Chapter 16: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
JUNE 11, 0000 XD
"Urr..." Crono raised his head from the bench. "That was nice." Getting up, he idly looked for the others. Marle was reading a book nearby, and Lucca was sitting on the floor, tinkering with something black and spherical. Robo and Frog were playing cards, and Magus was just... being Magus. Ayla was nowhere to be seen. "Wait a minute..." Crono growled. Neither was Gaspar. As soon as the teen had noticed this, an earthquake-like rumbling shook the End Of Time. "What the hell?!" Angrily, he ran into Spekkio's room. Both Ayla and Gaspar were in there with the Master of War, and all three looked rather shook up. As Crono entered, though, Spekkio broke into a wide grin.
"Congratulations, cave girl! You did it! See, Gaspar, I TOLD you! You owe me a coke!" Gaspar grumbled and mumbled.
"Excuse me." All of them turned to Crono, who was standing in the doorway. "Mind telling me just WHAT is going on here?" Spekkio summoned a beer as he sat down on the couch.
"Simple, really. Me and Gaspar were just teaching cave girl how to summon temporary Gates."
"WHOA!" Crono was impressed. Before he could go on, Spekkio raised a hand to stop him.
"No, no. It's not what you think. Due to a large number of factors, including general outright quirkyness, the only thing she can bring through these gates are dinosaur butts."
"..." Crono just looked at him for a moment without speaking. "...And this is supposed to actually help us HOW?"
"That sounds like an insult to me." Gaspar noted. "Show him, Ayla."
With a war whoop, Ayla concentrated hard, and a shimmering blue portal appeared above them. Out of the portal came what appeared to be a dinosaur tail the size of Epoch! It thrashed about wildly for about 10 seconds before disappearing. Crono slowly peeled himself off the floor, gasped "Point made." and headed back outside.
***
"So, who's choosing the next quest?" Crono asked. Frog walked over and silently pressed a hand to the green stone.
"The ghost of a lofty knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, who haunts the present... Choras is the key..." Both Frog and Magus's eyes grew wide at this pronouncement.
"It can't be... Cyrus...?" Frog croaked out. Magus shook his head slowly.
"Well, I'm staying here this time, for obvious reasons."
"I'll come." Marle said, rising to her feet. "Any advice from Spekkio?"
"Yo." The Master Of War called. "Even when you think you're done, make sure you finish the job properly." A thunderous sneeze followed this pronouncement. "OKAY! Who brought a cat here?!" The other eight all looked blankly at each other. None of them remembered a cat.
"Maybe it's just one of those random things that come floating through." Gaspar suggested.
"Maybe."
JUNE 11, 1000 AD
"The Haunted Ruins north of Choras." Crono said as he landed. "This has to be it... right Frog?" The knight was silent. The three adventurers walked inside, and immediately heard a roar of rage. Turning left, they saw a green, armored phantom bearing down on them with a huge sword!
"LUMINAIRE!" Crono called out as he cast his most powerful spell. The massive globe of green electric energy completely failed to damage the phantom in any way. Growling, it swung its sword, sending a circle of ethereal skulls into Crono. Frog attempted to attack, but the Masamune passed right through.
"Mine blade hath no effect!" Frog gasped. The phantom froze, then slowly raised its head to look at him with an empty helmet.
"G... l... e... n... n...?"
"Cyrus?!" Frog choked. "Cyrus! It's me, Glenn!"
"Glenn... GRRRR!" Furious, the ghost began chopping at thin air with its blade, as the three beat a hasty retreat out of the ruins.
"I think it's too late to help him now..." Marle said softly. "We'll have to go back to 600 AD..."
JUNE 11, 600 AD
"Well, this is real nice." Crono commented. The first floor of the ruins simply consisted of two staircases, one going down and the other up. The upper floor was completely inaccessable because of a huge hole in the floor, and the basement was a hall with smaller armored ghosts called Sentries. After destroying them all, they had found another hole blocking the way too. Now they were in one of Choras's cafe/bars.
"I can't believe this!" They heard from another table. Looking over, they saw a middle-aged man complaining loudly to the bartender. "Some stinkin' thief stole my tools! Now how am I supposed to get any work done?"
"Hey!" Marle spoke up. "I just remembered. In the early 600s, Choras was home to an amazing carpenter. Let's see if we can find him in town."
"Is that the place?" Crono asked after a while, pointing at a shop. Marle inspected the sign.
"Yeah... Sabin The Carpenter." They went inside. Four young apprentices were puttering around, but there was no sign of the master carpenter. Frog selected one.
"Pardon me, young sir. Dost thou know where we canst find thy master?" The young man blinked with the dull-eyed look of one who is not very intelligent.
"Uh... the boss is at the cafe down the street... I think..."
"That guy in there was the great carpenter?" Crono groaned. "Real good. Where do we get tools?" As he said this, the white orb began beeping, meaning that somebody on the other end wanted to talk. Crono picked it up.
"Hey, guys." It was Lucca. "I've got an uncle in Choras who's a carpenter. Swap me for Marle for just a bit and we can go borrow his tools."
JUNE 11, 1000 AD
"This is your uncle's house, eh Lucca?" Crono asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. Hey, auntie! It's me, Lucca!" The traditional family-reunion scene followed. After they were done, Lucca got down to business. "Auntie, where's Uncle Edgar?" Her aunt's face darkened at this.
"Oh, he's at the bar again! This time when he comes home, I'm gonna teach him a lesson! POW, right in the kisser!" Lucca nodded; she knew which bar it was. They went over, and the scientest quickly spotted her uncle.
"Uncle Edgar! Hey, it's Lucca!"
"Lucca!" The man laughed. "How ya been, gal? You still blowing up your house?"
"And how!" She grinned. "Right now, I need a favor."
"Anything for my favorite niece!" He laughed.
"Can we borrow your tools?"
"My tools?" He frowned for a moment, then grinned again. "Sure! Just go ask your aunt for them. Hey, bartender! Another round!"
JUNE 11, 600 AD
"Mr. Sabin?" Crono asked the carpenter, who turned to look at him.
"Yeah? What is it, kid?"
"We'd like you to repair the northern ruins. We've got some tools you can borrow." The man's eyes grew wide, and he grinned suddenly.
"Actually, I've been meaning to fix those up for a while now. I just didn't have the proper motivation. Kid, you've got yourself a deal!" Grabbing the tools, he ran down to his shop, where with kicks and curses he roused his apprentices.
***
"Hey, buddy." The carpenter walked up to Crono. They had been working for a day. "We've been working on the second floor. Problem is, there's some monsters up there now. Can you clear them out while we work in the basement?"
"Sure." Crono agreed. "We were getting bored anyway." The group headed up the stairs to the second floor. The room they found was large, with three doors at the other end. Each was blocked off by a large hole, though. Purple skeletons were lying around the room. As they approached one, it got to its feet and shrieked, and two legless yellow ones with scythes floated in.
"Sheez! What's with all the dead things?" Crono complained as he sliced a yellow one in half. Frog grunted as he fought the purple.
"I doth not know. I didst only visit the lower levels before."
"Huh." Marle said. "We need to come up with names for these things." She blasted the other yellow one out of the sky with an Ice spell. "Howzabout we call the yellow ones Reapers?"
"It shalt do." Frog agreed, finishing the purple one off. "And these shall be Defuncts." The next encounters was almost exactly the same, but the third had four foes; while they took one each, the remaining Defunct jumped into the air and drove its spear into Crono's back. When he stumbled, the Reaper he had been fighting ripped his chest open.
"AYYEEEE!!! CRONO!" Marle shrieked. Frog stared, his face a mask of fury.
"GLACIER!" The massive blue magic attack wiped out all the undead, and Marle ran to Crono's side. They both turned to Crono and shouted at the same time.
"CURE 2!" Golden sparkled radiated out of each of them, burying the teen. Crono got to his feet, wincing.
"Ow... I'd say your healing powers have reached a new level, you two. This is the first time I've seen two of the group learn the exact same spell. It'd be great as a double-technique. Let's go down and tell the carpenter we're done."
"Killed 'em all? Great!" The carpenter grinned as he worked with a saw. "We're still working down here. We'll do the upstairs later."
***
"Okay, we're going up." The carpenter announced several hours later. "You fellows can go in the basement now; it's safe." Wordlessly, Frog went down, followed by Crono and Marle. He led the way down the hall and into a room with a single gravestone at the back.
Cyrus, the fool who challenged Magus, rests here
"Cyrus!" Frog raised the Masamune straight up in salute. "I hath fulfilled my vow to thee!" As he spoke, the room grew covered in dim white fog. When the sentence was finished, the gravestone glowed with an unearthly brilliance, and a hazy, indistinct figure rose from it. An armored man, with a purple cape. Frog sank to his knees.
"Cyrus!" The ghost knight smiled down at his friend.
"Glenn... so, Magus is defeated?"
"Yes, my lord." Frog choked. "Magus shalt not trouble this land again."
"Evasion, Glenn." Cyrus said severely. "Magus still lives. And you've even joined forces!" Frog's face grew pale.
"Cyrus... I..." He was cut off by a deep laugh from Cyrus.
"Oh, come on, Glenn! Did you really think I'd obsess over something like that? You always were too serious. What you did satisfies the demands of honor, and now the both of you have a much larger task." Cyrus began fading. "Glenn... my time is up. I am glad to hear that this time is safe... now I can rest in peace, instead of remaining here." Frog got to his feet.
"Cyrus..."
"Don't grieve for me." Cyrus's voice game as he disappeared entirely. "Mine is a peaceful rest. Goodbye... Glenn..."
"Cyrus..." Frog got to his feet, his eyes full. The noble knight did not respond, and Frog stood there, alone. And that was when the Masamune rose into the air of its own accord. "Eh?!"
"Hee hee hee..."
"That was it!" The voices came from the Masamune itself, which began glowing and spinning. In a flash of light, the two imps Masa and Mune stood there, dancing in place in the air above.
"That was some show!" Masa commented. Mune nodded.
"True. I guess true power comes from within!" They both turned to Frog. "Mucho metaphysical, man!"
"Like, mind over matter!"
"My... mind?" Frog blinked, very confused. Both imps groaned.
"He just doesn't get it. He's so dense."
"We'll just have to show him what he's done in a more... direct matter. Time to show this guy what we can REALLY do!" Masa cried happily. Mune grinned.
"It's thrashing time!" They charged at each other, palms forward, and for a moment Crono thought they were going to fuse again. However, another blinding flash of light resulted in the sword Masamune... but it was different. Frog silently took it in both hands and raised it above his head, and white-blue flames ran down its entire length. Crono could feel the power of it without even touching the mighty blade.
"Aah! Now, I canst see the might! Tis' the true essence of the Masamune!" Frog smiled, filled with a new fire. He turns back to the grave and saluted, as the inscription on it changed.
Cyrus, a mighty knight slain by Magus rests peacefully here, his dreams fulfilled
"Cyrus! I go now to challenge Lavos! Let the enemy tremble at mine coming!"
***
"Hey, kids." The carpenter said as they met him at the door. "We're done for now. See you later."
"Wait. Dost thou remember what sir Spekkio did say?" Frog reminded Crono. "We should check the upstairs." Boldy, he walked up. The room with the Decedents was fixed, with three doors. Frog peeked in the middle one. "Foebeasts. Ye two check the other whilst I deal with yon scum." He slipped in. Marle looked at Crono worriedly.
"Shouldn't we go in after him?"
"Nah." Crono grinned. "Didn't you see that sword now? He'll have no trouble. What's in those other two doors?" They looked in the one on the left, and Crono whistled sharply. "Damn... I thought we had seen the last of these!" It was a polished black box, with a silver crest. Marle touched the Pendant to it, but did not open it. The door on the right held a similar one. Finally, they opened the middle door just in time to see Frog finish off the final enemy. Broken purple bones and puddles of yellow goo were everywhere, but Frog seemed unharmed. He grinned.
"This sword, it seemeth, be quite effective against the foul undead." A final black box lay at the end of the room.
JUNE 13, 1000 AD
"Right. The one on the left first." Crono opened it, and took out a katana formed of some unknown, pearly white substance. "Shiva Edge" was engraved on it. "It's even better than my Swallow..." Crono mused. "Who made this? Oh, well. It's good to have it. What's in the next?"
"I'll open it." Marle said decisively. It contained a marvelous crossbow, forged of the same material and an unidentifiable wood. This had "Valkerie" on it. She smiled.
"Wow... look at it. I don't doubt that this is the finest make I'll ever see..."
"I hope this dost not contain a blade for me, for it wouldst be outclassed by the Masamune." Frog said as he opened the last. A moment later, he removed a suit of armor composed of the unknown white metal. Frog began putting it on without another word to either of them. He didn't need to ask; it was obvious he was the one to wear it.
JUNE 13, 600 AD
"So, we sell the underpowered sword and bow, but keep the armor?" Marle mused.
"Right." Crono confirmed. "I'm wearing the Moon Armor... it may not be as strong as Frog's Nova stuff, but it's still very good." They got in the Epoch and began soaring over the planet. For some reason, none of them felt like punching the time-travel; they just flew through the sky for a while until they came near the Denadoro Mountains. It seemed they were higher than they remembered.
"AAAA! BRAKE! BRAKE!" Desperately, Crono punched the button, and the Epoch skidded to a halt inches in front of the rocky peak. All three of its passengers wiped their brows before Crono began examining the control panel. "Hmm. How do you make this thing go in reverse...? Blast it..." He scanned the control panel hopelessly. "Damned thing. Do either of you know how?" Frog and Marle shrugged helplessly. Crono sighed. "Just great. Marle, open that little hatch in front of you and check if there's a manual or something.
"I think Spekkio called this a glove compartment..." Marle mumbled as she rummaged through it. "Dunno why... there's no gloves in here. Lessee... disco ball... nine iron... live trout... neon headlight tints... BBQ Ribs air freshener... aha! Here we... uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?" Crono asked.
"Yes. Uh-oh." Marle replied as she hauled out what looked like an encyclopedia. "This is the Owner's Manual. Have fun looking through it. We're gonna be here a while, Frog..."
Several hours passed. Frog was sweating, obviously uncomfortable. "Sir Crono, would ye raise the top? It be most hot."
"Huh? Oh, sure. Here." Crono pressed a button and the bubble top disappeared, much to Frog's relief. The knight sat back and relaxed, much at ease. Until a rock hit him on the nose.
"Ow! What foul villain hath done this?" He peered over the edge and fixed his eyes on the Free Lancer standing below, sniggering wildly. Crono glanced down as well.
"I think that's the same one that was throwing rocks at us when we came here for the Masamune..."
"OW!" Frog yelped again as the Lancer threw another rock. He was about to go down and take its head, but stopped himself. The next time it threw a rock, the knight caught it in his right hand.
"Ha! Thou hast failed, Free Lancer!" He blinked as the rock began glowing, and he looked at it. It was golden and perfectly spherical. Marle frowned.
"Frog, normally you would've immediately gone down and killed that guy. Are you feeling all right?"
"I be a changed frog." He shrugged. "Sir Crono, be those repairs ready yet?"
JUNE 14, 0000 XD
"ACHOO!" Spekkio sneezed thunderously again. "I swear, there's a frickin' cat here!"
"Blah, blah, blah." Lucca responded.
"Well, there's two sidequests left to go." Crono said happily. "Who hasn't chosen one besides me... Marle chose the Rainbow Shell, Ayla chose the Sun Stone, Lucca chose the Sunken Desert, Robo chose Geno Dome, and Frog chose the Cyrus one. That leaves..."
"Me." Magus said from his place in the corner. He silently walked over and rapped the sleeping Guru sharply on the head. "Wake up, sleeping ugly."
"Eh... shut up, Janus. Unless you want me to start passing out your baby pictures." Gaspar retorted. The others in the room snickered. Magus just growled and tapped the purple stone. The Guru's face took on the blank look that always came when he recited one of these. "A fugitive in the Middle Ages, Ozzie, maintains an evil hideout..."
"WHAT?!" Magus exploded. "That idiot's still kicking? I knew he wasn't dead, but you're telling me he's still preaching that 'kill the humans' crap? Grr... some people just don't know when to give up, do they!" Everybody was silent, shocked at the tirade from the taciturn dark mage. Magus just growled. "Right. Looks like I need to apply a little administrative discipline. Who's coming besides spike-top?"
"I will come." Robo said. Spekkio sneezed again.
"Argh. Your hint for today: When false treasure beckons, keen eyes will find the real prize."
"Fine. Then let's go. I'd REALLY like a reunion with my old friends..."
JUNE 15, 600 AD
"Now that I think about it, Ozzie did have a small fortress west of my castle." Magus mused as the Epoch soared over the planet. "Here, let me have the controls. I'll see if I can find it." Within minutes, he had located the building. Around it, they could see many rude Mystic settlements. "Right. We'll land right outside the fort itself. Nothing to be gained by conversing with the rank and file." As they entered, a tinny bell rang. A moment later, a familiar fat, green form appeared.
"Hello, and welcome! This the great Ozzie's place! Tour group, are ya? Or Imp Scouts? We are running low on thin mints..." He suddenly stopped talking as he realized who they were. "Guh... duh... that spiky-haired kid... the tinman... and... AH! You're the great Magus!"
"Hey, Ozzie." Magus said, smiling. "You're doing pretty well for yourself. Nice place you got here; I like the decor. But enough beating around the bush... we need to... talk." Ozzie was slowly backing away, but then came forward again, face angry.
"You're going around with humans?!" He shouted. "You traitor! After all that we did for you..." He disappeared. Magus frowned.
"Sigh... fine, then. We'll do it the hard way. Come on." He led the way up the stairs into a large, square room with no furniture or decoration. Ozzie was there.
"You're no king of ours! I spent all those years on you, and this is how you repay me? Ooh! I'll have you begging for mercy. Flea!" At his call, the attractive sorceress came in, frowning as she took in the scene.
"Hmph... seems Ozzie was right. Humans. Who'd you bribe to get in? And if it isn't the great Magus! Traitors like you deserve a beating." She turned to her fat boss. "Ozzie, I'll handle this. You go notify Slash and get ready."
"Right." Ozzie disappeared, and Flea focused her attention on the group again.
"Get ready for a slapping good time... get it?"
"Har, har." Crono frowned. "What makes you think you can beat us? We took you down before, and we're a lot stronger now."
"Aha!" Flea laughed. "But so am I!" She blew a kiss, sending a fireball crashing into Crono's hair. Magus frowned.
"Let's get this show on the road."
***
"SLASH!" Ozzie yelled. "Get your butt out here! We have trouble!"
"What is it, oh grand green globby one?" Slash asked sardonically.
"Glenn's friends are here! And Magus is on their side! He's deserted us!"
"Magus? Impossible." Slash snorted. "You've been sniffing glue again, Ozzie."
"Believe him." Came from behind the swordsman. Slash turned to see Flea limp in. "They beat me up pretty badly. I'll need a Full Tonic..."
"Damn!" Ozzie disappeared. Slash just groaned.
***
"On to the next room." Crono said as they walked ahead. The next room was narrow, and on either side was a conveyer belt with large pits at both ends.
"Hey, losers!" They looked up to see Ozzie standing above the opposite door. "Anyone who tries to stop me is looking for a VERY cruel death!" He turned one of his ever-present cranks, and the conveyer belts carried two glowing blue Mystic Groupies came out of the holes. "And away we go!"
"Shit! That glow... don't let your guard down!" Magus commanded. All three drew their weapons... and watched as the enemy fell into the holes on the other end of the belts. Several sweatdrops and blinking were followed by a triple simultaneous facevault (quadruple if you count Ozzie).
"Urr..." Ozzie groaned. "Ozzie's in... a jam!" He disappeared. The group walked on to a room identical to the one they had fought Flea in. Ozzie grinned.
"Slash!" The spinning shape of the Mystic swordsman faded in.
"You raaang?" He perused the group with a raised eyebrow. "Hmph. Looks like you were right, Ozzie. Sorry I doubted you."
"Slash, don't let me down!" Ozzie called as he faded from view. Magus sighed.
"Slash, give it up. The war with the humans is over. Don't listen to Ozzie." Slash growled.
"You know, at first I didn't want to slice and dice ya... but now that I've seen your treachery firsthand, it sounds fun!"
"Here we go, then..." Magus said shortly.
***
"Flea! Are you ready?" Ozzie asked. The sorceress nodded, walking out.
"I'm healed and I've got what I need. You?"
"Yuuup. Slash is keeping them..."
"Not anymore." Slash said, coming in. "Ozzie, you'll have to delay them while I find you-know what. I could use a Full Tonic too."
"I'll take care of that." Flea decided. Ozzie shook his head.
"Let's hope it's enough time. When you're both ready, go to the correct room."
***
"...Okay, this is just sad." Crono commented. A single treasure chest stood in an alcove. The group walked past without comment, as Ozzie's voice rang out.
"Aren't you gonna get the treasure? Probably full of goodies!" Robo made a sound like a snort.
"Chances are 95% that it is a trap and that you're an idiot. 5% that you're just an idiot, no trap."
"HEY!" As Ozzie yelled indignantly, an imp in janitor's clothes came in and saw the chest.
"WOO-HOO!" He eagerly opened it... and it exploded. Magus glared upward, where he knew Ozzie was.
"Give it up. You can't win."
"Urr... Ozzie's stumped!" The familiar teleport sound followed. As they were about to pass into the next room, Magus stopped.
"Hold it... remember what that shape-shifting fruit said? 'When false treasure beckons, keen eyes will find the real prize...'"
"There!" Robo pointed at a wall. "There is a small chamber behind."
"Ozzie always did love these things." Magus admitted as he felt the wall. "Illusion. I'll go in. ... YES!" When he emerged, he was dressed in a cape of pure shadows, dark as night. If you relaxed, you could see what looked like stars out of the corner of your eye, but never right where you were looking. That wasn't all, though; the dark mage was holding a different scythe, the blade carved of obsidian and the "pole" made of an unidentifiable hardwood.
"My best equipment. Ozzie must have rescued it right before my castle went boom. Good to have it back." The three went in to the next room... and froze. This room was at least three times as big as any other, and all three of the Terrible Trio were waiting.
"SHEEEEEIIIT." Magus cursed. Crono blinked.
"What? We took them out easily enough before..."
"You idiot." Magus growled. "Their solitary ability is second-rate, but as a group... this promises to be quite unpleasant." He raised his voice. "Ozzie! We didn't come here to fight! Call of the war against the humans and nobody will get hurt!"
"Nobody will get hurt?!" Ozzie laughed. "You're the ones going down! OZZIE PANTS!"
"FLEA VEST!"
"SLASHER 2!" All three of the enemies grinned. Robo groaned.
"Oh, no. Power levels are skyrocketing!" Ozzie laughed.
"These unique items make us INVINCIBLE! Prepare to perish!"
***
"LUMINAIRE!" Crono shouted, releasing the ultimate lightning attack. Ozzie just laughed.
"Slash! Flea! Maneuver A!"
"Gotcha!" Slash jumped into the air, and Flea tossed him a chain of black flames which were absorbed by his sword before he plunged it into Crono. "Mwahaha! Like my new sword, kid?"
"Very nice, Slash." Magus called. "ICE 2!" The blue magic slammed into all three, leaving Ozzie open for Robo's Uzi Punch. The green one took it in stride, and called for another Flame Slash.
"Hey, Slushie!" Slash turned, indignant, just in time to meet Crono's Confuse attack. The spinning sword attack cut deep into the Mystic. "You like MY new sword?"
"Cute, kid." Slash groaned. "But not good enough! Your sword's good, but not as good as mine!" He sent off a ki wave that went through Crono and continued on to hit Robo. Ozzie laughed.
"Okay, guys! Perfect time for Maneuver B!" The green leader jumped forward, and Slash bounced off his head, gaining twice as much height as he had with his previous leaps. Flea sent off the black flames again, and the sword smashed into Magus.
"ARGH!! FIRE 2!" As the mage bent down under the attack, he launched a flaming counterblast, followed by Robo unloading an Area Bomb upon Flea.
"Ow! You stupid junkpot!" She sent off a fireball at him even as Crono unloaded another Luminaire.
"BAD IMPULSE!" The three repeated the previous superattack, this time for Robo, which was followed by a Lightning 2 from Magus.
"Ozzie! We can't keep this up!" Slash and Flea shouted simultaneously. Ozzie bit his lip, then grinned wickedly.
"In that case... let's stop playing around and show them the ultimate!" Slash and Flea laughed, then all three held out their hands.
"DELTA STORM!!!!" A massive triangle of pure magical energy appeared, with one of the enemy at each point, and the three heroes caught in the middle. First, it was blue, delivering the chilling powers of ice. Next, it turned red, burning them with fire. Finally, a brilliant yellow shocked them all with brilliant electricity. When the light faded, Crono and Robo were both on their knees. Ozzie howled, doing a grotesque little dance of glee.
"Hahahahaha! Mystics rule! I WIN!"
"Not today, Ozzie." The chillingly calm voice came from Magus, who was standing in the exact center of the room. Slowly, he turned to look at Slash, Flea, and then Ozzie. "Your marvelous attack has just brought back the final spell I had forgotten. My ultimate." Ozzie grew pale as a... well... celery.
"No..." he croaked. Magus smiled, a smile with no trace of humor.
"Yes. DARK MATTER!!!" Above him, a massive rip appeared in the air, revealing a starry background. As a white sliver of pure light danced, pure, unchecked shadow energy from the depths of space poured out, flooding the room and crushing the Terrible Trio under its weight. Finally, it all detonated.
Slash and Flea were both smashed into the unyielding stone walls, where they laid, smoking. Ozzie was slightly luckier; he was blown backwards through a door and up a staircase, disappearing from view. Magus frowned as Crono and Robo got to their feet, followed by Slash and Flea, albeit much more slowly. The Mystic King turned to his employees.
"I'd advise you not to dispute anymore. If you surrender, I'll let you live." Slash and Flea glanced at each other, then sighed and both sank to their knees, Slash placing his blade flat on the ground. Magus nodded.
"Good. Now, this stupid war with the humans is done. Understand?" They nodded. "Right. We're going to go settle Ozzie." With that, he walked up the stairs, followed by Crono and Robo, leaving the defeated Slash and Flea to ponder.
***
"Urgh..." Ozzie groaned as the three appeared. "You don't give up, do you?"
"Last chance, Ozzie." Magus said, fingering his scythe. "Surrender, or I will not be responsible for the consequences."
"You want me to surrender to you?!" Ozzie yelped incredulously. "You lied to me! You lied when you said you wanted to destroy the humans! You used me!"
"Gee, what a shame." Magus mocked. "Listen and listen good. There are much more important things than this silly little war, and it's time you stopped this. Are you going to come quietly?"
"No." Ozzie said calmly. "I cannot. If I surrendered, then what would become of my beloved Mystics? Second-class citizens, scorned and hated again? NO! I MUST WIN!" The Crystal Shield appeared around him. Magus sighed.
"Figures. There's no way through that, you two. NONE. And we can't just leave him here. Any ideas?"
"Those switches." Robo pointed at three levers in the all behind Ozzie. "The last time we fought, something similar was his downfall." He hit one with his Rocket Punch. The floor rumbled, and Ozzie removed his shield, face contorted in a gross simulation of terror.
"Oh, no! I'm falling down a hole! Save me!" With a clank, a hole appeared... beneath Crono, Robo and Magus. "Heh heh! Gotcha! Adios, amigos!"
They landed in the center of the room where they had fought the Trio. Slash and Flea were still there. As they dusted themselves off, Flea spoke up.
"Hey. Did one of you bring a cat?" The three heroes looked at each other blankly and shrugged. Robo was the first to talk.
"None of us carry a cat. Did you see one?"
"Yeah." Flea nodded. "Just wondering. I assume Ozzie got you with the trap."
"That won't happen again." Magus growled as the three went back up. Ozzie laughed.
"NEVER! You shall never defeat me!" The three pulled their weapons, and Ozzie prepared to bring up his shield...
"Meow." All of them froze at the sound. "Meow." Behind the three, a small cat walked in. Crono's eyes grew wide as he recognized it.
"Hey, that's my cat! How'd it get here?" None of the other spoke. They were all watching it silently, even Ozzie. The cat walked up to the switches, jumped and pressed one. Ozzie's eyes grew wide.
"N... no! Not THAT switch! AAAAAAA!" He plummeted into the hole that appeared beneath his feet. Magus sighed.
"The past is dead. It was all just a dream..."
"You sound like Spike Spiegel." Crono commented as he grabbed his cat. "Let's go; I need to take this little guy home."
"Is Ozzie dead?" Robo asked, peering into the hole. It was too deep to see past the darkness. Magus just shrugged.
"I dunno if he can get his shield up while falling, and if he did, whether he had enough time. Doesn't matter anyway. The other Mystics have been watching this entire mess. I'll go back outside and I'll command them not to follow the Trio anymore, and to end the war. Then we can get going."
***
Behind Ozzie's fortress, there was a large, fenced off area. It was filled with trash and other, more unmentionable things. In the pile, something stirred.
"Ugh..." Ozzie groaned disgustedly as his crystal shield melted away. "Dammit, beaten again..." He looked up to see the Epoch soar away. "That must be them..."
"Hey, Ozzie." The mystic chief looked over to see Slash and Flea standing with their backs against the wall of the fort. "Looks like we all got whupped, huh?"
"Yah." Ozzie concurred. "I assume Magus has taken control of the Mystics again?"
"You got it." Flea said.
"Ahh, screw 'em all. I'm through with this leadership crap." He sniffed himself. "Literally. So, what do we do now?"
"Get drunk?" Slash suggested. A wide grin appeared on Ozzie's face.
"Sounds good to me!" The grand green glob washed himself off, and the three began walking away. Flea sighed.
"Oh, well... maybe the Mystics will turn out okay. Maybe they'll build a village, and come to peace with the humans..." She stopped, and all three looked at each other for a moment.
"NAAAAAAHHHH!" Laughing, the Terrible Trio walked off into the sunset, a scene which was only marred when a mug of V-8 mixed with turpentine hit Ozzie on the head.
JUNE 15, 1000 AD
"So, that's how the Mystics turn out..." Magus calmly noted. Below, Medina Village was greatly changed from the last time Crono has been there. All statues and chanting were gone. Instead, young imps played tag in the square, and a Hench grumbled good-naturedly as he trimmed flowers. Ozzie XIII was doing dishes, and an imp named Norain sat in the mayor's seat. Magus sardonically raised an eyebrow.
"The flowers are a bit overdone, but all in all, it looks great. Is there anything else we need, or can we go back to the End Of Time now?"
"Not yet..." Crono frowned. "I wanna see if Melchior's done with the Rainbow Shell yet."
***
"Ah, Crono!" Melchior exclaimed happily as the teen walked in. "I've completed my work. Take a look at this!" Crono's breath caught as Melchior held up a beautiful dress that flashed every color in the rainbow prismatically. He immediately had a mental image of Marle wearing it. Melchior grinned.
"This does more than just look pretty, friend! It's highly resistant to all types of magic, and light as a feather!" He handed it over. "But that's not all I have..." The Guru took out a long thin package and unwrapped it. This time Crono's eyes almost bugged out of their head.
It was truly wondrous blade, a long and thin katana forged of the Rainbow Shell's substance and the Sun Stone's energy. The blade was sharp enough to split a hair, and like the dress, it flashed every color of the rainbow. Crono picked it up almost reverantly.
"The Rainbow Sword... awesome." He turned to Melchior, intending to thank him, but the old Guru was already gone. He shrugged.
"Well, let's get this cat back to my house, then get going."
JUNE 16, 0000 XD
"All right, everybody." Crono called as he entered the End of Time. "I declare a one-day rest break. Make good use of it, because you're not getting another. In twenty-four hours, we're finishing this once and for all." With that proclamation, he marched into Spekkio's room and immediately hijacked the Tv. All the others followed him, leaving Gaspar to snore. When they were all done, though, he began chuckling softly.
"Heh heh heh... well, so it's come at last. The fate of the world shall soon be decided... and spiky isn't even out of high school yet. I can't wait to see his report card..." Laughing, Gaspar drifted back off to sleep. The Guru wanted to be well-rested for the ordeal ahead. He wasn't missing this for the world.