Crono and the Phantom Realm Chapter 5
A Storm in the City
By The Game God
“They are coming here.” the Phantom said to Abyssal.
“Yes, my lord…” Abyssal looked out the window and gripped
her lance tightly, “… they will not pose a significant threat.”
The Phantom nodded, “Go!” Abyssal nodded and left.
The Phantom looked out across the city. “This world is mine…
and soon the other will be as well.” The Phantom’s evil laughter
filled the tower as three small figures approached.
“This is the Phantom Tower…” Crono Sr. said, drawing his sword,
“… this is where it ends.” Crono and Takaeda readied
their weapons as the trio entered the silent tower.
“Not much to this place.” Takaeda said.
“Light security points to a strong offensive.” Crono Sr. said.
Takaeda moved to the end of the hall and opened the door. Twenty battalions
of shadowmen lie in wait behind it.
Takaeda shut the door, “We may be trapped.” A loud pounding
came from the other side of the door. Takaeda turned to Crono and Crono
Sr., “Hide!”
“What?!” the Cronos said.
“They only saw me…” Takaeda loaded his gunblade, “…
I should be able lead some of them away.” The Cronos hid as the
shadowmen burst into the room. Takaeda ran out of the hall and into
the street. He looked around and saw three cars… and a motorcycle.
“That’s the one!”
Takaeda hot-wired the bike and rode away with the shadowmen in close
pursuit. “He actually pulled it off.” Crono said. Crono
and his father headed up the stairs, fighting off shadowmen along the way.
Both Cronos were quite impressed by how the other fought.
The staircase stopped at the 229th floor. There, a dark, slinky figure
stood holding a shimmering black lance. “I am Abyssal…”
she said, “… the Phantom’s greatest warrior.” She
pointed the lance at the Crono Sr., “You die tonight, old man…”
she looked to Crono, “… your presence, however, is required
elsewhere.” The floor beneath Crono began to rise up to the next
floor… rise up to the Phantom.
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Takaeda raced through the streets of the city with Phantom’s soldiers
close behind. Takaeda took aim fired on the shadowmen. The blast
from the gunblade knocked several of the soldiers from their motorcycles.
“This isn’t working.” Takaeda said. He looked around,
ahead of him was a cement truck.
As he rode by, Takaeda slashed the side of the truck, spilling the cement
across the road. Though some of the troops got past the cement, the
odds now more in Takaeda’s favor.
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Abyssal watched the elevator rise up to the 230th floor then, turned back
to Crono Sr. “Your son is doomed…” she held out her
lance, “… and so are you.”
“You underestimate our strength.” Crono Sr. said, gripping the
hilt of his sword tight.
Abyssal smiled, “We’ll see.” Abyssal swung her lance
around, the blade crashing into Crono Sr.’s sword. “Your
feeble fighting skills are useless against me, old man!” Abyssal
channeled dark magical energy around her and her lance. The swirling
black light leapt from the lance and tore through Crono Sr.’s body.
“I am one with the darkness…” Abyssal said, “…
and the Phantom.
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Crono drew his sword when the elevator stopped in a pitch-black room.
“Welcome…” a booming voice said. Crono turned towards
the voice. The room was suddenly lit by shafts of blue light lined
the walls of the circular room. In the center loomed a dark figure.
“… I am the Phantom!”
Crono looked up to see creature that appeared to be nothing more than a flowing,
black cloak. Two bright red eyes glared at Crono from inside the
hood. “Let the people of the city go!” Crono shouted, pointing
his sword at the Phantom.
“It’s true…” the Phantom said, “… you do have
the lost sword of Zeal!”
“What?”
The Phantom laughed, “The boy is completely ignorant of the power which
lies in the sword. Give it to me, and I will unlock the powers of the
universe!”
“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.” Crono said, taking his fighting
stance.
“If you will not serve the here and now…” the Phantom said
rising high into the air, “… than you will serve the
hereafter!” Waves of dark energy flowed across the room.
Maybe this time, Crono had met his match.
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Takaeda bike coughed. He looked down to see the fuel gauge on empty.
“Dammit!” he shouted. He brought the bike to a stop and looked
back to see fifty shadowmen fast approaching.
The lead shadowman pointed his gun at Takaeda, “Surrender!”
Takaeda dropped his gunblade to the ground and put his hands in the air.
The shadowman commander turned to the one next to him, “Inform General
Abyssal that we have captured the third rogue.” The shadowman
turned to see thousands of the city’s people behind them.
“Return to your homes… this is a police action!”
All the people brandished weapons; “We are through listening to you
and the Phantom!” a slender robot said.
A young man dressed in animal skins nodded, “It end now!”
The people advanced on the shadowmen. That night, under the command
of Takaeda, the people took back the city. The tower, however, would
not be won so easily.
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Abyssal’s magical powers far outmatched Crono Sr.’s fighting
skills. “You know you don’t stand a chance, old man, give
it up!” she shouted.
Crono Sr. rose to his feet, “You’re a coward…” he
said. A look of hatred came over her face. “… you’re
too scared to fight without your magic!”
Abyssal gripped her lance tightly, “Fine, if you want to die through
pure combat, I can oblige.” The warriors’ weapons clashed
again, now the battle would be decided by skill alone.
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Crono fell the ground. The Phantom’s magic was too strong for
him to withstand. The Phantom circled above Crono, “You may have
beaten Lavos, you may have mastered time, but here, I am master of all you
see.”
“So powerful that you’re trapped in your ‘perfect’
world.”
“Silence!!!” the Phantom shouted, sending another shockwave of
magic through Crono’s body. “You’re way out of your
league here, boy!”
Crono rose to his feet, “I fight for justice and peace, you kidnap innocent
people and trap them in your dead world… seems to me that you’re
the one who’s out of his league.”
“I said SILENCE!!!” the dark figure shouted, once again electrifying
the young man with dark power. “You will pay for your insubordination
with your life, boy!” Streams of ebon magic screamed through the
air at Crono. He held up the sword, deflecting the Phantom’s dark
power. “What?!?”
Crono smiled, “My, how the tables have turned.”
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Abyssal kicked Crono Sr. in the chest and slashed him across the back with
her lance. Crono Sr. fell to the ground. “You are beaten
in strength, skill and steel.” Abyssal’s lance crashed down
onto Crono Sr.’s sword.
“You’re quite good…” Crono Sr. said, “… but
you still have a lot to learn.” Crono Sr. brought his sword up,
slashing Abyssal’s lance in half. Abyssal stumbled back as Crono
leapt towards her and crashed the hilt of his sword down on her head.
Abyssal fell to the ground, conscious but dazed. Crono put his sword
across her neck, “Now… how do I get upstairs?”
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“That sword alone does not have the power to defeat me!”
the Phantom said. He whipped his cloak around, ensnaring Crono.
The Phantom laughed as he crashed Crono into the walls and the ceiling.
“You are finished, boy. You will die and your sword will take
me to the other world!”
Crono looked up at the Phantom’s red eyes, “Not if I can help
it!” Lightning bolts coursed through Crono’s body and passed
through the Phantom’s cloak-body. The floating cloak dropped Crono
and backed away, sparking with electricity.
“Your powers stand no chance against me, boy!” the Phantom
shouted.
Crono held out his sword, “We’ll see.” Crono coursed
lightning down the blade of the sword, warping the reality around the boy
and the cloak. Crono leapt into the air and brought the sword down,
slashing the Phantom in half. The energy released from the cloak swept
out across the city, sending the people back to the places from which they
came. As the swirling energy subsided, only two remained in the Phantom
Realm… a father and his son.
.