And she was gone. Nefarious just stood there with the most dumbfounded look on his face, not sure what to do. Even worse, without Mariana to guide him, he didn't know how to get back to the beach where his friends were supposed to pick him up. He broke out of his trance and looked back at the trees stretching behind him. He couldn't see much. He then heard something in the bushes. He took up a fighting stance. Out stepped a young, female bandicoot. They just stared at each other for a moment, and he dropped his arms.

"Coco, what are you doing way out here?" He said in surprise to his enemy.

"I could ask the same to you, too, N. Tropy." Coco looked a little startled. "Didn't my big-bro just beat you again?"

Nefarious huffed. He was too tired to deal with anyone right now. "Yeah… yeah, he did."

"And you're here, why?" Coco was not going to let up on him.

"Escorting a new friend home while waiting for Dr. Cortex to come get me… and…" he paused and scratched his head in embarrassment. "I'm kind of… lost."

Coco laughed at him. "You…lost?" She balanced herself on a tree. "You of all people." She turned around and began walking back through the jungle. "Good luck getting out of here, and watch out for the man-eating plants."

"What? Wait, come on! Help me out here!" Nefarious was ready to begin pleading. He hated not knowing where he was.

Coco looked over her shoulder. "I never said you weren't allowed to follow me out." And she kept on walking. Nefarious took that as a sign to get moving.

He followed her through the thick jungle, often hitting his head on a low branch, or smacking his knee against a boulder. Time traveling was not the best thing for his already bad eyesight. It was even worse at night; you could call him legally blind. He wanted to kick himself for not bringing his half-moon spectacles, or even his contacts.

"Well, we're here." Coco said when they reached the edge of the jungle that separated the undergrowth from the beach. She turned around to face him. "Um… can I have a small favor, N. Tropy?"

Nefarious was feeling generous today, since he met Mariana, and was helped out of what could have been a huge mess, not to mention by his enemy. He nodded and waited for her to ask something of him.

She took a small note out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Will you give this to N. Gin?"

He looked a little surprised at such a request. He thought for sure that she would ask him to never come into contact with her brother again, or something like that. But, he nodded once more and took the note.

Coco smiled. "Thanks."

"No, thank you for helping me." Nefarious smiled back to her. He was going to be doing two good things in one day, which made him feel a happiness he had never felt before.

His thoughts were broken as the sound of a large airship came closer.

"You have to go, Coco." He warned her.

"Okay, thanks again!" She waved to him while running back towards her house. He waved back, then turned to face the oncoming airship. After it landed safely on the beach, two small men stepped out to greet him. One was yellow-skinned with a head way too big for his body, and had crazy hair going on, while the other had a metal plate over the right side of his face and a missile coming out of his head. Dr. Cortex and N. Gin.

The yellow man, Dr. Cortex spoke first. "Rough day?" He asked more politely than usual.

"Yeah." Nefarious sighed. "Good day?"

"Actually, yes." Dr. Cortex smiled. "I got back into contact with an old friend I met here ten years ago. She's doing quite well."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Oh, no, no… just a friend and quite a powerful ally."

"Yeah," N. Gin said. "If Dr. Cortex actually had a girlfriend, Nina would have a TON of people to play with, other than Vladimi… OUCH!" Dr. Cortex punched him in the arm.

"You know I don't like talking about, or hearing of Vladimir." He glared at N. Gin. "He's too old for Nina… technically speaking."

Nefarious sighed and boarded the airship. The other two followed him up. As they took off, he asked Dr. Cortex more about their 'ally'.

"So, what does she do?" He wondered because the N-Team was made up of various kinds of evil geniuses. Dr. Cortex was the machinery expert, N. Gin was the weapons expert, N. Brio was the chemical expert, and he was the master of time. He couldn't see anything else that needed to be added to their team. Nothing was missing.

"I don't know if you'll believe this, but…" Dr. Cortex looked for the words. "She's a Necromancer."

Nefarious' jaw dropped. Oh, great… he thought. More magic and dead things. Another friend perfect for Nina.

"And why do you find a Necromancer a good ally? We already have Uka Uka."

Dr. Cortex considered that one. "Well…" he began. "Uka Uka is just a hunk of bark. We need real magic to aid us. Plus… Necromancers are cute."

"…cute…" Nefarious went to find N. Gin. He was in the arsenal on the ship.

"What's up?" N. Gin asked him over some loud music. He turned it down and pulled his welding mask off.

"Here." Nefarious handed him the note from Coco.

"Who's this from?"

"Guess."

N. Gin opened the envelope and pulled out the note. He read it, looking at the style of writing very carefully. He smiled, put it back in the envelope, and stored it safely in his pocket.

"Got it?" Nefarious asked with a small smile.

N. Gin nodded, apparently too happy to speak.

"Good." Nefarious headed back to his room on the airship and laid down in bed. He quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.