Chapter 8: Jurassic Park Ain't Got Nuthin' On This!
"Crono..." Darkness.
"Crono!" Dammit, I wanna sleep.
"Wake up, Crono, before I freeze you to the bed!" THAT was new. Might as well...
"Uh..." Crono opened his eyes to see Marle smiling down at him. He was back in his bed, at his house, in Truce Village, in 1000 AD. What the...
"About time!" Marle frowned. "Now, are you gonna get a job today? We can't keep sponging off my dad forever just because I'm the heiress apparent!" Crono just stared at her. Okay, what the HELL is going on here?
"Crono! Get your butt out of bed already!"
Urr... ya know, I think this is a hallucination. Everything began to turn dark again.
Yup.
***
APRIL 7, 65000000 BC
"Unn..." Crono groaned as he slowly raised his head. "Gah... head feels like..." His eyes widened as he saw who had been yelling. "Ayla?!"
The cavewoman nodded, relieved. "Yes! Crono wake up!" Marle looked up, awake now too.
"Ayla, what are we doing here?"
"Ayla have strange dream. Old man tell Ayla to go to Mystic Mountains. Everybody there, hurt. Ayla carry back. You been here unconscious for a week!" Frog groaned.
"Argh... who be this lady?" Ayla looked at him.
"Yummy frog! For Ayla eat?" She joked. Frog rolled his eyes, not in the mood for laughing.
"Sigh... perish the thought, lass. Whither the blue-haired one?" Ayla shook her head.
"Only find you. Blue-haired one more tasty?"
Frog sighed. "He hath escaped me again..." Ayla grunted.
"Whatever. You all rest now. Heads hurt bad." Crono winced again, rubbing his cranium.
"Yeah, you're probly right... zzz..."
The next time he came to, Ayla was gone. Instead, Kino was standing guard. The caveman grinned as Crono got up.
"Crono feel better now? Good!" The teen smiled back.
"Hey, Kino. Yeah, I'm better. Say, where'd Ayla go?" Kino's grin faded away into a worried frown.
"Ayla go to Laruba village... Reptites planning final battle..."
"What?!" Marle yelped as she got up. "The Reptites are still kicking?" Kino nodded grimly.
"Yes. Azala very smart, divide his forces. Reptite Lair only had part. New lair, over in lava pits. Ioka Villagers no can attack." Frog winced as he felt the lump still on his head.
"Ack! Lava pits? Even I couldst not cross those!" Kino blinked.
"Eh? Why frog-man talk funny?" Frog glared at him.
"Speak for thyself, neanderthal!" Kino growled back.
"You want fight Kino?"
Crono stepped in between them, waving his arms. "Hold it, hold IT! There's no sense in trying to kill each other! The Reptites are the ones we have to worry about!" Frog slowly nodded.
"... Aye. Plus, Magus hath disappeared. It may have been that he was killed by the Gate on his wounds, but I doubt it. Now, we..."
The knight was rudely interrupted when another caveman rushed in, smashing into Kino, who grabbed him by the arms and shook him roughly.
"Igoo! What I tell you about no coming in here?" The other caveman was frantically gibbering.
"Kiiiiino! North wood burning!"
"WHAT?!" Kino screamed and ran out, followed by Igoo. Crono groaned as he helped Marle to her feet.
"Ay yai yai... never a dull moment here. Let's follow them." Frog nodded.
"Very well. If these Reptites are as villainous as you have told me, they shall taste my blade!"
Ioka village was in a frenzy. The cavemen were all running around, yelling unintelligibly at each other. Crono groaned, watching a pair whack each other over the heads with thick wooden clubs. As a guy with a long red beard walked up, Crono waved him over.
"Hey, couldja tell us where Kino went?" The caveman stared blankly. Crono groaned again.
"KI-NO. Where Kino?" The caveman wordlessly pointed towards a large forest to the northwest, which appeared to be on fire. Without another word, the three heroes charged off towards that forest.
By the time they arrived, the fire was already out, but the damage had been done. Smoke was everywhere, and there didn't appear to be any structures left. At the middle of the village, an old man in a feathered headdress was talking to Ayla. As the three drew near, the old man suddenly started jumping around wildly, yelling at Ayla.
"Ayla! This your fault!" He gestured around at the burning rubble. "You piss off Azala! Azala attack US!" Ayla looked at her feet.
"Ayla feel bad..." The old man was not placated.
"Now, all men taken captive! Your Kino too! Now what we do?!" Ayla looked back up, her eyes burning.
"Ayla know way, but old man must help! Dactyl! Must give Dactyl!" The old man blinked, suddenly out of steam.
"... You go to... Tyrano Lair? That suicide! Ayla want die?!"
"Ayla die if run! Win and live. Lose and die. That Ayla's rule of life. Old man breathing, but dead on inside." The old man just stood there for a moment, not saying anything. Finally, he grunted affirmatively.
"...Okay. You go to Dactyl Nest. Keeper will help you." Ayla nodded and ran off, howling. The three sweatdropped as she ran right past without even noticing them.
"Be she always like that?" Frog asked. Marle shook her head.
"Sometimes she's even worse."
***
By querying the women and children in the ruins, they found out that the Dactyl Nest was on top of a single mountain to the north. They soon found the only mountain that was not connected to any others and started up it. Or, they would have, if a Winged Ape hadn't jumped in their way.
"Gah! Outta our way!" Crono yelled. However, the Ape did not seem to interested, as it picked up a large boulder... no, wait...
"A Shist!" Marle yelled as the Ape threw it at Crono. It hit him right on the head, then crawled away, wanting no further part in the mess. Frog looked at Marle.
"Shall we try that combined magic attack again?" She smiled.
"Why not? ICE WATER!" A bubble with ice crystals inside appeared and floated above the Ape. Crono vaguely recalled seeing them try it on Magus, but it didn't really work, as he recalled. The effect was better this time; when the bubble snapped, the Ape was buried in ice chunks. A moment later, they dissolved, but the Ape was a cold blue statue. The three walked past it, up the mountain.
There were no more incidents until they found a ladder. As they climbed up it, a pair of yellow lizards with wings swooped down, screaming. A Lightning and another Ice Water knocked them out of the air. The next obstruction was three Shists. They just stood there, blocking the path. Crono growled.
"Looks like more fighting..." Marle stopped him.
"Hold on. I wanna try something." She stepped up to the Shists.
"Uh... hi. Do ya mind getting out of the way? We really need to pass throigh here." The Shists just looked at her for a moment, then, silently, the center one got up and moved back, clearing the path. Marle grinned at the guys, who wore expressions of disbelief.
"News flash, boys: Testosterone isn't the answer to everything." They glared at her, then went past, as silent as the Shists.
A pair of Winged Apes and a single Shist stood in front of the ladder up to the top. Crono stepped up, trying Marle's tactic.
"Hey, guys. How ya doing? Can ya get out of our way so we don't have to kill you?" In response to his marvelously eloquent and polite question, one of the Apes picked him up and threw him at the Shist.
"Oof! Maybe it was my delivery?" The Shist growled, and the top of its boulderlike body disappeared, making it look like a crater.
"A Pahoehoe!" Marle gasped. "Crono, look out! They toss lava!"
"WHAT?" Crono rolled out of the way just in time, and the lava spilled onto the foot of the first Ape instead. Yelling, it punched the Pahoehoe into the ground... and promptly got its fist stuck plugging the crater. The Pahoehoe, enraged, began trying to pump lava. The Winged Ape began screaming and tried to wrench it off, but to no avail. The Pahoehoe was puffing up like a balloon as the other Ape tried pulling it off the first...
"DUCK AND COVER!" Crono screamed as the three dived behind the bushes. A moment later, there was the sound of a huge explosion, and when they looked back, all that was there were three pillars of foul-smelling smoke.
***
The Keeper had given Ayla the whistle and gone back into his cave, and Ayla was at the peak. She blew the bone whistle, and a huge pterodactyl flapped down. She heard a noise behind her,and whirled around to see the three heroes running up behind her!
"Crono! Marle! ... Toad!"
"That's FROG!"
Crono stifled an argument by speaking up. "Ayla, we're coming with you!" Ayla shook her head.
"No! Too dangerous! Maybe die!"
Marle stood next to Crono. "We can do it, Ayla! We helped you before, and we'll help you again!" Frog walked forward as well.
"Lass, I do not know ye well, but any friend of Crono's is a friend of mine! And this Azala sounds to be a most uncouth villain!" Ayla smiled.
"Ayla have strong friends..." She frowned. "But there only three Dactyls. Not enough for all. And Dactyls cannot fly for long distances with two people..." Marle sighed.
"I was getting tired anyways. You guys go ahead. I'll head back." She took out the white orb. "Hey, Spekkio! Send one over!" To everybody's amazement, a small Gate appeared in front of her.
"What the-?" Crono yelled. Marle smiled.
"Temporary Gates. Spekkio thought of it while you guys were in Magus's place. They only last 10 seconds, though, so I gotta go!" As she stepped in, it disappeared. Ayla was staring at the Gate, then at the two guys. Frog blinked.
"Er... what be the problem, lass?"
Ayla fainted.
***
As they flew to Azala's Lair, Crono and Frog told Ayla about the adventure thus far. It was a good 2-day flight, even with the Dactyls' speed, so they had plenty of time to chat. They landed about a mile away to avoid detection, then hiked the rest of the way. It was a building like they had never seen before; a stone fortress of spires and balconies. The gate guards were a pair of easily dealt with Winged Apes. However, the front hall did not appear to have any doors leading in deeper. All there was were a pair of tyrannosaurus skulls. The one on the left had a closed mouth, while the right one's mouth was open. Ayla peered in. "Stairs lead down! To dungeons!" When they went down the stairs, they bumped right into a pair of brown-colored Reptite guards.
"Great!" Crono groaned as he attacked. "I'll bet the brown ones are tougher!" Sure enough, his sword was not enough to finish it, and Frog had to help. While they double-teamed it, Ayla grabbed the other by the throat and proceeded to throttle it.
Up ahead was a cell, with bars made out of dino ribs. A switch next to it opened them, and three Laruba men ran out, frightened out of their wits, and zoomed towards the exit.
"And they didn't even bother to say thank you." Crono commented. Ayla ignored him and charged ahead, flattening another pair of guards and going down the next set of stairs. Crono and Frog caught her before she could alert the three guards clustered around another cell... with Kino in it!
"So, you're the chief's mate, eh? Well, thanks for bringing, er, being the main course!" Crono jumped.
"Chief's mate?!" Ayla shook her head wildly.
"That not true!" She blushed. "Not yet..." The conversation alerted the guards, who charged. Frog suddenly grinned mischeviously.
"I hath... an idea." Suddenly, a bubble formed around Ayla and lifted her off the ground. The cavewoman ranted and raged inside as it lifted her over the guards and popped, dropping her on all three and flattening them.
"That wasn't nice, Frog." Crono grinned.
"Aye, but it worked, did it not?"
"I was talking about Ayla."
"Oh." Ayla picked herself up, glared at Frog, then walked over to the cell. She tried pushing the button, but it appeared to be broken. Kino was banging on the bars as Ayla thought. She glanced at the bars, and noticed there was a large space between the top bar and the ceiling.
"Kino! I climb up and pull you up too!" Frog scoffed.
"Be serious, lass! It shall never work!" She glared at him again.
"Shut up, Toad!" Without another word, she started climbing. When she reached the top, she extended her hand to Kino... and fell in herself. Frog simply said "Hmmph."
"Kino sorry..." The caveman said sadly. Ayla grunted.
"Kino, when we get out, you go!"
"What about you?" Ayla's eyes lit up.
"Me find Azala! PUT END TO THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Kino stared at her incredulously, then struck a brave pose.
"Kino help!" She shook her head.
"No! Kino need to get back to Ioka! If Ayla not come back, Chief needed!" She stifled his objections with a huge bear hug, then ran up to the bars. Frog rolled his eyes.
"Now what is she-" He broke off as, with a horrible noise, Ayla exploded through the entire assembly, sending bone shards everywhere. Kino ran out, then turned back to her.
"Kino understand. And show you something!" The three followed him up to the front hall, where he went over to the t-rex skull that was closed and began feeling the teeth. When he touched a certain tooth, the mouth opened wide. Kino grinned.
"Kino see Reptite do it on way down!" Crono clapped him on the back.
"Good job, Kino!" Suddenly, a familiar sound rang out, and through the window, they saw a pair of shaped soaring away...
"Bleep! Those Larubans took two of the Dactyls!" Ayla groaned, then turned to Kino.
"Follow! Bring Dactyls back here!" Kino nodded and ran out as the three ran up the stairs.
The path forked left or right. "Left?" Crono asked, and they nodded. They stopped as they saw a Reptite with a Winged Ape on a leash. "Whoa! Wrong way!"
Frog noticed a small button on the floor, and on a sudden thought, he pressed it. The three laughed as a hole opened beneath the two enemies and they fell down. The door led to an empty balcony, which led to a small room with a perfect sphere of stone sat. Crono noticed it had a hinge in the back.
"Some kind of treasure chest?" He muttered as he tried to open it. A hole opened beneath them. "Crud!" They landed in the cell that had held the Larubans. Fortunately, the door was open. Unfortunately, the Ape and Reptite were there as well.
"Who's laughing now?" The Reptite sneered. Crono grinned.
"Actually..." One short scuffle and one climb back up later, the heroes took the right path at the crossroads, and found another Reptite with a leash. This time, though, it wasn't a Winged Ape. It was a Terrasaur. And another button, which sent them down a pit just like the first pair. The balcony outside, however, had several Reptites. Ayla grinned and snuck up behind them, then shouted "AAAAYYYYLLLAAAA!!!!" The Reptites shrieked and jumped... right over the edge of the balcony. Laughing, Ayla led the way into the next room, which was a mazelike setup with pits everywhere. They weaved their way through, but at one point, the room went dark, and when the lights came on, they were back at the start!
"Trap spots." Crono muttered. "We'll have to watch out." They carefully made it to the end, where a Reptite was waiting with two brown creatures that resembled the Pahoehoes.
"Volcanos. Just great." As they ran up, the Reptite kicked one of them, and it responded by spewing lava at the three. While Crono and Ayla screamed and tried to get it off, Frog quickly got rid of his and, on a sudden idea, kicked the other. Sure enough, the very stupid creature spewed lava over the Reptite, the other Volcano, and even itself, finishing the battle. After Crono and Ayla succeeded in shaking off all the lava, the three went up the staircase onto another balcony.
***
"Eh?" Azala's meditation was interrupted by a pair of Dactyls shrieking past, followed by a third. "The apes!" Azala glared as he noticed that they were being ridden by the prisoners... which meant the original attackers were still here! He looked over the edge of his perch on top of the highest tower, and sure enough, there they were on the third-floor balcony. It was Ayla, that red-haired brat, and some kind of frogman.
"Stupid apes! I think I'll have a little fun... TELEPORTATION!" In front of Azala, a Terrasaur appeared, roared in panic, then fell.
"Mwa ha ha! I'd better go see how my pet is doing..."
***
"INCOMING! SCATTER!" The three dashed out of the way as a Gigasaur crashed onto the ground. It appeared stunned, but quickly got back up... and took the Lightning full in the face. Ayla growled and charged, mauling it savagely. After it was dead, she turned to the two guys.
"Cat Attack." Frog shook his head and pointed at the next door, which had a metal grille across it.
"I do not think the lass can break that. We shall have to take the next door down." Inside the room, another closed skull confronted them, with two buttons on the floor. Crono shrugged and pressed one, and the skull opened, revealing a wall switch. When they pressed it, they heard the grate recede.
Unbeknownst to them, however, it also alerted the Reptite in the room above, who immediately opened a cage and removed the Avian Rex.
"Okay, Gak, you're gonna have to fly Groog down to the 3rd-floor balcony." The Rex squawked indignantly. "Oh, quiet. It's only 1 floor, and you don't even really have to fly, you just have to glide. Now get going."
As the three were about to go in, they heard a strange sound, and turned around to see a truly amazing sight: An Avian Rex carrying a Gigasaur! As they watched, it shrieked and dropped the fatso in front of them, then flew away, shrieking at a Reptite on the floor above. The three recovered and took it out, then went in the door.
A massive, gold, muscled dinosaur stood there, exercising.
"NIZBEL?!" Ayla gasped. It stopped for a moment and looked at them.
"Actually, I'm Nizbel II. Azala's in the back, if you want to see him." The three shrugged, then walked around. As they were about to head up, Nizbel II called out, "Hold it." They turned to see him stomping towards them.
"This is a special room. The great Nizbel is buried in the floor of this room. And unless I'm mistaken, you are the mugs who killed my dear old dad!"
"He's hostile! Ayla, get 'im!" Ayla attacked with a Cat Attack that completely failed to pierce Nizbel II's skin. He laughed.
"You think those pathetic attacks can pierce my armored hide? Yeah, right! How did my dad lose to you?" Crono grinned, remembering.
"Like this. LIGHTNING 2!"
"GYYYYAH! That hurt like hell!" Indeed, Nizbel II's skin had paled, and looked thinner. Frog drew the Masamune and jumped high into the air.
"LEAP SLASH!" He fell, sword-first, and his sword smashed into Nizbel II's back. The dino threw him off, and his skin looked a little thicker.
"Stupid apes! Take this!" He flexed his muscles, and an earthquake slammed all three. Crono groaned.
"Huh. He's stronger than his dad! The lightning decreases his defense, but it doesn't stun him!" Ayla growled, then ripped some chunks out of him with another Cat Attack. Afterwards, his skin was back to normal. Crono sent off another Lightning 2, but after absorbing it, Nizbel just grinned evilly.
"Playtime is over! KYYYAHH!" The electrical energy poured out from his skin and washed over them. Crono crumpled, but Ayla and Frog glanced at each other before acting. Ayla blew a kiss, but Frog's tongue snatched the pink wave out of the air and pulled it in. He then started spinning around, and as he did, a large ring of the pink healing power washed over all three of them. Nizbel II was not impressed as he rammed them all with a bull-like charge.
Frog turned to Crono. "Sir Crono, prepare a Lightning 2, but do not cast it!" Crono nodded.
"Okie-dokie!" Frog leaped into the air with another Leap Slash. As he plummetted towards Nizbel II, he yelled, "NOW!" The sword ripped into Nizbel II, but this time, Frog left the sword in his back. The Lightning 2 changed into a series of thick white bolts that were all drawn to the sword, and coursed directly into his bloodstream. There was a blinding flash, and Frog caught the spinning Masamune out of the air. A black mark on the floor was all that remained of the mighty Nizbel II.
***
Azala's head shot up as he felt the psychic stab that could mean only one thing. "Nizbel II is dead!" The Reptite leader quickly teleported up to his meditation perch. Sure enough, the apes were on the fourth-floor balcony!
"Gyargh! Eat this! TELEPORTATION! A Terrasaur appeared and fell just like the one before had. Azala watched with growing dismay as they easily took it out.
"Confound it! Try two, then! TELEPORTATION!" As the pair of dinos fell, Azala telported himself to his throne room. If the apes made it past, he'd have to be there.
***
"Incoming, again! LIGHTNING 2!" The Terrasaurs were instantly stunned, and Frog and Ayla quickly took care of them. Crono grunted as he took a Mid Ether.
"Ok, everybody, this is the top floor, and we're about to go into the only door. Doesn't take a genius to figure out Azala's in there. Everybody ready?" A pair of curt nods. "Okay, then. Let's go!"
The Reptite leader looked up calmly as the three burst in. "Well, well. Look who's here. So this is it, then. The final showdown. Today, there will be a confrontation." Crono nodded.
"You got that right. You're going down, Azala."
"Only time can determine that, fool. Will it be us Reptites, or you silly apes who rule?" Ayla growled angrily.
"Strong survive. Ayla strong. Ayla fight!"
"Oh, of course, my dear. I knew that you'd fight from the moment I started flinging Terrasaurs at you. But I do not fight alone..." A huge, massive, roar rang through the room. Azala grinned evilly.
"Hear that lovely voice? You'll soon become the best of friends! We're waiting for you!" Before anybody could stop him, Azala leaped out of his throne and vanished through a door behind it. The three ran after him... and collided in a three-way pile-up. After a few moments of recovery, they got back up and went through the door, this time succeeding.
The door led out to a long bridge, extending to a solitary tower behind the lair. As the three ran down to it, they saw that the front of it on their level was a huge opening. A pair of baleful red eyes glared out from it, and Azala stood on the upper-right rim of the opening, facing away from them.
"Red... star... FALL!" As he chanted, they saw a very noticable red star, showing even in the day.
"Stain the earth... RED!" He turned around, and they saw on his face a kind of hopeless despair, mixed with an insane resolution.
"The stars have foretold that the Reptites will fall this day. However, we shall not simply hand the earth over to you!" He blew a whistle, and roaring, a THING came out. It was a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex, bound in a metal harness. Azala laughed as he jumped onto it's right shoulder.
"Mwa ha ha! With this Black Tyrano, I can finally exterminate you filthy apes before my fall!"
***
Azala opened the fight with a scream of "PSYCHOKINESIS!" Ayla rose into the air and began moving around, performing wierd movements. Azala laughed as he threw her around wildly...
"SPIRE!" The blade sunk into his head, and the electric blast blew through him. But when Frog removed his blade, Azala still lived!
"Why you... TELEPORTATION!" A large boulder appeared and fell onto Crono, then tumbled off the edge.
The Black Tyrano roared and spat a glob of fire at Frog, drawing Azala's attention to the knight.
"And for you... TELEPATHY!" An orange circle of light appeared around Azala, and Frog pitched forward, asleep.
"Gah!" Crono groaned. "Now we can't use Spire!"
"Crono!" Ayla yelled. "Lightning on me!"
"WHAT?!"
"Just do!" Crono shrugged.
"Your funeral! LIGHTNING!" As the bolt hit Ayla, she grinned and turned bright yellow, then charged at Azala.
"What the-" Azala never finished the exclamation, as Ayla jumped at her hated enemy and mauled him, unleashing the electric power at the same time, and blew him, screaming and writhing, into the darkness of the opening.
The Black Tyrano did not take the loss of its master well; blowing another gout of fire at Frog and waking the noble knight.
"Ack! I'm on fire! WATER!" As Frog doused himself, the Tyrano's mottled black skin turned a pale grey, like Nizbel's had.
"What's it doing? Why would it lower its defenses?" Crono wondered.
"Mayhap it be storing energy?"
"Yeah, that's gotta be it! Ayla, let's hit it with another Volt Bite!" The cavewoman took the Lightning, then went straight for the throat. Unfortunately, the Tyrano managed to twist its head, and Ayla hit it on the chest instead. Frog followed it up with a Leap Slash. And the Tyrano still waited.
"Crud! Guys, I think you'd better get ready. I get the feeling this is gonna HURT!" And it did. The Black Tyrano opened its maw and began belching a huge, continuous river of fire that washed over them all. When it was over, they were all standing, but were badly hurt.
"Gah! Sir Crono, Lady Ayla, use Volt Bite again! HEAL!" After the golden sparkles had cleared, the electric attack was used again, but the Tyrano managed to protect its throat a second time. Frog wound up for another Leap Slash, but the Tyrano grabbed him out of the air and began chewing.
"FROG! Ayla, another one, quick!" The third Volt Bite forced the huge dino to drop its meal and concentrate on the attack.
"Frog, here!" As Crono spilled a Mid Tonic over the amphibian, the damage from the Tyrano's mauling was healed. The enemy's skin, which had darkened after the super attack, paled again.
"Dammit! Why won't it die?" Another Volt Bite and Leap Slash failed to stop it, and it prepared to unleash the attack again. As it started, Crono hit Ayla with one more Lightning, and the cavewoman leapt straight for the opening maw. She landed, then blew the electric power towards the throat, where the fireblast was emerging.
Ayla barely managed to jump out as all the flesh on the Tyrano's head exploded, and the remains oozed down the skull like melted tar. The rest of the body teetered and fell, dropping four stories off the bridge to the ground below, leaving only the battered and broken Azala to crawl out, defeated at last.
***
"No... it can't be... can the heavens truly have sided with the apes?" Crono bent down next to the Reptite.
"Azala, tell us. What did you do?"
"The most foolish thing possible... I summoned death from above. It shall scour the plains with fire, destroying and consuming. Then, the burned-out plains will slowly freeze, ushering in a long, cruel, ice age...' He began laughing bitterly. "Mwa ha ha... what a treat! You'll wish you had gone with us!"
Ayla looked at her feet. "Lavos..." Crono jumped.
"L... Lavos?!" Ayla nodded.
"La mean fire... Vos mean big..." She looked at the red star, which had grown much larger. Azala followed her gaze and slowly nodded.
"Yes... that is it. But... you will survive. The heavens have told me so." He slowly looked at them all, and his eyes widened.
"Yes... you shall do more than survive... now, I can see things that I could never before... I truly am a fool..." Crono blinked.
"You're not the first person we've met who's said something like that. What does it mean?!"
Azala's reply was drowned out by the rushing sound of Dactyl wings. As the sky began flashing a brilliant red, the three steeds of the air landed, Kino on the lead.
"Ayla!" Ayla turned to Kino.
"Kino! You bring Dactyl for us!" Crono and Frog hopped on a dactyl each. Ayla jumped on the same one that Kino had come on, and the caveman was looking down at the fallen Azala.
"Kino!" As soon as Ayla yelled, Kino jumped back on the Dactyl. Ayla jumped off.
"NOW what?" Crono moaned, facepalming. "We're dead if we don't hurry up!" Ayla ran over to Azala.
"Azala! Come with! Dactyl can carry two for short lengths!" Azala looked at her as if she had just asked him to eat Terrasaur dung.
"Absolutely not! The heavens have fortold that the Reptites shall end this day, and I will NOT abandon my people! We fought well. Remember us for that, Ayla!"
"Azala... we remember Reptites..." She jumped back on her Dactyl, and Azala called to them all.
"The future..."
"What about the future?" Crono yelled back.
"We... have no future. The Reptites leave this planet to you humans. I charge YOU with the task of keeping it safe." Crono nodded, and the dactyls flew away, leaving Azala alone. The fallen Reptite lord looked up to the sky.
"Now I know why the heavens were partially clouded before. This knowledge is too dangerous for anybody who is going to live. All I can do now is hope..." As Azala looked at the star, descending now at an incredible rate, he reflected on his life. Now it blotted out the entire sky, and Azala only wished for a swift end.
And Lavos gave it to him.
***
From the depths of space, it fell, seeking death and destruction. Spiraling madly, it sought out the smell of what it needed. For a moment, it seemed it would miss Earth... but no, it feels Azala's summons and makes a left turn, and heads straight for the planet. Down it goes, heading for the place of the signal: The Tyrano Lair. The three specks flying away are insigificent. All that matters is contact. The impact is made, driving the Tyrano lair into the ground, leaving only a crater. But it's not far enough. It begins to burrow...
***
The three heroes stood, openmouthed, staring at the huge crater that was all that remained of the Tyrano Lair. Frog was the first to speak.
"Through no fault of Magus does Lavos live! It fell from the sky in ancient times!" Ayla was next to speak.
"Lavos... BIG! We go kill!" She took off.
Crono yelled after her, "HEY, WAIT!" but she ignored him. Frog looked at him.
"Left unscathed, it will burrow deep within the earth. Best to defeat it now, while it is weakest!" Frog went on as well. Crono groaned.
"Hey, hold it! Wait! Grrr..." Grumpily, he gave chase.
The three found a single door-sized gap in the wall, and went in to find a small room. Lavos was not there, but a familiar blue orb was...
"A gate?!" Crono yelped. Ayla went over and sniffed it.
"Lavos very fast! Burrow deep already!" Frog looked at the Gate, thinking.
"Mayhap Lavos is the cause of this warp? The one in Magus's Castle was immense... might Lavos be the source of all Gates?" Crono shook his head.
"No way. Remember, there's one in the Mystic Mountains? Lavos is just one source of Gates. There have to be others." Ayla sighed.
"Well, we go in here?" Crono nodded slowly.
"Why not? We got nothing else to do..."