Squaresoft/Back to the Future Chapter 2
The Successful Failure
By Fred Delles
The band, downcast after their rejection for the school’s homecoming
band, all packed up and went back home. Crono was with Marle, and they were
walking back. Crono was quite pessimistic about the situation.
“So it’s just one rejection! It’s not the end of the world!”
Marle said. She tried everything to cheer up Cloud, but to no avail.
Crono stopped. “It may be one rejection, but I can’t take it. I
mean, we’re just not ready.”
Marle disagreed. “Yes you are! You should send this demo tape in!”
She takes out a cassette Crono gave her to review. “You are good. Who
knows, you could become a rich rock star or something!”
Crono pouted. “And what if they don’t like it, telling me, ‘Hey,
kid, you’re no good. You’ve got no future!’ I tell you, I
can’t take such a rejection! Despite Lucca telling me that if I set
my mind to it, I could accomplish anything and-“
Marle put her index and middle fingers on Crono’s mouth and turned his
head toward hers. “That’s good advice, Crono. Why don’t you
just follow it?”
“It’s just that… well… I don’t know. After my dad
defeated Meteor thirty years ago, he’s now just a total dork! I felt
that my mom married him just because of that tragedy he refuses to talk
about.” Crono was still dejected; first, about his unworthy existence,
and second, his career failure in Cetra Lightning.
“C’mon, Crono, he’s still not that bad…” Marle tried
everything to cheer Crono up, but to no avail.
Marle chose to change the subject. “Remember that you plan on taking
me to Costa del Sol this weekend?”
“Oh yeah, that,” Crono replied. Some of the frustration left
Crono’s face. “Anyway, it’s just gonna be you and me. We can
take my dad’s car out and pack a few sleeping bags, chat under the
stars…” Crono started to take a romantic stance in discussing his
weekend trip.
“Just the two of us? Won’t you mom know?” Marle said. She
was ready for such a date, but Crono’s mom, Tifa, would probably freak
out at such a situation.
“Of course not, Marle! My mom thinks that I’m going camping with
the guys!” Crono said as the two kept on the long walk home.
The two passed by a large truck carrying a solar-powered truck that captured
Crono’s attention.
“One day, that truck will be mine. Just one of these days…”
Crono felt a bit of determination through him as he perused the truck. It
was one of the new Shinra models, with four-wheel drive, red paint, chrome
bumpers, and large tires. The banner on it read “Another custom 4x4
by Branford Shinra” and showed the price – over 2 million gil,
translating to over $30,000 in American currency.
Marle thought that Crono had something to live for. Their eyes met, and they
were ready for a kiss when…
“Save the Midgar Reactor!” A woman, in her sixties, shook a can
full of donations in front of Crono’s left ear. The donations were to
preserve the old Midgar Reactor Number Zero, destroyed thirty years ago by
the gushing Lifestream.
She repeated herself. “Save the Midgar Reactor!” Crono and Marle
turned to her and listened.
“Thirty years ago, the Lifestream destroyed the reactor, and it is the
last remaining edifice of old Midgar! Now Mayor Domino is planning to destroy
the reactor, and as part of the Cosmo Canyon Preservation Society, we need
donations to help preserve the reactor!”
Crono never really cared about Mako reactors or anything of the like, but
he decided to make a donation anyway.
“Here you go, lady. Here’s 25 gil,” Crono said as he took
a coin out of his pocket and put it in the jar.
The woman handed Crono a flyer describing the Lifestream incident. “Thank
you, young man. And here’s a flyer. Don’t forget to spread the
word!” She turned back to shouting “Save the Midgar Reactor!”
to other citizens.
Crono turned back to Marle.
“Now where were we?” he said. They tried for another kiss when…
Marle’s dad came along in his BMW. He honked the car’s horn and
she turned around to see the second interruption.
“It’s my dad, Crono. I’ll see you,” Marle said.
“Well, I’ll call you-“ Crono was interrupted by Marle.
“No, I’ll call you. But here’s my phone number. See ya!”
She wrote down the phone number on the back of the Midgar Reactor flyer,
and gave Crono a quick kiss. Crono though the world revolved around him as
he hurried home. That’s the power of love, Crono thought.
Fifteen minutes later, Crono got back home at the Neo-Nibelheim Estates,
a group of houses that were built about ten years after the Meteor incident.
Crono’s parents lived in a fairly large house in the center of the village,
with his brother Locke and sister Faris. Locke was the oldest at about
twenty-five years of age; he got a lot of influence from Yuffie, as he constantly
steals from people. He calls it “treasure hunting,” but everyone
else doesn’t, except for Yuffie. On the other hand, Faris, at 22 years
of age, is a lot like Cid, as she often goes on trips in sea, air, and land.
She often dreams of going into space, especially with the space station Kohlingen
and the space telescope Atma.
Both should be home by now, Crono thought. Hope Locke didn’t get arrested
again…
Crono saw flashing lights as he approached his house.
Dammit! Locke probably killed somebody or something! That moron never can
tell the difference between right and wrong!
Crono got closer, and saw the police car. There was also a tow truck
carrying…
The car! It’s a total wreck! As Crono got onto the porch and entered
the house, he heard a woman yelling. He got in, and found out that it was
Yuffie. Wondering what the heck it was all about, Crono overheard the
conversation.
“… don’t tell me that you didn’t see that blind spot!
It was there! How could you be so… blind!?” Yuffie yelled.
Cloud started to speak. “You know that my insurance will-“
Yuffie interrupted. “Your insurance? You’ve got an even bigger
problem in your hands!” The materia ninja kept on ranting and raving.
“Just look at my shorts! I spilled beer all over them! Who’s gonna
pay for it, Cloud!?” Yuffie was her usual self, constantly pestering
everyone in an arrogant mood, for her forty-six years on the Planet. While
she was forty-six years of age, she resembled someone half her age. She matured
into a beautiful woman after the Meteor incident. She let her short brown
hair grow to her waist and grew a couple of inches. She still wears her usual
garb, and still brandishes that thirty-year-old Conformer at enemies. She
also had three children: Lufia, Maxim, and Sophie. Their father, Edge, died
shortly after Sophie’s birth, and Yuffie was angry and depressed since.
When Crono walked in, Yuffie started to get angrier as they talked about
work.
Yuffie told about the report she was supposed to hand in. “And what
about that report?”
Cloud answered, “I just finished writing them, Yuffie.”
Yuffie started to get more furious. “Finished them!? In your handwriting?
Let me tell you this, Cloud: If I give that report in your handwriting, you
know what? I’ll get fired. And I’ll just bust your skull!”
Cloud began to feel nervous. “All right, Yuffie. I’ll type them
up and I’ll bring ‘em to you tomorrow morning.”
Yuffie began to laugh. “Can’t do, Cloud, I sleep in on weekends!”
She turned to the kitchen. After taking a couple of steps, she tossed
Cloud’s wallet back at him.
“Don’t be so gullible, Cloud. You’ve been that for the past
century or somethin’!” Cloud laughed as he put his wallet back
in his pants pocket. Crono stared at Yuffie like she was a freak or something.
“What are you looking at, butthead?” Yuffie cursed. Crono was going
to back talk, but feared that his dad would get fired if he did.
“Say hi to your mom for me,” Yuffie said in a rude tone as she
opened the fridge. She was dejected at the contents. “I came here to
your house and all you have is LIGHT beer? You’re such a dork!”
Yuffie took another look in the fridge, and saw a bottle that read “Cosmo
Candle.” She took it out, popped off the cork, and took a swig of the
bottle. Feeling displeased, she tossed the bottle in the fridge. She quickly
left. Cloud turned to his son and spoke.
“I know what you are going to say, son, I know. But, well, she’s
my supervisor, and I just can’t… handle her all these years.”
Crono knew that his dad was more depressed than him.
Cloud suddenly remembered the wrecked car. “The car, Dad! Yuffie wrecked
it! I mean, she totaled it!”
Cloud could do only one thing about the situation: apologize. “Well,
Crono, all I can say is that… I’m sorry. Life is just different
after that thirty year incident with Meteor.”
Crono could only agree. Dissatisfaction always seeped in.
Later on, the whole family was having dinner. Cloud opened a bag of peanut
brittle and filled a bowl with it. Crono and Faris grabbed a few Diet Pepsis
and slowly drank. Locke ate some of Cloud’s peanut brittle while constantly
looking at his watch. Tifa poured herself a glass of Cosmo Candle.
“You know, your pain seemed to affect you for a long time. Can’t
you just let it go?” Faris said.
“Yeah. Let it go. That’s just one thing that you can’t hold
on to,” Locke said. He acted as if he didn’t understand what he
said.
“Oh yeah, Marle called you four times today.” Faris said to Crono.
“This is what I hate!” Tifa said as she poured a beer. “Girls
chasing guys! I never did that sort of thing when I was your age. I never
had a strong feeling for any guy until they felt to me!”
“Then how am I supposed to meet anyone?” Faris said.
“It occurred just like Marle,” Crono replied.
Tifa felt depressed and frustrated at Crono’s reply.
“Besides, why exactly were you so sad?” Faris said in a concerning
voice.
“Yeah. What the heck did Mom see in Dad?” Locke interrupted.
There was silence as Cloud and Tifa looked at each other.
Tifa broke the silence. “I just did, Faris. It was fate.”
Faris realized the incident. “The whole thing was stupid! Sephiroth
killed Aeris! Cloud had a thing going for her?”
Tifa spoke sadly. “It was meant to be. Cloud and Aeris were in love
so much that when Aeris died, Cloud was shattered. He thought that his world
had ended. I tried to put him back together, and deeply admitted that I love
him.”
“You told this to us a thousand times. You fell in the Energy Stream
and-“ Faris couldn’t finish her sentence as Tifa realized her
experience with Cloud in the Lifestream.
“The Lifestream, Faris. That was when we fell in love and kissed for
the first time. From that point on, we would be one for the years to
come…” Tifa poured her fourth glass of Cosmo Candle, the continued.
“Well, anyway, if Aeris wasn’t killed by Sephiroth, none of you
would have been born. I married him because, well, I felt sorry for
him…”
Crono didn’t care about the incident. All he heard was that it was meant
to be. And with no way to change the past.
Cloud and Locke weren’t listening, either. They were laughing at the
“Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon” rerun. Locke took a quick look
at his watch.
“Damn! I’m late! Gotta pick up Rachel!” Locke said as he hurried
off.
“Locke! Come back here and give your mother a hug!” Locke gave
Tifa a hug, albeit a short one, and turned to Cloud and hugged him.
“Well, I’ll be seein’ you guys tomorrow. And Dad, change that
oil!” Locke replied as he left. Cloud laughed at the comment on his
hairdo.
Tifa stared at the empty bottle of Cosmo Candle and set it down gently.
“Treasure huntin’ again?” Faris said. Cloud was still laughing
at both Locke and the TV comedy.
Tifa popped open a bottle of vodka and frowned.
Crono went back to his room, thinking of a way to take Marle to Costa del
Sol the next day. At about 12:45 AM, the phone rang. Cloud picked it up.
“Hello?” Crono said.
“Ho Ho Hooo. It’s me, Bugenhagen. You all ready for that
experiment?”
“Well, yes.”
“I forgot my video camera at the lab. Will you pick it up for me on
your way down?”
“Well, okay. See you at 1:36.” Crono hung up the phone. He then
picked up his bag, his samurai sword, and climbed down the window. This sucks,
Crono thought. I wonder if this day will ever end…
End of Part 2
Watch for Part 3 – Midnight Massacre, coming soon!
Nitpickings:
How Yuffie became Cloud’s boss isn’t important. Their job isn’t important, either.
.