The four nets were dragged until they reached the heart of all evil. Lavos. The Spawn made some weird noises, as if talking to Lavos. Lavos answered and the nets were being dragged again. The Spawn opened a door that read, "Torture Cells." Crono shuddered.
"I don't like the looks of where we're going," he muttered to the others. It was very dark except for a couple of torches on the walls. They passed many marked rooms: "Spike Room," "Stretch Room," "Crush Room," and others. The Spawn stopped at one that read, "Suffocate Room." It was a small room with a steel door and no spaces for air. The Spawn tossed the nets in, and closed the door. It was dark, just like the hallway, only there were no torches. Magus started raving, as usual.
"Well, this is a fine mess we're in! If you hadn't been so weak as to let them drag us here, we would all be fine and dandy!" Frog was a bit agitated at Magus, but said nothing.
"Please calm yourself, Magus. I am sure we will find a way out," said Robo.
"Can't we at least get out of these nets? I'm awfully uncomfortable," said Crono. He and Frog hacked away at the nets until everyone was free. Crono then felt along the wall and started chipping with his sword.
"What dost thou be doing?" asked Frog.
"I'm trying to make a breathing hole so we can have a bit of fresh air." Finally, a little bit of sun came through. "It probably won't last us forever, though. We need to think of something." Then Crono had an idea, though he didn't say so to the others because he didn't want to get their hopes up. "Maybe I could call Tiger," he muttered. "But goodness knows what that Spawn did to her." He called out to her silently.
Kat, help! We're trapped!
Tiger had not woken up yet. She was having a dream. She was in a place that was pitch black, but she could somehow see through the darkness. She saw Crono sitting in a corner of the room, looking like he was concentrating hard, as if trying to call someone.
Kat, help! We're trapped!
Crono covered his face with his hands in despair.
"It's no good, she must be unconscious again," he moaned quietly.
Tiger woke with a start, the telepathic plea still ringing in her ears. Her arms and legs were stiff. Flexing her limbs carefully, she went over to where the three girls were lying. Before she could do anything, Ayla suddenly stirred and groaned. Tiger figured they must have been hit by sleep-balls like she had.
"Ayla, are you okay?"
"Tiger, what happen?"
"I'm not sure, but Crono and the other guys have all been kidnapped."
"Crono strong! How he let that happen?!"
"He has his bad days, I guess. Come on, we need to wake the others." Ayla took care of Lucca, shaking and pounding until she got up. Tiger did the same to Marle, except in a slightly gentler way, and she woke too.
"Hey, where is everybody? What happened?"
"Crono and some of the others have been taken by the Spawn."
"Funny, our nets were weaker than the guy's nets."
"I know why, the Spawn probably figured we were weaker. Fat chance!"
It was getting very hot and stuffy where Crono and the others were. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, trying to breathe as lightly as he could. He attempted to call Tiger again.
Kat! Help!
Crono?
You need to hurry and rescue us, we're in an air-tight place!
Where are you?
I think we're in the Geno Dome, in 2300 AD.
Okay, we're coming. Do you have any Full Tonics?
Yes, but we're down to three. Please hurry! Crono sighed as he used another Full Tonic. The lack of air was causing him and the others to lose energy very quickly.
"They're in the Geno Dome," said Tiger.
"The Geno Dome is in 2300 AD when Lavos came back to life, isn't it?" asked Lucca.
"That's right. My purple Gates are probably faster than the Epoch. Let's go!"
"Yeah! We'll show that Spawn that we girls are as strong as guys!"
The girls arrived just outside the remains of the dome.
"Okay, is everybody ready?"
"We're ready!"
"We rescue Crono!"
"Let's go!"
"All right then, charge!" The girls charged into the building, and ran right into the exiting Spawn. Tiger immediately called her friends. They arrived quickly through a purple Gate. But then, the Spawn made some strange noises, and Lavos joined the battle! Lucca fired her Wonder Shot at the head of the spawn, and Marle and Ayla did Cube Toss. Poo and Ness did something similar to an X-Cut, only Ness didn't have a sword. Instead, he had a baseball bat. The spawn fired its needles at everybody, but it didn't cause too much damage. Poo did a strong Ice spell on it, and Jeff fired his gun. The head of the Spawn disappeared! The only thing remaining was its shell. Lavos was just in its core form, so they didn't need to defeat all of its stages. Suddenly, it did the ultimate magic attack, and everyone went down except for Tiger, who was still very badly hurt. She didn't have enough magical strength left to heal or revive anyone, so she had to take the risk of using a Full Ether. Lavos got ready to cast another magic attack at her.
"Somebody. . .anybody. . .please help me. . ." she whispered, shaking, as she crouched on the ground like a frightened animal.
In the air-tight room, Crono looked up from where he was sitting against the wall.
That's funny, he thought. I thought I heard something. Guess it's just my imagination. . .no, wait -- oh no! Kat! Oh, if only there was some way I could help her. . .
To Tiger's surprise, the magic attack was deflected back at Lavos! She immediately revived all the others and healed herself. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo charged at the Right Bit with their weapons, taking about 80% of its total energy. Tiger picked up Ayla and threw her at it. It disappeared, and the other Bits did too. They had won! Tiger motioned to the other girls. "Quick, we have to find the guys!" They ran off. As their footsteps echoed in the corridor, the former Spawn's shell moved very slightly.
Crono had used the last of the Full Tonics a few minutes ago. The lack of air had already caused Magus and Frog to grow weak and tired. They were both in an uncomfortable sleep, and neither he nor Robo could wake them. Robo was not suffering because he was the kind of robot that didn't need fresh air. Crono could not stay awake much longer, blinking his eyes hard whenever they threatened to close on him.
"Kat, please hurry. . ." he murmured. He mustered the last of his energy to stay awake just a little bit longer, hoping that the others would come in and rescue them at any moment. The wait seemed endless as his will battled on with his tired mind and body. I must stay awake. I must, was the thought that over and over again kept him awake. When that didn't help anymore, he tried digging his nails hard into his arm. It hurt, but did the job pretty well. Soon, though, even that didn't help him anymore. He felt the rest of his energy drain out of him. Finally submitting, he let himself slump onto the floor, closing his eyes with a sigh.
"This way! They're in here!" The four girls opened the door that read, "Torture Cells" and went through. Finally they stopped at the one that said, "Suffocate Room". Tiger tried the door. "It's locked!" She tried kicking it, but it didn't make a single dent. She thought quickly. "Listen, we all need to cooperate on this one. On the count of three, everyone run against the door as hard as you can. One, two, three!!!" They ran against the door with all their strength. It fell down with a CRASH! They rushed in.
"Robo, are you all right?" Lucca ran to where he was sitting.
"I knew you would not let us down," he said, smiling. "I am fine. But you need to wake the others. They could not stand the air." Lucca and Robo started on Magus, Ayla bit and kicked Frog, and Tiger and Marle bent worriedly over Crono.
"Crono?" Tiger shook him gently. He remained motionless.
"He should be getting some air since we crashed the door."
"Yeah, probably." Tiger didn't sound very confident.
"He'll make it, I bet."
"I sure hope so. I don't think magic can help this."
"We should try."
"All right. I'll at least cool him off, he's hotter than an oven." She put a hand on his arm, casting a very weak Ice spell, and he cooled off slowly.
"Now what?"
"We'll just have to wait for him to breathe in the fresh air, I guess." Meanwhile, Ayla had succeeded in waking up Frog and was helping with Magus. Frog flatly refused to help the magician.
"Serveth him right if he never waketh up!" The two girls were still waiting for Crono to stir.
"I'm getting worried," murmured Tiger.
"So am I. He just has to pull through!" Tiger started muttering to herself.
"Come on, come on, don't fail us now. . .not after all this. . .think how we would feel if you didn't pull through. . .don't let it all go to waste. . .come on. . .please. . .oh, please, Crono. . ." He remained still. Tiger sighed.
"The third time in a row. . ." Marle mumbled. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Tiger pulled herself together and shook her head fiercely.
"No way! He's alive. He's just got to be."
"Then why isn't he moving?"
"I don't know, but we shouldn't give up." They waited a few minutes more. Finally, Tiger said, "That's it, I can't stand the waiting anymore. I'm going to try the usual method." She put both her hands on his shoulders and concentrated as hard as she could. The light was very bright this time, brighter than she had ever made it before. She concentrated still harder, and now it was even brighter than when her four friends had revived her. It was so bright that the others momentarily stopped what they were doing to watch. Finally, the light died down. "I can't do anymore," Tiger gasped out. "That's the last of my magic energy." She looked down at Crono to see if anything had happened. Nothing. She choked back a sob as she took one of his hands in both of hers and put her face on it. She shut her eyes in intense grief, and let a few tears fall. Marle didn't see them, but Crono dimly felt them on his hand, more soothing than any healing magic could ever be. Then, slowly, he began to move about. Tiger opened her eyes and looked at him, blinking back more tears that threatened to fall. She squeezed his hand, and felt him weakly doing the same in reply. Crono finally opened his eyes and managed a small smile.
"Oh, Crono! You're all right!" Tiger wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. His smile was quickly replaced with a grin.
"Well, isn't this lovely. My two favorite girls standing over me, fussing about me!" Tiger winked at Marle. Suddenly, they started pounding and punching him. "Hey, hey! One I can stand, but two. . .ow!!!"