I'm Back!!! YAY!!! Well… Here's the next chapter. I'll give a cookie to anyone can figure out who the mystery woman is. Hah hah… Yeah right. Anyway I don't own Chrono Cross or any of its characters. I do own Ana and Bob. Although… Feel free to use them, just give me the credit.

Chapter 13: Escape

There was a small swish as a dark feminine figure ran by a guardhouse. The guard inside didn't even see the woman. The woman was dressed in all black. Her harlequin hat was gone. The woman's jet black hair was tied in a pony tail. The face paint that had formerly covered her face had been washed off and her pale face shone in the moonlight. Her brown eyes shone with anticipation. Almost there. The girl thought.

Serge sat in a dark corner in the cell he was staying in. The group of people had been split up and placed in separate cells. Moonlight shone through the window that was at the top of the cell. Serge smirked, he could easily escape through that window even though it had bars in it. Serge could feel the Mastermune's pull on him. It wanted its master. "So, Serge. When are we going to break out of here?" Serge heard Fargo ask from a cell further down the hall. They were the only ones in this hallway. The others were spread out in the building. Serge smiled, "Right now if you wish." There was silence for a second, "Uh... How?" Fargo asked sheepishly. Serge's smile grew as he concentrated on the Mastermune. Shouts of anger and pain started immediately as the Mastermune made anyone who touched it go flying.

The Mastermune flew through the twists and turns of the building looking for its master. A dozen soldiers followed. Finally, it found Serge's welcoming arms. "Hey! What are you doing?" A Porre lieutenant bellowed at Serge. Serge smirked, "Breaking out." The Mastermune flared and Serge sliced into the bars that prevented his escape. The Mastermune cut through them with ease. The group of soldiers backed up. Serge stepped out of his useless cell and looked at the group of soldiers, "Now. I suggest you let us go." The lieutenant pointed his gun at Serge, "I don't think so." POW! The bullet slowed to a stop in mid air at the thought of Serge. He had once again gained control of time. Serge shuddered at the thought. The final prophesy... He shook it off and concentrated on the matter at hand. He smirked and walked behind the group of frozen soldiers. With a thought, time began again.

CRACK! The bullet crashed into the stone wall at the other end of the hallway. The soldiers just stared at where their prisoner was just seconds ago. "Behind you." They heard. They all turned at the same time. They found the prisoner standing behind him. Suddenly, he disappeared! "Over here." Behind them! The group of soldiers spun around to find nothing. "Too slow."  They looked around nervously for the man, but he'd be gone by the time they turned around. "Show yourself!" Their lieutenant said forcefully. "Okay." The man appeared in front of them only for a second and then he disappeared again.

Serge laughed in his mind at the frozen soldier's expressions. They were looks of pure terror. Time unfroze and Serge was once again behind them. He spoke, "Can't you figure it out? You can't catch me. It's pointless to try." The lieutenant spun to meet him. Serge stayed put.

The lieutenant raised a shaking gun at Serge. The gun, this time, disappeared. The lieutenant stared at his empty hand and then noticed the escaped prisoner. He was pointing the lieutenant's gun at his head. The lieutenant raised his arms above his head. His soldiers dropped their guns and did the same.

Serge laughed. It was too easy. He looked at the gun in his hand. So easy... Just a single twitch... Serge smiled evilly. So easy... POW!

Serge's eyes widened and he immediately stopped time. The bullet was just leaving the gun. What is going on with me? I almost killed him! He's helpless and I almost killed him! Why? Kidd's words rang through his head. "You have fulfilled them all... All that's left are the results..." Serge stiffened. No. That can't be true...

The lieutenant was tackled to the ground as the bullet whizzed by. At first he thought it was a loyal soldier, but he was surprised to find that the prisoner was the person that saved him. The prisoner disappeared once again and reappeared a few feet away. In his hand were the keys to the prison cells in this hallway. The lieutenant got up and looked at the prisoner in bewilderment, "Who are you?" He asked with fear in his voice. The prisoner smiled sadly, "My name is Serge. I am here to stop an evil madman. I, and the rest of my comrades, am not a spy." The lieutenant just stared, "You can't leave. If we had no reason to prosecute you before, we do now. You tried to kill an officer of Porre. That is reason enough for life in prison. Possibly death." Serge shrugged and disappeared. CLICK! The cell that held Fargo was unlocked. The soldiers reached for their guns, but found that they were gone. Fargo stepped out of the cell and stood beside Serge, "Come on. Let's get out of here." Serge nodded and the two started walking away. "Halt!" The lieutenant ran toward them. FLASH! Before he had even come within ten feet of it, the Mastermune's power made him fly into the bars of a nearby cell. Fargo stopped momentarily in amazement, but Serge kept on moving.

SWISH! The raven-haired girl flew by the last guardhouse before the prison complex. She jumped to the left just in time to avoid a circle of light from a nearby spotlight. She landed silently. WHOO-WHOO-WHOO! A siren pierced the silence. For a second, the girl thought that she had been discovered. But that wasn't the case. The alarm was sounding because of a prisoner breakout. Serge... She thought with a smile.

CLICK! Serge unlocked the cell that held the last of his comrades. Nikki stepped out, "Rockin'!" Serge rolled his eyes and gave Nikki his sword, "Let's go. We don't have much–" WHOO-WHOO-WHOO! Serge cursed and started running toward the exit. The others followed. The steel door was locked down by the time they got there. Serge pounded on the door; Each hit put a dent in it. "Come on! Open!" The group heard the sounds of boots hitting the tile floor. Serge growled and pushed on the door as hard as he could. It didn't budge. "Come on..." He hissed. Nothing. An idea popped into his head. He smiled and pointed his palm at the door. FWOOSH! The handle and most of the door melted. Serge's smile grew and he kicked whatever was left of the door away. The comrades ran out into the prison yard.

CLANG! There! The woman watched as a group of eight ran out of the prison. She recognized all but one of them. Serge, Glenn, Fargo, Nikki, Miki, Karsh, and... the Dog... But... Who's the other? She had no time to think as the eight ran past not even noticing her. A Gatling Gun was pointed at them from the nearest guard tower. FWOOSH! The tower exploded in red flames. The woman looked up just in time to see the outline of a Dragonian. I don't understand. Dragonians have been extinct for years! FWOOSH! Another guard tower burst into flames. This time though, it wasn't by the dragonian. The white flame was from Serge! What was that?! When the flames cleared, the guard tower was completely gone. For some reason, the men that were in it were laying on the ground, seemingly uninjured. POW! POW! POW! Gunshots rang out. The woman looked back to see Porre soldiers pouring out of the prison. FWOOSH! The white flame washed over them. It was so bright that the woman had to look away. When she looked back, the soldiers were still there. Their guns and other weapons were not...

Almost there! Serge thought with hope. THUMP! A bullet buried itself into his shoulder. He cried out and fell to the ground clutching his shoulder. "Serge!" Kidd screamed. "Get out of here!" Serge yelled. Kidd ignored him and ran to his side, "Serge! Are you okay?" Serge winced, "Go! I'll catch up!" Kidd looked at him, "Serge! I'm not leaving you!" Serge looked at Glenn. Glenn caught the hint and grabbed Kidd from behind. "Glenn! Let go!" Glenn swung her over his shoulder and started running toward the faraway tree line. "No! Serge!" Kidd screamed. Glenn kept running. CLICK! Serge looked up into the barrel of a gun. It was the lieutenant. Serge tried to stop time again, but failed. Come on! Stop! Nothing happened. "Now's the time you die." The lieutenant stated. Serge's eyes widened. WHACK! A foot connected squarely in the guard's face. At first Serge thought Kidd had come back, but it was someone else. THUMP! A kick to the guard's stomach now. WHACK! Another kick to his face and the guard fell unconscious. Serge was finally able to get a good look at the person who saved him. It was a woman. She had jet-black hair, brown eyes, and a very pale complexion. There was something vaguely familiar about her. "Hurry, Serge! We don't have much time." She commanded. "How do you know who I am?" Serge asked. The woman grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up, "I'll explain later. First, we have to get out of here."

Serge and the woman ran toward the tree line. Bullets whizzed by as they ran. "Halt!" The two plowed through a group of guards trying to stop them. Serge felt a bullet graze his leg. He clinched his teeth and tried to ignore the pain. The whole time that this was happening, he was trying to stop, or at least slow, time. It was useless. He had lost control of it, for now. FWOOSH! Bob cleared the way for the two. Most of the remaining Porre soldiers scattered. Anyone who didn't...

"Glenn! Let go! We have to help Serge!" The seven ran through the forest at dangerous speeds barely dodging low tree branches and roots in the ground. Sometimes they didn't dodge them at all. "Oof!" Glenn fell to the forest floor, "Kidd! Stop distracting me!" Kidd was finally able to get free and stood up. "We have to go back! Serge needs us!" Kidd said frantically. Glenn stood up, "Serge can take care of himself. He could go into battle alone with the Porre army and come out unscathed. We are going to keep moving. Serge will catch up." Kidd growled, "He was injured! We have to go back!" We can't go back, Kidd. What?! No! We have to! If we go back, then we'll all surely perish. They have long range weapons. They'd be able to take us all out before we even had a chance to draw our weapons. But Serge! Glenn's right. Serge can take care of himself. Don't worry about him. But I... Kidd sighed sadly and said, "Fine. Let's... go. But... If he doesn't make it, it's on your head, Glenn." Glenn nodded sadly. In truth, he wanted to go back also, but he knew that it wasn't possible.

Serge and the woman charged through the large forest. They had just escaped the prison and were being chased by Porre soldiers. They had also lost their cover that came from Bob. Bob couldn't risk burning down the entire forest. THUMP! A bullet was buried into a nearby tree. Serge cursed. The soldiers were getting close. "Through there!" The woman yelled while pointed at a very thick part of the forest. Serge nodded and the two ran into it. "Try not to leave a trail. Move through here as quietly as you can." The woman whispered. "Who are you?" Serge asked after pausing. The woman stopped too, "I'll tell you later. First, we have to get out of here." Serge sighed and followed her.

The seven ran out of the forest and into the city of Porre. "Fargo! You, Nikki, and Miki try to get to your ship. See if your crew is still there. If they are, then try to escape the harbor. We're going to head toward Guardia, and after we take out Lynx, then we'll probably need some way of escape." Glenn said. Fargo nodded and he, Nikki, and Miki set off toward the harbor. Glenn sighed and looked back into the forest. He really hoped Serge had gotten out...

Janus looked down at the group of four that stood underneath him. He was standing on the roof of a small building. He was about to announce himself, but he felt something. Danger... He looked at the nearby forest. He's in danger... Janus looked back at his sister and then back to the forest trying to decide what to do. He sighed heavily and a purple mist engulfed him. When the mist was gone, so was he...

Serge and the mysterious woman crept through the forest as fast as they dared to. Every once in a while, they would here the yelling of Porre soldiers, but they thought that they had finally lost them. Finally, they stopped. "Okay." Serge said, "Are you going to tell me who you are now?" The woman smiled, "Yes. I guess it is time…" She hesitated for a moment, "Serge… I am Ha—" The woman was cut off as a large beast crashed through the trees of the forest. It stood on two feet with a huge tail for added balance. It was ten maybe eleven feet tall. It had four gigantic arms. Each hand at the end of the arms had four fingers. At the end of finger were half a foot long claws. It had two heads. There was a large bird-like beak on each head. These beaks also had ripping teeth in them. Last and definitely least, it was covered with bloodstained silver fur. Serge guessed that the bloodstains weren't didn't come from itself. "Crap! What's that?!" Serge asked in bewilderment. "I—I don't know! I've never heard of something like this!"

The beast looked to one person to the other trying to decide whom to annihilate first. It didn't have to think about it very long. THUMP! It felt a small, sharp thing lodge itself into the beast's stomach. It looked down to see a tiny knife sticking out of its midsection. It roared in annoyance more than pain and looked for the person who did that…

Serge watched as the woman pulled another knife out of a belt that was wrapped around her. Why did she seem so familiar? He didn't have much time to ponder this as the beast charged for the woman. "Look out!" He yelled, but it was too late. The beast hit the woman with unbelievable fury. Although it hadn't used its claws, Serge doubted anyone could live through that. Serge ran at the beast. The Mastermune was shining in the darkness. CLANG! Serge backed up in amazement. The Mastermune hadn't even penetrated the beast's skin! The skin was like metal! The beast looked at Serge in annoyance. How did the knife penetrate its skin? Serge thought frantically. WHAM! Serge yelled out as the beast backhanded him. Serge crashed into a tree thirty feet away. Serge got up slowly and looked at the beast. FWOOSH! Holy flame burst from his hand. The flames hit the beast in a bright flash. Serge looked away because of the brightness. There was a smirk on his face, he thought that he had won. When it was dark enough for him to look, he turned to where the beast had stood moments ago. The beast still stood there. Serge's mouth dropped at the sight. He's unhurt! That's impossible! The beast looked at Serge in anger and charged at him…

"Yes! Go! Destroy him! Yes! Hit him!" Lynx in the form of Dark Serge watched a large computer screen in front of him. On this screen was the battle that was taking place deep in the Porre forest. Serge was losing horribly. Lynx focused his attention on the unconscious, but still very much alive, woman. "So… You've decided to betray me…" He focused on another screen. The screen showed Bob flying high above the forest. He was looking for Serge. "You too, my little pet? Heh heh… You'll pay… You'll all pay…"

"Oof!" Serge crashed into a large tree. CRACK! The tree cracked in half and started falling. Serge rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the thick trunk. The trunk barely missed the woman. Minutes before, Serge had been startled to find that the woman was still alive. She was just unconscious. Serge had thought that would be impossible. At least for a small woman like her. WHAM! He yelled out once more as the beast slammed into him. The beast's claws whistled through the air as they flew down toward him. Serge brought the Mastermune up to block them. Thankfully, the weapon was indestructible. If not, that slash would have destroyed him. Serge rolled away. Another hand of claws slammed into the dirt where he had been just a split-second before. Suddenly it dawned on him. The stomach! That's where she hit it! That's its weak point! Serge jumped away from the beast before it could recover. Thankfully, although the beast was huge, it wasn't very intelligent. Stop! Still nothing. Why can't I stop time anymore? It was working so well earlier! Serge dove out of the way as the beast barreled by. Okay. Next time it does that… The beast charged at him again. Serge simply pointed the Mastermune at it. The beast saw this trick and swatted the Mastermune away before it could penetrate its soft midsection. The next thing it swatted away was Serge. WHAM! Serge flew through the air and slid to a stop twenty feet away. The Mastermune was on the other side of the beast. Serge was barely conscious by now. He couldn't concentrate enough to get the holy weapon to come to him. The beast loomed over him…

"Yes! Finish him! Destroy him!" Lynx yelled in glee. "Wait… Who's that?"

Janus walked calmly out of the purple mist and looked at the large beast. The beast hadn't noticed him yet. Janus smirked. FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! Multiple lightning bolts hit the beast. They bolts were much larger than Ana's ever were. The creature roared in annoyance. Janus saw his mistake instantly. The stomach. That's its weakness. Other than that he seems to be indestructible. A large spike of ice appeared in front of Janus' outstretched hands.

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There it is! What'd you think? I hope I can get one more chapter up. Hope. My day tomorrow is gonna be a busy one and I'm leaving early Thursday morning. So… If I don't get it done by tomorrow night… Sorry!

Thanks for the reviews! Please keep on reviewing!

--Ben