Chapter 4: The Preparations Have Begun

WARNING: The following chapter contains element from games and shows including Bug Fables, Hollow Knight, Transformers Beast wars, Spyro the dragon, Shovel Knight, and Crash Bandicoot. I urge you to watch/play these before reading this fanfiction as it's more fun when your experience isn't ruined by me.

Creation is a confusing thing, one that even I cannot properly explain. But one thing I do know, is that creation is everything. The air we breathe, the ground we walk on, the vessels for consciousness that we call our bodies. All of it is due to creation. The beings that created everything live beyond our realities, on a separate plane of existence, creating the worlds you call home and the people that inhabit them. I call these beings, the Creators. Hundreds, if not thousands of these Creators exist on that dimensional plane, making these worlds. A small group of these Creators wished to preserve all of the worlds and their histories within a single pocket of space. That small pocket of space is known as the Universal Archive; a collection of every single world made by the Creators to keep them safe, and to preserve them. The worlds themselves are stored on the archives shelves as books, detailing how those worlds work and keeping record of their histories. I am Ulysses, the guardian of the Universal Archive. My creators made me to keep these worlds safe from harm and to preserve their texts long after their Creators had passed on. However, during my time as the archive's guardian, a great evil began to form. Selvar, a cunning and powerful demon born from an emerald fire, had threatened the safety of every plane of existence, even the Creators'. I fought Selvar, defeated him, and sealed him away in an impenetrable dimension. The Forgotten Zone: The place where all creations go once they pass on. Somehow, he has gained the power to escape it and connect all of the worlds together. After banishing me, he now holds the Universal Archive, the only means by which he's going to gain the power necessary to control every world under his rule. Saved from the brink of death by Spyro and Crash, a small few of us now stand against these near impossible odds, powerless and in need of aid.

"And that's where all of you come in" said Ulysses to Team Snakemouth and the Knight who were standing in front of the former guardian, a confused expression painted on their faces.

"Okay, putting aside that that's a lot to take in, how are we supposed to help?" asked Leif, "you said it yourself. Selvar now has access to unlimited power and an unlimited army. What could the seven of us do against someone like that?"

"That's simple my friend. All we have to do is cross over!" said Ulysses, clenching his fist as his declaration echoed across the cave the group had taken refuge in.

"Um, what does that mean?" asked Spyro, turning away from the entrance to the cave.

"If you had been paying attention, dragon, we wouldn't have to keep explaining this to you," said Specter Knight.

"Actually Mr. Ghouly, I am paying attention. I'm just watching the entrance to the cave, so we don't get snuck up on again"

"What happened last time?" asked Leif.

"Well, while Crash and I were listening to the cloud guy's spiel, tall, dark and smelly over there snuck up on us" said Spyro, pointing to Specter Knight who scowled under his helmet at the young dragon.

"There's no need for quarrelling you two. Now please pay attention to Ulysses" said Kabbu. Looking back outside the cave, Spyro silently grumbled to himself, with Sparx flying off the stone sitting next to him and onto his snout, curious about his displeasure. Spyro smirked at the dragonfly's antics.

"As I was saying, by crossing over I mean to gather up some allies of our own. Essentially, we must fight fire with fire. This is already a pretty strong start. I mean, both Spyro the dragon and Crash Bandicoot are here with us," he exclaimed, pointing towards the aforementioned duo. Crash, who was taking a nap against the checkered walls of the cave, perked up when he heard his name. "And now, you guys have arrived. Team Snakemouth and the Ghost of Hallownest"

"Wait, Ghost of Hallownest? That's their name?" asked Vi, turning towards the Knight, "I guess it beats calling them "the knight" all the time". The Knight looked at Ulysses, tilting their head to the side.

"It's not your actual name" he said to the Knight, "In fact, you don't have one at all do you?" The Knight stared for a second before slowly shaking their head. "You wouldn't mind if we called you Ghost then?". The Knight shook their head once again.

Kabbu stood up and walked over to the Knight, placing his hand on the bug's shoulder while speaking in a heroic voice, "I suppose it's settled then. Knight, from this point onward, I dub thee-"

The Ghost

The Champion of the Universe!

"That was quite over the top. Even for you Kabbu" said Leif, crossing his arms.

"And the champion of the universe? Way to place pressure on someone Kabbs" said Vi, also crossing her arms along with Leif to mock Kabbu.

The pair looked disapprovingly at Kabbu, who said "I was j-just trying to sound heroic. Sorry Ghost". Ghost stared back at Kabbu all the while Crash was chuckling to himself behind them.

"Enough fooling around and focus you three" said Specter Knight, scolding the trio, "Ulysses, what's our plan?"

"Well, let's go over our priorities first. Our first issue, our base. We do not currently have any sort of base of operations"

"Why would we need a base? We could just travel across the worlds! It'd be like a road trip!" said Spyro, whose eyes lit up at the thought of the journey.

"While that would be quite fun, I think that would come into conflict with priority two. Recruiting allies. If we're going to stand up to Selvar, we need the manpower to do it, and that's something we couldn't handle if we were running around the universe constantly."

"So, what are we going to do? Finding a safe place is going to be hard when most of the worlds Selvar has connected are most likely swarming with his men," said Specter Knight.

"Unfortunately, trekking through the worlds may be our only way to reach a safe haven, not unless any of you can summon portals" he said, looking around at the group. "With the size of our current group, there's no way we can possibly outmaneuver Selvar. As much as I hate to say this, we might have to split up"

"Split up? Yeah, this might not end well" said Spyro, slowly walking over to the group with Sparx following beside him.

"It's the only plan we've got, assuming that our friends here want to join us" said Ulysses, turning to Team Snakemouth. "If you do not wish to accompany us, that's alright, none of us here are going to force you into this fight"

Team Snakemouth looked at each other, concerned, before Kabbu spoke up. "We'll consider it Ulysses. My team and I will just have to discuss it first"

"You may want to make it quick. I suspect that we'll have to move soon," said Specter Knight. As Team Snakemouth made their way out of the cave, Spyro could hear them whispering to each other.

"So uh, what's a bandicoot?" asked Vi.

Leif turned to her and said, "We're not too sure, and we think it may be better if we don't ask".

Spyro began to stretch his legs, saying, "I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna get some R and R. If you need me, I'll be flying over the nearest mountain, stretching my wings". Ghost watched Spyro and Sparx exit the cave, all the while Specter Knight was shaking his head.

"The boy gets on my nerves. Are you sure he's all that capable?"

"You'll get used to him. When worst comes to worst, Spyro will step up to face the challenge. And if you're worried about him giving away our position, don't worry, he'll probably spot the enemy before they find us." Ghost turned to Ulysses, who was surprised at the bugs sudden interest in him. "What is it, Ghost?" he asked, descending to meet Ghost at eye-level. Specter Knight suddenly remembered the encounter with Metal Head, turning back to Ulysses.

"Ulysses, there may be some important information I failed to mention before when we were discussing our stories"

"Oh? What is it?"

"The Kni- er- Ghost is being tracked"

"By Selvar I presume?"

"Precisely," Specter Knight said, looking towards the distance, past the cave's entrance, "Before this crisis truly began, Selvar attempted to conscript me into his armada. I… accepted"

"…Go on" Ulysses said, his voice lowering.

Specter Knight sighed before continuing, his cold breath visibly passing through the slots on his helmet, "I, along with three others were given a task by Selvar himself, to hunt down and capture Ghost. I do not know for what reason, but he seemed determined." Ghost turned towards Specter Knight, watching him as he continued to stare out towards the distance.

"Who were his other three agents?"

"One was a transforming beast, going by the name Inferno. Another was a near lifeless being, covered in bandages and speaking in some kind of ancient tongue. Selvar called them The Watcher. And finally, there was Metal Head, an enormous robotic creature who supposedly fought Spyro long ago."

Ulysses began to ponder to himself, all the while Specter Knight continued to stare. Ghost had taken notice of the specter's strange behaviour. Suddenly, Aku-Aku popped back into existence beside Crash, waking him up as he was about to fall asleep again. The sudden appearance of the mask jolted Specter Knight out of his unfocused state.

"Aku-Aku? Where have you been?" asked Ulysses, his voice returning to normal.

"Apologies friends, I was wandering through another plane of existence" replied Aku-Aku.

"You can do that?" asked Specter Knight, bewildered by a simple masks ability to cross dimensions.

"I have no choice. Most of my time is spent wandering the astral planes, since it is hard to keep my physical form here for a long amount of time" he said as a bewildered Crash stood up, grumbling at his companion. "Do not worry, I shall not be leaving this plane for some time. Speaking of which…"

"What is it?" asked Ulysses, approaching Aku-Aku and Crash.

"Unfortunately, the astral plane is in chaos"

"Selvar has reached that plane, has he?"

"Not quite. The tethering of worlds together has caused the stability of the astral plane to collapse. Your old enemy is increasing the frequency of portals, specifically around this world. We may want to move to another world for the time being"

"In that case. Aku-Aku. You and Ghost go and find the others and bring them back here"

"What if Team Snakemouth don't want to come along?" asked Specter Knight.

"Do not worry, they will." Ghost turned to the caves entrance and left with Aku-Aku. Crash stayed behind with Specter Knight and Ulysses.

Before Ghost left, Specter Knight caught up with them, kneeling to eye level with Ghost. "Listen Ghost, I apologise for not being up front with you before, and for leaving you to your own devices when we arrived in Bugaria". Ghost stared at the ghoul in front of him, who was looking towards the ground. "I should have warned you from the beginning, and for that, I'm sorry". Ghost tilted their head sideways, which Specter Knight noticed, quickly standing up, saying "I apologise, I suppose this is quite sudden for you. It's just that…" Specter Knight paused before walking back towards Ulysses. He stopped for just a second to say, "I'm sorry," before walking off. Ghost turned back to find Aku-Aku floating at the caves entrance waiting for them. They quickly caught up to the mystical mask and continued walking out into the vibrant landscape of Green Hill Zone.

In the halls of the Universal Archive, Selvar stood before a web of interconnected books, strung up together by multiple chains made from emerald fire. Each book had multiple chains sprouting from their open pages, connecting them to books floating beside them. The web itself stretched across the entire archive, the chains weaving in between the rows. The fire demon walked over to the one of the bookshelves standing tall among his immaculate creation, picking up one of the books off the shelf and inspecting it.

"Hero Factory? This may prove useful" he said, walking out into the main row dividing the two sectors of the near endless library. He began levitating the book in his hands, guiding it towards the web he had created. He halted the book in midair and waved his hand, opening its pages. Selvar outstretched his hand towards the book, increasing the intensity of the flames that made up his hand, and causing hundreds of chains to shoot out from the book's pages. The chains flew past Selvar. Some towards the ceiling, and others into the multiple rows surrounding him, tethering towards the pages of the other books, and creating portals between the worlds represented by the books.

Selvar walked towards another book, this one labelled as 'Bug Fables'. He grabbed ahold of it, tugging on the chains slightly. He snapped his fingers, causing the chains to turn invisible and allowing him to read through the book's pages. Flipping to the most current page of the book, he placed his hand above the page, causing the letters to be lifted off the page and into his hand. The letters began forming into a swirling ball of fire, which Selvar grabbed and threw down the hall. The ball of fire stopped midair and expanded, forming into a portal that showed and overhead view of the Ant Kingdom. Selvar placed the book back into the spot he was levitating it within and made the chains attached to it reappear. He walked towards the portal and began inspecting the destruction happening below in the Ant Kingdoms streets.

He looked at the ant guards attempting to fight off the hundreds of beasts he had sent, saying to himself, "Good. This kingdom will be mine within a day, and all thanks to Demongo. Now, what of my agents?" He reached out towards the portal, flaring up his hands and causing the view from the portal to shift towards the outskirts of the kingdom. He scanned the landscape, watching for any signs of life. There were only small groups of beasts who had yet to reach the city and stragglers from other worlds entering through the scattered portals.

It was then that he'd spotted the body of Inferno, his severed arm sparking on the ground next to where he lay face down. The back of his legs was also sparking, with large gashes in the joints connecting his forelegs to the rest of his body. How embarrassing, Selvar thought to himself, summoning a portal below the heavily damaged transformer leading to the expansive platform extending beyond the archive's doors. Selvar returned the portal to Bugaria to its fireball form and levitated it back into the book it had come from. Selvar made his way to the entrance of the Archive, opening the doors to find the Watcher, Metal Head with his severed arm repaired, and the badly damaged Inferno.

Inferno crawled towards his master, his claws scraping against the marble platform, saying "My Queen, I apologize for my failure. It was that traitorous ghoul! He snuck up on me as I was about to-"

"You were more than capable of handling them all Inferno. A sneak attack from that fool Specter Knight is not an excuse for failure for someone like you" said Selvar, stepping in front of Inferno as he attempted to crawl closer towards him, "And stop calling me your 'Queen'."

"Y-yes my master," said Inferno. Selvars other two warriors stood beside the wreck that was Inferno, keeping silent.

"Do any of you know where that vessel escaped to?" he asked, turning to the Watcher and Metal Head, the latter of which was startled.

"No, Master" said Metal Head, "Both Inferno and I were sabotaged by Specter Knight when we fought that bug"

Selvar sighed, before Inferno spoke up once again, exclaiming, "They escaped through a nearby portal with Specter Knight my lord."

"Then we shall look towards the worlds connected to Bugaria. They cannot have gotten far." Selvar raised his hand towards Inferno, sending out a wave of fire from his hand which began to swirl around the predacon. A shocked expression coated Inferno metallic face as he shouted, "No! I am loyal to you, my master! Do not destroy me!" The fire continued to swirl around Inferno, engulfing him completely, while the other two lackeys began inching away from the display out of fear. Eventually, the tornado calmed down with Inferno now standing up, his severed arm and damaged legs both repaired.

"Who do you take me for? I am not one to through away my servants so carelessly. Now follow me" said the fire demon, walking through the open doors of the archive. His lackeys hesitated at first but obliged, trailing after Selvar.

They followed Selvar past the multiple books dotted around the Universal Archive, staring in amazement at the work their master had managed to accomplish in such a short time.

Selvar strode across the archive's marble floor, looking at the books on either side of him to identify the book housing Bugaria. Once he found the book, his servants and him approached the book, with Selvar signalling them to follow the chains connected to the book. The group searched the connecting books for a while, before the Watcher shouted out, "hree yereth tasmer! Mhet I vahe dofun!" Selvar walked over to the construct, who was holding the book with the label 'Sonic the Hedgehog' and took the book out of the Watchers hands. He inspected the pages and found an unfamiliar presence with the page detailing the residents of the world. It was Ulysses, along with Specter Knight, Ghost, Team Snakemouth, Crash, and Spyro. Each of their profiles were listed under the 'inhabitants' section, describing who they were, except for Ulysses' profile which was blank. Selvars eyes furrowed as he looked at Ulysses' profile. The profiles of the group listed them as being in Green Hill Zone. He turned to address his men.

"Gentlemen, you have your mission" said Selvar as he levitated the book back into place, "find and encircle Ulysses' little group. Capture 'Ghost', and kill the rest"

"Spyro?! Thank you for this task my master" said the overjoyed Metal Head, kneeling in respect of Selvar, who chuckled to himself at the robots display of loyalty. Selvar began to summon a portal directly to Green Hill Zone.

"This is an opportunity to redeem yourselves. Keep in mind that if you fail me again, I shall allow Demongo to enslave all of you. Now go" he said, pointing towards the portal. At Selvars command, Inferno transformed into his fire ant alternate mode, scuttling away through the portal. The Watcher and Metal Head soon followed, leaving Selvar behind to watch the battle unfold from the archive.

However, the demonic sorcerer had a plan. Returning to the 'Hero Factory' book he had just connected, he scanned the pages, specifically the 'creatures' section. Flicking through the heavily dense list of creatures in the book, he found a beast identified as a 'brain'.

The brain is a genetic monstrosity by an unknown scientist on a planet hidden from the eyes of galactic authorities. Although small, these creatures are hard to destroy, being extremely durable. These parasitic creatures can latch onto beings of any kind, even robots! They will mutate the host, giving them strength far beyond the hosts capabilities, while also making them surrender their free will. There is no way for a host to repel their control.

Selvar stopped reading and said, "I believe I may have the perfect vessel for this creature then." He began cackling as he created a portal, levitating a creature from it that had a similar appearance to Ghost. It had two large horns protruding out of the cracked mask on its face and a long flowing cloak, tattered beyond repair. The vessel itself was limp, with not a single sign of life showing within the eye holes of its mask.

Selvar used his magic to summon a brain from the pages of the book. It had the appearance of a human brains grey matter, with multiple legs shaped like needles. Its tail was shaped like a spine, complementing its vicious looking eyes and teeth. The creature squirmed around as Selvar held it in midair, trying to bite the sorcerer. In response, the flames on Selvars hand began to flare up as he casted a spell on the brain, controlling the creature. How ironic that I now control you thought Selvar, as he attached the brain to the inside of the vessels mask.

As the creature stabbed its legs into the top of the vessels mask, the vessel itself dropped onto the floor, the portal below it having dissipated. The vessel began twitching, and soon it shambled towards Selvar, clicking sounds coming from inside the reanimated vessels mask. Selvar handed them a newly forged nail, which was half the size of this vessel. The vessel accepted their new weapon, outstretching their stub-like hand to grab the weapon.

Broken Vessel

Reanimated once again

"Vessel, you have now fulfilled your original purpose. Now, I give you a new one. The power I give you shall be enough for you to reinforce those incapable halfwits I sent" said Selvar, as he began to summon another portal to Green Hill Zone, "now go. Bring me Ghost. Their power shall be mine at last"

The Broken Vessel shambled into the swirling emerald fire of the portal, ready to follow Selvars command to the letter, all the while Selvar cackled. The mad demons plan was finally coming to fruition, and this slight annoyance wouldn't disturb him any longer.