The Sands Through Time Ch. 18

Chapter 18: The Fugitive

The fiends of Medina were all lined up at the square. They were worshiping their new leader. Since Magus's defeat in the year 600 AD, the fiends of the future had to worship another, someone who was capable of leading the magic wielding creatures to victory against human-kind. There were imps, goblins, griffins, rollies, and several fiends strapped in armor and they carried weapons.

"With the fall of our leader, the humans have taken over!" A loud mouth voice cried out in the square. "We cannot let the humans ride us out! We, the Mystics, shall over throw all of human-kind! I promise you, my fiends, we'll have our victory, if my name isn't Ozzie the VIII!" The new large leader was indeed a descendant of Ozzie. He looked exactly like the pea-brain fiend, except with blue skin.

"All hail Ozzie! All hail Ozzie!" The fiends cheered with triumph at their new leader.

Ozzie the VIII gleefully looked at his new army. "Before we attack the humans…," The giant fiend rubbed his large cleft chin for a moment as if deep in thought. "My home could use a good scrubbing!"

Hearing this unsettling news, fiends became distraught.

"Do we have to?" A green imp protested.

The protest caused Ozzie's tiny eyes to flare with rage. "Do you dare disobey ME?" He spat at the tiny imp, causing the tiny imp to cower in fear. "My ancestor gave everything for you worthless buffoons! Now get to it!"

The outburst from their new leader put all the fiends in fright. They quickly ran out of Medina Square to carry out their leader's demeaning task.


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It didn't take long for the Epoch, to arrive in the year 600 AD. The inhabitants of the flying ship smiled at the familiar setting. Everything seemed peaceful now that the war was over. Magus's Keep was nowhere to be found. Since his absence, Ozzie has taken over and had destroyed his former leader's hideout. However in its place was the eerie Black Omen, hovering silently waiting for the opportunity to summon Lavos once more. The Epoch landed on a nearby island. On the island there was a small fort hidden in a tiny forest. The elliptical fort wasn't very high in securing its surroundings. Assuming that he wouldn't be found, Ozzie must've been careless and did not provide the proper security for his place of refuge. The heroes of time entered the dreary and dark fortress. There were stone statues dedicated to the new plump Mystic leader.

"Welcome and well met!" Ozzie's voice rang out to greet his visitors the moment they had entered. He was hovering above a flight of stairs adorned in a blood stained carpet. "This is the great Ozzie's – What?" The giant fiend exclaimed in surprise causing his eyes to bug out as he saw Magus beside Crono and the others. "L-Lord Magus!"

Magus drew out his scythe, fixated on his former follower. "It is good to see you again, Ozzie." He said.

Ozzie scowled with disgust. "The nerve! You think you can talk to me after you desert your fellow fiends to lick the boots of these filthy humans! You're not our lord! You're a traitor!" He yelled and then lowered his large green head in dismay. "Why did you leave us?"

"I was never a part of your little play group you fool!" Magus replied.

"Why don't you just give up and surrender you big jerk!" Marle said.

"You pesky, low-down good-for-nothings! Can't take a hint, eh? Guess I know what I have to do now!" Ozzie nervously pondered. Flea!" He shouted.

Out of nowhere the mage, Flea appeared. "You called?" The mage asked his leader while twiddling his fingers in his braided hair.

"He's STILL alive!" Lucca exclaimed seeing the cross dressing mage.

Flea noticed the heroes that were determined to put an end to his new leader. "Oh dear me, if it isn't Lord Magus!" He said noticing his former leader. "You must like shame to have come back here. A human-loving traitor like you deserves to be punished like the bad, bad boy you are!"

Magus glared as his former magic wielding general itching to rip out his flesh with a swing of his scythe.

Flea threw back his white cape preparing to fight. "Stand back, great Ozzie," He said to his leader. "Let me take care of these cretins."

"Right!" Ozzie agreed. Although Ozzie was leader of a race who could use magic, he was still a plump coward. He slowly backed away towards the foyer of his hideout as Flea faced everyone. "I'll, uh, just leave it to you, then, Flea!" The 'great' Ozzie retreated from the battle.

Flea grinned with delight facing his enemies. "All right! Time for a good, hard spanking!" He told his adversaries.

Before the magic wielding fiend could even focus on concentrating on an incantation to incinerate his opponents, Magus unleashed his Dark Matter attack upon his former servant. Flea went hurtling towards the wall nearly breaking his spine as he hit the wall with a loud smack!

Flea stared up at his former leader and stood up wearily. "Oh, just you wait! I'll teach you a lesson next time!" The magic wielding fiend used his last bit of energy to teleport away from his opponents.

Crono and the others silently watched in awe at Magus's display of power.

The dark mage didn't face his comrades. "We're wasting time here, let's keep moving." He said to them and followed Ozzie's trail.

The others followed Magus's lead into another room of the fort and saw Ozzie above them standing on a high balcony. Near the chubby Mystic leader's hand was a spiral gear-like lever. Everyone entered the room and saw that they were surrounded by wooden conveyer belts.

"Why don't you just give up already!" Crono yelled at the giant fiend.

"Me? Give up!" Ozzie laughed. "Ha! Fat chance shrimp! Arise, my fearsome guardians! Slash 'em to shreds!" He turned the crank to the conveyer belts unleashing two blue goblins with patchy blonde hair their backs. They had massive claws for hands and webbed feet. They carried mallets for weapons.

"Ayla bash monsters!" Ayla roared getting into a fighting stance.

The others followed the cave woman's lead and took out their weapons ready to fight. As the goblins prepared to strike, the webbed feet creatures were unbalanced on the conveyer belts causing them to fall into a pit of darkness.

"Well that went rather well for us." Frog smiled.

Ozzie stared at this bewildering site in astonishment. "Oz… Ozzie's in a pickle!" He panicked. "I'm outta here!" He then disappeared.

"After him!" Marle yelled.

The heroes of time followed Ozzie within the bowels of his fort. Ozzie panted for breath as he heard the heroes' footsteps approaching him.

"D-don't you people ever give up?" The Mystic leader asked while catching his breath.

"Well if you'd just hold still and let us beat you, you wouldn't have to run so much." Lucca told him.

Hearing this Ozzie growled. "I won't LOSE to the likes of you!" He then looked around sweating nervously. "Well, looks like there's only one choice…Slash!"

In an instant the sword-wielding Mystic appeared. "You summoned?" He inquired his heavy leader.

"Take care of them for me, will ya, Slash?" Ozzie ordered pointing his green sausage-like finger towards Crono and the others.

Slash let out a mediocre chuckle. "Normally I would not deign to cross blades with my former lord, but who am I to question the complex workings of fate?"

"The only complexity you will have is what to do when we defeat you!" Magus scowled whipping out his scythe.

The swordsman unsheathed his blade. "Ready yourselves!" He challenged.

The heroes were more than ready to take on the sword wielding fiend. Ayla was the first to charge at the fiend. She wasn't armed with any weapons; all she had were her fists. She ran at the swordsman sending him flying with a mighty kick. The fiend fell to the ground hard dropping his sword. Slash lifted his head up and saw his sword just inches away from him. He reached for his weapon but stopped as Magus's scythe was aimed for his scaly neck.

"I wouldn't if I were you." The dark mage smirked.

Slash growled. "Hmph!" He scowled. "You win this time." The fiend picked himself up while disappearing into the next room.

In the next room, standing before the heroes were Ozzie, Flea, and Slash.

"Not so fast, friends." Ozzie smirked.

Crono rolled his eyes. "Aren't you tired of getting injured by us?" He asked.

"Yeah, aren't you tired of getting your sorry butts kicked?" Jera added.

The three fiends just smirked at their opponents. "This time's not going to be so easy." Ozzie declared.

Each of the three fiends unleashed their strongest accessory.

"Flea Bustier!" Flea beamed with pride as he showed off a shimmering vest which was magically inclined.

"Slasher II!" Slash unsheathed his iconic weapon of choice, but this sword was sharper around the edges than his previous weapon.

"Ozzie Pants!" Ozzie shouted with pride as he placed a large, white pair of underwear over his head. "With these items combined, we're invincible! Get ready to witness true power!"

The heroes of time stared at three fiends with flabbergasted expressions.

"They've got to be kidding!" Lucca exclaimed. "How can THOSE things actually make them stronger?"

"No, Ozzie is right!" Robo replied. "They're magical and physical strength has increased by ten!"

"So then how are we supposed to stop them?" Marle asked slightly afraid.

"Just like always!" Crono said heroically and charged at the three fiends with his sword drawn.

The three last living survivors of the fiends known as the Mystics just smirked as they saw Crono approach them. The three fiends raised their hands up encasing everyone in a triangular barrier.

"Hey! What gives?" Crono yelled frustrated and swung his sword at the barrier. He and everyone else suddenly screamed in agony as the barrier which trapped them released powerful bolts of lightning, giant shards of ice, and large fire balls, the moment Crono's sword touched it.

Everyone fell to their knees and groaned in pain.

Ozzie let out a grand laughter. "You fools are finished! We fiends will rule this and every other world there is!"

Magus wearily stood up glaring at his former generals. "You fools haven't won yet!" He declared. "I'll make sure you all rot in the dark depths of hell!" The dark mage casted Dark Matter unleashing the powerful dark attack on the barrier. However, the barrier just absorbed the mighty magical spell!

"No way…!" Crono stammered nervously.

"The barrier just ABSORBED all that magical power!" Lucca cried out equally stunned as everyone else.

"Your dark magic is useless once inside our barrier!" Flea grinned.

Magus stared angrily at his former minions and staggered to one knee since he had used up all his magical energy on his Dark Matter spell.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Ozzie laughed. "Now you'll bow down to us like the pathetic worms you are!"


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As the heroes struggled for survival, at the entrance of Ozzie's fort, a stray and curious orange kitten wandered into the dark fort. It let out a curious meow and began to wander probably searching for food. The kitten hid its tiny face within its paws as it heard Ozzie, Flea, and Slash laughing and tormenting their captive audience.

"We can't give up guys!" Crono told his sister and friends.

"There has to be a way to beat them…!" Marle said defiantly.

"We must…," Frog said. "…Defeat them."

"The future's counting us to stop them…and Lavos…" Lucca added wearily pushing up her glasses as it nearly fell off.

"Ayla strong…!" Ayla hissed at the three fiends. "No give up!"

"They're power…is too much for us…" Robo said in dismay.

"You three bumbling idiots have a weakness…!" Magus spat at them.

"As long as we're in this barrier…," Jera told the others. "We can't do anything…" She placed her hand on the barrier and felt something pulsating inside her.

"Jera?" Crono asked. "Are you ok?" He saw that his sister was struggling to let go of the barrier.

"Jera! Let go!" Marle cried out seeing the green haired girl latching onto the barrier.

"I'm trying…!" Jera squirmed as she used her other hand to pull back the hand that was on the barrier.

The barrier's yellow, blue, and red aura suddenly turned to a bright white aura and shattered into million fragments of light surrounding the green haired girl.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Slash cried out.

"Alright! We're free!" Crono beamed.

The white aura that surrounded Jera slowly started to manifest into a spirally white barrier which trapped Ozzie, Flea, and Slash inside. Seeing this relevance Ozzie quickly used his barrier to shield himself, hoping he would be spared. Spinning around like a tornado the bright white barrier trapped Flea and Slash in its powerful clutches breaking apart the stone ceiling of Ozzie's fort and sending the two fiends into the sky like shooting stars.

Jera gasped for air and exhaustedly fell to her knees as she felt the surge of power leave her.

"Jera!" Frog hopped over to her in distress. "Are you alright?"

Jera looked over at Frog weakly. "I…think so…," She panted. "I've…never done that…before."

"Spekkio bestowed upon you the magic of light," Robo said to her. "Light absorbs all other magical forces."

"That must've been the full potential of your magical powers," Lucca assumed. "The barrier that trapped us had lightning, ice, fire and darkness inside it."

"Yeah, what Lucca said." Marle smiled as she healed everyone from the fight.

Jera smiled weakly as she stood up with Frog's aid and stared at Ozzie as his barrier slowly disappeared.

"Im-Impossible!" Ozzie stammered and ran to into the final room of his fort. Realizing he was cornered the former general stared at Magus distraught. "Magus… You really have it out for me, don't you?" He asked his former leader. "We fought side by side! You said you wanted to create a world for fiends!" He cried out angrily realizing all this time he was being used as a mere pawn. "It was all a lie, wasn't it? You used me!"

Magus smirked. "I sought power, nothing more," He finally admitted to his lackey. He pointed his scythe at the heavy fiend's large neck. "Surely the howling of those bitter winds does not escape your ear? The end draws nigh."

"You can't defeat me!" Ozzie declared backing up against the wall where there were three switches. "What would become of fiendkind? I can't lose! I won't!" He cried out encasing himself inside his barrier. "You're wasting your time! You'll never defeat me!"

"There's no way we can attack him while he's inside that barrier!" Crono growled frustrated.

Just then the stray kitten, which had entered the fort from earlier walked into the room.

"What's that kitten doing here?" Lucca pondered.

"It must be lost." Marle assumed.

The kitten cutely stared at everyone and then looked at the three switches which were on the wall. Thinking that the round switches were balls of yarn, the kitten leaped towards the far right switch and pushed it.

Seeing the switch being pushed Ozzie panicked. "N-no! Not that switch!" He screamed as the floor beneath him opened and had fallen to his doom.

"Of all the half-witted fools…" Frog rolled his eyes.

"Guess that takes care of Ozzie." Crono said while sheathing his sword and picked up the stray kitten.

The kitten stared at Crono with its green eyes.

"Ayla thank furry creature for beating dung out of Ozzie." The cave woman smiled at the kitten.

"That's…crap, Ayla," Luca told the cave woman. "Beating the crap out of Ozzie." She rephrased the cave woman's words correctly.

Everyone had left Ozzie's fort and stopped by their time travel vehicle, but not before Magus had used his Dark Matter spell to destroy the tiny fort, so that no other deranged fiend or person would use it as a base.


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"Let's go guys," Crono told everyone as he was about to board Epoch, but then someone familiar caught his eye. "Toma!" He waved at the explorer as he approached them.

"I thought I'd find you here." Toma greeted his friends.

"What are you doing out here?" Marle asked. "Are you searching for something?"

"Why yes I am!" Toma beamed with excitement. "Rumor has it among one of these islands there is a Rainbow Shell, which was passed down from the prehistoric age!" He then frowned. "But it might take me an enternity to discover which island the special shell is located in." He then handed Crono a glass-shaped sapling.

The kitten that was in Crono's arms meowed and latched onto Toma.

"Well aren't you rambunctious." Toma stared at the kitten, who meowed with delight.

Marle giggled. "I think the kitten found a new owner."

"What's this?" Crono asked confused staring at the oddly shaped flask.

"This is the last essence of my being," Toma told him. "With Fiona's help I was able to turn into something solid using one of her fine trees," He explained. "Should the worst befall me, it would mean a lot to me if you'd pour that over my tombstone. A touch morbid, I know, but…I beg you."

Crono smiled and nodded. "We will Toma, promise." He told the explorer. Toma smiled. "I've never seen such hope and lively spirit in others that I've seen in all of you," He adjusted his hat and turned away. "Wish me luck my friends." He then headed off to find the Rainbow Shell.

"Do you think he'll find the Rainbow Shell?" Marle asked as she looked at Crono.

"I don't think he does." Lucca informed the princess.

"WHAT!" Crono exclaimed. "How can you say that?"

Lucca sighed sadly. "Because, in our time, there's a tombstone in Choras with Toma's name on it," She told her best friend. "He must've died trying to find the Rainbow Shell."

"Gaspar did say that the Rainbow Shell was vital to our mission." Robo told his friends.

"We need the information in order to find this shell should it be powerful enough to defeat a creature such as Lavos." Frog added.

"There's only one way to find out!" Crono boarded the Epoch followed by the others. With hope in their eyes, the heroes of time left the medieval time of 600 AD and returned to the present world of 1,000 AD, hoping that Toma was able to find the location of the Rainbow Shell before he passed away.