a feeling of steely wetness enclosing me.
"I-ice t-t-t-two! M-M-Marle! D-do it!" She put her hands out in front and hummed causing a line of frost to track its way to Magus before enclosing him in a large block of ice. He shattered out and, looking more blue than normal, cast one more spell. Targeting me he blasted me with Dark Bomb, one of the weakest Shadow spells. It at least dried me off a bit after that Ice 2 he hit us with.
"Ha! Try finding a counter for that! I'm the only one in this fight who has command of the Shadows!" laughed Magus.
"Yeah, the only one! When we work together, we can even take out the Shadow Master! Marle, Lucca, Crono! It's time for Delta Force!" The three of them created a triangle around Magus and started to cast, all at once, their second level element spells at Magus. Right in the middle of the casting, Glenn jumped overhead and cast Wind 2, making it into a whirlwind. "Or maybe we can have a Tetra Storm." The three elements of Fire, Ice, and Lightning began to mix, turning black. Magus was lifted by the cyclone's force and was zapped, frozen, and burned all at the same time.
As the storm died down, Magus floated back to the floor, smoking from the power of it. He stood up, wincing and panting from the pain. "You... leave me... no choice!" Standing at his full height he spread his arms. "I'll cast you all into OBLIVION!" He began casting a spell that was shrouding his body in such absolute Darkness that he was barely distinguishable in the already dark room.
"OH HELL! He's casting Dark Matter! The most powerful of all Shadow Magic!" I cried. 'We need a spell to match the power of Dark Matter. Wait, oblivion? That's what Vegeta yells for his greatest attack! That gives me a good idea: it's time for one of the most powerful spells of all Fire Magic.' I concentrated all my Fire into something stronger than even the Chaos Flare: the all encompassing Flare spell. I was racked with pain as the flames erupting from me lifted me into the air. My vision was shifting in and out of a red tint, from all the power I was amassing. I concentrated all the energy into a ball around me, putting in so much energy that it spread out across the room. Just as the energy completed the initial wave, Magus finished casting Dark Matter. I gave a primal roar of rage and channeled all the energy into a beam of fire, changing the Flare spell's application from all enemies to a single enemy. Directing the beam into the space behind the Dark Matter, overloading Magus' spell and draining the rest of my strength. I fell to the ground and stared into Magus' eyes. "Your darkness has been banished by the power of my Final Flare." 'Though it was probably a one time deal...'
"Heh. Your own spell seems to have hurt you more than all of your friends' attacks have hurt me!" Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Magus looked back at the altar, the torches from the six armed statue having started to fall off. "No! Not now!"
Lucca walked up next to him, "It's Lavos isn't it?"
"Yes, you interrupted my summoning ritual. Because I thought you would never make it all the way here, I decided to summon Lavos as I had originally planned."
"Wait, summoned?" said Marle. "You mean you didn't create him?"
Magus scoffed, "Like someone could just create Lavos. No, he fell to this planet from space millenia ago, and now he's the most powerful creature on this planet."
"And yet, it is our destiny to defeat it. This party of adventurers, I mean," I stated, walking to Magus' side, opposite Lucca.
"Huh?" Suddenly, the ground shook again and a blue light emenated from the altar, as it warped in shape. No, not in shape. The statue was warped in time and space. The whole room was becoming warped in a shimmering, blue light.
"I'll explain the next time we meet. For now, by the power that brought you here, go home. And may the Prophets be with you." A full-fledged time gate opened on one end of the room and swallowed the entirety of Magus' Castle, sending the five of us to 65,000,000 BC and Magus to 12,000 BC.
Or so I believed...
Blackened is the end/Winter it will send/
Throwing all you see/Into obscurity.
Blackened, by Metallica