The Interference III: Wings of Time

Chapter 1
Reflecting On Old Times

A portal appeared in front of the television in the small apartment's living room, and three figures fell out of it. One was a large light blue suit of armor. Another was a short boy with blond hair, gold eyes, and a red trenchcoat with a black outfit beneath. The last figure in the middle was a dark brown-haired boy with hazel eyes, who wore dark brown boots, dark green baggy slacks with big pockets at the sides, a black undershirt, a dark red jacket, and gray fingerless gloves. In the middle boy's right hand was a moderately sized round shield, with a dark green design and the Heartless emblem in the middle and a small keyhole in the center.

The shorter boy stood up, rubbing his sore side as the portal closed behind them. "Isn't there a better way to land out of those?" he groaned.

The boy in the middle stood up as well, shaking his head to rid himself of his disorientation. "Maybe," he replied at length. "I've done that a few times, and I haven't found a good landing so far."

The tall suit of armor looked around at the apartment. "So this is your home, Alex?" he asked conversationally.

The hazel-eyed boy nodded. His full name was Alexander Ephiram Karsath. His close friends just called him Alex for short. Until recently, Alexander had been a regular teenager of fourteen years going on fifteen. Two weeks until his birthday, he had found himself sucked into the world of the video roleplaying game Kingdom Hearts II. In that world, he gained the weapon that was currently in his hand, which called the Lockshield. The Lockshield was the direct equal and opposite of Sora's Keyblade, with similar powers and properties. Alexander himself became dubbed the Interference, for his presence within that universe caused slight changes to the storyline.

Alexander had made it through the entire game of Kingdom Hearts II, and found his way back into the real world, where he discovered that no time had passed. Two weeks later, on the very minute of his fifteenth birthday, his younger sister Erica became an Interference in the game Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir. Alex had gone in after her, taking his friends from Kingdom Hearts II along with him. Unfortunately, in a struggle for power against Alex, Erica had willingly become a humanoid Heartless, and had been destroyed by Alexander's hands.

Alex discovered near the end of the game that the remainder of Ansem's apprentices, Braig, Dilan, Elaeus, Even, and Ienzo, had all become aware of their presence within the game universe a long time ago. They had been watching Alexander for a while during his time as the Interference, seeing what changes he would make and what powers he would obtain. Dilan had been the one in charge of overseeing Alex's presence in the Fullmetal Alchemist game. Alex barely managed to defeat the apprentice, but learned that the others were waiting for him, and would enter whatever universe he created next. So Alex left the Fullmetal Alchemist world, vowing to find the apprentices and beat them at their own game.

Taking advantage of the universal time stop law, the two main protagonists of the last game, Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse Elric, had decided to accompany Alexander to the next world to render some assistance to him. They had just left the world of Amestris at this point.

Edward, the short blond boy, took a look around at the apartment. It was pretty dark. "Is it nighttime here?" he asked suddenly.

Alexander nodded again, his Lockshield disappearing in a puff of inky black smoke. "It was about midnight when Erica had entered your game. In fact, it was the midnight of my fifteenth birthday..."

Though it was hard to tell by just a suit of armor, Alphonse looked surprised. "It's your birthday today!?" he repeated incredulously. Another nod from Alex was all he needed. "Wow," Alphonse remarked. "You never mentioned that when you arrived at all..."

"It didn't seem important at the time," Alex said, brushing off the accusation. "Our main concern was Erica; that was about it."

Edward chuckled. "Still, that's pretty cool. We're about the same age." He looked around some more. "So... how do we get to this next world or whatever?"

Alex grinned. "Ah, about that." He turned around toward the television and knelt down to the PS2 below it. Next to the console was a stack of various games. "I haven't done this on purpose before, so I'm not sure how to go about it."

Just pick a game and pop it in, Joumae, Alexander's dark counterpart, berated him in his mind. Once you create a connection in any way, that'll create an opportunity for an Interference.

The boy sighed. "Alright, Joumae," he muttered aloud. Edward and Alphonse already knew about Joumae, so it was fine for Alex to reply to him aloud. Not that Joumae spoke often; the last thing Alex needed was a backseat driver.

"Well," Alexander continued, "since it's my choice anyway, there's a couple of things I have to keep in mind." He waited until he saw that he had the Elrics attention, then continued. "First, it'll have to be a game that I like, and that I would want to be a part of. Secondly, it'll have to be physically plausible. I don't want to suck us into some kind of futuristic setting where we can't get around," he remarked, glancing over Ratchet and Clank. Good platformer, but not something he'd want to try.

"I think another roleplaying game will have to do," Alex said after a moment. He snapped his fingers. "In fact, one made by Square-Enix or one of its predecessors will do the trick. Square's games always have good storylines, so they're great for being Interferences in."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Are you going to keep going on and on like this, or are you going to pick a game already?"

Alphonse glanced at his brother. "Edward..." he chided him.

"Alright, alright," Alexander muttered, rolling his eyes. "It's just a hard choice. I have plenty of RPGs, and I can't decide which one I want." As soon as he said that, he suddenly froze in place. He had gotten an idea. Slowly grinning, he said, "Maybe one of the best RPGs of all time...!"

He ran back to his bedroom, leaving the Elrics in a confused state. When he returned, he was carrying a blocky console and a large game cartridge. Edward chuckled. "What the heck is that thing!?" he demanded.

Alex smirked in spite of Edward's teasing. "This..." he muttered, setting the console and the game cartridge down, "is a Super Nintendo." As he started to work the Playstation 2 and the Super Nintendo's wires, he explained, "It's a much older console, and not exactly advanced enough for playing games of the same caliber that yours is. However, there was a game that kept fans clinging to this console months after the first Playstation was released."

He held up the game cartridge for Edward and Alphonse to see clearly, even in the dim light of the apartment. "Chrono Trigger...?" Alphonse read.

The Interference nodded. "Yep. Arguably one of Square's best roleplaying games." He plugged in the video wire into the VCR, and hooked up the controller to the console. Placing the cartridge in the console, Alex added, "I think that this'll make for a pretty good adventure, even if I do say so myself."

Alex turned the Super Nintendo on, and the game Chrono Trigger loaded up. The Elrics watched as Alexander found his way to the screen where the saved games were to be loaded. There was two games saved already, both labeled, "The Fated Hour."

The gamer smirked. "I've beaten this game several times before. I'll know it backward and forward." He stood up and looked back at his alchemist companions. "You ready?"

Alphonse looked at his brother. "This is why we're here, right?"

Edward shrugged. "If we're going to get going, let's get going."

Alex grinned and looked back at the television, summoning his Lockshield. He pointed the center of the shield at the screen and shouted, "Unlock!" A bright blue beam shot out of the shield and impacted the television. There was a bright flash of light...

The sound of a large bell ringing was heard. "Crono..." a woman's voice said. When there was no reply, it repeated, "Crono! Good morning, Crono!"

The spiky red-haired boy began to shift around in his bed as his mother approached him. "Come on, sleepy head!" she insisted, shaking him slightly. "Get up!"

Crono looked over at her groggily, then turned back around and dug his head into his pillow. His mother sighed and walked over to the window, pushing the curtains aside and letting the light in. Crono pulled the sheets over his head to block the sudden increase in light.

His mother smiled as the sound of the bell came in a little clearer. "Ah, Leene's Bell makes such beautiful music!" his mother exclaimed. She walked back over to Crono's bed and shook her head sadly. "You were so excited about the Millennial Fair that you didn't sleep well, did you...?"

She chuckled, and exclaimed, "I want you to behave yourself today!" She started to walk out of the room, but then turned around and added, "Let's get moving, now!" At long last, she descended the stairs.

Crono finally got up and out of bed, putting on his garments for the day. He looked over at the window and allowed his eyes to adjust to the light. He did a few basic stretches to wake himself up, then smiled. Today certainly felt different, if nothing else. After checking his room to make sure everything was in order, he walked down the stairs.

His mom greeted him on the landing. "Finally!" she remarked playfully. "By the way, that inventor friend of yours... Uh... you know...!" She threw her hands up into the air. "Oh, dear, I've forgotten her name!"

Crono rolled his eyes and quickly reminded his mother of the friend's name. She nodded. "That's right, Lucca! Don't forget that she invited you to see her new invention! Run along now, and be back before dinner." She turned to walk away, then stopped and turned back to him with a shocked expression. "Oh, I almost forgot! Here's your allowance, dear!" Crono took the usual two hundred gold coins that was due.

"Have fun at the fair!" his mother called after him as he ran out the door.

Another portal appeared just outside the grounds of Leene Square. Once again, the trio of Alex, Edward, and Alphonse landed unceremoniously on the ground as they fell out. Edward shook his head. "We're never gonna get this right, are we?"

Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "Perhaps not." He stood up and looked around... and grinned. Just a short distance away was Leene Square, where a large crowd had gathered for the Millennial Fair. Seagulls flew in from the nearby coast. Balloons flew up from Leene Square, and the sound of exploding fireworks filled the air at times. The land looked untamed and homely at the same time. The colors were vibrant and the surroundings were rich with life.

"This is it, guys," he declared with a tone of authority. "The world of Chrono Trigger. This is Guardia."

Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.