-AUTHOR'S NOTES-
Looks like we've reached the final battle, folks. Even if I didn't gain much attention for my previous parts, I want to thank anyone who managed to read this far for getting closer.
Must admit, I had a lot of thought on the exploration of the island, the pre-battle tension building, and the dramatic scenes inside the battle itself. Maybe I should draw fanart based on it!
Not much else to state here – not even any Power Crisis references. But either way, enjoy the part as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Peace out,
-Rexy-
---
Almost an hour passed for the group, before the boat soon started to make its way close towards the shallow waters surrounding the island. Most of the group looked out ahead, and it wasn't long until the tip made its stroke against the golden sandy shores, the only thing on the isle that glowed with brightness.
"Whoa, is that all that's left of the magic of the island?" gasped Snappy.
He jumped down towards the dunes, and then he went round to scooping some of which into his own two hands. He looked down at it, with his mouth starting to twitch at the glance of it. Sparky soon came next to him, hovering his wings, and looked down to the sparkling dunes himself, glimmering like crystals.
"I think it is, otherwise we may end up being a bit stuck here."
He then blew the dunes away from Snappy's hand, whom retaliated with a light squeal. They soon floated their way among the wind, before touching down on a patch of what looked like dying grass near a large steel gate, with glowing torches and large walls seen alongside it.
"Well, let's face it", Brio smiled. "At least we managed to find ourselves a way into this pig sty."
Gary gave out a light smile. "Very wise thoughts, but how the heck do we open this door?"
Martha gave out an abrupt cough, and started waving her hands before making her way towards the gate for herself. The reflection of her eyes can be seen within the metal panning within them. Snickering, she took a hold of the bars and pulled them, but... after five seconds, it didn't budge an inch.
"Sheesh, this thing's as hard as a drum!"
"Need a hand?" asked Crunch.
She turned around and looked into the brown bandicoot's direction, whom gave in a wink before walking right next to her. His face showed a "piece of cake" look on him. Then, he took a hold of the bars and started pulling for himself, but... even with his muscles, they still won't budge.
"Crikey, what have they added here, reinforced stain glass?"
He growled over at it, and tried to pull harder onto the bars, trying to make them rise as high as they possibly can. Sweat soon started to drop down the side of his face, and then... he had no choice but to release the grip on the bars and retreat, with his head lowered down with exhaustion.
"It's no use," started Crash. "We may need to check round the back or something."
"We can't give up now!" Zephyr shouted in his direction. "We're almost there!"
Growling, Zephyr took out his light saber and started hitting it among the bars, causing a few sparks to be given off as it happens. A few seconds later, some scratches started to show up on them. He smiled at the progress, until... a blinding light showed right above him.
"Holy crud!!"
He looked up, and saw a glowing patch of bright white energy starting to swirl closer towards them. A cool breeze started to go through Zephyr's coat, causing him to look onto it with widened eyes filled with curiosity. He looked on at some of the others, with the same looks on them.
"Hey, what's going on?" panicked DJ.
"I don't know, but..." Aurora paused. "It feels a bit odd, don't you think?"
She then started to walk carefully towards the light, and brought her light into it. Within seconds, her hair was starting to stick on end slightly and they blew within the cool draft. Then, without knowing, she ended up with her tiptoes and started to hover a few centimeters from the ground. Most of the other girls started to face the same fate, with pleasure in some of their minds.
"I'm flying, wheeeee!"
"Jenny, this is no time for a joke!" sighed Lozzy with anger.
She growled over at her, before... a nudge occurred from down below - that of Crunch's elbow against her back. She spun around, and saw the males floating up with her. They then started to look up, seeing themselves heading higher towards the top of the castle, getting faster and faster. Some of them had pleasure in their minds while thrusting their bodies upwards, but Neo seemed to be the only one being cautious.
"Take it easy, we're gonna hit the roof!"
He pointed over at a nearby ledge, covered with dark planks on them. The girls looked at it, before they brought their feet onto the wall and pushed themselves away from it. Then, the others followed in a similar fashion, and in no time at all they soon made it past the ledge and hovered higher.
"Whew, thanks for the warning Neo!" shouted Taylor with shock.
Neo turned in his direction, and gave out a wink towards him. Then, they looked up and saw themselves coming closer and closer towards the top of a tower, where a pair of open glass panels can be seen coming closer towards them. Aiko immediately pointed up at them in a rapid succession.
"I can see an open window! But... is that where we're going into?"
"Beats me, but there's only one way to find out", Spike paused. "Hang onto your souls as tight as you can!"
He looked around, and then he took a tight grip of Crash's hands, whom took a hold of his back. The others soon faced a similar scenario, with their faces looking up towards the open window. They were only less than a meter away from the ledge, when the light around them started to penetrate their eyes.
"Aiee!" Bev squealed. "The light's too bright for me to stand!"
She covered her eyes with one hands, while maintaining her grip onto Martha's waist with another. This caused the pair to start screaming and wriggling about like a pair of seahorses. Then, they were brought inside the window, with the flash becoming too much for their view to know where and how they will land. The light soon faded out in front of them, and they looked around them, facing a large dungeon-like room with lit torches and graffiti among the walls, mainly showing Tiko and the others drawn in a child-like style. They looked up, and it seemed that there was no ceiling - the cloud-filled skies were right above them.
"Is crew okay?" questioned Chyna.
"I think we are, but..." Neo brought himself into a standing position. "I don't understand why we're brought here of all places."
"Well, your answer is ready to make its way right into our clutches", said a voice at the other side of the room.
The voice caused them to look right ahead of them, and see a figure walk from the other side of the room, with its shadow stretching out towards them. It took a few steps closer, before coming into the brightest section, being the center. Its egg-shaped expression and its mech-like suit was shown in full form, and by now, the figure was obvious.
"N-Trance?!?" Neo jumped. "What gives you a right to bring us up here uninvited?"
"Ah, I'd never thought I'd ask. With you almost thwarting our plans at the factory, it's time we got around to erasing you for good before our plan is complete!"
Neo's eyes shot open. After all that wondering on what Tiko and N-Trance has been planning to do, all answers could very well reach their mind on why he seemed to be the wanted figure. With determination on his face, he stepped forward and looked on into the egg creature's poison-ivy-shaded green eyes.
"What do you want with us anyway?"
"Let me tell you what we all want with the equipment here."
He brought his eyes onto the others one by one. As soon as he made contact with Taylor's, he started to shake, and he looked down at his right hand, where the stone that he picked up on the way to the mine cart ruins were seen in his hand. The egg creature started to sneer down at it, before his jaws were opened to speak.
"That stone in your hands, trench coat boy, held a mysterious power from the long-lost God of the Stars trapped inside it. He was born with the power to control the weather. With him in mind, I was hoping to use it to drown your lifestyle into nothing."
"And then I simply refused to join your side...?" Sparky gave out a light gulp. "All because of my worries over my planet's laws."
"You're getting the trick. So this means I had to resort to another powerful unit of measure - the magic of Volcano Isle. The generators were there to transfer the life energy into power similar to inside the stone. With that all together, they have been used in the Spiro-Cannon for our processes."
His last words caused the others to start discussing lightly among themselves, questioning themselves around the theory. Even Boron and Chyna were reluctant to give out howls from their mouths, to show danger in their minds. Then, the discussions started to quiet down, and Neo stepped ahead of the group.
"All that for wanting to kill me? Why pick that of all scenarios?"
"It's the cheapest method I can think of. So shut your trap and let's go."
He clapped his hand, and something started to shake within the ground. A hatch opened up, and the Spiro-Cannon showed itself into view. He jumped inside the seat, pulled a few knobs and handles, and brought a visor over his eyes. A snarl started to show up onto his face, with equal amounts of determination and vileness.
"Prepare for your ultimate demise, Cortex!"
A round of vile laughter started to emerge from his mouth, before he brought the turret of the cannon to meet with his eyes. All that Neo could do would stand there in a Western Cowboy position, looking straight at the strobe lights on the side of the cannon, flashing from blue to white. Then... both Taylor and Sparky went to his side.
"You can do with some help, kid", Taylor smiled.
"I'll do the same", the wolarcoot gave out a wink at him as he replied.
He looked at Taylor first of all. With Sparky's stone in his hand, and how he managed to save the rest of the group from a mine cart crash, it seemed that he could be a helpful asset to him. Then, he faced Sparky. A wolarcoot, trapped after seeing the annihilation of his planet, now a freedom fighter hoping to restore order to a new planet. He smiled at him, before looking ahead towards the gun.
"Alright, time to get down to some business!"
The time soon arrived. They recently arrived on a transfigured version of Volcano Isle, where they knew that they were to face a life-or-death scenario with a figure that was almost responsible for his demise. And thus, it all was about to end here.
The cannon start to rise itself higher into the air, and the nozzle of the Spiro-Cannon was sent down to the ground, shadowing Neo, Sparky and Taylor all at once, standing close to each other at the other side of the room. With a cackle, N-Trance pulled a lever, and the turret started to shake.
"He's about to fire!" screamed Taylor. "Quick, duck!"
A bright shot of white light came over them, which could easily rip their heads off instantly. But... within the light, the figures were seen rolling underneath it to another part to a room, with Taylor almost ramming his way towards Sparky by the back as he did so. They soon stood upright, looking at each other.
"Take it easy Taylor, you almost squashed us!"
"I know, but it's not my fault he's getting a bit rough with us these days!"
They were about to bring their hands around the other's, hoping to squeeze them into a deathly grasp, but... that was until Neo stormed between them and broke them up. Then, from the corner of his eye, another shot started to head in his direction, causing his eyes to shrink at the sight of them.
"Quick, to the right!"
They started running their way to the right, leaving their feet to clatter upon the ground every few seconds. Then, they rolled underneath several shots heading their way and while the cannon was left to charge for its next shoot, they brought themselves to their feet and kept on running. The slow process caused N-Trance to look at them and growl.
"Get back here, you little runts!"
He then went round to holding down a button even further in and longer than beforehand. That caused the group to stop for a while to catch their breath, before... the turret started to shake more uncontrollably than before. The sight of it caused them to hold onto each other before stepping forward slightly.
"DUCK!" cried Neo.
The shot was sent out from the turret, causing a white blast that looked like a shot from the largest water gun in existence to hit the walls. It kept on going for seven whole seconds, and by the time it faded out, the three of which were seen on the floor, crouching down, holding onto each others' hands.
"I can't believe how close that was...!" responded Taylor with shock.
"Neither can I," gasped Sparky, "but... that's saying something, ya?"
Taylor gave in a light nod filled with a slight bit of fear in him. Then, they started to run their way around the left of the machine. This time, the loss of energy from the machine caused it to start spinning to them much slower than before. They soon made their way behind the turret, and that was where they faced it with confidence.
"That's it!" Neo smirked over at it. "Head upstairs!"
He pointed towards the left and right sides of the machine respectively, where Taylor and Sparky rushed towards those directions. They pulled themselves up onto them like they were getting ready to ride horses, and once on there they started causing damage to the sides - Taylor with a dagger, and Sparky with bolts of lightning.
"What are you doing with this thing?" asked N-Trance with panic. "Leave me alone, I beg you!"
"Not until you return to your home! You don't belong here!" Taylor growled.
He soon growled at N-Trance, before sending the dagger up towards his face, almost making contact with his eyes. They were left in leering stances for a while... until N-Trance pulled himself away and turned around, facing Sparky's direction, whom was causing an electric current to start running through the right hand side of the machine.
"Neither does the puppy," he leered, "so that's two of us!"
He growled over at Sparky's direction, before he started flipping more switches and pressing more buttons. Over time, the current in the machine started to send some smoke rising into the air. Then, the sparks changed from yellow to white, and then, they flashed so much, the wolarcoot's view was totally blocked.
"Sparky, JUMP!!!" Neo cried out.
But it was too late. An explosion was triggered, and a bright white beam was sent straight through his chest, sending him down to the ground and landing with a hard thud on his back. Gasping, Neo rushed to his side and went over him and his weakened expressions upon his face. His face dived into frustration at this point.
"Sparky! Sparky, listen to me!"
He started shaking him on the arms rapidly, waiting for any form of response. Then... a light cough was heard from Sparky himself. His eyes were slightly opened at this point, and his jaws started to clutch together loosely with defeat across his fur. His breathing started to get shallower as time started to slip away.
"I don't think I'm gonna make it..."
He brought his hand over his chest, and then he rolled so that he was lying on his stomach. From there, a shocking sight came across to Neo's view - a large hole was cut out in Sparky's chest, with blood starting to drop down the side of it. He rolled onto his front again, fighting for every single breath he can grab.
"No, please, tell me you can! Tell me there's a little sparkle of hope setting inside you!"
From the cannon, Taylor rushed over to his side and took a hold of the wolarcoot by the hands. He brought his limp face level with his, trying ever so hard to keep eye contact with him for longer than ten whole seconds. After a few more breaths, Sparky then looked up at him, and spoke in a very restless tone.
"N-Trance has a point. I do not belong here. Like my ancestors, I'm meant to live with them, no matter whether they're dead or alive."
His head drooped down forward, and his wings then started to pull themselves down as well. This left Taylor to gently put him down onto the ground, with a tear starting to shred from his eye. Sparky's eyelids started to close slightly, with bloodshot starting to seep their way through them.
"But you can't do this now!" begged Neo. "You've helped us get out of many tight spots!"
"I know, but..." the wolarcoot sighed. "I'm sorry, but my time here is over."
He then brought his face to his side, starting to look more weakened than beforehand. Upon the sight of it, the blood trail from his back started to creep through the ground like a light puddle expanding bigger and bigger, and taking the shape of a lengthy shadow underneath him.
"If you still want me around, I want you to defeat N-Trance for me."
"But we barely know how!" Taylor brought himself into a pleading position. "We still need your help!"
"I will be watching over your every step", whispered Sparky.
Again, Taylor went to his side, and took a hug around his chest, with some of the blood starting to reach his fingers. He started to quiver with a slight amount of disappointment, before releasing his grip on him, and allowing him to look up to the cloud-filled skies.
"Ah, nirvana at laaaaast..."
And with that, the last sign of air went out from his mouth, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head before his eyelids were slammed tight. The sight caused Neo to go over him, and continue shaking him. His face started to get more distraught with every passing second.
"Sparky, no!!!"
His shakings soon started to die down, and several seconds passed, before... he finally stopped. With a tear starting to fall from his eye, he turned away from him and looked down to the ground, trying to hide the image of a dying wolarcoot from his mind. Nearby, Taylor noticed his actions, and crouched down next to him.
"Sorry about that, but... it's too late. We might as well have to continue this match alone."
He looked on at Taylor's eyes, starting to turn a brick red color with heartbreak, just like Neo has faced. Then, he soon brought himself to his feet, and looked back and forth between Sparky's corpse and the Spiro-Cannon. His sadness soon started to boil... into bitter anger.
"You... are so... gonna PAY FOR THIS!!!"
His fists then clutched themselves together with rage, and he started to step his way closer towards the cannon. Then, he stopped at it when he was 20 meters away from it, looking up at N-Trance in the cockpit, whom could only give in curious glances straight towards him.
"You seem adventurous for a teenager... too bad you chose the wrong side!"
"What do you mean?" Neo asked with a nervous tone.
"You mean... he finally will start to work for me?" said a voice nearby.
It caused N-Trance to blink, before looking towards an opening near the other side of the room, where Tiko – restored to his regular form - and his siblings all walked in, with puzzled looks brought onto their faces. Upon the glance, his eyes went down with a shady look upon his face.
"Not quite... even today he doesn't want to steal a loaf of bread!"
"Now you tell me..." Tiko started to blush back.
"Sheesh, how can I pick the wrong side when I know who my friends are?" Neo stepped closer to them. "You don't know anything about me! I may not know much about my future, but with the way you guys are taking it, you've obviously altered several aspects of it already."
He then pulled the turret for the cannon down to his level, and climbed right to the top of it. Taylor tried to reach up to him, but... he was only just pushed back. He leered at N-Trance, then at his siblings, and then over at Sparky. He then pointed at him, with his face starting to turn red.
"Take a look at what you've done here! All this suffering and hatred, all pushed into the body of one poor puppy! And now, it's all gone to waste thanks to you!"
He then brought his hand down towards the side of his body, before looking around the walls and the graffiti surrounding him. He jumped down from the cannon, and started to growl at the sight of the art that was drawn upon them before turning around to face his enemies again.
"And take a look around the island, and what you've done to make this place a living wreck! See what kind of a difference it could make to your lives in the future?"
"I don't care what happens," started N-Trance, "as long as you don't live to see it!"
With a smirk on his face, he took a hold of the controls to the cannon again, before bringing it down towards Neo, whom stood there without fear in his mind. While it was being charged, three figures rushed from the sidelines before stopping right next to him.
"You need some help, right partner?" asked Snappy.
"How about three other helping hands?" Brio smiled at him back.
Near him, Boron gave out a light howl before jumping up onto his shoulders. This left Neo to smile over at him slightly, before facing the others, whom all showed confident looks back to them. Then, they all faced N-Trance together, whom was smirking with his sharp jaws out.
"Alright, let's all go together!"
He pulled down a knob, and the cannon started to fire over to them, causing them to start running away from the shots. This time, with the help of Boron tugging some of the others along when necessary, it seemed that they were much faster than before. Meanwhile, Tiko and the others rushed to the others on the sidelines, leaving them with a slight bit of fear.
"Bev, you try and guard the others against the siblings!" Neo ordered to her. "We'll take care of the cannon!"
The cry of his voice caused her to look on at him, whom gave in a thumbs-up pose back as he ran past her. She too started to smile, and she whistled over at the others, whom all got in battling poses, defending themselves against the attacks they have used in previous battles.
"That's it! You're not going too far for sure now!!!"
The cry of Snappy's voice started to echo around the room, and he soon brought himself into a fast handstand-cartwheel-dive combo away from the shots. He then looked at the nozzle, and jumped up on top of it with a smile starting to drive onto his face. But that caused Brio to stop and see his actions.
"Hey!!! Be careful!"
Before he could say anything else, Neo pulled him by the arm and they continued running. That left N-Trance to try and push Snappy from the edge, but he was too far to reach. Instead, he jumped up and went behind him, before bringing his arms into a headlock around his opponent.
"This will be your last straw! Get here!"
He then jumped onto his shoulders and pounded him in his seat, before pulling him off the cannon and they ended up rolling across the ground, fighting like they were in a cat fight. Meanwhile, Boron went to the front of the weapon, and stuck his nose inside it.
"Boron, what are you doing?" shouted Neo.
Without any second thoughts, he then jumped inside the cannon. The turret soon rise itself into the air vertically, and while that happens, the sound of shaking could be heard. That caused N-Trance to look on from his position at the ground, seeing the weapon in its incoming bad state.
"Don't touch the inside, whatever you do!"
More shaking was seen, before sparks started to fly up into the air. Most of which landed near the others causing light dents in the ground, while others just fizzed away into nothing while they were in the air. The sight of it caused Neo to rush up close to it.
"Quick Boron, get out!!! You're gonna get fried!"
It then started to glow red to blue non-stop, with smoke starting to rise from the seat. That caused Neo to take a step back, before a panel from underneath the turret exploded right where his face has previously been. He started to tremble at the glance of it.
"What's happening to the machine?!?!?"
"I don't know," panicked Brio, "but something's telling me it's something good!"
That caused Neo to look on at his partner, before the sound of more fizzing and a scream can be seen from the damaged machine. With a gasp, he rushed towards it, before pulling the turret in his direction, pulling out a soot-covered Boron from inside it and rushing away from it, before it exploded, sending a white flash around them.
"Whoa!!!" Snappy screamed out.
The flash caused him to lie down on the ground, to avoid being taken any hits. Most of the others somehow did the same, with the exception of Crunch whom ended up with the tips of his hair getting singed slightly. The light soon faded out, and they looked ahead of them - all that was left was a pile of scrap metal.
"Is that it?" Neo remained in silence for a while. "Destroyed?"
Neo soon rushed to the side of it, and touched a part of the panels, which felt hot on the touch. He soon dropped it on the ground, before looking over at N-Trance, whom has ended up being pinned by Snappy. He started to growl even more, before pushing himself up from his position.
"Maybe not the cannon, but you still got us!"
He then looked over at Tiko and the others, whom were still doing their job with Bev and the others, and by this point, half of her group were taken down by the others. This left Neo to advance closer towards N-Trance, with his hands clutching one another.
"Stand away from us! Remember, you don't belong here!"
He then crouched down to the pink egg's level, and took a hold of him on the legs, before dragging him towards Bev's group. Over there, Taylor brought out the stone, which soon started to glow with a bright yellow glow, before it changed itself into a bright portal.
"What are you doing?" N-Trance continued to wriggle from his position. "Don't do this to meeeee!"
But it was instantly too late. This left Neo to try and lift him into the portal, but... by the touch of his body, he was just too heavy for him. He then resorted to trying to carry him on the chest, but no luck. Then, Snappy and Brio came near him, and they all tossed him inside together. The sound of his screams started to echo around the room, before the portal was soon shut tight. This meant that N-Trance has finally been caught and brought back into his dimension. Silence came around them, before the four of them exchanged high fives to one another and looking back at Bev and the others.
"That's it!" Neo jumped up with a smile. "One down, four to go!"
They started to rush in their direction, with their fists out in front of them, hoping to accomplish something while they were there, but... once they stood near them, there was no sign of Tiko or any of his siblings. That caused them to look left to right, trying to track them down.
"Oh great, where are they?"
"I hate to say this Neo, but..." Bev paused. "They're escaping!!!"
She pointed up, and saw all four siblings escaping via what looked like a helicopter pack on Tiko's back. They all held onto one another, before hovering their way up so that they were level with the height of the walls. Angered by this, Neo rushed to the middle of the room, so that their shadows were cast over him.
"Come back here!"
He then saw them starting to hover towards the walls from their position. With a growl on him, he went towards the walls and started climbing onto them for himself, with his hair starting to trickle down the back of his forehead at this point. But from nearby, Crash came near him and took him by the shoulders, pulling him down to the ground.
"Let them go, Neo. I know you want them caught in jail for your troubled past, but now's not the time."
All that Neo could do was look down with disappointment at this point. He was so close from putting his siblings behind bars for everything they did to him, and now, this means that a long wait has to occur before his next attempt. All he could do was look back at Crash, and then at Sparky's body.
"If you still want me around, I want you to defeat N-Trance for me."
The thoughts of one of his last few remarks caused his eyes to shoot open, before he rushed back to his side.
-end of part 11-