Chapter 1: The Secrecy of Decree
Tropy and Trance watched from behind the gigantic organ as electric bolts surged through the emerald room. They had entered the Headmistress' Office from the ground floor. They cowered behind the pipes, though they knew the green acidic mist could cover them from detection (and thus detention) easily.
"Now I understand why Dr. Cortex looked shocked about his detention," Trance whispered as greenish bullets danced around the organ, followed by electric-blue sparks. Tropy looked disgusted upon hearing Dr. Cortex's screams of fright and the erratic organ sounds that proved its musical disaster. But those shouts of agony were not the only thought that disturbed the human in a bulky, noisy (although not as noisy as Cortex's screams), mechanical suit.
That gentleman… He holds much power in his thoughts… He is much more intelligent than Dr. Cortex… No doubt we can regain our foothold over these few territories… But what made him approach us and promise our victory?
"You think he's roasted or something?"
Tropy stared blankly at his colleague, a pink, delicate egg-shaped head reinforced by a golden and silver 'spacesuit'. Then he looked up towards the top of the organ, where deafening noises erupted. The bluish sparks did a jig around one of the pipes.
"Oh, he survived that, so don't worry about it," he summarized.
Then there was a female scream/screech, a loud thud and the organ stopped playing. How the other man brought her down the duo never knew but nevertheless they approached the unconscious gigantic mass of the fallen as quietly as they can.
"Phenomenal," the golden clocks hummed as their master kicked a finger the size of a baseball bat, "What did she eat?"
"I'd say outrageous, Tropy, that she needs to have her room ten times as big as any other," came the reply, taking no notice of the question.
He walked up to the Headmistress' face, and knocked her forehead with his metallic arms.
"It's done," Trance squeaked.
"Then get going," the Master of Time glanced awkwardly towards the entrances to the office, "The freaking prefects will be here next. We still have to get back to Iceberg Lab unseen!"
"Let's hide ourselves in that blimp outside. I certainly refuse to swim to the lab."
"You may try in record time."
Together they sprinted towards the corridor to the nearest exit. Then Trance bumped into something soft and warm… no, someone. A hand stopped Tropy and pushed him brutally to the floor.
"I knew that there are unwelcome visitors on the rampage, when I heard that disgusting scream–"
Then the smartly-dressed professor stopped mid-sentence and ran blindly towards the Headmistress. Trance stretched his hand towards the other scientist.
"Thank you, Trance," he said as he took the hand, and got up himself. (You expect an egg to haul a clock-filled scientist up?)
The air was refreshing in the corridor, as compared with the stifling and acid/sulphur-filled air in the office itself (Tropy: "Does a janitor work there?" Trance: "She needs a hundred more of them. I bet that was from her sweat."). Then they heard a wailing siren and the sound of rushing air. As they ran out of the colossal Headmistress' Office, they gaped in utter dismay as the blimp floated harmlessly into the night sky.
"Hope nobody sees us," Tropy said as he struck his tuning fork with the clock-face over his chest.
The airship returned to its docking position, and they could Dr. Cortex and his niece hurried footsteps above them as uncle-and-niece clambered up the stairs which led to the blimp.
"I knew something is fishy about that little balloon up there," growled the professor (which they knew they would take care of in the corridors) as he stepped into the Headmistress' Office, oblivious to their presence.
"Wait," Tropy pulled Trance back before he stepped into the open field; the sound of Crash's sneakers was unmistakable above them.
They waited, impatiently, for Crash to haul himself up the airship. Then they heard the engines rumbling.
"Now we go."
Trance never remembered the speed of which his little greyish legs could carry him, nor did he understand whether Tropy was adjusting the speed of time (slow it down, that is) to make them run faster. Trance had never felt his legs ache so badly before. Then he remembered his legs were not supposed to feel pain.
Maybe it was pure luck, or maybe it was Tropy's ever-expert skill, that at the moment they grabbed handrails attached to the entrance of the blimp there was a loud wail and the enormous zeppelin lurched with amazing speed towards the bright moon.
"Phew," Tropy said, gripping tightly to the banister as his feet dangled helplessly in the air, "That was close."
There was a click, and both Tropy and Trance stared with horror at the closed door as the N-shaped lock turned shut.
"I have something to say to Dr. Cortex once we get back," Tropy growled in his signature British accent.
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Bartending bored him. Revenge sounded more exciting.
Just outside the lightly guarded launch silo, Dr. Brio stared out into the open space. He liked space, the oblivion and the darkness associated with it. The stars were merely nuisance…
…as much as a nuisance as the empty-headed scientist he had worked with nearly seven years ago.
But Dr. Cortex, we have not determined the cause of past failures!
But… Dr. Cortex, the Vortex is not ready! We have no idea what it could do!
[Both are N. Brio's quotations in Crash Bandicoot
Still, in his arrogance the senior Cortex simply waved his warnings aside as went on to have his way, which had obviously kept Dr. Cortex's wishes at bay for a good seven years.
He crept stealthily across the compound, making sure to zap each scientist who saw him with his latest invention yet. Quietly and sneakily, he traversed around the military zone, following his flawless theory called the Secrecy of Decree. The Decree that allowed him to traverse undetected. He swung around, like an agent, and zapped the soldier who was on the brink of seeing him. The guard just looked away and walked away from him.
The Decree was simple - Do not engage their six senses. The sixth sense of intuition could be dealt with his trusty gadget, and the other five with sheer skill, which he had learnt and mastered. Artfully he dodged past the virtual lines of sight, making no sound in the process and at the same time ensuring that his gadget was always loaded.
Finally he got to the revered destination: the shuttle directly beneath the silo-hatch. From his pocket, Brio brandished a black remote the size of a calculator. The compacted carbon-copy of Coco's computer. He grinned. He forgot how he managed to get to her laptop in the first place, but he knew she wasn't around then. Quickly he placed the black gadget against the door and pressed a few buttons. Pathetic U.S. encryption… only to be defeated by a mere bandicoot. The door opened, and in a flash Brio closed it behind him.
As the dark-skinned scientist clambered the various flights of ladders towards the command, he considered the sweet girl Dr. Cortex called his 'niece'. I know too well that Dr. Cortex has no siblings. Still, the younger Cortex proved to be much better. When she finally succeeded the senior, she had started a mass campaign to provide her forces with enough resources. It was evident that the systems in her invention (not doubt co-built with an unhappy Coco) were perfect and automated, leaving her with the defence system, which no doubt the infamous marsupial had beaten.
[Nina Cortex, under Uka's orders, succeeded Neo Cortex and started a tree-felling, lava/mineral-extracting campaign to build the Doominator in Crash of the Titans.
Alas, he thought as he remembered receiving news of the Doominator crashing and the new leader fleeing, she needs further guidance regarding critical planning. He felt that such danger of failure would be adverted if Nina would place the hostage Coco away from the mech, since it was transparently obvious that Crash would place his sister above the island, and ignore the machine yet. And Coco would have to get to the controls if she wanted to bring it down. If only she would separate those two key structures, the island would be damaged beyond repair.
No use crying over spilled poison… They still have a chance against the bandicoots, like me against that Doctor.
[The Doominator robot, with Nina Cortex at its helm, was destroyed when its critical systems are defeated by Coco Bandicoot in Crash of the Titans. In Nina's folly, Coco was taken hostage in the Doominator itself, just a few metres above the master controls.
Now he looked at the controls before him, one with twice the number of buttons you'd see in a pilot's cockpit. Buttons of varying shapes, sizes and colours filled his cockpit. Brio knew what he was doing when he pressed the button just in front of him. A female metallic voice responded.
LAUNCH ACTIVATED – SILO HATCH OPENING
He took the gun with the word 'Interrupter' over the barrel from the shuttle's armoury. In case I'm not welcome…
He laughed as he was pushed against his horizontal seat as the space shuttle lurched into the air. Only Coco could stop him, and she was too busy with his ex-colleague. Just what he needed. He must thank Dr. Cortex for that.
Now, he thought about Gasmoxia's beautiful planet, a safe haven where he would have access to superior technology he sorely required. He held the gun in his hands. Cortex, he said to himself through gritted teeth, sometime later I'll be back. Maybe by two years.
[Review or take Tropy's place at the blimp.