Chrono Trigger Dimensions Chapter 3
By Jerm
"Well, what is it?" Crono asked as he was presented with Lucca's surprise.
She had led him to her front yard where several wires were running from the house. They all led to a device that looked suspiciously like the transporter she had invented two years back for the Millennium Fair.
"It's a gatekeeper! I've finally found out how to travel time without Lavos!" she said, still in ecstasy of her newest invention.
"A gatekeeper?" Crono pressed, looking for a better definition.
"It makes gates," Lucca answered, patting the machine gently.
"You mean you've created a gate? A working man-made gate?" Crono was taken aback, despite his fatigue.
"Well, I don't know if it's working...but the theories are sound. I was going to test it, and then I thought that you might want to watch." she said.
"So...you don't KNOW if it works or not? You don't even know if it'll...say, blow up in our faces?" Crono was suddenly a little apprehensive.
"Oh, I don't think it'll blow up. It might fall apart if I didn't tighten a screw or bolt enough, but it won't blow up. Besides, I spent a LONG time working on this, if anything's safe, it'll be this," she replied, then she added happily, "So should I try it out?"
"Wait until I've stepped back far enough," Crono said, putting word to action and stepping back, "like, say to my house."
"Oh, come on, Crono!" she dropped to her knees in front of the control panel and put her finger on a switch, "Live dangerously."
"Those two words should never be--" Crono began.
She pushed the button.
"--...Nevermind," Crono finished, defeated.
The gate started humming as the electricity began coursing through it. Nothing happened for the first few seconds, then the humming suddenly became more pronounced, less annoying.
Crono closed his mouth, watching and waiting for something to happen. He raised his hand above his eyes to shield out the sunlight coming from the noontime sun. Something started to appear in the stand, a circle of energy. It was a gate. But this gate was red, not blue.
"Uhhh...Lucca. I don't think that's right!" Crono yelled over the hum of the machine.
"I know, I know!" Lucca yelled back, equally perplexed by the bizarre lightshow.
The machine was buzzing so loudly now, that Lucca even started to back up, fearing an explosion. The grass around the forming gate began to blow back away from it, some unseen energies pressing out of the gate.
Then suddenly, the circle began flickering. It sustained for a moment, then it vanished. The machine shut down. Silence returned a moment later as it died. Seconds later, it was as it had been before she turned it on.
Lucca was somewhat annoyed.
"You stupid piece of trash!" she said gracelessly.
She demonstrated her point by kicking the machine. There was a metallic clang as her foot hit it. "I was so close!" she yelled.
"Lucca, you didn't really expect it to work the first time, did you? I thought most of your inventions took several tries and corrections to work," Crono said carefully, trying to avoid causing a fit.
"But this is the fifth time I've retried it with improvements. This is the closest I've been, and I can't think of what is wrong with it." she said despairingly, "It was supposed to work this time!"
She sat onto the grass and punched the ground, "I was so hoping on seeing Robo again. I hope he's about there being a place for him in the new future, but I would really like to find out myself."
"I have to go eat lunch now. Would you like to come?" Crono spoke up, walking beside her; he then added as a joke, "I see that your parents aren't here and you couldn't feed yourself if you had food in one hand and an instruction booklet in the oher."
"Just because I forget about the time, doesn't mean I don't know how to feed myself, Crono," Lucca glared at him, standing up, "But I'd love to eat at your house for lunch. There isn't anything here right now anyway."
"And that?" Crono asked, indicating the nonworking Gatekeeper.
"It's not going anywhere," she said dusting herself off.
She gave it one last kick and then they headed back to Crono's house.
Pret fumed as he entered his personal room back at his city of Porre. The upstart advisor had insulted him again. Again! He only put up with it because he had been promised with power if he helped Nikades. He didn't trust Nikades. Not by a long shot. But if Nikades betrayed him, he could have him executed for treason. He had power in Porre now. All thanks to the king and his daughter.
The old mayor of Porre had retired last year. Pret, seeing an opportunity, had pushed his way to the top and had become the new mayor; with a little help from Nikades. Soon after that, the king decided to give the mayors of each protectorate a little more power and named them nobles.
Nikades had told Pret the reason for this was that the king had wanted to spend more time with his daughter. They had finally closed some rift that had divided them for a long time. The king had had too much work to really spend time with his daughter, so he gave the nobles the right to decide domestic problems in their own areas.
That was one thing Nikades was good for: information. The other useful trait was soon to be tested for its worthiness.
Pret sat in his chair and leaned back casually, with a smile forming on his face. He began to think about what he would do when his plans finally succeeded.
Long after Crono and Lucca had left, the house was still empty. Taban and Lara were, of course, on a visit to Denadoro and Porre. They wouldn't be back for a few weeks. Crono and Lucca were eating at Crono's house; they wouldn't be back for a few hours.
However there was a presence there.
The gatekeeper started to blur. A strange howling noise erupted from its depths and a red circle appeared in its center. After a few seconds, the gate stabilized and remained. Inside was a shape.
It was dark yellow and stood at about 8 feet. Its face was in the center of its body, and above its face was its coneshaped head, which was adorned with horns protruding in all directions. Baleful eyes peered forth into the new world.
It was a golem.
The golem stepped out of the gate, which closed behind it. The creature whirled around and roared loudly as it saw that its passage home had closed. It was lost in an unknown world now.
The golem looked north, toward the town of Truce. There it would find a way to return home. It tore across the lawn to the bridge, which linked the island to its target.
.