Author Topic: Chrono Helix (script)  (Read 51754 times)

Licawolf

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #285 on: March 26, 2011, 04:31:57 pm »
I have been catching some of the updates of this story from time to time, and skiming over some of them, and I grew curious. At last I decided to get off my lazy ass and start reading it, though I'm still reading 9c. Guldove - Dump Kid Route (so back, I need to catch up!).

This is very interesting, I like reading your interpretation of Serge’s character(kinda different from how I imagined him, but I’m liking it!), and the interactions between the PCs. There are many of the dialogues you added which just makes me say "oh! I wish that was in the game, so cool!". I like too that Wazuki’s fate is foreshadowed from very early in the story, in the actual game it was more of a last minute revelation without the proper build up.

Ah! Magus in the story, that’s going to prove interesting. So far what I have read is very good.

My only complain is that there are parts in which Serge's mental dialogue slows down the action too much, in moments of urgency or danger you are really not given that much time to think. But then again, I’m very back in the story, maybe in newer chapters this was already adressed?

Well, I’ll keep reading to catch up with everyone else. Enjoying it so far!  :D

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #286 on: March 27, 2011, 05:56:05 pm »
Serge does (I hope) evolve somewhat over the course of the story, and becomes a little more vocal, but a fair amount of internal monologue does keep coming up. Mea culpa. Maybe when I'm done, I'll go back over the early chapters.

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #287 on: April 27, 2011, 08:14:51 pm »
Whoo, boy. This turned out to be almost two chapters in one, in that
Magus' presence affects the dialogue so profoundly that that version
of the chapter has almost nothing in common with the version where he
isn't there. What I'm posting today is the initial short section where
the dialogue does mostly match.



26. Chrono Cross - The point where destinies meet... Part I
   
Max recruits: Serge, (Magus and Guile) OR (Glenn and Nikki), Sprigg, Radius, Norris, Skelly,
    Karsh, ZOAH, Marcy, Fargo, Starky, Grobyc, Luccia, Dario, Leena, Kid.

==============================================
Landing Area, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[The flying boat comes to rest, and the party hops off.
Serge looks around.]

Serge:
   So this is it.

Kid: [if present]
   Looks that way, mate.

Sprigg: [if present]
   Thoze Dragonianz 'ad louzy taste
   in buildingz.

Leena: [if present]
   Oh, drat, it looks like we've
   still got a long way to go.

Luccia: [if present]
   I vould so like to find out vhat
   is keeping dis place in de air,
   since it cannot be magic...but
   ve have no time for such an
   investigation.

Karsh: [if present]
   So what are we waitin' for?
   We're here to bust the dragons'
   heads, right? So start climbin'!

Serge:
   I guess we aren't going to
   accomplish anything by standing
   around. Let's go!

==============================================
Passageway Just Inside Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they examine the yellow light]

 [Terrator]
   THE-OCHRE-LANDS-HAVE
   DRIED-UP-AND-WITHERED...

   IS-IT-YOUR-WILL-TO
   CHOOSE-DESTRUCTION...?

Serge:
   We...we're just trying to
   survive too. I'm sorry if you
   think we're going about it the
   wrong way, but we can't just
   roll over and die...

[Combat. When the party wins...]

Serge:
   (I get the feeling that I'm
   going to have nightmares about
   climbing to the top of this
   thing, once this is all over.
   Well, it'll fit right in with
   the ones about Viper Manor and
   the Dead Sea and Cape Howl and
   all the rest.)

==============================================
Lower Giant Coral Room, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[As they get up towards the top of the room, a
human face moulded into the ceiling begins to speak
to them...]

   Serge...
   
   Serge...

   You finally made it this far...
   Serge...

Serge:
   (What the--Okay, just when I
   start to think I can't run into
   anything weirder than I have
   already, something like this
   happens...)

   Who are you? For that matter,
   WHAT are you? And how do you
   know my name?

 [Prisoner]
   When I was still human,
   I was locked up here, and
   I have been here ever since...

Serge:
   (I'm not sure that "locked up"
   is quite how I'd say it, though
   I guess he would have a hard
   time leaving...)

 [Prisoner]
   This tower is a fortress belonging
   to the ancient Reptites...
   A symbol of revenge, brought
   against mankind by the Dragons...

   With the defeat of FATE,
   the seal has been broken
   and this tower has surfaced...

Serge:
   (Does that mean...FATE was on
   OUR side? Well, sort of, anyway.
   ...I think my brain just fried.)

 [Prisoner]
   In the eyes of the Dragons,
   we humans are the foes...

Serge:
   (So the Dragons just used us to
   get at FATE, and now they're
   throwing us away... Like hell
   am I going to let them do that!)

 [Prisoner]
   A brain that has developed abnormally
   to 3 times the original size in the
   span of 3 million years...

   We humans have evolved at an
   enormous rate because of our
   contact with Lavos's flame...

   In a sense, mankind is Lavos's offspring...

   We humans are extraneous to this planet...

Magus:                         | Serge:
   I doubt the dragons know    |    (And how is that our fault?!
   the planet's will half as   |    It's almost enough to make me
   well as they think they do. |    WANT to bring that Lavos-thing
                               |    back, so that it could take the
                               |    Dragons down a peg or two.)

 [Prisoner]
   Now...
   How will you fight,
   Serge...

Serge:
   What do you mean, how will I
   fight? The same way I always do.
   We can't just stop here, not
   when the future of the entire
   world and everyone in it may
   be depending on us.

   (Man, that sounds like I've got
   a swelled head...but somebody
   has to do this, and why NOT us,
   since we're already here?)

==============================================
Twisty Stone Ledges, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they examine the red light]

 [Pyrotor]
   MANY-HAVE-BLED
   SUFFERED-AND
   PERISHED...

   IT-IS-YOUR-TURN
   TO-DIE.

Serge:
   (So OUR suffering
   doesn't count?)

[Combat. Nothing further is said after the party wins.]

==============================================
Nighttime Bridge, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[As they enter the area, everyone stops and looks
around.]

Serge:
   What the hell?! We can't be
   back at Viper Manor...can we?

Magus:                       | Sprigg:                       | Leena:
   No, this is an illusion.  |    No, this iz magic,         |    That wouldn't make
   Most likely, Belthasar is |    although it'z beyond       |    sense, but...I don't
   somewhere nearby.         |    anything I've ever seen... |    get it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kid:                         | Luccia:                       | Norris/Dario:
   What the bleedin' hell is |    Dere is no vay dis is      |    This cannot be real...
   goin' on here? This ain't |    scientifically possible... |    but someone must have
   funny!                    |                               |    set it up for a reason.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                        | Fargo:                        | Skelly:
   THIS MAKES NO SENSE.      |    Arr... I don't know what's |    Well, it can't be a joke--
   THERE MUST BE MAGIC       |    afoot, but I know I don't  |    nobody builds something like
   INVOLVED.                 |    much like it!              |    this just to get a laugh!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nikki:                       | Karsh:                        | Marcy:
   Looks almost like the     |    I'm gettin' really tired   |    This is, like, freaky!
   night we snuck in...but   |    of people tryin' to mess   |    It's exactly like Viper
   it sounds wrong. What     |    with my head...            |    Manor, but why would
   happened to the crickets? |                               |    anyone bother?



Just enough to whet your appetites, right? ;) Anyway, I'll continue on and post Magus'
version of the remainder of the chapter tomorrow, then the non-Magus one (which ended up
being slightly longer) on the two days following.

utunnels

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #288 on: April 27, 2011, 09:16:55 pm »
Hmm, I have been always wondering, how could the Viper Manor illusion be in Terra Tower.

Hope you can give me a clue soon.
 :wink:

Licawolf

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #289 on: April 28, 2011, 05:26:13 am »
At last, I catched up with the story!  :o  

Still loving this script, you've actually managed to make me apreciate characters I never care too much about before and there are far too many scenes and lines I loved to point them all out.

I'll be waiting for new instalments along with everyone else now  :)

Acacia Sgt

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #290 on: April 28, 2011, 09:36:56 am »
Serge:
   (Does that mean...FATE was on
   OUR side? Well, sort of, anyway.
   ...I think my brain just fried.)

Then brace yourslef Serge, this is ONLY the tip of the iceberg... :lol:

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #291 on: April 28, 2011, 11:23:07 am »
@utunnels: I don't think I said anything about why Terra Tower specifically, but if I had to guess, it would be that Belthasar recreated the circumstances under which Serge and the others had previously seen him to make it more likely that they (and the player) would recognize him. After all, at that point a fair amount has happened since the last time everyone had a reason to visit Viper Manor--would they really remember one old man in a funny hat?

@Licawolf: I'm glad you're enjoying it.

@Acacia Sgt: I promise, Serge will get his say in all this (in the non-Magus version, anyway). ;)

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #292 on: April 28, 2011, 07:58:03 pm »
Unsurprisingly, Magus stole the scene here (and chewed up a bit of the
scenery in the bargain, but that's okay--most of it was just an illusion
anyway...) Oh, and I raided that Aussie slang page several times in the
course of writing Kid's dialogue, so any odd expressions she uses probably
come from there...



26. Chrono Cross - The point where destinies meet... Part II,a. (with Magus)
   [P]Max recruits: Serge, Magus, Sprigg, Radius, Norris, Skelly,
        Guile, Karsh, ZOAH, Marcy, Fargo, Starky, Grobyc,
        Luccia, Dario, Leena, Kid.

==============================================
False Library, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When the party enters the library, the ghost
children are scattered around the upper level,
while Belthasar waits at the base of the stairs.
Upon entering, Magus knocks Belthasar down
with some sort of spell (ball of light? lightning?),
and then charges over to hold the Guru down. Pulling
out his scythe, he puts one foot on Belthasar's chest
and the scythe blade at his throat.]

Magus:
   I have some questions for you,
   old man. Depending on the
   answers you give me, I might
   even let you live afterwards.

Serge:
   Magus...

Kid:
   You're wastin' yer breath, mate.
   He ain't got time for any of us
   right now. We'd have to grab him
   and haul him off the geezer...
   and I don't know about you, but
   I ain't gonna try!

Magus:
   Well?

Belthasar:
   Prince Janus...
   Yes, I will answer your
   questions. We are long past
   the point at which you could
   have derailed my plan.

Magus:
   And that is exactly what I
   want to know: What plan? Lavos
   flung you to the far future,
   so why return to this time and
   meddle? What are you trying to
   accomplish?

Belthasar:
   I only wished to rescue someone.

Magus:
   WHO? Who could be so important
   that you would destroy your
   power base in the future and
   risk tearing the world apart?

Belthasar:
   ...Schala.

[Magus drops his scythe--which somehow miraculously falls
to one side without giving his victim more than a shallow
cut--and staggers away from Belthasar, clutching his head
with both hands. The music changes to Prisoners of Fate.]

Magus:
   ...No. No! Even if my strength
   is not enough, I won't... There
   must be a way... Schala... I
   won't abandon...

Guile:                    | Serge:
   Magus... Are you well? |    Hey, are you okay?

[Magus shakes his head and visibly returns to himself.]

Magus:
   Heh. What bitter irony: that we
   had the same goal all along, you
   and I, old man.

[He turns to face the rest of the party. As Magus speaks his next line,
Belthasar, now behind him, touches his throat, then shakes his head and
gets to his feet.]

Magus:
   I remember everything now. My
   sister, Schala... During the
   events surrounding the Fall of
   Zeal, Lavos tore her out of the
   world and sent her to the
   Darkness Beyond Time, the final
   home of discarded timelines.

Serge:
   Like what we saw inside the
   Dead Sea? Then...she's dead,
   isn't she?

[Magus shakes his head]

Magus:
   No. Death would have been a
   mercy by comparison to what
   actually happened to her.

   Lavos... I still don't understand
   how we could have been so wrong,
   but that THING, that monstrosity,
   didn't die when we killed it.
   It, too, was banished to the
   Darkness, and somehow, Schala
   became...entangled with it.

Serge:
   I don't understand.

Magus:
   It took me years to find a way
   to enter the Darkness, and when
   I finally located Schala, I
   discovered that she had been...
   partially absorbed by Lavos.

[The other members of the party kind of flinch back.]

Magus:
   Naturally, I tried to free her,
   but nothing I could do seemed to
   have any effect, and I could feel
   Lavos trying to reach out to me
   as well... In the end, Schala
   told me that my strength could
   never be enough to free her, and
   used Lavos' power to force me
   from that place.

   Despairing, believing that I
   truly was helpless, I attempted
   to destroy myself, but I only
   succeeded in erasing my memory--
   and burying most deeply those
   portions that caused me the most
   pain.

   And that is another bitter irony:
   I spent more than thirty years in
   the hell that was the magicless
   future to which Lavos condemned
   me. During that time, I believed
   Schala dead and truly lost to
   me...and yet I never sought to
   fling myself after her. It seems
   almost bizarre that I responded
   the way I did to circumstances
   which offered...more hope.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If Guile is present, he shakes his head]

Guile:
   I begin to see.

Magus:
   See what?

Guile:
   Self-reliance is generally
   considered a positive quality...
   but when taken to extremes, it
   is also a flaw.

Magus:
   What are you babbling about?

Guile:
   When your sister told you that
   your strength could not save her,
   you interpreted that to mean that
   she could not be saved. Even
   though you had slain Lavos in the
   company of others, it never
   crossed your mind to ask for
   help. And so, in pride and
   despair, you fled from the pain
   in the only way you could find.

Serge:
   (...Whoa. Where did he get all
   that...?)

Guile:
   I have spent years now studying
   the mystery that is you, Magus--
   Janus Zeal. I know your heart
   better than I know my own.

Magus:
   I'm beginning to regret that I
   didn't step back when we first
   met and let those bandits finish
   you off.

Guile:
   I also know that you hate it
   when others tell you truths
   about yourself. Very well, I
   will put my mirror away...for
   the present.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Belthasar:
   Schala hoped that you would never
   remember her, I think. I could
   have told her otherwise. Even
   as a child, you were far too
   stubborn to ever admit defeat.

Magus:
   And so the pieces fall into
   place at last...all but a
   handful of them.

Belthasar:
   You still have more questions?

Magus:
   I don't believe in your altruism.
   There is something in all of this
   that still doesn't quite fit.

Belthasar:
   ...

Magus:
   What did you need the
   Dragonians for?

Belthasar:
   Oh, that. I didn't. When I sent
   Chronopolis back in time, Terra
   Tower appeared out of nowhere
   to oppose it. I can only assume
   that the Entity, as Prometheus
   called it, didn't approve of my
   actions, and so decided to bring
   in a counterbalance.

Magus:
   And the dragons were somehow
   related to or created by the
   Dragonians, I presume--they have
   that kind of feel to them.

Belthasar:
   Indeed: the seven of them seem
   to be a sort of...personification
   of nature, or the Dragonians'
   view of nature...

Magus:
   ...Seven? Then the harlequin was
   a dragon too. Interesting.

   It must have been a bit of a
   shock when such a large random
   factor dropped into the middle
   of your neatly ordered plan.

Belthasar:
   ...

Magus:
   And you have answered my other
   question as well: If the Entity
   disapproved of your plan, then
   your actions are the ultimate
   cause of the ruined future we
   saw at the heart of the Dead Sea.
   Without you, Lavos would have
   stayed safely bottled up in the
   Darkness Beyond Time, where it
   could harm no one. Somehow, the
   dimensional split is going to
   provide a loophole that could
   let it loose.

Serge:
   (Then...it's his fault, and
   not mine after all...?)

Magus:
   It's a shame that I can't return
   to the past and kill you before
   you ever arrived in the future.

Belthasar:
   ...You do know that my plan is
   your sister's only hope.

Magus:
   I know that...but I also know
   Schala. If my sister had known
   of this plan of yours, if you
   had told her that the only way
   for her to be free was to risk
   the lives of every creature in
   this world, she would have
   sabotaged your plot herself.

   How many people have already
   died because of your actions,
   Belthasar?

Belthasar:
   Given your history, I'm somewhat
   surprised that you care.

Magus:
   Heh. You're right: my heart
   doesn't exactly bleed for that
   nameless mass of pathetic fools.
   But Schala's would--and will, if
   we succeed in freeing her. How
   dare you burden her this way? Did
   you think I wouldn't care about
   that, either?

   For that alone, your life would
   be forfeit.

[Purple lightning flashes, and the screen whites out
for a moment...but when the picture returns, Belthasar
is still standing. His hands are cupped in front of
him, palms outward, and in front of them, a fading
ball of light hangs.]

Magus:
   How...?!

Belthasar:
   While your magic is stronger
   than mine, Prince Janus, you
   left Zeal at such a young age
   that you never received the
   training that was your
   birthright. Your spells are
   ill-focused...fortunately for
   me.

Magus:
   I can still strangle you with
   my bare hands--

[Belthasar begins to fade away]

Belthasar:
   Precisely why I am not going
   to remain here. Good luck with
   the dragon-god...and with your
   sister.

Magus:
   Do you think I can't track you,
   you old snake?

[As Belthasar vanishes completely, and before Magus
can actually do anything, Crono's ghost fades from
the upper level and reappears beside him.]

[Crono]
   Janus, there is no time.

[Marle's ghost fades, then reappears beside Crono]

[Marle]
   The events he has set in motion
   can no longer be stopped.

[And Lucca's ghost completes the trio]

[Lucca]
   You have to go on and challenge
   the Dragon God at the top of the
   tower, or humanity is doomed.
   After that, you will have to
   decide for yourself whether or
   not you will push on into the
   Darkness...and risk everything
   to save her.

[The ghosts slowly fade away. When they're completely gone, Magus
shakes his head and heads for the door as the normal music resumes.
He pushes past the rest of the party, but stops in the doorway.]

Magus:
   We're wasting time here.
   Let's go.

Kid:
   Hold yer horses!

Magus:
   What do YOU want?

Kid:
   I was just thinkin'... If ya
   remember everything now, you
   must know who I reminded ya
   of, back when we first met in
   Guldove...

Magus:
   You...are my sister's very
   image, except for your hair.
   If you were to put on a wig and
   one of her gowns, none could
   tell you apart...except by the
   fact that you have not the
   slightest grasp of how a
   princess should behave.

[Magus exits]

Kid:
   Yeah? And you're as useful as
   tits on a bull, ya bloody figjam!

[(figjam = Fuck I'm Good, Just Ask Me--in other words,
Kid is saying Magus has an obnoxiously high opinion of
himself.) She follows Magus out, with the rest of the party
following after, until Serge is alone in the pseudo-library]

Serge:
   (...It feels like I'm trapped
   inside Magus' story again. Or
   just maybe...Schala's?)

[Serge exits back onto the bridge as well.]

==============================================
Small Room, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they address the green light]

 [Anemotor]
   RETURN-OUR-TREES...

   GIVE-BACK-OUR
   GREEN-FORESTS...

Serge:
   ...We can't. I'm sorry.

Combat. The teleporter to the upper part of the
tower becomes available when the Anemotor is
defeated.]

==============================================
Beyond the Teleporter, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[The party steps off the teleporter, then stops]

Serge:
   (Damn, this thing is tall...
   I wonder how much farther we
   have to go.)

[The camera pans up to give us a brief view of the towertop]

Serge:
   I guess that's the top, but
   what's with those lights?

Guile/Norris:              | Magus:                       | Luccia:
   It is difficult to be   |    They appear to be the     |    Could it be dat dey
   certain, but perhaps... |    visual manifestation of   |    are holding the door
   some sort of seal?      |    a seal created by the     |    shut?
---------------------------|    Reptites' ridiculous      |-------------------------
Kid:                       |    imitation magic. I could  | Starky:
   Looks to me like it     |    likely break it, but it   |    Staarky thinks it
   might be a lock for     |    would be more efficient   |    miight bee a
   that door...            |    to open it using whatever |    forcefiield...
                           |    method they had set up.   |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                     | Marcy:
   Well, I doubt they're   |    Maybe they're, like,
   just a decoration...    |     Dragonian flashlights?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radius/Dario:              | Zoah:
   They must serve a       |    PERHAPS THEY HAVE
   purpose... Something to |    SOMETHING TO DO WITH
   do with the door...?    |    THE DOOR?

[The beams are deactivated by the crystals guarded by
Luxator and Gravitor, who apparently have nothing to
say for themselves.]

==============================================
Inside Upper Tower, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they address the blue light]

 [Aquator]
   DISRESPECTING-THE
   ORIGINS-OF-LIFE...

   MOTHER-SEA-SUFFERS...
   YOU-MUST-PAY-THE-PRICE.

Serge:
   Even if we've caused you pain,
   killing off the human race won't
   undo what we've done.

[When Aquator is dead, the teleport pad leading to
the summit becomes available]

==============================================
Stairs, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[As the party climbs one last flight of stairs, they
hear the Dragon God shouting at nothing in particular]

 [Voices of the Dragon God]
   A-ARRGH...

   HELP...

   S-STOP IT...

   KILL ME...

   WELL COME...

   Welcome...
   Humans...
   
   Those who know the torment and
   joy of creation know also the
   pleasure and pain of destruction.

   Therefore, all that pass through
   here must be prepared to share the
   burden that I carry.

Serge:
   H-Harle? Is that you?

Kid:                  | Karsh:                  | Dario/Glenn/Guile:
   Didn't sound like  |    Didn't have Harle's  |    Why would Harle speak
   it to me.          |    accent...            |    of such things?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcy/Leena:          | Norris:                 | Sprigg:
   I don't think so.  |    It didn't sound like |    That girl always talked
                      |    her to me.           |    funny, though...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                 | Starky:                 | Luccia:
   IT SEEMS UNLIKELY. |    Harle...is gone.     |   I do not t'ink it vas her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magus:                |
   ...                |

Serge:
   (I know it didn't SOUND like
   her...and yet, somehow, I
   think...)

==============================================
Summit, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[The Flame is hovering above some sort of cup-like
formation in the middle of the open summit area.
As the party approaches it, we see a brief VIDEO: the
Flame opens up]

Magus:                           | Fargo:                  | Kid:
   The Frozen Flame... Miserable |    The Frozen Flame...  |    So this is the
   child of Lavos. I've been     |    I've never seen      |    true Frozen Flame...
   wondering when you would show |    another jewel that   |    Struth!
   yourself again.               |    would compare.       |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starky:                          | Dario:                  | Radius:
   What is this energyy?         |    It could indeed be   |    The Frozen Flame... In all
   Staarky thinks the Froozen    |    frozen fire...or     |    my born years, I've never
   Flaame is daangerous.         |    blood.               |    seen the like.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:                 | Norris:
   So dat is de Frozen  |    If that is the Frozen Flame,
   Flame... It appears  |    it is just as well that the
   to defy all science. |    High Command never obtained it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                           | Skelly:
   The Frozen Flame... I don't   |    So that's the Frozen
   know how we ever mistook the  |    Flame... You know,
   Dragon Tear for that thing.   |    for once I don't
                                 |    feel like laughing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:                          | Zoah:
   The magic comin' from that    |    SO THIS IS THE "FROZEN
   thing iz enough to make me    |    FLAME" THAT EVERYONE HAS
   'air stand on end. I guess    |    BEEN SEARCHING FOR.
   everythin' they say about     |
   the Frozen Flame iz true.     |

Serge:
   (It feels almost like...it's
   dragging me in...)

Kid:
   Hold on!
   Don't touch it!

Magus:
   You utter fool!

[Serge, demonstrating that he sometimes has the brains of
a robomule, steps forward and lays his hand right on it,
producing a bright flash. When the screen clears, Serge
has backed off.]

Kid/Leena:           | Dario/Norris:           | Karsh:
   Is everyone okay? |    Is anyone hurt?      |    Everybody okay?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:              | Radius/Guile:           | Marcy:
   Vas anyvone hurt? |    Is everyone alright? |    Like, is everyone okay?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:              | Fargo:                  | Zoah:
   I'm getting too   |    Arr... No broken     |    WAS ANYONE HURT?
   old for this. Iz  |    bones, I hope.       |
   everyone alright? |                         |

Serge:
   I'm sorry, guys. I don't
   know what got into me.

Guile: [if present]
   Perhaps, as the Arbiter, you
   are more vulnerable to the
   Flame's influence than the
   rest of us.

[Kid glares at the Frozen Flame.]

Kid:
   Bugger you!
   Us humans ain't
   gonna let you have
   yer way any longer!

Magus:
   Something's coming.

Guile: [if present]
   I feel it too.

Sprigg: [if present]
   Wot's this? Not quite magic,
   but it'z similar...

Kid:
   C'mon!
   Show yer
   bloody self!

[The Dragon God shoots up over the edge of the tower,
then lands on the far side of the Flame from the party,
who have all taken up defensive stances.]

 [Dragon God]
   In order to survive,
   all living things in this world

   fight desperately and
   devour those they defeat...

   Must one kill other living
   things in order to survive?
   
   Must one destroy another world
   in order to allow one's own
   world to continue?

   The wounded in turn wound
   and torment those weaker
   than they themselves are...

   There are only the killers and
   the killed...
   The sinners, who are judged, and
   the victims that do the judging...

   What meaning is there
   to such a world?

Kid:
   Whether there's
   meanin' to our
   lives or not...
   we still go on
   livin', you know!

Kid:
   You've got no right
   to deny that!

Serge:
   You want to know what meaning
   there is in the world... Well,
   what meaning is there in
   destroying it? Once it's gone,
   there'll just be...nothing. An
   empty space. There CAN'T be
   any meaning in that.

   (Did that even make sense?
   ...I am SO tired of philosophy.)

 [Dragon God]
   I shall cleanse this blue planet of
   you filthy humans once and for all!!

Serge:
   Let's get this over with so I
   can go home.

[Combat. When the party wins...]

 [Dragon God]
   Now I shall truly awaken again...
   This too is destiny...


Magus:
   I do not like the sound
   of that one bit.

Serge:
   Neither do I, really, but...
   Anyway, what are you going to
   do now? Are you going after
   your sister, or--

Magus:
   The Flame needs to be
   dealt with first.

[Belthasar]
   No need to worry--I'll
   take it.

[Belthasar fades into existence near the Flame. Magus
pulls out his scythe.]

Magus:
   Touch it and I'll kill you.

Belthasar:
   Prince Janus--

Magus:
   I don't trust you with that
   thing.

Belthasar:
   I only intend to keep it safe,
   beyond the reach of men.

Magus:
   Beyond the reach of men OTHER
   THAN YOU, you mean.

Belthasar:
   Well, I--

Magus:
   If I hadn't thought your
   judgement questionable before,
   the fact that you want to spirit
   the Flame away rather than
   destroying it would prove it.

Belthasar:
   I do intend to destroy it...
   in time. But before that, it
   must be studied.

Magus:
   As I recall, you said that
   about Lavos, too.

Belthasar:
   This is different.

Magus:
   Heh. You can't even
   come up with a better
   excuse than THAT?

[Suddenly, the tower shakes. Magus is thrown off-balance, and
Belthasar lunges for the Flame. The screen flashes white, and
when it clears, both Belthasar and the Flame are gone.]

Magus:
   Damn him!
   Zeral molom kathreshar--

[The tower shakes again.]

Serge:
   Magus, I don't know what you're
   trying to do, but there's no
   time! If we don't get out of
   here before this thing comes
   apart under us--

Magus:
   If you're worried, go on ahead.
   If I leave now, I won't be able
   to trace the old man's teleport.

Kid:
   Are ya bloody crazy?! If you
   try to stay up here, you're
   gonna end up dead--and who
   knows what'll happen to your
   sister then?

Magus:
   In the unlikely event that I
   didn't make it, I had hoped Serge
   would experience another mad
   impulse toward heroism and go to
   rescue Schala in my place, but I
   suppose that isn't possible if
   he fails to exit the tower in
   time. Very well--I'll come.

Kid:
   Bet ya made Sis as cross as a
   frog in a sock. What does it
   take for you to get it through
   that thick head of yours that
   there are people out there that
   care if ya live or die...Uncle?

[The tower starts shaking again, and this time, it doesn't stop]

Serge:
   We're out of time--we need to
   go NOW!

[As the party flees, we are shown VIDEO: the end
of Terra Tower]

==============================================
Sea (Another)
==============================================

[When the screen fades in again, we see the party
in a boat at the foot of the tower. I'm going to
assume Kid joins them in the boat even if she didn't
climb the Tower, although the original has alternative
lines available...]

Kid:
   So that's Terra Tower's
   final, true form...
   In the end, we're all the
   same...
   Everyone dreams of bein'
   greater, more powerful...

Magus:
   And why not? It takes power
   to get anything done in this
   world.

Serge:
   You know, Magus, there are times
   when you have all the charm of
   one of those three-foot-long
   purple sea slugs that wash up on
   the beaches after a bad storm.

Magus:
   One more word, and I'll turn
   you INTO a sea slug.

Kid:
   Oy, you two, don't have a blue
   now! Ain't we been through
   enough yet?

Magus:
   ...

Serge:
   ...I guess you're right. That
   tower was tough, and I think
   maybe we're all a bit on edge.

[There's a brief pause--a second or two--during which no one says anything]

Kid:
   So, Uncle Janus... Are ya gonna
   go after your sister?

Magus:
   ...Stop calling me that.

Kid:
   Then stop tryin' to change the
   subject! Are ya goin' or not?

[Lucca's ghost]
   He doesn't know what to do.

[She fades in sitting on the edge of the boat.]

Magus:
   Damn you.

Serge:
   (Guess he can't make threats
   about sea slugs to her!)

[Lucca]
   His first attempt to free Schala
   failed, and he has no better
   plan this time.

Magus:
   I'm fairly certain that spell
   to banish wandering ghosts
   began with--

[Lucca]
   There is a way, Janus.
   Belthasar found it.

Magus:
   WHAT way, damn you?! I've been
   wracking my brains, and if
   neither force nor persuasion
   will work, then I see no hope.

[Lucca]
   The Chrono Cross.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If they've already made the Chrono Cross]

Serge:
   You mean this weird Element
   that we made out of the
   broken Dragon Tears?

[Lucca]
   Indeed.

Magus:
   Give me that!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If they haven't created it yet]

Magus:
   What are you talking about?

[Lucca]
   It is an Element that can only
   be created by fusing the power
   of two separate dimensions. You
   must take the shards of the two
   Dragon Tears to Divine Dragon
   Falls, near Arni.

Magus:
   Then--

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[Lucca]
   You cannot wield it, Janus.

Magus:
   WHAT?!

[Lucca]
   The dark paths you have walked
   have left you too bitter. The
   Chrono Cross loses its power if
   the one who wields it has no
   harmony within himself. That's
   why Belthasar chose...a
   fisherman.

Serge:
   You mean...me?

[The ghost nods]

[Lucca]
   Exactly. Janus will just have to
   swallow his pride for once and
   ask for help in creating the
   Cross's proper melody.

[Serge shakes his head]

Serge:
   He doesn't need to. He may be
   as prickly as hell, but he's
   still one of us. Of course we'll
   help him.

Magus:
   ...

[Lucca]
   Well, now that that's settled...
   Here, take this!

[System]
   Serge received Time Egg!

[Lucca]
   That will let you access the
   Darkness Beyond Time, where
   Princess Schala is trapped.
   Use it back at the beginning.
   I'll be waiting for you there.

[The ghost stands up, but before she can actually fade...]

Kid:
   Sis, wait!
   ...Oh, bloody hell, I know it
   isn't really you, but...

[Lucca]
   Who fed you that line of--Oh, of
   course. Miguel. He was wrong,
   Kid. Because he had been reduced
   to an impotent image of what he
   had once been, he assumed we had
   suffered the same fate. Well, he
   was wrong. I'm still Lucca the
   Great! ...Well, mostly, anyway.
   Not being able to touch anything
   kind of limits what I can do.

Kid:
   Sis... (Sniff) Ah, damnit, I'm
   too old to cry!

[Lucca turns to face out to sea]

[Lucca]
   I guess I broke my promise to
   look after you, didn't I? I'm
   sorry, Kid.

Kid:
   N-no biggie. I'm doin' okay
   on my own.

[Lucca]
   Except that I guess you're not
   exactly on your own anymore...
   which is a load off my mind,
   really. Now, what did you want
   to ask me about?

Kid:
   About Princess Schala... Is she
   s'posed to be anything to me?

[Lucca]
   I thought you'd figured it out
   when you started calling Janus
   "Uncle"--

[For a moment, the ghost gets even more transparent]

[Lucca]
   Oh, damn--I think I'm out of
   time. Kid, I promise I'll tell
   you about Schala the next time
   we meet. Right now, I need to
   take a rest.

Kid:
   ...S'okay. I can wait a little
   longer. Go take a nap, or
   whatever ghosts do when they
   feel stuffed.

[Lucca]
   One of these days, you're going
   to have to tell me where you
   picked up that accent, because
   I certainly didn't teach you to
   talk that way!

[Lucca fades away]



And tomorrow, the first half of the alternate version where Serge gets to be the one
who goes postal at Belthasar...

utunnels

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #293 on: April 28, 2011, 10:26:16 pm »
I see you use too many damns.
 :P

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #294 on: April 29, 2011, 09:30:57 pm »
@utunnels: There are six "damn"s, no more, in the text--the problem is probably that
three of them are clustered together near the end. Changing Lucca's "Oh, damn" to
"Oh, hell" and Magus' first "Damn you" to some more colourful threat ("Be silent, or
I'll exorcise you!"--although that would mean finding a different follow-up line for
Serge) would probably fix it.

So, in Magus' absence, somebody had to take up the slack. Poor Serge.



26. Chrono Cross - The point where destinies meet... Part IIb (no Magus)


==============================================
False Library, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When the party enters the library, the ghost
children are scattered around the upper level,
while Belthasar waits at the base of the stairs.
Nothing happens until the party actually speaks
to Belthasar, and when they do...]

Prophet:
   Welcome.
   It's good to see you
   finally made it here!
   I have been expecting
   you...
   Serge!

Serge:
   Well, I wasn't expecting YOU.
   What IS all this--we can't
   be back at Viper Manor, but...?

Prophet:
   This is a space that
   does not exist.
   But don't mind that...
   More importantly,
   I have something I
   must explain to you!

Serge:
   I'll say you do. Who are you?
   It's pretty obvious that you're
   not just Viper's librarian.
   (Well, okay, I had that figured
   out a while ago, when he put on
   that show for us about the
   dimensional split, but I didn't
   know he could do anything like
   THIS!)

Prophet:
   Oh, my name is
   Belthasar...

Serge:
   I think I remember the ghosts
   in Chronopolis talking about
   you...

Belthasar:
   They may well have been, since
   I did set the place up...or will
   set it up. Time travel makes such
   a terrible mess of verb tenses...

Serge:
   So you're from the future?

Belthasar:
   Oh, no, not at all. I merely
   passed through it, so to speak.
   I was born a bit more than
   13,000 years ago, in the Magical
   Kingdom of Zeal. Indeed, I had
   something of a reputation
   there--they called me the Guru
   of Reason.

Serge:
   (Well, his ego sure
   isn't small...)

Belthasar:
   Well, that was up until the
   Queen of Zeal attempted to
   harness the power of Lavos...
   Let's just say, things got out
   of control and Lavos created a
   dimensional vortex that threw
   me far into the future!

Belthasar:
   There, I seized the opportunity
   to study the science of the
   future...
   I was then able to apply to that
   the knowledge I brought from my
   own era, including magic, which
   was long lost in the future.
   Anyway, this led me to make
   huge progress in the research
   of time.

Belthasar:
   Well, that research led to
   the creation of Chronopolis
   and to the Time Crash...
   You might think I really
   blew it, but perhaps it
   was really my finest hour!
   Ho-ho-hoh...

Luccia:                          | Kid:                     | Serge:
   I t'ought dere vas somet'ing  |    So what you're saying |    You did that
   odd about de information de   |    is, you set those     |    on PURPOSE?!
   ghosts vere discussing. You   |    poor blokes up?!      |    (Is this guy
   lied to dem in order to cause |                          |    crazy?!)
   de time crash, da?            |                          |

Belthasar:
   Well...

Serge:
   Never mind--just keep on
   explaining. (If we start an
   argument now, we may never
   find out the rest.)

Belthasar:
   Anyway... I created a compact
   time machine that I dubbed
   the '"Neo Epoch."'
   I used it to time warp to this
   age to learn of Chronopolis and
   FATE's plans, and to see how
   things were turning out.

[The next several lines are delivered against a static
image of the Reptite dimension, with the camera slowly
panning upward]

Belthasar:
   Terra Tower is really a
   city of the Reptites, from
   another dimension's future...

Serge:
   (I guess that means there
   really are more worlds than
   just these two...?)

Belthasar:
   It was originally
   '"Dinopolis"'...
   The castle of Azala's
   descendants, who achieved
   an evolution much more
   intimate with our planet.

Serge:
   (Just who was this "Azala"
   person, anyway?)

Belthasar:
   Dinopolis was drawn into
   this dimension's past about
   ten thousand years ago...

Belthasar:
   This was done so that it
   would serve as a counter-
   balance against Chronopolis,
   which Lavos pulled here.

Serge:
   (Wait a sec. If Lavos is that
   spiky-looking thing that Miguel
   and the ghosts said was supposed
   to destroy the world, and it
   pulled Chronopolis here, then
   Chronopolis is...)

[The backdrop switches to one of the Chronopolis-Dinopolis
war during the post-Zeal ice age. Again, the camera slowly
pans...]

Belthasar:
   Needless to say,
   a fierce battle ensued...

Belthasar:
   In the end, Chronopolis emerged
   as the victor, and the Reptites'
   fortress was sealed away by FATE...

[Back to the library]

Serge:
   Let me get this straight: you
   sent Chronopolis back to the
   past, and Lavos WANTED it back
   there, which means...you're
   working for Lavos.

Belthasar:
   Oh, no, no. Although I do see
   how it could appear that way to
   someone familiar with only part
   of my plan. Lavos was a useful
   tool, no more. It's really quite
   a predictable creature.

Kid:                               | Dario:                    | Sprigg:
   If it's so predictable,         |    If there is one thing  |    You've got a 'igh
   then why ain't this Zeal        |    I have discovered, it  |    opinion of yerself.
   place of yours still around?    |    is that overconfidence |    'ow do ya know IT
                                   |    is a weakness.         |    wazn't uzing YOU?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:                            | Norris:                   | Radius:
   All creatures are predictable,  |    Sir, if I may say...   |    It's the likes of
   in dat dey strive for survival. |    you took an immense    |    you that give the
   Dis Lavos may have tricked you. |    risk by trusting it.   |    elderly a bad name.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                              | Skelly:                   | Fargo:
   THAT SOUNDS...VERY RISKY.       |    That's a joke, right?  |    Are ye mad?!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                             | Glenn:
   Serge is pretty predictable     |    Employing a creature of that
   too, but that doesn't mean he   |    viciousness could easily have
   isn't dangerous.                |    ended in disaster.

Belthasar:
   I am not saying that there was
   no need for caution! Naturally,
   I handled Lavos with great care.

Serge:
   (The more I listen to this guy,
   the more he starts to worry me.)

Belthasar:
   But more important now
   is the role the Dragons
   play in all of this...
   Originally the whole
   Archipelago of El Nido
   was known as the
   Sea of Eden.
   This was because it was
   where the Dragon Gods
   resided.
   
Belthasar:
   But then FATE sealed away
   the Dragon Gods' powers, in
   effect becoming a god itself.
   Thus the islands where the
   new godhead, FATE, existed
   came to be called the
   Sea of Eden instead.

Belthasar:
   Perhaps you didn't realize it,
   but you were used by the
   Dragon Gods to eliminate FATE!

Serge:
   I'm not that stupid. (But I'm
   beginning to wonder who was
   really using me. If you could
   manipulate Lavos, does that
   mean you were pulling the Dragon
   Gods' strings too?)

Belthasar:
   It was not true that the
   Dragon Gods sealed away
   the Frozen Flame...
   Rather, it's quite the opposite...
   It was FATE that used the power
   of the Flame to seal up the
   Dragon Gods.
   In reality, the Dragon Gods are
   in opposition to man, while
   FATE itself was actually the
   protector of humanity!

Kid:                       | Karsh:                            | Sprigg:
   Heh. D'ya really expect |    Why would we need protection   |    Jailz can be pretty
   us to believe that?     |    against pushovers like them?!  |    safe places.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norris:                    | Grobyc:                           | Luccia:
   Please do not treat us  |    Grobyc-thinks-humans-are-      |    It seems to me dat you are
   like fools, sir.        |    stronger-than-the-Dragon-Gods. |    not unbiased in dis, da?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skelly:                    | Dario:                            | Marcy:
   If you want to do       |    Even if the Dragon Gods are    |    We're not little kids--
   comedy, you need a      |    evil, that does not of itself  |    stop treating us like
   bettah routine!         |    make their enemy good.         |    we're stupid, y'know?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn:                     | Nikki:
   I cannot believe that   |    So why do we deserve to be
   FATE was benign...      |    protected?

Serge:
   So...you sent FATE back in time.
   Do you realize what else that
   means you did?

Belthasar:
   Dear boy, I--

Serge:
   Shut up. It took me a while,
   because I'm maybe not the
   brightest person in the world,
   but if FATE exists in this time
   because of you and your plan,
   that means that everything Lynx
   did is YOUR FAULT. YOU
   killed Lucca Ashtear, and
   Miguel...and my father. And
   probably Garai and Zelbess and
   a lot of other people too,
   because nothing would have
   happened the same way without
   you messing around.

   So tell me, why the HELL should
   we listen to anything you have
   to say?!

Belthasar:
   ...
   Those people would have died
   even had I done nothing. Indeed,
   without the Time Crash, most of
   them would never have been born.

Serge:
   And that's supposed
   to make it okay?!

Belthasar:
   I did not WANT any of their
   deaths, young man--in particular,
   I both liked Lucca Ashtear and
   respected her as a colleague.
   Discovering that her death was
   necessary was...a great blow.

Kid: [if present]
   Cut the crap, ya whacker!
   I'm THIS close to beatin' ya
   to a bloody pulp!

Serge:
   Give me one good reason why we
   shouldn't just walk out of here
   right now.

Belthasar:
   Because if you do not act to
   counter the Dragon Gods, human
   life in El Nido--and possibly
   all over the world--will come
   to an end.

Serge:
   (Damnit, I WANT to just walk
   away, but when he says something
   like THAT...)

   I guess that's a good reason...
   IF you're telling the truth and
   not leaving stuff out again. So
   finish explaining what's going
   on.

Belthasar:
   The Dragon Gods were originally
   a singular plasma life-form...
   ...A living accumulation of the
   planet's energy!
   Originally it was a biological
   machine used to control the
   powers of nature in the future
   society of the Reptites.
   In order to control the natural
   energy itself, FATE divided the
   one Dragon God entity up into
   6 weaker plasma life-forms...
   Then scattered them across
   the land and sealed them away.
   Their dragon-like appearances
   are just pseudo-guises...
   ...Temporary forms they take
   so that they can appear in
   this dimension.

Serge:
   (I think I got about one word of
   that in ten...but I also don't
   think it's important. Can't this
   guy just get to the point
   instead of giving us weird
   lectures?)

   (...I'm starting to hate this
   "kindly professor" act of his
   even more than I did Lynx.)

Belthasar:
   But all that changed when
   FATE was vanquished and its
   powerhold was eliminated!
   At that moment, the seven
   Dragons who had been
   rendered almost powerless
   and forgotten...
   traveled across the
   dimensions to reunite
   into a single entity!

Leena:                         | Radius:               | Serge:
   You sure you're feeling     |    Seven Dragons? The |    (Wait a minute...)
   all right? Everyone knows   |    legends only speak |    SEVEN dragons? I thought
   there are only six Dragons. |    of six...          |    there were only six.

Belthasar:
   There were six Dragons
   you knew of and one more
   hidden Dragon you didn't...
   Like the second moon
   that once was lost,
   but later was found...
   Although the same planet,
   my world didn't have two
   moons!
   Look up at the night sky
   now and you will see seven
   celestial bodies...
   Five stars and two moons...
   Five brother stars that
   correspond to the five
   colored Dragons, ruling like
   gods over the night skies...
   One moon that corresponds
   to the white Sky Dragon...
   And another darker, daughter
   moon to counterbalance them.

Serge:
   Okay, so...why exactly does
   that matter?

Belthasar:
   I'm getting there, dear boy.

Serge:
   If you call me "dear" anything
   one more time, I'm gonna let
   Grobyc loose on you. Or, worse,
   Luccia. Or Kid.

Luccia: [if present]
   Hmmm... It is true dat a
   mage vould be an interesting
   subject...

Belthasar:
   Interruptions will not speed
   up my explanation.

Serge:
   And sending me on a wild goose
   chase out to the Dead Sea and
   back didn't let me get back to
   my normal life any faster,
   either.

Belthasar:
   ...
   In any case...

Belthasar:
   The Fire Dragon,
   the Water Dragon,
   the Green Dragon,
   the Earth Dragon,
   the Black Dragon,
   the Sky Dragon,
   and one more...
   The final Dragon...
   The dark moon Dragon...
   The one who was to work to
   free the other Dragons from
   their bondage by the FATE
   computer...
   The child the others created on
   the night of the electric storm
   that temporarily caused FATE
   to loosen its hold on them...

Belthasar:
   I believe you
   knew her as...
   Harle.

Serge:
   Harle was...a Dragon...

   If what you said about the
   Dragons uniting into one is
   true, then you've effectively
   killed her, too.

Belthasar:
   ...

Belthasar:
   The Dragon Gods were
   the essence of nature
   on this planet...
   Perhaps we can consider
   what's happening as our
   planet's vengeance on
   us...
   To finally sweep away
   the unwanted humans
   from the face of this
   blue planet...

[Serge shakes his head]

Serge:
   I don't believe that. It might
   be the Dragonians' vengeance,
   but I don't think the planet
   really hates us that much.
   Still, if the Dragon Gods want
   to destroy humanity, and we're
   the only humans in a position
   to stop them...I guess we're
   stuck. This merged-Dragon-
   entity thing is at the top of
   the tower, right?

Belthasar:
   Indeed.

Serge:
   Is there anything you can do to
   help us fight it? (I'm not sure
   I would trust any "help" he
   offered us to actually work, but
   it can't hurt to ask...)

Belthasar:
   I fear the magic of violence
   was never my area of study.

Serge:
   (Hypocrite.)

   Fine--we'll go up there and do
   your dirty work for you this one
   last time. Now go away. I don't
   ever want to see your face again.

Belthasar:
   Very well--I will withdraw for
   the present.

[Belthasar vanishes...but the ghost children remain where they are.]

Kid:                             | Luccia:
   Hey, mate, ya do realize that |    And after all dat, ve
   the old man never did tell us |    still do not know de reason
   what he's tryin' to do...     |    he caused de Time Crash.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:                          | Norris:
   Wonder why 'e wanted so badly |    Sir... Never once did the
   for us not to know what 'e'z  |    old man truly explain
   up to...                      |    his intentions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dario:                           | Leena:
   Interesting... He gave us a   |    Well, that was a lot of hot
   great deal of information,    |    air. He never did tell us
   but none of it about why      |    what Chronopolis is supposed
   he is doing all this.         |    to be for.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fargo:                           | Starky:
   That lubber fed us a lot of   |    Staarky thinks there is
   bilge about the Dragons, but  |    still something that man
   he never did say why he set   |    is not telling us. Whyy
   up that Time Crash thing...   |    did he cause the Tiime Crash?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn:                           | Zoah:
   That man has no honour. How   |    AND I THOUGHT THE GENERAL
   dare he treat us like toys--  |    WAS A SLIPPERY OLD BASTARD.
   and why did he not tell us    |    THIS BELTHASAR...HE TOLD US
   why he did all of this in     |    WHAT HE WANTED US TO DO, BUT
   the first place?              |    NOT WHY HE'S MEDDLING.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcy:                           |
   Is it just me, or was that    |
   geezer, like, really careful  |
   not to tell us why he set up  |
   that Time Crash thing in the  |
   first place?                  |

Serge:
   (Damn... He really never did say
   anything about why, did he?)

[Crono's ghost vanishes from the top level and reappears beside Serge.]

[Crono]
   Belthasar thinks he's doing the
   right thing. But he doesn't
   quite understand what his actions
   look like from the outside.

[Marle's ghost appears beside Crono's.]

[Marle]
   He feels kind of responsible for
   what happened to Zeal, because
   he helped develop the machine
   that the Queen used to tap Lavos'
   power.

[Lucca's ghost joins the other two.]

[Lucca]
   Most of the people who died in
   that disaster have long since
   gone to dust...but there is
   still one of them that Belthasar
   thinks he can save.

[Crono]
   Maybe he believes that will
   erase what he thinks of as his
   "sin".

[Marle]
   Even though she wouldn't want
   to be saved at such a price.

[Lucca]
   Of course, if he would just
   forgive himself, it would solve
   everything...

[The ghosts fade.]

Serge:
   (Well, that was...I don't know.
   Enlightening, maybe? I wonder
   who the person is that he wants
   to save...)

Kid:             | Glenn/Norris/Dario:    | Sprigg:
   So, are we    |    We must go to the   |    We still 'ave to tackle
   goin' on?     |    top of the tower.   |    that Dragon God of 'is.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grobyc:          | Karsh:                 | Zoah:
   Grobyc-wants- |    Who CARES why he    |    WE SHOULD DEAL WITH THE DRAGON GOD
   to-fight.     |    did it? Let's go.   |    BEFORE WORRYING ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:           | Marcy:                 | Radius:
   Shouldn't we  |   Shouldn't we, like,  |    In all my born days, I never expected
   get going?    |   go after the dragon? |    the Dragons would become my enemy...

Serge:
   I guess we have to finish this.
   (Even if I'm not really all
   that happy about it.)

==============================================
Small Room, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they address the green light]

 [Anemotor]
   RETURN-OUR-TREES...

   GIVE-BACK-OUR
   GREEN-FORESTS...

Serge:
   ...We can't. I'm sorry.

Combat. The teleporter to the upper part of the
tower becomes available when the Anemotor is
defeated.]

==============================================
Beyond the Teleporter, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[The party steps off the teleporter, then stops]

Serge:
   (Damn, this thing is tall...
   I wonder how much farther we
   have to go.)

[The camera pans up to give us a brief view of the towertop]

Serge:
   I guess that's the top, but
   what's with those lights?

Norris/Glenn:              | Luccia:                      | Radius/Dario:
   It is difficult to be   |    Could it be dat dey       |    They must serve a
   certain, but perhaps... |    are holding the door      |    purpose... Something to
   some sort of seal?      |    shut?                     |    do with the door...?
---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------
Kid:                       | Starky:                      | Zoah:
   Looks to me like it     |    Staarky thinks it         |    PERHAPS THEY HAVE
   might be a lock for     |    miight bee a              |    SOMETHING TO DO WITH
   that door...            |    forcefiield...            |    THE DOOR?
                           |                              |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                     | Nikki:                       | Marcy:
   Well, I doubt they're   |    Not much of a             |    Maybe they're, like,
   just a decoration...    |    lightshow...              |    Dragonian flashlights?

[The beams are deactivated by the crystals guarded by
Luxator and Gravitor, who apparently have nothing to
say for themselves.]

==============================================
Inside Upper Tower, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[When they address the blue light]

 [Aquator]
   DISRESPECTING-THE
   ORIGINS-OF-LIFE...

   MOTHER-SEA-SUFFERS...
   YOU-MUST-PAY-THE-PRICE.

Serge:
   Even if we've caused you pain,
   killing off the human race won't
   undo what we've done.

[When Aquator is dead, the teleport pad leading to
the summit becomes available]

==============================================
Stairs, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[As the party climbs one last flight of stairs, they
hear the Dragon God shouting at nothing in particular]

 [Voices of the Dragon God]
   A-ARRGH...

   HELP...

   S-STOP IT...

   KILL ME...

   WELL COME...

   Welcome...
   Humans...
   
   Those who know the torment and
   joy of creation know also the
   pleasure and pain of destruction.

   Therefore, all that pass through
   here must be prepared to share the
   burden that I carry.

Serge:
   H-Harle? Is that you?

Kid:                  | Karsh:                  | Dario/Glenn:
   Didn't sound like  |    Didn't have Harle's  |    Why would Harle speak
   it to me.          |    accent...            |    of such things?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcy/Leena:          | Norris:                 | Sprigg:
   I don't think so.  |    It didn't sound like |    That girl always talked
                      |    her to me.           |    funny, though...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                 | Starky:                 | Luccia:
   IT SEEMS UNLIKELY. |    Harle...is gone.     |   I do not t'ink it vas her.


Serge:
   (I know it didn't SOUND like
   her...and yet, somehow, I
   think...)



Yes, that last little bit (and the first part of the next bit, up until the
Dragon God kicks the bucket) are the same in both versions of the chapter.
So sue me. More tomorrow.

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #295 on: April 30, 2011, 08:34:29 pm »
Only two "damn"s this time, I promise. ;P



26. Chrono Cross - The point where destinies meet... Part IIIb (no Magus)


==============================================
Summit, Terra Tower (Another)
==============================================

[The Flame is hovering above some sort of cup-like
formation in the middle of the open summit area.
As the party approaches it, we see a brief VIDEO: the
Flame opens up]

Fargo:                           | Kid:
   The Frozen Flame...           |    So this is the
   I've never seen               |    true Frozen Flame...
   another jewel that            |    Struth!
   would compare.                |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starky:                          | Dario:                  | Radius:
   What is this energyy?         |    It could indeed be   |    The Frozen Flame... In all
   Staarky thinks the Froozen    |    frozen fire...or     |    my born years, I've never
   Flaame is daangerous.         |    blood.               |    seen the like.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nikki:                           | Luccia:                 | Norris:
   This has got to be the real   |    So dat is de Frozen  |    If that is the Frozen Flame,
   Flame--it's giving me the     |    Flame... It appears  |    it is just as well that the
   chills just looking at it.    |    to defy all science. |    High Command never obtained it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena:                           | Skelly:                 | Glenn:
   The Frozen Flame... I don't   |    So that's the Frozen |    So that is the Frozen Flame
   know how we ever mistook the  |    Flame... You know,   |    that the "me" of Serge's
   Dragon Tear for that thing.   |    for once I don't     |    universe died for...
                                 |    feel like laughing.  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:                          | Zoah:
   The magic comin' from that    |    SO THIS IS THE "FROZEN
   thing iz enough to make me    |    FLAME" THAT EVERYONE HAS
   'air stand on end. I guess    |    BEEN SEARCHING FOR.
   everythin' they say about     |
   the Frozen Flame iz true.     |

Serge:
   (It feels almost like...it's
   dragging me in...)

Kid: [if present]
   Hold on!
   Don't touch it!


[Serge, demonstrating that he sometimes has the brains of
a robomule, steps forward and lays his hand right on it,
producing a bright flash. When the screen clears, Serge
has backed off.]

Kid/Leena/Nikki:     | Dario/Norris/Glenn:     | Karsh:
   Is everyone okay? |    Is anyone hurt?      |    Everybody okay?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Luccia:              | Radius:                 | Marcy:
   Vas anyvone hurt? |    Is everyone alright? |    Like, is everyone okay?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sprigg:              | Fargo:                  | Zoah:
   I'm getting too   |    Arr... No broken     |    WAS ANYONE HURT?
   old for this. Iz  |    bones, I hope.       |
   everyone alright? |                         |

Serge:
   I'm sorry, guys. I don't
   know what got into me.

[Kid glares at the Frozen Flame.]

Kid: [if present]
   Bugger you!
   Us humans ain't
   gonna let you have
   yer way any longer!

Sprigg: [if present]
   Wot's this? Not quite magic,
   but it'z similar...

Kid: [if present]
   C'mon!
   Show yer
   bloody self!

[The Dragon God shoots up over the edge of the tower,
then lands on the far side of the Flame from the party,
who have all taken up defensive stances.]

 [Dragon God]
   In order to survive,
   all living things in this world

   fight desperately and
   devour those they defeat...

   Must one kill other living
   things in order to survive?
   
   Must one destroy another world
   in order to allow one's own
   world to continue?

   The wounded in turn wound
   and torment those weaker
   than they themselves are...

   There are only the killers and
   the killed...
   The sinners, who are judged, and
   the victims that do the judging...

   What meaning is there
   to such a world?

Kid: [if present]
   Whether there's
   meanin' to our
   lives or not...
   we still go on
   livin', you know!

Kid: [if present]
   You've got no right
   to deny that!

Serge:
   You want to know what meaning
   there is in the world... Well,
   what meaning is there in
   destroying it? Once it's gone,
   there'll just be...nothing. An
   empty space. There CAN'T be
   any meaning in that.

   (Did that even make sense?
   ...I am SO tired of philosophy.)

 [Dragon God]
   I shall cleanse this blue planet of
   you filthy humans once and for all!!

Serge:
   Let's get this over with so I
   can go home.

[Combat. When the party wins...]

 [Dragon God]
   Now I shall truly awaken again...
   This too is destiny...

[Serge shakes his head and says...]

Serge:
   (I'm not quite sure what that
   meant, but I have the feeling
   there's still more left to do.)

[As the Dragon God vanishes, Belthasar appears off to
the party's left]

Belthasar:
   That thing...
   the '"Dragon God"'...
   is only a quasi-existence...
   ...A temporary form that
   the real Dragon God uses
   in order to appear within
   this dimension.

Serge:
   I couldn't care less. What the
   hell are you doing here? In case
   you're wondering, I still want
   to punch your face in.

Belthasar:
   I'm sorry, young man, but what
   I have to tell you is very
   important.

Serge:
   Does this have anything to do
   with what that thing just said?
   About "truly awakening"?

[Belthasar nods]

Belthasar:
   Indeed it does. I see that I
   was not wrong in choosing you.

Serge:
   Say whatever it is you have to
   say, then, but TRY to keep it
   short.

Belthasar:
   I'll do my best, but do try not
   to rush me. An incomplete
   explanation can be worse than
   none at all.

Serge:
   (Is it just me, or does he get
   more hypocritical with every word
   that comes out of his mouth?!)

Belthasar:
   The actual Dragon God
   was consumed long ago,
   in the distant past...
   Integrated by the entity
   known as Lavos in a time
   on the other side of the
   dimensional darkness.

Serge:
   (Lavos... Funny how it
   keeps coming up.)

Belthasar:
   The Frozen Flame is a
   splinter from the extra-
   terrestrial being Lavos.
   
Belthasar:
   The one who connects with
   the Frozen Flame, in effect,
   links with Lavos itself.

Belthasar:
   As the mediator between Lavos
   and living things, that one will
   gain extraordinary powers!
   By binding with the new
   seed of destruction...
   the '"Devourer of Time!"'

Serge:
   Let me guess: someone you knew
   made this "connection" to the
   Flame, and now they're stuck
   getting turned into this
   "Devourer of Time" thing. That's
   what the ghosts meant when they
   said that there was someone you
   felt you had to save...and you
   want us to do your dirty work
   again. (I don't know what a
   "Devourer of Time" actually is,
   but with a name like that, it
   can't be good.)

Belthasar:
   Summing it up that way rather
   ruins the drama of events...but
   I suppose that, in essence, you
   are correct. Due to my
   foolishness, Schala, Princess of
   Zeal, is being absorbed into
   that creature. She was one of
   the most powerful mages that my
   homeland ever produced, and
   allowing Lavos to combine her
   power with its own could mean
   the end of all life on this
   planet. All of the dimensions,
   both the two that you've visited
   and those that you have never
   seen, would be destroyed...and
   then the Devourer would turn
   outward to find other worlds to
   feed on.

Serge:
   So why don't you go and fix
   things yourself for a change?
   Are you really that much of a
   coward? Or are you hoping that
   there'll be enough left of this
   Lavos-thing once we finish with
   it that you can merge with it
   yourself and gain these
   "extraordinary powers" you were
   babbling about?

Belthasar:
   Of course not, dear boy!

Serge:
   (Liar. Even I can see the
   expression on your face. That
   may not have been EXACTLY what
   you had in mind, but you're
   hoping to use this Lavos for
   SOMEthing.)

Belthasar:
   ...Schala saved your life, you
   know. It was she, through her
   connection with the Flame, that
   took down the defenses of
   Chronopolis during that storm
   fourteen years ago, and she was
   the one who persuaded the Flame
   to heal you. It isn't exactly
   known for doing that sort of
   thing.

Kid: [if present]
   Oy, Serge, you don't really
   believe this clap-trap, do ya?

Serge:
   I...don't know. (If I owe this
   Schala person like he says I do,
   I should rescue her, but I don't
   have any proof that she really
   exists, except for the geezer's
   rambling and the word of a
   ghost...)

   If this was what you wanted,
   Belthasar or whatever your name
   is, why didn't you just TELL us
   that? Why mess around with
   the dimensions and FATE and the
   dragons and...my father... ?

Belthasar:
   The dimensional split was
   necessary to make it possible
   for the rescue to succeed. The
   Time Devourer cannot be forced
   to release its human half
   through mere violence... I have
   reason to believe that Schala's
   brother tried that and failed,
   although he was a most powerful
   mage and one of those who
   originally defeated Lavos. No,
   you must--

Serge:
   Forget it.

Belthasar:
   Serge, you--

Serge:
   Are you deaf?! I said FORGET IT.
   You've lied and lied and lied to
   us, over and over again, and now
   you're spinning another story
   with nothing to back it up. How
   do I know this isn't just another
   lie?!

[Terra Tower begins to shake]

Kid: [if present]
   Oy, Serge--

Serge:
   Oh, hell, I think we'd better
   get out of here. There's nothing
   more to say, anyway.

[Member]: [Yeah, just this once]
   What about the Frozen Flame?

Serge:
   It can go to the bottom of the
   ocean for all I care! Come on!
   We have to get out before this
   place falls apart!

Belthasar:
   Don't worry. The Flame will be...
   taken care of.

[Belthasar and the Frozen Flame both disappear]

Serge:
   Damn!

[As the party flees, we are shown VIDEO: the end
of Terra Tower]

==============================================
Sea (Another)
==============================================

[When the screen fades in again, we see the party
in a boat at the foot of the tower. Again, I'm going to
assume Kid joins them in the boat even if she didn't
climb the Tower, although the original has alternative
lines available...]

Kid:
   So that's Terra Tower's
   final, true form...
   In the end, we're all the
   same...
   Everyone dreams of bein'
   greater, more powerful...

Serge:
   ...

Kid:
   You okay, mate?

Serge:
   It's just...I wish I felt I
   was doing the right thing.

Kid:
   You mean by telling that
   Belthasar to take a long walk
   off a short dock?

Serge:
   Pretty much. I mean, if this
   Schala person really exists,
   I'm kind of letting her down,
   aren't I?

Kid:
   You got any reason to think
   that she's real?

Serge:
   Beside Belthasar and the ghosts,
   you mean? ...I don't know. If I
   think back to what happened when
   Dad took me to Chronopolis, it's
   pretty hazy, but I can almost
   remember someone touching me.
   Someone warm. And a woman's
   voice...

Kid:
   If she really did save yer life,
   though, she might not want ya to
   risk it again for her sake.

Serge:
   That's part of the problem.
   I just...don't know...

[Lucca]
   It's true that Princess Schala
   is a gentle soul, but even if
   she saved your life, Serge, it's
   up to you to decide what to do
   with that life, not her.

[Lucca fades into existence sitting on the edge of the boat.]

Serge:
   So she is real, then.

[Lucca]
   Yes--that part of what
   Belthasar told you was
   true.

Serge:
   Including the bit about
   her brother trying to
   save her?

[Lucca]
   I don't know. It could be.
   Janus was always so stubborn...
   If he went up against the Time
   Devourer and failed, it would
   explain why it's been so many
   years since I last heard from
   him. Although I always thought...
   but never mind that.

Serge:
   (Janus... She mentioned that
   name in her letter, didn't she?)
   Why did you expect him to be
   with Kid?

[Lucca]
   That's...kind of a long story,
   and this isn't the time for it.
   You need to decide what you're
   going to do.

Serge:
   ...

[Lucca]
   The Time Devourer won't become a
   danger to anything for hundreds
   of years, you know. If you want
   to just leave it, that's okay.
   Someone else will probably come
   along who can do the job instead
   of you.

Serge:
   ...No. It would be different if I
   really thought that saving her,
   saving Schala, was the wrong
   thing to do, but just chickening
   out because I'm tired of being
   pushed around... If I really go
   through with that, I don't think
   I'm ever going to be able to
   forgive myself.

   What do I need to do?

[Lucca]
   Well, first of all, take this.

[System]
   Serge received Time Egg!

[Lucca]
   If you use that in a place where
   the dimensional walls are already
   weak, it will let you access the
   Darkness Beyond Time, where the
   Time Devourer is waiting.

   Secondly, you need the Chrono
   Cross.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If they've already made the Chrono Cross]

Serge:
   You mean this weird Element
   that we made out of the
   broken Dragon Tears?

[Lucca]
   Indeed.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[If they haven't]

Serge:
   The...what?

[Lucca]
   It is an Element that can only
   be created by fusing the power
   of two separate dimensions. You
   must take the shards of the two
   Dragon Tears to Divine Dragon
   Falls, near Arni.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serge:
   An Element that could only be
   made because of the dimensional
   split... Did Belthasar got to
   all that trouble just so it
   could be created?

[Lucca]
   Pretty much.

Serge:
   So what am I supposed to do
   with it?

[Lucca]
   It's our hope that, by playing
   the proper melody with the
   Chrono Cross, you can bring
   Schala back into harmony with
   the world. Once that happens,
   the Time Devourer will no longer
   be able to hold her: she will
   free herself.

Nikki: [if present]
   An Element that plays music?
   That is COOL. The true song
   of the world...

Serge:
   Um, you do know that I can
   barely carry a tune in a
   bucket, right...?

[Note: Yes, I know Serge plays with Nikki's band in one of
the endings, but IIRC he plays the drums, which are mainly
about rhythm rather than pitch]

[Lucca]
   Don't worry, it keeps itself
   in tune--it's an Element, not
   a banjo!

Serge:
   So what do I have to play?

[Lucca]
   I don't know yet, but the others
   are working on it. By the time
   you're ready to use that Egg,
   we should know.

Serge:
   ...Okay. (I hope she's right.)

[Lucca]
   Good. We'll be waiting for you
   when you're ready--you and Kid.

Kid:
   Me?

[Lucca]
   Well, of course you, silly.
   I know you too well to expect
   that you'd want to sit this out.

Kid:
   Sis...

[Lucca]
   I'm sorry, Kid. I should have
   tried harder to be there, for
   you and for the others. So
   much for Lucca the Great, eh?

[Kid shakes her head]

Kid:
   I know you tried as hard as
   you could. I know.
   (Sniff...)
   Argh, I'm too old to be
   cryin' over this...

[Lucca]
   You're never too old to cry.
   Think of that as one last
   lesson from your big sister,
   if you like!

[Kid scrubs at her eyes, and nods.]

[Lucca]
   So, I--

[She becomes more transparent for a moment, then fades back in.]

[Lucca]
   Damn, I guess I'm out of time.
   This ghost business can be
   such a pain! Serge, I'll be
   seeing you as soon as we find
   out exactly what you need to
   do with the Chrono Cross.

Serge:
   Right. And, um...thanks. For
   everything. If not for you, I
   might never have had the chance
   to meet Kid.

Kid:
   Eh? What's that
   supposed to mean?

[Lucca]
   Heheheh... You'll figure it
   out eventually...

[Lucca fades away]

Kid:
   Serge, why did ya say that?

Serge:
   Um... (She's blushing. Heck,
   my face is so hot I'm probably
   blushing too.) Well, I kinda...
   I mean...

Kid:
   Ah, forget it! At this rate,
   it's gonna be next week before
   ya get around to answerin'.

Serge:
   Sorry.

Kid:
   Eh, no biggie. I mean, I
   kinda...

   Anyway, why are we still sittin'
   around here? Let's get movin'!

Serge:
   We need to figure out WHERE
   we're going first.

Kid:
   Ain't it obvious? "A place where
   the dimensional walls are already
   weak"--she has to have meant that
   bloody beach!

Serge:
   Opassa? Well, I guess it's a
   place to start. Sure, let's go
   to Opassa.
 



Well, that's it for this time. Some more side stuff, then one more chapter, then
the endings. ...Wow. I honestly didn't think I'd ever get so close to finishing this.


Bard_of_Time

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #296 on: May 10, 2011, 11:25:44 pm »
... I can't believe I read the whole thing. From start to end. Just... wow.

Keep up the awesome work! I want to see how it all comes together at the end.

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #297 on: May 11, 2011, 05:18:19 pm »
I'm glad you're enjoying it, and hope I can keep it up to standard. Currently, Fargo and Nikki are being...difficult. ;P

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #298 on: May 24, 2011, 08:14:15 pm »
Argh. Writing the scene with Fargo and Nikki was painfully difficult--it
took several attempts and a re-watch of Noein episode 12 (or is it 13?
The one where Haruka asks her father for advice on defusing the situation
between Fukuro and Karasu before they kill each other, anyway) before it
would gel.

Writing Marcy was worse, especially since I didn't even know who she was
having that conversation with at first--I think Kid was the third or fourth
person I tried.

And there was supposed to be another scene that I had to scrap altogether
because the one-line note I left myself when I first conceived it wasn't
enough to tell me what it was that I wanted to do with it. :(



8. In the Living Years

[This is triggered by bringing Nikki aboard the Zelbess after
Serge has turned back into himself again, while Fargo is not
in the party.]

========================================================
Mooring Area At Waterline, S.S. Invincible (Another)
========================================================

[As the party disembarks from the boat, Nikki moves away from
everyone else.]

Nikki:
   Serge, I think I'd like to be
   alone for a while. Do you mind?

Serge:
   Of course not. (He's making me
   feel like a slave driver!)

Nikki:
   Thanks, man. I'll join back up
   again when it's time to leave.

[Nikki climbs alone up the stairs that lead to the deck.
Fade to...]

========================================================
Captain's Quarters, S.S. Invincible (Another)
========================================================

[Fargo is standing at the far end of the room, smoking and
looking out over the ocean, when the door opens and Nikki
walks in.]

Nikki:
   I thought I might find you here.

Fargo:
   Aye, and I would have expected
   ya ta show up sooner.

Nikki:
   I was afraid you'd try to run
   away again if I tried to ask
   you questions.

Fargo:
   Runnin' away would be easier,
   but if I did it I'd be no better
   than that bucket of bilge wash
   from Serge's world. No, I'll
   stay and answer this time.

Nikki:
   Okay, then--tell me why you
   abandoned us! I thought you
   were DEAD! And Marcy... I don't
   know if I'll ever forgive you
   for Marcy. I shouldn't have had
   to find out that I had a sister
   from MIKI's parents. Did you
   really hate the sight of us that
   much?!

Fargo:
   I never hated either of ya.
   Pretty much the opposite,
   in fact.

Nikki:
   Then WHY?!

Fargo:
   Maybe I did the wrong thing.
   I still don't know. And there
   isn't just one simple reason.

   At first, it was just that yer
   mother's death hit me harder
   than I would've thought possible.
   I had the Invincible standin'
   off Porre when Viper went ta
   try ta get her and Marcy from
   the lab they'd sent them to
   after the kidnappin'. When he
   came back and told me that
   she... that she had... Well,
   the truth is that I lost it and
   near swiped the old buzzard's
   head off! Heh--'tis a good
   thing he isn't one to hold
   grudges.

[Fargo laughs, then sobers up again]

Fargo:
   I was in no fit state ta be a
   father fer a couple of years,
   'specially not after I moved
   from bein' a merchant and
   privateer ta bein' the sort of
   pirate I used ta hunt down.
   It would've been too risky ta
   have two children on this ship
   after that.

Nikki:
   Hey, I understand that, okay?
   But not being able to have us
   live with you doesn't mean you
   couldn't have visited. You never
   even wrote me a damned letter!

Fargo:
   Aye, I suppose I could've.
   Should've. But I was afraid.

Nikki:
   Afraid? YOU?

Fargo:
   Indeed I was. I'd grown used ta
   havin' no one ta worry about me,
   ya see. I was afraid that if I
   ever heard from ya, I wouldn't
   be able ta do what I thought I
   had ta do.

   You're a lot like yer mother,
   ya know. Marcy looks like her,
   but you have her personality.

Nikki:
   ...

Fargo:
   There's another reason, too.

Nikki:
   Like what?

Fargo:
   Yer mother and I...we had a
   dream. A dream about humans and
   demi-humans livin' together.

Nikki:
   So?

Fargo:
   You and Marcy...you're the
   livin' embodiment of that dream.
   I didn't want ta mess that up by
   turnin' the two of ya inta
   pirates.

Nikki:
   That's the worst excuse for
   ANYTHING I've ever heard!

Fargo:
   I never claimed it was a good
   reason. I can be as much of a
   fool as the next man, ya know.

Nikki:
   This isn't fair.

Fargo:
   Eh?

Nikki:
   You were supposed to get mad,
   and we were supposed to have a
   fight, and then maybe
   afterwards...it would've been
   okay again. I never expected
   you'd chicken out this way.

Fargo:
   Ya WANTED ta fight? Heh...
   Maybe ya inherited a bit more
   from me than I thought.
   Well, we can make up now for
   me bein' so thickheaded, if
   ya like.

Nikki:
   It's no good if you're doing
   it on PURPOSE.

Fargo:
   Isn't it?
   Nah, I figure you're just afraid
   this old man'll beat ya.

Nikki:
   YOU beat ME?

Fargo:
   Why not? I'll grant you're not
   bad in a straight-up fight, but
   you're not nearly underhanded
   enough ta fight a pirate.

[Something glitters in Fargo's hand]

Nikki:
   !
   That's my guitar pick! Where did
   you get that?!

Fargo:
   Told ya, you're
   not underhanded
   enough!

Nikki:
   Give it back!

Fargo:
   Make me.

[Nikki snatches at it, but Fargo pulls his hand back so that he misses.]

Fargo:
   Didya really think it was
   gonna be that easy? Come on,
   lad, take it back! Or can't ya
   manage without that guitar of
   yers?

[The screen fades out as Nikki lunges at Fargo, and we hear some crashing noises.
The next few lines show up against the black screen.]

Nikki:
   Too slow, old man!

Fargo:
   Not bad, but can ya deal
   with this?

Nikki:
   Was that supposed to be a punch?
   Miki's granny can hit harder!

Fargo:
   That's it, I'm not goin' easy on
   ya any more!

[When the screen fades back in, they're both lying on their backs on the floor]

Fargo:
   (Pant, pant)
   Well, lad, now that you've had
   yer fight, do ya feel better?

Nikki:
   (Pant, pant)
   ...You set me up, didn't you,
   you son of a bitch?

Fargo:
   'Course I did--and if ya
   couldn't see something that
   obvious straight away, it's a
   good thing you're not trying ta
   be a pirate.

Nikki:
   ...
   Miki would probably kill me if
   she'd seen us slugging it out.

Fargo:
   So would yer mother have done.
   I've met few women who understand
   what a fight is good for.

Nikki:
   Well, at least I got my guitar
   pick back.

Fargo:
   !

[Fargo feels his pockets]

Fargo:
   Now how did ya get that without
   me noticin'?

Nikki:
   Heh--you're the devious pirate,
   so figure it out for yourself!

Fargo:
   Heheheh....

Nikki:
   Ahahaha!

[Fade out with the two of them laughing like idiots.]

========================================================
Rear Deck, S.S. Invincible (Another)
========================================================

[Marcy is standing at the rear rail of the Invincible, where Harle
was hanging out just before she left the party. (I'm pretty sure that
Marcy hangs out on the Invincible in the late game when she isn't in
the party, so no need to worry about Serge getting her there.)]

Marcy:
   I don't get it. Why can't that
   idiot just, like, leave me
   alone? The way he keeps on
   pestering me about my being his
   sister is grody to the MAX.
   Why does he care?

Kid:
   'Cause that's what family DOES.

[Kid enters the scene and goes over to stand beside Marcy.]

Marcy:
   But I don't WANT a family! I'm
   doing okay on my own.

[Kid slaps Marcy]

Marcy:
   What do you think you're doing?!
   I'm gonna get you for that!

Kid:
   Do ya have any idea how lucky
   ya are, ya stupid little brat?!

Marcy:
   Having that nutjob following me
   around is LUCKY?!

Kid:
   Yeah, it is, 'cause it means
   he's still there! Do you have
   any idea what I'd do to have
   Sis back? Well, do ya?!

Marcy:
   That's different!

Kid:
   No, it ain't! It ain't different
   at all! Sis and me didn't always
   get along either, but that didn't
   mean we didn't care about each
   other!

Marcy:
   Are you telling me I'm supposed
   to, like, CARE about that idiot
   with the guitar?! I HATE him!
   I hate him more than anything
   or anyone else in the world!
   Where the hell has he been all
   these years?! Where was he when
   I...when I was...

Kid:
   When ya were what? When ya
   were little? Nobody even wanted
   to tell him you existed! He
   spent years lookin' for ya--

Marcy:
   So what? I never asked him to!

Kid:
   Aagh, have ya got any idea how
   mad you're makin' me, brat?!

Marcy:
   Stop calling me a brat, you hag!
   I hate you too, you know!

Kid:
   I'm startin' to wonder if
   there's anyone ya don't hate!

Marcy:
   ...Serge.

Kid:
   Serge is-- Hey, stop tryin'
   to change the subject!

Marcy:
   Nyah-nyah! You're so stupid you,
   like, almost fell for it!

Kid:
   Grrr... I'm surprised Luccia
   didn't throw ya out on yer
   rump.

Marcy:
   That's 'cause General Viper
   wouldn't, like, let her.

Kid:
   ...
   'Bout Nikki--

Marcy:
   What's it gonna take to make
   you give up?!

Kid:
   Hey, I'm gettin' tired of
   arguin' with ya too. Just let
   me finish sayin' my piece.
   After that, I'll leave.

Marcy:
   Why don't you just leave, like,
   right now?

Kid:
   'Cause I think it's important
   to pound this into yer thick
   little head!

Marcy:
   Okay, then, say whatever it is
   you think is so important...but
   you might want to remember that
   you can't, like, make me listen.

Kid:
   ...

   Y'know, I fought with Sis that
   morning. Right before Lynx
   showed up at the orphanage.
   I was still sulkin' when the
   fire started, and Sis...gave
   everythin' she could to protect
   me and the other kids.

   I was old enough to know that
   it wasn't my fault, but it took
   me years to get over not havin'
   said, "I'm sorry" to her that
   mornin'. It always hurt...just
   a bit...to know that the last
   thing I said to her was stupid
   angry brat stuff, even though
   I knew she had to've understood.

   So, well, I know ya don't like
   Nikki all that much, but just
   the same, sometime, years from
   now, when ya don't have the
   chance to make things right
   anymore, ya might wish you'd
   talked to him while ya could.

Marcy:
   ...Are you done yet?

Kid:
   Yeah, that's all I had to say.

Marcy:
   Then get out of here and leave
   me alone!

Kid:
   ...I guess it's either that or
   introduce ya to the moons.
   See ya.

[Kid leaves. Marcy stays where she is, staring down at the water.]

Marcy:
   So I'm gonna regret it if I
   don't make nice with him? That's
   stupid!

   Isn't it?

   Mom, what would you have done?

   ...I wonder, sometimes, why I
   try to talk to you. It isn't
   like I knew you or anything.
   I mean, I always thought you
   were, like, human. All Luccia
   would ever say was that you and
   Dad were both dead. I wasn't
   even smart enough to figure out
   that she was, like, LYING to me.

   ...

   You would have wanted me to like
   Nikki, wouldn't you? But I don't
   know...how not to be alone, I
   guess. I'm not like Kid. She had
   friends once, and lost them, but
   I've never had anybody. And I
   don't really want to have.

   ...

   I don't know. Maybe...I'll try
   being a little nicer to him, and
   just, like, see what happens.

========================================================
Hallway, S.S. Invincible (Another)
========================================================

[Marcy, descending into the ship, meets Nikki at the
bottom of the staircase leading up to the deck.]

Nikki:
   Marcy...

Marcy:
   Um, hi. Have you got
   a moment?

Nikki:
   For you, anything.

Marcy:
   Y'know, I wish you wouldn't
   flirt with me. It's kind of
   gross--even if I wasn't your
   sister, you're, like, OLD.

Nikki:
   You know, I think you're the
   first person who's ever said
   that to me.

Marcy:
   It's the rock star thing. It
   makes people act, like, STUPID.

Nikki:
   And it doesn't impress you?

Marcy:
   I don't, like, have TIME for
   music and all that stuff. I have
   to train every day, or they'll
   kick me out of the Four Devas.

Nikki:
   Must be tough.

Marcy:
   Kinda...but I enjoy it. I like
   being strong.

Nikki:
   Was there something you wanted
   to talk to me about?

Marcy:
   Yeah.  I was...kinda hoping you
   could, like...tell me about Mom.
   I mean, I was still a baby when
   she died, so I don't remember
   her at all.

Nikki:
   Sure--but I'm surprised you'd
   ask the guy who couldn't
   recognize his own father.

Marcy:
   There aren't that many people
   I can ask. You, Fargo, and
   Irenes--if I had any idea where
   she was in this world. Luccia
   didn't, like, know her all that
   well.

Nikki:
   I guess that's true. Let's go
   back up on deck and sit down.
   I always feel happier when I
   can see the ocean.

Marcy:
   ...Me too.

[The scene fades out as they head up the gangway.
If the player visits the Invincible's deck when
neither character is in the party from now on,
the two of them can be spotted conversing over by
the rail.]

----------------------------------------------------------------

9. Lost Fragments

[Magus's Frozen Flame line]

Magus:
   ...Heh. Do you honestly think
   you can tell me anything about
   myself that I don't already know?

   I've already tried and failed
   to erase my past, and you would
   do no better even if I were
   willing to permit you to make
   the attempt. The tale of my sins
   is burned into my soul. I accept
   that. It won't make me turn
   aside from my chosen course.

[Dario's Frozen Flame line]

Dario:
   What are you saying?
   Karsh? Why would I want to
   do him harm?

   ...Jealous? Yes, I was. Even
   though Riddel had chosen me, I
   didn't entirely trust in her
   steadfastness--and because of
   that, I hurt them both, and
   myself as well. I was a fool.
   But undoing it would only make
   things worse...or at least, I
   hope I have learned a little
   from my mistakes.


[One more fragment centering around Radius,
Glenn, and/or Dario...]

==============================================
Shrine Area, Termina (Home)
==============================================

[If one of the aforementioned current or former Dragoons
is in the party, examining the gravestone produces...]

 [System]
   ~Beneath the Sacred Sword,
   ~~~the warriors lie...
    ~~13th Acacia Dragoon
    ~~ Grandmaster Garai
    ~~14th Acacia Dragoon
    ~~ Grandmaster Dario

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If only Dario is present]

Dario:
   This was inscribed in error, and
   yet...what a very odd feeling.
   To be dead, and yet alive...

Serge:
   You get used to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Glenn is present]

Glenn:
   Father...
   Brother...

Dario: [if present]
   He would be proud of you,
   little brother. I know I am.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Radius is present]

Radius:
   Garai...
   Forgive me...

Glenn: [if present]
   It was not your fault.

Dario: [if present]
   I...believe that Father would
   understand, where he is now.
   We have all seen what that
   sword can do, and we all have
   darkness inside us. If you are
   to be held responsible for
   yours, I must equally be
   condemned for mine...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



And that marks the end of the side stuff! Next I get to thin out the
infodump in Chapter 27 (fun, fun. Fortunately, it's a short chapter...
which will be even shorter when I'm done gutting it.)

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Helix (script)
« Reply #299 on: June 05, 2011, 08:49:05 pm »
With the infodumps gutted of everything that I managed to slip in earlier in the story, this
ended up being one of the shortest chapters.

And in case anyone is wondering, the first time I played through Cross, the whole thing with
the Chrono Cross drove me nuts. I couldn't find any indication whatsoever of what the proper
sequence of notes/Elements was inside the game--I had to get it from an online walkthrough, and
even then I couldn't figure out where the guy who wrote that had gotten it, because none of the
game dialogue makes the link clear that I ever noticed. Therefore, I slipped that information
in here explicitly.



27. For all the Dreamers - Our planet's dream is not over yet...
   
Max recruits: Serge, (Magus and Guile) OR (Glenn and Nikki), Sprigg, Radius,
        Norris, Skelly, Karsh, ZOAH, Marcy, Fargo, Starky, Grobyc, Luccia,
        Dario, Leena, Kid.

==============================================
Opassa Beach (Home)
==============================================

[Note: I am going to assume that if Kid is not in the party, she
enters the screen a moment after they arrive. The three ghosts are
loitering around the beach. Dialogue begins once everyone is in place.]

 [Lucca]
   So you finally made it,
   Serge...

Serge:
   (That makes it sound like
   I'm late...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

[Lucca]
   And you too, Janus.

Magus:
   Get on with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serge:
   I need you to tell me exactly
   what I'm supposed to do with
   the Chrono Cross.

Kid:
   Not so fast, mate! First, I
   want to know exactly what
   that old coot was trying to
   do. Why're we the ones that
   have to save the world?

[Lucca]
   That story begins with Schala.
   When Zeal's Ocean Palace was
   destroyed and the remnants of
   of Lavos drew Schala with them
   into the Darkness Beyond Time,
   where she was forced to merge
   with them... Half-absorbed by
   that evil, with her mind divided
   between its desire for
   destruction and her own desire
   to save the universe
   and herself...
   As Schala fell through the
   time gate in this condition,
   she heard your crying
   echoing through time...
   That is when her story and
   yours began to intertwine...
   It is also when the past and
   the future began to intersect,
   and when the world became
   divided into two...
   Led by the pitiful crying
   the young Serge made as
   the panther demon's poison
   took hold of him...
   Princess Schala traveled ten
   thousand years in time to try
   and make contact with this
   dimension!
   This caused a raging magnetic
   storm that resulted in FATE's
   system malfunction, which led
   Serge to the Frozen Flame.

Magus: [if present]
   How very like her to attempt
   to help another even when she
   was in much greater danger...

Serge:
   So it was just luck?

[Lucca]
   Well, you could put it that way.
   Personally, I think it was the
   Entity--the spirit of our
   planet--at work. It never liked
   Lavos any more than we did.

Serge:
   (Makes me wish I could go back
   in time and tell myself not to
   be such a cry-baby...but then I
   would never have met Kid...)

Magus:                             | Kid:
   All of that explains Serge, but |   So that explains Serge, but I
   not my sister's near-double.    |   have a feelin' I didn't just end
   Why is Kid involved?            |   up here for no reason either.

[Lucca]
   Kid... Even I needed a while to
   work that out. When I found her
   under a tree as a baby, all I
   knew was that she had some sort
   of relationship to Zeal. When
   she started to look more and
   more like Schala as she got
   older, I became convinced that
   there had to be a link between
   her and the lost princess...but
   until Lynx let a few things slip
   while he was burning down my
   orphanage, I didn't know exactly
   what it was. It seems that,
   before Lavos could completely
   take over Princess Schala's
   mind, she cloned herself and sent
   her copy into this dimension.
   Schala left her baby
   daughter-clone with her
   ancient pendant, possessing
   magical powers.
   This was to safeguard her
   daughter-clone in life-and-
   death situations.
   The pendant would rewind
   time a little, sending her
   daughter-clone into a safer
   point in the immediate past.

   That's right...
   Kid is Schala's
   daughter-clone!

Kid:
   You're wrong! I'm me!
   I ain't no Schala's
   daughter or clone!

Serge:
   (This probably isn't the time
   to point out that we don't get
   to choose our parents...)

Magus: [if present]
   The idea doesn't thrill me,
   either...but had you rather
   be the child of no one at all?

[Lucca]
   Of course you're you, Kid!
   I don't think Schala would have
   wanted it any other way!

Kid:
   ......

Serge:
   So we were chosen by Schala,
   then railroaded by Belthasar...
   all so we would end up here?

[Lucca]
   Pretty much. Well, so that you
   would end up here, anyway. Kid
   wasn't exactly...

Kid:
   I wasn't exactly what?

[Lucca]
   I'm not sure that Belthasar
   expected you to be here. Later
   on, he's going to need you to
   go back in time and save Serge
   from drowning...and then call
   him into the other timeline...
   but I'm not sure having you
   fight the Time Devourer was
   ever part of the equation.

Kid:
   Ya can't be serious! How could
   I be involved and not want to
   fight?

[Lucca]
   Well, Belthasar doesn't know you
   as well as I do...

Magus: [if present]
   Hmph. It's a wonder that even
   this much of the old snake's
   plan ever came to fruition.

Serge:
   Okay, so what about the Chrono
   Cross? How do I use it?

[Lucca]
   Well, you may already have found
   out that it resonates with other
   Elements to play a melody.

[Marle]
   What you need to do to help
   Schala is play something
   specific.

Serge:
   Like what?

[Lucca]
   We don't know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   You weren't always this
   useless.

[Lucca]
   Give me a break, Janus--we were
   all killed and expunged from
   this timeline, okay? You might
   have a hard time getting anything
   done this way yourself!

Magus:
   ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Crono]
   We don't know, but we were able
   to find out who does: a creature
   called the Criosphynx, which
   invaded Earth Dragon Isle when
   the dragon was killed in the
   world which is not yours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they've already confronted the Criosphynx]

Serge: [if they killed it]    | [if they out-riddled it]
   Um, it might be a little   |    (So the order of the
   difficult to ask that      |    riddles was... If I
   thing any questions now... |    can just remember...)

Serge:
   Is there any other way?

[Crono]
   Well... I got the impression
   that it also had something to
   do with the natural ordering of
   Elements...but what that is, I
   don't know, and neither did
   anyone I talked to.

Serge:
   Natural...ordering?

[Lucca]
   The Dragonians had some kind
   of...structure that they
   imposed on the Elements when
   using them ceremonially.

Serge:
   (A Dragonian ordering?)

   (...)

   (Wait! We ran into guardian
   creatures with Elemental powers
   at Fort Dragonia, and again at
   Terra Tower--did they use the
   ordering? I think it was...
   yellow, red, green, blue...
   white, black? Or black, white?
   I can't remember, but if I have
   the first four right, it
   shouldn't take more than a
   couple of tries...)

   I think I've got it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they havn't met the Criosphynx]

Serge:
   I guess we'll have to go pay it
   a visit, then. (Or we could just
   wing it...but that probably
   isn't a good idea.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serge:
   Any other advice?

[Lucca]
   If a feline demi-human carrying
   a torch knocks on your door in
   the middle of the night, don't
   let him in.

Serge:
   Um...

[Lucca]
   I must be losing my touch--that
   was SUPPOSED to be a joke! No,
   no advice--by now, you should
   know what you're capable of
   better than I do! Just...good
   luck. And be careful.

Kid:
   Sis...

[That concludes the conversation with Lucca. If they
speak to Marle...]

[Marle]
   That pendant... How nostalgic.

Kid:
   This thing I've had since I was
   a brat, ya mean?

[Marle]
   Yes. Although it once belonged
   to Princess Schala, by my time,
   it had fallen into the hands of
   Guardia's royal family. It
   was given to me when I was
   still a little girl. It seems
   so long ago...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   It's also a temporal paradox,
   although the Entity seems not
   to have noticed that yet.

[Marle]
   Or perhaps it doesn't care.

Kid:
   Funny...I thought it was the
   Astral Amulet that had the
   Zeal crest on it.

Magus:
   That was Schala's as well...
   or the amulet inside it was.
   The pouch must be Lucca's idea
   of a joke.

Kid:
   Y'know, Uncle, you've got a
   weird look on yer face, all of
   a sudden...almost like you're
   embarassed about something.

[Marle]
   Heh... I'll bet he was the one
   who gave it to his sister. It's
   just the sort of thing he would
   do, then not want anyone to find
   out about.

Magus:
   Shut up.

[Marle]
   You never change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If they speak to Crono]

[Crono]
   It really is unbelievable just
   how complex a plan Belthasar put
   in motion. Using the Prometheus
   Circuit to break the link between
   FATE and the Frozen Flame... For
   anyone else, it would have been
   an insane gamble.

Magus:                 | Serge:
   The old buzzard was |    If he's that good at predicting the
   lucky, that's all.  |    future, he should have known just
                       |    how angry he was going to make me.

[Crono]
   Well, he isn't infallible. I
   don't think he expected the
   Dragons to send a representative
   to interfere with Lynx's actions.
   Harle must have been quite a
   surprise. If Belthasar could
   predict every element of the
   future perfectly, even with the
   help of a computer like FATE,
   he would be a god, not a human.

[Lucca]
   Perhaps part of his purpose in
   doing all this was to become...
   something more than what he is.

[Crono]
   Indeed. Humans are such fragile,
   disjointed, imperfect things.
   Love and hate...
   Life and death...

   Perhaps even FATE itself
   dreamed of using the Flame
   to some day reincarnate
   itself into a new species.
   It is quite sad, really...
   It's like when you gaze
   into the Flame, the Flame
   gazes back into you.

Serge:
   (Maybe after I get rid of this
   Time Devourer thing, people will
   stop trying to get me interested
   in all this philosophy stuff...)

[When the party examines the entrance to the DBT, the first
person-who-is-not-Serge in the party says...]

Kid:                        | Skelly:                        | Grobyc:
   The final gate, which    |    The final gate to the       |    This-is-the-final-gate
   leads to the darkness    |    darkness of time, eh?       |    to-the-darkness-of-time.
   of time... Looks like    |    The time's finally come.    |    The-time-has-come.
   this is finally it...    |    We may fall to darkness,    |    What-else-can-Grobyc
   C'MON!                   |    but I ain't afraid.         |    do-but-destroy?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magus:                      | Guile:                         | Sprigg:
   So here it is...the      |    So this is the final gate,  |    Wot do we 'ave 'ere!?
   doorway back to the      |    which leads to the          |    The final gate, which leads
   site of my greatest      |    darkness of time...         |    to the darkness of time, eh?
   failure. Schala...       |    Heh...                      |    Well, it's time to end it
   I was a fool to let      |    Never did I expect          |    then!
   this take so long.       |    this to happen...           |    Someone's gotta do it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dario:                      | Norris:                        | Nikki:
   So this is the gate      |    Could this be the final     |    So this is the final
   that leads to the        |    gate, which leads to        |    gate, which leads to
   darkness of time...      |    the darkness of time?       |    the darkness of time...
   This time, I will        |    I guess this is finally it. |    It's time to settle
   not allow myself to      |    I have no regrets...        |    everything...
   be dragged down by       |    I am responsible for        |    May the song of truth by the
   the demons within.       |    my own actions.             |    Magical Dreamers be known!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starky:                     | Radius:                        | Luccia:
   This must bee the        |    Yes... This must be the     |    I see...
   fiinal gaate to the      |    final gate, which leads to  |    So dis is the final gate, which
   darkness of tiime.       |    the darkness of time.       |    leads to the darkness of time.
   Wee've fiinally come     |    The time has come to bring  |    The time to settle everyt'ing
   this far. Starky         |    everything to an end.       |    has kom, no...?
   will fiight to the       |    We must find a means        |    It vould be most interesting
   end alongsiide           |    without anger or hate.      |    to see vot kind of data I can
   youu, Serge.             |                                |    gat'er here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fargo:                      | Marcy:                         | Glenn:
   Arg! This looks to be    |    So, like, I guess this is   |    So this is the final
   the final gate, leadin'  |    the final gate, which leads |    gate, which leads to the
   to the darkness of time. |    to the darkness of time!    |    darkness of time...
   Let's finish this off.   |    It's time to settle this.   |    It is time to bring this
   We've wasted enough      |    I'm not gonna lose!         |    chapter to an end and
   bloomin' time as it is!  |    I'm not alone anymore!      |    create a brighter future!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zoah:                       | Leena:                         | Karsh:
   THE FINAL GATE, LEADING  |    So this must be the final   |    Hah! So this is the final
   TO THE DARKNESS OF       |    gate, which leads to the    |    gate, which leads to the
   TIME... THE TIME HAS     |    darkness of time... We can  |    darkness of time.
   COME TO END IT ALL.      |    end everything here. Even   |    Looks like the time has
   THE QUESTION IS, HOW?    |    my lost memories of what    |    come to end this sucker.
                            |    happened 10 years ago...    |

[The remaining party members then add their two cents' worth...]

Guile: [if present]
   Heh...
   Never did I expect
   this to happen...
   But very interesting,
   nonetheless!
   I would like to witness
   the outcome of this battle.

Norris: [if present]
   I have no regrets...
   I am responsible for
   my own actions.

Nikki: [if present]
   May the song of truth by the
   Magical Dreamers be known!

Zoah:  [if present]
   THE QUESTION IS,
   HOW DO WE END IT?
   
Marcy: [if present]
   I'm not gonna lose!
   I'm not alone anymore!

Luccia: [if present]
   I vill give it my all.
   It vould be interesting to see
   vot kind of data I can gath4er.

Radius: [if present]
   Hmmm...
   We must find a means
   without anger or hate.

Fargo: [if present]
   Let's finish this off.
   We've wasted enough
   bloomin' time as it is!

Glenn: [if present]
   It is time to bring this
   chapter to an end and
   create a brighter future!

Leena: [if present]
   For the sake of my lost
   memories of what happened
   10 years ago...

Sprigg: [if present]
   Someone's gotta do it.
   You bet...

Starky: [if present]
   Starky will fiight to the
   end alongsiide youu, Serge.

Skelly: [if present]
   We may fall to darkness,
   but I ain't afraid.

Grobyc: [if present]
   What-else-can-Grobyc
   do-but-destroy?

Karsh: [if present]
   This has my blood pumpin'!
   BRING IT ON!

Dario: [if present]
   If I can save even one person
   from a darkness like the one
   that absorbed me...then it will
   all be worth it.

Magus: [if present]
   Schala...I'm finally here,
   and this time, I will not
   fail you.

[...and then Kid takes over]

Kid:
   C'mon Serge, me mate!
   You don't wanna keep the
   girl waiting any longer...
   She's been waitin' for you,
   and only you!
   And for over ten thousand
   years, I might add!

Serge:
   Um... I guess that's true.

Kid:
   Heheh, you're gonna have to
   start comin' up with smoother
   lines than that if ya want me
   to go out with ya!

[Kid covers her mouth with her hand, as though
realizing what she just said.]

Kid:
   I meant-- That is--

Serge:
   (YES!!! She really... Oh, man,
   what do I say? If I come on too
   strong, she might change her
   mind again...)

   We'll talk about it later...
   if there is a later.

Kid:
   Yeah, no tellin' what we're
   gonna find in there, or what
   it's gonna do to us, or to the
   world. Maybe rescuin' Schala'll
   change things so much we won't
   even have met--but we can't
   back down now.

Kid:
   If the world's gonna
   be destroyed, then let
   it be destroyed!
   If history is gonna be
   changed, then let it
   bloody well be changed!
   I'll show you what
   Radical Dreamers
   really dream about!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[If Magus is present]

Magus:
   I hope those words aren't
   an omen.

Kid:
   Whaddaya mean?

Magus:
   I said the same thing--very
   nearly word-for-word--just
   before I confronted Lavos in
   the time of the Fall of Zeal.
   And I failed.

Serge:
   Somehow I don't think you're
   going to tell us to stop,
   though.

Magus:
   Heh. No, not likely. Even if
   I thought there were no hope
   at all, I would laugh in the
   face of Fate and go down
   fighting. Just see to it that
   you use the Chrono Cross
   correctly, because if we fail
   to rescue Schala, I will make
   you wish you had never been
   born.

Serge:
   (It would be nice if he said
   something encouraging for a
   change...but I suppose I should
   know better.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [System]
   No beginning and no end...
   ~~~To the darkness of time!
   ~~~No way! Not yet!



I now have somewhere between two and nine endings to do--the Magical Dreamers ending isn't
possible because I made Razzly unrecruitable, and I'm not touching the Programmers' Ending.

Almost there. ;)