Chapter 3 – Leap Through Time
A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for all the positive feedback. I really appreciate it.
Enjoy!
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Cortex huffed as he stood beside his assistant, watching their new alley working in front of the computer screen while more androids walked past them. He looked around the hub, eyeing everything with interest.
"Impressed?" N. Tropy asked, glancing back at him with a smirk.
"What? Me? N-no! I was just feeling bored. That's all!" he sputtered and Brio buried his face in his hands. N. Tropy snorted at this and returned his attention to the screen, entering the new coordination as the next group of androids moved forward and disappeared in a portal.
"If I may ask….how exactly are we going to go about this? Even if your machine could send us back in time, the crystals could be anywhere in the world," Brio asked after Cortex whispered in his ear.
"That won't be a problem. I programmed this machine to pick up on the energy signals coming from the Power Crystals and send you where those signals are the strongest. I have opened all time portals in each area so you can always leave whenever you like," N. Tropy answered without turning to them.
That got Cortex thinking. Travelling to any point in history with the knowledge of what will happen in the future and the freedom to do whatever he wanted with that knowledge. It was beyond tempting. "Say…." He began. "Can your machine send me back to any where I want?"
"It can, but why do need it?" the man in armor asked.
"To fix a few things that I couldn't prevent," he answered, his tone casual. Like getting defeated by that idiot and losing my castle.
"Using the Time Twister for personal goals is out of the question," N. Tropy stated firmly, causing Cortex to scowl.
"Why not? It's a time machine! Imagine all the things we could achieve by using it to its full potential!"
"Time is a delicate thing, Cortex, and tampering with it can have terrible consequences. Everything you change will have unforeseen results. You could end up preventing this encounter from ever happening or worse, you could end up destroying everything," N. Tropy explained stoically. "Which is why you mustn't mess around with anything when you're using my machine,"
Cortex huffed and looked away. "Alright, fine."
Suddenly, Uka-Uka appeared with another person. He was almost shorter than the two scientists and his face was half robot, but what stood out the most about him was the missile stuck to his head.
"Who's that?" N. Tropy asked firmly. "You know I don't welcome anybody near my creations,"
"This is N. Gin. I brought him to assist Cortex," Uka-Uka answered.
"What!?" Brio exclaimed in disbelief. "But that's my job!"
"Wait….I know you two!" N. Gin muttered.
"Yes, we were in the same class back in the evil school. I liked that robot suit you created," Cortex replied.
"Dr. Cortex!" Brio screeched angrily.
"Enough! I brought you all here to ensure there will be no errors in our plan. You three should and will get along. Failure is not an option for you," Uka-Uka snapped, putting himself in front of Brio with his eyes blazing. The man nodded nervously under the mask's glare, but exchanged angry looks with N. Gin once the mask turned away.
Uka-Uka suddenly a presence nearby, but when he looked around he saw nobody. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged it off as nothing.
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Aku-Aku teleported back to the islands, grass blowing back a little in his appearance. He looked around the beach and sighed, glad to be back home. Wasting no time, he hurried back to the house and slipped through the window.
He was about to call out for the two siblings when he heard a sudden cry.
"Ouch!"
Aku-Aku followed the noise in confusion and found them in the kitchen. Coco was kneeling in front of Crash, trying to press a piece of cloth against Crash's leg.
"Crash, quit being a baby about this. It doesn't hurt that much," Coco muttered and Crash grumbled under his breath.
"Children?" The two yelped at his voice and looked surprised to see him.
"Oh, Aku-Aku. You're back!" Coco said, smiling nervously.
"Crash, are you alright?" The mask flew over to check on Crash in concern. His hair was disheveled and one hand of his was wrapped with bandages. He also noticed Coco wasn't in a much better state. "What happened to you two? How did you end up like this?"
At their hesitation, he knew the answer. "You two went to the forest, didn't you?" he asked and their ears fell. He scowled. "I can't believe it. I specifically told you two stay away from there!"
"We're sorry, but monsters started attacking the people in the forest. We couldn't just stay here and do nothing!" Coco protested.
"I'm not saying it's wrong that you tried to save the villagers, but what you were doing wasn't going to fix the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"Even if you defeat the monster, my brother's dark magic won't simply disappear. It will just find another creature or object to mutate," The mask explained. "That's why I need to be there to get rid of it."
"Oh," Coco wanted to slap her forehead. All their efforts to protect everyone for the past two days had been only delaying the disaster and possibly making it worse. It would had ended badly for them if Aku-Aku hadn't returned so soon.
He sighed. "I'm going to head out to take care of any monsters in the forest. Once I'm done, I'll come back to tell you of what I have found out." He turned around and headed for the window.
Crash suddenly hopped off the chair and ran over to him.
"What is it, Crash?"
Crash pointed at himself and then outside, punching the air. It soon dawned the mask that he wanted to help him fight off the monsters.
His frustration at their actions melted away and warmth filled him as memories of their first adventure flashed in his mind. "Thank you, Crash, but I have regained my full power. I can defeat them by myself this time. Just wait for me here, alright?" he said, smiling patiently.
Crash looked unsure, but nodded and watched him leave through the window.
Two hours later, Aku-Aku returned and began telling them of his findings.
"I spent the last two days tracking my brother and found out something quite dangerous. He's in contact with Dr. Cortex."
"WHAT!?" The two siblings muttered in shock. "A-are you sure?" Coco asked.
Aku-Aku nodded grimly. "I know this is very worrying, but I have seen it with own eyes. My brother even sounded like he already knew who Cortex is. They seem to be gathering allies for a new evil plan,"
Crash looked down at his lap, shivering at the memory of the scientist and the possibility of his return.
"What do we do, Aku-Aku?" the girl asked.
"We must stop them before whatever they're planning comes into fruition. We have to leave the islands and go after them. With those two working together, the whole world is at risk," the mask stated. "Follow me!"
Crash blinked in surprise. Leaving the islands? Really? Despite the danger that awaited them, a huge grin split his face at the thought of seeing the rest of the world. He glanced at his sister who seemed to be having the same thought he had. Wasting no time, the two siblings got up and quickly rushed outside after him.
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Crash will never get used to teleporting. When their surroundings were engulfed in light and they appeared in a new place, Crash felt disoriented and nauseous.
Slowly recovering, Crash gazed around at the place Aku-Aku brought them to in awe and confusion. There was flashing machinery everywhere. It almost reminded him of Cortex's lab, but it looked far more advanced. When he looked up, he got a clearer view of the stars than back at the beach.
Were they in space?
He let out a yelp when Coco nearly knocked him away in her rush. "This is so amazing!" she squealed as she ran around the place, her excitement matching one of a child in a candy store. She hurried over to the computer and began inspecting it. "This is even better than the one back at the castle! I need to meet whoever made it!"
"Coco, remember who we came here for," Aku-Aku reminded her.
"Oh, right. Sorry," she replied sheepishly and began pressing buttons on the keyboard, watching as different areas and location appeared on the screen.
"Anyway, they called this place the Time Twister. It was built by an evil man my brother allied with named N. Tropy. Cortex and his minions have been using it to travel through time in their search for Power Crystals," Aku-Aku explained.
"Wait, travel through….time? You mean all these places…." Coco murmured, as the screen showed a tower then tall stone statues in front of a palace. "But how can this machine do that?"
Aku-Aku frowned. "I'm….not really sure," he flew over to one of bridges where the area was medieval themed. There were several large buttons on the floor. "I don't how they do it, but I've seen them step on one of these buttons and then they somehow disappear in a flash of light," he explained.
When he noticed the looks the two mutants were giving him, he sputtered. "Hey, it's not like I could've gone over to ask them!"
Coco sighed and looked up at the screen. She gasped. "Guys, look!"
Her brother and Aku-Aku came over. There was no mistaking the two creatures on the screen. It was the Komodo Brothers wandering through a jungle. "They're already ahead of us. We need to hurry!" Aku-Aku muttered.
"You two go. I'll stay here to monitor everything," Coco said.
Crash nodded and went over to the first area, hesitantly stepping on the first button with his foot. Gasping, he jumped back when a blue vortex of energy appeared in front of them.
Crash stared at the portal in awe as he felt the invisible pull of it, his hair and fur swaying.
"Let's go," Aku-Aku said as he flew into it. Crash gulped and slowly stepped forward.
"Crash!"
He looked back to his sister.
"Be careful, alright?" she called out.
Crash grinned and gave her a thumbs-up before he was sucked into the portal.
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Crash screamed as he fell through the time stream, falling face-first on the other side. Pulling himself off the dirt, he looked around dizzily and his eyes widened.
Soft sunlight fell on the grassy fields that stretched further than he could see. Towers and castles stood far in the distance. Crash found himself momentarily breathless at the sight.
Aku-Aku was awed by the place too. He rarely got to leave Wumpa Island because of his duties. He quickly shook himself out of it. Now was not the time for that. They had a job to do. "Alright, Crash. Let's start searchin- CRASH!" he called out when the bandicoot ran off giddily. Not you too. He sighed tiredly and flew after him.
Crash was gazing around with unconcealed joy, something always sparking his attention whenever he looked. He recalled seeing a place like this in one of the books in Cortex's library, but now he was seeing it in real life and felt even more excited to explore it. He continued wandering around the fields, ignoring the calls of his guardian.
"Crash, listen!"
Crash stopped and pointed at a strange creature eating grass.
"That's a goat, Crash," Aku-Aku answered wearily. Crash murmured the name quietly to himself before rushing over toward it excitedly, but the mask stopped him.
"Crash, while I'm happy that you're having fun, we shouldn't be wasting any more time. Cortex's minion might be closer to the crystal than we are!" Aku-Aku said, getting impatient.
Crash's ears fell and he rubbed his neck sheepishly before turning around and returning to the pathway.
His feet created ripples in the water as he ran through the puddles, rushing past a colorful large tent. He was tempted to peek inside, but he could feel Aku-Aku's watchful gaze on him and continued on his way.
Just then, he stopped when he saw a man in the middle of the road trying to pull a sword out of the ground. He was wearing armor and….glasses?
Raising an eyebrow, Crash exchanged looks with his guardian and walked over to help the man. However, as soon as the man saw him he gasped.
"You!" He began to struggle harder with his sword, much to their confusion, until he finally managed to free it. "How did you get here?" he growled, charging toward him and swinging his sword.
Crash cried out and rolled out of the way before the blade slice him.
"Hey, what are you doing!? We only wanted to help!" Aku-Aku exclaimed at the human.
But the man didn't listen and attacked again. The bandicoot jumped back just in time to avoid the tip of the sword, watching as it sunk deep into the ground.
"Come on, not again!" The man muttered in annoyance and struggled to pull it out. Crash took the chance and knocked him away with a spin attack while he was distracted.
And that's when it happened.
The two were expecting the man to fall down unconscious. Neither of me expected him to blow up as soon as he hit the ground. They stared at the broken robotic remains in shock.
"He…wasn't real?" Aku-Aku said, brows furrowed in confusion. They immediately moved back when the remains of the android began to glow blue before disappearing in a flicker of light as if it was never there.
"Well…that was certainly odd," Aku-Aku stated, knowing how much of an understatement that was. "We should get going,"
Crash silently agreed and began to walk away. He couldn't help a shudder. Just for a moment back there, he had felt as though someone was watching him through the broken android's eyes.
As they moved forward, Crash began to notice something weird. Some of the animals in the fields were acting strangely aggressive while the birds in the sky were flying in odd patterns.
Crash frowned and brought Aku-Aku's attention to it.
"It's probably because of the crystal," he closed his eyes, focusing. "Yes, I can feel it. It is somewhere around here," he said as they stopped in the middle of a bridge. Crash began to look around, doing his best to not miss anything that could give them a clue on where it was, but he saw nothing.
He made his way to the edge of the bridge and gazed down.
Aku-Aku noticed this and raised a brow. "Crash, what are you doing?"
Crash ignored the question and jumped down. He heard his guardian call his name in panic as he fell into the creek. It wasn't that deep, only reaching his knees. He gazed around the shaded area and saw it. Something glowing faintly in the darkness. He made his way over there and pushed the rocks away, taking the crystal out.
Even though there was no light around them, the crystal managed to glow brightly and he felt almost captivated by its beauty. Memories of dark hands and pink flames then flashed in his mind and he looked away from the Power Crystal.
"Crash, are you okay?" He heard the mask call out. Crash made his way out of the shade and showed his finding to him, beaming.
"Oh, you found it!" Aku-Aku muttered, grinning proudly. "Well done, Crash!"
Crash rubbed the back of his neck at the praise, stuffing the crystal in his pocket and walking up the slope. Well, they got what they came here for. What now?
Aku-Aku noticed his confusion and spoke up. "I think I can sense another portal somewhere up ahead. We can use it to travel back," he stated, recalling what N. Tropy said.
Nodding, Crash sprinted forward, avoiding a giant frog that lunged at him and punching away another android dressed as a wizard who shot balls of light at them.
Finally, he found himself in front of a castle, staring at the gate. He suddenly paused when a sound reached his ears and took a defensive stance as he turned around. He blinked when he saw it was a farmer standing not far from where they were.
The man was staring at them with wide eyes, but he seemed to be an actual human, so Crash waved at him, causing the man to scream in terror and flee.
The bandicoot grimaced at this while Aku-Aku sighed. "Let's just go,"
The portal opened as soon as they got close enough to it. Crash got one last glance at the place, feeling a little wistful for having to leave so soon and then jumped into it.
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Crash landed on his feet back at Time Twister and the portal disappeared.
Coco hurried over to them. "Nice work, you guys. I saw the whole thing!" she said excitedly.
Crash smiled and pulled the crystal out of his pocket, examining it. It was beautiful and simply mesmerizing to look it. He felt like he could stare at it for hours!
"Alright, Crash. Give it to me so I can store it away," Aku-Aku said. Crash froze up.
What?
"Crash, give me the crystal please," Aku-Aku asked him again.
Crash frowned as he looked down at the crystal in his hands. But…but he just found it. Why did he have to give it away?
He then scowled. In fact, why should he hand it over to him? He was the one who found it, not Aku-Aku. It was only fair for him to keep it, right? This was his and those two should just their own and…and….
"Crash!"
He jerked back at the shout and saw the two staring at him with concern. "Are you okay, big brother?" Coco asked.
Crash blinked, unsure of what just happened or where all of that came from. Unsettled, he held the crystal out for his friend.
Aku-Aku eyed him for a moment before taking it with his magic. "Thank you,"
"Maybe you're just tired from travelling through the portal, Crash," Coco said, giving him a sympathetic look. "How about you rest before heading out again?"
Crash stared at his feet before deciding that maybe that was what he needed and nodded with a smile, following her to the control room.
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A/N: Thanks for reading. Random fact about me; N. Tropy is my favorite villain in the series after Dingodile.