-1Chrono Trigger: Redreamt

- VII -

Metallo di Sonno

"Marle!" Lucca startled and slapped her hand away, "Don't touch!"

"Ow!" She pouted, having already pressed a button, "Don't hit me…!"

The computer crunched numbers, before it pulled up a video. The group all stopped and watched silently, amazed.

"Visual Record Data," words written in green letters appeared on the screen steadily, "1999 – Day of Lavos. Beginning visual playback…"

The words lingered on screen momentarily before being erased, the screen filling with white static before clearing to the sight of a green world. The world was nearly idyllic in appearance, vast domes of glass towered in the distance while the camera focused on something closer: a woman wearing a short red dress and top, holding a small stick in her hand. Behind her were the sights of a fair in-progress, while beside her was a tall man dressed in a black suit, looking somewhat disgruntled.

"Thanks, Doug!" the woman smiled chipperly, "Now continuing with our live report from the Guardia Millenial Fair, I just happened to run into the head of the Agidyne Meteorogical Labs! Mr. Sharl has kindly agreed to answer some of the questions we've received from our viewers on Channel 5 News. Thank you for your time, Mr. Sharl!"

"Yes, yes, glad to be of assistance," the suited man responded, obviously less agreeable about the affair.

"Tell us, Mr. Sharl, do you think the recent odd electrical storms of late are anything to be worried over?" The woman extended the stick to the man.

"It's springtime. While our domes may be climate controlled, Mother Nature still eludes our grasp. It will rain when it rains and sometimes that will involve a bit of lightning."

"But isn't it at all strange that these storms form so suddenly and strike so viciously? And what about the recent tremors that have persisted the last few weeks, should we be on the lookout for a serious earthquake?"

"If you're suggesting, miss, that the Earth is about to go the way of Krypton, let me assure you that simply is not the case. We are still in the process of studying all the data we have been collec-"

Both individuals were interrupted as the ground began to tremble, the camera jostling around. After a moment the rumbling stopped suddenly, all returning to calm. There was something eerie about it all, however. Even the normal happy sounds of the fair came to a screeching halt. Just then, as quickly as the quake had stopped, it returned only with a terrifying strength. Screams were heard as people began scrambling off the fair rides, the camera panning around sharply in search of the epicenter. In the distance one of the domes collapsed into the earth before a massive explosion rocked everything, rubble seen flying in all directions.

Then came the sound. A horrifying chortling wail, accompanied by an enormous spike-shelled monstrosity clawing its way out of the now-gaping wound in the planet. Molten rock slid off it in vast, fiery sheets, the camera focusing in on it and abandoning the people nearby. The woman could be heard screaming, but it was soon drowned out by the tremendous roar of thousands of tiny shards of light being hurtled into the air from the creature's back. Time seemed to freeze a moment before the projectiles plummeted, arcing gracefully downwards to the surface. Briefly the camera caught the sight of the resulting cataclysmic chained explosions before the recording came to an abrupt halt, the screen cutting back to static.

Everyone stood in shocked silence. Marle was clinging closely to Crono, stammering. The young man breathlessly muttered, "God almighty…"

"'tis Lavos." Alphonz commented.

"Th... That thing... it just... blew up our PLANET!"

"Yes. Recall how I spoke upon the 'End of time'. This, to me, comes quite near."

"Don't t-t-tell me you were I-in that mess." Lucca trembled all over.

"A mess it verily was! I shall NEVER set paw nor foot into that time again!"

"Mother fucker... just... what IS it?"

"Little I can tell you, other than an insect and the name given to it."

"Why didn't ya SAY something, Alphonz?" Marle yelped.

"You were too busy playing in the soot."

"No way." Crono shook his head. "There's NO WAY that this is our future!"

"It 'tis." No solace was contained in the cat's voice.

"L… let's fix it!" Marle smiled widely, "Ya know how you went and fixed me by saving Leene?"

"…find a way to get rid of Lavos before that day! Of course!" Lucca snapped her fingers.

"I can do that! The Hell I'm letting some damn bug blow up MY planet!"

"Alphonz?" Marle knelt down in front of him, "I know you're all sad and stuff, but won't you help us?"

Lucca nodded, "Your time splitting skills would be very useful in trying to get rid of that thing.

He turned his head away, slicking his ears back, "No. I cannot."

"But why?" Marle nearly cried.

"Lavos is a creature menacing to MORTALS. I went through its wrath once to attempt to bring an end to my eternal punishment. Yet I emerged unscathed. I displace myself apart from the planet as a damned soul. I shall not help you, as there is no profit to me."

"What kinda asshole are you?" Crono stared down at him harshly, "You're just gonna sit by and let THIS happen? Those people are relatives of your FRIENDS!"

"I let down those 'friends' and have become such a monster…"

"Oh god," he rolled his eyes, "Not this again."

"Of all the greedy bastards!" Marle suddenly snatched him up tightly, "Here's the deal!

A. We'll get you a damned body! B. Get the HELL over Cecelia! And C. YER GONNA HELP US IF YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, BUSTER!"

Alphonz recoiled in shock. Crono warned, "Listen to her. Women are not to be trifled with, Alphonz."

"No threat of a mortal stands against me!" He hissed, "What are you going to do about that, hmm?"

With no warning, she took him and shoved him headfirst into her blouse. The cat instantly shrieked and wriggled violently, but she held him there soundly, shouting, "You'll stay there FOREVER, mister bashful!"

Alphonz shrieked and yelled in sheer panic. Crono and Lucca watched on, with the girl commenting: "Odd. Most men would like that."

"MERCY!" He shrieked, sobbing tearlessly, "I CANNOT GAZE UPON THE WOMANLY FIGURE IN SUCH A FASHION!"

She finally relented, pulling him free. "GOOD! Now remember that or you'll go there again!"

Lucca held back a laugh, "Gonna help us, kitty?"

"… I-indeed."

"Great! Well, we know where our portal is, ladies and gentlemen." Crono started back upstairs, "Let's get crackin on crackin Lavos!"

"Here, sir, this is all we found." Lucca passed the foods to Doan.

"Incredible! But…" He looked at the bag of seeds, "What are these… seeds?"

"Sunflowers it seems!" Marle fanned her arms out, "You can plant them and get more and more… and more and more and more!"

She began dancing, chanting. Doan got more and more excited the more and more Marle said the words more and more. Crono interrupted, "Easy, Marle. Don't give him a heart attack!"

"And MANY more!" She cheered.

"Sunflowers!" All of the survivors shouted.

"We shall plant them at once! Thank you! Thank you so very much!"

"Eh heh. Marle's idea." Crono scratched his head, "We just followed her."

"Nah!" She hugged her friends, "Couldn't have done it without my buddies!"

"Hey, watch it, you're knocking my glasses off, you loon?" She laughed.

"You all are…." Doan smiled a little, "Different from us."

"We're healthy." Lucca put her glasses back in place.

"Heal-thy? Sounds dangerous. But a nice ring to it!"

"…er…"

"Hope you enjoyed your lollypops!" Marle giggled.

"We did!" Doan nodded. "Where are you three headed to now?"

"Proto dome, sir." Lucca tried to get some of the ash off her glasses.

"You'll have to pass through the labs to get there… I think you could use this." Doan handed over a key to Crono.

"Er… thanks." He took it, "How's this gonna help us again?"

"It's a key to a motorcycle I used to ride when I was your age." He winked, "Back when there was a few hot chicks left!"

"Ooo-kay…"

"But," a man commented, "It was a lot more fun to ride when it was turned on…"

The woman next to him hit the back of his head, "They don't need to know that!"

"…you people don't get out much, do you?"

"Heavens, no! The ash is killer on our asthma!" Doan coughed.

"That's not exactly what I meant, but okay." Crono tucked the key in a pocket. "Well, sorry to leave so quick, but we've got a bit of a mission in front of us. Y'all take care now, ya hear?"

"Plant those seeds!" Marle chimed.

"An' more an' more," the little girl giggled.

"And more and more!" Crono and the rest headed for the exit. The people chanted the words behind them, excitedly.

Marle asked when they got outside, "What'd he mean by 'more fun to ride'…?"

"Question better left unanswered." Crono laughed uneasily, "I just hope I can figure out what a motorcycle is."

Finally they reached more ruins with quite a bit of road between the old, completely destroyed buildings. As they approached, there was a shiny object… on two wheels with handles, gleaming metal, engine, and a seat and sidecar was the fabled motorcycle that once picked up chicks by the dozen. Lucca nearly orgasmed, "A REAL AUTOMOBILE."

"Is THIS thing a motorcycle?" Crono looked it over.

"Kinda small," added Marle.

"Somebudda's touchin' our sweet ride!" A gang of unruly robots scrambled out to the group. Lucca shrieked in extra delight.

"REAL ROBOTS!"

"Real robots wih REAL guns, Lucca!" Crono readied his sword.

"…man, we supposta be evil?" One of the bots paused. None knew the answer, so they shouted, "Excuse us. HUDDLE!"

They whispered for awhile before nodding. Then they whipped around, shouting, "Okay! ATTACK!"

"Yo!" A commanding voice cried, "Hold yo' asses!"

The robots all jumped, as a revving sound and the roar of an engine drowned out all other noise. From down the road came racing an oversized… tricycle, that squealed to a sharp halt between the robots. With that, it transformed itself into a robot, amazingly different from the others.

"Big brother!" The robots all cheered.

"GAH!" Lucca shook with excitement, as Marle hid behind Crono.

"Yo yo yo, my black brother bots!" The newest one posed, "How's it hangin'? Whoa, looks like we got some WHITE folk 'ere!"

"The silliness continues…" Crono stared in utmost disbelief. Lucca looked enthralled, in that insane, 'I-want-to-dissect-you way…

"The name's Shaft, white muthafucka's! Johnny Shaft."

"Big brother's soooo cool!"

"Crono! I'm scared!" Marle whimpered.

"Don't worry. It's just a Big Black Guy Not Named Ben."

Lucca drooled, "The… the mechanics! His wheels! His gears!"

"Who tha fuck you supposta be, woman?" Johnny looked over, annoyed.

"Lucca Ashtear."

One of the robots screamed, "I'M BASED OFF A TOASTER MADE BY THAT WOMAN. BUT SHE'S WHITE! AAAAH!"

The robot burst into flames, with the others backing away. Johnny glanced at it through the edge of his glasses, "That boy was always getting' on mah nerves, e-ne-way. So what brings you folks into our 'hood? Gonna try'n take our rights 'way like you always doin'?"

"No!" Marle blinked. "Just passing through. Hee."

"Yeah RIGHT you jes passin' through! You 'ere to take our wimmin, ain't ya?"

"No, actually, I think we're swimming in women already." Crono looked among the girls.

"Yeah right." Johnny scoffed, "Well then what you fuck's doin down 'ere?"

"The name calling…!" Lucca suddenly pulled out her toolkit with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Down, Lucca! Down!" Crono panicked.

"Sssh!"

"Let me handle this, 'kay?"

Lucca stood innocently until he looked away. Then she disappeared.

"Ah, ehem… listen, my black brotha!" Crono tried to speak his language, "We jes down 'ere a use that bike and MOVE our asses down tha line."

"I hear THAT. You wanna steal our ride, huh?"

Lucca re-appeared behind him, flipping open her tool case.

"HEY BIG BRO!" The other robots screamed.

"Now what'choo fussin' bout now, boy?" He grumbled.

"BEHIND YOU!"

"Wha- AAAARGH!" Lucca abruptly started to disassemble Johnny in a most brutal fashion. Bolts and washers flew everywhere, as pieces clanked into a messy pile. Crono and the others were shocked.

"Thus, Lucca does to the machine what serial killers do when they maul their victims…"

"WOW!" Lucca panted, finished disassembling Johnny, "I think I can now make myself a Tricyclebot when I get home!"

"AHH! FLEE!" The rest of the robots tore off for the hills.

"I'm still scared, Crono!" Marle whimpered.

"You know, Marle, I think any sane person would be."

"Alright!" Lucca stashed her tools, "Let's go! … how we all gonna fit on his thing? I mean, here's a sidecar, but…"

Both of the girls looked at each other with glassy stares, "Someone has to sit with the driver."

"Let's see," Lucca grinned, "Who would be more helpful with the electronics and engineering of the design?"

"But you're smaller and would fit easier into the side car. MISS asthmatic."

"Easy, ladies…"

"So, Crono!" Marle giggled. "Who's gonna sit where?"

"First off, does anyone here know how to drive this thing?"

Lucca raised a hand. Marle whispered to Crono, "Don't trust her! She's crazeeee!"

"What, you want to drive?"

"READY?" Marle revved the engines. Lucca was in he sidecar clinging to Alphonz, while Crono was hanging onto Marle.

"I wasn't making my decision when I said that!"

Marle took off at blinding speeds across the pavement. Lucca sunk deep into the sidecar, turning green, along with Alphonz who began howling. Crono screamed, fearing for his very life, "Dear God, save us all!"

She brought the machine around a narrow corner, driving like she had one at home. Not toning it down at all, she narrowly missed piles of debris and skidded around corners. Crono could do nothing but scream along with Alphonz's dismayed howls. Marle laughed, "Don't be scared! Nothing bad will happen!"

"How do you know?" Lucca sobbed.

"…I don't!" She spotted the end of the road, and -floored- it. Crono could only scream for his mommy as Marle hit an unexpected ramp, causing the vehicle to go momentarily airborne. In the few quiet seconds of flight, Marle blinked. "Huh. That's new."

After the impact of shrieking steel and victims, the ash flew about in a great cloud before eventually settling. The motorcycle spun its wheels uselessly. Marle lied around in the dust before suddenly sitting up, and coughing. "WOW! That was cool!"

"HACK!" Alphonz was busy losing his lunch to comment.

Crono sat up and screamed at Marle, "You almost got us KILLED!"

"BUT WE'RE ALIVE!" She suddenly clambered over, talking as she got ever closer, "Don't you love that RUSH when danger gets close? The pounding of your heart as you see your life flash before your eyes?"

"Marle, you're freaking me out…"

"THE ROAR OF ADRENALINE WHEN DEATH IS UPON YOU?" She now was over him completely, "It's called fun, silly. Teehee."

"Fun doesn't normally involves brushes with death and or the breaking of the SPEED LIMIT." He pointed at a sign that was clearly marked '35'.

"It is on my watch! I'm the princess, so I break the laws!"

"That is SO power abuse."

"Whee!" Marle threw herself back into the ash, rolling about in it. She laughed her blonde head off, "I don't think I've ever had this much fun!"

"I pray we never have this much 'fun' again." Crono stood up and went over to Lucca, "I hope Lucca's asthma hasn't killed her now!"

Lucca unfortunately didn't move much. Alphonz was busy nudging her, which at least seemed to keep her breathing. Marle gasped and came over, scooping her up. "Uh oh! We can't have a dead scientist, now can we? Time to… HAUL ASS!"

"Never, NEVER shall I take a ride with that woman in control!" Alphonz followed along, hacking out ash.

"Next time, Lucca drives!"

"Aw, but she'd be no fun!"

"Can we worry about that when she's NOT in immediate danger of suffocating?"

"You're so tense…!"

Finally they reached the next dome, where Marle set Lucca down who was wheezing violently. Crono, instantly trained to this occurance, immediately opened a certain pocket in Lucca's bag and pulled out an emergency shot to open the poor girl's airways. Giving her a dose, he carefully patted her on the back. "Easy there…"

"Oh god…" She wheezed, "I can't wait to go home."

"You gonna make it?" Crono was severely concerned.

"We cross our fingers…" She took awhile to just breathe before stabilizing and getting up. Gazing around the dome, she saw the inevitable locked door… but also something sitting in a corner. She gasped sharply in surprise.

"What is it?" Marle glanced over.

"R…R…ROBOT!"

Indeed, in the corner sat a very dusty, broken down robot of a brass color. Gleaming eyes of many rats glared back at the group, having chewed through the object's wires and no doubt nesting within. Marle jumped onto Crono with a shriek, "AAAH! RATS!"

"Allow me." Alphonz leapt in after the rats, which all tore off into the walls with shrieks. He soon emerged, shaking off dust and rust, scampering back over to the trio.

"Good thing we have Alphy!" Marle eased, crawling off Crono.

"Eh heh." He blushed. "Yep."

Lucca stumbled for it as if it were the holy grail. Alphonz observed quietly, "It appears to be broken."

"I CAN FIX IT!" Lucca -screamed-.

"Well, yeah, we knew that. Do we -want- to fix it, though?" Crono scratched his head, "I mean… we haven't exactly had good luck with these things recently."

"What if it's evil?" Marle clamored.

Lucca shook her head. "I'll make it so it isn't. They aren't evil by choice… somebody had to have made them that way somehow…"

"…hate to see the human that made Johnny then." Crono coughed.

Lucca shrugged and went to work. Removing the paneling, she worked to clear out the rat nests, with a little help from Alphonz. In the meantime, Crono took the chance to sit down and really calm himself, while Marle tried the locked door to no avail. There was a loose panel nearby, though, a passageway for the rats… after some long work and time, Lucca wiped the sweat off her brow, putting the head back together. She turned it on and backed away, "There we go… this should do it!"

The robot produced a small whirring. Shortly after, it made a great grinding noise as it rose to its feet. It stood still a moment before going absolutely nuts, causing the party to back away, flinching. However, Alphonz watched in calm silence. It slowly came to a halt, standing, and looked at everyone in the room.

"H-hi." Marle squeaked.

"…greetings, mistress. What is your command?"

"Huh? Lucca, what do I do?"

Lucca stepped forward, adjusting her glasses, "Identify yourself, please."

"Processing… Serial number R66-Y."

"KICKASS!" Lucca jumped.

"Aw," Marle frowned, "That won't do at all?"

"Why not?"

"Try and say it five times fast." Crono sighed.

"R66-Y R66-Y R66-Y…" Lucca was confused. "Meh? Am I suppose to be hearing something?"

Marle was stunned. "Her mouth moves faster than I can think."

"Yeah. I only wish it could move as fast as -she- thinks. Listen, Lucca, we ain't gonna be able to remember a serial number."

"Fine," Lucca groaned, then addressed the robot, "R66-Y, let your databases show my friends are nimrods. Your new name is Robo, clear?"

"Hey!" Marle complained.

"Processing… data storage complete. Your companions are now categorized as nimrods. New name is Robo."

"Perfect. I'm Lucca, I fixed you!"

"Aff. Madam Lucca repaired me."

"Madam? No…" She shook her head. "Just Lucca."

"Neg. That would be rude."

"But I HATE formal titles! Don't you, Marle?"

"Oh yeah," she giggled, "Hate them."

"…understood, Lucca."

"If it would make you happy, call me anything you want. So, how are you, erm, functioning?"

"Core systems at 80% and rising. Weapons system at 20%. Movement systems at 75%," he moved an arm with a screeching sound, "And rising. Overall system status: nominal."

"I suppose I can do a better job when I can BREATHE." She took out her inhaler and took a dose.

"That gate would be REAL handy by now." Crono of course was instantly nervous for Lucca.

"It lies beyond the door…" Alphonz looked at it, then a loose panel, "But, a panel pried loose would allow me entry into the power grid so I may power it on."

"Okay, Robo?" Lucca pointed, "Peel off that panel there."

"Aff, Lucca." He walked over and ripped it off with ease, "What shall I do with it?"

"Put it down over there." She pointed.

"Aff, Lucca."

"She's enjoying Robo too much." Marle sighed. Alphonz crawled into the wall.

"It's kinda wrong that you can just order him around like that." Crono sighed as well.

"Oh, sorry guys. Thank you, Robo!"

"It is my duty to obey."

Alphonz cast a strong spectrum spell, that instantly brought the room to life, causing the door to swing open. He stumbled out, a huge ball of static-y fur. Everyone stared and threw their hands over their mouths. Marle broke out giggling, "Alphonz! Look at you!"

"Silence your laughter…" He growled.

"S-sorry, Alphonz. It's just…" Crono fought hard to stay composed.

"Alphonz," Robo looked over, "You have developed significant amounts of static electricity. Shall I remove it?"

"No, thank you. I shall be waiting for you all at the End of Time." He disappeared with an ear-shattering BAMF.

"End of time? Aren't we…?" Lucca stammered.

"?" Robo looked around. "Alphonz has traveled through a disruption in the time-space continuum. Destination unknown."

"Don't worry about it, Robo," Crono sighed. "Knowing him, we'll find out pretty soon."

"Yeah, he does that. Well," Lucca hacked, "Before my airways snap shut, let's go."

Marle let out a soft 'ooh', then asked, "How close is Lucca to dying RIGHT NOW, Robo?"

"…Subject Lucca is at 63% operating capacity for her lungs. Status: Very not good."

"Very not good is a status?" Crono asked in surprise.

"Aff."

"COOL!" Marle giggled, "I wanna hear the other statuses!"

Lucca let off a sharp gasp before collapsing. Marle pointed at her, "What about now?"

"...Subject Lucca is really, -really- very not good. Suggest immediate transport to an area with clean air and fewer 'nimrods.'"

"Hey!"

"Hello, Marle."

"Hello, Robo!"

"Hello headache." Crono groaned. "Let's leave, please. Robo, could you carry Lucca?"

"Aff, Crono." Robo gently picked her up. "Now what, Crono?"

"Just follow us." Crono dug out that gate key. "Assuming I know how to use this thing…"

"Aff, Crono."

As soon as they got near, the gate swung open. Marle cheered, adding, "Hey! He's got a buddy so I got mine!"

She swept Crono off his feet and carried him in. Robo responded, "Aff, Marle."

The gate closed behind them silently.