Chrono Corruption

Act 3: Origin of the Flame

Chapter 17: Separation

Crono cheered as everyone else joined in, "Alright! Take it down, King of Thieves!"

Ty gave the Golem a piercing glare as it cast forth another Dark Bomb, however, it did not connect as Ty gracefully moved out of the way. He quickly reached into his tool kit and brought out the many throwing knives he had stored up. "I'm a bit of a 'Knife Fanatic'! Wanna see my collection?" he said with an eerie calm. He threw the knives into the air and knives of all shapes and sizes flew into the air like fireworks. With blinding superhuman agility and wind magic, Ty gathered the knives in between every finger and threw volley after volley of them into the Golem until none were left floating. The Golem was left reeling as it resembled a pin cushion. Ty grinned as everyone was left in astonishment, "Since I'm a 'Collector' of sorts, I'm gonna need those knives back! Every... last... one...!"

The Golem tried desperately to counter Ty's movements, but he was much too agile. Hitting him was like swatting a very intelligent fly. He was able to use the air to throw himself to dodge attacks in midair. With every movement, Ty reclaimed every knife with a brutal twist and turn as he tore them from the Golem's body until none remained. He then turned his back to the monster as he neatly placed his last knife away in storage. His Aura Surge now fading, he looked at Tomo, "Care to finish it? I would hate for it to go to waste after I cut it up for ya," he laughed under his breath.

Tomo came to her senses and glared at the oozing monster. Like many before them, Tomo transformed the Golem into a plump jelly-filled pastry and finished it quickly. She glowed as the monster's magic fueled her body, "Iron Orb, huh? This should prove useful!" she said getting some of her strength back.

The Frozen Flame echoed with Dalton's rage. He roared loudly, "YOU MISERABLE THIEF! Why was such a power granted to YOU of all people?!"

Crono taunted Dalton more, "Heh, why don't you ask the Flame that?"

Dalton's rage finally peaked as it overflowed from the Flame itself, "That does it! You puny ants are beneath me! I AM A GOD! And as a God, I do away with all blasphemers! I'm going to throw each and every one of you miserable rodents so far into the Darkness Beyond Time, you'll wander there FOREVER!"

Lex intervened as he approached the Frozen Flame with his weapon outstretched. "Not to worry! I shall slice this demonic artifact in half!" he said bravely.

"No Lex! Don't!" Marle pleaded.

It was too late, Lex had taken a swing at the Flame and its power repelled him and surged through his body, leaving his blood veins glowing through his skin. He tried to stand but was horrified at what was happening to his body. "W-what is this?! What has happened to me?!" he shouted as he took a misstep backward and fell into the watery moat at the edge of the room.

Before anyone could help him, however, Dalton had opened up pitch-black Gates at everyone's feet who were still present. Dalton's voice echoed once more, "Goodbye forever rodents! May you rot in the cracks between eras like compost in a forest, like corpses in shallow graves! Now, it is time for me to take my rightful place at the top of this planet's food chain! I will remake the very fabric of history and I shall be King for all TIME! Bow before me, for I am crowned anew! I am, Neo Emperor Dalton!" he finished with maniacal laughter.

Crono called out, "Damn you, Dalton! I swear I'll destroy you for this!" he said as the Gate swallowed him up.

"Sweetie! NOOO!" screamed Marle as she too vanished into her own Gate.

"What a rotten development this turned into!" Lucca said gnashing her teeth as her own Gate consumed her.

"Ty help me! I don't want to go!" Tomo screamed as she vanished.

Ty turned to the Flame, "You know something? All my life I've searched for the Frozen Flame. Now? I can't wait to destroy it!" Ty said angrily as he vanished without a trace.

*Darkness Beyond Time*

Crono opened his eyes and he found himself in a strange place. Dark grey clouds lined the area above him and beneath him. In between, an endless horizon of darkness could be seen. Thunder and lightning could be heard randomly and the strange atmosphere was somewhat reminiscent of the End of Time. He found himself stranded on a large rock that was suspended in the void. "Where is this? Is this the place Ty and Tomo told us about from before?" he thought. "My body sure hurts," he continued as he moaned while he sat up.

He took in his surroundings, "...The crushing loneliness is the worst feeling about this place... Now I know where Marle went when she vanished back in the Middle Ages. Marle... I am so sorry. This is not how things were supposed to go...," he lamented as a tear ran down his cheek. "But I can't give up! There must be a way to fix this! Do you hear me, Dalton?! I WILL find you! I WILL kill you!" he shouted strongly as he unsheathed his blade and took a stand. He then leaped off the rock and into the nothingness and as he did so, a strange platform appeared from thin air. He landed on it and smiled. Anomalous 2-D creatures emerged to attack him, but he cut them down mercilessly and leaped again landing on another platform.

This platform began to float and move on its own. More creatures appeared and Crono quickly disposed of them. As he did so, a new platform appeared as the one he was on began to vanish again. He jumped to it and he repeated this several more times until he came to a strange towering structure. This structure had a massive mural-like monster standing before him. Fueled with determination, Crono cut it down and a large Gate appeared. "YES! I don't care where or when this Gate goes! Anywhere but here is better!" he said as he hopped on through.

*?*

Crono left the Gate and found himself in a strange, yet familiar place. "No..., this can't be! I'm where Lucca showed off her Telepod! I'm at Leene Square, but, it's in ruins...," he said falling to his knees. "Damn it..., what did Dalton do?" he said regaining his composure.

He rushed to the center of the square, where people huddled together, dressed in rags and suffering from starvation and sickness. At the center of the Square, people bowed and worshiped a golden statue of an angelic-looking Dalton, much like how Magus once had the Fiends worship him. "Jeez, even the Fiends didn't make a statue made from gold," Crono said under his breath.

The people cried out in pain and suffering as they prayed, "Oh Lord Dalton! Why do you make us suffer so?! How long will you be angry with us? Our Kingdom is in ruins and it was given over to the amphibians once more! They play all day and taunt us without end because we are their slaves! When, oh, when, Lord Dalton will you forgive us?!"

Crono cast his gaze to the ground, his fist shaking in anger, "I can't let you... get away... with THIS!" he said angrily as he clenched his teeth.

Crono's attention was then grabbed suddenly by the yell of an approaching Porrean Soldier, definitely like one that overthrew Guardia before they left. "Hey you, what do you think you're doing? You're not supposed to carry a weapon if you're not one of us!" he said getting out his matchlock rifle.

Before the soldier could aim it, however, Crono had sliced the rifle in two and the shock cast the man to the ground. He took his left hand and formed a Lightning Bolt. "Know this, my fellow Guardians! Dalton is no King! He is a madman that is out of control and needs to be stopped! I am Crono Guardia! I am King of this once proud nation and I will see to its restoration!" he said proudly as he destroyed the statue with his magic.

The people rose up with a new sense of hope in their eyes when the idol was destroyed. However, this alerted more Porrean Soldiers as well as Frog Warriors who kept a close eye on the people. However, they were afraid because of Crono's magic. Nevertheless, they attempted to surround him. Angered, Crono channeled more lightning. "Scintillation!" Crono chanted as he threw his arms into the air. A spark of light rose from his chest and it emitted lightning bolts in all directions, striking every soldier.

Unfortunately, for every one soldier that was struck down, two more took their place. Before he could get surrounded again, he decided to run off and they gave chase. Crono hopped and jumped his way through the ruins of Leene Square taking down anyone who got in his way until he finally made it to the entrance. A strange robust man in a hood and dark robes called out to him. "Over here young man!" said the man with a familiar voice.

"Melchior?!" Crono realized as he rushed over to him.

"Yes, come with me, hurry, we have to get you out of this country!" Melchior said as he cast a magical spell that was a blast of bright light. Melchior's spell blinded all who witnessed it and both he and Crono were nowhere to be seen.

*?*

As Crono opened his own eyes, he was at the front door in front of Melchior's Hut. He was swiftly invited in, "Let's go my boy. I'll let you in on a few things."

Crono entered the house and Melchior provided shelter for him. He patched Crono up with his own magic and Crono calmed down. Crono began, "What's happened since I've been gone...?" he asked dumbfounded.

"A lot... Dalton changed history," Melchior stated flatly.

"What did he change? I mean, other than making everyone believe he's a God?" Crono asked.

"Hard to say really," Melchior began. Crono raised his brow as Melchior continued, "Dalton interfered mostly with Porre while in this time as you already know. I don't know why Guardia is overrun by humanoid frogs though. Apparently, something happened in the Middle Ages. The Porreans arrived and told the Frogs of Neo Emperor Dalton and they accepted his rule. It would seem they only did this to place Guardia in further disrepair."

"What did you do Glenn?" Crono said under his breath.

"That's not all though...," Melchior said sadly. Crono turned his attention back to Melchior as he spoke, "I wouldn't leave Regiorra Village right away though. It seems that Medina has been suffering from a 'Plague of Undeath' since well before the Middle Ages. And Choras has dedicated everything they have to Porre and by extension, Dalton..., out of fear," he sighed heavily.

Crono slammed his hands on the table, "What am I supposed to do about this though? I can't just go rushing through Porre, sword drawn! That place is probably a military fortress by now! I can't return to Guardia to find the Epoch either. I have no idea what Lucca did with it!"

"Yes, Porre is well taken care of..., but not by Dalton, at least in his present state anyway," Melchior said.

"What do you mean?" Crono asked curiously.

"Well, it's currently ruled by your dad, Caelus," Melchior stated with melancholy.

Crono sunk, "Dad, why would you fall for such tricks...," he said sadly.

"Dalton changed his role for a third time after grasping the Frozen Flame's power. Some time in history he created a powerful nation in the middle of the El Nido ocean and became its 'God'. There he ruled for a while until he chose to bring it to ruins for some reason or another. When Porre and Guardia discovered this place, Dalton presented himself again and well, you know," Melchior stated.

"So then, Dalton effortlessly wove himself throughout history as a God because he's basically ageless with the Frozen Flame? There must be something I can do!" Crono said in distress.

"We'll figure something out in the morning. Keep in mind, that you've been gone for almost three months now. Oh, how the world can go to hell in such a short time!" Melchior lamented.

"Wow, three months? Alright, I guess I got no choice. I'll rest up for the time being, but then I have to find my wife and friends at the very least...," Crono said with determination.

*Morning*

Crono woke early and got himself cleaned and dressed. He ate the food Melchior had prepared for him despite not being hungry. He stood in the Village of Regiorra as the sun rose over Medina. Melchior joined him outside, "You know, even though the world is in distress, the sun still rises so beautifully. I've never dismissed its beauty even back in Zeal. Some things just don't change, do they?"

"Like hope?" Crono added.

"Yes, like hope...," Melchior confirmed. "I stayed around Guardia since you left. I was in hiding as I awaited your return because I knew you would."

"So where do I go from here? Medina? There's a Gate there, but it will just take me to the Future. Dalton is surely more powerful there. I wonder if Gaspar can help out."

"That isn't a bad idea, but you'll need to set foot into Medina, The City of the Dead," Melchior warned.

"That sounds bad, but it's either that or face Dalton and my dad and I'm not ready for that yet," Crono said flatly.

"That's why I'm going with you," Melchior said strongly.

"What? Really?" Crono asked in surprise.

"I need to leave here, if Dalton should find me, he'll undoubtedly destroy me," Melchior started. "I know my way around a sword, but I'm a Blacksmith at heart, not a warrior. So don't expect much from an elder like me. My Fire magic should provide more use than a sword though, so that's an option."

"Alright then, if you insist!" Crono said with his mood lifting.

"Let's just finish packing and be on our way, shall we?" Melchior asked cheerfully. And so, Melchior packed all his notable belongings, and away they went.

*Medina, City of the Dead*

Unnatural darkness hung over Medina. It was a city of gothic decor that was stained by death and decay. Fungal growths plagued the land and a thick fog filled its atmosphere. "This is beyond spooky," Crono said shaking.

"I know, and even I don't know what happened here," replied Melchior. "It would be best if we stayed as silent as possible, just in case. No need to fight unnecessarily. We don't know the extent of the damage that this place suffered from in the past. So, you said there was a Gate here? Where is that exactly?"

"Not too far, in fact, it should be in a cabinet in that house over there," Crono pointed out.

"Good, at least we don't have to go any further than this," replied Melchior. "I would hate for that Gate to be any further north!"

Crono and Melchior inched their way quietly to the house where the Gate should be and things seemed to stay nice and quiet. He approached the house and quietly opened the door. The house was vacant and was covered in cobwebs and dust. Crono tip-toed to the cabinet and grabbed hold of the handle and opened it. To his horror though, the Gate was sealed by a containment spell not unlike what Schala had once done. Crono's heart sunk, "What should I do now?"

Before Melchior could find anything to say, a strange voice came from the front door. "How about coming with me?" said the shadowy figure.

Crono and Melchior turned to see the strange figure. He was a young man with brown hair in a buzz cut like a military-style, but his widow's peak came with a minor cowlick. He wore sunglasses and had a thin build. He wore a uniform that was not recognizable from any known era that Crono knew, but it seemed futuristic in design and its color scheme was that of desert camouflage. His most defining trait, however, was the grey cybernetic left arm.

"Who are you? Are you with Dalton?" Crono said raising his blade defensively.

"No, I am called Garet. I am a Cyborg sent from Chronopolis to acquire Chrono Guardia from this era. A machine name 'Prometheus' has sent me utilizing a machine called, the 'Neo Epoch'. It was designed by Belthasar," he informed in a strong monotone.

"Wait, Prometheus?" Crono rushed up to the man with a cheer, "You mean Robo sent you?!"

"Belthasar? He's in the Future as well? How did you find us?" Melchior asked curiously.

"It is complex, but we knew you would be at the site of Gates, so that narrowed FATE's search considerably," Garet informed. "Come, Chronopolis is the only safe place from Neo Emperor Dalton's gaze."

"I'm on board!" Crono said cheerfully.

"...It will be good to see Belthasar again...," Melchior said with levity.

They left the house and their mood was quickly quashed by the surrounding undead Fiends that managed to locate them. "Warning, there may be trouble on the way to the Neo Epoch...," Garet said flatly.

Crono raised his sword, "I'm not letting a zombie hoard stop me now! We have lots to do and even less time to do it in!"

As Crono finished his sentence, a zombified Gargoyle growled and leaped toward Crono, who shot it down with a Lightning Bolt. This prompted the hoard to move in. Crono cut them down one by one and Melchior was more comfortable with his own burning spells. Many of Garet's weapons were also fire-based and he used his arm as his main weapon. The wave died down and all went quiet for a moment. "We must keep them occupied while I activate the Neo Epoch. Once it is activated, I can summon it here remotely and we can escape," Garet explained.

"Alright, let's keep them off us!" Crono said strongly.

The zombies came pouring from the old alleyways of Medina and came right for them. Melchior bathed the field in a Fire Blast spell, while Crono used Scintillation and Garet used a Thermodynamic Ray, a Ballistic Salvo, and a Machine Gun to mow down the undead. The second wave was defeated and all went quiet again. Garet came with an update, "Neo Epoch is online and is headed here now, standby for its arrival."

The quiet didn't last long as some very heavy footsteps came from the foggy town. A cyclopean giant dressed in disheveled purple and green clothing, consisting of a helmet, cape, and tunic, known as a Gaoler stomped it's way up to them. It dragged its big heavy mace with it as its undead body lumbered forth.

"Oh dear, that's not good...," Melchior said with a hard swallow.

"Just watch out for the mace!" Crono warned.

"Which goes without saying!" Melchior responded.

The Gaoler batted away any other undead that got in its way and tried to smash Crono and his party with its mace. Luckily, its body was so slow that it often failed to even land a blow anywhere near them. Crono's team continued to pick off the undead and struck the Gaoler with magic and futuristic weapons until the Neo Epoch could be heard overhead. "We must slay the Gaoler for it to safely land," informed Garet.

"No problem!" Crono said as he readied his sword. "I'll just use my new and improved, 'Sonic Slash', technique!" he said confidently. He focused his inner spirit and his sword gleamed with pure white light. He slashed at the ground as he would for a Wind Slash, but instead of one sword beam, the Gaoler was consumed by five of them along with anything else that stood in its way.

Many Fiends were slain along with the Gaoler and the Neo Epoch landed. "Come, we must hurry," Garet said as everyone quickly boarded the strange and incomplete-looking machine. As it began to take off into the air, more zombies flooded the streets of Medina. Luckily, the Neo Epoch had risen high enough to evade them. Garet typed in some codes and with a distortion in time and space, they were consumed by a bright light.

*Chronopolis*

The Neo Epoch appeared and it was placed snugly in a futuristic hangar. The party disembarked and Garet urged them to follow him. "Right this way, I'll take you to see Chronopolis's head scientist and curator, Belthasar," he said.

They followed Garet through the facility and it was as grand as Ty and Tomo explained earlier. Eventually, they were taken to the core. They were amazed. The Frozen Flame was suspended by many machines and kept dormant as needle-like structures siphoned energy from the artifact.

In front of the Master Controls was a strange creature. It was a Nu. Garet approached the Nu and it came over to Crono and Melchior, "Greetings my boy! It's me Belthasar, I copied my mind into this Nu so I could continue my work. And is this? It is! My old friend Melchior! How wonderful it is to see you! Makes an old man tear up a bit!" he said joyfully.

"Belthasar you old bastard!" Melchior started with a chuckle. "You preserved your conscience inside one of these guys?"

"Well, it's as you once believed Melchior! All life begins with a Nu and ends with a Nu, or something like that anyway!" Belthasar chuckled. "Well, shall we get down to business then?"

"Indeed, we must not waste any more time!" Melchior said as he took a seat in a nearby computer chair and moaned with comfort. Garet simply stood quietly out of the way, his back against a wall.

"Well, young man, you must be pretty shaken up after all this conflict!" Belthasar said to Crono.

"More or less...," Crono said keeping his composure.

"So perhaps a familiar voice would ease you a tad! Prometheus, come on out and say hello to your old friend!" asked Belthasar politely.

The massive supercomputer booted up and a very familiar voice echoed through the speakers in the room. "Crono, how wonderful it is to see you again!" said the voice.

"Robo! Alright, we told Lucca you would still exist in the future! But, where is your body?" Crono asked confusedly.

"It was dismantled. I asked Belthasar to integrate me into this old Mother Brain supercomputer, which we now call FATE after the Goddess, so I could help keep the Frozen Flame dormant and asleep so Dalton could not see into this era!" Robo explained.

"Help keep it dormant? How?" Crono asked, even more confused.

"Allow me to explain," Robo started. "Belthasar has informed me of all the history of the Frozen Flame. After our first corrections to the time had been made, Dalton sought to claim all of history for himself. He knew of the Frozen Flame and wandered for a long time until two explorers managed to find it! You know those two as Ty Drayguard and Tomo Levine!"

"Yeah, but Dalton said the Flame was something he owned regardless of what era it's in, how did you guys get it?" Crono asked scratching his head.

"That's the best part!" Robo started as he imitated excitement. "The time traveling you have just previously done was, I believe the work of the 'Entity' that we talked about in Fiona's Forest. Do you remember? It was taking you guys through the original history of the Frozen Flame itself and all of its major points in history. Like how before, we took part in the historical events that involved Lavos! The traveling you just did, is the Origin of the Flame. It broke off in Prehistory, was discovered by Man who it mutated, along with many other forms of life in the Ice Age, then fell into Zeal's possession where it powered the Mammon Machine right under our noses. After Zeal, it fell into the Fiend's hands who feared it and locked it away and sealed it on the abandoned Zenan continent. Then it was found by Irma Guardia and Lex Blueriver, who originally decided to keep it sealed. Then it lay dormant until the far future when the castle was dismantled and found by scientists. Fearing it, they did not touch the dormant Flame. Their tests concluded that it was a powerful source of energy so they kept it hidden away until the Day of Lavos. However, we stopped that and when Belthasar came through in 2300 A.D. he tracked down the Flame in an attempt to study it so we could safely study Lavos. He climbed the ranks of some of the best scientists in 2300 A.D. and managed to secure the Flame!"

"Wow, so what happened then? Ty said he found the Flame at the bottom of the Sea of El Nido in our time!" Crono explained.

"We figured something went wrong when he and Tomo appeared here not too long ago," Robo mentioned. "Ty dropped off an interesting clue that helped us make some better calculations to avoid a Time Crash."

"What's a Time Crash?" Crono asked puzzled.

"A Time Crash occurs when two very large masses from past and future collide together," Robo stated. "We assumed the first one, was activated by Lavos itself, trying to interrupt our first journey by sending this facility back to Antiquity, but it failed because the entire facility was placed in the middle of the ocean, where it subsequently sank to the bottom."

"So basically, what your saying is, Ty and Tomo found the Flame from the future that was sent back and that was the one Dalton claimed?" Crono said beginning to understand.

"Yes! The fact is, we had the Flame first all along here at this facility, but it had no Arbiter," Robo began. "In fact, we now believe Lavos wanted to remove the Flame from our possession and that was its real reason for causing a Time Crash. So it could have another chance at obtaining an Arbiter!"

"This is just a theory, however, at least for now...," Belthasar noted as he cleared his throat.

"So what is an Arbiter and why's it so important to Lavos?" Crono asked.

"An Arbiter is an organism that fuses with Lavos, via the Frozen Flame," Robo stated. "The last registered Arbiter of the Flame was Schala, but she was killed in the Ocean Palace Disaster when she sent us away with her magic. However, our scans indicate that there was a 50% chance she would have survived if she would have used the Frozen Flame, but this would have been terrible. Could you imagine what a fusion between Lavos and one of the most powerful people in history would have done? We theorize that it could have split the very dimensions, or even destroyed all of time-space!"

"Yikes, glad that didn't happen, but then again, Dalton getting the Flame isn't a good alternative either!" Crono said.

"Yes, but thankfully, since we had the Flame first and kept it contained this whole time, Dalton does not know of this era! That soon may come to an end, however, as he has noticed that he can't see this far and the Flame's energy is being siphoned by something," Belthasar added.

"What year is this anyway?" Crono asked curiously.

"2400 A.D. the Further Future!" Robo informed.

"Wow, that far, huh? What does it look like out there?" Crono asked with a child-like curiosity.

"It's beautiful!" Robo claimed ecstatically. "It may not last long though, as we believe Dalton is planning something a few hundred years back. He can't see this era so he may be trying to stir up trouble to reveal the Flame's location! We must stop him before he manages to find us!"

Crono took a stand, "Okay Robo! Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it!"

"Now there's a brave lad!" Melchior said proudly.

"The Neo Epoch is not yet completed as you have seen," Belthasar began. "So we can't let you use it as it is now. However, there is an alternative, but it is less than ideal. Lucca's Telepod technology was leftover from the distant past and I was able to locate some of her original work in a museum. It was not a problem for someone like me to figure out how it worked. Anyway, I adapted the tech here at Chronopolis and we can now use it to send people we want to the past or future, via special Gates we call 'Rifts'! Rifts are a one-way trip though, so you'll need to use your Gate Key and our incomplete Time Eggs to make it back!"

"Time Eggs?" Crono asked with a tilt of his head.

"Yes, I believe Gaspar is to thank for that magic and tech, but he is still at the End of Time for now," Belthasar explained. "Take a Time Egg with you and your wife's pendant when you approach one of the original Gates across the world. The Time Egg will break Dalton's seal on the Gate and you can use it to come back here instead of the End of Time, as Dalton still has it sealed."

"Got it, but wait! Marle has her pendant with her and I don't know where she is!" Crono said in distress.

"Not to worry!" said Robo optimistically. "We can trace her as we did you!"

"Really, that's wonderful!" Crono said happily.

"We found you by tracing disturbances in time and we sent Garet there, but you had quickly vanished shortly after," Robo continued. "Since no time disturbances were made when you vanished again, we ran a magic trace and found that Melchior had taken you to his home in Regiorra. Garet stopped there, but you must have just missed him as you went to Medina. It was a gamble, but we determined that you would head to Medina in search of the Gate and we were right!"

"Well, I'm glad Garet caught up to us when he did! Thanks, Garet!" Crono said gratefully.

"Your thanks are unneeded. I was simply doing my duty, but it is appreciated nonetheless," replied Garet.

"Anyway, finding Marle should not be difficult, but retrieving her is another story...," Robo stated with unease.

"Why, what's happened?" Crono asked, growing a tad pale.

"Every friend has ended up in a separate era, Crono," Robo began. "You must retrieve them all to restore balance and have any hope of defeating Neo Emperor Dalton! Including my old self!"

"You want me to get you from 2300 A.D.?" Crono asked curiously.

"Close! More like 2305 A.D.! I should be hanging around a Robot Colosseum at that time, so I should not be hard to find!" Robo informed. "Before that though, we must find Marle before anyone else!" Robo finished as he began computing and locating Marle. "This will take a few moments! Please hold! Ah, here we are! Oh, this is bad!"

"What, what's bad?!" Crono asked nervously.

"I located Marle by searching for the signal her pendant gives off. She's in a place called the El Nido Archipelago in the year 2995 B.C.!" Robo claimed worriedly.

"How? Shouldn't we have changed the future by now?" Crono asked confused.

"Yes, by you being here, I have canceled the Counter-Time Experiment indefinitely so we would have no chance of being exposed," Belthasar stated.

"Unless Dalton is powerful enough to terraform the planet on his own. I don't see any other way that anything should be at El Nido," Robo said, stunned.

"Alright, send me there, I'll get her out, just tell me everything I'll need to know!" Crono said bravely.

"We don't have much choice," Belthasar added. "Prometheus, where is the Gate that Crono can escape from?"

Robo performed some scans, "Ah, there is one on a beach to the south on the main island. I am grateful that it is far from the main city where Dalton rules!" he said with relief.

"Good, Crono come with me! You too Garet! I'm sending you with Crono on a big mission!" Belthasar ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Garet complied.

Belthasar took Crono and Garet to the Telepod Chamber. Maps of all eras could be seen on monitors. Belthasar handed Crono an incomplete Time Egg, "Here, this will break Dalton's seal and prevent him from sealing it again. Just get on the large pad there with Garet and I'll send you on your way!" he explained.

Crono and Garet complied and they stepped on the Telepod, "This feels like Deja Vu!" Crono said with a chuckle.

"All right, get ready you two! Retrieve your wife and Queen, King Crono! Let this be the beginning of the end of Dalton's New World Order!" Belthasar shouted encouragingly as he activated the machine. It created an artificial Rift and Crono and Garet vanished within, headed to a time they did not know.

*End of Act 3*