-AUTHOR NOTES-
Part four is coming, and it's in this part when the main objectives for the cast is to free Cortex from the clutches of N-Trance. A bit stereotypical, I may admit, but we'll see as the part advances.
There's also a light Power Crisis reference shown here too, and that's in the form of the next character – Lozzy Pineapple. In the second of the set, established eight years before this very fanfic, she was shown as a tourist from London who got captured by the Navy while on holiday in Hawaii. And you can tell that Cortex would have been on hand to save her… and Martha being on hand to sound more annoying than the usual. :P
Have fun, and be sure to smirk at the odd Final Fantasy reference in the middle.
Peace out,
-Rexy-
---
A darkened room opens up for the next scene, where in one dimly lit corner, Neo is seen tied by roughly a mile of twine around his body and limbs. He struggled to bring himself free, until... a slammed door was heard ahead of him.
"Who goes there?" he cried out.
He stopped wriggling, and brought his focus to a pair of green eyes in the darkness. That caused him to leer on at it, before the figure from the darkness made its way forward. It showed itself as the "pink egg" he described earlier - N-Trance.
"Ah, I'd never thought I'd see you around here. You were quite a man in your elder adulthood."
"Never mind that", Neo shouted back. "Why have you brought me here?"
He growled over at him, and tried to bite his armor from his position, but he couldn't reach. That soon left N-Trance to turn to his left, and look on at an opening near a roof, shining a light burst of sunlight into his face.
"Seriously, why do you want to spend your life traveling around with rogues like that alligator and wolverine of yours?"
The thoughts of Snappy and Boron, as well as the forgotten Brio, sprung to his mind. To him, they were the only ones in the world he could turn to before arriving back in the city. While that happened, N-Trance turned back in his direction.
"Can't you just wish for a family again? Something that you were deprived from?"
"Raising one, yes", Neo began with a whisper. "Being forced back in with my siblings, NEVER!"
"Well, we'll see about that", N-Trance spoke with a cackle.
He stepped much closer to him, and took a grip onto his right arm. Then, he brought the "hand" only two inches away from Neo's face, before snarling at him. It then started to open up like a shell, where whatever's contained inside it will be brought to his eyes.
(scene fades to white and blurs to another location)
Meanwhile, back outside, most of the others were already 80 metres away from the factory entrance, going deep within the streets of the city. Some of which showed confidence, but there was an exception for Martha, whom was far behind and eventually brought herself into an exhausted crouch.
"I'm tired, I'm thirsty and my feet are swelling to the size of a troll's!"
"So are mine," shouted Spike, "but you don't see me complaining!"
He turned around, and saw Martha in her position. She was seen with her fingers spread out with a slight bit of pain on them. Then, she looked up and stood up slightly, trying to hold onto her knees as she did so.
"No, really, I'm being serious. We've been walking for what seemed like hours and we haven't gone anywhere!"
"That's what you get for not expecting anything within the first five minutes" replied Crunch. "Come here."
She edged a bit closer to Crunch, with her feet still struggling to move. Over time, he started moving to her, before he crouched down to her level. That caused her to take a hold of his shoulders and pull herself up onto him in a piggy back motion.
"Whew, thanks" said Martha grinning.
The brown bandicoot gave in a light smile towards her, before they started walking back towards the others. They weren't far, when they reached a junction branching out into several different paths.
"So, where exactly should we turn to from here?" questioned Brio with a twitch of his mouth.
He brought up his sombrero slightly, giving out a smile from underneath. From nearby, Snappy then stood next to him, and fiddled about in his torn trouser pockets before pulling out what looked like a street map of the city.
"Well, this could seem to be tricky. I heard about a nightclub near the docks, and maybe we could see what's going on down there."
"At THIS hour?!?" shouted Zephyr with shock. "You must be joking, man!"
"I'm not. There's bound to be someone preparing for tonight's club night."
He gave out a light grin to himself, but... most of the others brought their eyes to him with annoyance. That caused him to blink with shock, before turning back to the map.
"On the other hand, we could try Muscle Beach down at the other side of the docks. And looking at these empty streets, I bet that's where most of the city folk have gone for today."
"Sure, as long as you don't push me towards the surfing cats", muttered Crunch with a wink.
The alligator gave out a light cackle, and placed his arm on the top of Crunch's head, whom gave out a light smile from the action. Then, he released his grip and went to the front of the group.
"So, let's get this straight! Those in favor of the nightclub?"
He brought his eyes to everyone, and saw most of which not putting their hands up at all. That caused him to bring his eyes down into an irritated look.
"And those in favor of the beach?"
Most of the anthros placed their hands up, with bright smiles going across their faces. That left him to look at them with a slight bit of hesitance.
"Well, looks like that's settled. Come on, let's get going."
He brought his hand into a gesturing motion, causing the group to start heading their way down to the beach. From further behind, Zephyr and Brio walked together, looking at the angry motions of the alligator himself.
"Is he always this stubborn?" questioned the blue fox.
"Nah. He's more like a prune for half the time."
Zephyr gave out a shrug upon hearing the comment. Then, they looked on ahead and started approaching the others at a brisk pace... but that was until a shadow suddenly eclipsed Zephyr's back.
"OH MY GOD! SEPHIROTH'S BEEN TURNED INTO A FOX!!!"
The shout caused his ears to prick up into the air. That caused him to quickly turn around, and see a figure in the shadows, crouching down, with a vile smile brought upon her face.
"Very funny" said Zephyr in an undertone.
She brought her hands inside her pant pockets, and from there... she ended up pulling out a long sword from out of nowhere. She started to grin down at him, before she started climbing her way down.
"What, no! What are you doing? Stay away from me!!!" he shouted with panic.
That left them in a chase in an anti-clockwise direction around the part of the road. She kept on slashing as hard as she could to him, but... the best it could do was carve off some of his fur off his tail.
"What the Hell is that all about?" asked Snappy with a blink.
"Beats me", said Martha in a breezy tone, "but we'll find out. And...!" She paused. "Wait a minute, I think I can recognise her from somewhere!"
She pointed over at her, whom was showing herself more into the light. Her clothing seemed to show that typical for an RPG female - a long cloak, a short skirt, a tanktop, large boots, and a medallion around her neck. She brought out her hands - covered in dragon skin gloves - and tried to grab him by the shoulders.
"What are you doing?" He shouted back. "Hands off the coat - it's 100% Polyester!!!"
He retaliated by a dive to the right, causing him to roll out of the way. But... as he did that, he knocked himself into a wall, letting himself get cornered between there and the girl. She showed her face, revealing long brown hair, and eyes of the same color.
"Finally, I'd be able to tackle a scenario like Cloud Strife will never attempt! Now... OMNISLASH!!!"
She brought out her sword, and was about to swipe it over in Zephyr's direction, whom seemed to know that there could be no chance of escaping from her grasp. But that was until he noticed Snappy charging towards her.
"HOLD IT!!!"
He rushed his way towards the pair of them, and then he brought both of his hands out in front of him, before pushing her out of the way, giving room for Zephyr to stand up and make his way to the others. That left the girl leering at them with anger. She tried to fight her way out from his grasp, but... it wasn't until Martha came around and saw what was going on. That left them to look at each other with curious looks on each other. Back with Zephyr and Snappy, they looked back at the brown haired stranger, before turning back to themselves.
"Do you know who in heck Sephiroth is, Zephie?"
"You'll find that out come '97", Zephyr spoke back with a wink.
A shadowed position were brought over the crew, as the sun started to head its way towards the West as gradual as it could. While that happened, Martha was seen making her way closer towards the brown haired stranger, with a smile on her face.
"Are you okay?"
She placed her hand on her hair, which seemed silky to the touch. That caused her head to be lifted up into the air, before she turned in her direction, with a quivering expression brought onto her own two lips.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" the girl said.
"Lozzy, you gotta remember me!"
She went to the other side, and started stroking her on the back, soon causing her to stand up. That caused her to look on at her and her ginger-based looks on her face. At the sight of which, she folded her arms and scowled.
"If you were that little preschool prat for a love for pink bicycles from an excursion to Hawaii eight years ago," Lozzy responded with a growl, "then I'm gonna chew my genji gloves!"
She sighed with a slight bit of arrogance, before she walked her way far from the group and towards one of the houses nearby. That left some of them to view her with curious expressions, especially Snappy, as he came up to her in light fairy steps.
"Who the Heck are you?"
"Sorry if I didn't have the guts to introduce myself earlier. The name's Lozzy Pineapple."
She turned her head slightly towards Snappy's direction, whom gave back a Hillybilly wave in her direction. Then, her eyes were brought towards Zephyr, whom was seen giving a light smile at her... but her scowl worsened at the glance.
"What kind of relationship do you have against Zephyr anyway?" asked Crunch with a confused look on his face.
"That's what I wanna know", Lozzy replied back. "But mark my words - may Sephiroth rot in Heck for all I care! Kefka's a much better spirit than I am!"
She gave out an angry sigh, before she made her way towards the other side of the road, with her head brought in the direction of the shores nearby. Her clothes started to blow in the light wind as that happened. In the meantime, Snappy turned back to Zephyr, looking confused.
"What's she on about?"
"I think you need to wait a few more years til you find out", Zephyr answered with yet another wink.
The alligator then looked at him with a "fair enough" look on his face. Then, that caused the blue fox to make his way towards Lozzy, and place one of his hands onto her shoulder, with a more sympathetic look upon his face.
"Look, I'm sorry if I suddenly had to end up coming near you, but I couldn't help that."
"It could be easier if you dyed your hair pink", she responded with a growl.
She then walked further away from him, before ending up that far in front she ended up with the view of the factory right ahead of her. At the sight of it, she started to gasp at the structure, before some of the others came near her.
"Ahem", Snappy coughed abruptly. "Enough about that, maybe your strength could help us fish out a friend of ours in here."
"A friend?" she responded in a slight bit of shock.
"Yeah, Neo's trapped in there!" cried Martha. "We needed a bit of help to get him out!"
That shout caused her to turn her way towards her, before she started walking her way towards Martha. A memory of her excursion to Hawaii came back to her, one of her using a cell phone to summon an airship to prevent a danger coming to Volcano Isle. She then brought herself back to reality, before looking back at the young girl.
"I remember that name, and he seemed to be a bit of a help to me, so... I'll call it a truce." She smiled at her, before turning back to Zephyr. "And don't expect it to last for long."
All that the blue fox could do was respond with several blinks all at one do, with his nose twitching with a slight bit of fear. Then, all that they thought of now was looking over at the factory and its dangerous structures all around it.
"So how exactly do we get in?" asked Brio.
This left them in silence for a while, before she brought out a hand of hers, and pointed towards a rusty window near the left. That caused them to start making their run towards there as fast as their legs could take them.
---
Back with N-Trance, he was seen with his arm out towards Neo, whom seemed to be starring into it, giving off blinks every few seconds. Right in front of him, the view of N-Trance's open arm can be seen, showing the shape of a clock embedded inside it.
"Come on", shouted the egg-creature. "You will be on your brother's side for as far as I will know!"
"No I will not!" said Neo with sarcasm.
After he spoke that line, he gave out a wink and pulled out his tongue for a mere half a second. That caused the egg-creature to growl and look at his arm, before hitting it furiously enough for a clank to occur within the armor.
"Jesus Christ, what's wrong with this stupid thing?"
He looked at the watch himself, and tried messing with the dial on it. But... still nothing happened. Growling, he turned his way towards a door to the right, where Tiko and the others walked in. With no second thoughts he ran his way towards him.
"TIKO!!!! What's the meaning of this?"
"I think you need a bit more power before it could work with this kid" he spoke quietly. "Maybe we should try someone else next time."
He then folded his arms, and looked on at his "companion". However, he didn't seem to take in a single word. He then looked over at his clock on his arm, and started bashing it, before a bright light started to emerge from there. He gasped at it, and quickly turned back to Tiko at the glance.
"Never mind that! We need somewhere to earn more power than originally intended! With that I could enslave more than just that little brat!"
He started cackling over at himself, before he started walking his way near the back of the room, grinning like a cow on a good day. This left Neo to leer at him from his position, and lucky for him... he wasn't the only one - the two sisters were doing exactly the same thing.
"You really need to sort out your priorities", whispered Hallie with a wink.
Deksta nodded with agreement. But then... N-Trance turned towards the girls' direction, and the next thing he saw were them facing opposite directions and whistling out of tune. He blinked at them with a curious expression... before something started to shake up ahead.
"What on Earth...?" Deksta whispered with panic.
The shuffle caused her to run towards the wall, with a slight bit of anxiety quivering within her lips. Once there, she placed her ear very close to it, and heard a bunch of footsteps, coming closer. And closer. And closer. That caused her to scream, before... the wall suddenly pushed itself over like a domino, forming a square gap and allowing a bunch of rocks to fall on top of Deksta. From the gap, Snappy and the others made their way in. Once they all settled in, Deksta crawled her way out looking like a cross between a pancake and a cockroach.
"How..." Tiko paused. "How the heck did you guys break in here?"
"Never mind that", Snappy shouted back. "Let's get to work in bringing Bev and them lot here!"
He pointed over to a smaller door nearby, and that caused Jenny to run her way towards it and take a hold of the handle, before... pulling it off. Then, from there, a wall turned around, revealing Bev, Gary, Crash, Chyna and Sara behind it. That caused Tiko to squeal at them as they climbed in.
"Don't stand there Trancy! Let's get them!"
He looked over at N-Trance, who was standing to his left by the time. But then... he suddenly turned around and made his way back towards Neo in his position. That left Tiko to give out a long sigh, before looking scowling at his direction.
"Fine, leave me alone why don't you?"
He gave out another sigh, before turning back towards the others. At that time, they were already arranged into several lines, with the smallest ones near the front. Tiko edged closer, and it was there when Martha took a hug onto Boron for protection.
"So I take you're all here to get your little friend back, eh?" Tiko shouted back. "But rest assured, the pain that we're willing to offer him will be far more than just sweet revenge."
"Tell me", shouted Beverley with a strain in her throat. "Why are you doing this to him?"
All that Tiko could do was turn his back on her, twitch his tail, and bring his hands up towards his forehead with a vile smirk on his face, as well as his eyes closed. He then started walking a few blind steps away from them, with each pace getting louder and louder.
"Like I said, he needs to belong in the family to survive! And hanging around with scrawny brats like you will not do the job!"
"You're not speaking the truth!" shouted Gary. "And besides, that's just cruelty!"
That cry caused him to turn around and face Gary, with his eyes shot open with rage. Without second thought, he rooted inside his pockets, and pulled out a pistol. Then, he started edging closer towards them, hoping to unleash the bullets inside it straight to their heads...
"Tiko, I've done it!"
The shout caused him to turn back in N-Trance's direction, where his watch was glowing a bright white. He then used the other arm to free Neo from the ropes, and from there, he started hovering in the air, in a standing position, with his feet two inches from the ground. A white mist surrounded him, and the pupils from his eyes were almost gone. A cold draft started to go across the room, leaving some of the others shaking at his presence.
"Guys, I think we need to prepare for our worst nightmare", uttered Crash with fear.
It was almost too soon, when Neo started hovering his way towards them at twice his usual running speed, with his posture being similar to a dolphin's. This left the group to roll out of the way, before he started coming back towards them. This left some of the girls into a scream.
"DUCK!" Beverley shouted at the top of her voice.
With that shout, she brought herself down onto the ground with her limbs spread out like a spider. Most of the others faced the same cue... all but Snappy, whom stood there, scratching his neck and blinking with a slight amount of confusing looks upon his jaws.
"Where?"
Before anything else could happen, his eyes soon met with Neo's feet, which soon sent him down to the ground like an action figure. That left him looking up to the ceiling up above, before Crash came and brought his face over his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"I guess, thanks...!" replied the alligator.
Smiling, he took a hold of his arm, and pulled him up as quick as he could, before the sound of a hover can be heard from further behind. They turned around again, and saw Neo performing a back flip, before heading back at them.
"He's coming back towards us!" shouted Crash. "Quick, try to the right!"
They soon followed his orders as brisk as they can, moving over to their right and taking hiding behind a set of circular non-functioning generators nearby. He went past them, almost catching Chyna by her tail, whom soon pulled it back in.
"Talk about close shave...!"
She then sighed with a bit of hope in her mouth. But that was until he came back, and without fear, he took a hold of her tail and pulled her out like a cola bottle from a packet of sweets. She was sent across the room like a water-skier, trying to pull her grip away from him.
"Hey, what Neo doing? Chyna no asking for fur cut off!"
"Hold on, Chyna!!!" shouted Gary.
He soon jumped out from behind the generators, before running his way towards them both. While that happened, N-Trance started cackling at them, while Tiko and the others left the room the way they came in - a door on the right. Back with Gary...
"Leave him alone, please!"
He jumped his way onto his back, and took a hold of his hair like handlebars. He started pulling them one by one, but it seemed that they didn't do any effect to his actions towards Chyna. That left him to look down at the wombat-creature and pull her off his hand, leaving her with a scream. Then, they ran their way towards the others.
"Our attacks aren't working on him!" he spoke with anxiety. "Can we see another way out of it?"
This left some of the others looking confused at the glance at him. Then, they turned towards N-Trance, whom had his right arm - the one with the watch - held up high with vileness. It was there when Crash lowered his head into the darkness and smiled at it.
"I think I got an idea! Come on, let's go!"
He gestured at the others before they all started making their way towards him. There, he stepped forward and growled at his face, with Chyna and Boron coming from behind him, leering over at his expressions. That caused him to scream slightly.
"You're not going anywhere with that mutt, aren't you?"
Crash didn't respond. All he did was brought out his hand towards N-Trance, and it was there when Chyna and Boron started chasing him around the room, side by side. Then, it wasn't long until they both leapt up into the air and pounded on the top of his head.
"OOF!"
The attack sent him down to the ground with a roll, then he soon stood back up with a smirk brought upon his face. This left the pair to look on at him, looking for their next target to make their strike to.
"To the left a little!" ordered Crash as he pointed in that direction. "That's where his weaknesses should lie!"
They started to side step towards the direction of his arm with the watch in it. He started shielding it with his other arm, but that was until they both ran towards him and pulled it down with a slight bit of eagerness in their mouths.
"It's working!" shouted Gary. "He's starting to look drowsy!"
As he said that, N-Trance's face started to show a bit of sweat pouring down the side, leaving his eyes to show more hesitance than before. From nearby, most of the others started cheering on for them both, leaving the rest to look at Neo, whom somehow started to slow down and he started to hover closer to the ground.
"Just a little harder!" Bev shouted. "We can't lose the fight now!"
After shouting that, she turned back towards the others, whom were seen looking over at Neo's gradual slowing-down progress. Back with Chyna and Boron, they brought their hands out towards N-Trance's arms, scratching his left arm with a deep cut.
"My arm!!!"
With no second thoughts, they started worsening the scratch. Over time, several electric sparks started to get out from there, starting to cause the limb to shake like there was no tomorrow. And then... the hand was cut off. From inside it, a set of blue and green wires can be seen, all snapped and showing their insides, glowing with a short circuit going through them. From there, N-Trance's face started to dive into deep panic.
"My beautiful arm... destroyed?!?!? Bah... thank goodness for mechanics nearby", he spoke with a twitch.
He then picked up the clock-hand from off the floor, and started making his way towards the door, where the others suddenly stopped cheering and looked at him. He opened it with his other arm, and growled over at his opponents.
"You'll have your chance much later, bandicoot! We'll meet again!"
Crash tried to swipe towards him, but he missed his grasp. That left the egg-creature to go into the darkness of the door, and leave it shut right in front of him. That left him breathing heavily, before turning straight back towards the others. They were seen as a crowd, looking around in a circular motion. Once there, he started running his way towards them, and made his way to the center - he saw Bev crouched down over Neo, with all signs of consciousness lost from his body.
"Is he... going to be alright?" she muttered.
"I think he is", whispered Gary. "He's still breathing. He'd probably be a bit washed out from the attack."
He then walked towards her and crouched down to her level, before giving out a light smile from his mouth. Then, they looked on at the others, whom seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as he did. Or rather... most.
"But... I'm still worried about this", started Sara with a shake in her throat. "Once he comes to, what if he continues to show his dark side?"
"It's not gonna happen, I assure you", replied Crash.
As he spoke, he walked over to Sara's direction, and placed an arm around her shoulder. That caused her eyes to widen with a slight bit of shock, before she turned towards the emerald green eyes of the orange anthro himself.
"You really mean it?"
He gave out a nod, with a smile brought across his mouth and a twinkle in his eye. And then, she started to face the exact same expressions, leaving them in silence for a while. Then, from nearby, Crunch started to walk back to the hole in the wall created at the start.
"Well, you know what this means - might as well make our way out of here before we get trapped again."
He then stood out of the way, and left the others to emerge out towards the sunset sunlit skies outside one by one. That left him to turn back towards Neo, pick him up and place him flopping onto his shoulder before heading outside too.
"Talk about a long day, ya?" Zephyr said with a bellow.
"Yeah, and it'll be even longer if you don't do anything about your hair", whispered Lozzy with a growl.
That comment caused Zephyr to start blinking at a fast rate, before turning to her direction. She continued to leer at him, before turning away to her left hand side. From there, her eye contact soon met with Jenny's.
"I still don't understand what you have against foxes with long silver ha-"
Lozzy soon interrupted. "Maybe the same way I don't understand what's with boy bands these days?"
She folded her arms with a slight bit of anger, before she started to edge her way closer towards her. From her pockets, she pulled out a set of playing cards, all with sharp blades on the tips. She was about to strike them towards her neck, until... Snappy came in the middle of them and pushed them away from each other.
"Leave her alone, and let's try and settle this tomorrow."
---
Back inside the factory, N-Trance was seen running through what almost seemed to be total darkness, but with the sparks from his injured hand dimly lighting the way for him. Then, he reached the end of the path, where he saw Tiko sitting on an iron chair in what looked like an office mixed in with a mission control.
"What brings you back here so soon?"
He looked on at N-Trance with ice starting to run through his eyes. While that happened, he placed the torn hand into a compartment inside his armor, before looking on at his blank expression upon it. Then, he started to shake and blurt from his mouth.
"What, are you pointing at me?"
"I'm not talking to myself, or anyone else around here!" Tiko replied back with an irritated look. "Did Neo eliminate the enemies?"
The egg creature was about to raise his mouth to speak, but... somehow, nothing came out from there, and then, he closed it firmly and looked down to the ground, with his mouth starting to quiver as time passed. Tiko then looked at him with a blink.
"Now what?"
"Look what they did to my arm!" he shouted.
He showed his torn arm, and that was where the sparks from the torn wires started to show within Tiko's face. That caused his ice green eyes to turn more of a burnt and darker color, and he clutched his fists with as furious a rage as he could possibly get.
"I DON'T BLOODY BELIEVE THIS!!!!!"
He got up from his seat, and started making his way towards N-Trance with anger brought upon his face. Once near him, he stepped over him with a shadow cast down to the face of fear for his partner. Then, he crouched down to him, with his hands held together.
"How can you possibly fail me?" he shouted with his voice being echoed around the room. "I assigned you to the easiest task yet, and you fail me?"
"But I-"
Tiko started speaking again before N-Trance could finish his sentence. "Do you really want to help me reach the magic of the island?"
"Of course I d-"
"Then the next time you're assigned to a job," Tiko started shouting with more impatience, "return with nothing but full marks! NOW GET OUT!!!"
He then pointed him back towards the dark tunnels of the way he came, before he started running his way down himself, looking like he was about to be beheaded. As soon as he vanished from his view, Tiko sat back down, trying to think of what to go about doing next.
-end of part 4-