The Biggest Threat Part 3

A Meeting of Old Friends

By Husker Du

The End of Time

"Gaspar! I now have magic!" said Brian, as he approached.

"Good, you will need it for this next test. Are you ready to begin you're journey?" said Gaspar, with a gleam in his eyes, walking to a bluish portal.

"Yes! I'm ready for anything!" cried out Brian.

Gaspar laughed, then suddenly got very serious. "Brian, you cannot go on this mission alone. That is why........" Gaspar walked over to a portal. "You must get the heroes of yore to help you."

"You mean Chrono, Marle, and Lucca?" said Brian in amazement. "They will help me?"

"Their future is your future, they will help you, do not worry. Now go through this portal and come back here with Chrono and his friends! Good luck!" said Gaspar, as he grabbed Brian and pushed him into the portal. "Not again....." Brian said, as he was thrown around the portal as if he was inside a blender.

"May whatever gods you believe in be with you." said Gaspar, as he turned back to his lamppost.

*****

1001 a.d.

"Aaagh!" yelled Marle, as Chrono tackled her from behind. Panting, Marle grabbed Chrono and threw him off of her. "You're it!" she cried, as she jumped like a up like a child and ran behind a tree.

Chrono, slow to rise, laughed heartedly. "I wish we always had time for games like this, we get too old sometimes to remember these things..."

"Chrono, we aren't old, silly!" Marle said as she jumped into Chrono's arms, and hugged him. Chrono was surprised by this, but hugged her back. Then, he suddenly jerked in her arms. "No! We forgot to go to Lucca's presentation!" he said, as he dragged Marle from the courtyard into the castle. Guards and cooks smiled at the 2 as they proceeded up to the second tier of the castle, into Marle's bedroom. Inside, they could hear yelling and some banging.

"Sounds like Lucca's invention got the best of her again," Chrono laughed. He opened the door, and just dodged as a block of metal flying through the air almost hit him in the head. He saw that inside was Lucca, frustrated as ever, along with several other witnesses, as a metal contraption was grabbing items and throwing them around the room haphazardly. "My room!" Marle cried, as she readied a spell to shoot at the invading robot, when Lucca angrily ran over to the back of the bot and pulled a switch, which made it shut down with a whir of gears.

The other witnesses ran from the room, some crying from injuries, some laughing from the failed experiment. Lucca, however, looked very very mad, hitting the desk with the palm of her hand, and started to cry, when she saw Chrono and Marle in the doorway. Trying to regain her composure, she invited them in the room.

"This is my bedroom," said Marle annoyed, "and you destroyed it!" She grabbed a painting, and seeing it broke, she tossed it back down to the floor.

Lucca bent over sobbing again, and Marle noticed what she had done. Bending over Lucca, she embraced her, as did Chrono, and tried to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Lucca." Marle said as she grabbed a cloth and dried Lucca's tears with it. "I didn't mean it...." she said.

Chrono, observing the mess, commented "I bet that robot could make a mean tossed salad......"

At this, all 3 of them burst out laughing, and Lucca apologized for what happened. "It wasn't supposed to do that, but when do I have an invention that works?"

"Beats me, I'd like to see one though," amused Chrono, at the laughter of the other 2. Just then, an armored guard burst through the door, and stopped when he saw the wreckage inside.

"Umm......Is everything ok in here?" he said, checking over all of them.

"We are alright, but what do you need?" asked Marle.

"Well," the guard stammered, "there's........a....strange boy asking to see you 3, in the King's room...."

"Well then, shall we?" said Marle, grabbing Lucca's and Chrono's hands. Together they went down to the King's room, where all they saw was the King himself.

"King Guardia, where's this boy that the guard was talking about?" demanded Chrono, hands on his hips. Marle seen this action and started to giggle, while Lucca rolled her eyes, which made Marle laugh even harder.

"I'm sorry," the King said, trying to ignore the laughter of Marle and Lucca. "We thought he was crazy, so I had him detained......guards! Bring the visitor in!"

2 guards left the room, and entered again with a strange person, alot older than what Chono and the others thought the guard meant. He was dressed in a strange garb, along with a shirt that said something about a rock.

"So who would you be?" asked Chrono, extending his hand out to the boy, who jumped when he said this. "It's......YOU!" cried the boy. "I've always waited for this moment, to grab the hand of a hero!"

Marle and Lucca laughed at this, which made the vistor turn his head, and almost go in shock when he saw them. "YOU 2?? Oh my god......" he cried as he ran to them, extending his hands in a gesture of friendliness, which they both accepted. Chrono cleared his throat, which got everyone's attenion, and repeated, "Who would you be??"

"Oh..." said the stranger, straightening his shirt, "my name is Brian Schumacher, and I come from the year 4050."

"4050!?!" exclaimed Chrono, almost falling over when he said this. "What would you be doing here?"

"Could we please sit down somewhere, and I'll explain to you all the situation?" said Brian. Chrono escorted them all to Marle's bedroom. "Sorry about the mess," said Marle. "One of Lucca's inventions go haywire again?" asked Brian, which got a puzzled look from all 3 of them. "How did you know?" asked Lucca, straightening her glasses.

"May I sit, and I will explain?" asked Brian. They all took a seat in the wrecked room, and Brian explained to them the situation, from which they all were shocked to hear that.....

"Magic is dead in 4050???" said Marle. Brian shook his head affirmatively, then continued, telling them why it was dead, his meeting with Gaspar, and the person named Rudian who had destroyed the time from when he came from.

"Horrible.....just horrible." remarked Chrono, shaking his head. Lucca, however, looked at Brian with a puzzled expression. "What are 'nukes'?"

"Well........they are a weapon of mass destruction. They were first made to protect us against the last of the magic users. When they were wiped out, noone ever thought of magic again."

"Couldn't the magic users stop the nukes?" asked Lucca.

"Nuclear warheads." corrected Brian. "No, you just don't understand how powerful they are. They can destroy miles and miles of land with one hit, and if it doesn't kill you in the blast, the radiation from it, sort of a poison, would kill you in time. I would imagine that one of them could have killed Lavos if it would have hit him."

"Wow.....What power." exclaimed Chrono, shaking his head. "So, after hearing all this, we need a plan of action. We will accompany you on your journey, don't worry."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." said Brian, grabbing the hand of Chrono. Marle and Lucca did the same.

"Gaspar told me to bring you all to the end of time, where he will tell us what he comes up with." said Brian, looking out the window of the castle. In the courtyard, he could see a couple children throwing a ball around, and people playing and talking. "This place is so lovely," he remarked. "My time is so messed up....."

Lucca sat up and stood beside him. "Brian, every time is deformed in it's own way. That's what we are here for," she smiled, gesturing to Chrono and Marle, who were also smiling, "we try to fix whatever is wrong, or die trying."

"It's settled then. Brian, I'll show you to your room, and we will go to Gaspar's tomorrow." said Marle, escorting Brian to a sleeping chamber.

That night, Chrono and Marle sat outside the palace, wondering, thinking, praying......

"Magic gone? World destroyed.....?" Marle wondered, looking up to the stars. "Why would someone do such a thing? How could someone forget magic?"

Chrono held her close. "I don't know," he said unsurely, "but hopefully we can fix it. Tomorrow, Gaspar."

.

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