Chapter 2: Jailhouse Blues
JANUARY 11, 1000 AD
Taban sighed as he puttered with the Telepod. That fool daughter of his, always running off on these crazy expeditions. Would she never grow up? And now she dragged Crono and that other girl into one as well! His musing was cut off by the large rushing sound, followed by the three adventurers falling on him.
Crono grunted. "Needs work, Lucca."
The girl sheepishly muttered, "Sorry, dad."
After they were off, Taban held up his hands. "Don't tell me. I don't even wanna know. Crono, you take this girl home, then go home yourself. Lucca, you're grounded. Let's go!" With that, he grabbed Lucca by the ear and dragged her off, while Marle stared, then turned to Crono.
"Is he always like this?"
He sighed. "When he's grumpy, yeah. If you think that's bad, you should see my mom."
She shuddered. "I'll take your word for it."
The trip through the forest was mostly uneventful. The only trouble they had with the wildlife was a grumpy Avian Chaos and a pair of giant beetles. When they reached the castle, the guards' eyes bugged out. "Princess Nadia! Where on earth have you been?"
As she was about to explain, the Chancellor burst in. Crono noticed a resemblance between him and the one from 600 AD. "There he is! Seize him!" Before either of them could move, soldiers had surrounded Crono.
Marle exploded. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Drop him NOW!"
The soldiers let go, and the Chancellor was livid. "IDIOTS! Detain him!" The soldiers surrounded him again.
"DROP HIM!"
"DETAIN HIM!"
"DROP HIM!"
"DETAIN HIM!"
Finally, one soldier knocked Crono out. Marle screamed. "Crono!"
***
"This trial is now in session. The honorable Judge Banon presiding." Crono was led to the front in chains. He saw the chancellor standing to the left of the judge, and another man to the right. This man came up to Crono.
"I'm your lawyer, Pierre. I'm a friend of your mother, Crono, so don't worry, I'll get you out."
The Chancellor broke in. "Get to yer place, Pierre!" Pierre glared at him, then went back. The Chancellor turned to the Judge. "We intend to prove that Crono here kidnapped the princess."
Pierre broke in. "Absurd! There is no evidence to support this!"
The judge looked down. "Care to respond, Chancellor?"
The Chancellor snarled, "It all started when you collided at the fair! What a coincidence that they hit each other right there!"
Pierre broke in again. "Absurd!"
The Chancellor grinned nastily. "Well, Crono? Who started this, you or Nadia?"
Crono thought. If I say it was her, he'll have "eyewitnesses" say I was lying. But if I say I started it... He had an inspiration. "Well, it was kinda both our faults."
The Chancellor wasn't expecting that. His jaw dropped. "WHAT?"
Crono barely managed to stop himself from grinning. He looked at the Chancellor seriously. "We were both going too fast, and neither of us was watching where we were going."
Pierre gave him a silent thumbs-up. "There was no reason at all for this! My client has no bad history whatsoever!"
The Chancellor decided to try sarcasm. "Oh, I suppose he goes around bringing little girls their kitties back?"
Pierre smirked. "Yes, actually. Would you like me to call the girl as a witness?" There was laughter from the audience, and even the Judge had to conceal a smile.
The Chancellor choked, then straightened up. "No motive, you say? What about ransom?" He turned to Crono. "Crono, her wealth tempted you, did it not?"
Crono instinctively knew how to react. "Hell no! Any time I need money, I can just work part-time for Mr. Bekkler at the carnival!"
The Chancellor choked again. "You WORK for that... freak?!"
Judge Banon frowned. "Chancellor, I'll thank you not to insult the jury members." The Chancellor looked in the jury box, and sure enough, Norstein Bekkler was there, giving him the floating finger.
Pierre spoke up. "I believe we have established enough."
The Judge agreed. "Jury members?" The vote was unanimous: Not Guilty. Judge Banon rapped his gavel. "Very well. However, the issue stands that they did disappear together. Three days solitary confinement as punishment."
The Chancellor looked like he was having a heart attack. "Your honor, I-"
The Judge glared at him. "Chancellor, I feel it is my duty to inform you that if you do not shut up this instant, I may be compelled to throw my gavel at you. This issue was completely ridiculous, and should NEVER have been brought to court." The Chancellor looked like a fish out of water.
As the guards stepped up to take Crono to the dungeon, Marle ran in. "Hey! Are you kidding? He should be set free right away!"
The Judge looked unhappy. "I am sorry, princess, but there is nothing I can do. This comes from the King himself."
"WHAAAT?!"
At this point, King Guardia XXXIII himself came in. "Nadia, even a princess must abide by our laws. You know that."
She was flabbergasted. "WHAT? But..."
The king had had enough. "That will be all, Nadia! We're leaving! Take him to the dungeons!"
Crono was led across the bridge to the prison towers by two guards and the Chancellor, who had a disturbingly nasty grin. At the front office, the supervisor stood up. "So, this is the swine who kidnapped the princess!" He obviously had opinions.
The Chancellor smirked. "His execution is in three days. Do not let him out of your sight!"
"WHAT?!" Crono screamed at him. "YOU LYING BASTARD, THERE'S NO EXECUTION!!!"
The Supervisor also was surprised. "Execution? Strange, I don't remember..." He caught the Chancellor's glare, and slowly grinned evilly. "Oh, THAT execution! Yessir!"
Crono's protests were cut off by the whack to the back of his head.
***
Ugh... what hit me... oh, yeah... Crono shook his head to clear out the fog. He was on a cot in a dirty cell. There was a silver mug on a table, and next to him was a small package.
The guards noticed he was awake, and yelled, "Some symphathizers left that for you, ya stinkin' con." Crono ignored them and opened it up, then stared. It was a small bomb! There was a watch as well, and a note. He read it quickly.
Crono, we're busting you out. Use that bomb to blow open your cell at 7:00 PM. Lucca, Marle, Taban & Bekkler
Crono stared for a moment, then looked at the watch. "Shit." It was 7:10.
***
Marle looked around nervously to make sure nobody was watching, and opened the gate to allow Lucca in. "Hurry! If we get caught..."
"Yeah, yeah." Lucca muttered. "Which way to Prison Tower?"
"Left and forward, left door. It's about a ten-minute climb & walk."
Lucca facepalmed. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
Marle looked offended. "I didn't think it was that important! Sheesh!"
Lucca sighed. "I hope my dad and Bekkler can keep the distraction up long enough..."
***
The Chancellor bolted upright in his bed. What was that loud rushing noise he had just heard? His question was answered when a large fireball came rushing through his window and planted itself squarely on his rug. "AUGH! GUAAAAAARRRRRDS!!!!!!"
***
"I swear, Crono, if I get thrown in jail for this-!" Taban cursed loudly as he loaded another firebomb into the catapult.
Norstein Bekkler cackled loudly as he mixed up more ammo. "Who cares! If I get thrown in for life, it'll be worth it! I wish I could see the look on that idiot's face!"
***
KABOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The explosion blasted both guards into the opposite wall, knocking them out. Crono dashed out and checked the cell to his left. The door was jammed. Shrugging, he ran out the door to the right. Up the stairs, he kept going down the next set. The Blue Shield Guards to his left didn't care. For mimimum wage, they weren't doing anything unless he attacked them.
After crossing a bridge, he found himself at the start of a long hall with a single guard. He crept up behind him and whacked him with the butt of his sword, knocking him out. Searching the guard found a Mid Tonic, a powerful healing potion. At the end, he found a torture chamber. Guillotines, iron maidens, racks... Crono jumped as he saw a boy about his age in one of the guillotines!
"He... help me!" The boy called. Crono hesitated for a moment, then freed him. The kid stood up. "Thanks! I went on a shopping spree and ended up in here, then the Chancellor was gonna execute me without a trial!" Crono nodded.
"Yeah, he's a jerk. I'm escaping too, so why don't you come along?" The kid grinned.
"Thanks! I'm Fritz."
"Crono. Let's go!" As they turned to leave, a huge form stepped down the stairs.
"So YOU'RE the escaped con!" Fritz screamed. It was an Omnicrone, a huge, armored Mystic with a big club.
Crono smiled. "No trouble." He lunged, and his sword bit deep into its side. The Omnicrone attempted to squash him with the club, and hit its own foot.
"YEOW! I'm not getting paid enough for this!" It ran. Crono looked cockily back at Fritz, who was openmouthed.
"That's why you never need to worry about Omnicrones. They're tough SOBs, but they have the eyesight of a toadstool. Shall we go?"
Back across the bridge, to the junction. This time Crono looked at the Blue Masks, then grunted and attempted to slice into one. His sword bounced off like rubber. "What the-?" One of them peeked out and hit him with a rock. "Hey!"
The next time one did that, Crono was ready, and calmly chopped the guy in two. With it dead, he was free to run behind the other and take it out. Now, they could go up stairs to the left or right. Crono chose left. The first cell had a skeleton in it. The second, empty one was jammed.
Down the stairs, up the stairs, another bridge. Midway across, Crono heard a shout, "The prisoner's escaping!" Fritz yelped as two guards came in from either side, cornering them. Crono took out the first with a slash to the head, but the other managed to give him a nasty cut on the arm before he was dispatched. Crono grunted, but kept going.
The youth picked up three Mid Tonics from Jailers he knocked out in the u-turn hall following, then crossed another bridge back to the original tower. Two Blue Masks later, he could go left or right. Left. A pair of cells, with a gaping hole in the back of one. Looking out, he saw he might be able to climb down the wall... "Yeah, right." He snorted, walking back in. "Only in a fairy tale."
***
Lucca finally found the bridge leading to Prison Tower, and ran down it at top speed. "Hope I'm not too late," she muttered as she ran. "We went to too much trouble. If you're dead, Crono, I'll kill you!"
***
The Chancellor thought. Why would somebody attack now? And why only HIS room? Suddenly, he remembered. The prisoner! "Better take the secret passage..." he murmured to himself as he slinked away from the guards trying to put out the fire.
***
"Right, that's it, Bekkler! We need to pull out now, or we'll be seeing a jail cell ourselves!" Taban called back. Norstein Bekkler sighed, then agreed.
"All right, Taban. Let's go dump this thing into the ocean."
"WHAAAAT?! Do you know how long I've worked on this?"
"And what happens when the guards search the village and find this in yer backyard, hmmm?"
Taban sighed. "I hate it when you're right."
***
The moment Crono burst into the office, the corrupt Supervisor jumped to his feet and ran. Crono was about to give chase, but he heard sounds of a fight up the stairs. A moment later, the Supervisor fell back down with an ugly welt on his head, and Lucca ran in. "Lucca!"
"Crono! Gee, I guess you didn't need my help after all!" She rummaged through the supervisor's pockets. "5 Mid Tonics... and a pamphlet. 'Dragon Tank Owner's Manual.' Hey, who's that guy?"
Crono looked back. "His name's Fritz. Locked up by the Chancellor without a trial. Now, let's go!" They ran up the stairs, and started across the final bridge. Halfway across, however, a loud rumbling topped them.
"What the hell was that?" Lucca muttered. Crono and Fritz shrugged. The mystery was solved at the end of the bridge, as a huge mechanical Dragon Tank rolled out!
Behind it, the Chancellor screamed. "Go, Dragon Tank! Crush them all!"
***
Lightning-quick, Crono analyzed the situation. The Tank appeared to have three weak points: The wheels, the head, and one point on the back. The rest of it looked too heavily armored to penetrate. "Go for the wheels!" He yelled to Lucca, then charged. Unfortunately, the Tank charged at the same time, and it was bigger. Both he and Lucca were knocked for a loop. Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, Crono used the Slash technique to drive a Ki wave through one wheel. The Dragon Tank beeped, and suddenly, the damage was healed!
Lucca pulled out the manual she had gotten from the director, and read it. "Says the Healing System is located in the head!" Crono nodded.
"All right, then. FIRE WHIRL!" As they performed the Double Tech, Crono expected to hear explosions. Instead, the tank blew a gust of its own fire at his face, completely undamaged! "HUH?!"
"Oops, sorry! It says it's immune to fire!" Lucca called.
"NOW she tells me..." the teen said as he rolled his eyes and drove his sword into the open mouth. He heard sparking from inside and smelled burning. Crono removed the sword and jumped off just in time, as Lucca emptied her gun into the head, causing it to explode violently.
"All right!" Crono cheered. "Now, for the wheels! CYCLONE!" The spinning sword technique did its work, and both wheels fell off and toppled over the edge. The tank wasn't done yet, though. A salvo of missiles launched from the back and crashed into Lucca.
"Lucca!" As Crono turned, a laser in the wheel socket hit him in the leg. Wincing, he turned back. "Oh, I have so HAD IT with this thing!" Screaming a battle cry, Crono jumped onto the Dragon Tank's back and jammed his sword straight into the engine. As the explosions started all over the tank, Crono dramatically sheathed his sword and jumped back to Lucca and the cowering Fritz.
The Chancellor ran back over. "Oh, no! They got the Dragon Tank! Fix it, quick!" But the Dragon Tank was beyond fixing. Even as the Chancellor and two of his flunkies ran up, the Tank groaned and toppled over the edge, dragging the Chancellor and flunkies with it. As they fell, the Chancellor yelled "Don't fool yourselves into thinking you've gotten away with thiiiiiiiissss..."
Crono, Lucca and Fritz ran into the castle and down the stairs, then into the main entryway. Unfortunately, soldiers ran up and surrounded them just in front of the door. "Rats! So close!" Lucca snapped.
"Unhand them at once!" All the soldiers turned and bowed as Princess Nadia walked up. "These are my friends! Have you no respect?!" Her tirade was cut off by the Chancellor's appearance behind her. Whaaaat?! But he fell off the bridge! Crono thought.
The Chancellor appeared hatefully smug. "Do as King Guardia XXXV says!" As he spoke, Marle's father walked in as well.
"Nadia, what are you doing? The throne must come before your personal wishes, you know that!"
Marle was flabbergasted. "What?! Just because I have a title doesn't mean I'm not a person!"
"You pick up strange notions wandering outside!"
"It's not strange notions! It's called comon sense!" With that, Marle threw off her dress, revealing the clothes she had worn earlier underneath it. She ran over to Crono & Lucca, and the three of them ran into the forest with Fritz.
"Don't let them escape! After them!" The Chancellor and the soliders pursued, leaving the King alone.
"...Princess Nadia..."
***
The moment they had entered the forest, Fritz had dived behind a bush. Crono, Marle and Lucca ran down a path, then stopped, moaning. A dead end! Behind them, they heard the Chancellor and soldiers. Suddenly, Lucca yelled, "A Gate!"
The three examined it. Marle gave her opinion. "Let's go!'
Lucca, however, was more nervous. "Are you crazy? We have no idea where it goes!"
"Who cares? This place stinks anyway!"
"This is completely illogical."
Crono jumped in as tiebreaker. "Hate to say it, Lucca, but we don't have much choice if we wanna avoid the block! Let's GO!" He grabbed the Gate Key from her protesting hands, and just as the Chancellor came in, the three disappeared into the Gate.
He didn't take it very well.