Version 2 Author Notes (Part 1):
This revision was just a minor one, really. The biggest change was that I removed Tortimer from the heat of the fight. I mean, really: an old tortoise fighting in battle? It didn't make much sense when I read it over.
...Or maybe he trained himself in cane-fighting (there's such a thing, believe it or not). Can you imagine it? XD
Chapter #2: Assault on the Train Yard
The next day, an undersized but determined army of 100 Allies was gathered in a forest on the outskirts of the Animal Crossing Train Yard, which, unfortunately, had been captured by Big Boss already. Copper stood lookout on a giant boulder in front of the attack group, with a pair of binoculars in his hands (err…paws?) He looked through them and scouted the area. They were in luck; Big Boss hadn't placed any guards around the train yard's perimeter. But, according to their scouts, there were hordes of robots watching for intruders from inside the buildings. The 'bots would attack if the alarm system went off. He put away his binoculars and turned back to his comrades. In the center were Tortimer, Tom Nook, Booker, and K.K. Slider, who was also an Ally.
"How does it look, Copper?" asked Tortimer. "Should we attempt to take the train yard from Big Boss?"
Copper replied, "There aren't any guards outside. We could sneak into the compound if we surround it and come in from all sides."
Tom Nook held a map of the train yard in his hands, and he was studying it intently. "We'll need to be stealthy though," he warned his comrades. He set the map down on a rock that served as a table, pointed at their current location, and moved a finger over the areas covered with forest. "There's woods all around the back of the main compound. We can sneak into the control building by using these places as cover. The rear of the place has the most trees and the least amount of surveillance; we should try to sneak most of our forces through that area and find the emergency exit at the back."
Copper nodded his approval of the coon's strategy. "You're right, Nook. If we conquer the control compound, then we have the whole train yard in our hands!"
Suddenly they heard footsteps pounding toward them. A very exhausted Blathers ran into the throng with a piece of paper in his hand. "I think we need to call off the assault," he panted. " I just received a message from my sister. A robot spokesperson announced just this morning that Big Boss is holding the train yard staff hostage, and he's not afraid to kill them if we attack."
"What?!" Tortimer cried. "How did he know we were comin'?!"
"He doesn't!" the owl replied. "He thought we would retaliate if he took over the yard, so he's using hostages as a shield to keep us away."
The mayor closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and sat down on a rock to think. All eyes were on him as he hummed, mumbled, and groaned to himself. Then, a minute later, he stood up and looked around at them with a grim expression.
"Well, boys, it looks like our priorities have changed. We need to rescue those hostages before attempting to take over the train yard. We'll use the same plan, but we just need to be sneakier. I'll let you take care of those hostages, Tom. You take yer teams with ya. Copper, take yer men and head on over to the main buildin' to clear the way for Tom. Blathers, you'll serve as the backup team; wait here for a call to your group and help whoever calls first. I'll take my boys, and we'll make our way to the train shed to get a hold of some trains that can get the hostages outta here. Slider, I want you to cover my squad's behind."
The white dog suddenly interrupted, "Freeze for a sec, Mr. Mayor. I don't think you should be fighting. No offense, but you're old. And you're our boss; we can't afford to lose ya."
Tortimer was surprised by this, but when he checked the faces of Tom, Copper, and Blathers, he realized that they agreed; there was no point in arguing. "…Fine. Slider will get my group and do the job by himself. I'll take a small group from the backup and wait for ya at the exit point. Now let's move out!"
With salutes, the Allies split up into their appropriate teams and set off on their missions.
Copper led his troops through the forest toward the train yard's main building, which was probably where the hostages were being held. If they rescued the animals and also got hold of the train controls, they would kill two birds with one stone!
But reaching the main compound wasn't going to be as easy as Copper had hoped. When they ran for the supposedly unguarded back door, they were greeted with a hail of gunfire. They had been spotted! Quickly he shouted, "Retreat!" And he didn't need to say it again; his troops were off like bullets, ducking for cover in the woods. Unfortunately, red infantry robots burst out of the building and followed them. In minutes, many animals were injured, and Copper was lost in the tangle of woods. He had lost his walkie-talkie in the fight, so he couldn't call for reinforcements.
Perfect…juust perfect, thought the dog with a grimace.
Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light, and Copper was blinded. He crawled behind a tree and stared at what had made the light. The light itself was actually some kind of a portal. He almost fainted when two male humans stepped out of the portal.
The taller, older boy of the duo had a red, spiked hairdo with some yellow hair on the front, like the people you see in Japanese TV shows. He wore a red shirt with a white stripe running down one side. The other boy looked almost the same, except his hairdo was slightly different and his shirt, which looked more like a vest, had a star instead of a stripe. Both of them held what looked like blue lightsabers in their hands and had backpacks on their backs.
When the first boy got a good look at their surroundings, he became confused. "Uh oh. This doesn't look like the beach," he said. By the sound of his voice, he was in his early to mid-teens.
The younger boy blinked and looked around as well. "You're right. Where are we?"
As the two scratched their heads in puzzlement, Copper mumbled to himself, "These guys look lost. Should I help them?" He quickly made up his mind and stepped out from behind the tree. Caught by surprise, the boys held up their lightsaber-things in warning. The dog held his paws in the air and cried, "Hey! Hold it!"
The boy in the vest was startled. "A talking dog in a police officer's suit?!"
"Uh, yeah. The name's Copper."
"Nice to meet you, I guess," said the older human. "Where in the world are we?"
"You're in Animal Crossing, the country where humans can live with talking animals," Copper replied honestly.
The young boy said, "Animal Crossing? Never heard of it."
The teen rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "Natalie must've gotten the coordinates wrong…again."
His friend pointed out, "Hey, it's not as bad as the last time! She warped us to the North Pole! And we didn't have any snow gear!"
He rubbed his forehead as if the memory gave him a headache. "Please don't remind me," he groaned.
Copper didn't know who Natalie was or what coordinates she had supposedly mixed up, but he didn't dwell on these things. Instead he asked, "Now that you know who I am, can you tell me who you are?"
Just then there was a loud explosion, and the three held their ears. Copper realized that Tom had entered the main building without him, and he had used explosives to bust open the back door. The blast brought the assault back into his mind, and he said, "Umm…maybe we'd better talk somewhere else."
The teen covered his ears as another explosive was set off. "You're right. Sounds like a war is goin' on out here!"
"Actually, it is a war. You see, we're just outside Animal Crossing's main train yard, and my comrades and I are trying to get inside it. An evil dictator has control of it, and he has hostages inside the main building."
The second boy whistled in amazement. "Wow." Then an idea formed in his mind. "Hey, do ya think we can help?!"
Copper rubbed the scruff of his neck with worry. Two boys fighting in this war? What would Tortimer say if they got hurt? But they could really use some help… "I dunno…maybe, if you're really good with those swords…"
The kid looked at his weapon. "Our Stun Clubs? Yeah! We're good with them!"
His partner was hesitant like Copper. "I don't know if we should get in—"
Boom! Crash!
In their conversation, Copper had forgotten about the robots. One, armed with a bazooka, had fired upon them. Luckily, its shot went wide, and instead blew a tree yards by them in half. The trio ducked out of the way and began to run away. This close call instantly made up the boy's mind, and he said quickly, "OK, you've got a deal. Show us the way!" He grabbed his partner's hand and dashed off with Copper.
The two boys and the dog dodged robots and ducked behind fallen trees on their way to the main building's back door. Copper fired at the 'bots with his pistols, and the boys used their "Stun Clubs" to destroy any soldier that got in their way. Along the way the police dog rallied his troops, who, encouraged by the appearance of the two strangers, dove back into battle.
When the group finally reached the door, they found it blown off its hinges. They raced inside and found many members of Tom Nook's group lying on the floor, most of them injured. Most of Copper's troops stayed behind to care for them and hold off any attackers, and the trio raced on. Finally they made it to the control room, where they found Tom and his remaining soldiers with the hostages, all of which were monkeys (surprise, surprise) and had been tied on the floor with rope.
When the raccoon saw Copper, he finished cutting one monkey's bonds with a small knife, stood up, and greeted him. "Glad to see you in one piece, Copper. What happened back there?"
Copper replied, "My team got a warm welcome from those bucket brains, and then I met these two boys." He gestured to his helpers, and they nodded in a small greeting. "It seems they accidentally got warped here. They helped me reach you."
The shopkeeper immediately went up and shook the older boy's hand. "Glad to meet you! I'm Tom Nook! Thank you for helping Copper."
"It was nothing, really," the teen said. Remembering his manners, he introduced himself and his friend. "I'm Spike, and this is my cousin Jimmy. Since we're here, we might as well help you until we can get back home. Copper told us you were trying to take over this place."
"Yes, and our plan seems to have been changed; there are too few of us and too many robots, so we need to just escape. I just received a call from my friend K.K. Slider, and he told me that he and his team have acquired some trains that can take the hostages and our injured back to our HQ, AnimaCity. All we have to do is set the train tracks for our course, round up everyone, and get out of here!"
They heard more gunfire, and some hostages cringed in fear. The Allies cocked their guns, and Spike and Jimmy pulled out their Stun Clubs. The control room's door broke down, and a swarm of robots entered, guns blazing.
As the fight started to turn for the worse, Copper shouted to Tom over the din, "Take the hostages and get outta here! I'll take care of the train tracks!"
The raccoon nodded, gave Copper his radio, and led the hostages through another doorway. While Spike, Jimmy, and the others were fending off the troops, Copper typed on the control room's main computer and threw a few switches. The screen showed sets of train tracks moving into position. The police dog then turned on his radio and contacted Tortimer. "Tortimer, the track is ready, over."
The mayor's voice came through from the other end. "Then open the trains' gates, ya ninny! Those trains ain't goin' nowhere unless you unlock those gates!"
"Oops, sorry. Lemme fix that." The dog flipped some more switches. "Okay, all gates are open; they're free to go. Tell Slider to wait for Nook and the rest of us at the platform. Tom's bringing the hostages, and I'll gather up our wounded men. Copper out."
When the dog turned around, his eyes widened. All of his troops had been injured, and they were limping and crawling through the door Tom had used. But Spike and Jimmy were unhurt, and they were energetically swinging their Stun Clubs like they were Jedi Knights out of Star Wars! In minutes, the robots had been turned into piles of scrap metal. Not one survived.
Spike wiped the sweat off his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! What a tussle! I thought they wouldn't stop coming!"
"That was kinda fun!" Jimmy said as he sheathed his Stun Club.
Copper whistled. "You guys are better than I thought. Anyway, let's get outta here."
The boys agreed completely, and they raced through the door everybody else had gone through.
Version 2 Author Notes (Disclaimer):
So, my first duo is Spike and Jimmy from the crazy game series Ape Escape! I don't own them. Sony technically owns them, and lately Ubisoft has been developing the games. Oh yeah, and I don't own either Jedi Knights or Star Wars; I was just using them for a simile. (cowers in corner) Don't hurt me, George Lucas! XD
