A Step Onto Chronos Chapter Four
The Future
Shadic the Hedgehog
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own CT.
We came roaring out of the other end of the Gate, only to slam into the door of Bangor Dome. I had severe whiplash from the encounter.
"Yeouch!! What just happened!?" screamed Marle.
"We just slammed into a door... My neck really hurts... and we need to get outta here. So could somebody get that door open? I can't just drive through it," I answered.
Lucca had me back up as she rolled down her window. She took careful aim at the door with her gun, and blasted it right off its hinges.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," she replied.
I began driving north towards Lab 16 and put disc two of my Chrono Trigger soundtrack into my CD player. The disc started with the original Gate sfx then began playing the 2300 Overworld theme. When we entered the Labs I pushed the button to play that theme.
"you guys can read any of the books if ya want. We've got a long journey."
We only encountered a few problems as we drove through the Labs. The only things were the Shadows: they would plaster themselves to my windshield and we'd have to stop and get Lucca to burn them off with Flame Toss.
We reached Arris Dome and I parked the Aeon. We got out and walked into the Dome's missing doors. The inner dome was not right through those doors, but rather there was a debris filled hallway lined by destroyed houses and still-rotting corpses (N/A: I know 301 years later there would only be skeletons, but I have my reasons) Marle had closed her wyes and grabbed onto Crono so she didn't have to look. I felt like vomiting, myself. When we finally entered the inner dome, I threw up over the side of the catwalk and heard a splat and a squeal as it hit a rat.
"That was disgusting! What could have done that?" cried Marle.
"I have a feeling we'll be finding out soon..." I wheezed.
"Do you think it still lives here?" asked Crono.
"I doubt it. I really do." I replied.
We started walking along the path to the center of the room. When I saw the first person, I could hardly believe they actually lived this way all the time. I heard Marle sob when she saw a sleeping child on the floor. It did look like she was dead, but I knew better. I walked up to Doan and tapped his shoulder.
"Who are you?" he asked. He must not have been sleeping with everyone else, because otherwise his heart could've gone out.
"We came from the ruins to the west," Marle replied.
Even though that didn't really answer his question, Doan yelled, "What! Everyone wake up! We've got people who've crossed the ruins!"
"What?!" "So there ARE people who can beat up those freaky mutants!" "Who are they?" Everyone was speaking at once, until Doan held up his hand.
"My name is Doan, I am the descendant of this dome's manager, and you are?"
"My name is Crono, this is Marle, that's Lucca, and the other guy is Hugh," Crono replied.
"Have you guys got anything to eat? I'm starving!" complained Marle.
"We're all starving, too. The only food is down that ladder. But everyone who has gone to find it has never returned..." intoned Doan.
"Well guys, shall we be heroes all over again?" Lucca asked.
"Yeah!" we cheered.
"What? don't tell me you're going down below!" interrupted Doan.
"Yes we are! We want you to live better than this!" I yelled (A/N: I can imagine C,M, and L sweat-dropping). "And don't worry," I added. "we'll come back alive."
We descended the long ladder to the basement of the Dome. We walked up to the blue-glowing consoles as Marle noted the gaping hole in the floor. On each side were some projections that could fit together. Lucca went and looked at the hole, then the consoles.
"Don't bother," I said. "they need a password we don't yet have, and the other path is currently open."
"Yeah, you're right," she mumbled. I thought I could see her thinking 'wait, he said "yet!" That means we'll be able to get there eventually!' But what did I know?
We walked through the door and on the other side was a room where the floor had fallen through; all that was left was a bunch of intersecting, rusted I-beams that were wide enough for one person at a time to walk normally.
"They look sturdy enough," I said.
"Let's just hope they are," Crono replied.
We started across the I-beams, it was hard not to think of them as rafteers, when we could see the room below. Then we saw the rat.
"Just ignore it, it's only a rat pretending to be a statue," I waved it off.
"But what about the note on its side?" asked Marle.
"Just a meaningless warning, come on."
We continued to the guardian room, where the alarm sounded and the Guardian was descending from the ceiling.
"Attack the bits on either side first," I advised. "If you hit the robot you'll only get hurt worse."
Crono and I got rid of the bits and then assaulted Guardian. Throughout the entire thing Lucca superheated the metal skin and Marle was closing our wounds with her Aura. There was a programmed voice saying, "Bre...a...k......d......o.........w.........n............" coming from Guardian. It began to fall apart until it completely dissolved.
"Man, I'm tired," said Marle. I handed her an Ether.
"Expect to be tired all the time, our journey has just begun," I walked into the broken refrigerator room, confusing Marle. (A/N: I confuse others easily, ne?) She followed then gagged and squeezed her nose.
"Eeew, someding reeks!"
Lucca nd I inspected some crates and I stole another line, "The refrigeration must have failed: everything's rotten."
"Hey," said Crono suddenly. "who's that?"
I had almost forgotten the man who had died in here. We walked up and stood next to him.
"He must have been the only one to get past the guard bot," murmered Lucca.
"Must've passed away long ago..." said Crono.
"Here, look: a seed... and a note!" announced Marle. Which makes you wonder why Marle was looking so closely at a dead guy.
"The rat is not a statue, it knows the sercrets of the dome and how to speak! Catch it!" Lucca read over Marle's shoulder.
"Okay,k we're going to try catching that rat, there might be more food over through that other door," I said.
"Hey, good idea!"
We left the broken fridge and the man's body, taking the seed with us, and walked out to the floorless room. As soon as we got in the door, Marle stopped and pointed at the rat, shouting, "Look! There it is!" Even though this was said very loud, the rat didn't run. I led evryone back into the guard room and told them a plan you could never do in the game.
"When we chase the rat I want only two of us to run after it. When it reaches a door it will hide off to the side andwait for you to go through. Then it will come back out and you can chase it back here. So we're going to get it in a pincer trap!"
We executed the plan with Marle and Lucca running one way and Crono and I waiting behind to catch it on the return. The plan worked and the rat told us to push what buttons on the consoles. We let it go and ran to put in the code. The hole closed up and we dashed through the door. We snuck past the robots and went through the door to the main computer room.
"Wow... Look at the size of this computer! It's bigger than I thought it would be!" cried Lucca. She winced. "Whoops..."
"Hey! I told you to stop where we split up! You peeked ahead! How far?!" I yelled.
"Um......... The End of Time," she mumbled.
"Well, it's too late to change any of that, so I guess you know what to do here."
She walked up to the computer and started tapping buttons, while I explained to Crono and Marle thai I would explain in good time. The computer displayed a large satillite picture of the world before it zoomed in on Proto Dome and put some technical data around it.
"That would be Proto Dome," said Lucca, "reading" the words off the screen.
"Hey," said Marle, "what's this big button for?"
She walked up to it and pushed the button. The screen suddenly blinked into the words, "A.D. 1999. Visual Record of the Day of Lavos." We all watched as the picture of the terrible destruction rolled on. I whispered, horrified, to Lucca, "It's a lot worse on this side of the screen, isn't it?"
She nodded slowly, awed by the power and terrible destruction.
I looked over at Marle and Crono and then saw them sobbing into each other, holding tightly. The movie ended and the computer shut down, out of power after 301 years, probably had a nuclear battery.
"1999," murmered Malre. "That's our future...? NO! I refuse to believe it! Crono! Hugh! Lucca! We must stop this! Right? RIGHT?"
"We shall defeat this evil called Lavos and give these people a better future!" I yelled.
"We must destroy it and save the world!" cried Crono.
"The beast should never have existed! We shall wipe it out!" screamed Lucca.
"Let's do it!" We all yelled together. We ran out of the room, hacking up robots and bugs until we got back to the main chamber. Doan looked up, surprised, and yelled, "You're back! What did you discover?"
"Well..." began Marle. "This is our future!"
"What!!!!" cried everyone, running towards us.
"We also found this," I said, holding out the seed. I glared at Marle for revealing that before I revealed the seed.
"A seed?" asked a guy to my left. "What good's a seed?"
"This seed is the only thing you guys have left! Don't just throw it away and suffer even more!" yelled Crono at the startled crowd.
"This seed is the only piece of food inthis place that's not rotten, but if you are patient and wait you could have enough food to feed the world and then some!" I told the man.
"But... hey!" started Doan. "You do look different then us." he looked back and forth at us and the natives of the time.
Marle replied, "I think it's because we're healthy!"
"He...al...thy, I like the sound of that!"
"By the way, do you happen to know the way to Proto Dome?" asked Marle.
"You need to get to Prtot Dome, eh? Well you have to pass through lab 32 before you can get there, but there is a fast way through it! I have an old Jet Bike I used to ride that could get you across in a jiffy!"
"Don't worry!" said Lucca. "We've got a car!"
"The Aeon won't get us past the race with Johnny, though," I replied.
"Godd point."
"Then here's the key!" And Doan handed it to me.
Waving goodbye, we started to go through the door. Remembering the sickening rot on the other side, we closed our eyes until we felt the harsh air of the future on our skin. When we opened our eyes, we saw that the Aeon was covered in Shadows that were accompanied by three Mutants.
"Looks like we've got another fight!" said Crono. We all pulled out our weapons: Marle hade a Lode (some metal native to this world) Crossbow; Crono, a Lode Sword (katana); Lucca, a Plasma gun; and me, a greatsword I named Apocalypse. I found it in the computer room when the movie for Lavos played. (A/N: it looks basically like Cloud's Apocalypse sword, but thinner)
Lucca and Crono started with a Flame Whirl that destroyed all the Shadows. Marle and I went after two of the mutants. This battle was extremely tough. We had avoided the Mutants of the Labs with great difficulty, barely making it thanks to the car. I had not believed us powerful enough to fight the Mutants yet. This battle proved me wrong. As Apocalypse sliced through the siddle of my opponent I heard it make a horrid screaming noise and it lashed a tongue at me, which started sucking my blood. I roared like a dragon and sliced the tongue off. In major pain and only hlf-healed the Mutant turned and started running away.
"THOU SHALT NOT RUN FROM ME!" I yelled, surprising myself. I felt an odd energy run through my sword and into my arm, I performed Cross-slash, but instead of hitting it like it usually did, waves of fiery red energy flew from the tip and sliced through the Mutant. I sheathed my sword and it fell apart.
Marle had just finished off her Mutant and was helping Crono and Lucca fight the last one. I still had the odd energy, which felt like it was burning, so I yelled, "Get out of the way!" and unsheathed my sword again. They promptly jumped aside and I sliced through the Mutant as before, it blew up when the final wave struck it. I sheathed my sword and got into the Aeon. (A/N: LIMIT BREAK!!!)
"What just happened?" demanded Crono.
"The Mutant was going to run from the fight it started. I despise such cowardice," I answered. "But don't worry my anger has passed." I started the Aeonn and noted, "THe Aeon's nearly out of gas." When no one got in I asked, "Why aren't you getting in?"
"You said the car was out of gas."
"I said NEARLY out of gas! It'll probably be enough to get us to the labs and then we'll take the Jet bike from there."
"Oh." Everyone got in and I floored it all the way to Lab 32. The enginge died just as we entered.
"What'll we do with the stuff in the car?" asked Lucca.
"I'll leave them in the charge of the one who lives here.," I replied.
"Who?" asked Crono.
"He'll arrive in a few seconds, so let's ready the Jet Bike," answered Lucca. We went to the cockpit of the Jet bike and I inserted the key. I heard a siren and we headed for a more open area. Four robots showed up and everyone was about to pull out their weapons when I said, "Stand down. The Keeper of the Labs is nere." 'Heeeeeere's JOHNNY!' I laughed inwardly.
There was a raoring noise as loud as a V8 engine and Johnny the motorcycle bot flew in at top speed. The four robots we were prepared to fight suddenly said, "It's... the MAN!"
"Uh, huh," said Johnny, sounding like Elvis. "You low lifes can call me Johnny. You, over there!" he pointed at us. "You know how to drive that thing?"
"I think I might," I said. "But could you help me refresh my memory?"
"Of course!" said Johnny and he launched into a lengthy speech about how to drive the Jet Bike. "Now that you know how to drive it, you wanna race?"
"Yes," I answered. "but first I wish to ask you a favor. Could you keep watch over my car and its contents? It's been attacked by Shadows and Mutants several times since our arrival."
"If you can beat me I will!"
"Ono on one? So that I can be more comfortable?"
"You're on!" I leapt into the Jet Bike and turned the key. Johnny, in motorcycle form, and I eased up to the entrance of the old highway and waited for the start.
"3! 2! 1! GO!!" yelled a robot. Lucca fired her gun in the air and Johnny and I took off. He started in the lead but I pulled ahead about half way through and stayed there until around a mile from the end. I pushed the button for the rocket boosters and flew past him, crossing the finish line. Then we turned around and headed beck for the entrance to tell everyone the news.
"You did it!" "Way to go!" "Yeah! Ha, ha!" shouted my friends as we told them the news. Johnny promised to take car of my stuff until we returned for it. Everyone piled into the Jet Bike, which was a tight squeeze, with Lucca driving for the experience. We decided to leave it at the edge of the highway. We traveled to Proto Dome, fought a few robots, then rested up before moving to the back and finding Robo.
"It's a robot!" said Lucca, in mock surprise. "I'm gonna fix it!"
"But then it will attack us!" cried Marle.
"No, it won't. Robots aren't evil, just the people who program them."
"You pity them don't you?" Lucca didn't answer her.
A couple hours later, Lucca finished working on Robo. She pushed the activation button and stood back. Robo started beeping, then he jumped up and began emitting sparks! He jumped around a bit before finally regaining control of his systems.
"All Systems operational. Who are you?" He asked me, the first person he saw.
"My name is Hugh. These are my friends: Crono, Marle, and Lucca, who fixed you.
"Understood. Madam Lucca fixed me."
"Just Lucca, no 'madam,'" said Lucca.
"But that would be rude!" said Robo.
"I thought you would have programmed that out of him," I muttered to Lucca.
"Shut up," Lucca ordered me. "Listen, I hate fancy titles. Everyone else here does, too," She added to Robo.
"Positively hate 'em" grimaced Marle.
"Understood," replied Robo.
"What's you name?"
"Name? Ah, my serial number. I am R66-Y."
"No, no, no. That won't do at all. How about... umm..."
"How about Robo?" I interjected.
"Yeah that oughtta work! Your new name is Robo!"
"Storing to memory... Complete. I am Robo."
Crono suddenly spoke up, "What about the door? Marle told it wouldn't open."
Robo walked over to the door and heaved at it with all his might. "the generator has been shut off," he explained. "We will have to go to the Power Plant up north to return power, but one of us will have to stay behind to open the door. The plant requires access codes that I have stored in my memory bank."
"All right, Crono," I said. "Who's gonna stay behind?"
"Why are you asking me?" asked Crono.
"You started all this. Therefore, you are the leader of this little group. Plus, I don't like making choices that affect others."
"Okay... I don't know... Let's do some form of random selection. I can't decide."
"I may be of some assistance in this matter," interrupted Robo. "I have a random number program that can pick one of you to stay behind."
"All right, start 'er up!" exclaimed Lucca. A small, holographic image of Crono appeared and started to cycle through the four of us. It finally stopped on me a few seconds later.
"Well, I suppose I'll be staying here! Hey, Robo, if I accidentally fall asleep when the power comes back on, what should I do?"
"Here," he said. "I will create an alarm for you. It will be plugged into the power supply. Once the poewr has been returned the whole place will fill with sound, which should wake you up."
"Thanks." Robo fixed up the alarm and the others left. I had intentionally asked Robo that question so I could make up for the lack of sleep over the past few days.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The speakers of the dome blared with the sound of the alarm.
"HOLY HELL! What a wake-up call!" I yelled upon being shaken awake by the shockwaves of sound. I quickly opened the door. The power (and thankfully the alarm) shut off again a few minutes later.
After a bit more waiting, Lucca, Crono, and Marle walked into the dome carting Robo behind them.
"Robo!" I said in feigned surprise. "What happened to him?!"
"A few of his brothers attacked him. We dismantled them and saved Robo. Now I have to fix him again," "explained" Lucca.
After a few minutes, Lucca presented Robo as good as new, I had learned a few things about robots, and Crono and Marle caught up on some sleep.
"Lucca, I think you should sleep, too," I said. "You've been working really hard." Robo and I discussed some more about his time's technology, and I told Robo about leaving the Aeon and my stuff with Johnny and he proposed to retrieve the books.
"Do not worry. I just need to program a holographic message for proof of your permission. I will then return quickly," said Robo.
"Thanks, I fear what could happen to paper in this atmosphere," We recorded the message and he took off fo rthe Labs. I only had to wait a few minutes before he returned, laden with books and electronics.
"Wow," I commented. "Robo, yer fast. The only things I can think of faster are a couple of beings called Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog, from som ebooks I didn't bring, who can travel at the speed of sound."
"Are these two organic beings?" asked Robo.
"Shadow was genetically engineered, and Sonic was born normally."
"Fascinating." I laughed and made some Star Trek jokes (I actually had to explain them shudder)
"Yaaaawn. Hey, there..." said Crono. He woke up Marle and Lucca, then noticed Robo was carrying all the stuff from the car.
"Robo retrieved those just a few minutes ago. Shall we be off?" I asked.
"Let's go!" exclaimed Marle.
We stepped into the back room and Robo, as the newest member of the group, opened the Gate. We stepped in, and the Gate closed, then it opened, then it closed again. We were on our way to the End of Time.
It kills with unfeeling malice
-Flavor text of the Nim Replica. (I'm talking about Lavos, though)
The Supernatural aspect of this story will begin next chapter, when Joe gets his magic. BTW, My real name is Joe ;)