Forgive the extended waiting period on chapter five. My word program
on my computer decided to goof up and it took a while to repair. (Let's
face the facts. Computers are like the human brain to me. I don't know what
I'm doing.) But it is now up and I'm working on chapter six. Sorry to say
those Magus fans out there will still have to wait a few more chapters for
his grand entrance, but I'm sure the wait will be worth it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Trigger or any of the characters in it, though I wish I did. They belong to Squaresoft and I am just playing around with them.
CHAPTER FIVE
OF HOPE AND SARROW
The Gate didn't let them out so gently this time. The trio was thrown to the floor in a heap. Marle was the first to hit. "Eeeek!"
Lucca followed close behind her. "Yeoouch!"
Somehow Crono was able to keep his footing and only stumbled a little, but didn't fall. "Whoa!"
Marle stood on wobbly legs. "There's no way the Chancellor can reach us here." Her childish grin faded as she looked around. "But, where are we?"
They were standing in a small metallic room a door with an odd crest upon it on one wall and another plain door on another. Lucca walked over to the crested door before speaking. "The civilization seems so, so advanced. I've never seen anything like it."
Marle joined her at the door. "Like we're in another world."
"If you ladies are finished? I would like leave this place, its too quiet for my tastes."
"Okay Crono, but I don't understand what you mean." Lucca gave up her inspection of the door and left with Marle and Crono, through the plain door.
Outside was utter devastation. All across the land, as far as the eye could see was in ruin. Buildings in the distance were mere skeletons, and what looked like domes, were caving in. The air held the scent of death as the wind blew, kicking up dust from the barren ground. Crono gasped at the sight. "My god." He whispered, and the gasps from his companions showed that they seen it as well.
Marle was the first to recover. "What happened here?"
Lucca adjusted her glasses, as if they were the problem, before speaking. "It appears almost like a war was waged, except there are no bodies."
"That's gross Lucca!"
"Sorry Marle, just a guess."
Crono looked south of their position and saw a dome that looked to be in relatively good condition. "Let's go see if there's anybody in there who can tell us what happened." The girls nodded and followed his lead toward the dome. It took them about an hour to reach the dome, and when they did they found it in worse shape than they thought. Pieces of the roof were caved in and the walls and foundations were cracked. "This doesn't look very safe to me. Lucca, is it safe to go in?"
After examining the structure she spoke. "It looks like it's gonna hold, the foundation only has surface cracks."
"Okay, let's go in then."
As soon as they entered they were approached by a ragged looking man. "Hey, got any cash?" His eyes were wide and hopeful.
"Uh, yeah." Crono replied pulling a coin from his pouch.
"You call this money?"
Crono was so dumbfounded by the question he didn't answer, Lucca did instead. "Yes, we call this money."
"Money or no, don't matter. I got some good stuff anyhow. What do you need? I have some potions and a few ethers."
Marle piped up. "How much do you want for the potions?"
"You can have them. It doesn't matter." Marle took the four potions he had and put them in her pouch. "One more thing. What is the year?"
"The what?"
"The year, what is the date?"
"Don't know the day, but the year is 1999." As they turned away the man said one more thing. "Save money. It'll do ya good. That's my motto."
Now as they looked around the interior of the dome they saw that it housed a total of six people, four men and two women. They walked over to a man who was hunched over and leaning on an odd looking machine. Marle lightly shook his shoulder to get his attention. "Hello there." Her normal happy tone sounded strained.
"Hi."
"What is this thing you're leaning on?"
The man put his hand on the machine. "This is the Enertron. You get a full night's sleep in a few seconds, but it still leaves you hungry. Try it."
They looked from one to the other, nodded, and stepped into the Enertron. An electrical sensation passed through their bodies, lifting the weariness from their muscles and clearing their minds. When they stepped out of the machine they felt completely revitalized, except for the fact that their stomachs were growling like lions.
The man smiled at them and spoke again. "You'll find food at Arris Dome to the northeast. But only if you can get past Lab 16. The beasts there don't react to weapons, like guns and swords."
Lucca's interest was peaked now. "Arris Dome? What is the name of this dome?"
"This is Trann Dome. Be careful young ones." He dropped his head to rest his chin on his chest and fell asleep.
"Arris Dome. Maybe we can find a Gate there." Lucca said. The trio turned and left Trann Dome, and headed north toward the location of Lab 16. The trip took a few hours and by the time they reached it their feet were throbbing.
Marle dropped to her knees and pouted. "My feet hurt. I'm not going any further!"
"Marle! You are such a pain!" Lucca bellowed, though she had also dropped to the ground.
Crono glanced around them. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen in this gloomy world. "I guess we could all use a rest. This place looks as safe as any." He sat down on a medium sized rock that was nearby with a groan. "Lucca?"
"Mmmm?"
"Do you believe in fate?"
"Not really. Why?"
"I dunno. I've always believed there was a reason for all things to happen."
Marle stretched. "So you thing we're here for some reason other than chance?"
"Could be, then again it could be just dumb luck."
Lucca stood up once more. "Well I think we have rested enough."
"But I'm still tired." Marle whined.
"The sooner we get through that Lab the sooner we can rest up. Besides this talk about fate is getting on my nerves. I am a scientist, I believe in only what I see with my own eyes." She waited for the others to stand up then entered the Lab.
Lab 16 looked like a giant junkyard, it was also the remnants of a large city, the skeletal buildings stuck strait up like broken trees after a hurricane. The ground was littered with all sorts of debris, ranging from old soda cans to piles of bones. Marle clung to Crono's arm as they walked. When they turned a corner about halfway through they were attacked by two strange phantom-like creatures. They lunged at them and they scattered to avoid being hit. Crono drew his sword and lunged at one of them. His sword passed right through without so much as scratching the creature. Marle shot at it with her crossbow, but it had the same result. In a desperate move Lucca flipped the switch on her gun to the flamethrower setting and fired. The beast howled in agony as it burned to nothing.
Crono yelled over to Lucca. "Lucca! I want to try something. Fire your flame at my sword!" Confused Lucca did as she was told. Crono's sword was soon glowing red with the heat and he slashed at the phantom. The flame blade sliced it cleanly in two. It fell to the ground, twitched once, and lay still. "Wow! I wasn't sure that would work."
"That was foolish Crono! That sword got so hat it burned your hands."
"Not too badly, it doesn't really hurt."
Marle put her bow away and took Crono's hands in hers. "I can help." Her body was enveloped in a lupine aura which passed to Crono's hands. When the light faded she removed her hands from his. To Crono and Lucca's surprise, his hands were completely healed.
Lucca gaped at her. "Marle, how did you do that?"
"Yes do tell. That was amazing."
"I've always been able to do it. My mother called it my aura heal. I've shortened the name to just aura, it can heal small wounds like those burns." She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "It's tiring though."
"Thanks, it feels a lot better." Crono cooed to Marle. She beamed back at him. Lucca felt a stirring of jealousy toward the princess.
Crono was supposed to mine! I've known him longer than you have. I just haven't told him yet how I feel. You can't take him away from me. Lucca's thoughts were elsewhere for the rest of the trip through the Lab. It was uneventful to say the least. It was downright boring, nothing to see accept strange looking flowers and some really big rats. Marle hung on Crono's arm the entire way, batting her eyes at him, it made Lucca feel sick.
After a short while they emerged out the other side. This side was just as bleak as the other, rubble everywhere. There was a crunched up dome built into the side of a mountain to the southeast, and just east of them they found what could only be Arris Dome. Arris appeared to be in slightly better shape than Trann, there were fewer holes in the roof, and not as many cracks in the foundation (though it was still in god awful shape). The dome was fairly close to their location so they wouldn't have to walk for hours again.
Since it was nearly night already, when they reached the Dome they went right in. Inside was a wreck just like the other, only much bigger. In the center of the room sat a ladder that led down, and gathered around that ladder was a large crowd of ragged looking people.
"Who do you suppose they are?" Marle whispered to Crono. "And more importantly, are they friendly."
"Only one way to find out." They walked over to the group, and just as they were about to talk a little girl glanced at them.
"Who are you?"
The group all turned to face them at the same instant. Standing right next to the ladder was an old man, who spoke first. "You there, where're you from?"
Lucca walked a little closer before replying. "We came from the laboratories to the west."
"What!? Hey, we've got people who crossed the ruins!" A collective gasp was heard from every last one of the people. One man stepped forward. "Say again!? You're joking!?"
The old man shook his head slightly. "So there are people who can beat up those freaky mutants." He let his eyes meet Crono's before he continued. "Pardon me. I'm Doan. I'm the descendant of the director of this info center. In the basement, there's a huge computer and a storage center for food. But we can't get through 'cause of the robot guards. It's a pity."
Crono shrugged. "Why are you telling us this?"
"So you won't be so foolish as to go down there."
"Thank you." He half whispered. Just then a middle-aged man walked up to him.
"Did you really come from the dome to the west?"
"We did."
"I see. . Not that I really care."
**************************************************************************** **********
Marle walked around the room to look around. She found an Enertron in the corner and another of those crested doors. Then her attention was caught by the sight of a sad little girl and her mother. She walked over to the little girl and spoke to her. "Hi there. What's wrong?"
"Daddy's gonna bring us food."
"He is?"
The little girl's mother turned to look into Marle's eyes. "My husband went down to the food storage area below. I haven't seen him since." A tear rolled down her cheek.
"How long has he been gone?"
"I've lost track, all I know is it's been too long." She turned her head away and closed her eyes.
**************************************************************************** **********
Lucca had moved to stand next to one of the men. "Do you know anything about the surrounding area?"
"There's an old factory site called Proto Dome to the east. Can't get near it 'cause there's a bunch of lunatic robots in the area."
"Thank you." Then she walked a short ways and addressed a woman. "What do you know about the area?"
"I do not wish to be bothered."
"This will only take a minute, then I'll leave you be."
"Very well. You can reach the continent to the south through the sewer access, but stay off of "Death Peak"."
"Where is the sewer access?"
"In the south, it's a little busted up but it's still sturdy."
The man spoke up again. "There's an old man living in a dome near "Death Peak". Talk about crackpots!"
"No kidding." Lucca walked back toward Doan, where she met up with Crono and Marle. Both of them had a worried look on their faces. "Anything interesting?"
Crono shook his head. "These people are, so depressed."
"It's partly because their starving." Marle droned. "Everybody who's gone down to get some food hasn't come back up."
"We could go get it for them."
"Lucca! That's a wonderful idea!" Marle perked up instantly. "We could help these people."
"Actually I was thinking there might be some information down there."
They walked over to the ladder, and were about to descend when Doan yelled to them. "Are you going down below?"
Marle glanced at him. "Of course!"
"But no one's ever returned from there."
Lucca adjusted her shoulder harness for her gun. "Gotta try, right?"
". . .It's nice to see such spirited young people for a change. Be careful, now. And come back alive."
They climbed down the ladder into a T-shaped room with two doors, one on each tip of the 'T'. One of the doors, were blocked by an open trapdoor in the floor. A computer panel stood against the wall between the doors. Lucca eeped audibly at the sight. She ran up to the panel and pushed a few buttons, but all she got was an incorrect sounding buzzer. "I think it needs a password. I would surmise that this terminal will close that trap door so we could get to the other side."
"Then let's try the other one."
"You're so smart Crono."
Lucca pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's the only logical choice Marle. There is no other rout."
Marle grumbles something unintelligible as they walked through the other door. On the other side of the door they found that the room's floor had fallen through leaving only the beams and girders to walk on. Lucca trembled visibly. "I hate heights." She felt the reassuring hand on her shoulder. Turning she found that it was Crono.
"Don't worry, I wont let you fall."
"Yeah, we won't let you fall!"
"Thanks, I'll be okay." They walked through a winding path of beams on their way across the large expanse. One girder before the back door they came across a realistic looking statue of a rat. "Hey guys look." Lucca walked over to the statue and examined it. "It's holding a note of some sort. Let's see: WARNING! Anyone within the vicinity of the stock room will be attacked!" Lucca looked at her friends. "Do you suppose that's why the girl's father hasn't returned? Do you think something attacked him?"
Crono shrugged. "Could be. There's only one way to find out."
"True. Then let's go." Marle who had remained silent during the exchange spoke up. "So let's go find out." They walked the remaining distance to the doorway and walked through. The room they now entered was a perfect square in shape with a large sliding door on the opposite wall. "Nothing here."
Lucca shrugged and walked across the floor. Halfway to the door Crono grabbed her arm and yanked her back, just as a large robot dropped from the ceiling. The robot was as large as an elephant and looked like a man's torso without any arms or head. It had one large glass eye in its center and several smaller ports of some sort situated all over its body. On each side of the machine about two feet from the ground hovered two smaller robots that resembled a cross between a beetle and a helicopter.
The robot let loose a few scattered beeps and cracks. "EXECUTING PROGRAM."
"Huh?" Marle backed up toward the door. "Crono! What's going on?"
"How should I know?" The robots had formed a triangle around them.
Lucca pulled out her gun. "Marle! Crono! Let's go!"
Crono looked the robots up and down. "So. Any ideas as on how to handle this?"
Marle drew out her crossbow. "How about just be careful."
"I got the big guy!" Lucca pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the center of the larger robot's chest. "Say good night." She pulled the trigger. The bullet hit it dead on, ricocheted off, and imbedded itself in the wall next to Lucca's head. She blanched. "Not good."
The robot's eye began to glow red as it emitted a steady hum. "ANITIATING COUNTERING PROTOCALS" The two smaller robots shot out small tentacles to the larger. An electrical current could be seen along the cables. "TARGET ACUIRED." The eye shot out a laser beam aimed chest level at Lucca.
"Lucca look out!" Marle cried as she tackles her to the ground. The laser shot past them and melted another hole into the wall. Marle and Lucca stand back up.
"Are you two okay?" Crono asked with a worried expression on his face.
"Yeah. Sooooo. What now?"
"Beats me." Marle shrugs.
Crono turns to face the robots again and draws his sword. "I want to try something."
"What is that Crono? This robot's skin is super strong."
"Yeah what she said. And there are those little ones too."
"TARGET ACUIRED." The trio glanced at each other and hit the dirt as another laser shot past them.
"You would think the robot's A.I. would have learned to shoot in another way by now."
"Lucca would you shut up! Don't give it any ideas." Marle practically screeched.
Lucca covered her ears. "Maybe you should scream at it. The deciples might short circuit it."
Marle gave her a death look as they stood back up. "Look ladies, I hate to interrupt but we still have a small problem." He then rushed, sword drawn, at the smaller flying robot on the right. "Time to test my idea." Crono's sword passed through the thin metal skin of the bot severing some of its internal cables. A slight electric currant went through the sword and shocked Crono. A small plume of smoke bellowed from the cut and sparks shot out. "Lucca, Marle! Take out the other little one." He took another swipe at the bot, and severed the propeller from its top. It crashed to the ground and shattered into a pile of gears and servos.
Meanwhile the girls were also mangling the other small one. Lucca shot it full of holes and Marle shot an arrow into the propeller, successfully knocking it to the ground.
"Little pain down for the count." Marle saluted Crono as Lucca reloaded her pistol. "Now how do we get rid of tall, dark, and ugly?"
Crono shrugged. "Not sure yet, but at least he won't hit us with that laser again."
"TARGET AQUIRED. INITIATING SECONDARY WEAPONDRY."
"Say what?" Marle cried.
The robot opened the cover for the glowing eye, revealing a series of gun ports surrounding it. Lucca readied her gun. "I got it now. Marle aim for the eye, it's uncovered now." She aimed and fired, only to hit one of the ports instead of the eye. "Damn!"
"I got it. I think." Marle mumbled. I can do this. I can. She took aim down the length of her arrow and fired. It flew strait and true. Imbedding itself into the center of the robot's eye laser.
"ERROR. ERROR. SYSTEM FAILURE. ERROR. ERROR."
"She's gonna blow!" Lucca cried. "Let's get out of here!" They ran out the doorway as the guardian robot exploded. When it seemed all was over they walked back in. In the place of the robot, there was a pile of smoking debris and smoldering oil. "Talk about blowing your top. Not a very good design, to be blown up after one shot."
"Lucca, didn't you tell me once that lasers are very touchy?" Crono asked.
"Yes, that's true. They do tend to blow up if jarred just right."
"I guess Crono found your answer then." Marle hugged Crono. "You're so smart."
"No, I heard it from Lucca. She's the smart one."
Marle let go of him and blushed. "Right, uh, I knew that." Marle picked her way past the rubble. "Didn't we come here for a purpose?"
"Right."
"Why is it we have her along again?" Lucca asked in a whisper.
"Very funny. Let's go."
They followed Marle through the door the robot had been guarding. Inside they found a room filled wall to wall with boxes and crates. She had only taken a few steps past the doorway before she stopped and plugged her nose.
"Phew! Something reeks!" She appeared close to retching.
Lucca walked over to one of the crates and opened it up. Re backpedaled due to the smell. "Ick! Everything's completely rotten. The refrigeration must have failed." As Lucca and Crono checked other crates, Marle wanders toward the back of the room. She finds a body propped against the wall.
"Guys! Over here!"
"What did you find? Is it." Crono's voice trailed off when he saw the body.
"What is it Crono?" Lucca asked from across the room.
"Look there." Crono points to the body. Lucca's jawed dropped.
"Oh my."
Marle walked up and knelt next to the body. "Passed away long ago, I suppose." She gently touches its hand. "He's holding something. What do you suppose it is?"
"Pick it up and find out." Lucca says. "He won't bite."
"Are you nuts? It's a dead guy."
"You already touched his hand."
"Big difference."
"I'll do it." Says Crono as he opens the man's hand and retrieves a piece of paper. From the paper a small object tumbled.
Marle bent down and picked it up. Lucca also looks at it. "It looks like some kind of seed."
Marle glances at her. "A seed? Do you suppose it could grow in a place like this?" Lucca just shrugged. "Guess we'll find out soon enough." She puts the seed into her hip pouch and turns to Crono. "What is that paper?"
"A note of some kind. It says: The rat is more than just a statue! It knows the secret of this dome. Catch it!" Crono's brow creased. "What do you think this means?"
Lucca examined the note a little bit before she answered. "Do you think he meant the statue we saw?"
"But how are we supposed to catch a statue?" Marle remarked. "Statues don't move."
"Maybe it means there's something written on it."
"Or it's a really slow robot."
"Not funny Lucca. I've had about as many robots as I can stand."
"Ditto."
"It was just a thought." Lucca pocketed the note and walked back to the door. "We're not solving anything staying here. Let's go." They left the reeking storage room and out past the smoldering guardian and back into the room with the fallen floor. They froze when they entered. The rat statue was walking around. Guess my theory was right.
Marle squeaked. "There! There it is!"
"Shh!" Lucca growled back. "It might run away."
Crono inched past the girls toward the rat. It was knowing at one of the beams that was about to fall on its own. He was only a couple steps away from the rat when it noticed him, and let out a high pitched squeal. It turned to run in the opposite direction and Crono leapt on top of it. It squirmed and thrashed as it attempted to get loose. "Lucca, Marle, help me out here."
The girls came over and helped pin the rat down. "This is no robot." Commented Lucca. "This is a real rat."
"I hate rats."
"But still your helping us pin it down."
Marle looks at her innocently. "Crono asked me to."
The rat squirmed once more and then, to the trio's amazement, spoke. "Squeak! I give up. I'll tell you everything, squeak. Press the blue followed by the red button to access the secret passage, squeak. Don't make any mistakes, or you'll be sorry."
Crono looked it in the eye. "Anything else?"
"That's all I know!"
Crono and the girls let go of him. "Then get out of here."
"Yes sir." And the rat ran out the doorway.
Lucca dusted herself off as Marle wiped her hands on her pants. "Now we can open that first door we found."
"Just as long as there are no more rats or dead people."
"And here I thought you had at least some courage." Lucca sighed.
"Only if I have to."
"Enough ladies! Let's go."
They slowly made their way back across the beams to the 'T' shaped room. Lucca went up to the control panel and pressed the series of buttons the rat had told them about. "Here goes nothing." She pressed the red button and stepped back. The panel on the floor moved into place over the hole and clicked into place. "Wow! I guess it was a security protocol."
Crono scratched his head. "But for what?"
"To protect whatever is on the other side."
"So let's go! This place is boring."
"Marle, we don't know what is through that door."
"Who cares Lucca. We don't know anything about this place anyway. You had no qualms about coming down to begin with, how is this any different?"
"She's got you there Lucca."
Lucca ground her teeth in frustration. He was actually taking her side. Though I have to admit that she is right, but I don't have to tell her that. "Fine, we go. But if we die I am going to kill you."
They looked at her in silence for a few moments before bursting into laughter. "That was silly Lucca!" Crono said between giggles. "How can you kill us if we're dead?"
Lucca blushed. "Let's just go." She grumbled before walking through the now accessible door.
"Wait for us." Marle wined as they dashed after her.
The new room was as dismal as the others. A thin mist hung in the air being fed by a broken pipe against one wall. The room was rectangle in shape and had walkways stretching its length. These walkways had ladders that led up to them, though most of them were rusted away or snapped in two. On the far end of the room a piece of the floor had fallen through near the exit leaving a small ledge that connected the ladder to the doorway. The floors were being patrolled by some nasty looking robots. They appeared to be insect-like in appearance. Like the guardian they had destroyed they had a single eye in the middle of their heads. Yes, these actually had heads attached to the torsos, though they still had no arms. They had very large legs bulged out from the sides of the robots and ended in wheel-like treads for feet.
Marle huddled up close to the other two. "Think we could take the walkways? I would rather not mess with those guys."
Crono's brow creased as he stared at the horrific machines. "I would have to agree with you. They don't look very friendly, and I don't want to know what kind of weapons they might be packing."
Near at hand the found a fairly secure ladder with which to ascend to the walkways. Marle went up first followed by Lucca. Crono went last, he had been watching as one of the robots was closing in. When he saw that they were safely out of harms way he joined them. "What took you Crono?" Marle and Lucca asked together.
"One of those things was heading our way. Had to keep an eye on it."
Lucca stood up. "Just don't do anything reckless."
Crono gave a goofy grin. "No need to worry about me. I'm a tough guy." Lucca punched him in the arm. "Ouch!"
"Tough guy huh? More like a hot air balloon."
Crono rubbed his arm and winced, as Marle giggled her head off. "Low blow. Very low."
Lucca smiled innocently at him. "So sue me." Marle and Crono got to their feet as well. Lucca started to walk along the grating. "Shall we then?" As they crossed the room the patrolling robots let out screeches and beeps as they got too close. "Noisy little buggers." Lucca pulled out a small pellet from her pouch. "Maybe this will shut them up."
Crono looked at the item she had pulled out. It looked like a stone with a fuse coming out of it. "What is it Lucca?"
"This is a small incendiary bomb. Or if you prefer 'Napalm'."
"But where did you get it?" Asked Marle.
"I make them. It's quite easy."
"How many do you have?" Inquired Crono.
"About ten. But I can make some more later." She pulled out her pistol and flipped on the flame thrower. "It's party time." She let the bomb and dropped it off the side if the walk. "You might want to duck." The pressed themselves against the wall and ducked down as the bomb hit the ground. A second later the bomb exploded, a wave of heat hit them from below but the tight mesh of the walk shielded them from the fire. After the initial detonation the stood back up and peered over the edge. The pair of robots that were below them were partially melted to the floor, though they were still active. Several error messages could be heard as they continued walking toward the door.
Marle was still wide eyed. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"
"No kidding. Lucca that was, wow!"
"I used too much gun powder. It wasn't supposed to be that powerful." Pulling out a small pad and a pencil from her pouch she made a scribble in it and put it away. "Oh well. Guess I should use the others more carefully."
Through the doorway they found another room where the floor had fallen through. Beneath this room they could see more of the structure, though it was in worse shape than the upper floors. A single walkway spanned the room. It went halfway through, crossed to the other side of the room and continued to the wall where another door stood. Marle whimpered. "How far does this place go?"
"Put a sock in it. This is only the second room."
"Lucca's right. But still, I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
This room unlike the other didn't have the thin mist in the air but it was infested with large mantis looking insects. They were pink in color and were the size of a rotweiler. Marle blanched at the sight.
Lucca moaned at her expression. "Don't tell me you're afraid of bugs?"
"No not really. I've just never seen them so large."
"You ladies want to take the walkway again?"
Marle looked to Crono before she answered. "Yes please." The walk had a ladder near them, but it was broken halfway down.
"I'll give you a boost." He knelt down and made a cup from his two hands. Marle stepped into it and he hefted her up so she could grab the ladder rung. "Got it?"
"Got it." She climbed the rest of the way up and leaned back over to help Lucca up. When they were both up they helped Crono. To grab the rung he had to take a running leap. If the girls hadn't already been there he wouldn't have made it up.
They chose not to talk as they walked across, the insects hadn't seen them and they wanted to keep it that way. The progress was slow, but they made it unheard or seen. The ladder that went back down was undamaged so they just had to climb down.
When they walked through the door Lucca nearly squeaked with glee. The room contained several computers, most destroyed, and a single giant size monitor. The monitor was on the back wall and had an intact computer attached to it. "This is the info center!" She ran up to a large computer console and pushed a couple of buttons. "Good! The computer's still operational!" She started pushing buttons in what seamed like a random order. "If we run a search on time warps, we might find our gate!" She pressed a few more blinking buttons. Crono and Marle weren't sure if she even knew what she was doing. "Here! Got it!" The monitor lit up with a full color map of the continent, panned to the east then to the south before stopping on a blinking light. A series of numbers and symbols accompanied the readout. "East of Arris Dome! That would be Proto Dome, I believe."
"Leave it to Lucca!" Marle piped. "I'm beginning to think you could find anything with this device!" She waked over to the console to Lucca's right and examined it. "Say, what does this button do?" She pushes the button. The computer started to issue sirens and a picture flashed to the screen.
"Lucca read the readout on the panel. "1999 A.D.! Visual record of the 'Day of Lavos'."
On the screen through the crackles and fuzz, they saw an outside view of the continent. All of the domes were whole and undamaged. The ground rumbled and broke open, spewing molten lava and burning rocks. From the crevice a huge insectoid creature emerged. It was covered in razor sharp spines. It had a tiny head composed of three flaps or jaws, they could not be sure. In its center they could see a single burning red eye. The sound of its screech chilled them to their very bones. It was a thousand times worse than nails on a blackboard, or for that matter anything they had ever heard. It shot it's spines from its back like missiles destroying everything they touched. As the domes were being devastated the record faded into a constant static.
The silence was suffocating, until Marle fell to the ground sobbing. "Wh, what? Is that?"
Lucca removed her glasses and dropped her head. "Lavos? Is that what's destroying our world?"
"But what is Lavos?" Crono whispered.
Marle sobbed quietly. "We must truly be in the future." Suddenly she stood up with a determined look on her face. "NO! NO WAY! I refuse to believe it!! This, this cant be the way the world ends!"
Lucca and Crono exchanged despaired looks but said nothing.
Marle continued. "Crono!" He looked at her. "There's only one thing we can do! We must change history!"
"WHAT?!"
"Just like you did when you saved me!" She faced them both. "Okay, Lucca? Okay, Crono?"
Lucca put he glasses back on. "I, guess so. It was a stroke of luck that we were sent here through the gat."
"Or fate."
"Yes, or fate. Crono, lets go."
"Uh, okay. We can at least try."
"Crono! Lucca! Together we can do this!"
Lucca turned to the computer for a few seconds then turned back. "Let's take a second and do some more research on Lavos's activities back in our own time period!" Lucca ran to stand in the doorway facing out. "Next stop, Proto Dome!"
"Hush! The bugs will hear you!" Marle and Crono said in unison.
I hope you liked what you read. All reviewers are welcome now that I have fixed that little problem. Next chapter will introduce every ones favorite robot buddy. Stay tuned soon for the next part.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Trigger or any of the characters in it, though I wish I did. They belong to Squaresoft and I am just playing around with them.
CHAPTER FIVE
OF HOPE AND SARROW
The Gate didn't let them out so gently this time. The trio was thrown to the floor in a heap. Marle was the first to hit. "Eeeek!"
Lucca followed close behind her. "Yeoouch!"
Somehow Crono was able to keep his footing and only stumbled a little, but didn't fall. "Whoa!"
Marle stood on wobbly legs. "There's no way the Chancellor can reach us here." Her childish grin faded as she looked around. "But, where are we?"
They were standing in a small metallic room a door with an odd crest upon it on one wall and another plain door on another. Lucca walked over to the crested door before speaking. "The civilization seems so, so advanced. I've never seen anything like it."
Marle joined her at the door. "Like we're in another world."
"If you ladies are finished? I would like leave this place, its too quiet for my tastes."
"Okay Crono, but I don't understand what you mean." Lucca gave up her inspection of the door and left with Marle and Crono, through the plain door.
Outside was utter devastation. All across the land, as far as the eye could see was in ruin. Buildings in the distance were mere skeletons, and what looked like domes, were caving in. The air held the scent of death as the wind blew, kicking up dust from the barren ground. Crono gasped at the sight. "My god." He whispered, and the gasps from his companions showed that they seen it as well.
Marle was the first to recover. "What happened here?"
Lucca adjusted her glasses, as if they were the problem, before speaking. "It appears almost like a war was waged, except there are no bodies."
"That's gross Lucca!"
"Sorry Marle, just a guess."
Crono looked south of their position and saw a dome that looked to be in relatively good condition. "Let's go see if there's anybody in there who can tell us what happened." The girls nodded and followed his lead toward the dome. It took them about an hour to reach the dome, and when they did they found it in worse shape than they thought. Pieces of the roof were caved in and the walls and foundations were cracked. "This doesn't look very safe to me. Lucca, is it safe to go in?"
After examining the structure she spoke. "It looks like it's gonna hold, the foundation only has surface cracks."
"Okay, let's go in then."
As soon as they entered they were approached by a ragged looking man. "Hey, got any cash?" His eyes were wide and hopeful.
"Uh, yeah." Crono replied pulling a coin from his pouch.
"You call this money?"
Crono was so dumbfounded by the question he didn't answer, Lucca did instead. "Yes, we call this money."
"Money or no, don't matter. I got some good stuff anyhow. What do you need? I have some potions and a few ethers."
Marle piped up. "How much do you want for the potions?"
"You can have them. It doesn't matter." Marle took the four potions he had and put them in her pouch. "One more thing. What is the year?"
"The what?"
"The year, what is the date?"
"Don't know the day, but the year is 1999." As they turned away the man said one more thing. "Save money. It'll do ya good. That's my motto."
Now as they looked around the interior of the dome they saw that it housed a total of six people, four men and two women. They walked over to a man who was hunched over and leaning on an odd looking machine. Marle lightly shook his shoulder to get his attention. "Hello there." Her normal happy tone sounded strained.
"Hi."
"What is this thing you're leaning on?"
The man put his hand on the machine. "This is the Enertron. You get a full night's sleep in a few seconds, but it still leaves you hungry. Try it."
They looked from one to the other, nodded, and stepped into the Enertron. An electrical sensation passed through their bodies, lifting the weariness from their muscles and clearing their minds. When they stepped out of the machine they felt completely revitalized, except for the fact that their stomachs were growling like lions.
The man smiled at them and spoke again. "You'll find food at Arris Dome to the northeast. But only if you can get past Lab 16. The beasts there don't react to weapons, like guns and swords."
Lucca's interest was peaked now. "Arris Dome? What is the name of this dome?"
"This is Trann Dome. Be careful young ones." He dropped his head to rest his chin on his chest and fell asleep.
"Arris Dome. Maybe we can find a Gate there." Lucca said. The trio turned and left Trann Dome, and headed north toward the location of Lab 16. The trip took a few hours and by the time they reached it their feet were throbbing.
Marle dropped to her knees and pouted. "My feet hurt. I'm not going any further!"
"Marle! You are such a pain!" Lucca bellowed, though she had also dropped to the ground.
Crono glanced around them. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen in this gloomy world. "I guess we could all use a rest. This place looks as safe as any." He sat down on a medium sized rock that was nearby with a groan. "Lucca?"
"Mmmm?"
"Do you believe in fate?"
"Not really. Why?"
"I dunno. I've always believed there was a reason for all things to happen."
Marle stretched. "So you thing we're here for some reason other than chance?"
"Could be, then again it could be just dumb luck."
Lucca stood up once more. "Well I think we have rested enough."
"But I'm still tired." Marle whined.
"The sooner we get through that Lab the sooner we can rest up. Besides this talk about fate is getting on my nerves. I am a scientist, I believe in only what I see with my own eyes." She waited for the others to stand up then entered the Lab.
Lab 16 looked like a giant junkyard, it was also the remnants of a large city, the skeletal buildings stuck strait up like broken trees after a hurricane. The ground was littered with all sorts of debris, ranging from old soda cans to piles of bones. Marle clung to Crono's arm as they walked. When they turned a corner about halfway through they were attacked by two strange phantom-like creatures. They lunged at them and they scattered to avoid being hit. Crono drew his sword and lunged at one of them. His sword passed right through without so much as scratching the creature. Marle shot at it with her crossbow, but it had the same result. In a desperate move Lucca flipped the switch on her gun to the flamethrower setting and fired. The beast howled in agony as it burned to nothing.
Crono yelled over to Lucca. "Lucca! I want to try something. Fire your flame at my sword!" Confused Lucca did as she was told. Crono's sword was soon glowing red with the heat and he slashed at the phantom. The flame blade sliced it cleanly in two. It fell to the ground, twitched once, and lay still. "Wow! I wasn't sure that would work."
"That was foolish Crono! That sword got so hat it burned your hands."
"Not too badly, it doesn't really hurt."
Marle put her bow away and took Crono's hands in hers. "I can help." Her body was enveloped in a lupine aura which passed to Crono's hands. When the light faded she removed her hands from his. To Crono and Lucca's surprise, his hands were completely healed.
Lucca gaped at her. "Marle, how did you do that?"
"Yes do tell. That was amazing."
"I've always been able to do it. My mother called it my aura heal. I've shortened the name to just aura, it can heal small wounds like those burns." She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "It's tiring though."
"Thanks, it feels a lot better." Crono cooed to Marle. She beamed back at him. Lucca felt a stirring of jealousy toward the princess.
Crono was supposed to mine! I've known him longer than you have. I just haven't told him yet how I feel. You can't take him away from me. Lucca's thoughts were elsewhere for the rest of the trip through the Lab. It was uneventful to say the least. It was downright boring, nothing to see accept strange looking flowers and some really big rats. Marle hung on Crono's arm the entire way, batting her eyes at him, it made Lucca feel sick.
After a short while they emerged out the other side. This side was just as bleak as the other, rubble everywhere. There was a crunched up dome built into the side of a mountain to the southeast, and just east of them they found what could only be Arris Dome. Arris appeared to be in slightly better shape than Trann, there were fewer holes in the roof, and not as many cracks in the foundation (though it was still in god awful shape). The dome was fairly close to their location so they wouldn't have to walk for hours again.
Since it was nearly night already, when they reached the Dome they went right in. Inside was a wreck just like the other, only much bigger. In the center of the room sat a ladder that led down, and gathered around that ladder was a large crowd of ragged looking people.
"Who do you suppose they are?" Marle whispered to Crono. "And more importantly, are they friendly."
"Only one way to find out." They walked over to the group, and just as they were about to talk a little girl glanced at them.
"Who are you?"
The group all turned to face them at the same instant. Standing right next to the ladder was an old man, who spoke first. "You there, where're you from?"
Lucca walked a little closer before replying. "We came from the laboratories to the west."
"What!? Hey, we've got people who crossed the ruins!" A collective gasp was heard from every last one of the people. One man stepped forward. "Say again!? You're joking!?"
The old man shook his head slightly. "So there are people who can beat up those freaky mutants." He let his eyes meet Crono's before he continued. "Pardon me. I'm Doan. I'm the descendant of the director of this info center. In the basement, there's a huge computer and a storage center for food. But we can't get through 'cause of the robot guards. It's a pity."
Crono shrugged. "Why are you telling us this?"
"So you won't be so foolish as to go down there."
"Thank you." He half whispered. Just then a middle-aged man walked up to him.
"Did you really come from the dome to the west?"
"We did."
"I see. . Not that I really care."
**************************************************************************** **********
Marle walked around the room to look around. She found an Enertron in the corner and another of those crested doors. Then her attention was caught by the sight of a sad little girl and her mother. She walked over to the little girl and spoke to her. "Hi there. What's wrong?"
"Daddy's gonna bring us food."
"He is?"
The little girl's mother turned to look into Marle's eyes. "My husband went down to the food storage area below. I haven't seen him since." A tear rolled down her cheek.
"How long has he been gone?"
"I've lost track, all I know is it's been too long." She turned her head away and closed her eyes.
**************************************************************************** **********
Lucca had moved to stand next to one of the men. "Do you know anything about the surrounding area?"
"There's an old factory site called Proto Dome to the east. Can't get near it 'cause there's a bunch of lunatic robots in the area."
"Thank you." Then she walked a short ways and addressed a woman. "What do you know about the area?"
"I do not wish to be bothered."
"This will only take a minute, then I'll leave you be."
"Very well. You can reach the continent to the south through the sewer access, but stay off of "Death Peak"."
"Where is the sewer access?"
"In the south, it's a little busted up but it's still sturdy."
The man spoke up again. "There's an old man living in a dome near "Death Peak". Talk about crackpots!"
"No kidding." Lucca walked back toward Doan, where she met up with Crono and Marle. Both of them had a worried look on their faces. "Anything interesting?"
Crono shook his head. "These people are, so depressed."
"It's partly because their starving." Marle droned. "Everybody who's gone down to get some food hasn't come back up."
"We could go get it for them."
"Lucca! That's a wonderful idea!" Marle perked up instantly. "We could help these people."
"Actually I was thinking there might be some information down there."
They walked over to the ladder, and were about to descend when Doan yelled to them. "Are you going down below?"
Marle glanced at him. "Of course!"
"But no one's ever returned from there."
Lucca adjusted her shoulder harness for her gun. "Gotta try, right?"
". . .It's nice to see such spirited young people for a change. Be careful, now. And come back alive."
They climbed down the ladder into a T-shaped room with two doors, one on each tip of the 'T'. One of the doors, were blocked by an open trapdoor in the floor. A computer panel stood against the wall between the doors. Lucca eeped audibly at the sight. She ran up to the panel and pushed a few buttons, but all she got was an incorrect sounding buzzer. "I think it needs a password. I would surmise that this terminal will close that trap door so we could get to the other side."
"Then let's try the other one."
"You're so smart Crono."
Lucca pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's the only logical choice Marle. There is no other rout."
Marle grumbles something unintelligible as they walked through the other door. On the other side of the door they found that the room's floor had fallen through leaving only the beams and girders to walk on. Lucca trembled visibly. "I hate heights." She felt the reassuring hand on her shoulder. Turning she found that it was Crono.
"Don't worry, I wont let you fall."
"Yeah, we won't let you fall!"
"Thanks, I'll be okay." They walked through a winding path of beams on their way across the large expanse. One girder before the back door they came across a realistic looking statue of a rat. "Hey guys look." Lucca walked over to the statue and examined it. "It's holding a note of some sort. Let's see: WARNING! Anyone within the vicinity of the stock room will be attacked!" Lucca looked at her friends. "Do you suppose that's why the girl's father hasn't returned? Do you think something attacked him?"
Crono shrugged. "Could be. There's only one way to find out."
"True. Then let's go." Marle who had remained silent during the exchange spoke up. "So let's go find out." They walked the remaining distance to the doorway and walked through. The room they now entered was a perfect square in shape with a large sliding door on the opposite wall. "Nothing here."
Lucca shrugged and walked across the floor. Halfway to the door Crono grabbed her arm and yanked her back, just as a large robot dropped from the ceiling. The robot was as large as an elephant and looked like a man's torso without any arms or head. It had one large glass eye in its center and several smaller ports of some sort situated all over its body. On each side of the machine about two feet from the ground hovered two smaller robots that resembled a cross between a beetle and a helicopter.
The robot let loose a few scattered beeps and cracks. "EXECUTING PROGRAM."
"Huh?" Marle backed up toward the door. "Crono! What's going on?"
"How should I know?" The robots had formed a triangle around them.
Lucca pulled out her gun. "Marle! Crono! Let's go!"
Crono looked the robots up and down. "So. Any ideas as on how to handle this?"
Marle drew out her crossbow. "How about just be careful."
"I got the big guy!" Lucca pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the center of the larger robot's chest. "Say good night." She pulled the trigger. The bullet hit it dead on, ricocheted off, and imbedded itself in the wall next to Lucca's head. She blanched. "Not good."
The robot's eye began to glow red as it emitted a steady hum. "ANITIATING COUNTERING PROTOCALS" The two smaller robots shot out small tentacles to the larger. An electrical current could be seen along the cables. "TARGET ACUIRED." The eye shot out a laser beam aimed chest level at Lucca.
"Lucca look out!" Marle cried as she tackles her to the ground. The laser shot past them and melted another hole into the wall. Marle and Lucca stand back up.
"Are you two okay?" Crono asked with a worried expression on his face.
"Yeah. Sooooo. What now?"
"Beats me." Marle shrugs.
Crono turns to face the robots again and draws his sword. "I want to try something."
"What is that Crono? This robot's skin is super strong."
"Yeah what she said. And there are those little ones too."
"TARGET ACUIRED." The trio glanced at each other and hit the dirt as another laser shot past them.
"You would think the robot's A.I. would have learned to shoot in another way by now."
"Lucca would you shut up! Don't give it any ideas." Marle practically screeched.
Lucca covered her ears. "Maybe you should scream at it. The deciples might short circuit it."
Marle gave her a death look as they stood back up. "Look ladies, I hate to interrupt but we still have a small problem." He then rushed, sword drawn, at the smaller flying robot on the right. "Time to test my idea." Crono's sword passed through the thin metal skin of the bot severing some of its internal cables. A slight electric currant went through the sword and shocked Crono. A small plume of smoke bellowed from the cut and sparks shot out. "Lucca, Marle! Take out the other little one." He took another swipe at the bot, and severed the propeller from its top. It crashed to the ground and shattered into a pile of gears and servos.
Meanwhile the girls were also mangling the other small one. Lucca shot it full of holes and Marle shot an arrow into the propeller, successfully knocking it to the ground.
"Little pain down for the count." Marle saluted Crono as Lucca reloaded her pistol. "Now how do we get rid of tall, dark, and ugly?"
Crono shrugged. "Not sure yet, but at least he won't hit us with that laser again."
"TARGET AQUIRED. INITIATING SECONDARY WEAPONDRY."
"Say what?" Marle cried.
The robot opened the cover for the glowing eye, revealing a series of gun ports surrounding it. Lucca readied her gun. "I got it now. Marle aim for the eye, it's uncovered now." She aimed and fired, only to hit one of the ports instead of the eye. "Damn!"
"I got it. I think." Marle mumbled. I can do this. I can. She took aim down the length of her arrow and fired. It flew strait and true. Imbedding itself into the center of the robot's eye laser.
"ERROR. ERROR. SYSTEM FAILURE. ERROR. ERROR."
"She's gonna blow!" Lucca cried. "Let's get out of here!" They ran out the doorway as the guardian robot exploded. When it seemed all was over they walked back in. In the place of the robot, there was a pile of smoking debris and smoldering oil. "Talk about blowing your top. Not a very good design, to be blown up after one shot."
"Lucca, didn't you tell me once that lasers are very touchy?" Crono asked.
"Yes, that's true. They do tend to blow up if jarred just right."
"I guess Crono found your answer then." Marle hugged Crono. "You're so smart."
"No, I heard it from Lucca. She's the smart one."
Marle let go of him and blushed. "Right, uh, I knew that." Marle picked her way past the rubble. "Didn't we come here for a purpose?"
"Right."
"Why is it we have her along again?" Lucca asked in a whisper.
"Very funny. Let's go."
They followed Marle through the door the robot had been guarding. Inside they found a room filled wall to wall with boxes and crates. She had only taken a few steps past the doorway before she stopped and plugged her nose.
"Phew! Something reeks!" She appeared close to retching.
Lucca walked over to one of the crates and opened it up. Re backpedaled due to the smell. "Ick! Everything's completely rotten. The refrigeration must have failed." As Lucca and Crono checked other crates, Marle wanders toward the back of the room. She finds a body propped against the wall.
"Guys! Over here!"
"What did you find? Is it." Crono's voice trailed off when he saw the body.
"What is it Crono?" Lucca asked from across the room.
"Look there." Crono points to the body. Lucca's jawed dropped.
"Oh my."
Marle walked up and knelt next to the body. "Passed away long ago, I suppose." She gently touches its hand. "He's holding something. What do you suppose it is?"
"Pick it up and find out." Lucca says. "He won't bite."
"Are you nuts? It's a dead guy."
"You already touched his hand."
"Big difference."
"I'll do it." Says Crono as he opens the man's hand and retrieves a piece of paper. From the paper a small object tumbled.
Marle bent down and picked it up. Lucca also looks at it. "It looks like some kind of seed."
Marle glances at her. "A seed? Do you suppose it could grow in a place like this?" Lucca just shrugged. "Guess we'll find out soon enough." She puts the seed into her hip pouch and turns to Crono. "What is that paper?"
"A note of some kind. It says: The rat is more than just a statue! It knows the secret of this dome. Catch it!" Crono's brow creased. "What do you think this means?"
Lucca examined the note a little bit before she answered. "Do you think he meant the statue we saw?"
"But how are we supposed to catch a statue?" Marle remarked. "Statues don't move."
"Maybe it means there's something written on it."
"Or it's a really slow robot."
"Not funny Lucca. I've had about as many robots as I can stand."
"Ditto."
"It was just a thought." Lucca pocketed the note and walked back to the door. "We're not solving anything staying here. Let's go." They left the reeking storage room and out past the smoldering guardian and back into the room with the fallen floor. They froze when they entered. The rat statue was walking around. Guess my theory was right.
Marle squeaked. "There! There it is!"
"Shh!" Lucca growled back. "It might run away."
Crono inched past the girls toward the rat. It was knowing at one of the beams that was about to fall on its own. He was only a couple steps away from the rat when it noticed him, and let out a high pitched squeal. It turned to run in the opposite direction and Crono leapt on top of it. It squirmed and thrashed as it attempted to get loose. "Lucca, Marle, help me out here."
The girls came over and helped pin the rat down. "This is no robot." Commented Lucca. "This is a real rat."
"I hate rats."
"But still your helping us pin it down."
Marle looks at her innocently. "Crono asked me to."
The rat squirmed once more and then, to the trio's amazement, spoke. "Squeak! I give up. I'll tell you everything, squeak. Press the blue followed by the red button to access the secret passage, squeak. Don't make any mistakes, or you'll be sorry."
Crono looked it in the eye. "Anything else?"
"That's all I know!"
Crono and the girls let go of him. "Then get out of here."
"Yes sir." And the rat ran out the doorway.
Lucca dusted herself off as Marle wiped her hands on her pants. "Now we can open that first door we found."
"Just as long as there are no more rats or dead people."
"And here I thought you had at least some courage." Lucca sighed.
"Only if I have to."
"Enough ladies! Let's go."
They slowly made their way back across the beams to the 'T' shaped room. Lucca went up to the control panel and pressed the series of buttons the rat had told them about. "Here goes nothing." She pressed the red button and stepped back. The panel on the floor moved into place over the hole and clicked into place. "Wow! I guess it was a security protocol."
Crono scratched his head. "But for what?"
"To protect whatever is on the other side."
"So let's go! This place is boring."
"Marle, we don't know what is through that door."
"Who cares Lucca. We don't know anything about this place anyway. You had no qualms about coming down to begin with, how is this any different?"
"She's got you there Lucca."
Lucca ground her teeth in frustration. He was actually taking her side. Though I have to admit that she is right, but I don't have to tell her that. "Fine, we go. But if we die I am going to kill you."
They looked at her in silence for a few moments before bursting into laughter. "That was silly Lucca!" Crono said between giggles. "How can you kill us if we're dead?"
Lucca blushed. "Let's just go." She grumbled before walking through the now accessible door.
"Wait for us." Marle wined as they dashed after her.
The new room was as dismal as the others. A thin mist hung in the air being fed by a broken pipe against one wall. The room was rectangle in shape and had walkways stretching its length. These walkways had ladders that led up to them, though most of them were rusted away or snapped in two. On the far end of the room a piece of the floor had fallen through near the exit leaving a small ledge that connected the ladder to the doorway. The floors were being patrolled by some nasty looking robots. They appeared to be insect-like in appearance. Like the guardian they had destroyed they had a single eye in the middle of their heads. Yes, these actually had heads attached to the torsos, though they still had no arms. They had very large legs bulged out from the sides of the robots and ended in wheel-like treads for feet.
Marle huddled up close to the other two. "Think we could take the walkways? I would rather not mess with those guys."
Crono's brow creased as he stared at the horrific machines. "I would have to agree with you. They don't look very friendly, and I don't want to know what kind of weapons they might be packing."
Near at hand the found a fairly secure ladder with which to ascend to the walkways. Marle went up first followed by Lucca. Crono went last, he had been watching as one of the robots was closing in. When he saw that they were safely out of harms way he joined them. "What took you Crono?" Marle and Lucca asked together.
"One of those things was heading our way. Had to keep an eye on it."
Lucca stood up. "Just don't do anything reckless."
Crono gave a goofy grin. "No need to worry about me. I'm a tough guy." Lucca punched him in the arm. "Ouch!"
"Tough guy huh? More like a hot air balloon."
Crono rubbed his arm and winced, as Marle giggled her head off. "Low blow. Very low."
Lucca smiled innocently at him. "So sue me." Marle and Crono got to their feet as well. Lucca started to walk along the grating. "Shall we then?" As they crossed the room the patrolling robots let out screeches and beeps as they got too close. "Noisy little buggers." Lucca pulled out a small pellet from her pouch. "Maybe this will shut them up."
Crono looked at the item she had pulled out. It looked like a stone with a fuse coming out of it. "What is it Lucca?"
"This is a small incendiary bomb. Or if you prefer 'Napalm'."
"But where did you get it?" Asked Marle.
"I make them. It's quite easy."
"How many do you have?" Inquired Crono.
"About ten. But I can make some more later." She pulled out her pistol and flipped on the flame thrower. "It's party time." She let the bomb and dropped it off the side if the walk. "You might want to duck." The pressed themselves against the wall and ducked down as the bomb hit the ground. A second later the bomb exploded, a wave of heat hit them from below but the tight mesh of the walk shielded them from the fire. After the initial detonation the stood back up and peered over the edge. The pair of robots that were below them were partially melted to the floor, though they were still active. Several error messages could be heard as they continued walking toward the door.
Marle was still wide eyed. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"
"No kidding. Lucca that was, wow!"
"I used too much gun powder. It wasn't supposed to be that powerful." Pulling out a small pad and a pencil from her pouch she made a scribble in it and put it away. "Oh well. Guess I should use the others more carefully."
Through the doorway they found another room where the floor had fallen through. Beneath this room they could see more of the structure, though it was in worse shape than the upper floors. A single walkway spanned the room. It went halfway through, crossed to the other side of the room and continued to the wall where another door stood. Marle whimpered. "How far does this place go?"
"Put a sock in it. This is only the second room."
"Lucca's right. But still, I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
This room unlike the other didn't have the thin mist in the air but it was infested with large mantis looking insects. They were pink in color and were the size of a rotweiler. Marle blanched at the sight.
Lucca moaned at her expression. "Don't tell me you're afraid of bugs?"
"No not really. I've just never seen them so large."
"You ladies want to take the walkway again?"
Marle looked to Crono before she answered. "Yes please." The walk had a ladder near them, but it was broken halfway down.
"I'll give you a boost." He knelt down and made a cup from his two hands. Marle stepped into it and he hefted her up so she could grab the ladder rung. "Got it?"
"Got it." She climbed the rest of the way up and leaned back over to help Lucca up. When they were both up they helped Crono. To grab the rung he had to take a running leap. If the girls hadn't already been there he wouldn't have made it up.
They chose not to talk as they walked across, the insects hadn't seen them and they wanted to keep it that way. The progress was slow, but they made it unheard or seen. The ladder that went back down was undamaged so they just had to climb down.
When they walked through the door Lucca nearly squeaked with glee. The room contained several computers, most destroyed, and a single giant size monitor. The monitor was on the back wall and had an intact computer attached to it. "This is the info center!" She ran up to a large computer console and pushed a couple of buttons. "Good! The computer's still operational!" She started pushing buttons in what seamed like a random order. "If we run a search on time warps, we might find our gate!" She pressed a few more blinking buttons. Crono and Marle weren't sure if she even knew what she was doing. "Here! Got it!" The monitor lit up with a full color map of the continent, panned to the east then to the south before stopping on a blinking light. A series of numbers and symbols accompanied the readout. "East of Arris Dome! That would be Proto Dome, I believe."
"Leave it to Lucca!" Marle piped. "I'm beginning to think you could find anything with this device!" She waked over to the console to Lucca's right and examined it. "Say, what does this button do?" She pushes the button. The computer started to issue sirens and a picture flashed to the screen.
"Lucca read the readout on the panel. "1999 A.D.! Visual record of the 'Day of Lavos'."
On the screen through the crackles and fuzz, they saw an outside view of the continent. All of the domes were whole and undamaged. The ground rumbled and broke open, spewing molten lava and burning rocks. From the crevice a huge insectoid creature emerged. It was covered in razor sharp spines. It had a tiny head composed of three flaps or jaws, they could not be sure. In its center they could see a single burning red eye. The sound of its screech chilled them to their very bones. It was a thousand times worse than nails on a blackboard, or for that matter anything they had ever heard. It shot it's spines from its back like missiles destroying everything they touched. As the domes were being devastated the record faded into a constant static.
The silence was suffocating, until Marle fell to the ground sobbing. "Wh, what? Is that?"
Lucca removed her glasses and dropped her head. "Lavos? Is that what's destroying our world?"
"But what is Lavos?" Crono whispered.
Marle sobbed quietly. "We must truly be in the future." Suddenly she stood up with a determined look on her face. "NO! NO WAY! I refuse to believe it!! This, this cant be the way the world ends!"
Lucca and Crono exchanged despaired looks but said nothing.
Marle continued. "Crono!" He looked at her. "There's only one thing we can do! We must change history!"
"WHAT?!"
"Just like you did when you saved me!" She faced them both. "Okay, Lucca? Okay, Crono?"
Lucca put he glasses back on. "I, guess so. It was a stroke of luck that we were sent here through the gat."
"Or fate."
"Yes, or fate. Crono, lets go."
"Uh, okay. We can at least try."
"Crono! Lucca! Together we can do this!"
Lucca turned to the computer for a few seconds then turned back. "Let's take a second and do some more research on Lavos's activities back in our own time period!" Lucca ran to stand in the doorway facing out. "Next stop, Proto Dome!"
"Hush! The bugs will hear you!" Marle and Crono said in unison.
I hope you liked what you read. All reviewers are welcome now that I have fixed that little problem. Next chapter will introduce every ones favorite robot buddy. Stay tuned soon for the next part.