Halftime
By Aaron Ziegler
alziegle@norcia.cs.csbsju.edu
http://bingen.cs.csbsju.edu/~alziegle

Chapter 19: Back in Time

   As it turned out, a nice, hot shower was all that it took to
rid Robo of his obsessively homicidal behavior (not to mention
his slick coating of pervert saliva). Once he was back in robot
form, he seemed to have forgotten all about his hours of
captivity, complaining only about a section of corrupt memory
that seemed to have developed in his mental circuits. At Lucca's
suggestion, he reformatted the bad sectors of his mind, and all
was well again. Well, almost. His blunt metal fingers twitched
involuntarily each time the Director was in his field of vision,
almost as though they were grasping a neck and twisting. This, if
nothing else, was enough to keep the Director from attempting any
foolish escape attempts.
   Every band member had been accounted for, including two that
had tried to escape only to be cut down by Miss Hinako. All were
now gathered in the Tendo living room under the disciplinarian's
watchful eye and 5 yen piece. By virtue of Lucca's Gate key,
Ayla's time Gate had been reopened, and Ayla had already returned
to the past to inform her people of the new arrivals, and to
deliver the undamaged and backup instruments owned by the
Kielowitz International Martial Arts Marching Band. While she did
so, Crono was briefing the defeated band on their punishment.
   He described the war between the Joketsuzoku and the Jusenkyo
thousands of years in the past (that shocked most of the band,
especially the Director, who now realized how final their exile
would be). Crono took care not to mention the fact that the
Joketsuzoku were in dire straits; he didn't want their new
conscripts to think of deserting to the Jusenkyo. He informed
them that their instruments would be returned to them once they
were through the Gate, and surrounded by thousands of capable
amazon warriors. Crono also reminded them that no quarter would
be asked or given. This was a real war, and the fighters fought
to kill. This bothered none of the band members. They had been
trained to kill, and had been fighting non-lethally merely
because they had been ordered to take prisoners.
   By the time Crono had finished his lengthy speech, Ayla had
returned (Ayla was strong enough to carry all of the instruments
in one trip). In groups of three, the Director's minions began
their exodus into the past. Mere moments after the last had
passed through, Cologne and Kasumi entered. (Not long after the
battle had ended, Mousse had telephoned the Neko Hanten with the
news of their victory, and Cologne had decided to accompany
Kasumi back to the Tendo home.)
   Noting the mostly empty living room, Cologne asked, "So where
are our foes?"
   "They're history," Ryoga grinned.
   Cologne glanced at him with a raised eyebrow before studying
the time Gate. "This, I presume, is the Gate Ayla described? And
do you intend to follow her to the past to aid in her struggle?"
After listening to the affirmative responses for a few moments,
Cologne nodded. "I shall accompany you. I cannot deny that I am
extremely interested in the origins of my people. You will also
need all the help you can muster if you intend to face an evil as
great as that represented by Lavos and the Sorcerer of Jusenkyo."
   "And it would be unforgivable for me to allow my loves to face
this evil unprotected!" boomed the bold voice of Tatewaki Kunou.
The eloquent, if irritating, would-be samurai had just entered
the room, followed by-
   "Nabiki!" exclaimed Lucca. "Where have you been?"
   Nabiki brusquely brushed Lucca's concern aside. "I'm coming,
too."
   "Huh?" asked Akane. "But why? You can't fight!"
   "I have my reasons," Nabiki answered. Then she smiled slyly,
"Besides, where would you prefer to have a suspected criminal
like myself? Alone with the Epoch, or surrounded by thousands of
Amazon warriors?"
   "No!" wailed Soun. "I can't bear the thought of my poor Nabiki
in the hands of those Jusenkyo savages!"
   "Fear not, Mr. Tendo," Kunou vowed, brandishing his bokken,
"Neither of your daughters shall come to harm so long as I live.
So I swear!"
   "Besides," interjected Marle, "she'll be perfectly safe, as
long as she stays away from the fighting. Unless we lose, of
course, in which case Lavos will destroy everything in five years
anyway."
   "Forward, then, to victory!" announced Kunou. He grabbed the
arms of the two closest individuals, who happened to be Frog and
Ryoga, and dragged the startled pair through the Gate with him.
   Ayla snorted impatiently. "He big fool with big mouth."
   "That's the truth," agreed Akane and Ranma together.
   "Ayla go next. Crono, Marle, come with Ayla?" The two nodded,
and followed. The next to disappear were Soun, Genma, and Magus.
   "You want to go next, big sister?" asked Akane.
   "Actually, I thought I'd go last, with Ukyou and Miss Hinako,"
Nabiki answered.
   "Huh? Why?" asked Ukyou. Nabiki whispered something in her
ear. Ukyou's eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, that's a good
reason, all right."
   "What is?" asked Ranma.
   Ukyou looked nervous. "I can't say, Ranchan. Just trust me.
We'll make sure Nabiki doesn't misbehave."
   After much raising of eyebrows, Mousse, Lucca, and Cologne
entered the Gate, followed by Robo, Ranma, and Akane. Ukyou
whirled excitedly towards Nabiki. "So what's this about Shampoo?
Do you remember that she's really a girl? What about Ranchan?"
   "No, Shampoo is just a cat," Nabiki answered automatically.
Miss Hinako echoed the response. Then Nabiki shook her head, as
if trying to clear it. "But a very smart cat. I think we should
bring her with us." Nabiki walked out the door, and returned with
a cardboard box punctured with holes.
   "That's Shampoo?" Ukyou asked. Nabiki nodded in response.
Then, Ukyou remembered something Lucca had mentioned. "Wait, all
four of us can't go at once. Do you mind waiting a moment, Miss
Hinako?"
   Though somewhat puzzled, Miss Hinako agreed. Nabiki, Ukyou,
and Shampoo entered the swirling circle.
   Traveling through time via a time gate was not nearly as
comfortable as riding the Epoch. There was the sensation of
falling, but skewed, as if one were falling sideways. The scenery
was unremarkable, though rather bizarre--full of dark blues and
wavy purple lines that seemed to stream past. After only a few
moments, a dark circle appeared ahead of them, and they tumbled
through to land inelegantly on a patch of bare ground. Around
them stood the others, as well as the Kielowitz Marching Band,
and no less than a thousand semi-primitive-looking warriors,
nearly all women. After a moment, Miss Hinako joined them.
   "That's everyone," noted Lucca. She pressed a button on her
Gate key and the time Gate closed, returning to its spherical
shape. "What's in the box,  Beeky?"
   "A surprise," answered Nabiki. She had no chance to say more,
before Ayla spoke up.
   "I tell Joketsuzoku that us not fight until tomorrow," Ayla
explained. "Music-makers still tired, we still tired. Joketsuzoku
will fight today. We go to village, make plans, and sleep." The
suggestion was met with overwhelming approval.
   Each of the newcomers was assigned a sparsely furnished tent,
each equipped with a coarse woolen mat for sleeping and a pit for
building a small fire. Magus, upon entering his own tent, was
quite unsurprised to find Nabiki waiting casually for him. Her
aura had been clearly visible to him even before he entered. She
was alone. He smirked coldly at her. "Somehow I suspected that
those 'reasons' you mentioned would involve me. What business do
you have with me?"
   "You can undo whatever it is that you did to my mind," Nabiki
frowned.
   "My dear, I have no idea what you are talking about," Magus
replied. He quickly scanned the area once again, confirming that
no other auras were nearby. He could speak freely. "I am certain
you must have realized by now that I have altered Ukyou and
Ranko's minds. Why would you think that you have been affected?
Have you been imagining that you are actually a man? Or a cat?"
Magus chuckled.
   Nabiki grinned back, but her smile never touched her eyes.
"Actually, it's what I can't imagine that has been bothering me.
I know that it is quite preposterous that Ranko could be a man
named..." Nabiki glanced at the back of her hand, where she had
written a name she wanted to remember, "named 'Ranma', or that
Shampoo might actually be a Chinese Amazon. It's absolutely
unthinkable. And that's what's bothering me." Nabiki glared at
Magus. "I've never been so certain of anything in my life. I know
from experience that just about anything is possible, yet I can't
seem to even consider those two possibilities."
   "Everyone's mind has a limit," suggested Magus
condescendingly.
   Nabiki ignored him and continued, "I had a little chat with
Gosunguki, and he showed me the equipment you had used. Quite an
elaborate setup, for a spell designed to affect only two people.
Even Gos, pathetic as he is, seemed to think that you were
working a spell designed to affect a lot of people. A whole lot
of people. And, it seems, one of those people was me. Playing
tricks on my mind was never part of the bargain. Undo whatever
you did to me, and I'll let you get back to your devious little
plot. No one has to know."
   Magus began idly toying with his gloves. "A fascinating
hypothesis, girl. But even if I had cast a spell like the one you
describe, I'm afraid that it wouldn't be possible to free one
person without freeing all."
   "Then free everyone," snapped Nabiki. "You can find some other
way to do whatever it is that you were going to do with Ranko and
Ukyou."
   "Why should I? My plans are proceeding quite well as they are.
If you are so concerned about the ever dubious quality of your
mind, rest assured that any spells I have cast will be revoked
once those plans are complete."
   "What plans?" demanded Nabiki.
   "Why, for Ranma to decide to marry Ukyou, of course," Magus
responded.
   "There is no Ranma, only Ranko," Nabiki insisted. Then she
frowned at herself, as though puzzled by something.
   "Exactly," chuckled the dark sorcerer. "Now, run along, Nabiki
Tendo. And enjoy your Dark Fruit," he finished with a sneer. With
a bit of mock-courtesy, he held open a flap of the tent door for
Nabiki to leave.
   "Happo-50-Yen-Satsu!" Magus had absolutely no time to react
before he was bathed in the greenish glow. As he collapsed to the
tent floor, he watched with cynical interest as a furious Miss
Hinako walked into the tent, followed by an even more furious
Ranma. Obviously, the two of them had been just outside the tent
the whole time, Ranma's aura masked by the teacher's impenetrable
anti-aura. Devious indeed.
   "I knew that you were a delinquent, but this is too much!"
scowled Miss Hinako.
   Magus ignored both of them for the moment, instead turning a
cold gaze onto Nabiki. "Altering your mind may not have been part
of the bargain," he growled, "but keeping silent was. You agreed
not to tell anyone of our dealings, or my activities."
   "And I followed that agreement to the letter. I never told
them anything. Of course, if anyone should happen to overhear our
discussions, well, that's not my concern."
   "Now, about that spell," Ranma suggested coldly.
   The sorcerer waved a hand dismissively. "Of course. There's
hardly any point in keeping it now, is there? But I will demand
one concession: I will release the spell, if what has been
learned in this tent stays in this tent. I will not have Ukyou,
or anyone else, know that I was responsible. I want your word on
it."
   "Sound's fair," answered Nabiki. "So long as you agree to
clear my name regarding the Epoch. Framing me was also definitely
not part of our bargain. I didn't sabotage it, but I imagine you
probably did. Perhaps to keep everyone from flitting around in
time while you finished your plans for Ukyou and...and..." Nabiki
frowned for a moment. "While you finished your plans," she
finished, somewhat disgruntled.
   Magus frowned. "You are entirely too clever, girl. Very well,
agreed."
   Nabiki began ticking off items on her fingers, "Okay, so the
bargain stands like this: Magus agrees to break the spells and
clear my unfairly tarnished name-" Ranma snorted at this, "-and
we agree to keep Magus's secrets and exact no further justice
upon him. Sound fair, Ranko? Miss Hinako?"
   "Well, I was kinda hoping for a little more justice," Ranma
muttered petulantly, cracking her knuckles.
   "Actually, I'd like to throw in one more term," said Miss
Hinako, eyes narrowing slightly. "No vengeance on either side. I
don't want Magus coming after any of us because we spoiled his
plans."
   "Good thinking. No vengeance, Magus," Nabiki added. Magus
snorted derisively, but his eyes did narrow thoughtfully.
   Each of the four gathered there swore to the terms given. Once
they were through, Magus produced a small stick from one of his
many pockets. It was about two inches in length, and was wrapped
in some sort of red cord. Magus reached into his cape and
withdrew his scythe, which glinted in the dim light. He flipped
the stick into the air, and sliced it neatly in two with the keen
blade of his chosen weapon. Each half flared blindingly bright
for a moment, and then vanished.
   Nabiki and Miss Hinako reeled for a moment as the mental
barriers were removed from their minds. Each could remember all
that they had happened in the previous days. Miss Hinako was the
first to speak, "I'll have to apologize to Miss Kounji about
Shampoo."
   "So, I can change back, now?" Ranma asked eagerly.
   In answer, Magus produced an empty flask from another pocket.
"Fill this with water and splash yourself with it," Magus
answered curtly. "It will remove the block I placed on your
curse."
   "Everyone is back to normal, now?" Nabiki asked.
   Magus nodded. "Everyone back in your own time returned to
normal once we traveled here, though the spell would have been
reinstated had I returned with the spell intact. Now, if you
would kindly leave my tent, I would like to recover my strength
before fulfilling the rest of my bargain tomorrow."
   Ranma and Miss Hinako left the tent. As Nabiki was leaving she
turned to deliver a few final words, "Oh, and Magus? Don't feel
too bad about your plan not working. It was doomed from the
start."
   Magus raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
   "One teensy bit of information that I never bothered to tell
you:" Nabiki lowered her voice and smiled, "Ranma and my sister
are in love. Bye, now!" Nabiki exited the tent.
   Magus scowled. Truly, that would have been information worth
knowing. If there was one thing he had learned in his lifetime,
it was that love could be a formidable obstacle, and a virtually
limitless source of power. His own love for his sister had
granted him the resilience and tenacity that had kept him alive
to this day. Nabiki was right. His plan had been doomed from the
start, as Akane's love would have shaken her free of the spell,
eventually. There was, in fact, little he could do for Ukyou,
now, save comfort her when Ranma made the choice he must
eventually make. A pity.
   Magus struggled into an upright position. Most who had fallen
prey to Miss Hinako's technique would have taken much longer to
recover, but Magus was a quick healer, and could draw strength
from the darkness around him. His mind returned to Nabiki. Truly,
Magus had underestimated her. She was a survivor after all.
Though the lacked the physical stamina of many, her deviously
clever mind made up for her lack of raw power. Idly, Magus
wondered if his ill-fated collection of survivors might have
fared better, had Nabiki been among them. Such conjecture was, of
course, futile. Still, Magus vowed never to underestimate the
girl again.
   As she walked away from the tent, Ranma was deep in thought.
Finally, she spoke, "I still don't understand one thing."
   "And what's that, Ranma?" asked Nabiki curiously.
   "Why'd he change Shampoo, too?"
   Nabiki laughed. "That should be obvious, even to you!"
   Ranma bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
   "Think, Ranma. What was Shampoo doing when she first came to
town?"
   Ranma thought for a moment. Then his eyes widened. "Oh, yeah.
She was tryin' to kill my female self."
   Nabiki nodded. "And, for a while, everyone forgot that you had
a male form. Magus obviously didn't want Shampoo to kill you
before Ukyou had had a chance to win your heart."
   Ranma blushed for a moment. Then, reluctantly, she said,
"Thanks, Nabiki, for helping me out. What do I owe you?"
   Nabiki grinned. Ranma thought she knew Nabiki well, and
perhaps she did. But not this time. "Consider it a gift. I've
been feeling...generous lately." Nabiki absently fingered the
spearhead she wore.
   Ranma gawked at her with undisguised amazement.
   Nabiki lifted an eyebrow. "I suppose if you insist on paying
me, it would be most rude to refuse..." Ranma hastily shook her
head. "I thought not. Besides, I didn't do it specifically for
you. My own interests were at stake, too. I can't have strange
sorcerers messing with my mind at will. Bad for business."
   Ranma smiled, and sighed with relief. That, for better or for
worse, sounded like the Nabiki she knew. Ranma had had more than
enough of people around her not acting like themselves.

Afterword:
   Hah! Nabiki Tendo can't lose! (Well, she did in 'Justice', but
you have my dark id to thank for that.) Anyway, I hope that any
critics of my earlier handling of Nabiki's character are, more or
less, satisfied now. Long live the beautiful Goddess of Finances!
   (I consider myself something of a Nabiki fan, whatever my dark
id thinks of her.)

Chrono Trigger Tip #19:
   Say, is there any way to actually WIN the farce of a trial
that the Evil Chancellor puts Crono on in the beginning of the
game?
   In a way. Regardless of the outcome, Crono's gonna spend some
time in jail, but it's up to your actions to determine whether
it's because everyone thinks you tried to kidnap Princess Nadia,
or merely for associating with her. Basically, you need to be
able to meet every charge that the Chancellor brings against you
regarding your quality of character. To test this quality, the
Chancellor produces as evidence your behavior at the Millennial
Fair towards the beginning of the game.
   First off, when you first bump into Marle at the Millennial
Fair, talk to her before going over to pick up her dropped
pendant. If you grab the pendant first, the Chancellor will
accuse you of wanting her for her wealth. Second, when Marle asks
if she can come with you, refuse once. You don't want to seem to
eager. While Marle is under your care, if you talk to Melchior
the weapon salesman, he will ask you if you'd ask Marle to sell
him her pendant. Refuse. This would be seen as another sure sign
of greed. When you finally go to see Lucca's teleporter, Marle
will want to stop and buy some candy. She'll be at it for quite a
while. Be patient. Let her shop. If you drag her away too soon,
this will be seen in a most negative light by the court. Finally,
there are two things that you can do with or without Marle to
achieve a better ruling in the court. Whatever you do, don't eat
the man's lunch in front of the area where you can fight Gato
Lucca's battle droid. The man will hate you for it, and testify
against you in court. The other thing is the cat. You may have
noticed it where it sits near the man's lunch. If you talk to it,
it will meow and begin to follow you. Walk to the east edge of
the Millennial Fair (near to where the caveman dance is), making
sure that the cat follows you all the way, and talk to the little
girl there. She'll testify in your favor for returning her lost
cat to her.
   As I said, it doesn't matter whether you get the entire jury
to side with you or not, you'll still go to jail. And, because
he's such a bastard, the Chancellor will arrange an execution for
you whether he's won it in court or not. So, basically, winning
the trial has no bearing on the outcome of the game whatsoever.
But the Mindlessly Obsessive will want Crono to have an
untarnished criminal record anyway. (Unless, of course, you're
Evil as well as Mindlessly Obsessive. In that case, simply do the
opposite of everything I've suggested above, and the whole court
will soon be demanding your jugular on a stick.)
