Power: A word of warning. This chapter tends to jump back and forth between people so hopefully that doesn't get too confusing. Enjoy.

Part 1: Chapter 2: Damage Report

Pinstripe and Dingodile glanced around the Canteen after everyone besides Komodo Joe had shuffled out.

"Well I think we already know what the state of the Canteen is," Dingodile remarked.

"Yeah. Trashed is the word I'd use."

"[If we had a datapad we could note this down.]"

"There should be ssome sspare datapadss in Ssickbay," Joe reminded them.

"We're headed there next, so let's go," said Pinstripe. "Later, Joe."

"See ya, Joe."

"[Bye bye.]"

"Bye guyss."

They approached Sickbay and peered inside with trepidation.

"Oh boy, Sickbay is a mess," said Pinstripe.

"That's putting it lightly, mate."

"[There is a hole in it!]"

"Treezan's not gonna be happy."

The three ventured in for a better look.

"[Here.]" Ripper Roo had found a half working datapad.

"I've got it," the potoroo picked it up then paused and glanced around. "Oh boy, where do I start?"

"[The Canteen. Trashed.]" Roo offered.

"Big hole in Sickbay," Dingodile added. "Medical supplies missing. One bioregenerator left?"

"Yeah, that oughta do it." The datapad beeped as he typed and occasionally kept dropping his input leaving a report that read something like this; 'Te Cantn: Trshd. Bg hole n Sicby. Medcl suppls missig. One biorgenratr lft.' He grimaced. "I guess that'll have to do. Let's move on."

Cortex clicked off the comm and turned to the other occupants of the Bridge. "Carry on. I will return, shortly." He stepped out of the Bridge and walked quickly through the rest of Level One.

The most obvious damage he discovered was the massive rupture in the Space Station's left side. The top of its jagged edge was visible in both Astrometrics and his personal lab and as such much of the interior of both rooms, anything that hadn't been bolted down, was now outside the Space Station, floating amongst the stars. The Ready Room and his private quarters had been spared, as they were located on the opposite side and the rupture had just narrowly missed the Bridge.

"Wow you guys were lucky," Treezan commented after Cortex had relayed his findings. "A little further to the left and you and N. Brio would've both been gone."

"Thank you, Treezan," they replied in unison. Cortex then turned his attention to one of the forward consoles. "N. Brio, how much of this did you manage to translate?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. It was. . . difficult."

"I'll see what I can make of it."

Joe looked up from examining the splint around his arm when he heard a noise outside. Was that Pinstripe and company back so soon? Or one of the other groups? Whoever was outside cursed as they trod on something sharp. "Moe!"

"Joe?" The Canteen doors slid open and in stepped Moe. "There you are. What happened?"

"Treezzan required feeding."

"Ah. Where iss she now?"

"Hersself and Dr Tropy headed off to the Bridge. Their assssisssstance wass required."

"Sso what do we do now? Where are the otherss?"

"Sscouting the ship to assssessss the damage."

"For a damage report?"

"Indeed. Did you hurt your foot?"

Moe was a little taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "Uh. . . Yeah. I trod on ssome metal."

"Come here. Let me have a look."

Moe limped over and sat down on the bench Tropy had been sitting on previously. He held up his foot for his brother to inspect. Joe grasped his ankle with his free hand and peered closely at the wound. "There'ss sstill ssome ssplinterss left. I'll pick them out for you."

Moe winced as Joe's claws nicked his wound drawing fresh blood.

"There," he said wiping his claws against his robe. "Wait here and I'll get a medkit."

Dingodile heaved the debris out of the way, depositing it on one side of the corridor and turned to Pinstripe as he dusted off his hands. Ripper Roo bounded ahead with a yelp of glee.

"Hey, Rip! Watch it!" Pinstripe warned. "The ceiling could cave in on you."

"[I'm indestructible~]" he called back.

The pair flinched as sparks burst out of a ruptured cable. Dingodile looked ahead and shrugged. "Looks safe."

"That's not the point," he sighed and shook his head as he resumed typing in the damage observed into the datapad. "Let's keep going."

"So what're all these different levels all about?" Dingodile asked as they moved on.

The potoroo shot him a look. "What, you've worked here for how long and you don't know the layout of Cortex's Space Station?"

He scratched the top of his head. "Everything's still really fuzzy, just give me a refresher."

"All right. Listen up then. The Space Station has five levels, okay?"

"Okay."

"Level One has the Bridge, the Ready or Meeting Room, Astrometrics and Cortex's lab and quarters. Level Two has the Canteen, Sickbay and all of our rooms. Level Three has the four Docking Bays and the Break Room and the Games Room. Level Four is Engineering and Doc N. Gin's, N. Brio's and N. Tropy's Labs and finally Level Five is the Cargo Hold."

"Ah. I think I remember. Me, Moe, Joe and N. Tropy were in the Games Room playing Poker when. . . it, happened."

"Yeah and we were in the Canteen. . . I never got to finish my sandwich."

"Oh woe is you," Dingodile remarked with a smile while Ripper Roo snickered.

"Papu Papu hungry," he said aloud.

"Papu Papu always hungry," Tiny remarked.

He grunted in response to the remark as he entered the unlocking sequence for Docking Bay Two. They stepped inside and without being ordered to, Tiny shifted a heavy ceiling strut with ease. Papu Papu noted the damage and looked around the rest of the huge room, pausing to peer over the ramp railings to the floor of the Docking Bay below.

The small, red droids created by N. Gin and Tropy to maintain and repair the Space Station were already clustered around and repairing part of the massive hole in the Space Station's left side, the side in which Docking Bay One and Two were in. They were officially called M.A.R.U.s which stood for Maintenance And Repair Units. Everyone took to calling them Marus instead. The first job for the Marus was to secure the damage site, if it was a gaping hole in the Space Station's side or a hull breach in proper terms, this was to establish a force field, thus preventing poor hapless victims from being blown out into space along with the Space Station's oxygen levels. This also prevented Docking Bay 2's current organic residents, Papu Papu and Tiny Tiger from disappearing the moment the hatches opened.

Papu Papu entered the obvious damage before nodding to Tiny. He nodded back and the two left the Docking Bay to assess the condition of the next.

Nitros Oxide stepped out of the lift with Koala Kong right behind him and did a double take. "There is a HOLE in Engineering!"

"Yes, so it would seem," Kong replied absently as he spotted a trapped Maru and immediately went to rescue it.

"What? How are you not concerned by this?"

"Well, yes, a hole in the side of the Space Station-"

"A giant hole!"

"-Is concerning. However the force field that has been erected has removed the immediate danger. Therefore I see no reason to become unnecessarily alarmed by it."

"In my experience holes in the hull of your ship tend to compromise its integrity. You won't be able to move until it's fixed."

Kong frowned lightly. "You do have a point there."

"And shouldn't Engineering having priority over the Bridge anyway?"

"Yes of course, but we need the scanners online first before we can determine the true severity of the damage. Once they have been repaired, I would imagine that Engineering will be next on the list."

Oxide grumbled something to himself as he typed into the datapad he had picked up from Sickbay.

Kong glanced around Engineering in the silence that followed. The giant rupture in the Space Station's hull had blown out any fallen rubble into space leaving it mostly free from debris. Besides that, the only other obvious damage were the sputtering and sparking monitoring stations that had overloaded and exploded. The Marus had already got to work and he spied them dotted around on the walls, floor and ceiling, sparks emitting from their miniature cutters and welders. One of them zoomed between Oxide's ankles, heading for the Maru Kong had freed and he recoiled a foot in surprise. "What the heck was that?!"

"That was a Maru."

"A what now?"

"A Maintenance and Repair Unit or M.A.R.U. They were built to assist with maintenance and repair of the Space Station. Their priority is the site of damage above everything else. Then while three quarters of the Marus commit themselves to the damage site, the rest get to work on other damaged areas. We call them Marus for short."

Oxide sighed. "I wish I had some of these. It's not easy fixing a ship by myself."

"After this has finished, perhaps we can negotiate?" Kong looked back at the Marus just as the second had finished repairing the first and the two zoomed off. "By the way what were you doing out here?"

He gazed absently at the datapad in his hand. "I've been wondering that myself."

"You mentioned that your ship was caught in the same blast that hit us. Perhaps whatever was responsible for that was also what drew you here?"

"Probably." He frowned. "Although. . . I think I was passing by anyway. But I'm not sure why. . ."

"Considering your preferred activities, I would imagine that you were probably journeying to another race."

Oxide looked as if a lightbulb had gone off above his head. "Of course! How could I have forgotten?" Then his expression soured. "Not that it matters since there's no way I'll be able to make it in time."

"You were only unconscious for a matter of hours weren't you?"

"I still have a ship to repair. And that's assuming my hovercraft is unscathed. If it isn't I'll have to fix that too. And there's only one of me."

"For the Marus, 'other damaged areas' also includes any damaged ship currently docked with us. I believe a small handful will be repairing your ship as we speak."

"Is that so?"

"It is indeed."

"Well now. Perhaps I'll be able to attend the race after all."

Cortex sighed and shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.

N. Brio cast a glance in his direction. "No luck?"

"I'm afraid not."

"I told you it was difficult."

He folded his arms and glared at the console accusingly. "How are the scanners coming?"

"Almost finished," N. Gin replied. "Some pliers if you don't mind."

N. Brio quickly fished a pair out from the tool box, the handle of which was clasped in Treezan's claws. The two were acting as tool suppliers for the two physicists; Treezan as Tropy's supplier.

Cortex moved away from the console and stood behind Brio and Treezan, staring over their shoulders at N. Gin and Tropy's progress.

Moe limped along behind Joe as the pair headed for the lift. Joe stopped and turned to his brother. "Are you sure you don't want to sstay behind? It'ss no trouble."

He nodded. "I'm sure. My foot iss not badly hurt, it only sstings. And you can't type with one hand."

Joe glanced at the data pad clutched in his good hand and then at his injured arm which was still in a sling. "I ssupposse you're right." He handed the data pad over and followed after his brother.

Pinstripe pointed to a door. "There, that's Kong's room and the last one we have to check before we can go back."

Ripper Roo bounded over to the door and pressed the button to open the door. The button beeped in response to being pressed but nothing else happened.

"[It's stuck!]"

"I'll get it open." Dingodile stepped forward, wedged his claws into the gap between the door and the wall and with great effort hauled the door open. He fell back gasping. "Phew."

The potoroo poked his head in and looked around. "Kong's lucky his room's on the other side of the Space Station otherwise his room would look a lot messier than this."

"By 'messier' you mean non existent?"

"Yeeeah," he replied with a grimace. "Not sure how that's gonna work out."

"[Clear out the Canteen.]" Roo suggested. "[Sleep there instead.]"

"Good plan. Hopefully there's still some spare bedding in the Cargo Hold." He finished typed the damage assessment into the data pad. "All right, we're done, now we head back."

Papu Papu looked Oxide's ship over. The ramp they were standing on led right up to the door in the side of the cockpit. The large green spaceship just about fit into the Docking Bay. The docking clamps latched firmly onto the wings, securing it in place. A few Marus were clustered around damaged spots in the hull and on the faulty engine. The main damage was on the ship's left side, the side facing away from Papu Papu and Tiny.

He looked around the Docking Bay at the damage that was in view but most of it was blocked by Oxide's ship, though as it was located on the opposite side to the impact, there was little damage anyway. He noted this down and turned to Tiny. "Last left to check is Break Room and Games Room."

"Is much point?"

"We do quick check. Then head back and tell others."

"Are we done?" Oxide asked.

"No, we still have to check the Laboratories. I'm certain Doc Tropy would particularly like to know the condition of his Time Twister."

"What's a Time Twister?"

"A machine that creates passageways across time and space. The first version was built for the intention of allowing us to gather power crystals for Uka Uka in their original locations in times gone past, as they have already been procured by our enemy Crash Bandicoot in the present."

Oxide gave him a blank look. "I just asked what it did not why it was built."

"Ah. I apologise. I had assumed you would also desire to know the context in which the Time Twister was created."

"Well you assumed wrong. I'm not really interested in whatever's going on with your backwater planet."

"Let us not forget that this backwater planet as you say is where you met your first defeat," Kong shot back. Oxide glared daggers at him but said nothing. He gestured forth. "Shall we?"

"Let's just get this over with," he grumbled as he walked ahead. "The sooner I get off this miserable Space Station the better."

The lift doors slid open and the two komodo brothers cautiously peeked out. "Iss it ssafe?" Moe asked.

"I think sso." Joe stepped out and glanced around. The lift shaft came down right in the middle of the Cargo Hold. Since food and water was handled by the replicators, there hadn't been much cargo in it. Mainly spare parts for the ship and other mechanical devices, and bed clothes and blankets and the like.

Visible in one side of the Hold was the bottom edge of a large hole that had been blasted into the Space Station's left side. Scorch marks ringed the area and crates of cargo nearest to the impact site had been blackened or incinerated by the explosion. Before the Marus could create the force field, a substantial amount of the surviving cargo had also migrated into space. A few crates could even be seen floating amongst the stars.

"Lookss like the only damage here iss the impact ssite and the missssing cargo," Joe observed as Moe typed that into the datapad.

"Should we do a sstock check?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure. Perhapss we should report back to Cortexx firsst."

Moe nodded in agreement and headed back into the lift, Joe right behind him. He waited for the doors to close. "Level Two." And the lift ascended.

"There, I believe that should have the scanners up and running again," N. Gin informed the Bridge.

Brio immediately left his post and went over to one of the forward consoles, beating Cortex to it. He stopped. "Wait a minute."

"What?" asked Cortex.

"We still don't understand the computer language."

He groaned. "N. Gin, see what you can make of it."

N. Gin stood up and joined Brio at the console. "Interesting," he said staring at it.

N. Tropy gestured for Treezan to aide him in standing and together, they crossed over to the console. "Allow me to assist you."

"Certainly."

The two scientists got to work, Treezan, Brio and Cortex watching them intently.

"Pinstripe to Dr. Cortex."

Cortex spun around. "Ahah! The preliminary damage report. Excellent." He pressed the comm button on his chair arm. "Go ahead, Pinstripe."

The potoroo obediently obliged Cortex the information his team had acquired, prefacing it with an apology to Treezan.

"Nooo my Sickbay," she lamented. "And my rooom."

"Good work, Pinstripe. Inform the others to report their findings to me the moment they return."

"You got it."

The comm clicked off and Cortex rejoined the group clustered around the console. "What do you make of it so far?"

"It looks difficult as Brio has said. It may take some time," Tropy informed him.

"It appears for the moment that time is a luxury we can afford."

Pinstripe, Dingodile and Ripper Roo turned to investigate as the Canteen door slid open. "Moe, Joe," greeted Pinstripe as Dingodile said, "Hey guys."

"Ah, greetingss, you're back," said Joe.

"Only just," Pinstripe replied. "What's your report?"

"The only major damage in the Cargo Hold iss the impact ssite and damage to the cargo. Ssome of it iss in sspace and can be retrieved later."

"Good." He gestured over his shoulder to the comm unit. "Now tell that to Dr. Cortex."

Joe repeated his report to Cortex and added. "But we didn't do a check of the cargo sso we don't know what'ss missssing."

"There's not much that can be done about missing cargo right now. We'll do a full inventory after the Space Station is up and running again. In the meantime I want you all to stay where you are and await further instructions."

"Undersstood."

Oxide glanced towards a large hub-like machine that was in one side of N. Tropy's onboard laboratory. "I'm guessing this is the Time Twister you were talking about?"

"Indeed. Technically it's the Time Twister v2. A greatly condensed and compact version of it's predecessor."

"Really? How big was the first one?"

"Big enough that it would be difficult to fit onto the Space Station. And all built by one man."

"Huh. Impressive. I guess." There was a long awkward pause as they both glanced around the lab, assessing the damages before Oxide decided to ask, conversationally. "So. . . uh. Who built it?"

"Are you really interested?" he replied dubiously.

"Just answer the question."

"Doctor Nefarious Tropy."

The Gasmoxian squinted at him. "You'll have to describe him as I never considered learning your names all that important."

Kong sighed. "Tall fellow with blue skin."

"Ah. Yes. Him. He 'greeted' me at the Docking Bay. I may have also seen him during the race. Wasn't very memorable as I recall."

The koala's eyebrows nearly shot clean off his head in surprise. ". . . I imagine you hold that opinion on all of us, correct?"

"I certainly don't remember you."

"You wouldn't because I was not in the race."

"Why not?"

"Because I-. . . because. . . I wasn't interested."

"You weren't interested in saving your planet?"

"That's not what I meant. There were enough racers participating and in the end it was Crash Bandicoot who saved the day as I knew he would. Some of the others, my colleagues, were in it for personal glory and gain and I had no interest in competing with that. If it had just been about saving the planet, then yes, perhaps I may have joined."

"So what? You didn't want to race because their intentions weren't noble enough?" he scoffed.

Kong inhaled through his nose in irritation. "You're not listening to what I'm saying."

"Because it sounds ridiculous."

"Then allow me to simplify this for you. Crash Bandicoot saved the day as he always does. There were more than enough participants. And those who were not aligned with Crash Bandicoot were competing for personal gain. Therefore I considered participating as pointless and tedious."

"Well why didn't you just say so?"

Kong nearly throttled the alien in frustration.

Oblivious, he continued. "Shall we move on? These labs aren't going to inspect themselves."

The koala shook his head but followed him into N. Gin's lab nonetheless. And another awkward silence descended until Kong spoke again. "I must ask, Oxide."

"What?"

"There's no delicate way to word this. Do you perchance have any friends?"

"What?! What kind of question is that?!"

"You possess the unparalleled ability to irritate absolutely anyone you come into contact with. It truly is remarkable."

Oxide stiffened. "Is. . . is that so?"

"You haven't noticed?"

There was a long pause before he answered in a small voice. ". . . I don't mean to be. Not all the time."

"Why then?" he asked gently, seeing an opportunity to learn more.

For a moment he seemed vulnerable. "It's. . ." and then the moment was gone. "None of your business."

Kong sighed. "I suppose I should've suspected as much."

"Is this everything?"

"No, we still have N. Brio's labs to examine. Considering it's on the same side as the impact site, I imagine we'll find it in a similar state."

"Let's go then, I have things to do."

"Hey, Papu Papu. Tiny Tiger," Pinstripe greeted them cheerfully. "Welcome back."

"That just leaves Kong and Oxide," Dingodile noted.

"They're analyssing Engineering right?" asked Moe.

"Yeah, that's right," Pinstripe replied.

Joe nodded. "Ass well as N. Gin, Tropy and Brio'ss Labss. Sso they'll have the longesst job."

"Why you send Kong with Oxide?" Papu Papu asked out of curioisity.

"Kong's pretty chill so I figured out of all of us, he could stand to be in the obnoxious little alien's company the longest. Anyways. Youse should report to Cortex. We can listen in on the damage report then we'll tell youse what we've found."

"This is Koala Kong to Dr Cortex."

"Finally! Go ahead, Kong."

"I regret to inform Dr N. Brio that his laboratory has suffered extensive damage-"

"You mean there's a giant hole in it?" Oxide cut in.

"Yes, thank you, Oxide. And many of his potions and experiments are . . . absent."

Brio simply sighed in dismay.

"Fortunately you weren't in there at the time," Cortex remarked.

"Yes, I suppose."

"Dr N. Tropy, your Time Twister is damaged but otherwise still intact. Which can also be said for both yours and Dr N. Gin's laboratories."

"I was expecting as much," Tropy replied.

"And Engineering?" asked Cortex.

"There is a giant hole in it! You have a giant hole in the side of your Space Station!"

"Yes. Thank you, Oxide. We have noticed."

"Beyond that, it is hard to determine the exact severity of the damage that Engineering has sustained but I would wager that it is significant."

"Thank you, Kong-."

"And me!"

"Yes, you as well, Oxide. I will confer with my colleagues before deciding on a course of action."

"Understood, Dr Cortex."

The comm clicked off and Cortex turned his attention back to the other occupants of the Bridge. "Considering everything we've heard, there doesn't seem to be any critical damage requiring immediate attention. We are very fortunate in that regard." Everyone nodded in agreement with that. "It is also clear that we have sustained a direct hit to the centre of our left side."

"A direct hit from what, though?" N. Brio asked.

"Something explosive," N. Gin commented.

"Does this mean we were attacked?"

"It's possible," Tropy replied. "But I don't recall being under attack before this happened."

"And nothing has happened since," Treezan observed. "We've been sitting around long enough, you think someone would've shown up to finish us off by now."

"I'm inclined to agree with Treezan," said Cortex. "Although I'm reluctant to dismiss the possibility altogether. Whatever the case, this still leaves us with the matter of deciding what we should do next."

"If we were attacked, I would suggest focusing on the bringing the shields back online," Brio suggested.

"But with our structural integrity compromised we cannot move the Space Station. We are figuratively dead in the water until the hull breach is rectified," N. Gin observed.

"And the impact has rearranged the computer's language so that it will be difficult to operate the Space Station until it has been properly corrected," Tropy added.

"We also don't know why we came out here in the first place," said Treezan. "Perhaps if we pooled our brain power we could try to remember?"

"Those are all very good points," Cortex sighed.

"As far as I'm concerned, however," said N. Tropy. "I will begin repairing my Time Twister and if necessary, my portable time machine. As you have said, Dr Cortex, I also have a feeling we may have need of them in the near future."

"We will comm you if needed then."

He nodded and left the bridge.

Cortex commed down to the Canteen. "Assemble in the Ready Room immediately," adding almost as an afterthought "And Oxide, would you please join us there as well?" To N. Gin. "Stay here and work on the deciphering the computer language."

"Yes, Dr Cortex."

"N. Brio. Treezan. With me."

Power: The Marus are totally not DRDs.

EDIT 2: Sees this chapter also receiving an extensive overhaul with some brand new scenes, mostly in the form of complete rewrites for all the scenes with Kong and Oxide (and some tweakings for all the scenes with Moe and Joe).