Chapter 5: The End?

Back in Guardia things were not good. King Doan had sent a squadron of soldiers to take back Porre, but they were met by a force of R-Series and some Mystics marching toward Truce. They had driven the enemy back to Zenan Bridge, but now they were starting to be driven back themselves.

Crono, Marle, and Lucca ran at top speed toward the battle. Only now had they been able to leave the castle and help, and now it looked like it might be too late.

It was noon, the heat of the day. They could smell sweat mixed with the stench of blood both red and green, and oil, too. Lucca heated things up further with a Flare spell, then Marle cooled things down with Ice 2. Everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light of Crono's Luminaire.

Several Mystics and robots fell, but there were many more and the adventurers hadn't even begun their assault. The two girls cast the searing Antipode 3, and Crono executed his devastating Spincut attack. Then they all teamed up to unleash Delta Force on the hapless army.

Even then there were many more of the enemy left, the majority of them robotic. Then something strange happened.

All of a sudden, the R-Series began to break down, reduced to useless piles of scrap metal. The Mystics watched in horror as their allies malfunctioned. Then they turned tail and ran for their lives.

"C'mon everybody!" Lucca yelled. "Let's get 'em!" Following her lead, Crono and Marle led the rest of the troops over the bridge in pursuit of their enemies. One soldier radioed for backup, and they were soon joined by additional soldiers. They pursued the Mystics all the way to Porre, where they began battling to free the town.

Within the hour they had accomplished their goal. Ozzie and the Mother Brain had made what turned out to be a fatal error in making the Porre unit consist mainly of the now-defunct R-Series. As a result, there were pitiful few Mystics left guarding the southern town when Guardia's troops arrived.

"What do you think happened?" Crono asked Lucca as she inspected the fallen robots. Marle was busy bandaging a gash on his arm.

"I haven't the faintest," Lucca replied. "I've never seen anything like this before. Robots don't usually malfunction all at once like this. It's bizarre. Wait! What's this?"

Lucca looked over a strange chip she'd found in the robot she was dismantling. "I'm not sure exactly what this is, but it looks like a connection to some bigger, main system."

"What does that mean?" Marle asked, as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Again, I'm not sure. My guess is that all these robots were being controlled by some kind of central computer, most likely in Geno Dome, and they broke down because someone or something, like a power outage, shut the program down."

Crono frowned. "What if it was a power outage and the power goes back on? Will these things start working again?"

"No. At this point they're pretty much scrap metal. And looking at them, I don't think it could have been a power outage after all. Their inner systems are totally trashed, which I think could only happen if the comp controlling them was completely destroyed itself. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"From them, you mean," Crono corrected her. "They will send more Mystics after a while, you know."

"And there's still Choras to free," Marle pointed out.

Lucca sighed. "You're right. Well, it looks like with all the trouble here, we won't be going back to our time any time soon."

"Plus, there's still that dilemma we have," Marle reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. How are we going to resolve that?"

Crono rolled his eyes. He, for one, couldn't see the point of all the agonizing they were doing over this. To him, it seemed so simple. "Why don't you just tell her?" he suggested. "Just spit it out and get it over with. Done. Finished. Over."

Marle and Lucca glanced at each other, then at him, then shook their heads. "Men," they said, giggling. Then the three headed back to Guardia.

Daria, Schala, and Rydia were waiting for them back in Rydia's house. They had gone there to try and contact Bleu, but to no avail. Daria was sulking because she hadn't been allowed to help in the re-taking of Porre, which was all over the news they were watching. Like her ancestor, she was talented with a crossbow, and she could use some mean magic, too, though it was Fire, not Ice, that she wielded. If only my dad wasn't so overprotective, I'd be out there too, kicking Mystic butt and getting some of the glory, she thought with a scowl.

"Any word yet?" Marle asked as they walked in.

"No, and I take that to mean you don't have any either," Rydia said with a frown.

Lucca shook her head. "Sorry," she said apologetically.

Rydia shrugged sadly. "S'okay. Not your fault."

The weary warriors settled down to watch the TV. "Look at Crono," Marle giggled. "His hair looks more porcupine-y than usual."

"You should have heard what Lucca called him before we got back here," Daria said, laughing as she remembered.

"What'd she call him?"

"Well, I made some comment that ticked her off, and she tried to threaten me with not bringing me back here. I told her it wasn't much of a threat, that it should scare her more than me. Crono thought this was very funny, and she didn't like that, so she yelled at him to 'laugh it up, spikehead', right in his face. It was hilarious, especially when he scooted to the other edge of his seat like he'd been burned."

Rydia burst out laughing. "Hey, that's a good one! I must get my talent for that kind of stuff from you, as well as my scientific talent." Lucca looked very pleased to hear that.

Schala sighed. All this happiness only made her sadder. Marle touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Schala shook her head. "No, I'm not. I wish Bleu was here."

"Done."

They all turned to see Bleu standing in the doorway, looking very tired. "Bleu!" Schala exclaimed. She got up and ran to hug her friend.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said as they pulled apart. "I thought... I didn't know what to think. I..."

"We tried to page you," Rydia said as she stood up, "but the number was out of order."

"Oh, that," Bleu said with a laugh. "I got so sick of having that stupid thing, so I destroyed it." Then she sobered. "I'm sorry if I scared you guys, though. Speaking of..." She looked around at the expanded group. "Who are these people?"

Daria introduced them, then Bleu filled everybody in on her adventures. When she was done, Marle and Lucca stepped aside to discuss something. When they were done, they walked over to Schala.

"Schala?"

She turned. "Yes?"