"Let's see", smiled Neo as he looked onto a checklist in front of him, with the sunlight blocking his eyes. "Spending money, sun tan, first-aid kit..." He went down the rest of the list cautiously. "I think we have everything for a good treat here!"
"Surf's up!" Brio cheered, with Boron following the same guise from the background.
Our heroes have arrived at Long Beach at the south of LA for a well- deserved break after taking care of Hallie. There was activity from everywhere the eye could see and the temperature was 100 degrees. The gang immediately hit the clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean for surfing...
About an hour later, the gang were having lunch – sandwiches formed through brown bread. They looked up, and saw a beautiful sight riding the skies.
"Cool!" Snappy smiled. "A paraglider!"
"I wish I drove one of those", said Brio with awe.
"Well, if you want, you can buy one from the surf... shack..." Neo's eyes widened. "AYE CARAMBA!"
"What?" Snappy exclaimed.
"It's heading straight towards us!"
"DUCK!" Brio shouted.
All but Snappy ducked, leaving their backs exposed to the sky. The gator, however, continued to look around with a light smile upon his face.
"QUACK!"
"I said get down", Brio growled while pulling him down to the ground.
While that happened, the paraglider flew right over them and crashed into the surf shack, knocking over surfboards, beach accessories and the shack's walls.
"Oh great", Neo frowned. "We'd best see if he's alright."
"Yeah", Brio nodded before he started walking over to the wreckage.
Once at the wreckage, the gang approached the injured paraglider, bringing as many surfboards and beach balls from the top of its body as they can.
"Excuse me, sir, but are you all right?" Neo asked.
"'Sir'?" It exclaimed in a deep female voice. "Who are you calling 'sir'?"
The paraglider stood up onto both feet and revealed her identity... and they saw in front of their eyes that it was Deksta!
"Oh no", sighed Neo. "Not her again!"
At the very sight of her, Boron started growling with fury as he cautiously came further and further towards her.
"You think the powers of siblings are useless?" she sighed. "I very much doubt it!"
"She looks weak", Brio smirked. "We can thrash a girl!"
"Stand back", sighed Neo. "She isn't all looks and no power..."
"How can you tell?"
"Er..."
Deksta tried to attack them, but the gang only just jumped out of the way, leaving her to step into a sandcastle before turning around.
"We need backup here", panicked Brio. "SNAPPY!"
No answer. That left him to start looking around with widened eyes showing straight across his face.
Neo then sighed angrily. "Don't tell us we've lost... him... ooh..." He then looked to his right. "Snappy's got a girlfriend!"
In front of his eyes, Snappy was seen back on the sands speaking to a female alligator, smiling towards her.
"So, sweet cheeks, what's your sign?" he asked her.
"SNAPPY!" cried Neo's voice.
"Oh", Snappy blinked before standing onto both feet. "Hang on, sexy mama!" He then rushed to the others. "What?"
"HER!" Brio exclaimed while pointing towards Deksta.
"Stand back, because this is gonna get rocky!"
The gang were starring angrily at Deksta for what she tried to do to them, before she came closer towards them.
"If you're thinking of bopping us into next week you're bopping up the wrong palm tree!" Snappy growled to her.
"I'm not! You know what your little friend did to me in the past..."
"That is not true!" Neo shouted.
"Oh, of course it's false – as false as Tiko becoming the emperor of the world!" she smirked viciously.
While that happened, Boron growled and started attacking her, with his claws straight out in front of him.
"Hold it!" she shouted back.
All of a sudden, Boron crashed into her and bounced back towards the others, rolling upon the ground as he did so.
"What?!?" Brio exclaimed. "This is impossible!"
"Tsk tsk tsk!" she smirked. "Look..."
She pulled up a trouser leg to reveal a plate of armor attached straight onto it. She then laughed viciously before walking towards the four of them.
"Kickin' Kylie Minogue!" Snappy gasped.
"And that's just for starters!" she smirked back.
"Look – you're messing with the undefeated champion of the PCSW - Panama City Superstar Wrestling!"
"You fought a stray cat", Brio sighed while thinking back to that one of Snappy's many tall tales exclaimed in-between state visits.
"And won!"
Deksta growled straight towards him. "OK, show me what you've got."
Right there, Snappy tried to tackle her with a charge... but he also bounced off the metal plating.
"Ha-ha!" she smirked. "Doesn't work!"
But suddenly, someone, or something, did a submission on her from behind, pulling her straight to the ground.
"Hey – stop!" she shrieked.
The identity was revealed – Snappy's girlfriend! She showed herself in full form – an alligator with long blonde hair, a sky blue sleeveless shirt and light brown hot pants.
"Hey – nice shot, sweet cheeks!" Snappy smiled to her.
During that time, the girl winked towards his direction and crouched down to Deksta's level doing something else to her.
Five minutes later, Deksta was soon brought back on her feet, leering at the others while pointing her back towards the main road.
"I bet a submission didn't hurt me! Bring in what else you have!"
"You got it!" Brio smirked. "Go Boron!"
Boron tried to tackle her again... and this time he shunted her into the air, knocking her into a viper parked across the road.
"Ouch... that was impossible..." She pulled up her trouser leg, seeing her own legs barely covered. "What? My armor's gone?"
During that time, the gang rushed up to Deksta, showing ambitious expressions upon their own faces.
"Looks like it's the cells for you", Neo growled back towards her.
"I very much doubt it!"
She brought out a toothpick and used that to start the viper's engine. Once there she stepped on the gas and drove off.
"She's getting away!" Brio exclaimed.
"Quick – to the jeep!" Snappy jumped.
The gang rushed to their jeep and hopped in all together, looking onto the road around them. Neo then growled as he took out the keys and started the ignition.
"OK, we need full power here!" Snappy commanded to him.
"I'll try!"
The car screeched and zoomed off at 100 km/h towards Deksta, whom was already seen far ahead of them. But little did they know that ahead of them was a quiet street for a main road – quiet as in hardly any cars. It was busy with plenty of activity on both sides with friendly people welcoming welcome visitors to what's in store...
"Hot dogs! Hot dogs! Get them while they're hot!"
"Come on get your ice cream while it's cold, kids!"
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Cerulean Wizard hits Hollywood!"
All of a sudden, two vehicles came from one end of the streets, one being a brand new red viper, the other being a cream colored jeep, both traveling at the average of 120 km/h. As they rode through the streets they chased off the chef, capsized the ice cream truck and crashed into the paperboy's stand, sending newspapers coming through the car roofs...
"Why did you have to crash into the paperboy's stand?" Brio asked Neo.
"Forget about that – I can't see where I'm going!"
"Let me help", Snappy smiled.
Snappy tried to move all the newspapers from the driver's area and stuffed them at the back.
"This is looking hard", blinked Snappy before looking at the main story. "Oh look... I FOUND TIKO!"
"Later", growled Neo. "For now, we have someone else on the run." He then turned towards Brio. "Brio! Try slowing her down..."
"It would be my pleasure!"
He got a pistol from out of his backpack, and climbed upon the back, trying his best to keep his balance as he did so.
"Hey girlie!" he shouted towards her.
"Yeah, what?" Deksta asked while turning towards him.
"Eat this!"
He fired the pistol, causing one of the tires to pop and the viper spinning round until it crashed into a tall building.
"Nice shot, Brio dude!" Snappy cheered.
Neo smirked back. "Now we can leave her to the boys in blue!"
But to some surprise, Deksta came out of the car all in one piece, with her hair sticking up as a minor exception.
"Oh, shave my legs and call me Pussy Galore", Snappy frowned.
"How did she do that?" Brio asked.
While that happened Boron growled angrily, jumped straight out of the jeep and started chasing her across the street.
"That's using the old brain cells!" Neo chanted.
"Yeah!" cheered Snappy. "Go Boron! Go Boron!"
Boron chased her into a block of flats. When he got in, he completely lost track of her, leaving his eyes to widen. After that, the other members of the gang came in and saw what happened.
"Er, at least you tried, fuzzy", Snappy shrugged.
"Look – there still could be a hope", Neo smiled. "With Deksta trapped inside, it would be no problem hunting her down!"
"Yeah!" Brio responded. "Now we need a way to get her out..."
"Let's see", said Neo as he looked upon a nearby map of the building. "Brio, you check the top."
"But I'm afraid of heights!"
"Here", Neo smiled while pulling out a bag of jawbreakers from his pocket and putting it in Brio's hands. "Whenever you get scared, suck on these as hard as you can."
"Thanks", Brio nodded.
Neo then turned towards the others. "Snappy, you check the underground."
"Roger!"
"Boron, you search from the ground floor to the 7th floor."
"YEAH!" he said with a toothy smile.
"Snappy's missus, you can check the area from the 14th floor to the 21st. I'll scram on the middle."
Everyone nodded with agreement with the decision, before they all started walking towards separate lifts and staircases.
"Remember – if anyone finds Deksta, contact us on the radar", Neo said while pointing towards a small green mobile unit in his hand.
They all nodded together, showing similar devices upon their own hands before putting them away quickly.
"OK, LET'S MOVE!"
The gang split up to their areas in order to find Deksta. Following Brio, he went up the steps to the ceiling and went through a loft for the rooftop. This is where he started his search for Deksta and where he started sucking on Neo's jawbreakers for calmness. After just an hour of searching, he had no luck...
Brio started to pant. "I very much doubt that I'll find her. I bet the rest of the gang will have better luck..."
Just as he was about to get his walkie-talkie out of his pockets a footstep was heard from the above floor. He immediately gasped at the chance...
"If that's someone arriving here, I'll check it out", he smiled.
He saw that the floor upstairs is the roof. He climbed out of a window above him and looked everywhere...
"That's strange. I sensed someone here", he blinked with curiosity.
Then a dark shadow appeared from behind the lift, showing itself to be a figure with shouder-length hair.
"Are you okay up there?" Brio asked.
"I am... after I rid of you!"
"Eh?"
The person came out of the darkness, showing itself in full glory. At the sight of it, Brio gasped and pointed towards… her.
"Deksta! You..."
"I know – tried to spoil your day at the beach", she said while rolling her eyes. "That's a daft excuse..."
"You call that daft! You did something more harmful than that. You tried to kill two of my friends!"
"Lame!" she laughed sadistically. "If I really slaughtered them, what would you do to us?"
Brio's body started to glow with a green aura. "First I would do this and then screw you up!"
In an instant, Brio mutated into the beast, runs up to her and tries to tackle her, but Deksta jumped out of the way and body slammed on him before he looked behind him.
"Say your prayers, beastie boy!"
Brio tried to break free, but he mutated back and became unconscious during that occasion. She then smirked before looking on ahead of her.
"You are no match for me, dork!" she smirked viciously.
Suddenly, a voice was heard from the staircase, leaving her ears to prick up at the sight of them, her eyes widening with them.
"That's what you think!"
"Oh yeah?" She started to turn around. "Come over here, you..." Her expression then showed fear. "Uh-oh..."
She saw the rest of the gang looking angry towards her, Boron especially - he was growling with all his fury!
"How did you guys know all about it?" she asked.
"Ask her!" Neo said while pointing towards the female alligator.
"Yeah! I bet she heard it all!"
The female alligator nodded towards his direction, with her hair blowing lightly upon the breeze around them.
"You are no match for me!" Deksta shrieked towards them.
"Oh yeah?" Neo shouted back. "Give it to her, Boron!"
Boron roared with rage and pushed her off the building. Deksta screamed for help, but she had no hope – she hit the ground and looked gored on impact.
"Ouch, that HAS to hurt!" Snappy shouted back.
Half an hour later, the police and an ambulance arrived to sort everything out. During that time, Neo was seen confronting a police officer, looking upon him with curious eyes.
"Having seen all the artefacts and listened to your story, Mr. Cortex", he started, "we have plans for our casualties. Deksta will be taken to hospital for a blood replacement before heading to jail, while Brio will have an examination on his head injury. We don't know if he'll still be alive..."
"It will be all right", Neo nodded. "We'll wait for him in the hospital's waiting room."
"What do you mean, 'we'?"
"There's me, Boron at my feet and..." Neo looked around – not a single sign of Snappy and the female alligator anywhere. "Where did the crocs go?"
"Don't worry about that – we're sure they'll come back."
After coming down from the top of the building Neo and Boron head straight towards the hospital for Brio's sake.
3 hours passed since the surgery started, and a whole day since the long battle against Deksta. Neo was staring into space, while Boron was asleep on the couch...
"Brio, if you're a goner", frowned Neo, "we're all going to miss you. We'll remember the good times and the bad times, but most importantly, how much effort you put in to help us out... please... don't go..."
A tear ran down his cheek and onto the cold tiled floor. Then he looked down with disappointment. But suddenly the doors of the surgery room opened. At the chance Neo turned to the door eagerly, while Boron woke up and looked ahead. Over there, the nurse came out holding Brio's hand. At yet, his head hasn't been seen yet.
"The operation has been proved to be both successful and a failure", she said in a sweet voice.
"How can it be a failure if Brio's still alive?" Neo asked her.
"See for yourself."
Brio popped his head out. Immediately Boron screamed and jumped behind the couch. Neo, however, looked both surprised and scared at the same time...
"Brio... what... happened to you?" Neo asked with shock.
"We had to do some minor alterations on him", she said while lowering her head. "Because of a heavy blood loss, you can see why the bolts are there."
"A very unhealthy combination, but why?"
"We were told to save his life, and that's what we did. And besides, we need to keep his head screwed on!"
Neo gave out a worried giggle. "Looks... odd..."
"I believe s-s-so!" Brio stuttered.
"I hope you can cope with the pressure, Brio dude", nodded Neo.
"Course I c-c-c-can!"
"OK..." Neo's eyes then twitched. "Hang on... has he started stuttering?"
"Let us explain", smiled the Nurse. "The attack lost a small part of Brio's brain, causing him to stutter a bit. Elsewhere, he's doing just fine." She turned towards him. "Aren't you?"
Brio nodded before turning to the couch. "Boron, y-y-you can come out n-n-n-now!"
Boron popped his head out slowly, but then dived back at the sight of his face. Worried eyes started to show right upon him.
"Calm d-down, there's nothing to b-b-b-be afraid of!" Brio smiled. "I'm still the s-s-same person inside!"
Boron popped his head out again, still shaking with fear upon his own two eyes. He brought his head up to Brio's level, trying to hold in his fear.
"There. Th-th-that's it! G-good boy!"
Boron looked at Brio, stopped shaking and smiled towards him, He then placed forward one of his paws, touching his companion's right hand.
"There you g-g-go! It's not t-too bad!"
Then, just a few seconds later, Snappy came rushing straight into the waiting room, looking excited.
"Guys – you won't believe this", he smiled.
"Snappy, not now", Neo growled.
"PLEASE! IT WILL MAKE YOU SMILE!"
Neo resorted with a sigh. "OK, but make it snappy, Snappy!"
"My girlfriend and I had a session last night..."
"Oh, so th-that's where you were", Brio said while shaking.
"And?" asked Neo in a bitter tone. "What happened?"
Snappy paused for a while to build tension. He then took one step forward, looking onto the others with a wide toothy smile.
"She's pregnant!"
Boron fainted at the exact response, while both Neo and Brio gasped with shock upon their own two faces.
"What?!?" Snappy asked. "Is it a bad thing?"
"No, it isn't", Neo shook his head smiling, "but tell her we said congratulations!"
A cheer was heard from the surgery room, leaving the three of them to start smiling and chuckling together.
"I guess they're all proud, huh?" Snappy asked.
"Yeah, but let's get b–b-back to the matter at hand", Brio said while nodding. "You s-said that you found Tiko, r-r-r-right?"
"Yeah. It said in all the newspapers that ended up in our jeep during the chase that's he's over at Hollywood. It was said that the streets were entirely destroyed and so will the movie studios if we don't hop it!"
"Hang on", Neo said while bringing Boron up onto all fours, whom was starting to regain his senses. "We're ready to roll!"
"Yahoo!!!" Snappy exclaimed while jumping up on both feet.
In an instant, the gang rushed out of the hospital and ran towards the Hollywood region as fast as they could.
It wasn't long until they actually got there. But even at this dark stage they were still dashing across these streets trying to track down Tiko...
"This is gonna take ages to find him", said Snappy while panting. "Can't we just split up to cover more ground?"
"Wh-wh-what if we l-l-l-lose each other?" Brio asked him.
"We did it while we were looking for Deksta", he growled back. "And please will you stop with the stuttering thing? It's getting on my nerves!"
"Take it easy, Snappy", nodded Neo. "Hollywood is a bigger place than that office building, and if we split up, we could easily get hurt, like Brio was last time."
While he spoke, Boron starts shaking with fear, leaving him to cower right behind legs as he did so.
"So, any ideas on Tiko's hideout?" Neo asked.
"I don't know about this", frowned Snappy.
While that happened, a missile tries to attack the gang, but it went right through them and hit the Warner Brothers' water tower.
"We've an idea now", Neo smiled while point towards one side of the street. "It came from THAT direction!"
"Cool!" Snappy smiled. "That's where they're filming that Young Indiana Jones TV show thing!"
"I've heard of h-h-him", Brio smiled. "He's ace as a character!"
"Enough with the compliments", Neo gestured towards the others. "Let's roll!"
Boron howled with anger while the gang rushed towards the studios, leaving behind loud footsteps as they did so.
Five minutes later, the group were seen looking around the walls and gates for a way to get inside the complex.
"This doesn't look too healthy", sighed Neo. "There are patrol guards everywhere!"
"Lame!" Snappy scowled towards the others. "I handled twice as many buggers back in '71 trying to break in to a sewage treatment works trying to save a little boy that strolled down there."
"If y-y-y-you know how to beat security p-patrol", Brio said towards him, "Give us a str-str- strategy!"
"Er..."
"Think about it", smiled Neo.
"I'm trying..."
A few seconds passed, and it was there that Snappy hung his head down low, as well as both of his arms.
"Sorry, my mind is blank."
Neo turned his attention to him. "I'll give you a hint – Indiana Jones."
"Indiana Jones... THAT'S IT!"
Five minutes went on, and the security patrol guards were still seen guarding the entrance as usual, until Neo and Brio came in dressed up as deliverymen, holding Snappy in a box and Boron tied on the neck in chains acting atrocious."
"What can I do for you?" the guard asked them.
"Special delivery from the African jungles!" they exclaimed with unison.
Boron was still acting as mad and Snappy was shaking about in the box, almost bringing the box into shreds.
"What do we have here?" the guard asked.
"Just some p-p-p-props for the latest Indiana Jones s-s-show!" Brio smiled.
"Come in", the security guard smiled. "The director's been inspecting you."
The gates opened and the gang went straight inside, walking upon the clean tarmac ground in front of them.
"Don't forget – the shooting's on the right of the water tower and he's in studio 8", the guard commanded them.
"Thank you!" both Neo and Brio waved back.
They took the right and then they stopped out of the way of the guard's sight. From there, their faces showed relief.
"Phew!" Neo smiled. "Thank goodness we got in."
"Yeah", Snappy sighed while he brought his head out of the box. "I thought I was gonna die! You know, suffocation..."
"That was j-just the hardest stage!" smiled Brio as he untied Boron from the chains.
"I agree", Neo nodded back. "Now we can go for Tiko."
"And look", Snappy smiled as he pointed towards a set of dusty footprints on the ground. "He left a trail of footprints here!"
"Let's follow them!"
"We'd better not – they'd send us in a loop here. We're not lucky for this."
"Luck doesn't matter. Just remember the moral – don't give up hope."
"Why not?"
"Because... er... ah, forget it", Neo sighed.
"Guys – l-l-look!" Brio exclaimed.
"What?" Snappy asked with widened eyes. "And you're looking at the wrong place, Brio dude."
"It isn't. Get over h-here..."
And so they did, with Boron growling with all his fury. Brio was seen looking through a keyhole in one of the doors to the studios. That was where the trail of footprints ended.
"This is no time for I Spy", Snappy growled. "We're tracking down footprints."
"Exactly!" Neo smirked. "And they end here!" he said while randomly pulling out a wooden mallet and striking Snappy on the head.
"Ouch", the gator exclaimed dizzily.
"Anyway, what can you find in there?"
"There's some s-s-s-sort of machine", Brio gasped while looking through the keyhole.
"A machine? It's probably a robot of some kind."
"Or maybe an android!" Snappy smiled back.
"Snappy – a robot and an android are nearly the same thing."
Snappy's expression showed confusion. "But I thought they..."
"Oh well, let's s-see if we can get in", Brio said while pulling hard on the door handle. "Too b-b-bad the door's locked."
Inside the building, Tiko was seen walking straight towards the machine himself, with his tail twitching from his position.
"Soon, soon, my master plan will be unleashed, and the whole of the United States will be destroyed, and I will start a new generation!" he then laughed sinisterly.
"Is there a way to knock the door down?" Neo asked the others, looking back and forth between the door leading inside the studio and his companions.
"Of course", he smiled. "Remember – I got a red belt in karate, so I'll handle it."
Snappy tried to karate kick the door down, but he failed and became exhausted soon after his attempt.
"OK, so str-str-str-strength isn't everything", Brio sighed.
Suddenly, the door creaked its way open, leaving their expressions to instantly widen at the sight of it.
"Wow, Snappy – you made it!" Neo exclaimed with shock.
"Let's r-roll!" smiled Brio as he stood near Neo's side.
At that moment in time, the gang rushed into the building with dignity showing upon their own faces, as well as the occasional feeling of excitement.
"Looks like I'm ready to launch my master plan", smirked Tiko from inside, continually looking on at his machine.
During that time, the footsteps of the gang were heard. That caused him to look behind him, seeing them all standing there.
"Some visitors? The travelers of the foolish American dreams..." He then folded his arms. "You'll never save yourselves this time!"
"What do you want with the states?" Neo asked him.
"Yeah!" Snappy cried. "We ain't done nothin'!"
"Yeah you did – you locked up my siblings!" Tiko growled back. "Now, I want revenge!"
"R-r-revenge isn't everything", Brio said while shaking his head.
"I can't agree more", Neo smirked back. "Now let's see what your lame excuse for a master plan is."
"Very well, then, but I shall not lose", Tiko sneered back.
Tiko stepped out of the way and unveiled the project. It showed itself as a tall tower filling the area, with a powerful bright light at the top.
"Oh my goodness!" Neo exclaimed. "That is the biggest atomic bomb I have ever seen!"
"Yeah!" Snappy followed. "But where's the timer?"
Tiko pointed up towards the top of it. "Once the timer reaches zero, the whole of the United States of America will be destroyed, giving me room to start a new league!"
"That's the d-d-dumbest plan I've ever heard, and it c-c-c-can't even wipe out the w-warehouse!" Brio growled, with Boron following suit.
"Well, we'll see about that", Tiko smirked while using a dial around his wrist to switch the machine's timer to 3 minutes. "That's just enough time for me to flee the country!"
"You aren't going anywhere, bro!" Neo growled back to him. "You're coming down with us!"
Neo charged into Tiko like a football player and repeatedly punched him in the face until he was bruised.
"Ouch", he said back with pain.
"Come down with us if you want us gone", Neo sighed back.
"I very much doubt it!"
Tiko pushed Neo out of the way and once again tried to the door, where the rest of the gang were waiting.
"Like Neo dude said", Snappy sneered, "you ain't goin' nowhere, Aquarius!"
"Prove it", Tiko smirked back.
"OK, here goes nothin'!"
Snappy did a karate kick on Tiko in the nuts and Boron sneaked up from behind with a submission. Tiko squealed with pain and once again collapsed.
"If you want us to die, forget it!" Snappy smirked.
Tiko charged out again and checked the timer record. 90 seconds. With panic, he rushed out towards the door and tried to open it. After a good attempt, he started panicking...
"G-g-g-guess who has the k-key!"
Brio was seen with the key in his hand. Then Tiko went in a rage and knocked down Brio, taking the key from him.
"SUCKER!"
He rushed for the door and opened it, but right in front of him… he saw that the police were there to stop him.
"FREEZE!" exclaimed the main officer.
At the very sight of him, Tiko stood still and got taken in by the cops. As soon as he vanished from sight, the others all smiled to one another.
"Nice job, guys!" Neo smiled. "That's all the siblings finally taken on."
"Yeah, b-b-but we had one thing left t-t-t-to sort out", Brio panicked.
"What?"
"The bomb!" Snappy panicked. "It's gonna go off any minute!"
"I'm on it!" Neo said as he ran towards it.
"Be careful!"
Boron howled with nerves as Neo started climbing to the top of the bomb, where the timer was in wait. The timer was counting down – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6... He climbed with all his speed and fury, and by the time he was at the top, the timer was on 3...
The timer was going – 2... 1... He was approaching the timer with great care and was about to deactivate it...
And it was there… that the timer reached zero.
It has been a few days since the attack occurred. At that moment in time, Snappy was seen in a hospice (as apposed to hospital) bed, resting, with a life machine next to him. Several casts and bandages covered his body. A few seconds later he got awakened by the nurse coming in to check on him...
"How are you feeling?" he asked him.
"Not too good", he said in a faint voice. "I don't have a clue what happened..."
"Your friend stopped the whole of America being blown up... by blocking the blast."
"Blocking it?!?" Snappy shouted, before he started giving out wheezy coughs.
"Take it easy, or else you'll..."
"...weaken my lungs a bit more, I know", he frowned.
"I know how you feel, but your time has to be up sometime", she sympathized.
"Yeah", he said while lowering his head. "But how's the others?"
"Well..."
"Starting with my girl. She is very important to me."
"She escaped the blast, and she is still pregnant", the nurse responded very quickly.
"Thank the stars!" Snappy smiled. "And..."
"Boron, however, got caught in the blast and started acting a little... strange since then", she blinked back.
"Strange?"
"Yeah. He tried to free Tiko and the others from their cell."
Snappy then raised his voice again. "What a plonker!" He then suddenly started choking.
"I said calm down, Snappy", the Nurse smiled. "Everything will be all right."
"I hope so", he frowned.
The nurse then sighed with disappointment, before she walked her way straight towards the other side of the bed.
"And what happened to the others?" he asked her.
"You mean Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio?" she said in return. "They survived, but..."
"But?!?"
"But they started acting... cruel to everyone."
Snappy then shouted again. "They're even more dumb..." He then attempted to swear, but he then gave out wheezy coughs again.
"Take it easy", the Nurse smiled while placing a hand upon his shoulders. "The last place they were seen were on a cruise ship heading for Australia."
"Australia? You mean the way down under?"
"Yes, but they were caught in a freak storm near 3 islands off the South East coast and haven't been seen since."
"I hope they survive", he frowned.
"We have big wishes for them, whether they're nasty or not."
"I wish them luck too."
The nurse then looked down in disappointment, before she walked her way towards the other side of the bed, looking through the window as she did so.
"Well... I guess it is time to say goodbye to this world", Snappy frowned while looking down at his fatal condition.
"We'll miss you loads" the nurse sighed miserably.
The nurse reached for the life support machine next to the hospice bed, and placed her hands upon its switch.
"Farewell, Snappy", she sighed. "It's been nice knowing you."
And in an instant, she flipped the switch, causing the generators to gradually close down around him.
He then started to speak faintly. "I'll... be... with... everyone's... hearts... forever..."
Having spoken those words, Snappy started to shake a bit... and eventually freeze, and his eyelids drop over his eyes slowly. From there the nurse looked on with even more disappointment. Snappy Gator has died.
"You surely are in my heart", the Nurse said as she walked out of the ward.
"It has now been shown that when you're alone, you help no one. As for being with a great friend like Snappy, you get a lot out of you. In fact, it may have been a bit too much for Neo Cortex, but in the end it's all down to the effects from your enemies. After all, it takes one mad family to cause such a dramatic effect on a previous generation.
As a result, they managed to save the Earth, but they didn't manage to save themselves."
-fin-
"Schoolhouse Rock" is © Rexy 2000. Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio are © Universal Interactive Studios 1996-2000. All other characters are © Rexy 2000. All rights reserved.