Hello, everyone. Sorry about the several long weeks of no updating. I have a good excuse this time, though. I moved again, and had no access to my files, so I couldn't write anything. But I'm back, and I'm ready to finish "The End?". So please enjoy, and I thank all my readers so very much. :)

Chapter 7: The Cat From Hell

Everyone has problems. I doubt you'll find a person on Earth who didn't. They can be those blatantly obvious ones like getting in trouble for slipping weed behind the school - and getting caught by that bitchy hall monitor. They can be small problems like someone trying to frame you for putting a "Kick Me" sign on your Calculus teacher's back. No matter who you are, you have problems.

Well, Chrono, Lucca, and Marlee had several. And these weren't worries about whether or not John would like to ask you out, mind you. These were serious mental problems that would probably land them in a mental institute in the next few years.

Lucca was a scientific genius. She failed Physical Education class because she couldn't throw a basketball anywhere except into her teacher's head. She was quick to anger, and was now equipped with the power to incinerate anyone that irritated her. She was blamed by Chrono as being the one that got them into the whole "saving the world" hoo-ha. The Telepod was hers, after all. Psycho and genius tend not to work well together.

Marlee was a rebellious princess who enjoyed suicide missions. She ran away from home because she didn't feel like trying to be "lady-like". Manners? Who needs those when you've got the power to turn anyone you want into ice sculptures? Money ain't power, people: Magic is.

We all know what Chrono's issues were. He was twelve when he got Mr. Tinkles. Any normal twelve year old boy would have gone on a spree about how funny the name was, much like all of Chrono's so-called friends. He would giggle and say "Mr. Tinkles? Ha! That's funny! Peepee!" or something equally as immature. But not Chrono. He named the adorable yellow kitty Thor, after the Norse thunder god. And after several days of finding foul-smelling urine on the couch, he changed the name to Mr. Tinkles, possibly due to the fact that the cat just liked to pee. Chrono also had a fetish for swords. Crazy, withdrawn twelve year old plus sword equals mass chaos. Fortunately, he only got three weeks of suspension for the science fair project. How was he supposed to know that a sword didn't fly in a straight line when you threw it? Spears did. They're both pointy at the ends...

Well, when they reached Lucca's house after the near-suicidal mission to the future, we find that Chrono has another problem.

"Hand me that wrench, would you?" Lucca asked vaguely, holding out her hand for it while deeply immersed in calculations.

Marlee handed her the wrench and groaned. "I'm hungry. Got any food?"

A finger pointed toward the kitchen. "Help yourselves."

Upon reaching the kitchen, Chrono realized that Lucca's mom hadn't been grocery shopping in a very long time. The cupboards were barren, the fridge empty... all that was left that may have been an old pecan pie was sprouting blue, furry stuff. Chrono would have been damned if there wasn't a bacterial war going on right on top of the pie.

"What do you think?" Chrono asked, straightening up. "Apple or pecan?"

Marlee examined the pie carefully. "Apple." She was then struck by an idea. "Hey, I'll give you thirty gold if you eat it."

Without hesitation, Chrono grabbed the pie and stuffed a big chunk of it into his mouth. His face screwed up as he attempted to swallow. "Tastes like... like..."

"Crap?" Marlee asked, looking like she was about three seconds from hurling. "Holy Spekkio, I didn't think you'd actually do it..."

"No..." Chrono thought for a minute. "Warm butter."

"I lost my appetite," Marlee declared, walking out of the kitchen.

"Hey! What about the bet?" Chrono yelled after her. "I want compensation for any horrible disease that may have injected into my immune system!"

She ignored him.

Yes, now we know the last thing that ails poor Chrono. Stupidity. He's like Fighter from 8-Bit Theater. A master swordsman, but a complete idiot. At least he didn't hallucinate talking swords. If he did, then we'd have a real problem on our hands. Or cross-dress. God knows how that would turn out.

Please, think of the children.

Anyway, Lucca continued upgrading Epoch. It took the better part of two days, but she finally fixed it.

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I think I've got it."

"You think you've got it," Chrono repeated.

"That's what I said," Lucca said wearily.

"Are you more or less than eighty-five percent sure you've got it?" Chrono pressed. "'Cause I'd like to know if there's a remote possibility that I'd end up in some bizarre alternate universe where I'm a girl, Marlee's bankrupt, and you're a moron with a drinking problem."

Lucca muttered something indistinguishable.

"What was that?" Chrono demanded. "I'm a what, now?"

"Nothing."

Lucca had fixed Epoch to the point where any idiot with an IQ of 100 or higher could operate it. At least, that's what she said. Chrono's response to the claim was:

"And... what's this 'automatic transmission' button do?"

Ignoring him, Lucca fired up the engines, set the time for approximately ten minutes before Mr. Tinkles took his stroll through the gate, and they took off through the hypnotic swirls of time. There, they said good-bye to all their friends as each went back to his or her respective time period.

Finally, the moment arrived. They said good-bye to Robo, and who should arrive than the smug little bastard himself.

"Mreow?"

Chrono glared at his cat. "Oh no, you don't, kitty. I feed you, change your litter box, and bathe you, and you repay me by making my mom run after you into a time portal beyond your insufficient mortal comprehension? How dare you! You won't make mom run after you this time!"

"MREOW!"

"There you are, Mr. Tinkles," Chrono's mom said. "I've been looking for you- oh, hi, Chrono dear. I wish you'd stayed at home more often... your kitty has been showering presents all over the clean laundry because you haven't changed his box in a few weeks..."

"MREEEEEEOW!"

Suddenly, a horde of cats shot out of nowhere and rushed Chrono like a pack of toddlers on a cupcake. They knocked him back just as the gate began to close. Lucca and Marlee both grabbed Chrono's arm and tried to prevent him from falling into the gate, but to no avail.

All three were sucked into the gate with Mr. Tinkles, right as it closed.

"Oh dear," Chrono's mom said. "Now I have to pay full rent... What a pity. He was a good cook..."

---

Chrono woke up. The sky was dark, the trees were numerous, and the air had a slight chill to it.

Mr. Tinkles rubbed up against Chrono affectionately.

"Oh, NOW you want love. Well, you've screwed up your chance, bub. Look what you've got us into now!"

Lucca groaned as she glanced up. "Oh no."

"This place is familiar..." Marlee said thoughtfully. "Where are- uh-oh. There's no more gate. And we don't have Epoch."

"Does't thou needst assistance?" a familiar voice inquired.

Chrono looked up---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

--Yeah. They were screwed.

"600 A.D.?" Chrono demanded shrilly. "We're forever trapped in 600 A.D.?"

"It would appear so," Frog said. "But why art thou here? Thou wast staying in thy own time?"

"Oh, nope, just got bombarded by a bunch of fuzzballs," Chrono growled, glaring at Mr. Tinkles. "Skippy here made sure of that."

Mr. Tinkles meowed, apparently pleased with itself.

"Let us go to the castle," Frog suggested. "You can stay as knights!"

Chrono sighed and stood up. "Alright. Lead on."

It's funny how the worst of situations can become even worse. One small thing branched out into one very large thing. There was no chance for them to get home. Not for several years, while Lucca attempted to rebuild a time machine.

But then, Chrono mused, surely there must be some good that would come from it?

Marlee bent over to pick up a flower.

Chrono smirked. Oh yeah. He could make do.

-END-

Well, there you have it. The conclusion. I may consider a sequel if I can get... say... thirty reviews? I'm up to twenty-five or twenty-six now...

I hope you all enjoyed my strangely demented fic. Please drop a review, seeing as how you've read this whole thing. Don't just read it and shrug and say "I don't feel like reviewing" because it'll take thirty seconds to comment. Honestly.

Thank you all so much:)