Jake woke up on a sun lounger by Pinstripe's pool with a medi-bot, Dr Brio, NGin, Crash, Bob, Coco, Crunch and Megumi standing around him.

"How long was I out?" Jake asked them.

"You had lost consciousness for exactly four minutes and twenty-three seconds." The medi-bot answered.

"Are you ok, what happened?" Megumi asked as Jake sat up.

"Oh I'm probably just still recovering from Cortex's experiment."

"Well that's a relief, Crash thought he had done something wrong." Coco said.

"You must be hungry, would you like some of this meat I've been cooking." Crunch asked. Jake got up off the lounger.

"Oh yes I'm starving, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning. So what you got here?" They both walked over to the barbeque.

"I got some steak, pork, sausages, chicken, lamb." Jake got a paper plate from a table.

"Can I have some steak?"

"Sure," Crunch jabbed some steak with a meat fork and put it on his plate "So I hear you were once human."

"Yeah, until Cortex used that copy-ray on me." Crunch looked angry.

"Yeah, that yellow prick really pisses me off." Crunch said grinding his teeth.

"So how do you feel now that you're an anthro?" NGin asked.

"I'm not too sure, it was relieving at first but I still have the same feeling I had when I was human, like I'm not what I'm meant to be."

"I hear you don't want to be changed back." Pinstripe said.

"That's right but don't bother asking me why because it is too complicated." Jake picked up the steak off his plate and bit into it. Jake then closed his eyes as he enjoyed its taste.

"You like it?" Crunch asked.

"*sigh* Only you could cook like this Crunch."

"Thanks, but how would you know, are you saying you've had it before?"

"Hey Jake, wanna beer?" Dingodile shouted from the cooler box.

"Er no thanks, I think I'll need to stay sober tonight, got an early start tomorrow."

"That's too bad." Dingodile took a beer and handed one to Blaze and Pinstripe.

"So what's your story Jake? Who are you exactly and what did you do before you came here?" Blaze asked coming over from the cooler box with Dingodile and Pinstripe.

"It's a very long story and there are some things that I'm not sure I should talk about in front of the young ones."

"Tommy shudn't have a problem will ya son?" Pinstripe asked.

"Nah."

"Then just don't talk about any serious stuff then in front of Tackle and Tayna." Tani said.

"Hey! I'm not a cub!" Tayna shouted. Tackle didn't say anything because of his shyness.

"I'm cool." Collide said.

"Ok then, in that case I'll start with the first question, who am I? That's a question that even I can't fully answer. All I can remember about myself is that my father was in the army and he did everything he could to stop people like Tropy from finding me or anyone in his family so he sent me to South Africa. But unfortunately he still did. I don't recall much other than tracking Tropy to his secret bunker, I had the crystal called the err, what was it… 'Futurium Topaz' that was it. (Crunch and Tani exchanged looks as they remembered when they broke into a museum to get it.(OB2)) He wanted to use it to be able to use his new 'Time Twisting' machine and I knew that he could practically take over the world if he had it. So I gave it him by stabbing him with the crystal making it shatter into pieces with a big chunk still lodged in him. Then some sort of blue energy came out of it and it started to turn his entire body a bright blue. Then the portal that we were fighting in front of suddenly activated. Before he had any chance to react I pushed him into the vortex. It was like being in some tacky science fiction story. Anyway, I quickly blew up the portal before he got to the other end in the hope that he would be trapped in the vortex forever. After that, everything is blank until..." Jake entered deep thought again but with an empty expression.

"Are you ok Jake?" Megumi asked.

"Er yeah I'm fine. You know, whenever I try to remember about my past life I always draw blanks about the important things like who I really am, I can't even remember what my real name was, who my parents were or what their faces looked like. I can only remember that my dad was in the army because I remember his uniform. Whenever I do try to remember them I always end up remembering one thing, Tropy, with an everlasting hate towards him and the desire to kill him with my bare hands. Until now I have believed he was the one who could tell me about my parents and my past life."

"You said everything is blank until something." Brio said.

"I'm not too sure what happened, everything is all blurry. I remember it being night time, ash was falling from the sky and there were fires in the distance. Everything else was dark apart from one thing, Tropy, he was standing only a few metres in front of me holding some huge metal fork. It was then when I saw the return of another enemy, an ancient mask named Uka Uka who was meant to be dead. He now seemed to be working with the blue prick, I looked up at him as he approached then the rest, blank, nothing."

"When did you travel back in time and where to?" NGin asked.

"The next thing that I remember after that was waking up in the middle of a forest in North America. It was like waking up in a completely different world, as if I had spent the first eighteen years of my life in a coma. There were men in combat gear with earpieces standing around me then a Native American dressed in ceremonial clothing came up to me and introduced himself. He said his name was Alo Askuwheteau and that it was his job to look after me until I came round. He said that in nineteen eighty-eight defence ministers were having a meeting about an incident in southern Australia and halfway through the meeting I was sent hurtling across the floor in the centre of the room from a portal that had opened. Alan, that was what most people called him, told me that when I came through everyone at first thought I was a spy, a terrorist or some prankster. Because he was just a new recruit at the time it took him a while for The Pentagon to let him work the case if he agreed to bring me out of the state I was in so I was able to talk. I had come through with blood stained clothes and some metal containers. He said that I would not speak to anyone or give them any eye contact. One of the containers opened not long after I came through giving them all clear instructions on what to do with me, the other containers were on time-locks that were designed to only open on certain dates and destroy the contents inside if someone managed to open them before they were meant to. They also never let me see what was inside them for some reason. Alan then said I spent the next three months or so mentally unstable, blabbering a few words here and there 'Tropy' being one of them. When I would sleep I was told that they had to sedate me because I would always wake up screaming and scraping at the walls. After I woke up in the forest I was taken back to the Blacksite where they kept me and spent the next few weeks in interviews and intense questioning. All I could really tell them is what I'm telling you now and a few other things that I can remember from when I was young.

Over time more of the time-locked containers opened and everyone seemed to trust me more and more but they still didn't show me the contents. So until now I've just been working with the government. One of the things even though its a very small part of what I do, is to investigate any unexplainable occurrences and incidents around the world such as unusual weather and/or any sightings of so called monsters that get our attention, basically incidents where people report the 'monster' of any attacks or nuisance."

"Kinda like Hellboy?" Collide asked.

"Sort of, just without all the magic and a lot less monsters. But I hardly ever had any cases though so I just worked at other sectors, that was until two-thousand and one when things started to kick off. There were Tsunamis, Earthquakes, huge storms and volcanic eruptions all happening at the same time, we spent ages trying to work it out. Then, out of nowhere they stopped just as they had started. (Crash, Coco and Crunch exchanged looks) Then a bit over a year after that it started again, firstly Mount Mauna Lofa erupted but also released fumes causing the locals to hallucinate and see 'strange beasts battling it out', well, that was what the report said. (Crunch and Crash exchanged looks with a bit of a grin) Then there were fires erupting in Irvine, California. Followed by a freak volcano forming. I eventually got there after working on a contract and a group of officers told me that some huge guy in an animal suit with immense strength forced his way past them at a roadblock."

"They still think it was some guy in a suit?!? Stupid humans!" Crunch snapped. Some of the others then sighed and rubbed their heads in disappointment.

"Erm, excuse me?" Jake said. Crunch then realised that he just screwed up.

"Err well surely a human dressed in a suit wouldn't be able to force his way through an entire police roadblock."

"Crunch, when you're in a hole and you've got a shovel…" Chayenne said.

"Looks like you have some explaining to do Crunch, not to me but to the guys who spent hours working their asses off trying to figure out just what the hell happened in Irvine."

"Well what was I supposed to do? I had to get in there and stop Py-Ro and those bloody idiot cops were stopping me!"

"Py-Ro! I knew the elementals had something to do with it all."

"You know them?" Coco asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure if they know me yet. Crunch, you and I are going to have a long chat this and I suppose you must have something to do with the incidents in Alaska as well, I just remembered that one of the descriptions we have happens to match yours 'Bit over six feet, about 271 pounds with Burgundy fur and some kind of metal hand' I admit that the report made me think of you at first but I thought it was just a coincidence. Anyway, I'm not discussing it any further until the questioning."

"Hey who the hell do you think you are?!? I don't have to explain anything to you!"

"Well I'm afraid you have no choice on the matter ever since millions of dollars worth of damage was caused and two men ended up dead! Unless you don't want me to save your ass from the initial cover up that involves finding and bringing in the one responsible and you do not want to know what they want to do with him! You know, everyone in Washington now know that the Wumpa islands were never destroyed and if the wrong people find out that the one responsible for those incidents and probably others has been hiding out here since then you're all fucked!"

"Hey, language! Not in front of the kids!" Tani yelled.

"It's ok mum." Tasha said.

"I wasn't the one attacked the town in Alaska!"

"I know you and that soldier you spared know that but my boss's bosses have been pretty hard to convince otherwise ever since."

"So what brought you here?" Dr Brio asked.

"Apart from the unusual weather a few things really, there were reports of some sort of 'ghost ship' seen off the coast of Tasmania and some sort of red UFO flying about but there hasn't been any hard evidence for either one. (They all exchanged looks and Brio gestured not to say anything.) The main reason I was here was because of the unusual weather system in the region. Shipping businesses were pressuring the government to investigate because they would nearly lose ships that encountered freak storms. I never thought I would find the islands so suddenly but as I said to Megumi earlier, I always was ready in case I ever got close to them." Pinstripe turned away to light a cigar and noticed someone coming up the path from along side the mansion from the front.

"What the hell does this prick want?" Pinstripe said.

"Who is it?" Blaze asked.

"It's that thieving shit Jas."

"Tani take the kids inside. Tawna, you may not want to see him either." Crunch said.

"Ok, Tasha, Tayna, Tackle come with me." Tani said.

"Aww but I wanna see dad fight someone other than Tiny mum." Tasha pleaded.

"No Tasha, now come inside!."

"Collide, you too, come on." Tawna said. Tani, Tawna and the younger kids all went inside the mansion in case any fights were about to break out. Pinstripe went to the gate to the path to stop Jaseo.

"What the fuck do you want?" Pinstripe demanded.

"Look, I don't want any trouble ok, I just need to speak with Brio." Pinstripe turned around.

"What does it want cuz?" Blaze shouted.

"Hey Doc! He wants to speak to you." Brio downed the last of his wine and made his way over followed by Crunch, Jake and Blaze.

"I thought I sent this weeks supply this morning Jaseo." Brio said.

"Then why would he… VIN! Dammit how could I've been so stupid?!? The fucking bastard will pay!"

"I don't understand." Brio said.

"It's Vin, I think he's gonna go after her."

"Why the hell do you care?" Pinstripe asked.

"She's mine!" Jaseo shouted as he ran back towards his hut on the castle island.

"Well, this is something. Think you'll see what's going on cuz?" Blaze asked Pinstripe.

"*sigh* Yeah. I'm still cool with Favourani and I think he'll end up doing something he'll regret because he sometimes forgets to take his pills, and I haven't seen him this week yet."

"Wanna come Jake, see what life is like here?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah why not."

"You're likely to only get trouble with people like them." Crunch said.

"We'll see you later then Crunch, we shouldn't be long." Blaze replied.

"See ya." Pinstripe said. Jake, Pinstripe and Blaze then made their way to the Moulin Cortex.