-AUTHOR NOTES-

Whoa, I used to write stories like this? o.O()

Anyhow, this story itself was shown as one of my very first fanfics uploaded. "Schoolhouse Rock", a tale basically following the core elements of Neo Cortex's darker youthhood days, was first written in October/November 2000, and from there developed the start of something big. Two more stories then followed on from it and made it a stronger release than it previously was.

So what the heck am I doing here? Due to the site's new rules I've gone about novelising it. Hopefully it'll make things easier to read for some.

Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed... converting it?!?

Peace out,

-Rexy-

---

"For every hero there was a creator. For every villain there was a beginning. For every event there was a cause of action in which started it all. This... this is how it all began..."

A camera zoomed through a school window situated in Panama City in Florida, where a batch of children was in a lecture. Then it approached one of those pupils.
"What will come of my future?" he started thinking to himself. "The worries are in my head..."
The boy next to him slapped him on the face. Before the other tried to speak, he was stopped.
"Shhhhhh. They're going to announce the Pupil Of The Year award", he whispered with an excited tone.
"Thanks Gary", the first boy sighed with a bored expression.
A brown haired headmistress then managed to walk its way across the stage, wearing a purple dress and a sky blue band in her hair. She would have looked more like a popstar than a school teacher.
"Right", she spoke with a deep voice. "This year's star pupil always goes to the hardest working pupil in the school. This year is no exception as we had so many putting in their effort..."
While she spoke, Gary looked excited while the other boy didn't even bother, folding his arms with disgust. She herself showed a golden envelope with a copper seal on it, and it was there that she started to giggle with excitement.
"And this year's pupil of the year iiiiiiis..." The seal was removed, and a small card came out from the envelope, showing the name in front of her. "Why... It goes to Neo Cortex!"
There was a wild applause from the other pupils, thundering the hallway through every passing second. In the crowd, Gary was seen pointing at his partner, smiling at him.
"That's you! Go ahead and claim the prize!"
"But..." he paused. "I'm a bit shy."
Gary started laughing like a hyena. "Don't be chicken! Be a brave fox and make us proud!"
And so he did go up onto the stage to collect a golden trophy which showed itself to be a structure covered in antique gold, yet it still felt light enough for him to carry.
"Congratulations, young man", smiled the Head. "I hope you had a great time in your last year at elementary school and are looking forward to high school come 2 months time!"
Neo tried to respond back, but that was until a bell started to ring in the background, causing him to blink lightly.
"There goes the bell", smiled the Head. "I hope you kids have a great summer vacation! Play safe!"
And so it was there that the children instantly stormed outside without a care in the world. Within the crowd, Neo was seen pushing his way through them donning blue and white roller skates on his feet. He soon broke away from the group, and started making his way down a nearby street.

-FAN FICTION PRESENTS-

-A fanfic by RexRock-

-SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK-

The scene soon makes its change towards another area of the city, this time teenagers were seen emerging from a totally different school altogether. It was there that a girl with orange-blonde hair put into pigtails was seen looking down with disappointment and leaning on the walls of the school. Soon enough Neo emerged and approached her very quickly.
"Hey Hallie!" he smiled. "What's up?"
The girl still looked down and sighed, with worries totally filling her eyes. That caused him to start coming closer to her, placing a hand firmly onto one of her shoulders.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "Surely something's troubling you..."
"It's true", she sighed with disappointment. "I failed my final exam, and I'll never get a job."
"Cheer up - there are still the others", he blinked with optimism.
"I failed them too."
Neo's expression suddenly started to show shock. "Dear oh dear, I feel so sorry for you. At least you can still be a big help and try some private tuition."
"But it's too expensive and we aren't doing too well when it comes to good jobs", she quivered. "You and Lio are our only hopes."
"We'll see about that come the next few years", he smiled. "Until then, how about I take you for a ride home?"

And it was a few seconds later, where Neo and Hallie were seen skating home together, pulling off various stunts as they did so. Soon enough, they approached their home - an old, small flat - and went in instantly.
"HEY GUYS - WE'RE HOME!" they cried out in unison.
There was silence. They soon paid attention to 3 other people in the room, all looking down. There was a female with sapphire blue eyes and pink hair that reassembled a sheepdog's in style due to the droopy spikes around the back and spikes. Next to her sat a green haired youth covering one of his brown eyes with a handkerchief. And right at the far end of the table was a grown adult about 10 years older than Neo, with green eyes and blue messy hair that could mistake him to be a girl.
"Let me guess - another case of Down's syndrome", shrugged Neo.
"Very funny", said Hallie sarcastically as she walked her way towards the others. "I'll run through you all one by one. Lio?"
"Look what happened to me at football", cried the green haired male.
He brought the handkerchief away from his face and showed an eye socket that looked empty, oozing with red flesh and blood remains. The sight of it caused Neo to scream on the spot.
"Pass the sick bag!" he shouted as he covered his eyes with his hands. "Please try and cover it up..."
"Okay", he smiled as he quickly brought out a comb, took off a red baseball cap and used the comb to brush his fringe over the socket.
"That is something I shouldn't wake up to", Hallie started to shake. "Tiko?"
"Lio earned that missing eye because of a nuclear explosion", the blue haired male said with a straight face. "When I came to help him out, look at what it caused!"
Tiko managed to stand up on both feet, and once there he showed his back, where a brown furry monkey tail started to poke out from behind him, leaving it to twitch every few seconds.
"You have a tail?" gasped Neo with awe. "That's positive!"
"Maybe in some cases, but coolness isn't everything", said Hallie with a twitch of the nose. "Deksta?"
"I have 2 bits of bad news here", the pink haired girl said while shaking her hands. "One is that I was fired..."
"Neo and Lio will sort that out soon", she said, totally oblivious to what she said. But a few seconds later, her eyes widened. "YOU'RE FIRED?!? What could you do wrong?"
"I'll tell you later", she nodded. "The second thing is more serious. Our parents are dead in a recent car crash", she said without a care in the world.
"You..." Neo paused. "What..." He tried to get the words out of his mouth, but that just left a tear to fall down his face.
"Chill, please", Hallie said to Neo with a sympathetic look.
"And we have to leave this place tomorrow because no one is organized enough to look after one another", Deksta frowned.
Neo's expression started to show more fear and sorrow, leaving him to bring his head down. "It can't get any worse..."
"Here, let me take you upstairs", nodded Hallie.

Several minutes passed, until both Neo and Hallie settled themselves down on their parents' bed. Family photos surrounded the room, and animal structures were seen standing tall on every shelf. At the pillow end, Hallie brought out her hands, and rubbed the hands for her younger brother.
"Listen - We didn't expect this to happen."
"I didn't either", Neo sighed as he looked down with more pity on him. "We're doomed..."
"No we're not", she nodded with optimism. "I am sure that in the next hour or so, Tiko will order for an orphanage we can stay in until one of us is properly educated and gets a good job."
"Yeah, like me or Lio", he sighed with a depressed tone.
"It doesn't matter about that right now", she nodded. "For now we have a good home to come on our hands."
And so she left the room, with her torn green clothing trailing behind her. She soon made her way downstairs, leaving Neo alone in the room. He placed his back against the bed, showing a worried look upon him.
"What will become of my future now? Will it be..." he gulped. "Short-lived?"
He sat up on the bed, and looked out of the window. With worries about what his future might bring him, things may show that he could be better off dead. But tomorrow... may be just another day.

The next day followed, and a bright light started to shine down on the streets. Right there, all the siblings minus Tiko were seen standing outside a white building decorated with rounded bushes and deep blue window frames.
"There she is", beamed Deksta. "Our future home."
Hallie started to show a more hesitant look. "This looks a bit... you know... empty... but at least it should do until we get a real home."
"I don't know", sighed Neo.
"What do you mean you don't blinkin' know?" said Lio as he turned to him. "Look - last night when we were looking for those sort of places, you said that this is the only place in town that we can get into."
"More like the ONLY orphanage in town..."
Hallie made her way between the two brothers, looking closer towards their impatient expressions. "Take it easy, guys - we'll be in there faster than you can say... faster than you can say..." she sighed with a dumbstruck look. "Forget it!"
In the reception lounge, Tiko was seen in conversation with a man with sleek brown hair and a rounded face. Due to how he managed to groom himself, he would have been the type to groom himself 34 times an hour.
"What do you mean I can't come in?" Tiko asked him.
"Look - the only way you guys can come in is to wait for someone to come out", he said in a calm British accent.
"How old is the oldest?"
"They all range from birth to 40."
Tiko's expression suddenly started to become more desperate. "But we need a place to live! We had to move out, and we need shelter so badly!"
"Since you put it that way, I can offer you a place-"
"YES!" Tiko interrupted with a rash tone.
"-In 2 weeks' time", the man finished.
"2 WEEKS' TIME?" Tiko gasped. "But... we'll be all dead by then!"
"If that's the case, enjoy life while you can, unless you have $100 per person."
Tiko turned his trouser pockets inside out, revealing a 50 dollar bill on one side and three single dollar ones in the other. "But all I've got here is $53..."
"So if you're so poor, then I guess you should leave", leered the figure.
"But..." he then growled angrily before making his way towards the door. "Damn you!"
And so he slammed the door, causing a blue vase to fall from a shelf from above, shattering as it reached the floor. That caused the man to show an angry look about him.

The sight of Tiko making his way outside caused his siblings to look on at them with hope upon their eyes. But it wasn't long until he sat on a nearby step that they understood that something wrong happened.
"Sorry guys", he sighed, "but unless we have $500 there is no way we can go in. It's my fault for picking the wrong home..."
"No it's not", sympathised Deksta. "Neo said that it's the only homeless shelter in town, so it's not YOUR fault - it's mine. I wish I didn't get fired... then we'll still be home."
"Take it all back", replied Hallie as she folded her arms. "It's my fault for failing all of my final exams..."
Within the quarreling, Lio brought up his hands and instantly silenced his siblings. "None of you guys sent us into this deadly situation! What I'm trying to mean is that... IT'S ALL NEO'S FAULT!"
"Huh?" he blinked with a shocked expression.
"You tend to give us advice", started Lio. "Now you lead us to our downfall and you've given the Cortex family a bad name!"
"But I was just trying to help", he shreiked innocently.
"Help schmelp", he growled. "KILL HIM!"
Neo tried to dash away from his troubled siblings, but Lio approached him with some ooze, sticking him down onto the floor. Then Hallie drew out a whip and started pinning him down with it. Next, Deksta got a buzzer from out of her backpack and shocked him unconscious. Finally, Tiko came running and kicked him into a nearby river, drifting downstream.
"So long, kid!" Tiko vilely laughed towards his brother. "It's been NASTY knowing you!"
The rest of the crew laughed, before they all left from the river bank. That just left a trail of bubbles to form downstream, with each of them getting smaller and smaller in size.
That night, the progression of the bubbles continued through towards an underground area of the river. Brick walls were seen forming a dome-like ceiling, and inside that area a crocodile was seen sitting on the banks of the tunnel, fishing and singing to himself.
"We-e-e-eeeeeeeell, well it's the Big Show", he sang to himself in a fake Texas accent, before his line started to shake. "What the..."
Upon that reaction, he took a hold of the reel and started turning it, pulling the hook out from under the water and catching a hold on a brown coat. He looked to the surface, and saw Neo floating alongside it, his head lucky to be floating above the surface.
"A boy?" he blinked. "Crikey..."
He brought out his hands, helped him onto the bank and put him near a nearby campfire. Then there was a slight revival - both eyes opened slightly slowly, and he managed to sit up.
"Excuse me sir..." he spoke in a faint tone.
"Sir?" The crocodile blinked, before looking back at Neo. "Oh! I'm glad to see you alive and well!"
"I would like to thank you for saving my life, Mister..." He paused, trying to get the words out of his mouth. "Mister..."
"The name's Gator. Snappy Gator", the crocodile replied casually.
"Hi. I'm Neo Cortex."
It wasn't long until they both brought themselves into a brief handshake - the touch of Snappy's scaly hands soon started to feel a chilling tone upon the warmer flesh-based areas of Neo's.
"You seem pretty lucky", gasped the crocodile. "How did you get in there?"
"It's a long story!"
"I've got time", Snappy chuckled.
And so that left Neo to re-tell of the events that happened prior to the abuse. All that left Snappy to do was to look on at his partner with shock upon him. It wasn't long until he reached the part when Deksta fried him with her buzzer.
"And after the shock I never knew anything", he frowned.
"Maybe you were pushed into the river or something", said Snappy with an eye-twitch.
"You could be right..." Neo started, but paused. "But no matter what, I must - earn - revenge...!"
His looks showed a more vicious tone around them. During that time, he tried to stand up, only to see him fall back onto his knees in the process, looking heavily weakened.
"Stay down", Snappy advised. "If you want to fight your own siblings, then you have another thing coming."
"But Snappy!" Neo cried out to him.
"We need you to regain strength", he smiled while putting over a patchwork quilt over Neo's body. "If you want to fight your brothers, then I guess you need full energy for it."
"Good point", he yawned lightly. "I'm hoping to kill them off with a bang", he smiled viciously as he laid down and closed his eyes. "The harder the better..."
Snappy couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself, before looking onto the water surface, his reflection showing upon the surface. "Just you think - he'll be exterminated, just you wait and see. And that's the bottom line 'cause Snappy Gator says so."
A bright light shone through one of the bricks in the ceiling, showing only a small part of the night sky. Showing them both in the spotlight, they now know... that a new friendship is about to develop.
Several hours passed, and it was there that the sun started to rise above the skyscrapers. During that time, a few footsteps were heard nearby.
"Come on Hallie - Kill her!"
On the ground below, both Deksta and Hallie were seen fighting against a female wolverine with a cub in its mouth. With great speed and agility, she evaded the attacks from Hallie's whip.
"I can't do it... she's too fast!"
Deksta gave out an angry sigh. "Let me sort it out!"
She got her pistol out and started firing towards the wolverine, which still evades the attack, but is also getting tired out. The battle continues towards a river...
"OK, so if you're slightly better, how about you send her to oblivion", Hallie growled towards her sister.
"Let me rephrase that", said Deksta as she stuck her hand out in front of her. "How about we BOTH send her to oblivion!"
"Hey - yeah!"
Hallie charged in with the whip at one side and Deksta had her buzzer at the other. Then they both attacked at the same time and sent her and the cub flying into the river.
"Ha!" Deksta started to smirk towards it. "Serves ya right for picking a fight with us!"
Meanwhile, within the underground area of the river, Neo and Snappy were seen on the banks of the sewer suite, fishing together.
"I know why you do this activity, just for getting food, but…" Neo paused, "Fishing - in a sewer? You're kidding, right?"
"It's a way of life", replied Snappy. "Get used to it."
"But how can I get used to it when what we'll get at the end of our rods is nothing but toxic sludge?"
"That's when you're wrong", the alligator winked.
"What are you meaning by-" His speaking was soon interrupted by a vibration on his fishing rod. "Hang on - my line... it's shaking..."
"Told ya you can catch something down here! Reel it in!"
And so he did, bringing the line up as far as he could go. And there, he pulled out the wolverine cub, causing him to scream.
"HOLY COW!!!" Snappy exclaimed with widened eyes.
"I hope he's still alive", Neo said while pulling the cub off the hook.
Snappy then sighed. "If there's any way that that cub could come down here he might have been tossed in here."
"Good thought."
As they spoke, the cub started to regain consciousness. Opening both eyes, the first thing it saw was Snappy.
"Take it easy, little fella", smiled Snappy. "We won't bite!"
At the very sight of him, the cub brought out his mouth and bit Snappy hard on the finger before he started crying.
"OW!!!!!!!" Snappy exclaimed as he kissed his finger. "MY PINKIE!!!!!!!"
"There's no need to worry about that now - this cub here needs sorting out", smiled Neo as he brought the cub into his own arms. "Take it easy - everything's gonna be alright..."
At the sound of his words, the cub jumped down onto the banks of the sewer and started performing a series of actions.
"What's he doing - playing Taboo?" Snappy asked.
Neo growled before punching him in the chest with a playful force. "Look - he's in desperate need, like we all are." He then turned to the cub. "Could you repeat that more slowly, please?"
The cub nodded, before it started to perform its actions one by one. First, he rolled upon the floor and played dead.
"Someone's killed", frowned Neo. "Who did it?"
The cub then stood back on both feet, and placed his head fur into a small ponytail at the back of his head.
"Looks like a girl killed him", shrugged Snappy.
Finally, he picked a rag off the floor, put it on like a dress and pretended to clean the place up like a regular housewife.
"It's not him - her!" Neo's eyes widened. "Some girl killed his mother!"
"I know - it's Debbie Harry!"
"Get real", Neo sighed as he punched Snappy again.
The cub started bouncing up and down, with anxiety and tears in the eyes. He then landed on all fours, looking on at Neo with large expressive eyes.
"I don't know if I'm much help, but..." He then went inside his backpack and pulled out a small photo album. "The only two girls I know in which would dare to do that", he said as he turned to a photo of Hallie and Deksta, "are my sisters..."
At the very sight of the pair together, the cub growled madly, took the photo out and destroyed it by tearing it.
"Looks like we found the culprits", he blinked.
"And a double act!" Snappy exclaimed. "Now is not only a good time to get revenge on killing his mama, but it's also a good time to get revenge on what they did to you last night!"
"That was exactly what I was thinking!" Neo brought his attention to the cub. "Thanks for telling us that... er... what's your name?"
The cub looked on at Neo with a blank expression, but… that was before he sat down and gave out a shrug with his front paws.
"He doesn't have one", blinked Snappy.
"If that's the case, we'll give him one!"
They both look around the cub to see if they can find a suitable name. One thing that did catch their eye is the brittle boron chain around his neck.
"I've a good idea", smiled Neo. "How about we call him Boron."
The cub gave out a light smile, before looking onto its chain. By then various crumbs of it started to drop down to the floor.
"Looks like he likes it", Snappy grinned.
"And it looks like we're going to give in a taste of Tiko's medicine! Come on - let's go!"
The trio left the sewers towards the busy streets of the city at Rush Hour. After dodging a series of cars, they managed to make it into the most dangerous back streets they have ever seem to come across.
"Take it easy", said Neo as he petted Boron, whom was seen whimpering. "Not everything lasts forever..."
"Aw, come on - can't you think of anything else?" Snappy growled.
"What do you mean?"
"Look - there has to be another way to keep him quiet!"
"Like, what does it look like - Me putting him to sleep?"
"Not really, but you get the picture..."
While both Neo and Snappy spoke to one another, Boron paid attention to their conversation, giggling every now and again.
"What do you think you're laughin' at?" Snappy growled at him.
He didn't respond. Instead, he continued to laugh, trying to cover his more cheery facial expression as he did so.
"I'll soon find out", Snappy said as he pulled out some boxing gloves from out of nowhere and placed them upon his hands. "I'm gonna bop you one, kid..."
He charged towards the cub, but Boron managed to step out of the way. By that case, Snappy missed and tripped up into some trash cans.
"Snappy", Neo shouted as he went within the trash cans, pulling Snappy out. "Are you alright?"
"I'm gonna kid you one, bop", Snappy said dizzily before he collapsed on the ground.
"Darn", Neo sighed before looking down at the ground, his eyes widening. "Hang on..."
Boron rushed up to him, while Snappy slowly got back on his feet, rubbing his back as he did so.
"Ouch", he said painfully before looking on at Neo. "What have you found this time?"
"It's some sort of footprint."
"Oh yeah... any old footprint", the alligator said with a growl. "That won't lead us anywhere!"
"Are you sure, because I think I can recognize the trainer pattern, the humongous size and the brand anywhere."
"They can be anyone's shoes!" the alligator continued to growl.
"And look! The culprit left the trail through there", Neo smiled as he pointed towards a broken wooden fence.
"Are you sure it's your girls?" Snappy asked, before leering towards Neo. "Or is it someone who ran away from home?"
"I didn't run away!"
While they spoke, Boron started growling at the footprint and started following the trail in an instant. Snappy's eyes widened at his actions.
"I guess you're right..."
"See?" Neo chuckled before facing Boron. "Hey, wait for us! You don't know the way around these back streets..."
And so Neo and Snappy started following Boron along the footprint trail, ready to see what was coming into their viewpoint.

Several minutes later, the gang were in the darkest parts of the streets, with towering buildings causing large shadows upon the muddy ground, narrow pathways around them and more trash cans either standing up or lying on the floor.
"Creepy", blinked Neo at the sight of his surroundings.
"You can say that again", Snappy sighed.
Neo started to repeat himself. "Creep-"
Before he could say anything else, he was then given a sudden electric shock and started squealing. After the shock, he didn't look too healthy...
"Are you all right, kid?" Snappy asked with wide eyes.
"Never felt better", Neo said with a dizzy tone before collapsing on the ground.
At the sight of those actions, Boron started growling madly before looking around with a brisk pace upon him.
"So... you want to take us on, eh?" scowled a voice from the darkness.
"Look - I don't know who you are, but..." Snappy sighed angrily. "THIS IS GONNA GET REALLY UGLY!"
The person with the voice came out of the darkness, revealing herself as Deksta. Upon that sight, Boron started barking right at her.
"What do you think you're playing at?" she asked the alligator.
"Er... Tiddlywinks?"
After that response, Boron brought out his claws from his front paws and scratched Snappy on the foot.
"THAT HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed out with pain.
Deksta gave out a sadistic laugh. "Come on out and take care of these challengers!"
The other siblings came out from out of the trashcans. Upon that, Boron barked even madder at Hallie.
"Take it easy", Snappy said with a more panicked expression.
Boron, however, didn't take notice of his speech. For that instance, he immediately dashed straight towards them.
"We're dead", Snappy frowned. "The cub doesn't stand a chance!"
But to some surprise, he jumped straight up into the air, and used his paws to knock all four of the siblings into the sky!
"That cub's got power", screamed Hallie.
"At least we've learnt one lesson", gasped Deksta. "Never mess with a mother and its baby again!"
"Any ideas for next time?" Lio asked the group.
"I have one, but I'll explain it when we come down!" exclaimed Tiko as his face was faded away.
They ended up further away from the scene, all the way towards the other side of the city, where their bodies vanish with a sparkle in the sky.
"WOW!" Snappy exclaimed towards Boron. "You were amazing!"
Boron started dashing again, this time towards Neo. Once there, he started licking him on the face...
"Hey... stop... cut it out!" Neo laughed in a ticklish tone. "Great job!"
Boron smiled and gave out a light scream from his mouth, before jumping up in the air and giving out a backwards somersault.
"Well, now that those guys are gone, I guess we can rest easy", nodded Snappy.
"But I bet THEY will be out for revenge next", Neo sighed.
"So how come we fought them, then?"
"If we didn't fight them, then they'll try and take over the city… or something."
"I should have known... a very close call!" Snappy said while rolling his eyes. "Oh well... how about we go for a bit of R and R until they next mess with us?"
The gang headed back where they came towards the sewers, where they were left alone from civilization for a brief amount of time.

-end of part 1-