The Price of Hesitation(Chrono Harlaown)

The Price of Hesitation(Chrono Harlaown)
Date of Cutscene:	31 August 2023
Location:	Japanese street
Synopsis:	Chrono's first interaction with Earth magic was not a kind one.
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown

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Chrono sighed and leaned against the railing of the roof he was resting on. He wondered how much longer he’d have to keep this up. He needed a base, a place to retreat to, and soon. He was cold and tired. The only reason he wasn’t filthy and torn up was because he was able to use his magic to fix that.

That thought just filled him with determination and hardened his resolve. He opened up a small baggy of dried apricots and forced a few into his mouth. Cheap, processed food was not a proper substitute for rest and calm, he knew that. But it would have to do. Now, more than ever, he felt determined to find the others.

When he’d first arrived on this planet he had suspected the worst. That the rest of the crew had sacrificed themselves to ensure that he, at least, had survived. So he had continued the mission, pursuing the Lost Logia, or at least trying to. That was, until he ran into a former member of the crew.

Now? He had no idea. Something strange was going on here. He’d spent nearly a day trying to remind the crew member of who he was. Even his prior device was unable to convince him, even though it had recognized its former master. Worse, the scans told him nothing. The man’s linker core was still there, just… strange. Like it was inactive. Or… something. He didn’t have enough knowledge on the medical principles of linker cores to even begin to make hypothesis’ on what was happening. In the end, he’d had to give up and leave his former crew mate in peace, as his attempts seemed to do nothing but cause him pain.

What in the world was causing this strange focused amnesia? Worse, what did it mean for the other members of the crew? If they had all arrived in separate locations, did that at least mean they were safe? Was his mother out here somewhere, completely unaware of who she was? If he found her, would she even recognize him?

As much as he wanted to avoid thinking of these topics, he knew he couldn’t. As it was, he could very well be the only one in the crew aware of who they were, what their mission was and that something was wrong. He had to get them away from here. Somehow. Back to the TSAB. But first he had to find all of them.

He’d started to resort to moving via roof tops, hoping his constant scans would pick up some information he could use. As much as he would prefer to be on the streets, he was constantly being stopped by two separate, but equally distracting issues. Those who wished to question him about his ‘amazing cosplay’, whatever that was. And incredibly persistent truant officers. He didn’t have time for this.

A small alert appeared in the corner of his vision and he gave a light sigh. “I am aware, dismiss alert,” Chrono said. He’d have to rest eventually. If he didn’t, his body or his magic would give out, and he couldn’t say which. But he could go just a little further. Push a little harder. There didn’t seem to be any actual magic on this planet. Well…

There did seem to be active devices. But every scan was so cloudy and distorted, he didn’t dare approach them as it was. It read too much like a trap. As it was, he had no way of pinning them down to find himself. In the end, he had to go it alone until something, anything, changed.

“Mommy, mommy, look!” a voice called.

Chrono pause and looked down at the small park. It was already past sunset, what was a child doing out now? Shouldn’t him and his mother be in bed? He thought as if he, himself, shouldn’t also be resting.

“That’s nice, dear,” the obviously exhausted mother said, sparing a small smile down to her excited child.

The boy held up his… well, Chrono couldn’t see it from here, but he suspected it was a bug or rock or something else the child found. He ran off ahead again, while his mother continued behind him, carrying the groceries.

This world wasn’t entirely terrible, at least. The people here were… nice enough. Strange. A bit demanding at times. But nice. Many TSAB agents met far worse fates. If worse came to worse, if he could never find them all a way home… perhaps he could try and ensure their lives here weren’t terrible. They--

<Boss!> his device said, alerting him that his scan had picked something up.

What in the world? Magic? But not like any magic he’d ever seen. Some kind of dimensional rift. What was--

It opened just a little bit in front of the child, the kid freezing in place. Any hope that Chrono had that it was from the TSAB were quickly dashed when a strange, distorted creature crawled out. It looked humanoid, but made of a strange, inky substance and bearing razor sharp claws.

Worse, it was moving towards the child.

Chrono leaped off the roof and took off. He held out his right hand, casting a single spell to amplify his speed for a moment, turning into a blue blur. <Stinger Move!>

He narrowly made it in time. While he didn’t have time to pull the kid out of the way, he did have a moment to interpose himself between the monster and the child. His arms wrapped around him moments before he felt searing pain down his back. He ignored it and dashed away, nearly crashing into the confused mother. She’d dropped her bag and was staring at the… whatever it was in confusion. Chrono shoved her son into her arms. “Run!” he ordered, before turning around.

The monster was almost upon him.

<Round Shield!>

The shield formed, the monster’s claws slashing across it. Chrono glanced back and was relieved to see the woman and child were fleeing. Good. He turned back towards the monster, who was still trying to claw through the shield.

Chrono’s stomach twisted in knots now that he could see it up close. It was more humanoid than he thought. While it had claws, it certainly had a human face. Cold, black eyes staring at him. Its mouth opened and it began to make sounds. Like it was trying to speak. Was it intelligent? Were the strange clicking sounds from it an attempt to communicate? Chrono hesitated before, finally, trying to communicate back.

“I am Time-Space Administration Bureau Enforcer, Chrono Harlaown,” Chrono said firmly, trying to ignore the burning pain across his back. “Stand down and you will not be harmed. Do you--”

It suddenly came from his right. He barely had time to react before a second one of the creatures seemed to appear out of nowhere, its form camouflaged in the darkness. Its claws slashed down at him and he held up S2U, attempting to deflect the strike. The screech of metal being slashed filled the air and his shield dropped, but he managed to avoid the strike. It--

A third. It came from above. His attempt to block with his device only deflected the strike, causing the claw to slash across his chest, rather than his face. He stumbled back, falling to one knee, while the creature lashed out.

<Break Impulse>

He thrust out his right hand, palm against the strange creature and narrowly avoiding the claw. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a small orb of blue energy formed, before erupting and leaving nothing more than a crater where the creature had been.

The other two were coming right at him, but he had enough. If these creatures were intelligent, he wasn’t sure. But he did know they meant to kill him. He held up his device once more.

<Blaze Cannon>

They were too close to even try to dodge. The two monsters were incinerated and Chrono was standing there now, wounded, exhausted, panting… but alive. He stared at the craters left behind by the attack. He took a small step forward and fell to his knees. He quickly ran a diagnostic of himself…

None of which was good. His wounds were severe. He was losing a lot of blood. Worse, he could see that S2U’s core had been struck by the attack, resulting in damage to his device. His carelessness had cost him, severely.

He needed help. Now. He slowly climbed to his feet and began to limp away from the destruction while he ran a scan of the local area. It looked like he was going to have to take a gamble on one of those devices after all...