Ahh… Two chapters in two days. Not an easy thing to do! Anyway, not much to say other than thanks for the reviews…

Disclaimer: Look! I just disclaimed it! See! Disclaimer. HA!

Chapter 21: Training

FLASH!  Serge yelled out in pain as a huge lightning bolt struck him. The lightning bolt had originated from Ozzie. He flew backwards and crashed into the rail. Meanwhile, Ozzie laughed.

Serge was tempted to just finish the three troublemakers off with Holy Fire, but he knew that if he did that, they might never find Spekkio.

"Get him, Slash! I want to take Magus…" The blue-skinned one, called Slash, grunted and started walking toward Serge. Serge smiled as Slash removed a large sword. He had always favored weapons combat over elements. This was no different.

FWOOSH! A large pillar of fire emerged from Janus' outstretched hands and engulfed Ozzie. When the smoke cleared, Ozzie was gone. Janus smirked slightly until, WHAM! Janus flew forward and crashed into the floor.

"Is that the best you can do, Janus?" Ozzie asked. Janus rolled onto his back to get a better look at Ozzie. "Teleportation. Not bad, Ozzie." Janus said with a sneer. Ozzie just sneered back.

CLANG! "Come on, Karsh! Snap out of it!" Karsh brought his axe back down onto Glenn's swords with such ferocity that the swords nearly flew out of his hands. The one called Flea had confused Karsh, and now he was attacking people, friend or foe, at random. CLANG! "Karsh!"

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Serge was relentless in his attacks. He could tell that he had caught Slash off guard with his skill, but Slash had recovered by now and was putting up a good fight.

"Surprised ya, didn't I?" Serge asked through clenched teeth. Slash smirked and jumped back away from Serge. A blue 'aura' seemed to surround him and he dashed forward with amazing speed. It's Dash & Slash! Serge thought frantically.

Serge was able to dodge the sword just in time, but he had dodged the wrong way and was now directly in the way of Slash. WHAM! Slash crashed into Serge and they both tumbled.

CLANG! "KARSH!" Glenn yelled at the top of his lungs. Karsh stopped for a moment and blinked furiously. The red tint in his eyes disappeared and he looked around. His eyes settled on Glenn who had scratches all over himself and a deep gash in his arm. "Glenn? What just happen—" FWOOSH! "Karsh! Watch out!"

A pillar of fire hit Karsh in the back and he flew forward only to slide across the floor and crash into the rail at the other side of the platform. He had been knocked unconscious.

Kidd and Ana stayed with Melchior throughout the battle. Ana sighed, "Kidd can you handle him?" She asked. Kidd looked at her, "Why?" Ana smiled and motioned to Glenn, "He's getting his butt kicked. They could use another magic user out there to even the odds." FWOOSH! Kidd saw Glenn just barely dodged the smoldering flames. She turned back to Ana, "No problem."

FLASH! Flea cried out as… s/he was hit with a large lightning bolt that originated from a blonde-haired girl with red streaks in her hair. Flea growled, nobody, nobody, did that to her/him.

FWOOSH! Janus hit Ozzie with a large pillar of water and Ozzie flew backward and slammed against the rail. "Weren't fast enough that time, were you, Ozzie?" Ozzie growled and he shot a lightning bolt at Janus. The lightning bolt fizzled out before it even hit Janus via a shield that Janus had created around himself. "Don't think so, Ozzie."

CLANG! Serge had once again gained the upper hand in the battle with Slash. After fighting Slash for a while, Serge had begun to understand his limits. So now, Serge was toying with him. He could easily beat him.

Slash was exhausted by now. The boy isn't even breathing hard! He noted.  I underestimated him by a lot. Time to begin using my magic.

FWOOSH! Serge was slammed into the rail by the jet of water. Great… He's using magic now. Serge thought grimly.

Serge got back up and charged at Slash. As he expected, Slash sent another blast of water at him, but this time Serge was ready. Just before the water hit him, Serge jumped up high into the air, did a flip, and landed behind Slash.

FWOOSH! Serge once again flew back and ended up slamming into the rail beside Kidd. Kidd yelped in surprise but them she relaxed when Serge got back up.

Serge looked at Slash, who had anticipated Serge's move and was ready for it. Serge began walking toward Slash once again. If he had paid more attention to his surroundings, he might have noticed that Kidd was directly behind him…

FWOOSH! This time, Serge sidestepped the water and began running at Slash as fast as he could. He was stopped by a scream. Kidd! The name whirled through Serge's mind.

Serge spun around and saw Kidd, who was hanging precariously off of the rail. Serge's eyes widened and he ran to her. He was so terrified that he never thought to stop time…

Kidd tried to hang on, but she lost her grip. "SERGE!!!" She screamed as her wet hands slipped on the equally wet rail. "Kidd!" Serge yelled as he saw Kidd fall into the blackness.

Serge wasn't thinking anymore. No, he was acting on instinct only. When he reached the rail where Kidd had been, he simply jumped off the platform.

Kidd screamed as she fell. She didn't know whether she could die in this place, through falling anyway. She didn't see anything but blackness all around her! This didn't really comfort her though.

Serge dove toward Kidd coming closer to her every second until, WHAM, he grabbed her.

Slash smirked. He had just taken out two birds with one stone. Or better yet, two brats with one blast. Little did he know that he was terribly wrong.

Time seemed to stop as Serge looked down at Kidd. They were still falling, but it didn't matter to them. If they would die, they'd die together.

But that wasn't how Serge was going to have it. He refused to let them die just yet. If he was gone, who would save the world?

Wind began to whip around them. Swirling and swirling, causing their descent to slow. Kidd looked at Serge questioningly. It was as if she was asking, "What are you doing?"

Serge just smiled at her. His eyes were a bright green now.

The wind whipped around them harder and faster. They were falling extremely slowly now. Kidd could feel a definite updraft now. They stopped falling and for a few seconds they didn't move, but then, slowly at first, they began moving upward toward the far-away platform where their friends were fighting their hearts out…

There was wind. It was unheard of in the End of Time. These thoughts penetrated Slash's mind as he walked closer to the edge. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear the constant whooshing sound of the air moving at high speeds. "What's going on?" He asked incredulously.

The whooshing increased and Slash found it hard to keep his head over the rail. Suddenly, Slash was flung backward, tumbling end over end, because of an extremely strong gust. When he recovered from his fall, he looked up and gasped. There floating in the air were the two people that had went over the edge.

The boy held onto the girl as the wind was so strong that it threatened to tear them apart forever.

All fighting stopped as the two began moving over the platform and suddenly the wind stopped resulting in them both falling onto the platform in a heap. "You really need to work on your landings, Serge." The girl said.

Slash narrowed his eyes; "You!" was all he could manage to say. The boy, named Serge, stood up and glared at Slash. Slash took a step back. That boy's eyes weren't normal. They were blue before! Now they're green!

All eyes were on Serge now. He hadn't said a word since bringing Kidd back. He had just stared at Slash.

Slash watched in fear as Serge took a step and then another step closer to him. Suddenly, as if Serge's eyes weren't bright enough, they flashed an even brighter shade of green and wind began whirling around him.

Serge just looked at Slash as wind whipped around him, forming a tiny cyclone. He stretched his arms outward and he concentrated the wind on Slash.

Slash flew backward and crashed into the rail because of the impossible power of Serge. Suddenly, he felt an updraft that came out of nowhere and he flew up into the blackness. After going up a ways, the updraft disappeared and it was replaced by a strong downdraft…

CRASH! Slash dropped onto the floor with neck-breaking speed. He wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon…

It was complete bliss for Serge as there was not a single sound except for the multiple breathing mouths.

Click. Click. Click. Serge's boots clicked as he walked toward Ozzie. Ozzie took a step backward. "H—Hey… can we… talk about this?" Ozzie stuttered. Wind swirled around Ozzie and he was slowly lifted up, off the ground. His baggy clothes puffed up so he looked like a large balloon. He stopped moving once he was Serge's height.

Serge walked closer to him until he was in Ozzie's face. Serge grabbed Ozzie by the collar and brought their faces within inches of each other's. "Where. Is. Spekkio?" Serge asked one word at a time. "I—I don't kn—" Ozzie was suddenly flung off the platform and he was held suspended, by the wind, over the endless blackness.

"Okay! I'll take you to him! Please!" Serge smirked and Ozzie was brought back over the platform and dropped on the ground with a thud. His clothes slowly deflated.

Ozzie stood up and brushed himself off. He sighed and raised his arms. A blue light emitted from them and a white portal opened in the middle of the platform.

Serge raised an eyebrow at Ozzie. Ozzie explained, "That portal will lead to the real End of Time. You see, this is a fake one. This is the Bend of Time. In there you'll find some guy named Gaspar." Melchior gasped slightly at the name. "He'll tell you where Spekkio is."

Serge stepped on the portal and a whooshing sound filled his ears. Serge noted how much this was like when he was traveling dimensions. Serge closed his eyes and he had a sudden falling sensation. When he opened them again he was on a rectangular platform with one single portal on it. That portal was the one that he stood on.

He walked off the portal and the others soon followed him through it, but not before Janus could give Ozzie an I-warned-you look.

The group walked down a small set of stairs and they found themselves on a circular platform now. Directly in front of them was pole with a man in a dark cloak and bowling hat leaning on it. He looked like he was sleeping…

"Is that…?" Melchior trailed off as the group got closer. Kidd walked up to him, "Melchior, you don't think they were talking about the Gaspar, do you?" Melchior looked down at her, "I do, Kidd. I really do."

"Um… Excuse me." Serge said. No answer. "Excuse me, sir?" The man snored. Serge sighed and lightly tapped the man on his shoulder. The man jumped to life and he began coughing. Finally, after a few coughs, he looked up and stared at Serge. "Visitors?" He looked at the other seven that came with this mysterious teenager. His eyes stopped on Melchior and Janus who were standing fairly close to each other. "Familiar visitors…"

Melchior brushed past Serge looked at the short man in front of him. "Gaspar?" The man looked up at Melchior. Although his face was mostly in shadow via the bowling hat, one could easily see the smile upon his face.

Kidd watched as Melchior and Gaspar embraced. A single tear rolled down her cheek courtesy of Schala.

"Hello, Janus." Gaspar said. "Haven't seen you in a while. Not since you joined up with Crono and everybody." Gaspar looked like something was eating at him. Finally he spoke up again, "Did you… did you ever find Schala?" Janus gave a weak smile, "As a matter of fact, I did." Gaspar was silent. When he did speak again, his voice was shaky and uneven. "Is… is she… alright?"

Kidd sighed and stepped forward. "Yes, Gaspar, I'm just fine." Gaspar looked at Kidd and blinked. It was many moments before he was able to see the resemblance between Schala and this mystery girl. It took longer for him to see that Schala and this girl were nearly, if not completely, identical. It only took him a few moments after that for his mind to comprehend who she was. "Schala?!"

"So, you're here for Spekkio?" Serge nodded. Gaspar smiled, "Well. I'm sure that he'll be happy to have some visitors. He's through that door." He said indicating the door behind him. Serge smiled and looked at his group. He silently asked them if they were ready to go. They confirmed it with slight nods or whatever else and they, with the exception of Ana, Janus, Harle, and Melchior, stepped through the wooden door.

Inside stood a strange creature. It was short, had two stubby arms and legs, and was cover with fur. "Ahh… Visitors!" The party looked at Spekkio quizzically. "You're Spekkio?" Kidd asked. The creature rolled its eyes, "You were expecting the Queen of Guardia?" It asked sarcastically. Serge stepped forward, eager to get to the point, "We want you to teach us magic."

Spekkio chuckled, "You get right to the point, don't you, kid? What's your name?" Serge smiled, "I'm Serge. This is Kidd, Glenn, and Karsh." The creature smiled, "I'm Spekkio. So… You want to learn magic, do ya?" Serge nodded. Spekkio laughed, "Well. Let's get started, shall we?"

"Let's see…" Spekkio said while inspecting Kidd, Glenn, and Karsh, "Fire, Water, and Ice for you three." He walked over to Serge. He seemed to inspect Serge for a long time. At least five minutes, Spekkio stood there looking at Serge. Finally, "Amazing. The first all-magic user. Ever. Congratulations, you have the potential to become probably the most powerful magic user on the planet." Serge blushed slightly, but then he regained his composure. "So, how do we use it?"

"Well. There's not much to it. In fact, all I have to do is awaken the magic inside of you and there ya go! Now, each of you kneel and let's get this party started."

Lynx watched where Serge and his group had disappeared a long time. It made no sense, how did they disappear like that? He asked himself. He sighed heavily and decided to go get something to eat. He was getting hungry. Meanwhile, one of his prisoners, the purple-haired woman, was working hard to get free of the shackles that held her to the steel wall. The click of one of them being undone echoed throughout the room…

Spekkio simply touched each of their foreheads. Immediately Kidd, Glenn, and Karsh felt power flowing through their bodies like never before. Serge just felt an extension of his original power.

"Okay, let's master this stuff, shall we?" Melchior said with a smile. They all were standing on the platform that they had fought Ozzie, Slash, and Flea on. "Kidd. Can you make a fireball?" Kidd smirked, "Piece of cake." Immediately a ball of fire appeared above Kidd's hand. "See? Ow!" Kidd had burnt herself causing laughter to erupt from the group. Melchior was trying to stifle his own laughter, "Don't worry… We'll work on that. Serge, how about you?"

Serge smiled and his eyes turned a deep red as a large fireball appeared above his hands. Then he started tossing the fireball back and forth between hands as if it wasn't a ball of flaming gas but a regular, solid ball. At one point, Serge's eyes turned an icy blue and the fireball followed suit, turning into a ball of ice. Then Serge's eyes nearly went back to their normal color. The only difference was that they were a little bit darker colored. The ice turned into clear, cold water and it splashed onto the floor.

"Ok, that's enough… show-off." Melchior said. Serge smiled sheepishly to Kidd. She scowled.

"Okay, Glenn. Do some water stuff for me." Glenn smiled and his eyes turned blue. He stretched his hand out and from them came a steady stream of water. But that's all it was, a stream. Not like the jets of water that were being used in the battle with Ozzie, Slash, and Flea.

"Serge?" Serge smiled and nodded. FWOOSH! A huge pillar of clear water exploded from his hands. Melchior smiled, "Oookay. You can do that. Karsh. Ice."

Karsh smiled and he stretched his own hands out. From them came tiny, but extremely sharp, ice crystals that would have torn a person apart. "Very good, Karsh."

Melchior turned to Serge and nodded slowly. Serge nodded back and he raised his arms. In between his arms formed a large spike of ice. It was suddenly propelled through the air and flew out into the blackness. Melchior smiled, "You remind me of Janus. Always got to be the best. Now can you mimic Karsh's move?" Serge nodded and he raised his arms again. But once again, all he got was the large spike. But he wasn't done yet. For after the first spike was finished, more spikes, all around him, began forming. "Well…okay. That's… um… close enough, I guess."

This went on for a while; Serge seemed to out beat all of them in some way or another. By the end of the day though, all of them were experienced enough with magic to be ready to leave.

"Go! Get out of here!" The red-haired man hissed. The purple-haired woman just kept picking the lock though. She had just gotten out of hers and she had also broken the blonde-haired girl free. Now she was trying to break the red-haired man loose, but he kept on insisting that she get out.

"Lucca! Please, get out!" He ordered. "Crono! I'm not going to leave you!" The blonde-haired girl said sadly. 'Crono's' eyes softened, "Marle. I'll be okay. You need to save yourself. Warn them of the traps in here. I'll be here when you come back to rescue us."

Tears welled up in Marle's eyes, "Okay, Crono. But… I'll be back. I promise." Crono smiled, "You'd better." He looked at Lucca who was still working furiously at the shackles. "Lucca…" Lucca ignored him.

"Lucca!" Crono hissed. Lucca sighed and looked at him, "I've almost got it, Crono! Just a little bit more!" There were footsteps in the distance. "No time. Get out of here. Take Marle with you." Lucca looked at Crono and sighed. "Okay, Crono."

Lucca turned to face the crying Marle. "Let's go. We're running out of time." Marle nodded slowly and she gave Crono one last hug before running off with Lucca towards, hopefully, the end to this nightmare.

Lynx walked back into room where he had been holding the prisoners and sat back down at the computer screen. He had just gotten there in time to witness Serge and his group start on their way towards the Dead Sea. He spun around to face Crono, Marle, and Lucca. What he found was what he thought he'd never find… empty shackles.

Lynx's roar of fury echoed throughout the entire building…

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… I wonder if I should have done that. Oh well. Too late now. It's written and I'm not going to change it so… Nya!

Anyway, how'd you like it? I'm satisfied. Please R&R!

Ahem… Random Questions!!!

Will Serge and everybody else make it to Chronopolis without hindrance?

Will Lucca and Marle ever make it OUT of Chronopolis?

Will Slash ever wake up after that beating that Serge gave him?!

Find out next time on…. Radical Dreamer!

--Ben