Chapter Fourteen

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"OOOWWWW!" Chrono exclaimed as Alya treated the wound on his forehead.

"Hold still!" Ayla exclaimed as she wrapped a bandage around it. "In my village, men are not such babies!"

Chrono stuck his tounge out at her. "Oh, shut up!"

Frog knelt beside him. "Art thou alright, Chrono? That was a terrible blow."

Chrono shrugged. "Aw, I'm fine. He only got me in the head... And he dissapeared right after he stole my bandana. I wonder why?"

"No time for questions!" Ayla exclaimed as she finished tending his wound. "We must go fight Magus!"

Chrono and Frog stood up and continued their walk down the dark hallways of the Black Omen. "I hope Marle and Lucca are okay..."

o O o

Marle marched through the Black Omen's corridors in the Robo suit. She kept a carefull watch over every corner she turned, every step she took, every noise she heard. The gunarm was always aimed and ready, no matter what. She was enfuriated with rage. Chrono was dead, and no doubt, the others were too. She figured that she herself just might die in this battle as well, but if it meant joining Chrono, then she was ready for it.

She marched her way up to two dark blue double doors. She could hear Magus laughing evilly behind them. All of a sudden, her anger just hit the roof like never before. She burst through the doors with a loud scream, aimed the gun, and fired.

Magus was caught off guard and was hit once in the arm. His laughter was cut short and replaced by a painful groan. He locked eyes with the mechanical figure, unaware that Marle was inside. "Where did you come from?" His angry look melted into an apathetic stare. He raised his hand in the air, ready to snap his fingers and bring upon the robot's destruction.

At that moment, the door burst open again. "Hold it right there, Magus!" Chrono exclaimed.

Marle's eyes widened at the sound of the familair voice. "Chrono... he's alive!"

Frog held up his sword and leaped into the air. "Cyrus! This is for you!" He hollared as he plunged down upon Magus... but was quickly met with a terrible fate.

Magus held out his arm. A shining blue light appeared in the palm of his hand. It quickly took on the shape of a long metal rod with a sharp blade on the end. He clutched it with both hands and swung it around like a baseball bat, stabbing poor Frog in the chest. Frog let out a cry as the red blood came pouring out his chest. He was thrown back to the wall like a baseball. He slumped to the ground, blood coming out of the side of his mouth.

"FROG!" Ayla exclaimed as she ran to his side. "You hurt bad! Be still!"

Frog groggily opened his eyes and chuckled slightly. "Cyrus... I have failed thee... Forgive me, my friend..." He raised his head and exclaimed, "Chrono! Ayla! Finish him off for me!" His eyes rolled back and he fell unconcious against Ayla.

"FROG!" Marle aimed her gun arm and fired contiuously at Magus, who dissapeared each time in order to dodge the bullets.

Finally, he appeared right in front Robo. "I've had enough of you." He snapped his fingers. The ground under Robo appeared to melt. As Robo started to sink, it hardened up again, meaning that Robo's legs were stuck in place. Magus leered. "And just to make sure that you can't use that gun anymore..." He grabbed Robo's arm and ripped it right off. "There we go..." He turned his head to look at Chrono and Ayla.

Alya was fuming with anger as she grabbed Frog's sword from his lifeless hand. "FOR FROG AND MY VILLAGE!" She hollered as she ran straight for Magus.

"Ayla, no!" Chrono exclaimed.

But it was too late. Magus didn't even snap his fingers. He reached for his belt and took out a small dagger. He quickly threw it at her, stabbing her in the chest. Her eyes bugged out as she fell to her knees. "Kino... everyone... forgive me..." With that, she fell to the ground, unconcious.

Magus looked at Chrono. "Are you sure you wish to accept the same fate at the others? If you want, you could just swear your allegance to me... and let me have the girl."

Chrono grit his teeth as he held his sword up. "Forget it."

"Very well... I shall finished my take over of this world right now..." Magus raised his arms up in the air. The entire place began to shake. In an instant, the black windows of the Black Omen burst open. Magus appeared confused and looked around. At that moment, the entire ceiling/top of the Black Omen was... peeled back and ripped right off. A bright blue light loomed in the sky. Magus grit his teeth as he focused all of his energy into the giant ball. It began to melt into a shape: A giant, lumpy looking dark gray shell with black spikes all over it. There was a small hole in the front of it.

"What the heck is that!?" Chrono exclaimed.

Marle's eyes widened. "Oh, no... It's happening!"

Magus lowered his arms and turned around to face Chrono. "Meet Lavos, my most loyal underling... And my most powerful. I created him long ago and have been saving him for a rainy day."

Chrono looked up at the large creature. How in the world was he going to stop a thing like that? He watched as the hole in the front began to glow a bright red. "What is it doing?"

Magus looked back at Lavos. When he saw the light, his smile dramatically left his face. "What the... Lavos, what are you doing?"

There was no real reply, but Lavos began to glow a bright red all over.

Magus made an angry face. "Lavos! I order you to stop that at once!"

Still, the light grew brighter and brighter.

Marle was watching everything from inside Robo. She remembered what the woman in 2300 A.D. has told her.

"Lavos was a terrible creature... When Magus finally summoned it, he soon found that even he couldn't control the thing... and was killed by it's power, just before Lavos proceeded to take it out on the rest of the world, using the last of it's energy."

Marle quickly opened the hatch in Robo's back and jumped out. "CHRONO!"

Chrono jerked his head to the sound of her voice. "Marle, what are you doing here!?"

Magus was still starring up at Lavos. "Lavos! I order you to stop that at once!" He grew angier as Lavos grew brighter. "Lavos! I told you to--"

At that moment, the red light shot out from the hole in Lavos' front. It looked like a sharp, red blade of light. Magus' eyes bugged out and his scream was cut off, when the light shot him in the chest. Blue blood came streaming out.

Marle could see that the light was shooting right through him, heading straight for them. She pushed Chrono to the side just before the light hit her. It struck her in the back and came out through her chest.

"MARLE!" Chrono exclaimed as the light faded away. There was nothing else left in it's path to kill. Chrono caught Marle just as she fell to the ground. "Marle!" Tears were streaming down his face as he watched her bleed.

She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. "I'm so sorry Chrono... Because of me..." She coughed in between words. Blood leaked from the side of her mouth. "I'm so sorry..."

He grabbed her hand and placed it against his cheek. "Why?... Why didn't you just let Lavos kill me?"

"What good would it have done either one of us? We can't stop that thing now... And I want to die with you... not alone."

He sighed as he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "I love you, Marle..."

"I love you too, Chrono... I truly believe... that in another time and place... we would have been meant to be together." With that, she closed her eyes. However, she was still breathing.

Chrono looked up at Lavos. It was getting all red again, almost ready to shoot out another red light at him. Chrono looked away and closed his eyes.

... Then, a white light appeared in the area. Before Chrono could react to it, his entire body froze... along with his mind.