Serge awoke in the strangest place he'd ever been. A place that made him slightly sick because of the swirling colors and brightness.
"I'm inside a painting now?" he asked to the air.
To say he was confused would be a huge understatement.
After searching the small yet garish area he discovered that it appeared he was alone, and in a moment of annoyance, he kicked a branch, knocking down a piece of fruit. A door suddenly opened behind him and something small ran out, collected the fruit and headed back. Serge dashed to the open door and slipped inside at the last second, coming face to face with a strange looking creature.
"Oi! Wot you do'in in me house?" it asked.
He made a face, "I don't know!"
The creature, apparently named Sprigg, babbled on about time and fate, like so many people had done before, and by the end of it, Serge was yawning.
She suggested he stay here the night, to which his first thought was, "Isn't this a painting? Wouldn't that mean there isn't any day or night?"
"I don' know," Sprigg replied.
He sighed and looked out through the window and then another thought came to mind, "Wait, I know how I got in here, but where did you come from? You said you are from the same 'reality' I'm from."
She shrugged and hopped up into a badly made hammock, "For no adequately explained reason."
He growled to himself but settled down anyway since there wasn't anything else he could really do.
"Harle?" Serge asked dubiously, "What are you doing inside the painting?"
The jester hopped off of the ceiling and fell to the ground in a gravity defying action.
"Monsieur Lynx, wheze 'ave you been?" she asked, sounding annoyed.
He sighed; somehow he'd been hoping she'd realize he wasn't actually Lynx.
"Um, Harle? I'm not Lynx. He did…something that wasn't adequately explained and switched bodies with me."
She laughed, "Ah! That iz not possible, but you are very amuzing."
"No, really, I'm actually Serge."
Harle pouted and crossed her arms, "Are you? Or are you something else? Are you Lynx? Was Lynx even Lynx?"
He wrinkled his nose, "Okay, now I'm just confused. What are you talking about?"
"Oh! My, my, are you even aware of what iz going on?" she continued in her fake French accent, "You may believe you are in fact, Serge, but I believe you are Lynx. And this is my reality, zo what do you zay to that?"
Serge just blinked and she proceeded to walk up a wall and glance back down at him, "What is true reality? Can we even know? You are Lynx,"
"No, I'm Serge," he countered.
Harle giggled and wandered across the ceiling as if it was floor and then went down another wall, "No, you are not,"
"Yes, I am,"
"No,"
"Yes!"She blew a puff of air out and wandered back up the opposite wall, spreading her hands wide, "Zhere you are wrong,"
"I think I know who I am," Serge retorted.
Harle shook her head and walked across the wall in a semi-horizontal line, "And I say that you are not,"
"Look," he said angrily, rapidly loosing his patience, "I know I'm Serge you deranged clown! I want out of this stupid painting or whatever we're in, now!"
She 'tsked' and walked around the room again, traveling up and down and finally stopping on what looked like the ceiling but might have been a ledge.
"I 'ave nothing else to say to the likes of you on thiz matter, monsieur Lynx," she stated.
Serge stomped his foot and drew his swallow, "I want out of this painting Harle! For no adequately explained reason I ended up here and for God's sake, stop walking around on the walls and ceiling, you're making me ill."
The jester eyed him and then floated down, bells tinkling, "Alright, I know how you feel. Come, we will leave."
He rolled his eyes but willing followed the stupid clown out what looked like a fake door but actually turned into a hallway that led to another section of the strange painting world.
"Whatever, just so long as I get out of this inadequately explained death trap." he muttered.
Serge looked up at Zappa as they walked through the streets in Termina, "Can I ask you something?"
The big man nodded.
"Well, I noticed you and your wife, Zippa, both have a Scottish accent,"
"Aye," Zappa replied.
Serge shrugged, "And Karsh is your son?"
"Aye,"
"So…why doesn't he talk with a Scottish accent?"
There was a long pause and they continued to walk, Serge looking up expectantly at Zappa.
"Well lad, I've never really noticed. I guess he just doesn't, for no adequately explained reason, you could say."
Serge frowned, "I thought you might say that…"
It wasn't as if he'd never been in Viper Manor before, but this time they were going to a section under the well that he didn't know as well. As such, Serge kept stopping and asking the Porre soldiers which way to go.
Finally they reached a room filled with water and looking rather nature like instead of the marbled hallways of the mansion.
There were two stationed guards and he walked up a short embankment to talk to the first.
"Please enter through here," he said formally.
Serge looked around in confusion.
There wasn't anything that looked like a door, so he assumed the guard meant the other way that was down below.
He asked the other guard and his reply was, "Please enter through here,"
Serge sighed, although in his current form it sounded more like a growl. "Enter through where?" he asked, "I don't see a doorway."
"Please enter through here," the guards chorused again.
He sighed again, "Come on guys, help me out here. I have no idea where I'm supposed to be going."
"For no adequately explained reason we can only tell you to please enter through here."
Serge rolled his eyes and wandered through what may or may not be the exit.
The Porre commander they had just met, Norris, listened intently as they explained that no, he wasn't Lynx, and yes, something strange was going on.
Radius finished explaining it and Harle made some comment that Serge ignored, as he always ignored her, and then they looked to Norris.
"It doesn't make any sense…" he said, rubbing his forehead.
Serge nodded, "I know, right?"
"You've told me everything, and yet I still feel like it's inadequately explained." Norris said, frowning.
Radius shrugged and Harle tipped her head making her bells jingle while Serge nodded, "Tell me about it. Join the club."
They knew they needed to get to the Dead Sea, but they couldn't do that yet. It meant that they were at a stand still, with no direction or any clues.
Serge puzzled it over and then turned to the rest of the group, "Hey, let's go to Marbule!"
They all looked confused and surprised.
"Why?" Radius asked.
Serge grinned slightly, "For no adequately explained reason."
Serge was annoyed. No, correction, he was heavily annoyed.
They had spent the entire day wandering around the Zelbess doing busy work and trying to gain access to the 'Grand Slam' all because the Sage of Marbule had been seen going in there.
They had to gamble with Fargo, lose to Fargo, watch a stupid magic show, get turned into cats, find out Fargo was cheating, re-gamble with Fargo, win back their boat and then gain entry into the stupid Grand Slam.
All while discovering a disturbing family tree that involved pirates, mermaids, rock stars and preppy little Devas.
Now they were on their way to the Grand Slam doorway when Serge stopped and face-palmed.
"Why didn't we just wait outside the door for the Sage to be done?" he asked.
His party members shrugged and he sighed but continued to lead the way. They might as well get it over with now that they'd gone through all of that.
They entered and walked around a bit before seeing the Sage exit through a door. They followed and then saw him go back in, leading them to rush after him. He went back out, then in, then out, and finally back in once more where they met him face to face.
"Why are you following me?" the strange man asked.
Serge caught his breath and then spoke, "We need to ask you about Marbule,"
The Sage wiped out a mop, "Let's fight!"
"Wait, what?" Serge said, off guard.
The mop hit him square in the head and he drew his own blade, "Oh! You are so dead!"
He slashed and then stopped, "Wait, why are we fighting again?"
"For no adequately explained reason!" the Sage roared, striking again.
"Finally we made it to this stupid Dead Sea!" Serge exclaimed, walking forward. He stopped however when he saw a red sword embedded in the ground.
"What the…"
Radius suddenly appeared to spite the fact that he hadn't been in the party and wasn't even on the boat with them, "No! Don't touch it!"
"Why?" Serge asked, pulling back his hand.
Radius shook his head ominously, "Because, it is an evil sword. Twisted with enmity and grief."
Everyone looked back to it as Radius continued, "It will be impossible to continue without becoming possessed by the Masamune."
"Wait, wait…" Serge said, waving his hands, "I thought the Masamune was the legendry sword used by heroes…"
"Yes, but for no adequately explained reason in this game its evil, so get with the program." Radius snapped.
Serge sighed, "Fine, fine…sorry…"
"See! Now that we have this sword, we can stop that sword!" Radius said, smiling.
The party grumbled their excitement, annoyed because of all the extra stops they had to make to get the Einlanzer, a sword that could break the Masamune's power and allow them access to the Dead Sea.
The seal broken, the Masamune floated up and then vanished into nothingness, making Serge frown, "What just happened?"
"Something that's not adequately explained until later." Radius commented, waving the other sword around.
"Let's just go," Serge said, pointing.
The Dead Sea was the strangest thing that Serge had seen thus far. And that was truly amazing considering all the weird stuff that had happened to him.
"The waves are at a standstill…"
"The buildings look so advanced…"
His party said these things in awe and Serge just frowned, "Just another thing that isn't adequately explained…"
"Hmm, I wonder what this is?" Serge said, looking up at the huge box.
"If I may," a voice said from behind them making everyone jump and turn around.
Serge made a face, "Norris? How the heck did you get here?"
Norris ignored him and stepped up the odd device, "I have some knowledge of computers, and I might be able to get this to display something."
Serge shrugged, "Okay, so long as you know what you're doing…"
The Porre commander started randomly hitting buttons, turning knobs and looking like he was just messing around until he stepped back and drew his gun.
"Uh…are you sure you know what your-"
There was a 'bang' and something on the computer screen popped on while the control panel smoked.
Norris smiled, "Got it!"
Serge wasn't sure if he should be impressed or chide the man so chose to ignore him and look up at the screen.
"Lavos? What the heck is that?" he asked.
Norris pushed a button and then kicked the base of the computer, switching the display to another window.
"Hmm…Day of Lavos Record. 2300 AD! Well, it looks like we have some sort of parasite eating away at the center of our world and when it wakes up…" Norris trailed off as the screen went dark.
"Dang! There wasn't enough power to display anything else." the commander said.
Serge shot him a look, "I'm sure it had nothing to do with a certain someone shooting it," he commented sarcastically.
They all stared at the screen, "What could this 'Lavos' mean?"
"That this game, despite what you might have thought early in it, is actually a Chrono Trigger Sequel." Norris explained sagely.
Everyone gave him a weird look which prompted him to say, "What? Just because things seem to be happening for no adequately explained reason doesn't mean there isn't a story here."
As if the whole Dead Sea wasn't creepy enough, now they were listening to three child ghosts yelling at them for destroying the world.
But then another person arrived, someone vaguely familiar, someone who told them not to bother listening to the ghosts since they were phantoms from a long gone age.
"You probably don't remember me, but I'm Miguel, I was your father's friend. I was with him the day you almost died."
"Oh, great! Then you can probably explain some stuff," Serge said hopefully.
He shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I can, however, give you a bunch of information that's only useful as a re-cap of the Chrono Trigger game if you haven't played it."
"…Thanks?" Serge said, rubbing the back of his neck.
He smiled, "Of course! But first, let's fight."
"Ugh, really?" Serge whined, "What's your reason for suggesting this?"
Miguel, who looked about as threatening as a potted plant, shrugged, "Probably because I've been here from years and it's boring, honestly."
"So for no adequately explained reason,"
"Exactly!"
The world was quaking beneath their feet and no matter how fast they ran it was obvious that they wouldn't escape the Dead Sea in time. The waves were becoming unfrozen and the air was trembling with power.
Suddenly there was a shadow overhead and they all looked up, seeing the form of a dragon swooping down.
She picked them up and then soared upwards, out of the Dead Sea just as everything went to hell below.
As they circled the skies, the dragon rescuer slowly descended to a familiar island, Marbule. On the far shore she dropped them off and then landed, shaking out her four wings.
After collecting themselves, Serge asked, "Why'd you save us?"
"At the moment, it's for no adequately explained reason." the dragon replied.
Serge wrinkled his nose and the dragon took flight, "Anyway, have fun son of man, and be sure to fight Fate!"
The bar maid apparently knew them and opened a locked door, telling them to go down. Curious, Serge shrugged and wandered down the steps.
He jumped as a voice boomed, "WE MEET AGAIN,"
"AH! Oh, it's you Zoah," Serge exclaimed, one hand over his heart and the other keeping him stable against the wall, "Don't scream like that,"
Karsh was across the room with his arms crossed, "Hello Lynx, or is it Serge?"
"You know who I am?"
Zoah nodded, "INDEED."
"Well," Karsh amended, "sort of…we can't seem to get everything adequately explained. But we have noticed that you, or rather, Lynx in your body, has been causing trouble and acting very un-like you."
Serge nodded, "I know, I still don't know why he wanted my form."
There was a pause and then Serge made a face, "Wait, hold on. Lynx is here, in Another World, causing trouble?"
Karsh and Zoah nodded.
"Why? I mean, this whole time he's been after me, right? So why now that he has my form is just running around breaking things and chasing people?" he mused aloud.
Karsh looked confused, "Uh…I actually have no idea, but you make a good point."
"IT IS NOT ADEQUATELY EXPLAINED." Zoah said in agreement.
Karsh waved a hand, "We'll figure it out later, right now we need to get into Viper Manner and free Miss Riddel. She's been taken hostage by Porre."
"Miss Riddel? Viper's daughter?" Serge asked, vaguely remembering her.
Zoah nodded, "YES, ALTHOUGH WE AREN'T SURE HOW PORRE GOT INTO THE MANNER. WE LEFT GLENN THERE TO WATCH OVER HER."
Again Karsh waved the comment off, "Stop talking already and let's get going!"
"Err…" Serge decided to forego telling them that Glenn hadn't stayed in the manner and instead just agreed to take them with him and go get Lady Riddel.
"PORRE IS USING MY ROOM AND NOT FEEDING MY CAT!" Zoah said indignantly, making Karsh and Serge both shush him.
"Zoah has a cat?" Serge whispered to the green innate Deva.
Karsh shrugged, "Yeah, he does…just wait, it gets better."
He turned to the larger man, "Hey, Zoah, what's the name of your cat again? I can't quite remember."
"PRINCESS MUFFINS MC-BEAUTIFUL!"
Serge held both paws over his mouth, trying to silence the laughter that was threatening to bubble out.
They continued walking and once he was under control, the teenager shook his head, "You know, I never thought much of you Devas from the beginning, but this has to take the cake."
Karsh looked offended, "Hey, hey, that's not fair. Don't judge us just on Zoah!"
"You have long purple hair and Marcy, who is only ten, is into killing people. And, the fourth one of you is dead, so…"
He trailed off at the Devas glare and held up his hands, "Hey, I'm just saying,"
They slipped through another door and found Norris, who stood and saluted.
"Sir Lynx."
"Um…yeah…Lynx," Serge said, glancing at the Devas for help. They were both looking around as if the floor and walls were suddenly interesting.
"Sir…" Norris said, sounding uneasy, "Something's been bothering me since I saw you in Termina. You don't seem the same as last time I saw you."
"That's because he's not Lynx you moron," Karsh snapped.
Zoah nodded, "YES, THIS MAN IS NOT LYNX."
Serge slapped a hand to his face, "Nicely played, Devas."
"Not Lynx?"
Serge quickly explained, "Well, it's like this. My name is really Serge. I'm from a small town that is actually in another world that's almost exactly like this one. Through some inadequately explained means I ended up here, in this world, your world, and ended up getting involved in a bunch of crazy stuff. Then, this creepy cat-guy named Lynx somehow switched bodies with me, leaving me looking like him and him looking like me and now I'm here to get Lady Riddel out of the manner and…I think that about covers it." he finished with a breath.
Norris stared at him a long time and then sat on the edge of the bed, "I believe you."
"Seriously?" he replied dubiously, "Because if I were you I'd totally think that sounded nuts."
Karsh elbowed him in the side.
Norris shook his head, "No, it makes sense because I knew something strange was going on. I'm just not a high enough rank to do anything about it."
"I thought you were a Commander,"
He nodded, "I am, but that other solider is the one who's ordering things around here."
"What rank is he?"
"An officer."
Karsh beat everyone to the question of, "What the hell? You outrank him and yet your taking orders from him?"
Norris shrugged, "For no adequately explained reason that's just how it is."
This time all three of them slapped a hand to their face.
Traveling through the underground waterway also known as a sewer took much longer then anyone thought it would, leaving them annoyed and wet.
As they approached a ladder, a bug suddenly fell from the ceiling.
"For no adequately explained reason fight this bug!" Serge mocked, pulling out his weapon.
They rattled the overhead door and then heard a voice tell them to wait a second. The door suddenly opened and they climbed into a tight cell and came face to face with Capitan Fargo.
"Fargo?" Serge said, surprised, "Why are you in prison?"
"Arrrr! For no adequately explained reason," the pirate answered. "Now, are you gonna get us out, or what?"
"You're the cook, Orcha!" Riddel exclaimed, staring at a frightening madman wielding both knives and frying pans.
"But what have you done to him?" she demanded of the Porre soldiers.
They laughed and one explained, "We gave him some seeds from the Hydra Marshes. They are designed to bring out someone's evil side for no adequately explained reason. Now apparently he is evil!"
Riddel looked back to the cook, a horrified look on her face. "How awful!"
"Yes, you could say he had a bad seed!" the Porre man quipped, laughing.
Everyone else in the room looked at him with a blank expression.
"That wasn't funny…" Riddel said.
He frowned, "Ah, shut up and get tortured."
They had been resting in the burned out Hermits Hideaway but now there was a ruckus from outside and Serge sat up, hearing a familiar voice.
"I know that voice…" Karsh said, peeking around a wall.
He hurried outside to make sure it was true; it seemed so unlikely, he'd seen the dagger, the blood…but things weren't adequately explained before, maybe this time would be no different.
"Oi! Just you wait Lynx, I'm gonna kick your arse so hard you kiss the moons! Say yer prayers, not that it will do you any good!" Kid announced, alive and well.
Although obviously under the impression that he was her arch foe.
Dark Serge suddenly materialized and smirked, crossing his arms and coming to stand next to Kid.
"Whoa, what the hell am I wearing?" Serge asked, glaring at the outfit.
Lynx, who looked like him, spoke, "To her, you are still her hated enemy!"
"Yeah, but how is she alive?"
Dark Serge paused, "…For no adequately explained reason."
Suddenly there was a bird's cry from above and a giant parrot-dragon swooped down and picked Serge up, rescuing him from a somewhat dangerous spot.
"Fargo!"
The pirate captain laughed, "Ha! I've got you now, matey! We'll escape to my ship!"
Serge looked down, "But wait! What about everyone else in the hideout?"
The sound of wind rushing past wings went on for a good minute before Fargo replied.
"I think Lynx was only after you,"
"But he already has my form and my girlfriend, why is he still looking for me? Does he want my house? Or maybe my not-so-secret savings?" Serge asked, starting to get annoyed.
"Look," Fargo said, "it's for no adequately explained reason. Just be glad that I was here to save you!"
The pearly gates looked the same as the death's door had in the other world, minus the glowing red sword of doom, that it.
Harle stood before it, gazing up before turning around and looking at Serge.
"I 'ave one question for you,"
He sighed and waved a hand indicating she could ask, although he could honestly care less.
"If you had to choze, would you choze zee world, or would you choze moi?" she asked, fluttering her eyes.
He stared at her, wondering if this was a joke or not.
"Oh, gosh…um…give me a minute to think about it…" he stalled, not wanting to make her angry but also not caring about her at all.
"Why are you even asking this?"
Harle sighed, "For no adequately explained reason. But please, answer zee the question."
"The world. What the heck did you think I was going to say?" Serge retorted.
The clown actually looked upset, and sadly shook her head.
"Maybe now she'll stop stalking me…" he thought hopefully.