Marle led Crono by the hand as the two of them walked down the stairs. "Come on!" urged Marle. "It'll be fun!" Crono mumbled something, but Marle stopped him. "I know it's early, but it'll be worth it."
The two walked into the dark kitchen, and Marle sat down on the edge of the table. "Okay, let me explain. Lucca's been feeling down ever since Robo got voted off last night. Well... that was kind of our fault, because we voted him off." Crono nodded. "I think we need to try to do something to cheer her up."
Crono yawned, and asked why it had to involve getting up before sunrise.
"We're going to fix Lucca and everyone else a great breakfast to cheer them all up. Great idea, huh?"
Soon after, the Great Breakfast Plot was underway. Using the wealth of ingredients that mysteriously appeared in the refrigerator, Crono and Marle began preparing the meal. Crono added packages of Porrean spices to the Power Roasts before he began cooking them. Marle filled bowls full of Refresh Salad and poured a pitcher of Sweet Water into a punch bowl.
While the roast cooked, Crono and Marle stared longingly into each others' eyes, in a manner so sickeningly sweet that it could cause illness in casual observers. When the roasts were finally done, the couple set the table then went back up to their room to wait until time for breakfast.
Finally, everyone woke up and headed down the stairs for breakfast. As they filed into the kitchen, a surprise awaited them. Spread out across the table was a meal, nay, a banquet. Steaming Power Roasts and huge bowls of Refresh Salad awaited the diners. In the middle of the table sat a bowl full of Sweet Water sitting in the middle of the table.
"Who did this?" asked Schala as she smelled the delicious meal.
"Crono and I did," said Marle, smiling. "We figured everyone needed a bit of cheering up."
"'Tis a hearty feast," said Frog as she took a seat. "Let us begin!"
Magus sat down at his usual spot. That's when a noticed something... unusual. Instead of Power Roast sitting on his plate, there lay Alfador curled up asleep on his plate.
"Whose idea..." Magus stood up. "Okay, what kind of a joke is this?" Crono and Marle looked at each other. This wasn't supposed to happen... "Marle? I suppose this is a part of your plan to cheer me up. So, explain this."
Suddenly, a joke popped into Nu's head. It was another one of those preprogrammed lines. The voice in his head commanded him to tell the joke. It wasn't very funny, but if he didn't tell it his world domination scheme would result in certain failure. "Yummy cat! For Magus eat!" said Nu in an Ayla-ish voice.
Magus imagined Dark Mattering the punch bowl into a thousand glass shards, but that would be pointless. Revenge was one thing, but wasting a perfectly good meal was another. He would get with Lucca and play a joke on Crono, Marle, and the Nu. It sounded childish even in his head, but having spent two hours yesterday chasing frogs in the woods that somehow didn't seem relevant anymore.
Marle gave Magus the roast that was supposed to be for Alfador. Despite the rocky start, the breakfast went very well. Afterwards, Marle and Crono washed off the dishes and put the leftover half-bowl of punch in the refrigerator. Even Magus seemed in a better mood after eating his Power Roast.
Magus saw Lucca sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a book. If he was going to pull of a joke, he needed someone with a better sense of humor like Lucca. "Lucca," he said, tapping her on the shoulder, "I need to talk with you. Alone."
"A joke?" said Lucca as she lay down on her bed. "Since when did you get a sense of humor?" Magus didn't say anything, so Lucca went on talking. "So what type of joke are we talking about?"
"Hmm..." Magus put his hand on his chin. "I have an idea. Revenge is the greatest joke of all. I just need your help on the specifics. And if I can get Schala and Frog to cooperate..."
Magus relayed his plan to Lucca.
"This house tryth my will greatly," said Frog as he stepped outside.
"I know what you mean," said Schala as she followed him and shut the door.
"Constant fighting and rivalries, 'tis enough to make one ill." Frog hung his head. "If there be way to end these petty feuds..."
Schala pondered for a moment. "If I ever think of anything, I will let you know."
Back in Magus and Lucca's room, planning continued. "So," said Magus, "you are planning on embarrassing them with what dare?"
"A kiss," said Lucca.
"A kiss? Surely you can do better than that," said Magus.
"It is embarrassing," said Lucca defensively. "You've never kissed anyone before. Wouldn't you be embarrassed if you had to kiss, say, me in front of everyone?"
"No."
Lucca laughed. "Okay, let's see Magus the Great's nerves of steel." She sat crossed-legged on her bed. "Kiss me," said Lucca arrogantly. "Let's see if you're embarrassed."
Magus threw his cape back. Ha! This was nothing! He was Magus, the feared King of the Mystics. He was Janus, legendary sorcerer and an heir to the throne of Zeal. He helped vanquish Lavos and personally rid this mortal coil of Ozzie. So, why was he shaking?
Magus gathered his wits and moved toward the purple-haired girl with the oversized glasses in front of him. Just as he readied himself to kiss her and his face was mere inches from Lucca's, he froze. He shook his head slightly; his pride was on the line.
Now or never... Magus quickly moved in. His lips touched Lucca's, and the two kissed.
Lucca fell back on the bed, her face bright red and a huge smile on her face. "Well... I guess... I lost..." she said incoherently as she smiled up at the ceiling.
Magus's face was no less red than Lucca's. That was actually fairly... Ah, who was he kidding? That was great. It ranked right up there with sending Ozzie to the Void. The warlock sat down beside Lucca on the bed. "I win, I suppose."
"Not so fast," said Lucca still smiling as she looked up at Magus. "We're alone. Nobody was watching."
"No, I'm fairly sure the Entity was watching us. I still win."
Meanwhile, in Jimmy's room... "Wahoo! Hot Lucca/Magus action! Score!" He spun around in his computer chair, then jumped out of his seat. Jimmy pulled a special bottle of soda out of his fridge. This wasn't just any soda, the sugar and caffeine content were so high this soda was illegal in Choras and Medina. He unscrewed the top and chugged the carbonated beverage.
Later, everyone sat around the table at lunch. After a nice meal, Marle stood up with a new idea to spread happiness. "Please, no," said Magus under his breath as Marle began making her little announcement.
"Well, I'd like to say first off that this is good news," said Marle as she stood smiling. "This isn't another one of my games. While Crono and I were searching through the empty storage room, we found this." Marle held up a shining jewel with Jimmy's face set inside it.
Suddenly, the television clicked on and Jimmy appeared. "Ah? So you found the hidden item? You've completed the subquest. Your reward is that I will instantly grant the deepest desire of one of your hearts." Jimmy closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again. "OK, there. That was fun."
"Wait!" said Schala. "Whose wish was granted? And what was it?"
"Ah. But if I told you, that would be cheating."
One hundred and ninety-nine years later, something occurred at a place that would have been called Death Peak. However, in the new future unspoiled by Lavos, this mountain was known as Happy Fun Times Peak and was a beautiful paradise. A family on vacation, a couple with their young child, set up a picnic at the summit of the mountain.
The boy looked up at the sky. "Look, mommy! A black hole!" There was indeed a strange black portal in the sky. From the portal emerged the figure of a person, silhouetted against the bright sun. The figure descended from the sky, and all three of them watched in astonishment as the person landed smoothly on top of the table cloth.
"My sandwich got smushed!" cried the child. "I hate Happy Fun Times Peak! This is the worst vacation ever!"
Back in 2101 A.D., Lucca sighed. "Well, that was a let down. Anyway, I have an idea or two for passing the time." Magus looked at Lucca, but she shook her head. This was not the time for getting revenge, so soon when Marle and Crono would expect it. "How about we play some cards?" she suggested, producing a deck from her pocket.
While Schala played dealer for a game of blackjack, Lucca led Crono off to another corner of the living room where she played a poker game against him. After chatting with him for a while, she finally asked him about the incident at breakfast. Crono kept insisting he and Marle left the roasts to cool and he knew nothing else. Of course, Alfador eating the roast made more sense than Crono and Marle intentionally trying to anger an arcane sorcerer that could destroy them with the wave of a finger.
After the blackjack game, Schala found Magus in his room reading some book about magic. "Janus? Are you okay, Janus?" asked Schala as she walked in.
"Yes."
"I talked with Marle. I know you want to get back at Crono and Marle. So what are you going to do?"" she asked.
"Nothing. It most likely wasn't their fault."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," said Schala. "It's nice to see you forgiving someone for once. So... how are you and Lucca making out?"
Apparently, she just had to phrase it like that. Magus saw no reason to lie to his sister, though. "Very well, actually. We've gotten a bit... closer."
"How much closer?" asked Schala with a smile.
"If you must know..." Magus related the story of the kiss to Schala, who listened patiently to her little brother. Why did he take up her challenge in the first place?
"I'm glad to see you're found someone," Schala said.
The time after supper was no more eventful. Magus played fetch with Alfador while Crono and Marle snuggled on the couch. Lucca and Schala talked for a while, mostly about who to vote off and what the next day's challenge would be. Frog polished the Masamune. Having had so much spare time to polish the great blade, the Masamune was no only the most powerful and most valuable, but also the shiniest sword of all time.
Finally, as sunset came, the housemates headed up to their rooms. Frog walked into his room, and saw a note for him taped on his pillow. He picked it up and read it.
"What sayth this? Hmm... 'Dear Frog, For some hot princess-on-frog action, meet me by the volcano tonight. Love, Schala.' " Frog stared at the note for a while. This seemed very out-of-character for Schala. Why would she write something like this? Whatever the reason, Frog decided to meet Schala out by the volcano to see what was going on.
The sun was already low on the horizon when Frog finally reached the volcano. Hoping the trek had not been for naught, he searched for the purple-robed woman. Frog circled the volcano twice looking for her. Finally, he found another note, in the same handwriting, taped onto a large rock. Frog tore it off.
"Dear Frog, You idiot, you fell for it! Mwee hee hee hoo hoo. Thou art dumb. Love, Alfador. PS: Humans are stupid. PPS: Frogs are even stupider."
Frog took the note as evidence. Some fools was trying to get Alfador voted off by impersonating him. The only suspects Frog could think of as he made his way back to the house were the Nu (who seemed to dislike Alfador) and the Entity (because he liked to mess with people's minds.)
As night fell, everyone got ready for bed. Crono and Marle hugged each other rather tightly before settling down to sleep. Jimmy watched the two. They didn't look they would be getting any more intimate very soon, but Jimmy didn't care. He had the Lucca/Magus this going on; it didn't matter to him at this point if Crono and Marle took vows of chastity.
Magus got ready to turn the light off, but then he paused. Lucca lay in her bed awake staring up at the ceiling.
"Can't sleep?" asked Magus.
"No." Lucca stretched out.
"Just lull yourself to sleep thinking about me," said Magus as he reached for the light again.
"Such a humble wizard Magus is," said Lucca as she yawned.
"This is coming from the person calling herself Lucca the Great."
Frog told Schala about the note. Horrified, Schala looked at the notes. She would never proposition Frog like that. She cared about him, and to play with his emotions like that...
"I am sorry that all this happened," said Schala. "I hope you knew this was not me the entire time."
"Aye." Frog nodded his head. "I suspected it, at least. But who is the true culprit?"
Nu was asleep. Normally, he would be up plotting, but now it would be fruitless. The time of reckoning drew near, and he needed his rest to prepare.
Jimmy looked at his website. He had done some strange things, but tomorrow's event would have to be the most unique yet. He said that many times, but this time he meant it. This was the type of idea only caffeine-induced insanity and crass commercialism could produce. He finished off a bottle of soda as he made the final plans.
The two walked into the dark kitchen, and Marle sat down on the edge of the table. "Okay, let me explain. Lucca's been feeling down ever since Robo got voted off last night. Well... that was kind of our fault, because we voted him off." Crono nodded. "I think we need to try to do something to cheer her up."
Crono yawned, and asked why it had to involve getting up before sunrise.
"We're going to fix Lucca and everyone else a great breakfast to cheer them all up. Great idea, huh?"
Soon after, the Great Breakfast Plot was underway. Using the wealth of ingredients that mysteriously appeared in the refrigerator, Crono and Marle began preparing the meal. Crono added packages of Porrean spices to the Power Roasts before he began cooking them. Marle filled bowls full of Refresh Salad and poured a pitcher of Sweet Water into a punch bowl.
While the roast cooked, Crono and Marle stared longingly into each others' eyes, in a manner so sickeningly sweet that it could cause illness in casual observers. When the roasts were finally done, the couple set the table then went back up to their room to wait until time for breakfast.
Finally, everyone woke up and headed down the stairs for breakfast. As they filed into the kitchen, a surprise awaited them. Spread out across the table was a meal, nay, a banquet. Steaming Power Roasts and huge bowls of Refresh Salad awaited the diners. In the middle of the table sat a bowl full of Sweet Water sitting in the middle of the table.
"Who did this?" asked Schala as she smelled the delicious meal.
"Crono and I did," said Marle, smiling. "We figured everyone needed a bit of cheering up."
"'Tis a hearty feast," said Frog as she took a seat. "Let us begin!"
Magus sat down at his usual spot. That's when a noticed something... unusual. Instead of Power Roast sitting on his plate, there lay Alfador curled up asleep on his plate.
"Whose idea..." Magus stood up. "Okay, what kind of a joke is this?" Crono and Marle looked at each other. This wasn't supposed to happen... "Marle? I suppose this is a part of your plan to cheer me up. So, explain this."
Suddenly, a joke popped into Nu's head. It was another one of those preprogrammed lines. The voice in his head commanded him to tell the joke. It wasn't very funny, but if he didn't tell it his world domination scheme would result in certain failure. "Yummy cat! For Magus eat!" said Nu in an Ayla-ish voice.
Magus imagined Dark Mattering the punch bowl into a thousand glass shards, but that would be pointless. Revenge was one thing, but wasting a perfectly good meal was another. He would get with Lucca and play a joke on Crono, Marle, and the Nu. It sounded childish even in his head, but having spent two hours yesterday chasing frogs in the woods that somehow didn't seem relevant anymore.
Marle gave Magus the roast that was supposed to be for Alfador. Despite the rocky start, the breakfast went very well. Afterwards, Marle and Crono washed off the dishes and put the leftover half-bowl of punch in the refrigerator. Even Magus seemed in a better mood after eating his Power Roast.
Magus saw Lucca sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a book. If he was going to pull of a joke, he needed someone with a better sense of humor like Lucca. "Lucca," he said, tapping her on the shoulder, "I need to talk with you. Alone."
"A joke?" said Lucca as she lay down on her bed. "Since when did you get a sense of humor?" Magus didn't say anything, so Lucca went on talking. "So what type of joke are we talking about?"
"Hmm..." Magus put his hand on his chin. "I have an idea. Revenge is the greatest joke of all. I just need your help on the specifics. And if I can get Schala and Frog to cooperate..."
Magus relayed his plan to Lucca.
"This house tryth my will greatly," said Frog as he stepped outside.
"I know what you mean," said Schala as she followed him and shut the door.
"Constant fighting and rivalries, 'tis enough to make one ill." Frog hung his head. "If there be way to end these petty feuds..."
Schala pondered for a moment. "If I ever think of anything, I will let you know."
Back in Magus and Lucca's room, planning continued. "So," said Magus, "you are planning on embarrassing them with what dare?"
"A kiss," said Lucca.
"A kiss? Surely you can do better than that," said Magus.
"It is embarrassing," said Lucca defensively. "You've never kissed anyone before. Wouldn't you be embarrassed if you had to kiss, say, me in front of everyone?"
"No."
Lucca laughed. "Okay, let's see Magus the Great's nerves of steel." She sat crossed-legged on her bed. "Kiss me," said Lucca arrogantly. "Let's see if you're embarrassed."
Magus threw his cape back. Ha! This was nothing! He was Magus, the feared King of the Mystics. He was Janus, legendary sorcerer and an heir to the throne of Zeal. He helped vanquish Lavos and personally rid this mortal coil of Ozzie. So, why was he shaking?
Magus gathered his wits and moved toward the purple-haired girl with the oversized glasses in front of him. Just as he readied himself to kiss her and his face was mere inches from Lucca's, he froze. He shook his head slightly; his pride was on the line.
Now or never... Magus quickly moved in. His lips touched Lucca's, and the two kissed.
Lucca fell back on the bed, her face bright red and a huge smile on her face. "Well... I guess... I lost..." she said incoherently as she smiled up at the ceiling.
Magus's face was no less red than Lucca's. That was actually fairly... Ah, who was he kidding? That was great. It ranked right up there with sending Ozzie to the Void. The warlock sat down beside Lucca on the bed. "I win, I suppose."
"Not so fast," said Lucca still smiling as she looked up at Magus. "We're alone. Nobody was watching."
"No, I'm fairly sure the Entity was watching us. I still win."
Meanwhile, in Jimmy's room... "Wahoo! Hot Lucca/Magus action! Score!" He spun around in his computer chair, then jumped out of his seat. Jimmy pulled a special bottle of soda out of his fridge. This wasn't just any soda, the sugar and caffeine content were so high this soda was illegal in Choras and Medina. He unscrewed the top and chugged the carbonated beverage.
Later, everyone sat around the table at lunch. After a nice meal, Marle stood up with a new idea to spread happiness. "Please, no," said Magus under his breath as Marle began making her little announcement.
"Well, I'd like to say first off that this is good news," said Marle as she stood smiling. "This isn't another one of my games. While Crono and I were searching through the empty storage room, we found this." Marle held up a shining jewel with Jimmy's face set inside it.
Suddenly, the television clicked on and Jimmy appeared. "Ah? So you found the hidden item? You've completed the subquest. Your reward is that I will instantly grant the deepest desire of one of your hearts." Jimmy closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again. "OK, there. That was fun."
"Wait!" said Schala. "Whose wish was granted? And what was it?"
"Ah. But if I told you, that would be cheating."
One hundred and ninety-nine years later, something occurred at a place that would have been called Death Peak. However, in the new future unspoiled by Lavos, this mountain was known as Happy Fun Times Peak and was a beautiful paradise. A family on vacation, a couple with their young child, set up a picnic at the summit of the mountain.
The boy looked up at the sky. "Look, mommy! A black hole!" There was indeed a strange black portal in the sky. From the portal emerged the figure of a person, silhouetted against the bright sun. The figure descended from the sky, and all three of them watched in astonishment as the person landed smoothly on top of the table cloth.
"My sandwich got smushed!" cried the child. "I hate Happy Fun Times Peak! This is the worst vacation ever!"
Back in 2101 A.D., Lucca sighed. "Well, that was a let down. Anyway, I have an idea or two for passing the time." Magus looked at Lucca, but she shook her head. This was not the time for getting revenge, so soon when Marle and Crono would expect it. "How about we play some cards?" she suggested, producing a deck from her pocket.
While Schala played dealer for a game of blackjack, Lucca led Crono off to another corner of the living room where she played a poker game against him. After chatting with him for a while, she finally asked him about the incident at breakfast. Crono kept insisting he and Marle left the roasts to cool and he knew nothing else. Of course, Alfador eating the roast made more sense than Crono and Marle intentionally trying to anger an arcane sorcerer that could destroy them with the wave of a finger.
After the blackjack game, Schala found Magus in his room reading some book about magic. "Janus? Are you okay, Janus?" asked Schala as she walked in.
"Yes."
"I talked with Marle. I know you want to get back at Crono and Marle. So what are you going to do?"" she asked.
"Nothing. It most likely wasn't their fault."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," said Schala. "It's nice to see you forgiving someone for once. So... how are you and Lucca making out?"
Apparently, she just had to phrase it like that. Magus saw no reason to lie to his sister, though. "Very well, actually. We've gotten a bit... closer."
"How much closer?" asked Schala with a smile.
"If you must know..." Magus related the story of the kiss to Schala, who listened patiently to her little brother. Why did he take up her challenge in the first place?
"I'm glad to see you're found someone," Schala said.
The time after supper was no more eventful. Magus played fetch with Alfador while Crono and Marle snuggled on the couch. Lucca and Schala talked for a while, mostly about who to vote off and what the next day's challenge would be. Frog polished the Masamune. Having had so much spare time to polish the great blade, the Masamune was no only the most powerful and most valuable, but also the shiniest sword of all time.
Finally, as sunset came, the housemates headed up to their rooms. Frog walked into his room, and saw a note for him taped on his pillow. He picked it up and read it.
"What sayth this? Hmm... 'Dear Frog, For some hot princess-on-frog action, meet me by the volcano tonight. Love, Schala.' " Frog stared at the note for a while. This seemed very out-of-character for Schala. Why would she write something like this? Whatever the reason, Frog decided to meet Schala out by the volcano to see what was going on.
The sun was already low on the horizon when Frog finally reached the volcano. Hoping the trek had not been for naught, he searched for the purple-robed woman. Frog circled the volcano twice looking for her. Finally, he found another note, in the same handwriting, taped onto a large rock. Frog tore it off.
"Dear Frog, You idiot, you fell for it! Mwee hee hee hoo hoo. Thou art dumb. Love, Alfador. PS: Humans are stupid. PPS: Frogs are even stupider."
Frog took the note as evidence. Some fools was trying to get Alfador voted off by impersonating him. The only suspects Frog could think of as he made his way back to the house were the Nu (who seemed to dislike Alfador) and the Entity (because he liked to mess with people's minds.)
As night fell, everyone got ready for bed. Crono and Marle hugged each other rather tightly before settling down to sleep. Jimmy watched the two. They didn't look they would be getting any more intimate very soon, but Jimmy didn't care. He had the Lucca/Magus this going on; it didn't matter to him at this point if Crono and Marle took vows of chastity.
Magus got ready to turn the light off, but then he paused. Lucca lay in her bed awake staring up at the ceiling.
"Can't sleep?" asked Magus.
"No." Lucca stretched out.
"Just lull yourself to sleep thinking about me," said Magus as he reached for the light again.
"Such a humble wizard Magus is," said Lucca as she yawned.
"This is coming from the person calling herself Lucca the Great."
Frog told Schala about the note. Horrified, Schala looked at the notes. She would never proposition Frog like that. She cared about him, and to play with his emotions like that...
"I am sorry that all this happened," said Schala. "I hope you knew this was not me the entire time."
"Aye." Frog nodded his head. "I suspected it, at least. But who is the true culprit?"
Nu was asleep. Normally, he would be up plotting, but now it would be fruitless. The time of reckoning drew near, and he needed his rest to prepare.
Jimmy looked at his website. He had done some strange things, but tomorrow's event would have to be the most unique yet. He said that many times, but this time he meant it. This was the type of idea only caffeine-induced insanity and crass commercialism could produce. He finished off a bottle of soda as he made the final plans.
