AUTHOR'S NOTES
Heh. It's been a while since I last visited the Crash section of the site. I would have thought my time here would be over because no one paid attention to Galaxy of Europe, but I've managed to pay attention to my own flaws and put forward a more gradual release.
This story is seen as the third in the "Schoolhouse Rock" series of fics, based upon the origins of Neo Cortex and his hunt for his four siblings that heavily scarred his childhood home in Florida. Accompanied by wise-cracking reptile Snappy Gator, New Mexican ex-slave Nitrus Brio, and a wolverine by the name of Boron, these four are practically seen as a determined team, set to get what they desire.
Before you read the story, I can tell that there are some points that you may get lost. About a year ago I wrote an outdated-yet-essential "Power Crisis" set of stories that was more based upon the time before SR1. This basically stars Neo again, this time being surrounded by kids his age, looking onto the cause of his father's sudden change of moods from peaceful to homicidal – homicidal enough to inflict a small n-shaped scar on his forehead just for confronting him, and almost use his strengths to destroy the city. The link of his power lies within Volcano Isle, an island that resided near the edge of the city (anyone who's read Galaxy of Europe will be familiar with it), and that in itself faced a legend of mysterious magical inheritances to three youths, including Cortex himself.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing this last year.
Peace out,
-Rexy-
---
(scene starts off with the camera looking at a cloudy sky)
"We all have our focus within our hearts, to strive to what we need to achieve for. Those that we wish to continue with in our own lives."
-FANFICTION.NET PRESENTS-
"Some of us face relatively normal experiences, while some others face some more scandalous pathways. The latter of which could seem more difficult to use, as no one knows what lies within them."
-A Fanfic by Ms RexRock-
"It is even rarer when that sort of thing happens to several people all at once, and even today, these kind of achievements are those to be witnessed by for generations to come..."
(scene blurs into a present day city landscape. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - "The Power of Love" starts playing at this point")
The streets of Panama City, Florida, are shown in rush hour. Several cars and vans can be seen driving up and down the numerous highways and junctions within that city. As that happens, the camera focuses onto a white postal van. It leaves a junction near a shopping precinct, and starts driving towards a set of deserted roads. As it continued further and further, the roads were getting narrower. It wasn't long until it faced an old fashioned back street, with its wheels bumping up and down against the rough surface. This continued for a few seconds, before it ended up steering onto a firm road again, sending in a few skid marks into the ground. And then, it stopped right in front of a small flat, surrounded by an apple orchard. A mailman stepped out from the vehicle, and picked up a package. He went up towards the door, and placed it at the step. He knocked on it, and the door creaked open - out came a woman in her late 30's, with short brown hair, and formal dress. She picked up the package, and went back inside. While the mail vehicle drove off, she tore open the package, and saw what was inside it - a book.
(music goes instrumental at this point)
She took a look at its mahogany cover, and started to blink at it with suspicion. It didn't even seem to have a title! Then, she took a grip of the cover, and looked inside. Still no title, but a loose photograph was seen - that of a scientist, with black hair and a beard, a white lab coat, and an uppercase 'N' tattooed on his head. Her eyes widened at the sight. She placed the photograph onto the mantelpiece, and turned the pages, where she found the first paragraph of the book.
"A youth hood filled with torture, barely any benefits, and very few friends. You expect that kind of life to belong to box shifters at the local Taco Bell, but do you expect such things to occur to a scientist? There seems to be much more to natural intelligence to the untrained eye, as that is something I managed to learn from myself, a very uncertain self, just over twenty years ago. Let me start my pathway by taking you 20 miles outside... my birth town in Florida."
A face filled with surprise started to form through her eyes, as she stood out from her seat, and went towards a balcony. She opened the windows, and a cold rush of air started to blow onto her face.
(camera goes up to the window and sees the sky again. An orchestral version of Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" starts playing at this point)
A set of doves started to fly near the balcony at that point, which were soon reflected into the woman's eyes, as she sat down on a chair and started reading the rest of the book. Tears started to go down her eyes, as the events within it all started to hit her head.
(camera returns to the sky and the title forms)
-SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK: Symphony of the Future-
(title fades out and the sky changes)
A pure blue sky can be seen at this stage, with the blistering glowing of the sun appearing in the sky, causing some light reflections into the camera. A set of blackbirds started to fly into the sky, before they flew to the right.
-May 20th, 1981 - 14:35 local time-
The camera dips down to the ground, where a desert road can be seen at this point. On a dusty path, we see a cream-colored jeep driving along the path. Through the window, four figures can be seen inside it. Near the front were two humans - one with black spiked hair, the other wearing typical Mexican costume. The two creatures that took the back seats were an anthro alligator, and a young natural wolverine, in ripped clothing. We focus on the black haired boy, who took the drivers' seat.
"The long travels have brought me so close to exhaustion. Six years beforehand, my relationship with my family had vanished, as they all went their separate ways."
He temporarily brought his eyes down to a photo frame near the window panel, and in there showed a picture of himself when he was younger, with four siblings and two parents by his side. A tear started to form in his eye.
"I talk to the stars, and they talk to the cities beneath, but there seemed to have been no answer about their future."
He lowered his head down... but as that happened, the Mexican male brought his hand onto his shoulder, causing him to look up ahead. They brought their heads into each other's direction, and both winked at each other.
"But even with those minor questions in mind, there are times like these when I wish that I can see my future, right before my very eyes. And on top of that, that for everyone else that I once left behind from my home."
His focus was brought back up ahead, and as he looked towards the distance... the reflection of something very tall started to show in his eyes. A gasp came from his mouth, and his eyes gradually started to shrink with surprise.
(U2 - "Even Better than the Real thing" (Perfecto Radio Edit) starts playing at this point)
A view of a city started to appear into focus. But it was unlike any other - it seemed to be 'two-faced'. One side was filled with tall skyscrapers, overlooking a peaceful side; the other was in ruins, most of the buildings being on fire. In the background, he started to smile.
"My calls were answered in my very mind, and then... I knew that how to see that answer for myself was closer than I once thought."
His face was soon brought into a wide ambitious grin, and then he brought his foot further down onto the pedal, causing some dust to rise as it drove down the path. While that happened, a bunch of clouds started to surround the sun, soon turning black.
(thunderclap)
One raindrop touched the ground, and another one, and another one, and yet another one. And that was until the whole ground started to fill with small puddles. Inside the jeep, the gator rooted into the back and pulled out a bright red umbrella, covering the whole group as they reached their way there.
(first verse)
While that happens, the storm starts to occur heavy within the city center. Along the bustling streets, we see a young girl about the same age as the black haired boy, with bushy brown hair, a red and green tank top and a frilly skirt. A bolt of lightning almost struck her, causing her to run. She ran around a corner, and came across three figures.
(chorus)
One of which showed himself as a male with long brown hair in a droopy spike formation, the second was an adult female with short pink hair, a small yellow bow in her hair, a green tank top and a pair of jeans; and the other was a pre-teen girl with ginger hair and pigtails, wearing a school uniform. The four of them started to dash out of the rain and head inside a nearby flat.
(second verse)
While that happened, a bus station started to pack with coaches. Two of which, colored cream and red respectively, stopped very close to one another. From one of them came three figures - a man with a sage's costume, a woman with an artist figure in her, and another woman, this time wearing a large golden medallion around her neck and a posh suit on her. From the second coach came the same amount of figures, but in different forms - a Goth with pale skin, a brown haired girl with RPG game-style clothing, and a man with bushy brown hair and a large trench coat.
(chorus)
The three of them all looked at each other, before... they looked down at photographs in front of them. They held the exact same people in front of them. And then, they started to smile at the sight of them, taking their hands and walking down towards the ruined part of the city.
(instrumental section)
Meanwhile, a few sparks - but not stars - could be seen in the sky. They went into several loop-the-loops in between rain clouds, and it wasn't long until one of which finally touched the ground with a boom. The light around him faded out, but even with that in mind, his figure was nothing more than a shadow. Only his green eyes could be seen. He looked his way towards the ruined part of the city, where his eyes were focused on a figure standing on top of a warehouse. He wore mainly green clothing, had shoulder length sea blue hair and a monkey's tail, and started to grow a goatee on his chin. The figure smiled over at him, before sneaking in the shadows towards him. Above him, five more sparks could be seen above him, zooming in the original spark's path.
(final section)
While that happened, the jeep was facing a chase from several bolts of lightning coming towards it. The gator struggled to keep a grip onto the umbrella, and the black haired boy struggled to keep his grip. He blinked, before he brought the jeep into a small suburban street, leaving a skid mark behind him. Then, a canal running through the city was seen right in front of him. He looked behind him, and the bolt were coming towards him. A major risk started to come - he placed his feet onto the brake, causing the vehicle to slow down... but it was struck by lightning, and it started to head down towards the waters of the canal - the place holding the gang's doom... or will it?
(scene fades to black)
---
The scene reforms into a sewer. The only sound that could possibly be heard was the sound of a turning wheel to the left. The scene soon revealed itself, showing the jeep upside down, with a wall broken behind it. Silence was seen within the wrecks for a while, before... the boy in the Mexican costume started to stir. His face started to twitch and he gave out a cough. He brought his face up, and raised his sombrero up slightly. The looks of the sewer area seemed to appear as a strange place to him - instead of it being covered in gunk, it held a lot of posters, had a double bed, and was overall set up like a regular home. His eyes were widened with surprise.
"What is this place? Is it like... somewhere irrational from our wildest dreams?", he muttered as he picked himself up.
He started to walk around, with his shadow being cast down towards the ground. And then... his feet felt something. He blinked, before he looked down... at a photograph. He picked it up, and inside it were the figures of the travelers that came with him... but six years younger.
"Oh my God...!", he exclaimed in a whisper.
He placed the photograph into his back, and ran back towards the wreckage. It took a good 30 seconds for him to pull the other three travelers into the middle of the room. Their unconscious keisters were brought together, and then he started shaking them as gentle as he could.
"Guys, budge up!" His gentle shakes started to turn to mad shoves. "I think I found something here!" He then started to bring his hands into dig-like pushes. "Take a look around!"
They started to come to their senses, and the view of the room was brought into their own eyes. Again, the figure started to walk around with his feet clattering against the ground. The gator was the first to raise his head up, and speak from his own mouth.
"Are you... God?", the alligator dizzily questioned from its jaws.
That comment left the male in the Mexican costume to laugh in his direction before speaking again. "Ha... no way Snappy, it's just me, Nitrus Brio."
From nearby, the wolverine started to shake. He brought his furry head up, with his purple fur shining like metal. Brio then looked towards him, and crouched down to his level, putting his hand on his back. He responded with a bark.
Brio gave out a light smile as he spoke. "You can tell how odd this place seems to be, eh Boron?"
He placed a paw above him, and looked around him. He started placing his front paws onto every single part of the surroundings, and on rare occasions he started sniffing them. Then, after a while he jumped back down to the group and sat down, responding with a raspberry from his mouth.
"I think I know what it is", a voice spoke from the wreckage.
They looked back towards the jeep, and from there, the boy with the black hair started to walk around, just blinking at the objects before looking back at everyone else with confidence.
Brio looked back at him and blinked. "Are you sure about this Neo?"
"Positive. According to the surroundings", he said as he walked closer to them, "we used to live here."
The words from his mouth started to ring inside their minds. Then, the four of them all stepped outside - right before their very eyes were visions of their lives they had there. One corner showed past versions of Neo and Snappy, sitting around a fireplace talking to each other. Another corner showed Snappy and Boron fishing. And across the other side of the water channels, a vision was seen of Boron tearing away a book in Neo's hand. Snappy's jaw dropped at that point.
"Then this means..." Before he could say anything else, he gave out a loud gasp.
He dashed down the pathway, and took a grip onto a long metallic ladder. He started climbing, and then... he met with a manhole cover. He pushed it off, and looked outside, at the city around them - they were in the rebuilt part of it. Then... a car came right towards him, causing him to dip his head back inside, and raise it as soon as it zoomed past.
"Man, these people sure know how to rebuild cities this quick", he said with a chuckle.
Neo soon made his way to the foot of the ladder and looked up from his viewpoint. "Not quite every square inch, okay?"
The three others soon brought themselves onto the tarmac above them. They looked over to the left, and saw the rebuilt side. And then they faced the right, and saw the part of the city still in ruins. Then, they both looked at each other, and then at the darkening skies.
"Well, we might as well make a stop here for the night before continuing the search for your siblings," Brio said as he slipped the manhole cover back in its place.
Snappy brought himself into a full standing position, before looking over at Neo. "Say, ever since you know more about our surroundings more than us, do you know a good place to go?
Silence was brought for a few seconds, while Neo stepped onto the sidewalk, and looked at the buildings. He looked down one of the streets, and saw a path leading down to the seashore side of town. And from there, his face was brought into a smile.
"I most certainly do. Follow me!"
He started walking down the path himself, with the rest of the group walking down with him. Their long shadows were trailed behind, as the sunset sky was about to commence. What will they find down that path? Their answers were nothing more than being on the horizon.
skies start to blacken at that point
Meanwhile, over at the ruined part of the city, only a few things seemed to stand as tall as those on the rebuilt side. One of which happened to be a factory, with no smoke coming out whatsoever; that goes to show it hasn't been used in weeks, months, or even years. From inside, something could be heard.
"So tell me again, what the bloomin' 'eck are we doing back here in this junkyard anyway?" a deep female voice spoke.
(scene changes to inside the factory)
The metallic parts inside the factory seemed a bit unused. Inside one of the rooms, four shadows can be seen in a large circle, each of which with only their eyes glowing in the darkness. One of which folded his arms, and leered to the person in front of him.
"You don't know anything, don't you Deksta?", said a deep and shady male voice.
"Sorry about that", she responded back.
"Well, you know that we wanted to fry our brother's corpse when we left this place behind years ago, right?", the male responded back.
"Yeah?", questioned a much younger female.
"Well, ever since we've heard no word from him in all this time, I think we have enough freedom to tackle every other single aspect of his youth life", he gestured with a light cackle.
"What do you mean, Tiko?", said a male with a rougher tone in its voice.
The shadow jumped up, and sat down on a ledge. He crossed his legs, and looked down at the others. His hair was then brought into the light, showing it as a bright blue color.
Tiko brought his voice forward again. "It'll be too good to be true. I've overheard about his inheritance of the magic of Volcano Isle. If the other two are gone - presuming they're still here - then maybe I can try something special."
"What on Earth are you talking about?", the rough male voice questioned much louder than before.
He stood up on the legs, and glided over to the other side of the room. His clothes were brought into full view - his green shirt, brown trousers, a red cloak around his neck, and a monkey's tail. The same figure that was seen in the storm. He sneered down at them all, before his voice was raised into a sudden remark.
"Something that my father failed to do on this day, nine years ago", he said with his eyes moving to his left.
---
The sun started to reach itself into the sky so that it showed itself as a passion pink color. While that happened, the four of them ended up making a stop inside a penthouse. Surrounding it were vehicles as far as the eye could see, as well as video cameras and people in posh suits - news journalists.
"Whoa, check out the press!", Snappy exclaimed with excitement. "I gotta find myself a place with them female journalists, rawr! "
He started drooling at one of which, in a pink suit and had deep brown skin. However, she was too busy concentrating on her report to notice. Back in the crowd, Neo took a hold onto his jaws and brought him aside.
"Never mind which one you want to date", he spoke with a slightly furious tone, "what's going on here?"
"Beats me, but if we want to find out, we may have to take a look over the cameras ourselves", said Brio with a blink.
"But how?", Neo questioned with his voice reaching a higher pitch. "Half the equipment's taller than US!"
As he said that, Boron started jumping up and down, barking, before he stood on both legs, giving out a broad smile and a pleading action on his hands.
"Okay, as long as your eyes are that reliable", said Neo nervously.
He jumped up with happiness, before he made his way onto his partner's head. The wolverine started shaking his head, gesturing that he wasn't high enough. So this left them another plan - climbing on top of Snappy, whose eyes shrunk at the touch of his feet on his back.
"Steady on, my clothes are 100% cotton!", he screamed with ticklishness.
A few seconds later, his feet were brought onto his shoulders, making the three of them stand as tall as a bungalow. Boron brought one of his paws out, and looked down towards the ground, eventually turning his face to worry. He gave out a howl.
"What is it boy?", Neo said as he ended up balancing on one foot at his position.
The wolverine climbed his way down to the ground, soon giving his partner room to jump down two seconds after. Once down, he gestured an ellipse-like shape with his paws and the imitations of zooming meteors in the sky. The group's eyes started to widen with surprise.
"A crater?", Neo questioned with shock. "But... how can one of those things form in tarmac?"
All that Boron could do was shrug, before hiding behind the others. He wasn't the only one feeling unsure - Brio was left looking from one corner to the other, with his nose twitching. His focus was brought onto a golden building nearby.
"Well, that's certainly stopping us from stopping here tonight", Brio ended up speaking with a bitter tone. "Let's try that inn on the other side of the street."
Neo gasped at him, before shouting "No!"
Brio started to run off, but the others soon caught him on the arms. All of them looked their way towards the direction of the house, and viewed the damage in silence before they stood ahead.
"We're still going in", Neo spoke again with a more rushed tone. "I demand an answer to this."
The press started to get much closer towards the front door, seeking for even more answers. But that was until the front door was swung open right in front of them, showing a girl with long and wavy brown hair and matching eyes, a colorful red and green tank top and a bright blue skirt, with shiny black shoes. She leered at the people surrounding her, and thrusted her right foot forward.
"Everyone, am-scray!", she screamed. "If you want to do some stupid news report, don't do it right in front of my house! Now GO! Get lost before I send Martha on you!"
The reporters started to leave one by one, taking their equipment with them. Within twenty seconds, the amount of cars around her house started to decrease into nothing. And as soon as the last one sped off down the main street, this left just Neo and his crew, facing her direction. She pointed her finger over at them, still raising her voice.
"And you too!", she shouted with a sigh.
The group stood still, like they never heard what she said. Silence was brought between them for five more seconds. Having seen that they haven't budged, her eyes widened with surprise.
"Why aren't you going?", she questioned with a more shaky voice.
Neo looked at her square in the eyes, which were soon widened with surprise. "Bev? Is that you?"
She gasped at his remark. Then, she clutched her chest and looked down. To her, it seemed that someone knew her but she never knew them back. Then she brought her head up and responded back.
"But..." She blinked. "How do you know me?"
"Remember me?"
He took a grip of his fringe, and lifted his hair up. The remains of what was under his head - a tattoo that took the shape of a lowercase 'n' - were there, causing her eyes to widen with shock.
"Neo?" She gasped. "But... you've changed! And... who are those three with you?"
"Let's just say they're a bunch of lodgers that helped me out of this town", he said with a wink.
"That sounded so strange", she responded back with shock. "My friends told me that you were killed in that blast six years ago! Say, come on in!"
She gestured with her hand to send them inside, and after that she started to walk in herself. As soon as she was out of view... Snappy brought himself into an outrage of foul laughter.
"Oh, look who's the zombie now!", he blurted out with laughter.
"Shut up", said Neo as he leered at him.
Angrily, he took a grip of his collar, and dragged him towards the door, soon turning his laughs into screams. He reached the front door, and while they were there both Brio and Boron gave out shrugs and followed them. Bev was back in view, picking a trench coat off the floor and putting it on its hook.
"So, who are your new 'lodgers' anyhow?", she questioned with a more confident voice.
Neo stood near her and pointed at his crew respectively. "Snappy Gator, Nitrus Brio, and Boron", he then spoke as he picked up the wolverine from the ground.
"It's a pleasure to meet you guys", she said with a smile.
She took out her hand for a handshake. As that happened, Boron blinked at it, took a grip of it, lifted it in the air, and looked underneath it. Shocked by the empty space, he shrugged and stood behind the others. She giggled at his attitude, before she walked down the hallways.
"Dare I ask", said Neo with his eyebrows raising, "but what happened with that crater anyway?"
"All answers are living right inside this room here. Sorry if it seems a bit packed, but", she shrugged, "It's better than nothing."
She pointed at a wooden door starting to fall off its hinges. She took a hold of the handle, and carefully opened it, giving it a creak as it opened. The light inside the room was brought onto the males' faces, giving them the chance to see what was inside. The room was brightly lit, with several people sitting down on sofas or standing up in conversation. Inside it, were three other humans, and five organisms that were like humans, but had physical features of different animals - two bandicoots, a dingo-dinosaur hybrid, a blue fox, and a wombat. Most of the group's eyes widened.
"Talk about a crowded house", said Neo in a whisper.
"Yeah, I know. Sure, you can recognize Gary Foster and his sister Sara, and my own sister Martha", she said as she pointed at the three of them.
"Hey, they've grown older since I last saw them!", he smiled and exclaimed.
He waved over at them, and the three waved at them back. Soon afterwards, Gary stood up. His spiked hair was brought into a ponytail at the back, he started to grow a brown goatee on him, and wore a businessman-like suit on him, with his tie going all the way down to his groin. As he walked over to them, Snappy's attention was brought onto the five creatures nearby.
"But that doesn't quite explain the furry critters at that side of the room there, ya?", he questioned with his arms on his hips.
"Well", Gary responded with his voice rising in volume, "they're the reason why the press tried to invade us!"
"No shit Sherlock?", Snappy questioned as he looked at the five again.
Then with no second thoughts, he turned his head back towards Gary. A face of panic started to show on his face, before the creatures soon walked towards him. One of the bandicoots - being the smaller of the two, wearing denim pants and having orange fur - lead the pack, with the other - a muscular one with brown fur and army pants and boots - right behind him.
"Do I have to explain everything to you?", the orange bandicoot questioned at Snappy.
"Why?"
"I hate to say this", the brown bandicoot started speaking with a lower tone than the orange one, "but us five here have come from the future." He pointed at himself. "I'm Crunch", he said before pointing at the orange bandicoot. "He's Crash, and the others", he said before pointing at the dingodino, the blue fox and the wombat creature respectively, "are Spike, Zephyr and Chyna."
"Sounds nice to meet you", said Brio with a light grin.
He took out his hands, and Crunch brought out one of his arms - covered in metal plating - into a handshake. Upon his grasp... Brio screamed at the sight before he pulled it away and started clutching it, tapping it better. Snappy stood ahead, and then spoke.
"So basically, you're fortune tellers, right?", he questioned with a blink.
"Close", Crash responded back, "although I never want to travel in a gypsy caravan in my life. --;"
"Well can you tell me what's going on back at my home in New Mexico right now?", said Brio with over-excitement.
"We can't think that far", said Crunch with disappointment. "Sorry kid."
Brio soon raised his voice before stepping closer. "PLEASE!!! I WANNA FIND OUT ABOUT MY MOTHER!!!!"
Both bandicoots soon stood up straight, with their pupils shrunk and with large anime sweat drops down their faces. Then, they looked at each other and exchanged 'scratching head' glances. Then, Zephyr stood ahead of the group and spoke from his mouth.
"Well, here's something we can tell", he said as he placed both hands together.
"Okay, fire away", Brio responded back with confidence. "We can take it! Come on!"
"We're here to give you a future", said Crash.
The group looked at him with curiosity and panicked eyes. Doesn't everyone in the room seem to have a future? He walked up and down the room, before he sat down with his legs in a crossed motion. The reason behind his saying was coming.
-end of part 1-