The Tropy/Megumi pairing was inspired from the fact that she awards him his trophies in CTR. The name N. Ferma in this fic is derived from the Spanish "enferma," which means sick.

"ARGH! WHY DINGODILE LEAVE?" Bellowed Tiny Tiger as he took out his rage on the nearest object: a computer hard drive that was as big as his head. Clanging and cracking was heard as the hard drive hit the floor and snapped in two. He promptly pounced on its remains, yanking apart the frayed cords and chomping on the sliced data board. Pieces flew everywhere. Although the massive tiger had an audience, he was too engulfed in his own rage to care.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about what to do with my obsolete computer parts." Doctor Neo Cortex's joke was bad enough without his shaky tone. He and his three colleagues, doctors N. Gin, N. Brio, and N. Tropy were gazing down upon the raging mutant in question from a control area suspended just over a hemispherical force field. Within the field were more than enough other unwanted parts to keep Tiny busy for quite some time.

"If you are trying to prove anything with this, Doctor, you are failing," N. Tropy crisply remarked. Cortex groaned heavily. N. Gin, his faithful right-hand man, stuck close by his side. N. Brio gulped.

"I am doing all I can to remedy the situation. Tiny is still an important asset to us, and—"

"Your 'important asset' nearly took my arm off!" Tropy snapped, furiously gesturing to the sling that suspended his left arm. The next moment, his hand was gripping Cortex's collar tightly as he dragged him toward his body. "It's a wonder I remain even now!" He spat in the smaller doctor's face.

"Hey! Put him down! This is not his fault!" N. Gin's cries were punctuated by his jumping and down like a child to get the much taller's attention.

Tropy turned his gaze from the trembling Cortex to the speaker. "How may that be true?" He hissed challengingly.

Gin folded his arms. "Simple math. You slowed down the time spectrum so that Tiny would not tear you to pieces. If you would have maneuvered yourself a little quicker, you would be perfectly fine now." A vein throbbed angrily in the time master's head as he flicked his gaze between Cortex and N. Gin, debating who to punish first. His teeth were gritted tightly, and he panted hard. How quickly the roles had been reversed; Cortex was the powerless one, while his minion stood defiantly against Tropy.

"G-Gentlemen! G-Gentlemen! Please!" N. Brio's pleading did nothing to break the tension. Upon realizing this, Brio sighed in exasperation and threw a pink, highly-combustible potion at the far wall. His three colleagues jumped, causing Tropy to drop Cortex. Cortex quickly ran to cower behind his second-in-command, despite the fact that he was taller and his head was bigger. Tropy raised his eyebrow mockingly at his so-called "leader," which caused N. Gin to spread his arms protectively as if he thought that would work.

"P-please l-listen! I d-don't w-want t-to th-throw one ag-again!" N. Brio cried, his voice cracking.

Tropy winced at the intensity of the noise, and looked over his shoulder at Brio. "All right, you have our attention! What is it you want?"

"W-we c-c-can't t-turn on ea-each oth-other l-like th-th-this! I-It's Di-Di-Di-Dingodile's f-fault in th-the f-first pl-place!" Brio declared, waving his hands in the air for emphasis.

"He has a point. Uka Uka is already angry with Dingodile for joining the bandicoots. You know as well as I do that he is off taking revenge on him. He will soon punish Tiny for damaging your arm, and Doctor Cortex for letting this happen. We don't need a punishment brought upon ourselves for fighting with one another." N. Gin stood up to his full height as he made that declaration, while Cortex half-doubled over after being reminded of his discipline to come. When N. Tropy simply glared at him, Gin added in an off-hand tone, "Uka Uka could probably make your arm feel even more unpleasant than it is now."

Nefarious found it hard to resist the urge to summon his tuning fork and bash N. Gin's deformed head in with it. The only factors that stopped him from doing so were the warning and the fact that he might detonate the rocket in the mad scientist's head by mistake. He knew he was beaten, and he was a sore loser. He still wanted to break Cortex to pieces, but the fact that he was surrounded by one mad scientist with unpredictable chemicals and another with a live missile in his body, all the while having a torture of his already wounded self cancelled out the opportunity to fulfill that wish. He conceded. "Fine, he goes unharmed." Cortex gave a wordless cry of elation. Tropy immediately cut his moment of happiness short. "There will be conditions to this."

He turned to face N. Brio. "Foremost, you will help me to heal this arm. I will not stand to be placed out of commission for six months just because this mindless animal does not know when to tone down his temper."

N. Brio nodded and smiled in excitement both at the moment of peace and the opportunity to boast his intellect. "N-not a pr-problem! I c-can h-have y-you pa-patched up i-in a week!"

"I will hold you to that. Secondly," Tropy paused as he turned back to face Gin and Cortex, "during this period of recovery I demand no disturbances from either of you. I need time to think."

N. Gin's human eye narrowed. "Think of what, exactly?" He made no suggestions as to what he was suspicious of Tropy doing. This was probably because he did not want to give the man he was addressing any ideas.

"I will be debating whether or not I shall terminate my membership to this rather poor excuse of a team in the future." Nefarious adjusted the sling so his arm would fit more comfortably in it as he spoke. A strangled "what" came from Cortex, and N. Gin's jaw dropped. Brio's eyebrows flew right up. "Honestly, are you all that surprised?" Clearing his throat, N. Tropy went on. "My final demand is for you to actually do something about that orange monstrosity below us. In case you did not know, caging an animal is not the same as taming it."

At that, Tropy promptly took his leave. He climbed the stairs back into the proper of Cortex Castle, and let out a sigh as he leaned against a wall. He just had to pick the room at the very top as his own. Although building an elevator would have been practical Cortex hadn't put that in his floor plan, saying it would be less authentic. Nefarious actually agreed with this, being a man who favored authenticity and antiquity, but sometimes after very trying days such as this one, climbing all the way up to the belfry would prove to be quite tiresome. He was mounting the first flight of steps when Brio called his name. Turning, N. Tropy asked, "What is it now?"

Brio's hands were clasped together as he came near. "W-well, I-I c-can't r-run a di-diagnostic of y-your ar-arm yet. I-I ne-need the in-injury t-to se-settle f-first." At the scientist's frown, Brio quickly added, "I-I w-was al-also w-wondering i-if y-you w-would li-like m-me t-to a-ask Me-Megumi t-to br-bring s-some her-herbal t-tea f-for y-you?"

Tropy felt half ready to say that he'd had enough of bandicoots for one day. Megumi was the one "smart" bandicoot of Cortex's subjects, meaning she chose to remain with the N-Team, rather than running off like her "brothers," Crash, Fake Crash, and Crunch, and "sisters," Coco, Tawna, Ami, Isabella, and Liz. Cortex boasted that it was out of loyalty. Tropy knew it was because of self-preservation. The castle was never attacked by Crash, save for the one time that Tawna had been held captive. This, and the fact that there was a warm bed and food to eat everyday made it a good place for Megumi to stay. Nefarious guessed that the other bandicoots had found the same elsewhere, but the main difference was the fact that Megumi had never been attacked in her existence, and the others, save Liz, Ami, and Isabella, had at least once. To keep herself from being experimented on again, Megumi proved herself useful by handling the domestic tasks around the castle such as preparing meals for its inhabitants, both scientists and minions, and cleaning the castle interior. Since the second task took far more time, she kept a weekly calendar of what rooms to clean and when. Komodo Moe and Joe loved playing pranks on her by stealing or marking up the calendar. What made Tropy change his mind, however, was the fact that it would help relieve the ache. Megumi's herbal tea was more than just a beverage; it held traces of cannabis for pain. She administered it on call whenever someone was facing a serious injury. He nodded, and Brio hustled up the stairs to ask her to prepare it.

XXXXXX

"Highly illogical at best." Nefarious muttered to himself as he shook his head. He was sitting on his bed in his room, mulling over what could have caused Dingodile to switch sides. It helped to better pass the time while waiting on his tea. An answer had come to his mind, but Tropy doubted its truth. Still, there was evidence for it. Dingodile had been assigned with the duty of collecting a crystal that Cortex had needed for his latest weapon that would hopefully terminate the bandicoots once and for all.

With Tiny distracting Crunch, the hybrid had been successful. He had been about to give it to Cortex when his eyes had flicked for a moment towards Coco, who Ripper Roo had grounded by pouncing on top of her. She had been writhing under him, squealing for help as he laughed in her face, his lolling tongue brushing against her cheek, and leaving disgusting trails of saliva. Koala Kong had been sidling towards the two of them with a TNT crate in his hands. Roo would have been able to take the blow; he loved being in explosions, but it would have been curtains for the she-bandicoot.

N. Tropy, who had witnessed this distraction while trying to hold back an anxious Crash, had yelled at Dingodile to not be a fool. Dingodile, however, had paid him no heed, toasted Ripper Roo with his flamethrower, and took off with Coco and the crystal. That had been around the time when Crunch had thrown Tiny to the ground, and Tiny had seen what occurred. Crunch, at this point, had taken his cue to leave, so instead Tiny's eyes fell on Crash, who had still been battling against Tropy. Crash's retreating footsteps, however, had informed N. Tropy otherwise. Tiny, however, being the freight train he was when angered, took it out on the time master. Thus, the broken arm had occurred.

The idea that Tropy had in his head from going over these events was this: Dingodile left because he had feelings for Coco. How could that be, though? They were neither of the same species, nor of the same side. Tropy wasn't sure as to whether Dingodile had seen Coco outside of the castle, but mainly that was because he wasn't involved with castle security. Nefarious decided it was better to shrug it all off. A reason, no matter how strange, was a reason, otherwise there would be insanity.

The menagerie of clocks that nearly completely covered the belfry's walls ticked endlessly as he mentally changed his topic over. He had three quarters of an hour until he had to get up and ring the giant, spotless, rust-colored bell to signal the next hour. The sun's rays were sinking down past the mountains, causing the belfry's high windows to cast dark orange lights on the floor, creating shadows. He would wait until ringing the bell to turn on the electric-powered wall-hanging lanterns. It was a shame that he couldn't use candles, but their light wouldn't be enough with which to work. He couldn't complain about being the castle's bell-ringer; it was his self-proclaimed job in the castle. It was why he was the first one up, and the last one to sleep. He sometimes got his kicks out of ringing it too early, causing his fellow castle dwellers to get up at odd hours.

Insanity was the main reason why he was leaning toward leaving the N-Team. It had been years, and they had gained nothing. Cortex was still trying to defeat Crash Bandicoot and take over the world. Every day it was the same song and dance. The team was headed for a hard fall into a perpetual loop, and Nefarious did not want to be a part of it. He was wondering why Uka Uka had dragged him into this mess in the first place. Then again, insanity was not something that was never heard of by the Tropy, Cortex, Gin, and Brio. Their classmates at the Academy of Evil provided perfect examples.

Doctor N. Ferma had been found dead in her laboratory after injecting herself with a sample of the most powerful disease she ever created. She had killed her subjects with the previous diseases, and set her notes on fire. There was really no reason for it; she could have killed thousands with it. Her will stated that there was no point, since the medical world would eventually find a cure for each disease she makes. The truth of that statement was debatable in itself, but to Ferma, it hadn't mattered.

Dr. X. Traa had set his army of clones on himself after they had been unsuccessful in overtaking the UN's headquarters. That was the fault of his own ego; he always started too big. His past failures had consisted of botched over takings of the British Parliament and the American Congress.

There was, of course, another example, and it was one that he had a personal connection to: Dr. E. Glew. N. Tropy, although he heavily disliked her even at the current point in time, had to be thankful to her. Her death gave him a bit more of a notch of control over Cortex. This was due to the fact that Nefarious was the one who killed her.

XXXXXX

Nefarious never could say that his life as a child was easy. Sure, he had parents that at least cared for him, but they were of mixed heritage. His father was a native Englishman, and his wife hailed from Taiwan. Thanks to the local mentalities about racial difference, living in the Isles was miserable for the little family. In fact, that was how Dr. Tropy was given his first name. His father knew that marrying a woman of a differing race was looked down upon by society, yet he did it anyway because he had feelings for her. He therefore named his son Nefarious because such a practice was so disliked.

Nefarious himself couldn't remember much of the prejudice that occurred while he was still living with his parents mainly because he was enrolled in the Academy at a young age. What he did remember, however, was the teasing he received while he went there. A staple practice of the school was to exploit the differences of others for personal enjoyment, and no one was exempt from this. Tropy couldn't even count how many times he'd heard slurs such as coolie and yellow. Like the rest of the children, he had very few friends, and was vicious to others. Nasty words turned to tricks, and tricks turned to physical assault.

Nitrus Brio was among this circle of friends that Tropy had, as was Edith Glew. Nitrus' main cause for being on Nefarious' side was that of intellect and personality. The two boys took the same highly advanced class levels, and served as what each other wasn't. When Brio was getting picked on, Tropy defended him. When Tropy was getting in over his head and needed to stop, Brio helped him realize that so he could gracefully back down and relax.

Tropy would not have met Glew if it hadn't been for a class they had both been assigned. It had been split into pairs, and neither had been chosen because of their appearances. Born with albinism Glew was one of the very few children that did not write letters home to her family. She was aloof, and unafraid to look into a mirror, contrary to popular belief. What entreated her to him was the way she viewed others. She too was rather smug, thinking of classmates with an IQ below her own as peasants. Much like the other children who went on to become scientists, Glew was intelligent, meaning Tropy could have a conversation with her without becoming bored. Not all of their talk was based on science; some was of ways to prank and torture their classmates, something that Glew enjoyed, and some was of the world extending beyond the academy, something that Tropy enjoyed. What kept the majority of their schedules apart was the fact that while he specialized in time, she specialized in ice.

Time wore on, and the children slowly grew into adolescents. Paper airplanes were less prevalent, sparing N. Gin from taking a hit to the head. Cortex still retained his childishness, and never seemed to grow out of it. Nefarious oftentimes scoffed at him because of that, as well as his rather far-fetched idea of turning harmless animals into mutants. What surprised him, however, was that Brio supported the mad future doctor's idea, so much so that he decided to no longer be friends with Tropy.

The ceremonial right to go to dances was in the hands of the class, as was excess in all of its various forms. The vices, turned a blind eye by the teachers and headmistress, were fodder for more nose-turning by Tropy and his friends, particularly Glew. Nefarious couldn't help but notice her becoming more vocal, her words more vicious and stinging, like frost. Naturally, she was pushed more and more away from the social center for this, not that she cared, of course. It was around the time of the dances that Tropy really began to notice how nice it was to see Edith tucking her platinum blonde hair behind her ears whenever it was down. He also realized how her eyes took on a sort of shine to them whenever she looked up toward the light. She became his date to such gatherings. If he had thought that she had looked all right before, he certainly thought she actually looked pretty when she was fixed up for the occasion. That was as far as his opinion would go, though, since her rather gaudy 1960's style dress couldn't hold a handle to the more modern, flattering designs. Dates outside of the dances usually culminated in study sessions where the main focus actually was the studying, and the dinner would be comprised of black coffee and salty snacks. Displays of affection to one other were still a rarity due to their obsessions with their subjects being more important. The instances that they did occur, however, were in Nefarious's opinion, quite satisfactory. Sharp jokes were made about their relationship, but they were endured with return blows. This time, however, Tropy was a complete loose cannon due to the lack of intervention by Brio. Punishments did not exist for violence within in the school, as long as school property wasn't damaged. Oh, how that rule was broken by him, since his powers were still unstable. He got out scot-free each time due to being able to pin the blame on someone else. He was hated for it, but at least he earned the reputation to not be messed with. It was funny; he solved his own problem without Brio's help.

Graduation came and went. Nefarious's mother passed away, and his grieving father told him that more than ever, the pressure was on him to make something of himself in her honor. Brimming with youthful arrogance, Nefarious had replied that his life's outcome was up to himself to decide. Communication with him was lost shortly after that incident, not that Tropy cared. Time meant more to him than anything. He was happy to leave that academy. The world was his to warp and manipulate however he pleased. Nefarious didn't have to worry about funding; the cursed mask, Uka Uka, had taken in interest in guiding him after seeing his high potential and vicious behavior. The procedure was simple: empty a few bank accounts, roll back time until no one could remember the deposit, and use it. It worked, however it cost him the ability to live in England just in case, but he couldn't care less. He had plenty of other places to choose from. He decided to choose a remote area of his mother's homeland to set up shop. The foolish natives had no idea of what was occurring, and the island's government knew better than to challenge him.

Uka Uka's voice grew and slackened in volume inside of Tropy's head over different periods of time. The occasions when his voice was considerably loud were when Nefarious made a mistake, which happened less and less often. Although the mask couldn't physically touch him, the doctor didn't want to find out the consequences of making him angry. Nefarious spent his first few years in his laboratory aimlessly experimenting with the creation of time paradoxes, from the mundane act of vanishing and reappearing objects, to the more grandiose and criminal attempt to trap whole groups of innocent people in stable time loops, his tinkering only growing higher in caliber as the years passed. The chaos he caused was unimaginable, and if it grew too disorderly for even him to handle, he had to switch it back to what it had been in the first place. He tried to manage to do so before Uka Uka could detect the problem, but it was always in vain. This caused him to grow a tougher skin.

Speaking of skin, constant time-travelling had a rather unexpected side effect. His skin had begun to turn blue. It wasn't long before he was completely azure. He wasn't a biologist, and there was no way was he going to go crawling to Brio for help. Tropy didn't exhibit any other effects other than his skin pigmentation changing, so all things considered, he was all right. Still, he didn't like how the coloring reminded him of his birth. According to his parents, he was lucky to be alive. Nefarious had been born as a blue baby, and as such, hated thinking of his near miss that had happened before he could even function on his own.

Dr. E. Glew moved to the North Pole and worked intensively on her low temperature experiments there. Her greatest accomplishment was the complete deep freeze that locked Russia, Canada, Alaska, northern parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean for two weeks. When the authorities came to arrest her, the ice and snow was too harsh for them to go on.

Tropy, however, had no problem speaking with her. Time travel made it easy for him to arrive inside of her laboratory. It was warm enough for the two of them to wear their lab coats, and still be comfortable. Nefarious, however, preferred to wear his newly-created armor over his lab coat, due to his pride in its creation. She didn't seem to mind too much, considering the fact that her "souvenirs" (crystallized remains from those two weeks), were placed in low temperature tanks throughout all of the rooms. Their numbers, rather than sizes, made them obnoxious to view. The walls had none, but the tanks supported tables, chairs, lamps, and other furniture. She saw no need to do better than what she already was, and this was mainly due to the fact that it would cause her to leave her fortress of ice, something Dr. Glew did not wish to do at all due to her wanted status.

It was around this time period that their relationship became more adult. It seemed that Edith desired Nefarious more, and while he found that fact rather pleasing, yet it also made him feel slightly edgy around her. She saw his blue skin as a turn-on mainly because of how different it was, and what it represented: his work. Personally, he found himself lucky that he didn't come to see her very often, especially during the morning after. She never verbally begged him to stay with her, but her body language said enough, her arms tightly clenching his torso, and her head sagging down for her hair to hang over her face in a piteous way.

The monotony was broken however, when Tropy was informed by Uka Uka that his service was needed directly; the mask was free. Uka Uka needed crystals for power, and Dr. Cortex had lost them after being entrusted with them. The only way to find them was to go back in time and collect them that way. As angry as Nefarious felt that such a task had been first given to not him, but a lunatic, he knew he had to keep his emotions in check. Uka Uka was offering him an opportunity to do more than simply cause a few disturbances by altering the timeline; he was giving him the chance to take over the world!

Before Nefarious could start the lengthy task of building the Time Twister, he knew he had to remove a source of dead weight, meaning he had to break if off with Dr. Edith Glew. Her complacent behavior and what was beginning to seem like an obsession with him would only be a detriment. Needless to say, Glew didn't take well to it. "You're…you're serious? After all that has happened between us?" She whispered, her head, once again drooping down in that same pathetic manner, her pale hair veiling her face.

"Yes," he replied solemnly from where he sat across from her. Sitting next to her was out of the question. His hand was hovering over his tuning fork, which was laid across his lap.

"No," her head snapped up sharply as she continued, "No, you won't be doing that, Nefarious. You won't be leaving me."

His tuning fork was pointed right at her as he asked, "And what do mean by that?"

She rolled her sleeve down as an electric shock pulsed through the fork and shot out right at her. It instantly ricocheted, bouncing around the room and forcing Tropy to duck as he held up his tuning fork to catch it again. Edith held up her arm triumphantly to reveal a large transparent square attached to it. "My ice shield. With a push of the button on my wrist, I can deflect whatever comes my way."

Tropy followed her movements silently as she pushed a lamp aside to reveal a bright blue panel. She slammed her hand down on it, and the room shook, forcing Nefarious to grip onto a table to steady himself as it transformed from a sitting area into a gigantic weapons storage facility. Pointed straight at him was the barrel of a gigantic gun with several dozen massive tanks of liquid oxygen supplying its fuel. Tropy did nothing more than raise his eyebrow at it. Glew, however, let out a hysterical laugh, and sprinted up the wheeled metal staircase to the gun's control seat. "I told you that you wouldn't be leaving me! My Sculptor will keep you here forever." Tropy smirked. She could have chosen any name for her gun, and she settled with Sculptor of all things? Pathetic. "Don't worry yourself, my love. I will take good care of you. I have nearly perfected this art on human beings." That explained where the authorities that had been searching for went, not that he cared, of course.

"There is only one problem with that, Edith. You won't be able to do much of anything without it!" At that, the Master of Time aimed his tuning fork at the machine, and shot the massive amount of power that he had been charging up in his body at it in one brilliantly-colored ray. The machine's power died almost immediately. The new metal rusted rapidly, and the gun broke, falling into a massive orange-heap. Glew let out a cry of surprise as she fell with it. Shattering was heard as the oxygen tanks broke, and liquid trailed everywhere. Tropy laid both his hands over his tuning fork, grinned, and leaned back, surveying his handiwork. He hadn't so much as broken a sweat.

An arm shot free of the rust. Glew was still alive. He couldn't let her access any of the other machines and possibly do harm to him. Rage wiped away the triumph. He was angry at her for wanting to do such a thing to him, and angry with himself as well for getting himself into this situation by leading Glew on. It certainly wasn't his brightest idea for his well-being. In order to combat this fury, he formulated an idea in his head. It was cruel, yes, but it would work perfectly for him. Climbing over the machine and taking care to avoid the puddles of liquid oxygen, he yanked Glew up. She was covered in blood from the fall. Tears fell as she cried, "Mercy! You win!"

He simply shook his head and opened a portal in time. She screamed and tried to get away, but he held her too tightly. The sun shone brightly above as they arrived at their destination: the Sahara Desert, 3000 B.C. With another desperate scream, Glew covered her face with her hands as Tropy dropped her unceremoniously to the sand. Nefarious turned his gaze away from the sun, and fanned himself. "This should be fitting fate for you."

"Fitting? You're leaving me to die!" She shrieked, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You tried to freeze me. Which is the worse?" He replied coldly.

Her only reply was, "Mercy, please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

He shook his head. "With you, I would highly doubt that."

Her bloodied hand shot out, and grabbed onto his leg. "Nefarious…"

A swift kick to her abdomen made her relinquish her grip on him. "I am actually doing you a favor. A great dust storm is coming soon, and it will be preferable to dying of thirst." At that, he warped out, leaving the girl who had been obsessed over him to be buried in nature's hourglass. Still, no matter how much time passed on, Nefarious could not shake his incredulity at the mere idea of him having had feelings for such a beastly human. Dr. E. Glew's pale hand, extended in the animalistic will to survive, was the last to be buried in the blazing sun. Much like her hand, the memory of her, his failure of good judgment, still remain in the mind of Dr. Nefarious Tropy, no matter how hard he tried to bury it with other thoughts.

XXXXXX

A tapping on the door broke Nefarious out of his reverie. "Doctor Tropy? It's Megumi. I have your tea."

"One moment, please." He went over to the door and released the dead bolt, pulling it open. The electronic motion sensors installed in the doorway followed his movements, just in case Dr. Cortex was trying to pull something on him.

This wasn't one of those occasions. Megumi gave him a small smile as he stepped aside to allow her to enter with her tray consisting of a small teapot with a picture of a crane painted on it, and a teacup in a saucer. "Just place it on the table over there," Tropy directed as he followed her.

Once Megumi had straightened up from setting the tray down, she let out a sad sigh as she completely took in the sight of his sling. "I'm so sorry this has happened to you."

"Thank you, but I fear it won't do much for me," Nefarious replied with a chuckle as he picked the tea pot up.

"Would you like some help?" She asked.

"I can manage, thank you," he replied more harshly than he had first intended. A period of the clocks' ticking being the only noise passed, and Nefarious became aware that her hands were clasped together, and she was biting her bottom lip. Something was clearly on her mind. He wondered what it was, though more out of concern for himself than her. If Cortex or Gin were planning something, at least he would have an idea of it. The she-bandicoot's job tended to cause her to overhear things. "Have a seat, Megumi." With a look of relief on her face, she gratefully took one.

Nefarious put the pot down, but didn't pick up the cup. The tea needed time to cool, and he wanted to have completely sober thoughts while speaking with her. "Now, what's the matter?" He asked as gently as he could to coax her into speaking. Tropy personally didn't mind Megumi's company, and therefore had spoken to her on multiple occasions beforehand. This made it easier to get the information out of her.

Megumi nervously poked at a lock of blue hair falling out of one of its well-kept buns as she replied, "Dr. Brio told me about what you are thinking of doing. I understand why, I really do, but…well….that is…I mean…" Her voice trailed off at Nefarious's impatient look. After taking a deep breath to compose herself, and dropping her head back to her lap, Megumi replied, "I'll miss you. You're nice to talk to."

Tropy suspected there was more than his being "nice to talk to" that made her want him to stay. He wasn't blind; he had noticed more than once that she made an effort to straighten herself up whenever he came into the room, even when she was doing rather filthy jobs like dusting out the inside of his giant bell. He had also realized that she tended to accomplish tasks faster whenever he ordered her to do so as compared to Cortex, N. Gin, and N. Brio. She obviously had her own little share of feelings for him. At least they were not completely unrequited. Nefarious liked Megumi's competence, and the fact that she was rather good-looking with her slender figure, her sleek blue hair with its water lily decorations, and her big orange eyes. Nefarious frowned. "Whether I leave or not is my choice."

She nodded briskly. "Of course! I wasn't trying to make you stay, but I just wanted to…well…." Megumi looked down at her hands as the clocks all around her continued to tick away. Tropy was wondering if this would be worth the wait, since she was continually stumbling through her words. "Well, I was just wondering if you would, you know, need any help if you are leaving."

He smirked as he made himself more comfortable. "What you intend to say is that you are selling your services to me, are you not?"

She raised her gaze to look at him. "Yes, sir, if you would like them."

Nefarious found himself liking the idea. Having an assistant would take some extra unneeded effort off of him. There were, however, needed precautions to this. "If I did take you with me, you would become a liability to me. Do you understand that?"

She nodded. "Yes, I have, but what importance would there be in an enemy capturing me? I don't know your technology very well."

"What about emotional attachment?" Tropy pressed.

Megumi winced as if he had hit her. "If you want me to be a servant, and nothing more, that's fine. It's up to you."

Tropy grinned. She had given him exactly what he needed: control. "All right, consider yourself hired."

Megumi's elation almost caused her to break out in giggles, but she caught herself at the last moment. "Thank you very much."

"Tomorrow we'll get the correct paper work together. Now, my tea is cool, and I need to rest. Oh, and Megumi?"

"Yes?"

"This conversation does not leave this room, understood?"

"Most definitely, Doctor Tropy!" Her eagerness counterbalanced his tone as she started up, smiling broadly.

"Wait a moment."

"Yes?" She could barely hold herself still.

"Come here, please," he gestured over here to himself with a slight smile.

Megumi gasped as he took her hand in his, and kissed it. She stood back suddenly, her face flushed bright red. "Oh…Oh my…" She began to slowly back up toward the door. "Well, uh, good day, Doctor." She quickly retreated down the hall.

Nefarious chuckled to himself as he picked up his cup. Tomorrow, he would begin working with Brio to fix his arm, laying out his plan to leave the N-Team, preparing the contract for Megumi, and creating a way to explain to Uka Uka why his leaving the N-Team would be for the better of evil. For now, however, he would rather not think of it all. He raised the cup to his lips, and allowed the cannabis to take him away.