Gage the Hedgehog asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)
Skylanders: Imaginators belongs to Activision. Crash Bandicoot and Neo Cortex belong to their respective owners. Jamie belongs to pokemonsora01. I only own Rachel.
Enemy Or Sensei?
Rachel was training with Hood Sickle before the Undead sensei paused a moment and held up a hand, turning towards the door of the temple. Curious, Rachel paused and followed Hood Sickle's line of sight before seeing someone who looked like a mad scientist come in, but he wasn't alone.
Jamie was struggling to get free of the scientist's grasp. "Let me go, Cortex!" He demanded.
Instantly recognizing the name, Rachel quickly moved towards them and pointed the end of her bo staff at Cortex. "Put my cousin down now," she said sternly.
Cortex swallowed hard and was quick to obey her. Jamie stood up and moved to stand by his cousin. Crash Bandicoot suddenly came in and began speaking gibberish. Aku-Aku didn't need to translate for the cousins to get the gist of what Crash was saying.
"You've either got a lot of nerve or a death wish to come here, Neo Cortex," Rachel said, glaring at him.
"Actually, neither," Cortex answered her, but the way he answered caught them off guard. He seemed worried and was shivering profusely.
Crash was about to come up and attack when he saw the cousins weren't attacking and stopped himself in his tracks and spoke some more gibberish. "Then why are you here?" Aku-Aku translated.
Cortex glanced around. "Master Eon called me," he said. "I was on my way to see him when you and the boy spotted me."
Rachel straightened up. "I'm going to find Master Eon," she said.
"I'll come with you," Jamie said.
"We'll keep an eye on Cortex," Hood Sickle said and Crash nodded.
Master Eon was in the Main Hall, speaking with Chop Chop and Knight Light when Rachel and Jamie came in. "Ah, hello, you two," he said warmly. "What can I help you two with?"
"Master Eon, Neo Cortex is in the Undead training temple," Rachel said.
"He said you called him here," said Jamie.
"I did," said the guardian of Skylands before looking concerned. "But why is he in the Undead training temple?"
"When he saw Crash and me, Cortex grabbed me and ran into there to get away from Crash," the Magic/Water Portal Master explained.
"If he was searching for you, why would he grab Jamie?" The Tech Portal Master asked.
Master Eon smiled a little. "I believe it was to prevent someone from attacking him," he said, answering Rachel's question. "After all, he was an enemy."
The two cousins looked at him. "Was?" Jamie asked.
The guardian of Skylands nodded. "I have a proposal for him to be a sensei," he said.
A moment of stunned silence followed until Rachel broke it. "Master Eon, with all due respect, surely you are joking," she said. "Neo Cortex cannot be trusted."
Master Eon smiled, taking no offense at Rachel's statement. "Does he not deserve a chance to prove himself, as Wolfgang did?" He asked gently.
Rachel sharply flinched at that, face turning red as she remembered how she didn't trust that Wolfgang had changed before he had proven he had. Jamie placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we should keep an eye on him until we're sure," he said. "Maybe…he'll make a better sensei than a mad scientist."
The older girl wasn't sure, but stayed quiet as she and Jamie led Master Eon to the Undead training temple and explained the situation to Crash, Aku-Aku, and Hood Sickle. They weren't easily convinced, but agreed that Cortex did at least deserve a chance.
One week later…
Cortex had been behaving himself and had been training a few of the Imaginators, but distrust about him was still present in many of the Skylanders and Portal Masters. "I don't know," Rachel said, talking with Jamie and Enigma one day with Fiesta beside her. "He seems genuine in wanting to be a sensei, but I'm not totally convinced."
"Me neither," said Jamie. "Although, Crash did have to work with Cortex one time in one of the games."
"I remember that," the older girl said.
Crash then came in and sat beside the cousins, speaking gibberish with Aku-Aku translating. "He said while he is happy about not fighting Cortex, he's not completely convinced the scientist doesn't have something up his sleeve," he said.
Rachel sighed. "Well, it's only been a week," she said. "Let's just continue keeping an eye on him."
The others agreed until suddenly, the sky grew dark. "This is way too dark just to be a storm," said Enigma.
"Kaos," the others said in unison before racing outside.
The senseis all gathered outside with the other Skylanders and the Portal Masters to see Kaos out there with Glumshanks and a weapon none of the others recognized. "I don't like this," Jamie said.
"Neither do I," Rachel said, having a bad feeling about what the weapon Kaos was holding would do. Even if the weapon was small, the Skylanders and Portal Masters knew better than to dismiss any weapon, especially ones in Kaos' hands.
"Too late, Skylosers!" Kaos exclaimed. "My new weapon will make short work of the academy!"
With that, Kaos pressed the button and to everyone's shock, liquid spewed from the weapon, landing near them. The stench the liquid left told Rachel instantly what it was. "It's some kind of chemical!" She cried out as they all backed up.
"Imaginators! Now!" Cortex cried out.
Three new Imaginators came out wielding different weapons, but all of them were potion based and they used their weapons to counter the chemicals Kaos had spilled. "No!" Kaos cried out angrily. "How dare you, Cortex! How dare you go against my true genius and your true calling!"
Cortex looked at Kaos. "I was tired of losing," he said before going to stand by the other senseis. The others all glared at Kaos, who now was looking not very confident.
"None of you scare me!" He said.
Rachel strummed her guitar hard and moved one hand, activating her telekinesis, which surprised Kaos as he was lifted up into the air. "I think it's time you took a fly, Kaos," she said. "Imaginators? If you'd be so kind."
The three Imaginators Cortex had been training helped out and Kaos was soon flying back to his fortress, screaming in anger and berating Glumshanks once again.
Master Eon came out. "I see the Imaginators have put your training to good use, Cortex," he said with a smile.
The scientist nodded. "Yes, they did," he said as the Imaginators came up to him. "You three head back to the temple to practice and I'll join you shortly."
Rachel came up to Cortex. "You chose the right path, Neo," she said with a smile.
He smiled at her. "I hope we can all be allies," he said to her.
She glanced around at the others and smiled. "I'd say we already are," she said.
Cheering followed as the others all welcomed Cortex now as a friend and sensei.
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GoldGuardian2418
