Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Trigger or any other related names or titles. They are property of Square Enix. Nor do I own the title of this chapter; it belongs to whoever made the Back to the Future trilogy.
Clouded by the Dark Force
By Chrono Eternal
Chapter 3:
Back to the Future
"So, where's Epoch?" asked Marle.
The Wings of Time, or Epoch was a time machine created by Belthasaur, the Guru of Reason. He had given them the Wings of Time when they no longer had access to a Gate, a worm hole that takes you through time, to the Dark Ages.
"Behind my house," Lucca answered.
Crono and Marle nearly fainted when they saw Epoch.
"That's Epoch?" Crono asked.
Epoch was really torn up, covered with mud. Part of a wing was broken; the whole thing was nearly in pieces.
"So maybe I've time-traveled a little more than I described," said Lucca. "But it still flies wonderfully."
The three got in Epoch. Lucca put a device called the Gate Key inside the Epoch. She started it up. The Wings of time got lifted off the ground and hovered for a while. About after five minutes, the Epoch started going through time.
* * *
CRASH!
Epoch had fallen and crash-landed right into the earth of 2300 AD. "It flies wonderfully?" Crono asked, very madly.
Lucca hesitated and pulled out a device. She spoke into it, "R-64Y, R-67Y, R-68Y, I need you here, pronto. We've had a little accident with the Wings of Time. We'll need to take it to the Keeper's Dome. Please bring Atropos: XR along with you ASAP. Over."
"Belthasaur? C'mon, Lucca, you know why shut his memory banks down. Nobody know about the Guru of Reason anymore; he doesn't exist," Marle insisted. All of a sudden, four robots appeared.
"Oh, here you are, guys. Here's Epoch. It's kind of messed up. Now how do we get to Keeper's Dome? We could use the Sewer Access, I suppose, but if we have to drag Epoch all the way through there, it might be difficult," Lucca said. "Oh, right, there's a land bridge, now that everything's straightened out. Oh, Crono, Marle, you might want to get some weapons. Your Wood Sword isn't exactly a sword anymore. Sorry. Alright, to Lab 16!"
The group dragged the Epoch through Lab 16. Marle and Crono couldn't help but staring anything. It wasn't really a lab, but more like a park. Crono and Marle remembered it as being a dump with broken buildings and monsters, but now, it was filled with plants and some humans and robots doing experiments. When the group reached the other side of the Lab, they took separate directions. Crono, Marle, and Atropos went to Arris Dome to buy equipment. Atropos just came along to lead them back to Keeper's Dome. Lucca and the other robots headed towards Keepers Dome, planning to meet up with the others later.
"You call this money? Well, it looks ancient, but it's probably worth something," the storekeeper said.
"We'll need a Bolt Sword and a Robin Bow," Atropos told. The storekeeper gave Crono and Marle their weapons and they gave him the money.
The threesome walked along across the land bridge, Marle and Crono stunned by the Future's beauty. No enemies bothered them. "...It almost makes you thing we wasted our money on those weapons..." Crono whispered to Marle.
They finally reached Keeper's Dome and went inside. There, they found some robots working on Epoch, while Lucca was working a machine that was hooked up to the Orb of Life. Also in the room, they found Belthasaur as a human.
"BELTHASAUR!" Marle screamed with shock.
Belthasaur was originally one of the three Gurus from 12,000 BC (The Guru of Reason to be exact). When stumbling into a Gate, Belthasaur was transported into the Future. He lived off the Enertron for some time, but when he had no access to food, he died. However, he stored his memory banks inside a Nu, a large, round, blue creature that was, according to Belthasaur, the beginning and end of life and time. Now, the group found him in human form, with a Nu assistant, helping him whenever he may need.
"Your Majesty, so nice to see you again," came the reply from Belthasaur.
Marle blushed. She never liked being thought of a higher class than everyone else. "Please call me Marle, Belthasaur. If you don't mind me asking, why are you...you know..."
"A human? Surely you must know that," came Belthasaur's reply. "When you destroyed Lavos, the future was restored the beauty you see now. I have food to eat to stay alive. As you might remember it though, I was in the form of Nubert, because I had died."
"Nubert?" Marle questioned.
"Do you not see the Nu who stands right next to you?" Belthasaur asked.
"Oh!" Marle exclaimed, feeling stupid.
"Wise Guru," said Crono, trying to be respectful, "I am not sure that I understand what we are doing here. Robots can't die...and Lavos can't still be living."
"Sir Crono, I myself do not entirely understand the matter. I believe, though, something...something about Prometheus: R-66Y.something that you, Marle, and Lucca did gave him life. Perhaps he has a love of some sort," explained Belthasaur.
"Like a love to Atropos?" asked Marle.
"One hundred percent incorrect, Marle. Prometheus is my brother!" exclaimed Atropos.
Marle blushed till she was more red than a tomato.
"And as for Lavos," said Belthasaur, "I know nothing about. You fought him in a time portal. It is very likely that it could have just stayed alive and drifted off around the time portals."
"One last thing, Wise Guru, how do you know who we are?" asked Crono.
"I know for the same reason you know who I am," came the reply.
"I do not understand, Wise Guru," said Crono.
"Then perhaps you don't need to at the moment," said Belthasaur with a smile on his face.
"All right, Belthasaur, the Ultra-Enertron is ready to go. It's hooked up with the Orb of Life. All we need now is Robo. Belthasaur? Belthasaur, what's wrong?" asked Lucca noticing how pale Belthasaur looked.
"Prometheus...is not here." All the faces in the room were horror-struck at Belthasaur's words. "He was stolen...stolen by a creature that I thought could not enter here when under my sealing spell. But I got bad vibes when it came close to me. I could not use my mind powers on him, because he was a robot...but he seemed so human-like."
"JOHNNY!" yelled Atropos. "It must be Johnny! But what would Johnny want with Prometheus...?"
"I sensed a Dark Force clouding over the creature. Far more powerful than I could have imagined." said Belthasaur.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to rescue Robo!" exclaimed Lucca then she headed for the Jet Bike outside, and started it.
"Wait for approximately nine seconds and forty-two nanoseconds, Lucca," said Atropos running after the Jet Bike.
"I don't think we have much of a choice," said Crono. He and Marle jumped on the bike as well and they zoomed off towards the capital, Arris Dome.
"Why are we going this way?" Marle asked Lucca, who was piloting the Jet Bike.
"Doan will be there. He has a robot tracking system. Since Johnny is part robot, he should have a serial number, where we can track him," came Lucca's reply.
* * *
"Alright here's my nifty device, Lucca, just make sure to bring it back to me," said Doan once they had arrived at the capital.
"Don't worry, we'll bring it back ASAP," said Lucca.
They got back on the Jet Bike and were driving while still searching for Johnny.
"What could his number be?" thought Lucca out loud.
"I know, Lucca," said Atropos. "MAN."
"MAN? Why would it be that?" asked Lucca.
"Well we learned a long time ago, that you started the Man-Robot Armor Project. Back then, even hearing the word 'robot' was awful, for these were back in the times of slavery. So they simply changed the project to Man. It's been the only successful Man-project done, so it makes since if his serial number is MAN," explained Atropos.
Lucca, with the wheel in one hand and the tracker in the other, searched for MAN. Sure enough it was Johnny's serial number. "It looks like he's in Mallow Dome? I've never heard of that before."
* * *
They arrived in Mallow Dome. When they entered, they were forced to battle some easy opponents, nothing that a slice of a sword and the shot of an arrow couldn't handle. But finally they had reached the center of the dome, where they could hear Johnny's voice.
"Hah! The thing that gave him life! Completely destroyed!" There was a ripping sound.
Then the team of time travelers broke in. "Take this!" called Lucca. "Fire 2!"
Lucca shot fire at him, but it missed him by a long shot. "I guess I'll always be too fast for you, huh, Lucca?" asked Johnny.
"Lightning 2!" This time it was Crono attacking. He also missed. Now it was Atropos and Marle's turn to attack.
"Hey, Atropos, you can get him right?" Marle asked. "Ice!"
"Atropos Tackle!" Atropos yelled.
Then they both yelled, "ICE TACKLE!"
Marle gave Atropos ice power and she tackled Johnny, but still Johnny was too fast.
"Now it's MY turn to attack!" exclaimed Johnny. "Sonic Boom Blast!"
Johnny zoomed right past them and knocked them too the ground.
"He broke the sound barrier!" exclaimed Lucca in amazement.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" laughed Johnny. He pulled out a gun and started shooting the four. But none of them were injured. Crono just got a little tear in his shirt.
"Listen up, everyone! Take cover, I've got an attack that's impossible to evade!" ordered Lucca.
They all did as she said.
Lucca threw bombs around the room and yelled, "Napalm!"
"AGH!!!" Johnny was hit. "Master! Master, save me!"
"You pathetic fool!" came a voice. The body could not be seen because of all the smoke. "You have failed me completely. We shall talk about this later!"
When the smoke had cleared, Johnny and the mystery man had disappeared.
"Who was that?" asked Crono.
"I don't know, but I think that it was probably the Dark Force that was clouding over Johnny. You know, the one that Belthasaur was talking about," said Marle.
"Hey, guys, come over here!" It was Lucca calling them. "It's Robo! But he looks so shabby. We'll need to take him back to Belthasaur ASAP. Crono picked him up and the rest had started to leave, but Lucca got her eye caught on something. It was a picture of her, but torn in half.
* * *
They arrived in Mallow Dome. When they entered, they were forced to battle some easy opponents, nothing that a slice of a sword and the shot of an arrow couldn't handle. But finally they had reached the center of the dome, where they could hear Johnny's voice.
"Hah! The thing that gave him life! Completely destroyed!" There was a ripping sound.
Clouded by the Dark Force
By Chrono Eternal
Chapter 3:
Back to the Future
"So, where's Epoch?" asked Marle.
The Wings of Time, or Epoch was a time machine created by Belthasaur, the Guru of Reason. He had given them the Wings of Time when they no longer had access to a Gate, a worm hole that takes you through time, to the Dark Ages.
"Behind my house," Lucca answered.
Crono and Marle nearly fainted when they saw Epoch.
"That's Epoch?" Crono asked.
Epoch was really torn up, covered with mud. Part of a wing was broken; the whole thing was nearly in pieces.
"So maybe I've time-traveled a little more than I described," said Lucca. "But it still flies wonderfully."
The three got in Epoch. Lucca put a device called the Gate Key inside the Epoch. She started it up. The Wings of time got lifted off the ground and hovered for a while. About after five minutes, the Epoch started going through time.
* * *
CRASH!
Epoch had fallen and crash-landed right into the earth of 2300 AD. "It flies wonderfully?" Crono asked, very madly.
Lucca hesitated and pulled out a device. She spoke into it, "R-64Y, R-67Y, R-68Y, I need you here, pronto. We've had a little accident with the Wings of Time. We'll need to take it to the Keeper's Dome. Please bring Atropos: XR along with you ASAP. Over."
"Belthasaur? C'mon, Lucca, you know why shut his memory banks down. Nobody know about the Guru of Reason anymore; he doesn't exist," Marle insisted. All of a sudden, four robots appeared.
"Oh, here you are, guys. Here's Epoch. It's kind of messed up. Now how do we get to Keeper's Dome? We could use the Sewer Access, I suppose, but if we have to drag Epoch all the way through there, it might be difficult," Lucca said. "Oh, right, there's a land bridge, now that everything's straightened out. Oh, Crono, Marle, you might want to get some weapons. Your Wood Sword isn't exactly a sword anymore. Sorry. Alright, to Lab 16!"
The group dragged the Epoch through Lab 16. Marle and Crono couldn't help but staring anything. It wasn't really a lab, but more like a park. Crono and Marle remembered it as being a dump with broken buildings and monsters, but now, it was filled with plants and some humans and robots doing experiments. When the group reached the other side of the Lab, they took separate directions. Crono, Marle, and Atropos went to Arris Dome to buy equipment. Atropos just came along to lead them back to Keeper's Dome. Lucca and the other robots headed towards Keepers Dome, planning to meet up with the others later.
"You call this money? Well, it looks ancient, but it's probably worth something," the storekeeper said.
"We'll need a Bolt Sword and a Robin Bow," Atropos told. The storekeeper gave Crono and Marle their weapons and they gave him the money.
The threesome walked along across the land bridge, Marle and Crono stunned by the Future's beauty. No enemies bothered them. "...It almost makes you thing we wasted our money on those weapons..." Crono whispered to Marle.
They finally reached Keeper's Dome and went inside. There, they found some robots working on Epoch, while Lucca was working a machine that was hooked up to the Orb of Life. Also in the room, they found Belthasaur as a human.
"BELTHASAUR!" Marle screamed with shock.
Belthasaur was originally one of the three Gurus from 12,000 BC (The Guru of Reason to be exact). When stumbling into a Gate, Belthasaur was transported into the Future. He lived off the Enertron for some time, but when he had no access to food, he died. However, he stored his memory banks inside a Nu, a large, round, blue creature that was, according to Belthasaur, the beginning and end of life and time. Now, the group found him in human form, with a Nu assistant, helping him whenever he may need.
"Your Majesty, so nice to see you again," came the reply from Belthasaur.
Marle blushed. She never liked being thought of a higher class than everyone else. "Please call me Marle, Belthasaur. If you don't mind me asking, why are you...you know..."
"A human? Surely you must know that," came Belthasaur's reply. "When you destroyed Lavos, the future was restored the beauty you see now. I have food to eat to stay alive. As you might remember it though, I was in the form of Nubert, because I had died."
"Nubert?" Marle questioned.
"Do you not see the Nu who stands right next to you?" Belthasaur asked.
"Oh!" Marle exclaimed, feeling stupid.
"Wise Guru," said Crono, trying to be respectful, "I am not sure that I understand what we are doing here. Robots can't die...and Lavos can't still be living."
"Sir Crono, I myself do not entirely understand the matter. I believe, though, something...something about Prometheus: R-66Y.something that you, Marle, and Lucca did gave him life. Perhaps he has a love of some sort," explained Belthasaur.
"Like a love to Atropos?" asked Marle.
"One hundred percent incorrect, Marle. Prometheus is my brother!" exclaimed Atropos.
Marle blushed till she was more red than a tomato.
"And as for Lavos," said Belthasaur, "I know nothing about. You fought him in a time portal. It is very likely that it could have just stayed alive and drifted off around the time portals."
"One last thing, Wise Guru, how do you know who we are?" asked Crono.
"I know for the same reason you know who I am," came the reply.
"I do not understand, Wise Guru," said Crono.
"Then perhaps you don't need to at the moment," said Belthasaur with a smile on his face.
"All right, Belthasaur, the Ultra-Enertron is ready to go. It's hooked up with the Orb of Life. All we need now is Robo. Belthasaur? Belthasaur, what's wrong?" asked Lucca noticing how pale Belthasaur looked.
"Prometheus...is not here." All the faces in the room were horror-struck at Belthasaur's words. "He was stolen...stolen by a creature that I thought could not enter here when under my sealing spell. But I got bad vibes when it came close to me. I could not use my mind powers on him, because he was a robot...but he seemed so human-like."
"JOHNNY!" yelled Atropos. "It must be Johnny! But what would Johnny want with Prometheus...?"
"I sensed a Dark Force clouding over the creature. Far more powerful than I could have imagined." said Belthasaur.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to rescue Robo!" exclaimed Lucca then she headed for the Jet Bike outside, and started it.
"Wait for approximately nine seconds and forty-two nanoseconds, Lucca," said Atropos running after the Jet Bike.
"I don't think we have much of a choice," said Crono. He and Marle jumped on the bike as well and they zoomed off towards the capital, Arris Dome.
"Why are we going this way?" Marle asked Lucca, who was piloting the Jet Bike.
"Doan will be there. He has a robot tracking system. Since Johnny is part robot, he should have a serial number, where we can track him," came Lucca's reply.
* * *
"Alright here's my nifty device, Lucca, just make sure to bring it back to me," said Doan once they had arrived at the capital.
"Don't worry, we'll bring it back ASAP," said Lucca.
They got back on the Jet Bike and were driving while still searching for Johnny.
"What could his number be?" thought Lucca out loud.
"I know, Lucca," said Atropos. "MAN."
"MAN? Why would it be that?" asked Lucca.
"Well we learned a long time ago, that you started the Man-Robot Armor Project. Back then, even hearing the word 'robot' was awful, for these were back in the times of slavery. So they simply changed the project to Man. It's been the only successful Man-project done, so it makes since if his serial number is MAN," explained Atropos.
Lucca, with the wheel in one hand and the tracker in the other, searched for MAN. Sure enough it was Johnny's serial number. "It looks like he's in Mallow Dome? I've never heard of that before."
* * *
They arrived in Mallow Dome. When they entered, they were forced to battle some easy opponents, nothing that a slice of a sword and the shot of an arrow couldn't handle. But finally they had reached the center of the dome, where they could hear Johnny's voice.
"Hah! The thing that gave him life! Completely destroyed!" There was a ripping sound.
Then the team of time travelers broke in. "Take this!" called Lucca. "Fire 2!"
Lucca shot fire at him, but it missed him by a long shot. "I guess I'll always be too fast for you, huh, Lucca?" asked Johnny.
"Lightning 2!" This time it was Crono attacking. He also missed. Now it was Atropos and Marle's turn to attack.
"Hey, Atropos, you can get him right?" Marle asked. "Ice!"
"Atropos Tackle!" Atropos yelled.
Then they both yelled, "ICE TACKLE!"
Marle gave Atropos ice power and she tackled Johnny, but still Johnny was too fast.
"Now it's MY turn to attack!" exclaimed Johnny. "Sonic Boom Blast!"
Johnny zoomed right past them and knocked them too the ground.
"He broke the sound barrier!" exclaimed Lucca in amazement.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" laughed Johnny. He pulled out a gun and started shooting the four. But none of them were injured. Crono just got a little tear in his shirt.
"Listen up, everyone! Take cover, I've got an attack that's impossible to evade!" ordered Lucca.
They all did as she said.
Lucca threw bombs around the room and yelled, "Napalm!"
"AGH!!!" Johnny was hit. "Master! Master, save me!"
"You pathetic fool!" came a voice. The body could not be seen because of all the smoke. "You have failed me completely. We shall talk about this later!"
When the smoke had cleared, Johnny and the mystery man had disappeared.
"Who was that?" asked Crono.
"I don't know, but I think that it was probably the Dark Force that was clouding over Johnny. You know, the one that Belthasaur was talking about," said Marle.
"Hey, guys, come over here!" It was Lucca calling them. "It's Robo! But he looks so shabby. We'll need to take him back to Belthasaur ASAP. Crono picked him up and the rest had started to leave, but Lucca got her eye caught on something. It was a picture of her, but torn in half.
* * *
They arrived in Mallow Dome. When they entered, they were forced to battle some easy opponents, nothing that a slice of a sword and the shot of an arrow couldn't handle. But finally they had reached the center of the dome, where they could hear Johnny's voice.
"Hah! The thing that gave him life! Completely destroyed!" There was a ripping sound.