Yay, update! Aren't you just so proud of me... No. I do not own CT. Obviously. If I did, there would have been a REAL sequel. Chrono Cross is great and all, but it's just not a good Chrono Trigger sequel... If it's even classified as a sequel at all. Anyway, here's chapter three! Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Queen Marle

Marle watched as the dam exploded, sending waves of water hurtling toward the village and leaving a twenty-foot hole in the ground. She knew Crono and Lucca were... were... She couldn't think about it. She was in such shock that she didn't hear the men come up behind her until it was too late.

"Hello, Queen Leene."

She barely had time to register the name before she was knocked out.

Two hours later...

"Ugh..." Marle groaned, trying to move. Great. Tied down. All evil villains tie their victims down, huh?

"Awake yet, my Liege?"

"I should kill you."

"Should. But I doubt you will."

"Why'd you kill them?"

The man chuckled, and came closer, close enough that Marle could see him, but far enough away so that she couldn't touch him. His gray eyes glistened, and he pushed his long brown hair out of the way. "I bet you know already."

"I thought we'd killed you already."

"We?" The man's eyes widened. "Surely - no... You're not the queen!"

"Acute observation," Marle spat, struggling against the ropes. "Any reason you're after the queen?"

The man smiled. "Of course. However, she should have come herself... shouldn't have sent ambassadors..." he scowled.

"Privileges of being Queen. I'll ask you again. Why?"

"Same reason as last time."

Marle's eyes widened. "Oh no..."

-XXX-

"No, you fool. The twelve signs of the Zodiac are not all fish. You are a failure at life. If you make it past the age of twenty, I'll kill myself."

---

"No! No, the answer is not magnesium chromate! It's four! FOUR! Why the hell won't you listen?"

---

"What? No, it's a HORSE, not a UNICORN! You stupid, stupid boy..."

---

"No! You suck at basketball! Run another four laps! Oh, I don't care that you've already run twelve! That's what you get for conducting chemical experiments instead of worrying about being physically fit, huh?"

---

Slowly, groggily, Lucca opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize where she was... Wait, where was Crono?

Staggering to an upright position, Lucca produced a flimsy ball of fire which she used to let herself see more than two inches in front of her. The tunnel, or whatever it was, was caved in, and she was standing in what seemed like two inches of water.

"Crono?"

She heard a soft moaning coming from her right, and she saw Crono - badly injured.

"Oh, sweet Spekkio."

She groped around in the darkness for a moment before her hands touched something solid - apparently a wall. She used the wall to keep herself upright as she cautiously bent over Crono, whose head was partly submerged in the water.

"Hey. You alright?"

Crono stirred slightly. "No... I told you already. I thought the Zodiac had a unicorn in it. Why won't you listen to me?"

Frowning, Lucca poked him, hoping that she didn't poke something that was bruised or broken.

"SWEET JESUS!"

Oops.

"Sorry," Lucca said quickly as Crono whimpered. "I... um... you were muttering weird stuff. About a unicorn."

"Wha- oh. Oh, that. Astronomy class. Horrible nightmare." Crono struggled to sit up. "My freaking head... I feel like I was in the middle of an explosion..."

Lucca peered around her - at the low ceiling, the crumbled rocks, the smell...

"I think we were."

Crono looked around as well. "Why? Why would they blow the dam up?"

Lucca shrugged her good shoulder. "I have no idea. We should probably focus on getting out of here, though..."

"How?"

She shook her head. I'm not sure. It looks like it was completely caved in during the blast. We could very well be trapped under all this... until we die."

Crono bit his lip. "Don't worry, we'll escape... Let's just plan this out."

Lucca sniffled. "Okay. You're right. We're not finished unless we give up. Any ideas?"

Crono grinned. "As a matter of fact, yes."

-XXX-

Marle sat in a small, dark room. She wasn't sure how she would play into the plan to overthrow the kingdom, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to be very pleasant.

She fingered her pendant slowly, tracing the deeply colored jewel in the middle.

My pendant! May I have it back?

Crono...

My name's Marle, what's yours? ...Crono? That's a nice name. Nice to meet you, Crono!

Lucca...

I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!

The pendant glowed softly, bathing her in a warm light.

"You're alive..." she whispered.

-XXX-

"This looks wrong."

"Shut up and get ready."

"I still say your idea is crazy. You're crazy."

"You get the plan?"

"Yep."

"Ready?"

"Nope."

"Go!"

Crono used the remainder of his magic to cast the strongest Luminare that he could manage, praying it would break the rocks above them so they could clamber out of the debris. Lucca was clutching him tightly, casting Protest so they wouldn't get damaged...

"OW! MY EFFING FOOT!"

...as much.

Finally, Crono's plan proved to be successful. They were out of the pit.

"Damn."

"That was a lousy pun, Lucca."

Lucca's statement, however lousy a pun as it may have been, was nonetheless accurate. The wall of the dam had been blown up in the blast, and the water was almost completely gone - probably toward the village.

"Leene is going to kill us, Crono."

"Yeah, it sure looks that way."

Crono stood up shakily. "Wow. Let's never have this much excitement in one day again."

"Agreed," Lucca said, also staggering to her feet. "It's not fun when you're almost killed twice in one day."

"Twice?" Crono looked puzzled.

"Yeah. When the dam exploded and when you tried to 'be the hero' and get us out."

"Would you rather be trapped still?"

"Not really."

"Good, now stop complaining."

"What now?"

Crono thought for a moment. "Marle."

Lucca nodded. "Problem is, we don't know where she is."

Crono didn't have the faintest inkling where Marle might be. But as he looked at the ground and saw fresh footprints leading away from the destruction, he started to piece it together.

"Recognize this?" Grinning, Crono held up a hair pin that he'd spotted.

Lucca grinned, too. "Awesome. Let's follow the footprints!"

-XXX-

"Well, well, well."

Marle awoke. "Go away."

The man smirked. "We're ready to begin our quest to take over the castle, dear."

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Marle demanded.

"Well, I'll explain it in simple terms." The man grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly to her feet, dragging her out of her holding cell. "You look like the queen. In fact, you're the same girl that they mistook as the queen not too long ago. The castle guards will mistake you as the queen. You will pretend that the castle has a traitor that has been posing as the queen. It will confuse the guards. They, in their confusion, will destroy each other, and I will take over the castle. Pretty ingenious, eh?"

Marle snorted. "Hardly. The chances that the guards will mistake me for Leene again are fairly slim; they know who I am. You're a terrible villain."

The man scowled. "Fine. I'll just kill you then, and take the castle by force."

He pulled out a long, curved knife and held it to her throat. "And with no friends by your side, death is inevitable."

---

Alright, there you have it! Chapter 3! Not too great, I apologize. I feel that it was slightly if not very rushed. But please review anyway. Or I'll kill you. Ha.

Next chapter... Will Marle meet an early death, or will Crono and Lucca find her first? Just who is the man trying to kill them? And... is that Mr. Tinkles? Keep reading!