Glenn scampered out from under Magus's bed. He shook his hair away from his eyes and hopped over to one of the shards of red that made it to the floor.
"Ahful hayer thaht guhl hahs..."
Glenn looked at the small red piece of plastic and examined it. It didn't seem like anything he had ever seen before... not because it was plastic (because plastic wasn't quite invented in their world), but because its shine was... odd... almost as if it magnified any light the bounced off of it. It almost spoke to him, the view so breathtaking... but Glenn dropped the piece of red in favor of something he could use to see his reflection. He slithered over to a small shard of the glass that made up the windows of the toy car, and looked into it. Thanks to his watching of the Discovery Channel, he realized exactly what the girl had made him into.
"She tuhned meh intew a newt!!!"
Glenn dropped the glass and made his way out of the room. He had to tell someone what happened to him, or that girl could very well turn them all into newts...
He ran into the hallway and down the staircase, hoping to find someone who would notice him...
* * *
"Where's Glenn?"
"Glenn? Meesa dunno.
Meesa confused..."
"He came inside a while
ago. He's probably watching the Media Crystal in one of my rooms."
"I'm still confused about
that crystal, Magus. I've watched it endlessly and yet I'm still
unsure of it. How does it work?"
"The T switch means television.
Those are the shows you watch, half hour and hour-long shows. The
F switch is films. You can watch whatever films are playing.
The M switch is music, so you can listen to songs or watch music videos.
The O switch is other, for things that go between, like TV movies, musicals,
short films, commercials, infomercials, news, or MST3K."
"Interesting... I think
I'll go watch that Crystal now, see what is going on inside of it."
Marle stood and hopped over the shards of the teapot that still sat on the floor. She made her way past Crono and into the hall. She then felt a small squishy substance under her foot.
"Jesus! Magus, wash
your floor once in a while!"
"It's not my floor, it's
the gay me's floor."
"YOU'RE NOT GAY!"
"Thank you!"
Marle sighed and left. On the floor was a tiny green mess...
"Cuhre! Cuhre!"
Glenn had cast the spell of Cure. A few tiny sparkles of blue light surrounded Glenn's flattened figure and pumped themselves inside him. Glenn then stood, his form back to that of a healthy newt.
"She juhst trahmples meh..."
Glenn hopped near the side of the wall, noticing a small slime trail that had belonged to Spekkio, when he held the form of an underling.
"Anothah ahmphibiouhs creahture hahs ahlready been heah?"
A sudden yelp came from Marle's location.
"MAGUS! THERE ARE
IMPS ON THE MEDIA CRYSTAL!"
"Imps? Oh... she
must be watching cartoons..."
Glenn pushed himself against the wall to avoid getting crushed by Magus's footsteps.
"Are you watching Pinky
and The Brain?"
"I... I don't know..."
"Yes, you are..." said
Magus, as he looked into the crystal.
"Why does that thing look
like an imp?"
"There's a reason for that
I won't get into. Quit worrying, this show is just a cartoon!"
"What's a cartoon?"
"Nevermind... I'm going
to sleep. I'm bushed. Break the crystal and I'll break your
face, got it?"
"Eiww! You are so
mean!"
"It's my friggin job!"
"Fag..."
"I AM NOT GAY!"
Magus stomped out
of the room, unwittingly almost smashing into Glenn. Glenn followed
him quickly up the stairs into his room. His jumping was furious,
and his undersides hurt from climbing up the stairs. He followed
Magus into his room, where Magus proceeded to take off his clothes, leaving
him in boxers, and jumped into his bed. He curled under the covers
and fell immediately to sleep. Glenn had no choice but to wait until
he awoke...
* * *
"What? What?
Are you okay, Marle?"
"Yeah? Why do you
ask?"
"I heard you scream all
the way from outside."
"Oh, no, I'm fine, Lucca.
I was just watching this cartoon with this mouse that looks like an imp.
It was pretty funny, they were trying to take over the world..."
"Are you sure that the
shows on this thing have nothing to do with real life?"
"They shouldn't.... are
you implying that imps might take over the world?"
"Maybe. What are
you watching now?"
"These guys, called the
Beatles. They're singing something about how all you need is love..."
"Hmm... what a crock."
"Ohh... be nice.
I kind of feel bad for Magus... he seems so lonely..."
"Well he can shove it."
"Ouch..."
"Ouch this. He's
a pig."
"He just needs a hug.
Bloopy says that hugs cure unhappiness!"
"So hug the bastard."
"Lucca, can't you have
any compassion for the poor man?"
"No."
"You like him don't you."
"No, I don't."
"We'll see about that.
He's in bed now. Come with me."
Marle grabbed Lucca's hand and dragged her up to Magus's room. She opened his door slowly, so that the hinges wouldn't squeak. There, Marle and Lucca watched the lonely figure of Magus, curled up under his covers, sleeping quietly.
"Awww... he's sleeping like
a baby..."
"He's an idiot. Look
at him! Sleeping in the middle of the day... he'll throw his whole
body out of whack."
"Since when do you care?"
"I don't. I'm just
saying..."
"You like him."
"No I don't. That's
like saying that he's gay! It's a simple untruth."
"Whatever, man... " Marle
said, as she rested her hand on her stomach. "I'm hungry..."
"Go eat lunch."
"Come with me!" Marle said,
as she strolled toward the stairs.
"I'll be there in a sec."
"Why are you still watching
him?"
"I may hate him, but he
sure is good looking when he doesn't have any clothes on..."
* * *
The sky began to darken in the evening, as it usually does. What would night be without a dark sky? Anyway, Lucca and Marle were bushed. The only person who got any sleep (and was still getting sleep) was Magus, since he was smart enough to turn in that mid-morning.
"I'm so tired..."
"Stay awake, Lucca.
Tonight, we're having a party!" said Marle, yawning.
"What party? What
for? What's to celebrate? We have no way of getting home, and
we might not, ever..."
"Relax! You'll find
away to put all those pieces of that little gold box back together and
then we'll see. Now come on! There's supposed to be some kind
of marathon of scary movies on the Media Crystal and I plan on seeing all
of them."
"You really like that Crystal,
don't you..."
"Yeah. I just wish
there were a way to flatten it so things look better..." Marle said, as
she grabbed the crystal.
She placed it on her lap and switched it on.
"OH! I think this one's called Carrie."
The Crystal started to show the film, but suddenly, it fizzled out.
"What the hell?"
"Yes! I can sleep
now!"
"Shut up, Lucca!
I think it's broken!"
Marle grabbed the crystal and shook it. It fizzled again, and a small spray of smoke flew out the back of it. She turned it over, and noticed a small, familiar cut on the back of the crystal.
"Lucca, take a look at this..."
"Oh my goodness..."
"Lucca I'm scared... who
is after us?"
"I have no idea..."
"Lucca, where's Glenn?"
"Glenn? I haven't
seen him since this morning..."
"You mean he's GONE?"
"You haven't seen him?"
"No... I haven't seen Spekkio
either..."
"What's happening?
Where's everyone going?"
Marle stood and was shaking in fear… someone had it in for them, and she didn't know who. Her heart was racing, and her breath quickened. Lucca stood and tried to comfort Marle, teeming with paranoia. A sudden sound from the kitchen made Marle jump and scream…
* * *
"Dahmned deeshehs!!!"
Glenn cursed under his breath as he struggled out of the kitchen sink. He had fallen in while trying to search for something to eat. The sides of the sink were slippery, and although newts could normally climb up most surfaces, the slippery surface of a sink was impossible to grasp. He made it out though, with the help of Marle and Lucca's dinner dishes. He made his way onto the floor with a careful jump, and scurried up the nearest leg of the kitchen table. As he arrived on the top, he managed to pull out an apple from a fruit bowl in the center of the table. Not surprisingly, he couldn't eat it… he had no teeth.
Instead, he managed to pull out a grape from the bowl. If he was lucky, he could just manage to swallow it whole…
As Glenn stuffed the miniature fruit into his mouth, Lucca pushed Marle into the kitchen to try and calm her down, with either with a drink or a sedative…
"LUCCA! THERE'S AN
ALIEN ON THE TABLE!!!"
"What?" Lucca said as she
rushed to Marle.
"LOOK!"
"Marle… its just a salamander!"
Glenn tried to speak. He had gotten someone's attention!!! But the grape was lodged in his throat, and nothing would come out…
"A salamander?"
"It's a lizard type thing.
Just leave it alone, it will go away. Those things are so gross…"
Glenn wanted to scream at her. "I'm a newt! I'm a newt! Its me!" But he could not… he barely had enough airflow going to his lungs, and talking was impossible.
"It's so slimy!"
"So?"
"I don't like slimy things…"
"You get used to slimy
things. I had to get used to Frog…"
"Well Frog was different.
But at least he's Glenn now… or he was…"
"What are you trying to
say?"
"I don't know, Lucca…"
Marle said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"He's not dead! He
can't be!"
Glenn tried to bang his little newt hands on the table, but nobody heard him. He even tried to wiggle his green hair, but Marle didn't notice.
"I know…"
"Marle, don't say such
things. If Glenn went anywhere, it was on his own terms. He
wasn't kidnapped, he wasn't killed, he wasn't hurt. I just know it."
"How? How can you
know it? Lucca, someone is after us!"
"Glenn can protect himself!
He is stronger than he was now that he's a human and not a frog."
"Well… I mean… what if
Magus turned him into something else? What if Magus did it?"
"You honestly think that
Magus would turn Glenn into an animal again?"
"He might… I mean, you
never know…"
"And I suppose you think
Magus would sabotage his own concert and then destroy his own Media Crystal.
He wouldn't do that. Even I know that."
"I suppose…"
Glenn gave up trying to get attention. He was concentrating on getting the grape out of his throat…
"I'm still worried, though.
I mean, people are disappearing one by one… where is Crono?"
"Crono went to sleep a
while ago."
"In what room?"
"Don't worry, I checked
on him, he's fine."
"Lucca, I'm still worried."
"What do you want me to
do about it?"
"Wake Magus up."
"Why?"
"Because he can protect
us."
"You haven't been watching
enough Oprah… you don't need a man to protect you. All of us can
protect ourselves. You can still heal, I can still burn things to
a crisp, Magus can still blow junk up, Crono can zap anything to smithereens,
Glenn can drown anything that moves, and Spekkio just plain can't die."
"I need a man to protect
me, okay? I'm a stinking weakling!"
"That's obvious…"
Glenn was practically choking. He banged his head on the table, trying to dislodge the large grape.
"Do you really want to go
up to Magus's room?"
"Yes, Lucca. I think
we should all stay together."
"Fine. I'll go..."
"Thanks, Lucca!"
Marle stood and took Lucca's hand to drag her out of the kitchen. Glenn gave his head another bang, and he was able to spit the grape right out of his mouth.
"They couldn't wait ahnother meeneute!" said Glenn, angrily. He jumped off the table and decided not to follow them… he had a better idea.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Things are growing much
more uncomfortable within the confines of the Poyozo Palace… as time goes
on and night passes over, much will make itself known…
