Chapter 257: Strangers to Paradise on the Rift in the Path of Twinsanity.

After the past few days Mike had the curly haired man was half expecting that the trio of Bandicoots were leading him somewhere to be eaten. While his suspicions only intensified as he walked down a few paths and heard a few roars.

While Astra and Megaman got on guard as a tiger and a polar bear both came running up, tension ablated as Coco called out, and the two went at her like pets, because they were.

As Mike saw Crash also pet the polar bear, he looked past the felines and saw a small house with a circle like door with a red roof with a small garden next to a forest. Mike eyed the house for a few moments before he shrugged." Well I might not give it five stars but long as it keeps the bugs out it's a palace to me dude."

Crunch saw the weary looks Astra and Sam had before she the metal handed Bandicoot cracked his neck." I pity the fool who thinks I'm down with living in a shack. If you don't realize Coco knows how to do a lot of things soon this is going to turn sour fast.

With how crafty she is I'm damn sure are pad is a cozier place to live then Cortex's base. Besides Aku Aku takes care of the rest of the stuff."

"Aku Aku?" Mike uttered curiously." What that some sort of bug spray for the folks around here?"

As Crunch rolled his eyes Crash laughed and pointed to the house's front door. Mike looked on and saw a wooden mask seemed to be attached to the door. The lanky man saw the wooden mask had yellow eyes, and a red feather, an orange feather, a yellow feather, and a blue feather on its head before he raised an eyebrow. "Ah I guess that makes sense. The feather's in the mask or something? Man if things ever can get back to normal I could sell this like crazy. What you programmed the feathers or something Coco?"

As Mike turned to Coco a calm older voice said," Not quite young man but a fair guess. Its more of a…magical matter."

Mike nearly fell to the ground as he yelled out and saw the mask suddenly float off the door. As Astra laughed the mask floated in front of him." Hello I'm Aku Aku young man."

Mike saw the floating voodoo mask looked friendly before he turned back to the Bandicoots." You built a floating wooden mask eh? Based on what seems to be around here you really are a genius."

Aku Aku laughed before he looked around." Oh while I'm proud of how smart Coco is your not quite on the ball with that one young man. I am Aku Aku

Long ago, I was once…a powerful human shaman who used magic to fight against evildoers, particularly my villainous brother, Uka Uka. At some point, both me and Uka Uka left behind are mortal shells and are spirits came to inhabit ancient tribal masks to keep fighting after are bodies mortality became a hindrance.

I helped Crash and his friends ever since he freed me from my seal. It's been well…hectic at times but we made a lot of friends among the way. Been a while since we made new ones I admit, was half expecting you to be Spyro."

"Sounds like you guys have a good thing going but thanks for being neighbory. Well I'm Mike Auro. Aku Aku, please to meet yah."

"Wait…Auro? Are you related to Ben Auro?"

Mike paused for a moment before he let out a bitter chuckle." Glad the family name still has some weight. So you guys really fought with my old man back when him being a legend was still fresh? Man you Bandicoots got a good health plan or something. What is the fruit around here? Or is it wearing you on there head?"

Crunch snickered before Crash let out an uneasy chuckle. As Mike and the others glanced at the Bandicoots Aku Aku sighed." Ah, so time has passed more than we thought eh? Well I would hope my friends are in good health but it's not that we are as old as you think. It seems we jumped even further along in time then we first thought."

Astra snorted as she looked around." Seriously? What your seriously powerful enough to control time dude? What your broken?"

Aku Aku paused before he looked inside the house." Oh I'm not that powerful, this was more a unintended effect from my siblings, the Quantum Masks."

Mike raised an eyebrow before he cleared his throat." Quantum Masks? Wait I thought you said you and your brother had this thing going on? What this is a whole family thing?"

"Not…quite. You see my brother Uka Uka at one point of time was aligned with a group known as the" elementals" Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro, and Lo-Lo. My brother, and his servant, the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex that created Crash and Coco in a deranged plot to take over the world, unsealed these Elementals, and this is also how Crunch here was created.

We were able to stop my brother and Cortex and free Crunch to boot, and some time later my brother met his end when he united with the supreme god of darkness, Chaos Zannacross Necron, and all the forces of evil were defeated.

We, had a bit more free time after that. When the Zannacross Empire attacked N. Sanity Island, we saw they blew open a hole in the peak, and found in the depths four counterparts to the Elementals, Lani-Loli, Kupuna-Wa, and Ika-Ika. There powers surpassed the Elementals, but thankfully they were much more…mellow in desire.

Still, they were sleeping for thousands of years so they were a little…incoherent. Your father came to us after the war to tell us there were…aftereffects after Zannacross nearly destroyed the universe.

We were not clear what was going on but, one day there was a rift in the sky and well…Crash panicked and shook my friend Kupuna-Wa, who panicked even more, and she used her powers to it seem…with the power of the other Quantum Masks…pull us, and the entire planet ahead in the time-stream.

So, it's been about…a month since that happened. And that's why I'm sorry you all had a rough landing but I'm glad to see friendly faces. Truth is since that time jump we had a few guests arrive on the island but still, was getting worried the rest of the universe was destroyed or something."

Mike winced before he let out an uneasy chuckle." Man…so you really just jumped ahead in time? And you still don't know what's going on eh? Well if your able to take it easy at least you guys don't have the Shades to worry about so glad you did not have to go through that."

"Shades?" Coco uttered curiously." What like…some shadow monsters? Is this like when Cortex's weird parrot pets broke out of some 10th dimension thing?"

Mike saw the utter confusion of the locals around him before he slouched over." Oh man…it really is one of these cases? Always hate to break the bad news to planets that managed to avoid this mess for so long. Still…better than being off guard cause let me tell you that ignorance is bliss thing sure does not apply here."

Astra snorted before she leaned forward." You really qualified to tell these guys the truth " Prince"?" Do you even know the truth with how twisted a version of history class your parents gave you?"

"What like you are going to tell it as it is? Let me guess it starts with your dad being the under dog and all his former pals being the devil?"

"Still can't admit how bad all you so called hero's dropped the ball even after everything fell apart eh Mikey?"

Everyone tensed up as the two gave each other bitter looks before Roll let out an uneasy giggle." If you guys really don't know how much the universe has changed then it's something that words can't really effectively sum up.

But, back on my ship the Flutter we have both a book and a video that my monkey friend Data can display to get you guys a better idea. Now that we know this place is safe Gramps would get a kick out of this place as well."

Everyone watched as the blond woman pressed on her ear to open her com link before she smiled." Hey Gramps? Its looking ok so far so you want to head over? Gramps?"

After a few moments both Roll and her friend in blue armor turned pale. After Roll tried a few more times Megaman went for his own com link." Data can you read me? Is Gramps ok? Huh? If it was just Gramps that could be him falling asleep but, if Data is not responding something's wrong!"

Astra raised an eyebrow before she opened her own comm-link." The transmissions are not being jammed. I, did not sense any power levels this whole time. Damn it…did I lose even that after losing sis?"

Mike saw both his new and older friends were looking tense before he threw out a confident but steady smirk." Well guess we can't answer these questions with more questions eh? If your old man needs help we better see what the problem is."

Aku Aku nodded before he flew up and frowned." Crash…I'm seeing smoke in the direction you all came from; this might be something to worry about."

While Mike felt a lump form in his throat out of dread, he also knew that if some of the people after him had followed him trying to hide in Crash's house would not help so he followed the Bandicoots back to the beach.

While neither Higgs, Omni-man, Homelander, Doug, or anyone else he expected was waiting for them, by the time they arrived at the Flutter the ship was even more banged up then when they left it, with a new hole on its side.

It only took moments for Roll to cry out in terror." No! Gramps! Data! And that hole…that right where the engine room should be!"

Megaman ran faster and jumped up to the hole before he grit his teeth." Damn…the Refractor is gone!"

Astra jumped up and quickly looked around before she sighed." I don't see no blood…sounds like your old man was taken clean along with the robo monkey. None of the guys we were dealing with would care about the ship's reactor. That means we got trouble in paradise. Piff…course I knew paradise itself is a con but at least they showed their hand quick!"

Mike saw Crunch looking angry before he sighed." You know any guys around here that like stealing and kidnapping?"

"Well with how few people are around there's only one suspect, and it's my old "boss" Doctor Neo Cortex!"

Mike raised an eyebrow before he cleared his throat." Wait…the crazy mad scientist dude? He did not go poof when Zannacross fell?"

Coco looked weary as she looked at the hole." We…thought Doctor Cortex was gone when Zannacross fell. And he WAS gone for a while. But…when the Quantum Mask's warped us to the future, suddenly Cortex was back, along with most of his old crew.

He was as shocked as we were, but he did not want to fight. Neither of us could see if there was anyone left out there, so he got depressed and just locked himself away in his lab.

We thought he was just to depressed to even fight us anymore since he no longer had anyone else to conquer."

Aku Aku sighed before he looked in the distance. Cortex seemed like he was content on just changing his castle into an amusement park to…amuse himself…but since he one time said he tricked us to gather power crystals for him and he was just trying to hold the world hostage at gun point with his "Cortex Vortex" space station…I suppose it would be unwise to take his word."

Astra raised an eyebrow as she looked around." So there is more to this planet then just the Island eh?"

The blond woman saw Crash point to the right, and as she looked at the ocean Aku Aku flew higher." Since the start Cortex has resided in his own island, Cortex Island also known formerly as the Iron Island. You can't see it from here but it's not too far away from the other Wumpa Islands.

The Quantum Masks were having a picnic around Wumpa Islands, I'll get in touch of them and see if there is anything going on around Cortext's place."

"Thank you, Mister Aku Aku." Roll uttered tensely." After surviving this long…I can't lose Gramps to something like this."

Astra saw how worried Roll looked before she cracked her knuckles." Well…the harder you try and hold on to something the faster you lose it and all. Still…never met the guy but this Cortex dude seems like a rat who I'll enjoy smacking around so I'm all for doing a little" Equalizing."

Aku Aku nodded before his eyes glowed." We will check to make sure. I'm sorry your arrival is not as warm a welcome as we hoped but we will make sure this does not escalate further. For now rest and eat while you can. Crash, I'll be back soon so get the boats ready."

As the Bandicoots nodded Mike sighed before sitting down." Well…guess it was to good to be true to be able to relax. Just hope it's not that crazy guy with the mask again."

Astra saw Mike's detached look before she rolled her eyes." Why are you acting like this is your fight? Now that your magic crystal is broken you can do jack right? Might as well hold up in the furball's house since your deadweight anyway."

Mike winced before letting out another bitter chuckle." Hey we don't know for sure how things are eh girl? Maybe this Cortex guy just wants to talk?"

"Oh? So you can negotiate with him as well as you did with Omni-man? As when I mean well I mean fail horribly? Face it your highness…you can't sweet-talk or have anyone else get out of the dirty work anymore so face the music or get your ass kicked till you do. Just blame yourself for being completely useless despite."

Mike winced before he got in front of the blond woman." Hey you know it's not like I have no talent ok Astra? It's just…focusing on mastering the art of fighting was not my natural strength ok? Thought using the Divine Morpher was a loophole but now it's kind of back firing."

"Yah…backing up all the skills you need to survive totally blows up in your face if it gets wiped and that leaves you with jack! Blame your own arrogance and all."

"Hey I may not be able to tangle with guys like Homelander but it does not mean I'm completely, GUH!"

In a flash Astra unleashed a roundhouse kicked Mike in the chest. The blow knocked him into the waves in a second. As the blond fighter heard Mike yell she snorted in disgust." Oh come on! Unless your bones are made of freaking glass that should have been nothing! I held back more against god damn children so what's that about not being completely useless?"

Mike coughed some sand out of his mouth before he glared at Astra." Har har. Look I was talking not fighting but like I said, I do know some stuff I can do on my own ok?"

"Well prove it or shut up ok? I'll go like…three percent so even a poser like you should be able to do something."

Mike took a deep breath before he hunched over. He then raised his right foot and his hands. Astra saw the others looked baffled before she smirked and made a beckoning gesture. The lanky haired man made sure the blond woman was not pulling anything, before he let out a cry of determination, and ran up before jumping in the air, and unleashing a drop kick.

Astra extended her right pinky and caught his pant leg with it. As he winced, she flicked her digit, before sending Mike spinning in a twister formation while tearing his pant leg in the process. As Mike moaned again Astra leaned down. "Seriously? You trying to break dance or fight me?"

"Hey learning some moves that could be mixed with dancing helped me learn it better ok? This Black Leg Style" is a unique combination of Brazilian Capoeira, French Savate and Korean Taekwondo, and a few other styles and its total legit!"

"Only if you have the instincts, reaction time, and strength to make it work! If you're not even ready to use your fists you're never going to do anything serious."

"Hey I told you fighting was not something that was supposed to be my thing ok? I, did not like stressing the hands."

"Well a hell of a good that will do when the guys and gals wanting to kill you chop and blast those precious "smooth" hands of yours eh Mikey!? Sure I seen some pros using kickboxing…but they had more than one trick!"

"Well good thing so do I Astra!"

Mike unleashed a few more kicks, but Astra easily blocked them with her pinky. The blond woman noticed her makeshift sparring partner's feet were glowing blue before she sighed." So, you got some magical energy of your own eh? Damn you were not kidding about being sloppy, this mana is all over the place!"

"Yah I may have the least amount of focus in the family, but I still can pull off some, whoa!"

In a flash Astra kicked Mike's other leg to cause him to trip up and fall into the water once more. The renegade equalizer saw Mike yell in pain before she spat at his direction." Face it dude, any time you thought you were a hot shot was just your folks either outright propping yah or doing it behind the scenes. Might as well just sleep through the, huh? UGH!"

Astra walked forward and prepared to follow up her attack, she suddenly felt the ground became more slippery then if it was ice and she tripped before she had time to center herself, and fell on a crab. While the pain she felt was not crippling, the embarrassment from the result nearly hurt as bad.

She heard Mike laugh a bit, then felt the sand was so slippery her fingers nearly slipped off in an instant before she raised an eyebrow." The hell is going on? Sand on this island likes to pretend its ice or something?"

Crash shrugged before Mike snickered." Nah…that insanity is thanks to yours truly. I was not throwing magical energy around randomly Astra, that's part of my Friction Fracture kick. When I lay my foot down, I can fracture or steal the friction in the area around were I hit it. It's come in handy to make an entire group of would be problems suddenly trip and can't get back up. If it worked even on a pro like you then guess it s legit eh?"

Astra saw how proud Mike looked before she rolled her eyes." The best trick you got is making sure you're the only one that can run away eh? Piff…that only works once at best though, and if they can fly or something then your totally screwed anyway."

"Hey, it's still something right?" Mike uttered defensively." Just got to time it right and you can slip away to run away for another day eh?"

Astra narrowed her eyes before she suddenly ascended into the air. As she looked below at Mike her face became one of sore disgust." You still don't get it. There are no more extra lives Mikey.

Don't know what's going on but I'm just going to assume it could be as bad as it was just a day ago. The best you got is some tricks meant to bail a spoiled brat out of detention in school…and that means as soon as those hunt you trip once with your trick, your dead!"

Mike grasped his fist before retorting with a fiery," Well I guess I'll make sure those hunters can't lift there claws eh?"

The lanky haired man's left foot glowed red before he unleashed a barrage of kicks. Astra raised an eyebrow but still blocked a few kicks with her pinky before she rolled her eyes." Yah you need to be able to kick hard enough to keep, huh?"

The blond woman prepared to kick Mike back, only to be surprised as her foot staggered because her boot suddenly felt heavier to her. As she staggered back she winced and glanced down on her leg." Damn it…weighted clothing or not I should not be that out of it after losing the power of the Avatar Brand."

"Nah…that's all on yours truly." Mike retorted as he made a thumbs up." You thought I just had one trick up my sleeve? After feeling my Friction Crusher spell you might feel other wise. I just put energy into my foot, and whatever I kick doubles the weight of any object I hit."

Astra widened her eyes before she looked at her boot. After glancing at it a few seconds she shrugged." It does feel around twice as heavy. But that trick can't do much against those who are way stronger then yah…at that point that's nothing."

"Hey who said that's as far as it can go Astra? The Friction Crusher's effect can pile on each other yah know. If a strike on my opponent's 10 lb sword doubles the opposing sword's weight to 20 lbs, if I strike the sword a second time, the weight of the sword doubles to 40 lbs, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

Astra saw how casual Mike was about it before she winced." Wait…so that magic's effect really is limitless?"

"I mean, I hit one of my dad's pals Gundam's enough times to make it to heavy to move. I mean I did not try just how high it can go but hey, a moon or an asteroid or something is really big yah know?"

Astra glanced at her boot before she spat on the ground." Ugh…that could be a pain in the ass course yah still have to live that long against heavy hitters to make it worth a damn. Still…at least you're not a total dead weight who did not do a damn thing on his own."

Mike's eyes got melancholy as he looked up." Eh…I admit I put some effort cause it was training mom did with me one on one, one of the few things she made time to do so she could personally make sure I knew how to defend myself. She, she fought with her feet more to so, she was happy to see me learn from her."

Astra saw from the look in Mike's face to see he was legit before she just sighed." That so eh? I guess, my mom could be like that to since she knew early on my dad was not going to be sober enough to get the job done.

Guess…no matter where in the universe they are or what they believe in, any parent worth a damn makes sure their kid can survive in the world. Well…still don't know what asshole thought they could pull a fast one on us but they are going to learn how big they screwed up. Even if they are on the other side of this planet I'm going to track them down! Hell not like I have anything else to do but eat fruit!"

Crash laughed before taking out a Wampa fruit out of his pocket and handing it to the blond woman. The rouge Equalizer raised an eyebrow before suddenly from above Aku Aku cut in with," Don't sit down to eat yet everyone! We may have an idea on what's going on!"

Mike saw the magical mask float back down before he chuckled." Man, for someone who's only a face you move fast dude!"

Aku Aku chuckled before he swerved around." Oh, I had a little help from my fellow masks. When they heard about what was going on they were concerned enough to cancel their picnic. We found something but it's clear this is going to be a messy problem."

"Hey Aku, how's it g-g-gah?! ARE THOSE THE PEOPLE FROM OTHER WORLDS!?"

Mike, Astra, and the rest looked up before seeing another mask descend. The mask

Looked like an male hourglass shaped, light-blue mask. He had two points at the bottom of him, and a wide fan-like crest on the top. There were two round parts on either side of the middle of his face, resembling ears.

He had round pure white eyes with purple rims, small purple eyebrows and a mouth with purple lips and bright white teeth. The top half of him was solid, seeming to be made of a sky blue stone, while the bottom half was phased out at all times, being a translucent icy blue. The four prongs of his crest each had one or two arrows, each prong's arrows pointing in a different direction.

Aku-Aku saw his fellow floating mask looked anxious before he smirked." Its ok Lani-Loli…these are trustworthy fellows."

Lani-Loli glanced at Mike, Megaman, Sam, and Roll before he saw Astra and winced." Well…the tall blond woman looks a bit scary but she does not look as bad as those other guys."

"Other guys?" Astra spat out." What is this that Cortex punk?"

As Lani-Loli grit his teeth Aku-Aku looked somber." No, but he does seem to have some guests none of us were aware of, a lot of them.

All we could gather is that it seems to be some sort of party…but a party that likely will have negative consequences for us all."

Before Mike could ask more a new deeper voice said," Mmm... nachos."

A second mask floated down, this one was, another male that looked like he was formed from multiple dark purple rocks, held together by pure force. He was shaped a little like a beaker, with a thinner top widening out into a large chin at the bottom.

He had a small mouth that was entirely white on the inside, and pure white eyes with thick eyebrows that extended outwards, curving down on either side of him, almost like handles. There was a strange glowing white glyph on his chin, and a similarly glowing triangular marking on his forehead.

Small pieces of rock constantly floated around him. As he floated next to Lani-Loli the bluer mask cringed." Oh that's all you could think of after what we saw Akano? The nachos are what they have for themselves, when all they want to give the rest of us is pain!"

Astra narrowed her eyes before she walked up." Alright stop beating around the bush and tell us what's going on damn it! Is this something we have to move on before they can so we can still exist by the next sun rise and all that?"

Before the mask's could answer a new melancholy voice answered with," When's existence ever done anything for anyone, anyway?"

The group looked up and saw another male mask shaped like a double-sided arrow, with one face being on either side, upside-down to each other. The upper half was a more turquoise color, with round, pure yellow eyes, markings resembling mountains, and long curly markings for a mustache that extends down into the other half.

The other, half faded into a blue color, with the curls of the other half's mustache resembling puffed cheeks. This side was themed more like the ocean as a contrast to the other half's mountains.

This half had a dark blue triangle attached to the tip of the point at the top of it. As everyone glanced at the mask it suddenly flipped upside down to reveal a new face that looked much more cheerful." Oh, don't mind grumpy gus, he's always a downer."

Mike saw Astra grasp her fist before he cleared his throat." Hey guys sorry to be blunt but if this is such a big deal then guess we should focus on the explaining before the introductions?"

Aku-Aku nodded before he flew above the Quantum Masks." Quite right Mister Auro. Coco…can you bring Ika-Ika's memories for everyone to see what he saw?"

The female bandicoot nodded before she took out a vizor and put it over the two-faced Quantum Mask's face. It glowed, and in moments showed a hologram of another island. This one had aspects of a castle at the top, along with a more high tech tower looking like a beehive in the middle of it.

The group also saw many theme park attractions on the outskirts, with a massive front gate that had a neon sign saying," Coming soon on behalf of Hivory Towers! The Cortex Carnival! Now in the testing phase…please don't interfere during testing or safety is not guaranteed."

Mike saw that dozens of people were walking around the area carrying box's in. He saw a few humans, but also saw some looked like humans with orange-red skin, and distinctive pair of glowing blue or gold eyes, and others looked like stalk-eyed bipedal creatures before he whistled." I see these islands have all kinds of um…unique folk eh Crash?"

Crunch saw the life forms moving crates into the Hivory Towers before he narrowed his eyes." Hey I never saw freaks like those before! They almost look like some of those aliens hanging around with Oxide but never seen them before."

Astra watched the video carefully before she spat on the ground." I seen these assholes before. The guys with the glowing eyes are the Blarg. They been a pain in the ass for anyone in the Solana Galaxy for a while now. They came from planet Orxon but got so greedy that it became an unlivable dump due to pollution.

On their own they are nothing great but they kiss ass to Homelander enough that they build him planets so he will bail them out. That makes their boss Dreck think they are bigger than they are at times.

The one-eyed dudes are the Tyhrranoids from planet Tyhrranosis. I kicked a ton of these cyclops freaks ass's when I was hired for a job on planet Mylon to bust some plot from an android loser called Doctor Nasty or something.

Anyway, they are kind of dumb but good workers so maybe this Cortex guy hustled them. Anyway Hivory Towers…that belongs to some small time business that's more or less just another suck up to Homelander's group. Well…so much for this world being isolated."

Coco looked on in horror before she looked at the hologram carefully." I knew Cortex was being weird but…I did not think he was doing something like this! Ugh…guess we were too willing to think he just lost it without Uka Uka to boss him around. If he hid that he contacted other worlds this could be bad."

"Oh, it will be really bad if they call their boss's boss." Astra answered bluntly." Damn…so much for going cruse control on this. Eh…it's still not TO bad yet but we got to play this carefully. So, what we know is that he's spent all this time building something to hide something else?"

"That seems to be the gist of it miss." Aku-Aku answered bleakly." The entire complex had a energy barrier powerful enough that even I and the Quantum Masks could not effect it. It would seem that this means Cortex is serious about not letting anyone stop what he and his new cohorts are now plotting."

Coco shrugged before she took out her laptop." Cortex has been serious before but still made mistakes. We just have to look carefully at what's going on and crash the party."

Crash gave a thumbs up before Crunch rolled his eyes." Not like that idiot. So, it's clear Cortex is not planning a party but any idea what he really wants?"

The younger female bandicoot looked at the memories of the Quantum Mask…before she saw some box's being carried into the Island. As she saw some of them had a mark with a grey A on them before she raised an eyebrow." Maybe it's something with those box's? Have not seen them around before…are they some sort of new T&NT or Nitro box's?"

Mike looked at the box's before he raised an eyebrow." Hey wait I have an answer to that Coco. Could be stolen from there owners, but those box's belong to "Megacorp". They hand out all kinds of things across the universe. I think I met the CEO, Abercrombie Fizzwidget five years ago. He seemed on the level, at least not the type to sell to random control freaks."

Astra shrugged before she leaned back." Even if they had a deal with your Bethel Kingdom for a while Mikey…if times keep getting tough people will make all kind's of compromises to stay afloat."

Mike looked troubled for a moment before he shrugged." Well…another thing to figure out later. But the big thing is that they are a big corporation. So, there IS a lot of people that work for them. And that means…someone can pretend to work for them to get in if they play there cards right."

Megaman saw the conviction in Mike's eyes before he gasped." Wait so you want to pretend to get in by acting as someone working for Megacorp?"

Mike shrugged as he leaned back." Hey, I hustled people like this a lot in the past year so I know a thing or two."

Astra rolled her eyes before she leaned back." After how bad your "hustling" ended with Omni-Man and Utopian you really want to risk everything on trying again? Even if Cortex and the others don't know you, you don't really fit the delivery type kind of guy."

"Yah but we have someone who does…right Sam?"

As Mike pointed at the stoic Porter, the older man saw everyone looking at him and sighed." So you really want this all to boil down to me?"

Roll looked at Sam before she gulped." Are you not comfortable sneaking into hostile places mister Briggs?"

Sam sighed before he looked up." Lady…there is very few places not hostile in this universe these days. I delivered mail even into terrorist groups such as Homo Demens camps and all kinds of "aggressive" groups across the universe. Still…I'm just a Porter…I can't deliver what I don't have."

"Leave that to me man." Mike answered pridefully as he gave a thumbs up." Roll…if Coco helps you get power to at least some of the Flutter's systems you can give her access to the archives?"

The pilot of the Flutter glanced at her ship before she looked confused." Well…I think so. But why?"

Mike's grin got wider before he put his hands on his head." Because while it's not the usual kind of treasure you would think of we seem to need to pull a heist. And…I think I have an idea. Sure…lot of ways things can go wrong but…at least the odds are not totally against us its worth a shot right? What…we just want to wait to see what this Cortex guy has planned?"

Crash laughed before shaking his head, till Megaman sighed." Well…could be risky but no way am I letting Gramps be at this guy's mercy. If you got an idea on how to pull this off Lord Auro I have your back!"

Crunch cracked his neck before he patted the Digger on the back. "Don't worry kid…Cortex is spineless. Soon as we break his toy he will do anything to avoid a beat-down."

Astra rolled her eyes before she leaned forward." Sounds like you should give one anyway, so he learns his lesson. Well, we don't know if his buddies crack as easy but…hell should be fun to find out."

Mike saw the others looked on in agreement before he smirked." Alrighty. Let's show these guys who's playing out of there league, eh?"

And so the son of Ben and Lacus went on to explain his plan. After a bit of discussion, the talking morphed into the plotting…and soon after it morphed again into the doing phase.

As the sun went down around Cortex Island, a few blargian Commandos were patrolling a area around the front gate. As they finished patrolling Capital B flew down. As he looked around his eye twitched." Hey…we were supposed to get another delivery an hour ago! You guys see anything yet?"

The glowing eyed humanoids just shrugged before there bee like boss grit his teeth." Bah…these quacks better deliver, or Dreck will use this chance to try and screw me over! If they really are genius's they why do they need so many "revisions?" I swear if they are just, huh? Hey someone's coming and that's someone who's not on the guest list!"

The winged man was pointing to none other than Sam. The man in the raincoat was lugging a giant house sized grey box with the logo of Megacorp on it, that was attached to a likewise box behind it attached with a glowing energy cable. Capital B saw Sam quietly walk up before he cleared his throat." And who the hell are you supposed to be!?"

Sam paused, saw the three look at him before he glanced back at his cargo." I got a delivery of a dozen Protopet's for a…Doctor Neo Cortex?"

B paused before he looked back at the cargo box's and frowned." What? I do remember Cortex and Nefarious talking about needing one last round of test subjects. Still…if your legit your late!"

Sam shrugged before he looked up." I'm the replacement porter. Seems the previous guy ran into a Viltrumite and was wiped out. Takes a while to deliver something all the way from the Bogon Galaxy."

B eyed Sam carefully before he groaned before turning around." …QUACK! Any reports of Viltrumites messing around in the Bogon Galaxy?"

His legless associate rolled up before he sighed." There were reports that that Thragg is trying to take out the Sentry and part of his territory is the Bogon Galaxy!"

"Ugh…Megacorp is sloppy with notifications!" B answered sorely before he turned back to Sam." Alright, if the cargo checks out your in."

Sam nodded before putting the package in front of the gates. A green orb flashed open before scanning the cargo crates before scanning Sam." Freelance contractor Sam Porter Bridges ID confirmed—receiver is standing by for drop."

B snickered before glancing at the Porter." Alright you're in. Quack…take him to the storage. I'll give you a bonus if you store it…I don't want to pay overtime to give my employees ideas."

Dr. Quack raised an eyebrow before he frowned." Hey wait you never give me over time!"

"That's because I might need to hire this Porter again and unlike you someone else might in fact want to hire him!"

Dr. Quack unleashed a few bitter quacks before he glanced at Sam." Alright alright follow me and don't get distracted!"

Sam nodded before following the duck into the Hivory Tower. Sam went through a few large hallways that had a few more blargian Commandos, as well as a few human scientists before arriving at a large hanger door. Sam saw the Blarg all look on edge before Quack quacked to get their attention." Cool it, he's arriving a package. Just let him in so we can get this over with."

The guards saw the large creates behind them and shrugged before opening the doors. The Porter saw a warehouse full of crates full of creatures, some that could be seen. Quack rolled to the left before clearing his throat." Alright just put them over by the Snagglebeast there and get out of here. Thanks for your hard work Porter but this was supposed to a be a private preview and all."

Sam nodded before glancing around." Is there a bathroom around here? Rather do my business before going back into hyperspace."

"Just go down the hall to the right after leaving alright?"

Sam saw Quack give out some disgruntled quacks before rolling out of the room. The bearded man saw the guards glare at him before he shrugged and put the cargo creates where Quack told him to.

The guards heard the Snagglebeast and some of the other creatures bark and roar in response before the right one groaned." What the hell do they want with all these monsters anyway?"

"Eh…that Cortex guy wants them all for a Zoo part of the show…and I think Dr Nefarious wanted to use them for the experiment or something. Either way…these Protopets are just one more thing we have to watch out for."

The left guard saw that cargo creates were motionless before he glanced up and saw giant green eyes staring at him." I don't know…these guys seem a lot more docile than some of the other ones."

"Eh…maybe a little to docile, eh? Hey you did not deliver us a dead corpse eh? Open them to prove you're not screwing with us!"

Sam paused before he shrugged. He then went over to the first create and removed a lock before it fell down. The two guards saw a giant round green creature who's fur was covering its body almost like a hedgehog. As the large round eyes glanced at the guards Sam shrugged." It was mutated or something…I don't know I get paid to deliver it, not raise it."

The guards looked at the larger creature's eyes before the left one shrugged." Eh alright…we have enough problems to deal with so get out of here before things become a problem."

Sam coughed a bit before he shrugged." Well…you can avoid it all you want but sometimes trouble finds you and all."

As the guards paused the Protopet twitched, before all of a sudden Astra burst out of the fur and unleashed a roundhouse kick. Her target only had time to yell before being sent flying right into the cage with the Snagglebeast.

At the same time Crash jumped out of the head, and let out a wild cry before unleashing a body slam mid jump. The bandicoot's body slam was powerful enough to crack the steel ground. When he got up the guard was not moving.

Astra saw the result of Crash's body slam and snickered." Well guess you're not as lazy as you look eh Crash? Alright, so far so good. Let's get going!"

Mike popped out of the" Protopet" right foot before he smirked." Hey I told you I know what I'm doing when I don't have half of the universe's demi gods down my throat at once! Alright…its party crashing time."

Coco, Megaman, and Crunch came out of the second crate before Crunch cracked his knuckles." Alright…this time Cortex is going to learn the price for messing with us!"

The lady Bandicoot got out and looked around before she frowned." Cortex's new friends seem even more crazy than usual. We better figure out what's going on before it's too late."

Astra took out her sword before she grinned." Alright…lets figure out where your old man is so I can just cut loose!"

"Wait just a second." The female Bandicoot uttered before she took out her lab top and pressed a button. She waited a few seconds before grinning." Ok, hacked the cameras so that if Cortex, N-Gin or the others check in it will look the same. Let's get a map before they see past the loop. Um…over there should work."

The group followed Coco to the doors were Coco saw a terminal. She quickly uploaded a program before she saw a map of the building. As she did Megaman ran up." Any idea where they might be holding Gramps?"

Mike looked at the map before he cleared his throat." Well my blue friend I'm not quite as sharp as Coco here on this but this detainment center might be a good way to kick things off."

Coco nodded before she glanced at Crash." It's not too far, so might as well."

Astra paused before she looked around." So, this Cortez guy the type to use hostages?"

Aku Aku flew out with the other Quantum Masks before he sighed." Not really but…I can't speak for his new allies."

The blond woman rolled her eyes before she looked around." Then we better do this fast if you want the old man in one piece."

Megaman winced before he looked at the unconscious guards and had a hopeful look in his eyes." Wait I know, we can sneak in as guards!"

Astra paused before looking around." What you see a closet or something?"

"Nope…but my 3D printer buster will shoot out copies!"

Everyone saw the Digger was not bluffing as he had his arm cannon change color before he went back to scan the two unconscious blargian commandos. After a few seconds his arm cannon changed color before he fired a few beams, that turned into identical copies of the knocked-out guard's uniforms.

Mike went over to poke the left most uniform before he smirked." Hey whoa the new 3D printer gun looks like its rolling out great. That's good…that's one less person who will want a refund if I ever get back to Manaan."

Megaman shrugged as he had his arm cannon transform back to its normal shape." Eh, with how hard it can be to find supplies these days it helps to have as many ways to create supplies as possible. Well, should last us long enough to get to the cells at least."

Mike nodded before he picked up the outfit nearest to him." Well, not the outfit I would wear for an interview but my old duds were getting a bit burnt anyway. Alright, let's see if old man Barrel needs a free air lift."

The group quickly changed and went deeper into the complex. To their relief, the guards they saw were mostly the Tyhrranoids, who seemed to be to dim to see anything past them wearing the" Right" duds.

After a few minutes of tense hallway they entered the jail. As they entered Crunch went in front of the others and grunted out a grumpy," The boss man wanted us to help with the prison transfer ok?"

The left one-eyed creature glanced at his cohort before shrugging. The group was allowed in before they entered a large hall that was hanging over an acid pool linked by hexagon shaped platforms before Mike chuckled." Man this dude's going all in on being the bad guy eh?"

"Maybe." Astra retorted." But he sure is a sloppy one. Well, guess an easy job is not bad every once and a," Just as the blond woman walked forward all of a sudden, an alarm went off. Suddenly the image of Dr. Quack appeared in front of the door in front of them before the duck frowned." Hey what's the deal? I did not call you hear!"

Mike paused before he cleared his throat and let out a smug grin." True but we did get called in from the higher ups to inspect things."

"Oh yah? Why?"

"Well…because we are the best at the best of what we do eh?"

"That so? If you're really qualified, you will have to prove it. Time for a terrifying quack fire quiz!"

As spotlights went on Astra raised an eyebrow." Wait seriously?"

Dr. Quack just cleared his throat before game show music started to play." Welcome…welcome I'm your host ! You will need to answer ten questions to survive my awful question assault!"

Megaman winced before he looked around." Is this a joke?"

"Is that response a joke? It was clearly in the contract that you had to pass pop quiz's or be fired! What you did not read it?"

Mike saw the others look on edge before he played it cool." Oh I'm game Quack! I consider myself a very up to date employee! Even won a few game-shows!"

Astra, Crash, and Megaman all looked at the lanky man before he gave a thumbs up." Seriously unless the question are totally bonkers I got this."

His comrades gave begrudging nods of approval before he smirked. Quack looked determined before he cried out," That so? Then step forward and prepare for a trivia trouncing!"

A platform with a buzzer rose out of the platform before Quack cleared his throat." Question one…what place around here has the most food?"

Mike cringed as he realized he had no way of knowing that before Crash walked up and patted the son of Ben Auro on the shoulder. The Bandicoot cleared his throat before he shocked everyone by answering with a deep toned," What is Wumpa Island?"

After a few tense seconds a green light appeared before Quack winced." That's…correct? Crackers…who gave the employees enough time to look at the data files? Ugh…but that's the answer."

The platform moved another spot before Crash gave a thumbs up, causing Coco to giggle." If it's one thing Crash won't forget its where the best food is."

Quack cleared his throat again before he cut in with a sharp," You may not be dullards but you're still not going to avoid a multiple-choice massacre! Alright, local stuff seems to be your thing so lets answer a few things that locals might not have paid attention to. Question two…let's get into deeper stuff here! Who is the one who broke the universe!?"

Mike noticed Crash looked confused and did not even take a second to feel a surge of anger go through his spine before he went up and slammed the buzzer before he bitterly answered with," What is Doug Fitter…the guy who betrayed everyone and ruined the universe all because he was too full of himself."

Mike glanced at the icy look Astra gave him and tried to play it cool as a correct sound went off , resulting in Quack looking flustered." Double Curses…a quick answer is double the points!"

As the platform moved up Crunch eyed Mike and raised an eyebrow." Wait…how does anyone break the afterlife?"

Coco nodded before saying," That sounds too crazy even for Cortex, Tropy and the rest of them!"

"And wait." Aku Aku added from under Crunch's coat." Doug Fitter…he was one of the Enji Knights was he not? Was he not on the same team as your father Ben Auro?"

Astra spat off the platform before she answered with a sharp," It's a long…long story wood face and we don't have time for the recap."

Before anyone could say more Quack grit his teeth." Question three…what are the creatures that move like the weather and can't be seen by the naked eye?"

Astra sighed before she pressed the buzzer." What are BT Shades? They are a "beached" thing comes into existence when the deceased soul of a living thing fails to cross through the Beach into the realm of the dead, consequently becoming "stranded" in the world of the living.

Due to the Death Stranding that was caused when Heaven and Hell were fractured when a human or any other living being dies, their "ka" (soul) is still connected to and will attempt to return to their "ha" (body) after death.

The only way to prevent this is to destroy the body, usually through cremation at an incinerator; if this is not carried out, the ka will return to the ha and then become a BT, stranded in the world of the living, risking a Voidout."

Everyone looked on in shock before Astra shrugged." Got to know this kind of stuff really damn well to live in this, well, universe."

Quack had his jaw drop before he saw the correct answer sound buzz and he frowned." Guess there is no limit to the length of the answer…really should have patched that up…I'll have to consult Retro 64us about that. But moving on…what is a Voidout?"

Mike winced before answering with," What is…a Voidout is when BT Shades are to populated in a area. A voidout occurs when the anti-matter of the inner body of a BT interacts with the matter of the "Mortal Dimension." This interaction causes an intense and explosion."

As the correct sound goes off Quack widened his eyes." Blast! You definitely read the answers out of the reflection of my glass! B kept assuring workers are too busy to know history these days! Ugh…too late to switch to the math section."

Coco saw how blunt Mike was before she winced." Wait…when people die they can just blow up on there own?"

"Not just when they die Coco." Mike answered grimly." Sometimes you can have a Void out just if you get to worked up. Those ones are called Adolla Bursts, a Doctor Adolla figured out it had something to do with the blood getting to charged…right before he bursted into flames…hence the Adolla Burst and all."

As Crash's jaw dropped Quack had veins form on his forehead." Alright hotshot don't get distracted we have a deadline to meet! What is…who currently rules the universe? Who is this universe's god ever since the Queen of Light Cosmos, and the Shin Emperor of Darkness, Chaos Zannacross Necron died along their son the first offspring, the" Beyonder?"

Astra saw Mike wince, but before the lanky man could answer the blond woman slammed the buzzer and shouted out," What is…chaos. Cause after all…there is no active god in the universe. Jenseits von Gut und Böse….God is dead, and the idea of a central power telling every tribe what to do from afar is sure as hell dead with it no matter how many idiots refuse to let that idea die.

Ben Auro and Lacus Raystar were arrogant enough to think they could act as god and I reckon it seems they paid the price for it. Whatever higher power there is in the universe left its clear they don't care how we live our lives. For better or worst we are free to live how we want, long as we are strong enough to pull it off."

Everyone eyed Astra with various degrees of shock before the buzzer went off. Quack saw this and started to sweat." Crackers…while the answer was supposed to be the Vought clan, I guess since Homelander keeps saying he is chaos it counted. Alright you passed. Just be quick about it!"

With an angry quack the doors opened. Without wasting any time the group got in. Despite all the questions the Bandicoot with the metal hand now had, as he saw there were indeed jail cells around he chuckled as he focused on the task in front of him." Not even lying about that part. Alright, lets bust some cells."

"Careful Crunch." Coco uttered tensely." We don't want to be tricked like that whole mess with the NV's." Crunch saw Crash snicker before he cracked his neck." Yah…not going to ever let that happen again. This Bandicoot is mutated enough thank you. Alright let's see what we got. Hey Mega dude…your grampa yellow and look like a cat?"

The Digger raised an eyebrow before he winced." Um…not unless something has gone horribly…horribly wrong. Er… why?"

Crunch pointed to the cell in front of them, and saw a humanoid cat with yellow fur, green eyes, and clad in an orange shirt, green pants and boots, though his limbs were tightly bound with heavy glowing chains. Mike shrugged before glancing at Crash." Cat guys native to these parts?"

Crash shrugged before Astra narrowed her eyes." Wait…that's a Lombax."

Mike raised an eyebrow before he looked around." For real? I…know I heard that name some were before."

"Maybe when you were getting a history lesson cause they are supposed to be extinct. They were renowned engineers hailing from planet Fastoon in the Polaris Galaxy. Those walking puss crabs the cragmites had beef with them for a long ass time, and I think some prick that went by Emperor Tachyon convinced the Arasaka Corporation and other members of the Vought clan to wipe out the Lombax's.

Heard it right from the mercenary Adam Smasher himself when he was hell of a smashed-on drinks himself. Dude felt bad since some of the Lombax's helped upgrade his body at one point. Eh…he just got paid too much to turn it down.

Course the Equalizers equalized things by wiping out the Cramites, think I remember that a surviving Lombax, a gal named Angela Cross personally made the request to Higgs. Eh…but, did not help the cats much. I did hear rumors that one of them was spotted on dumps like Veldin and Tatooine so guess it was true after all."

Mike winced before he looked down." Damn…I do remember now…the folks were going over me how the Lombax were one of the many races who were wiped out…and that it was all the reason they had to try harder. Glad at least one of them is still kicking…but what the hell is one of the last Lombax's doing here?"

Coco grasped her laptop bitterly before responding with," Cortex loves experimenting with things. We exist cause he experimented on Crash and me with his Evolvo-Ray…guess old habits die hard."

Crunch narrowed his eyes before spitting out," Like hell am I going to let that fool make someone else go through that damn Cortex Vortex. Long as this dude's on the level lets get him out of here."

Crash looked more determined than he had so far before he nodded and walked up. The Barge guard glanced at Crash before he cleared his throat." What's the deal? Shift change is not for another hour."

The Bandicoot cleared his throat like he was about to say something, then suddenly spun around so rapidly that he became a humanoid tornado. The guard only had time to yell out before Crash hit him with such force that the glowing eyed figure was spun into the guard on the other side, who was sent flying right as Crunch extended his metal fist.

As both guards fell unconscious rolled out from the monitor room with a look of panic." What the quack is going on! Ripper Roo I told you that Cortex won't let you out till you stop trying to blow up the Nitro creates for the, GUH!"

Before he could even roll Astra dashed forward and kicked him into the wall. The duck in gasped out loud, and saw the blond woman's face before she let out a wild grin." If it took you that long to figure out guess your only a genius cause you cheated on the test eh?."

"Gah! I can't feel my legs!... Oh, wait. I forgot I removed them, years ago..."

"God being a suck up really is the only thing going for yah eh? How about stop sniffing for the bonus that's never going to happen and get out of the way before your tonight's dinner!"

"Your…despicable."

Astra rolled her eyes before kicking Quack into the cell in front of the Lombax, causing the glass container to crack before he cried out," Duck down! Duck down! Bring me my pillow stuffed with duck down! Ugh."

With one last quack the hostile duck fell unconscious. But the impact caused enough of a vibration to stir the cat like creature up.

As everyone looked on in shock the cellmate looked around, saw knocked out, and let out a weary chuckle." Alright…if this is an act to trick me it's almost winning me over. Still…I'm not going to crack to a quack like you."

Mike saw the resolve in the cat's eyes and smirked." Oh let me tell you now man you got the wrong idea. We are in fact trying to pull a con, but more on the owner of this tacky establishment and his collaborators. We're trying to bust someone out, though if your play your cards right then you can get in on the deal Mister…um…this cell have a name guys?"

"Heh, its Rachet." Rachet answered." Well, you're not the person I thought was going to bust me out but eh…my ear is so freaking itchy that I'll roll with it."

Megaman eyed Rachet and rubbed his chin a bit." So um…just what do you do that caused you to end up here Mister Rachet?"

Rachet paused for a moment to look at who talked to him before he looked amused as he looked around." A Megaman eh? Well this is sure not what I expected but that's cool. And…huh?"

Rachet glanced at Crash before he raised an eyebrow." Is that a… ottsel? That's a lot bigger than how Clank said they were supposed to be…that doctor really is doing all kind's of messed up stuff. "

Coco gasped before she ran up." No…he's a Bandicoot. But you seen Doctor Cortex? Did he try and experiment on you? Did he experiment on anyone else?"

Rachet paused before he looked around," Cortex? You mean one of the human scientists? I don't know what you guys are after, but I'm out for payback for Doctor Nefarious."

Crash and Coco looked at each other before Crunch rubbed his head." Huh? Wait you mean the blue guy? seemed like his own special kind of twisted himself."

"Huh? No no…Doctor Nefarious is a cyborg dude! He wants to wipe out all organic life!"

As the Bandicoots and others looked in confusion Astra raised an eyebrow." Wait…that sounds like the dude I blew up on planet Mylon!"

"Hey that was you? Heh, you did blow up that Biobliterator good! But you did not check that job very well miss."

"I saw the dude's head blow up!"

"But he transferred his mind to another robot body!"

"Oh…really? Damn it I hate robots! What are you anyway a robot hunter or something?"

"Well, I'm worked for Megacorp as a trained commando, the Galactic Rangers as a sergeant, the Q-Force as a leading member, and the Polaris Defense Force, but my most stable job is as a mechanic…a really good mechanic."

"Hey wait I do remember you! You won that DreadZone game I bet on!"

"Oh? I don't remember you when I was getting out of all of that stuff in the Shadow Sector. What, Gleeman Vox hustled you into one of his games to?"

"He tried to but he pissed me off so I took down his whole game to get pay back everyone he screwed over. But wait…you got hired to work on these guys machines or something?"

"Yah…no. I…I and my buddy Clank were looking for one of the last of my kind. And I found him on planet Torren IV, General Alister Azimuth, a man who was long time freinds with my father Kaden. I did find him, but it was a trap set by Nefarious.

And well…after that I woke up here with Nefarious, a human Bee and a bunch of human scientists. They want my help to break my own pal Clank to pull off whatever they have planned…but I'm not selling out my friend to that monster!"

Megaman looked troubled before he got up." Sounds like these scientists are really up to something well…nefarious. I know you been through a lot but…did you see an old man with anyone? We think the same guys might have kidnapped my grandpa!"

Rachet paused before he looked down." I mean…I got zapped a lot recently so I'm not really seeing everything…but well…a few hours ago they came back and another old dude was with them. I thought he was working with him but the one with the N on his head was looking like he was trying to explain things and win him over. I mean…maybe he is in one of the other cells here?"

Mike looked around and saw on the left there was a blue mutated kangaroo with wild glowing yellow eyes tied up in a straight jacket. As the blue canine like being laughed madly, then talked to itself Crash cringed before Coco rolled her eyes." Ripper Roo lost his mind again? Ugh…He just can't get over that Nitro addiction. Yah…I think it's better if we leave him behind."

Mike looked to the right and saw a human/octopus hybrid in the right most cell.

She had blue eyes and black eyelashes with the top portion of her head-colored violet. On her face are freckles. She wore a large fishbowl on her head that contained water and a goldfish swimming around.

Surrounding the bottom of her head were six short tendrils, and she had four red octopus tentacles, two of which are coming out of the sleeves of her dingy, white laboratory coat. The coat itself is coated in multicolored blotches.

Under her lab coat, she wore a yellow tight top that has a black skull on the front, along with black tights.

Megaman quickly looked around and saw a red humanoid snake in a brown suit, and a human Chameleon in the other cells before he winced." No he's not here. He must be somewhere else."

Coco shrugged as she looked up." Maybe Cortex and this Doctor Nefarious are trying to make him help their project?"

Mike looked around before he let out a half-lopped smile." Don't mean to be bias but I just a hunch that anyone who names themselves Doctor Nefarious can't be planning good things for the rest of us."

Coco looked back at before she glanced around." Alright…then I'll just find the key to get him out of here and we will get going."

Astra raised an eyebrow before she took out her sword." Why go through all the hassle? What are those chains of your rigged with bombs cat dude?"

Rachet winced before he let out an uneasy chuckle." Er well…no."

The Lombax did not even have time to finish speaking before Astra leaned down." Then screw being smart about it!"

In a flash Astra moved like a blur to slice the chains holding Rachet. In less than a second Rachet fell to the ground. A moment later, alarms blared out. As Astra paused, Rachet coughed a bit." I was trying to say that cutting me down triggered the alarms!"

Astra cursed before she flicked some hair out of her eyes." Oh…damn. Eh…not like we had any better options."

"Well, I was going to say that I had a few tools that could have disabled the alarms that the duck had locked up in his safe but well…not going to help now."

Mike rolled his eyes before leaning back." Who is not taking things seriously again dame?"

"Oh, shut up your highness we were going to have to fight sooner or later so at least we got the hostages free."

Megaman saw Astra's confidence before he winced." Huh? We still have not found my Grampa!"

"Oh…right." Astra uttered grimly." Er…well…it seems maybe they need him alive anyway? Don't look at me like that we have to hurry if we are going to save him right? Let's go!"

Mike glanced at the other cells before he nodded behind him." Hey if you're botching this at least get everyone out right?"

"Oh fine…everyone get away from the cells!"

Astra gave the cellmates a second before she carved through the cell doors like butter with her power to release everyone aside from Ripper Roo. As the doors fell down Crunch looked around and saw the half woman half octopus stagger out before he walked up." Are you guys going to be ok? I guess you guys are not from here, eh? You have a ship here?"

"No…we were from another world. Yooka-Laylee the third, the chameleon and bat couple, and Trowzer, the snake were all captured by Capital B in Shipwreck Creek for "Not paying our bills." I…I think I can get us out as long as we can get our hands on a ship."

"Alright. Sorry the doc's already messed you up with some experiments first."

"Oh this? Don't worry. I'm Doctor Puss and I mutated myself D. went haywire after I put to many Mollycool's in the device. Its fine, I just want to get out to not have to work under oppressive fools."

"Don't we all sister." Astra answered flatly." But the only way to do that is to get moving!"

Crash saw Rachet looked tired before he offered a hand. The humanoid cat grinned before he took the Bandicoot's hand. He looked at the office were Quack came out of and cracked his neck." Before we go my stuff's in there and things will go a lot easier if I get it back."

Megaman nodded before he fired at the door with his buster. As it blew apart Mike looked inside and saw a armories worth of various firearms, and a fancy wrench before the lanky man whistled." Man, theses doctors captured a whole army or something? Is there another jail here? Sounds like the janitor had to leave everything but his wrench here to make room."

Rachet laughed before he walked in." Nah this is all my arsenal dude. When you're going commando you got to do it right. And the wrench, the OmniWrench Millennium 12 is mine as well. Been using them since I got the OmniWrench 8000, manufactured by Gadgetron."

Astra whistled as she looked at some of the guns." Hell some of those guns could even be a pain for me. What the hell happened someone like Homelander or Omni-Man blitzed yah?"

Rachet looked dismayed as he grasped the OmniWrench Millennium 12." Not quite. Like I said…I let my guard down because I thought I thought maybe the Lombax race was not quite gone after all. But…but."

Before he could finish a sterner voice uttered," But those who mock are kind will pay Rachet…we will make sure of that."

As everyone swerved around a new Lombax staggered out of the last cell. He possessed the normal feline-like traits of his fellow Lombax, though was much taller and muscular in build compared to Ratchet.

He had light gray fur with red-brown stripes, thick black eyebrows, a red-brown nose, and brown eyes with yellow sclera. The fur on the sides of his jaw also resembled a short beard. He wore dark brown and black Praetorian Guard armor with plates on the shoulders and chest.

Mike saw the angry look in the taller cat man's eyes before he raised an eyebrow." Whoa…guess the Lombax race is not quite extinct eh? You ok mister?"

"That's General." He got in an abrupt reply." General Alister Azimuth…though I admit the general of the army I was apart of no longer exists. Rachet seems to have debriefed you already so let's focus on completing the mission."

Rachet saw Alister's eyes and cleared his throat." You sure you're ready? Nefarious zapped you a lot right?"

"Did they take the nano-tech?" The older humanoid cat hissed out bitterly. Rachet looked at some blue spheres near his omniwrench before he shrugged. The general walked up and quickly ate one of the "Nanotech" spheres before he grasped his fist tightly." I'll be fine as soon as I make these scum pay!"

He quickly grasped his own duel edged Praetorian OmniWrench before Astra smirked." Heh, glad to see your head's in the right space General dude. Alright, lets bust some heads!"

Mike saw how revved up everyone was before he let out a sigh." Well…nothing we can do but keep going but let's hope for the old man's sake these scientists are the kind that get carried away."

With one more cautious look to make sure the cost was clear Mike, Astra, and there old and new allies headed out to make sure the prison break left no one behind.

Little did Mike know that the scientists that were the source of all the current issues were indeed the type who liked to get carried away showing off.

A little before Mike and the others broke out Rachet, Alister, and the others it seems Rachet was correct, because Barrell Caskett was indeed with Cortex and the other scientists, and for now it was not as hostile as Megaman, Roll, and the others feared.


The scene was Cortex, N Tropy, N-Gin and a few others escorting the elder Digger into Cortex's office before the scientist with the N on his forehead saw Barrel's tension and chuckled." Oh don't mind the aesthetics, I built my lab over this old castle, as someone who researches ruins I figured you would get a kick out of it."

Barrel saw Cortex's smile seemed legit before he cleared his throat." That's correct Doctor Cortex, I admit this is not the type of…ruins I seen before."

"Well then this might be a good day after all eh? I do apologize if startled you a bit at first. That rocket in his head scrambled his manners and all and while I told him to see what that crash was about I told him not to be careful with how he approached."

The scientist with half a rocket for a face winced before muttering out," But Doctor Cortex…you told me that anything that could help finish the," Cortex quickly jabbed Gin at his gut before snapping out," Well you saw it wrong ! Sorry…I should have gone myself but I admit my experiment's are what I been focusing on for a while now. To be blunt there has not been much else to focus on."

Barrel looked around before he rubbed his beard." So if I'm remembering what your telling me you and your staff are more or less isolated here on these islands cause they are the only parts of the world here? You been here your whole life Cortex?"

Cortex looked around before he sighed." It was not always this way, but I had the devil's luck. I escaped the jaws of doom only for the price being left with no one else in the world, but the idiots who I hated! And now I have new partners that might let me escape, but I have to prove my worth first you see."

"You talking about the fella who is a human Bee and the robot?"

Cortex snickered before he looked behind him." Something like that. Well, if this leads to Doctor Neo Cortex proving he is one of the biggest geniuses in the universe it will all be worth it.

If your ship's reactor helps us have enough power to push us over the edge. Ah, and if you can help us with that other factor that would be just dandy."

Barrel saw the other scientists looking at him before he tugged his collar." I'm happy to give my thoughts on the matter Cortex but while I would say I made an established career over uncovering ancient civilizations...never the less my expertise as a Digger might not be able to factor in to your…experiments."

"Oh don't sell yourself short Barrel. Just see what 's going on and we will take it from there. See, its right there. My…er…"new coworker" Doctor Nefarious is taking another crack at it."

The group entered a wider room, were Doctor Nefarious was indeed typing into a computer. The computer was attached to a golden pillar, that had a small grey steel robot with round green eyes.

Barrel saw that the robot was motionless before he rubbed his head." You need help fixing your…servant? I have seen plenty of Reaverbots, Droids, and all sorts of artificial life forms across the universe but I don't see what's so special about this fella here."

Dr Nefarious sneered as he typed a few commands and saw an error message." That's because this robot looks unassuming on purpose to mislead others! But while it looks like a mere servant sentry bot at best…this "Clank" really a member of the Zoni!"

Barrel paused before looking at Clank and letting out a gasp." What? You're talking about the creatures that legends said could control time and space?"

"Ah…your aware eh?" Nefarious retorted dryly. Barrel saw the robotic scientist glanced at him before he looked down." I have saw some ruins about them in the Breegus System."

"Heh, then if you can decipher some of the code all the better. The short story is that we are trying to decipher this "Clank" to fully able us to utilize the Rift Generator. Yes… unit designation XJ0461, serial number B5429671, was produced in a blarg robot factory on Quartu. Chairman Dreck showed me the precise moment he was created in his factory.

And yet somehow he was meant to be so much more, before being picked up by some clueless fleshy Lombax and reduced this" Clank" to a mere aid. Any thing you know that can help us help this machine live up to his true destiny would be…greatly appreciated."

Barrel eyed the immobile Clank before he closed his eyes." That's the thing about trying to understand the past. If you're looking at it with an agenda you might not see what your suppose to see. Still…after seeing enough ruined robots I might see something that can help."

"Well let's find out then eh squishy?" Nefarious answered in contempt before going back to Clank." Resuming Sister board scan. Let's see…favorite color is…green…favorite number is eight-three billion and point four seven. And oh…a path to a deeper function? Looks like we,"

Nefarious tried to dig deeper into Clank before an error sigh came up, causing Nefarious to grasp his fist tightly." You can't elude me forever my nemesis! I'll crack your programing yet…your furry teammate can't help you now."

Cortex chuckled before he leaned back." Yes…and Crash and the rest of those Bandicoots are too stupid to know what's going on till it's too late."

Before anyone could respond a mocking older voice cut in with," If that's the case then how come you're the one who does not realize how faulty his plans are till they legit blow up in there face!?"

Cortex cringed as he saw an old lanky man in a green scientist outfit holding a beaker with a bald cone like head walk in. As Barrel glanced at the new arrival Cortex rolled his eyes." Dr. Nitrus Brio…no one asked your opinion!"

"Yes well as your former number two and still the man who knows how you think, and overthink best, I give it anyway. Those Bandicoots are a curious lot. What if they look at the ship you took this Barrel from and decide to come here anyway? You really think a mere sigh will keep them out?"

"Bah…Gin came underwater so they won't not have a clue where to go."

Nefarious at this point noticed the alarm that went off when Rachet was free by Astra before he narrowed his eyes." Is that so? Care to explain this then?"

Cortex saw the footage of Crash using his tornado spin to knock out the Blarg guard before his jaw dropped." No…no not again! Darn you Crash Bandicoot! But…how did he get through the energy shield? Those new mask friends of his? The systems did not detect their energy!"

Nefarious sighed before he screamed out," Lawrence! LAWRENCE!"

A fairly pear-shaped, well-dressed, humanoid robot that had bright blue eyes and wore a traditional butler suit, with a black suit jacket and blue bow tie strolled in before uttering a polite," You rang sir?"

Nefarious got right to the point before hissing out," Who entered this complex today?"

"The most recent entry was a Sam Porter…a professional Porter who delivered the Protopets you ordered for the KK experiment. He said he replaced the other Porter after he was exterminated but left no proof. It seems Capital Bee let him in."

"Did he now?" Nefarious uttered flatly." Useless squishy fool should stick to numbers! Did he even see where this porter arrived? You idiots led the vermin right in! You had one job and you screwed up so bad that,"

Nefarious head sparked before suddenly his eyes went blank. Suddenly a different male voice came out of his body and said," Janice…you will always be the love of my life!"

As everyone blinked in confusion a female voice responded with," Oh Lance this is not right! Your my uncle's cousin's son!"

Barrel rubbed his beard before he responded with," I could have swore that was a episode of Lance and Janice."

Lawrence cleared his throat before he went up to his master." My apologizes…he still has a glitch that episodes of that drama will play when his anger circuit's overload. Still…I do love this part."

The robot butler slapped Nefarious before his eyes regained the recolor. Nefarious paused before he cleared his throat." Anyway…this is why I only trust myself!"

Trophy face palmed before he added," I can relate to that…counting on these" fellow scientists" for anything but failure has led to nothing but dismay.

Cortex grasped his fist tightly before he snarled out," No…not again…not this time! Why else would I escape going down with Uka Uka and all the other villains of the universe if not because I was the one worthy to rule? Crash…Crunch…even the so called "Smart ones" like Coco and Aku Aku thing things are so good? It's because they never even met humanity that they did not realize that everyone else on this world is dead and have been dead for centuries now when we all skipped ahead in time!

Even after how many gifts we gave them vie my genius they just lay around like the common bandicoots, just with watching more old movies and games. But I won't let simpletons get in the way of progress again!"

Tropy snickered before he grasped his own staff darkly." I can agree on that Doctor…the time for fools is all but running out."

Nefarious chuckled himself before looking at the still immobile Clank." So these piles of squshy fools think they are crafty eh? Time to show them tricky is far from exclusive to organics! Lord Vorselon…tell Capital B it's time we properly welcome are guests."

Cortex rubbed his hands together before he muttered," Oh this is going to be good alright. Come Barrel…I'll show you the data so we can get to the bottom of this."

Barrel saw how driven Nefarious looked before he stiffened up." Well I would hate to interrupt your cohort's work as he seems…very focused."

"Oh I'll be ready for you soon." The robotic scientist responds wryly." In the meanwhile feel free to be entertained by my original "epic romantic action comedy space opera" play, Night of the Living Squishies."

Barrel saw Laurence hold up a disc before he rubbed his head. Cortex looked amused as he added," It's not just a mindless blood bath as you would think…it's a highly intellectual play about the folly of things being ran by savages. Based on how things are now it's on the ball."

Barrel saw how fanatical the scientists around him looked before he glanced at the video and saw Megaman shooting at some Blarg before he took a deep breath." Well…I guess its all about what someone sees as broken. But we will all find out soon."

"Of course we will." Nefarious snapped out," Because I'm almost done with my breakthrough! Let's crack this Clank Lawrence…get me the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler!"

The elder Digger kept quiet as he watched to see who's judgment was correct.


In the meanwhile Clank's friend and his recent allies quickly made headway into the hostile territory now that they knew they could no longer hide their intentions from the enemy.

After clearing through a few more hallways of hostiles Astra slashed through the blasts of attacks being fired by humanoid purple lizards before she smirked." Piff…If these guys are so cheap they were depending on losers like Thugs-4-Less then they get what they paid for! Time to pay the bill jackass! Huh? The hell is this?"

The blond woman's change in demeanor as they busted through another set of doors, and found themselves in a giant casino room. Mike saw there was a few humans dressed like tribal natives in slot machines before he raised an eyebrow." Damn…and I figured that the whole opening thing was just an act. I mean how you make money on a casino without anyone around to hustle money out of?"

"Based on these wack jobs ego they might make their flunkies dumb enough to rip off over and over again just for the kicks." Astra answered flatly." But who cares what he wanted to do with this joint…its closing is going to be even quicker than its opening by the time I'm through!"

Just as everyone was about to move out the lights dimmed before a cagy voice from the intercoms blared out," Attention consumers! Welcome to the wonderful expanded Capital Casino, brought to you in a join project by Drek Industries, Hivory Towers, and local intellectual Neo Cortex! Please enjoy are fraudulent…er…fantastic new games! To officially kick off the opening of this fabulous contest, a word from one of the men who helped make this possible, Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek!"

A screen at the back of the casino changed till it took the shape of a short Blarg who was smaller than the others and had a paler complexion than most Blarg. He was wearing a business suit had a large, pointy head with small hair tied into an elegant topknot and large eyebrows with light blue eyes.

Drek let out a small smirk before he started with," Greetings my, less enlightened customers. I'm all too happy to add new members to the Drek family. Is your current life leaving a rotten bland taste in your mouth?

Then help build our fortune while also building your future! I must thank Doctor Neo Cortex for helping the Blarg and are many friends get a foothold on this lovely world. Due to the contract, the good doctor will give a few words."

A few orbs dropped down from the ceiling before they formed a holographic recreation of Cortex's head. The locals looked up before Cortex smirked." Welcome to the Cortex branch of Capital Casino!

My family was a group of circus clowns, and while I long, LONG tried too distant myself from the family that brought me nothing but shame and pain, recent years have driven me to embrace my roots. Thus, now everyone will be entertained by the genius of Doctor Neo Cortex!"

Crunch saw some of the natives clap before he rolled his eyes." Figures only Papu Papu and the rest of the tribesmen would be the only ones that would buy this act. Ugh, either it's a con or he's really crazy enough to think he can make people laugh but either way this circus is going down."

Cortex glanced at Crunch before his smile vanished." Well well…look who just HAD to crash the party early. Oh right. Ugh…darn you Crash Bandicoot! Can't you even wait right!? Must we keep doing this dance till the end of time!?"

"It's over Cortex!" Coco declared." We are not just going to wait for you to try and mess with us! And now your dragging other people into your mess! You were lucky enough to somehow escape when that Chaos Zannacross Necron guy dragged Uka Uka and every other guy like him down with him and you still did not take a hint!"

"It was far more then luck Coco!" Cortex uttered bitterly." N Tropy saved me from Xehamaru 's beast, and then he did his time stuff to create" Chrono Copies" of all of us to be absorbed by Zannacross in are place while we got away! Sure Trophy did the act but I thought of it! I survived this long, to prove my genius to the entire universe once and for,"

"Oh shut it you windbag!" Astra hissed out." Just another pathetic man who can't see how small he really is!"

Cortex eyed the rouge equalizer carefully before he gasped." Crash…when did you find such…exotic friends. You have any idea how long it's been since we had a real woman on the islands? Since Pinstripe caused your former flame Tawna running from the planet! Fate finally provided me with that woman with nice big…bags of ice for my head! You won't have to work a day more for your life if you're at my side by the beach!"

Astra just gave Cortex the middle finger before she hissed out," Want to know what I do to assholes who think I'm a possession jackass? Don't need to be a genius to figure that out!"

Cortex saw Crash laugh before his eye twitched." Bah…your décor is even worst then my niece's. Well, I educated her…the Cortex Vortex can do the same to you after you calmed down a tad! You think your hero's when you barge into my home uninvited? Those uninvited will be seen out! Security!"

Capital B then flew out of a hole in the wall before he glanced at Sam and turned beet red." You! You trying to make a fool out of me!? I'll teach all of you to try and scam my company!"

The porter winced as all the eyes were on him before he shrugged it off," I took a real job, you just failed to notice it was not linking up right."

Mike shrugged as he looked around." Sounds like all of you "genius's" bought the hype to your own hustle. Sorry, but its game over!"

Before anyone could say anything an angry roar and saw a large man was glaring at him. The man was large, and had tan skin. He sported a green skirt, red cuffs on his arms, a mask above his head, and wielded a skull shaped scepter, had red tattoos on his cheeks, red lips, and had a collar on his neck.

His mask was blue, with red eyes, and had black feathers on top of it. His collar was light-blue with dark blue stripes. As Mike saw how big, and fat the man was the interloper snarled out," Hey Papu Papu was winning big scrawny man! You and your Bandicoot friends are not taking the treasure Papu Papu won!"

Mike winced as he smelled how bad the fatter man's breath was before he let out a grin," Hey man I don't know what this Cortex dude has been selling you but I don't think you were really going to win anything anyway."

"You calling Papu Papu stupid? Papu Papu leader of all tribesmen on N. Sanity Island. No lanky nobody can talk to Papu Papu like that!"

"Well you see Mister Papu Papu I'm kind of a prince of a kingdom across the whole universe and all so I'd say we are at least at equal speaking grounds eh?"

"Who's stupid acting like prince when dressed up like worker in casino?"

"Oh this is just a disguise, though my other outfit did kind of get burned up. Seriously though if we can just talk it out I'm sure we can,"

"Papu Papu won't stand for curly haired man mocking him! Respect will be beaten into you!"

Mike cringed as Papu Papu raised his large stick and dashed to the side as the local swung his staff down hard enough to shatter the slot machine.

Astra saw Mike dodging the fatter man's swings before she laughed." Oh come on your "highness". This is like as easy a boss fight as you can get! If you can't beat this asshole just don't even bother showing up."

"Hey I'm just trying to get my rhythm going ok?"

Crash was about to run at Papu Papu before he heard something. He turned around to see a weasel in a red striped business suit with a Tommy gun pointed right at him. The gunslinger only laughed in a insane manner before firing at the Bandicoot, only for Aku Aku to fly up and get in front of Crash and protect him with a wall of energy.

As the floating mask went back he glanced at his orange furred friend." Careful Crash! We have far more to deal with then the likes of Papu Papu and Pinstripe Potoroo!"

Everyone then saw various mutated and armed animals running in from all directions before Cortex's holographic image grinned." I 'm not playing around this time! I'm not just betting on one boss henchmen to deal with you…but ALL of them! There is no way your luck will last now Crash!"

"That's right." Pinstripe uttered as he reloaded his Tommy gun." You guys here are out gunned!"

Rachet saw how confident Pinstripe looked before he rolled his eyes." Words spoken by a chump who does not know what a Miniturret Glove is! Here's a crash course dude!"

The Lombax took out a wrist-mounted silver and orange launcher weapon just as Pinstripe glanced at him, and fired a barrage of spheres at the gangster. Pinstripe saw the spheres land around him and laughed, before in an instant those spheres all turned into gun turrets. Pinstripe saw a dozen targeting lasers all aim for him at moments before he yelped and put his hands in the air.

At the same time Astra was about to charge forward before she saw a bulky koala bear in a red gym shirt, a bulky muscular humanoid tiger, and a fusion of a gorilla and a kangaroo walk up before she looked amused.

The bulky koala bear flexed his muscles before spitting out." Woman won't be so smug after Koala Kong teach you respect for Doctor Cortex! Tiny Tiger, Rilla Roo, get ready to carry her back after I'm done!"

Astra spat on the ground before spitting out," You freaks are supposed to be that dude's muscle?"

Koala Kong just snarled before he ripped out one of the pillars in the building and swung it at the giant house sized coin attached to the wall to cause it to fall to the ground. The blond woman saw how proud Koala Kong looked and rolled her eyes before she casually kicked the coin in the air like a soccer ball, before grinning at her oppoents." Heads or tails furries?" She just heard grunts before kicking it again to flip it over above at her attacker. Rilla Roo saw Koala Kong was too shocked to even speak at being so overpowered before he groaned." Oh come on I never got to do one g, GUH!"

The gorilla kangaroo fusion was cut off as the coin landed on him and Koala Kong, causing a dust cloud to go up. As Astra wiped some dust out of her eye Tiny charged out of the smoke with a trident.

While he thought he caught the blond woman by surprise, he chuckled for a second, before learning the hard way how badly he misjudged the woman's power, as she casually caught the trident with one hand.

Astra saw him try to pull it off with both hands before she easily twisted it with her pinkies. Seeing he was completely overpowered, Tiny could only meow in submission before Astra smirked." Bad kitty…time to cash in one of those lives!"

The blond woman kicked Tiny with enough force to send him flying through the wall. As this went on Crunch was attacked by two humanoid genetically engineered Komodo dragons in Indo-Persian armor, the Komodo Brothers Moe and Joe.

Crunch saw the brothers throw scimitars around like they were in a circus performance before they both threw swords at Crunch from two directions. While they thought they had Crash's former rival pinned…Crunch swerved his head to avoid the blade behind him, while catching the blade in front of him with his metal blade.

He saw Joe's shock before he narrowed his eyes and bashed Joe with the hilt of his own sword before throwing him at his brother. As they both fell into a slot machine their attacker rolled his eyes." Piff…if you guys spent more time focusing on acting like you belong in the circus then you should have just stayed a side show!"

Another one of Cortex's "Elite commandos", the half crocodile half dinosaur with a vacuum cannon saw how easily his wind attacks were being dismissed before he snarled and threw it away." Damn Cortex…I don't care about his damn carpets…or what is better for the "guests" I'm tired of not being the real Dingodile!

Dingodile then took out a flame thrower before seeing Ratchet and unleashing a stream of fire at the Lombax. His target dodged behind a pillar and tried to take out another gun, before his pyromaniac enemy had the flames spread all around to pin him." G'day, mates! Dingodile's the name, and Cortex gave me orders to keep this show running! So, shove off, or I'll roast yas! Bloody cat…you should not have picked a fight with your betters!"

Alister saw Rachet looked stressed before he grit his teeth." The Lombax won't go extinct to mutant scum like you!"

Dingodile saw the older humanoid cat charging at him before he licked his lips." Your one loony wanker thinking you can mouth off to me mate!"

The tailed goon had even more flames come out of his flamethrower, but Alister showed he was saner than the others presumed before he showed off his boots were hover boots as he thrusted into the air. Dingodile was shocked, but just snarled before firing a quick fiery projectile at the man.

Alister's eyes only hardened before he fired a burst of negative energy from his Omni-Wrench to counteract it, and spun his wrench around before smashing his fanged opponent in the head. As Dingodile was smacked to the ground Alister thrashed his target again and again while yelling out," You thought the Lombax were prey scum? YOU'RE the prey!"

"Oy…I give I, GUH!"

Alister smashed his throat as his rage looked worst and worst." This is a game to you? This is war! Mercy cost me everything before, and,"

Ratchet saw Alister had a look of pure blood-lust in his eyes before he winced." Alister…its over he's not going to fight back anymore!"

Alister paused before he looked at the younger humanoid cat." Rachet…surely you know what happens when you leave a threat to shoot you in the back right?"

"But we have bigger threats still shooting at us now!"

Alister saw Capital B was flying around and pressed a button. Suddenly dozens of small, dark grey and green synthenoids with piranha like jaws floated out of the vents in a swarm that all shouted out," Are you ready to die? Good, because Mr. Zurkon is ready to kill! Death is too stupid for Mr. Zurkon, but you are the disease and Mr. Zurkon is the cure!"

The swarm of Mr. Zurkon robots fired lasers in all directions, causing Alister to snarl as he fired a blast to take out those in front of them.

Capital B saw Megaman and Rachet blast at his new servants before he laughed." When I'm done with all of you in my personal pulverization chamber none of you saps will think of messing with the king bee again! Your all, huh?"

B was cut off as he saw Crash jump off from the roof before trying to hit him with his tornado spin. Before Crash could land his blow the crowdfunded corporate creep flew backwards to avoid him.

As Crash landed on the ground B saw the Bandicoot glare at him before he glared back." So you're the local that has Cortex all worked up? Bah…you don't even have wings, no matter how hard you can spin you will never hit me! But I can sure sting you!"

B fired a stinger at Crash, and the Bandicoot dodged it before he frowned. But after a few seconds he looked determined before he went through something in his pocket, and suddenly took out a bazooka. B saw Crash aiming his Bazooka at him before he widened his eyes." What…seriously?"

Crash then aimed right at him before the giant B grit his teeth." Bah…you may have a few quirky tricks but a halfwit like you never will never make a fool out of me!"

B fired his stringer at Crash, and the Bandicoot fired his projectile while he dodged. While B swerved to get out of the way, he realized to late Crash predicted where he would fly, and got blasted into his own statue.

As the statue came crashing down Aku Aku laughed. "It's always the ones who keep saying how smart they are that end up looking foolish eh Crash?"

As the Bandicoot laughed and did a short dance, Rachet got alongside Crash and glanced at the Bandicoot's Fruit Bazooka before he raised an eyebrow." Fruit powered explosives eh? Not bad, reminds me of what I came up with when I was…um…let's say on vacation. Let's bring the house down till they can't hide anymore!"

Rachet, Megaman, and Crash got each other's backs as they fired in all directions. Mike saw how all of his allies were dispatching the goons at around the same time before he dodged another one of Papu Papu's swings and rolled his eyes." Glad everyone's having so much fun but this is not a game you know!?"

"Bah…puny curly man should not have tried to take what he did not deserve if he did not want to face Papu Papu's wrath!"

"Oh for the…and what gives you the right to smash me eh tubby?"

"Papu Papu stronger than you so might makes right!"

Mike avoided another stick smash before he grasped his fist tightly." Careful about being so proud of that weight "Pal"! You build to much of it and its going to drag you down!"

The tribe leader roared with rage before he smashed his stick down hard enough to crack the ground. As he did Mike jumped up and unleashed a kick to his enemies back. Papu Papu grunted, but swung in a circle to try and swat Mike.

He saw the strike failed, but aside from sweating a bit he was still fine, if annoyed." Doctor Cortex gave Papu Papu meds so his weight won't give him any surprises! Lanky man has no chance in hell!"

Papu Papu had veins form on his head as he charged at Mike. The prince of the Bethel Kingdom kicked the ground in front of him before jumping up. He leapt out of the fatter man's strike, and Papu Papu tried to swerve around before suddenly he lost his balance. Papu Papu failed to regain his balance as he struck another slot machine, and had it blow up in his face.

Mike saw his enemy land with a thud, before Papu Papu yelled in pain, and struggled to get up, only to realize he was not strong enough to lift himself up. The victor of the bought snickered as he swept dust off his shoulder." Want to check those odds? I figured I'd have to use more of my magic but you were so out of shape it just took one combo of Friction Crusher and Friction Fracture spells to make you topple under your own weight. See Astra? I know a thing or two eh?"

Astra sliced through a few robots before she saw Mike's handy work and rolled her eyes." Yah coming second to last is still not that much to feel proud of dude. Whatever…it's still a better place then what N head here is going to be when he runs out of lackeys!"

This whole time Dreck was still watching on the screen, and as he saw the majority of the forces on his side were being trashed before he narrowed his eyes." B…this is going to affect your pension, and much more if you don't turn this around."

The humanoid B coughed up some dust before he glanced tensely at the screen." Hold on Dreck these punks were not part of the plan! How was I supposed to know how feeble these scientists products really where?"

"Hey!" Cortex's holographic head cried out," My work is not pathetic! I just needed to re-calibrate things to the change of,"

Cortex was suddenly cut off before a hologram of Doctor Nefarious appeared in front of him. The hologram of the robotic scientist glanced at Cortex's own hologram and shrugged." Do you only show your head to try and come off as more imposing than you are Cortex? It's a very…inadequate measure of hiding the truth."

As Cortex gasped Rachet saw his own nemesis and grasped his gun tightly." Where is Clank Nefarious? The faster you give it up the less painful it's going to be for you!"

"Heh…do I have to spell everything out for you my sad little Lombax? If you survive to see my genius through you might figure it out, but I would not bet it on that, not even in a tacky place like this! You got lucky having some outsiders bail you out, but don't think your luck will last forever!"

The Holograms of both Nefarious and Cortex abruptly vanished, and B saw Dreck snicker before his own image faded. The giant bee then winced before he glared at his attackers." Don't think this is over…now it just means we have to make an extreme example out of all of you!"

Astra saw B suddenly dive into a tube, and was hurled out of the room before she grit her teeth." The fatass is getting away, and I bet he's running to where his pals are! Let's get him!"

Megaman was the nearest to the makeshift lift, till he saw a wall of green energy suddenly surge across it. He looked up before the blue armored Digger cried out a dismayed," They got some sort of shield across it!"

"Well then let's slice through it and get on with it!" Astra cried out as she got out her sword. The blond woman got up to the lift and had energy surge into her weapon before she smirked." These "genius's" have been wrong about everything so far, they are about to be dead wrong about them being able to keep us out to!"

Mike saw the barrier glow more as Astra got closer before he put up his hand." Hold it Astra! It's not that basic, hit the barrier and it will explode!"

Rachet looked around before he winced." He's right! The Loki Master nearly screwed me and Clank over with something like this on planet Magnus. You got to either have a key-card or strike it in just the right point. No…I don't see any place for the Omni-Wrench to rotate the barrier this time!"

Coco looked around before she tensed up as well." I, I don't see anywhere to hack into it either!"

"Well we can't just let those blowhards get the last laugh!" Astra cried out in frustration. Alister glanced upward before he took a heavy sigh." Looks like we are going to have to make some hard choices on just how badly we want to win."

As Crash shrugged Aku Aku cleared his throat and floated in front of the group." Maybe, but don't despair. I think with the power of the Quantum Masks this puzzle can be solved. Why don't, oh?"

The floating mask was cut off when a ding sound was heard, and suddenly the barrier turned off. Suddenly the doors open, and while the group got ready to fight as it opened a new person walked out, a blue skinned humanoid with a black beard and a cone head wearing a plan white shirt and brown overalls with various tools. While most of the group were confused, Rachet raised an eyebrow before uttering," What the? You're that…plumber?"

"Howdy folks." The plumber replied." Sorry, was ordered to fix the pipes here but was on lunch so it took a while."

"Your…working for these guys?" Rachet replied in shock, causing the Plumber to laugh." Oh don't get the wrong idea…jobs are tight these days and I saw an offer to fix some pipes so I did it. Still…seems it's a good thing I took that lunch break, just because I have a job don't mean I don't have, opinions."

Rachet saw the Plumber wink before he smirked." Man…never thought I would be happy to see a Plumber's crack…er…I mean to see a plumber come back. Sorry, been a while since I could get away with stuff Clank will call me out on."

"Oh I'll let that go, but if you want to save your pals you better hurry. I can't "Fix" everything without being noticed so you got to be careful."

"Got it…thanks dude you're totally getting a bonus next time! Just follow the people trying to get out on the shuttle!"

As the plumber nodded Astra and Mike both saw the blue alien seemed non hostile before they followed Rachet. While they had some doubts it seems Rachet's trust in the plumber was verified as they took the lift to a new section that looked a lot more like a castle.

Mike heard laser sounds in the distance before his grin widened." Well it's no walk in the part but seems these guys are playing in the minor leagues if you get my drift so should not be too long till we, whoa!"

As Mike was about to walk down the corner, Crash suddenly tackled him to the ground, just as a laser zoomed past his head. Mike saw some of his hair was singed, and then glanced to see countless lasers and blades all firing up and down the next hall from all directions before he cleared his throat." You know…no point in calling a bluff no one will by…this might be out of my skill range."

Astra rolled her eyes before she glanced at all the traps. "Damn it, if I can't blow this up it will be a pain. I might be able to move fast enough to avoid it but, don't have more than one free hand. Well…just got to hope we have enough time."

Aku-Aku paused before he smirked." I think we might have an option for more time. Your late… Kupuna-Wa, which is surprising for someone who has such mastery of time."

An old woman voice suddenly chuckled before responding with," Oh can it Aku Aku…I'm precisely on time for when I decided I'd be."

Everyone saw a new mask float up from behind, one that looked female.

It was a round mask, with main part of her face made of a pale beige material. Her lower jaw and eyelids were gold, as well as a golden headpiece around the top of her.

The headpiece had turquoise markings on it that resembled the phases of the moon, and it also had the hands of a clock poking out at the top, resembling hair pins.

Two hourglasses hang on either side of her face, resembling earrings. A gold line went down between her eyes like a nose, and her eyes were pure turquoise. Aku Aku saw the grin in front of her and sighed." This is Kupuna-Wa everyone, the Quantum Mask of time, who somehow does not know how to be on time."

Mike saw the new mask snort before he raised an eyebrow." So, your really like, a time deity or something?"

"Not a time deity young man, I'm Time! I see everything! And I mean everything."

"So…do you know the future?"

"Yes."

"So…can you tell us the future?"

"Nope…if I tell the future I break my pack with the Supreme Kai of Time and blow up…and let me tell yah I pack enough punch to blow up this whole island!"

"So you can't really do anything?" Astra muttered sorely, before suddenly Kupuna-Wa was in front of her face, before the Quantum Mask hissed out," Hold your tongue young lady I'm far from deadweight! I still can freely control the flow of time around me. You said this was to fast for you young man? I can slow things down to make it easier."

Mike saw Kupuna-Wa looked friendly before he shrugged." Sure why not? Guess this is already a party."

After putting the Quantum Mask of time on, Mike saw she was being sincere as he now was able to react fast enough to get through the traps. With that power, Astra's strength, and Megaman and Rachet's combined fire power they were able to get through a few more hallways of traps and defense systems, before they found them self's in a round chamber.

The chamber had some computers and cables, and in was occupied by a sole robot laying on the ground. While most of the group thought it was just a random drone Rachet widened his eyes as he saw the robot and ran up while crying out," Clank!"

The robot weakly got up before his eyes glowed green." Rachet…I knew you would find a way out."

"Needed some help but seems like you were able to get out on your own dude! What happened!?"

"Doctor Nefarious was starting to argue with the others as things seemed to not go his way. He got so upset he glitched up, and I used that to escape. I sabotaged some equipment as I made my break for it so they might be sufficiently distracted for us to escape."

As Rachet smirked Megaman cleared his throat." Hey glad you escaped mister Clank but we still got a few things to do here. Did you see an old man with the guys you escaped from."

Clank paused before his neck sparked." I…I am not sure. There were a lot of old men around Doctor Nefarious and I was immobilized. But, I did find something vital about what they have planned."

"What is it Clank?" Rachet responded. The small robot got behind Rachet's back before he cleared his throat." Rachet…its…it's that."

Alister, Mike, Astra and the others saw Clank's eyes glowed red before Alister widened his eyes." Wait watch out R, GUH!"

Suddenly Clank unleashed a powerful volt of lighting burst out to shock Rachet, and everyone around him. Astra and Mike, thanks to still wearing the female Quantum Mask was fast enough to get out of the way. As Astra saw everyone fall down she spat on the ground." Even for morons like this I knew that was too easy."

Clank saw Rachet moan before he kicked him in the head." That is for all the time I spent as your vacuum cleaner you revolting Lombax!"

Mike saw how hateful Clank looked before he sighed." So we got a brainwashing situation here or something?"

"No." Rachet answered bitterly as he got back to his feet." That's not Clank, it's the evil clone Doctor Nefarious built in the past…Klunk! But…we had him locked away!"

"Then you only have your own inferior intellect to blame for thinking that would keep me away…yes. "Klunk responded as his voice suddenly changed to a much deeper, sinister tone." When one is serving bait, presentation is everything. Treachery keeps the wits sharp and all, and I had plenty of time to sharpen them mentally before Doctor Nefarious retrieved me…and I was all too happy to get my revenge.

Now…with his upgrades I'm no longer just Klunk…but Mega Klunk! The universe cowered once at the name of Klunk, and it shall do so again! Mega-Klunk…terrorize!"

Another burst of lighting caused everyone to dash back, just as wires burst out of Klunk. The wires absorbed the broken machines around him before he suddenly absorbed them into his body.

Ratchet saw the doppelganger of his friend glow before he winced." What is this? Transforming into that rip off of Clank's giant form again? I was able to take you down in that state solo on Kerwan so no way, huh? Whoa!"

The humanoid cat was shocked to see Mega-Klunk was transforming into something more monstrous, as he emerged as a giant red dragon. The transformed robot roared before bellowing out," You and Clank cheated me of my victory Rachet! But beware the dragon's wrath!... Vengeance will be mine!

It has all come down to this! The ultimate risk…for the ultimate prize…to those that made me a slave!

I am Alpha and Omega, I will unleash the storm of vengeance that will, GUH!"

Just as the now draconic Mega-Klunk could go postal Astra dashed forward and punched him before he could unleash his attack. Astra sneered before roundhouse kicking Mega-Klunk through the wall." Yah you should not have bought your own hype trash can. I was still waking up from before but, I just dealt with another gloating robot just a few days ago and Déjà vu makes me pissed off!"

Astra saw that the wall that collapsed had people, and complex, glowing machinery on the other side before she smirked." Finally we got to the end of this half-assed circus show!"

Mike saw that around the giant machine, the Rift Generator, was Doctor Nefarious, Doctor Cortex, N-Gin, N-Trophy, and Capital B, who had changed into a black military outfit and had a new staff. He saw the machine glowing in the distance before he let out an uneasy chuckle." Yah…that seems like the big bad guy plot device alright."

Megaman saw Barrel in the corner, looking physical ok but worried before he cried out," Gramps! You're ok!"

Barrel took a deep breath before he leaned down." Megaman…hope you and Roll know what your doing, this is not just some group of wild Reaverbots."

Cortex was one of the ones to shocked to see Mega-Klunk's imprint on the wall behind him before he saw Astra's wild grin and gulped." Seriously…what's with this woman? Is she some sort of demon?"

Astra winced as she remembered the pain Doug inflicted on her before her grin just got more savage." Oh, I don't know if that's the" scientific" thing to call me anymore but all you need to know is that I'm going to kick that N on your head up your ass!"

Doctor Nefarious saw Cortex wince before he put his hands behind his back." So, we clearly have one of the squishes with a high power level. Well…it's not like that was not outside the realm of possibility yes?"

Rachet saw the real Clank still bound to the machine before he took out his gun." You gotten away with too much already Nefarious! That trick with Klunk was the last straw!"

"Heh…it would have been nice if the super ironic death scenario played out…but I would not be a genius if I did not have plans all the way to N! You know…for Nefarious and all."

Astra snorted before she pointed her blade at the robotic scientist." I make my bonus's owning " genius" pricks like you! Knowing things and plotting things are not enough if you don't have the instincts to pull them off!"

Nefarious eyed Astra carefully before he grasped his fist." You…I remember you from the raid on Mylon woman squishy. Cortex…I'll have to retract some of my contempt for your failure, this is not a normal woman. She's one of those Equalizers, self-imposed judges that can be…so very pesky. But not even the likes of you are going to stop what's in motion."

Cortex grit his teeth before snarling out," That's right…I planned to long and to hard for any Bandicoot, rude woman or anyone else to ruin it!"

"Ah come on jackass sounds like your use to disappointment by now!"

Cortex saw Astra walk up before his eye twitched before he took out his red ray gun!" I'm warning you! Back off and say your sorry or I will shoot you down!"

"Piff…with how tight a shift you run I'm sure I'll,"

Cortex suddenly showed how serious he was before he fired his gun and sent a red energy beam into her head. As everyone gasped Cortex saw her head move back before laughing madly." Think I'm still just a fool now? I spent years mastering my quick draw to out pace pesky Bandicoots! It's a shame but if you disrespect me even pretty woman with big mouths will pay the…price?"

Cortex was mortified to see Astra casually lean back up before cracking her neck. The blond woman eyed Cortex before snickering." Well…at least your trigger finger is not what I expected."

Tropy raised an eyebrow before he glanced at his cohort." Cortex you fool you forgot to switch your gun from stun mode?"

"Your wrong, it's not on the stunt setting, its set to full power!" The shorter scientist showed him the setting before N-Tropy paused." Is this girl…another one like Xehamaru? Bah…it does not matter. The time for fools like you have run out, cause its my time for ascension!"

Rachet rolled his eyes before he took out another red gun." Man…you guys bah so much you might as well be Sheep. Heh, I can help with that. Whatever you think this is…its going down!"

Nefarious saw the gun Rachet was taking out before he shrugged." Careful now Lombax, be so eager to fire and you might blow up what you're trying to protect! Or…something."

Tropy saw Nefarious's eyes and nodded before his own staff started to shimmer with energy." I'm not like the simpletons you plowed through! You're on my time now you wrenched cur's! My mastery of time won't be trumped by barbarians passions!"

"Famous last words from one galaxy to another. Just get out of the way so I can save Clank!" Both Rachet and Megaman fired attacks at the blue skinned doctor, but Tropy showed he was ready before he raised his staff in the air and the projectiles bounced off a wall of energy he formed.

As the deflected beams bounced across the walls, Cortex was still firing energy blasts at Astra, only for the blond woman to tank each shot. As the Equalizer walked up she enjoyed seeing Cortex's panic." Feel like such a big man with that guy dude? Your gonna wish you did not stick around by the time I'm done with yah!"

Rachet then realized the blast he fired that Trophy blocked was heading for her before his eyes widened." Hey you might want to duck Astra!"

"No offense but I trained enough so that no laser gun can hurt me long as my guard is up."

Astra just flexed her chest as the purple beam hit her, and for a moment she just grinned." See? I don't even feel a…thing?"

The blond woman suddenly glowed red. Moments later…she transformed into a sheep. As her clothing fell off her Mike saw the sheep's eyes widened in confusion before he winced." Oh…that's not good."

Everyone on both sides glanced at the transformed Astra, before the lady sheep looked at her hooves and tried to cry out, only to bah like a sheep.

Rachet winced before he looked at his gun." I mean…I told you to duck. The Sheepinator works on just about anything if a barrier or something does not block it."

Mike saw Astra cried out a slew of curses before he cleared his throat." I mean…you can reverse it right man?"

Rachet tugged his collar before he looked around." Yah…but only with Clank' help to reverse the effect."

As Astra gave the most furious look a sheep could give Nefarious burst out laughing." Hahahah…so much for being invincible eh Lambchop? Your power level may be greater but it still can't compare to my cunning! I'll take great pleasure at doing more experiments with you at my leisure. But for now…its time to take out the trash!"

Cortex nodded before he tugged his collar." Ok I admit that was rather slick Nefarious. Ok N-Gin…make use of that incinerator function we built!"

N-Gin finished running around the corner and jumped into the floor before chuckling." Of course Doctor Cortex. All right you blood thirsty lunatics! Put your freaky little hands together…for RAWK IT HEAD!"

Suddenly a grey house sized robot formed before its pilot cried out," Prepare for a beat-ing Bandicoots! No matter how many friends you brought, I have enough weapons to shoot them all!"

Coco saw how manic the scientist with a rocket for a head looked before she rolled her eyes." Well at least ranting about rock was not an act."

Rachet snickered before he took out a new firearm, one that looked dark blue and mostly black. Its square muzzle on the end is composed of nine different muzzles for nine missiles on each fire, with two wires attached to its larger body.

The larger border contained a magazine below, which has a handlebar attached to it. Finally, it had black and yellow stripes in front of its trigger.

As 's mecha had dozens of targeting lasers appear to aim at everyone, Rachet's new gun had even more targeting lasers form before his grin widened." Eh…you're only saying that because you clearly don't know what a RYNO…aka Rip you a new one is! Here, find out for yourself!"

Suddenly triumphant horn music blared out from the RYNO before it spun around, and missiles rocketed out at a rapid pace. blinked in shock at the sight of so many missiles, before firing back. But while some missiles got hit by the lasers that were released, even more missiles roared out to barrage the scientist.

Nefarious saw Gin's machine fall down before he rolled his eyes." It seems even a half Squishy falls to basic organic failures. Still…I really wish Dreck never let the RYNO blueprints leak. Still…even that kind of fire power won't save you now Rachet!"

Nefarious eyes glowed before he pointed at 's toppled mech, and fired a rainbow beam at it, before he casually used some sort of telekinesis and hurled N-Gin at Rachet. The Lombax winced before he dodged out of the way.

Crash, Alister, and Megaman fired at Nefarious, only for their target to wave his other hand and cause a barrier to appear around him that was strong enough to neutralize the projectiles.

Mike saw this, saw Astra still trying to get a handle on her sheep body, and saw Capital B attack Crunch with his stingers while Cortex and fired blasts before he glanced at the large machine behind them and wiped some sweat off his brow." Geeze…so much for this being an easier job.

Still…did not survive this long just to let guys like this be the one to get the "job" done. Well…at least they are not as overwhelming as the last guys…just got to make them play there hand."

The curly haired man dodged another stray blast Cortex unleashed before he laid low and tried to find a way he could make a difference. Tropy was the one nearest to him, and the man dressed in a lot of clock attire was looking more and more manic by the moment as he had raised his tuning fork like weapon to its sides, and had four beams of red energy Crash, Megaman, and Rachet to form a cage, a cage that was rapidly closing in before he widened his eyes." To long I been made a mockery of by fools…and I will stomach it no longer. Time to be put down vermin. I, huh?"

Tropy saw Mike coming for him before the son of Ben and Lacus threw out a wary," Hold the phone their blue man tube, I don't see your extermination license so I'm feeling reasonable and volunteering!"

N-Tropy saw Mike unleashing a barrage of kicks and quickly blocked them with his staff. He fired a blast at the lanky man, that Mike was hardly able to avoid before he sneered with disgust." Whatever worthless tag along you are it matters not. Your even slower than the Bandicoots. All your little toy's are worthless in the face of the power of time!"

"That's a big boast their bucko." Mike quipped back." Sounds like that weight's so much it's turning you blue man!"

"No knowing trash! When I'm done with you I'll, huh?"

Trophy prepared to fire another blast, only to find his staff was heavier now after Mike kicked it. He exerted himself while hissing out," What? Such a minor thing, won't, ugh!"

Trophy suddenly tripped thanks to the ground becoming slippery, causing his energy cage to fall. Crash saw this and looked determined before he ran up and unleashed a Tornado Spin attack to slam Tropy before he could rebound.

Nefarious saw Tropy get smashed into the nearest wall before he glanced at the machine in the center and smirked." You're a resourceful group of squishes…but your only delaying destiny for so long! Its to late to turn back the clock now!"

Rachet saw Clank wince, and the Rift Generator glow more and more before he grasped his gun tightly." No…no matter how big a mess it is…its never to late for a few whacks with a few good Omni-Wrench. You're not going to win Nefarious!"

The humanoid cat fired the RYNO directly at the Rift Generator, and Nefarious winced before he had his barrier appear to block the shots. Nefarious saw missiles firing all around and grunted before he expanded his barrier.

Rachet ran up while keeping at the pressure before he glanced at Megaman and Crash. "Keep him busy!"

The others nodded before Rachet got up to where Crank was being held. He took out his Omni-Wrench and smashed the restraints over Crank.

As the system malfunctioned Rachet smashed a few more parts before he grasped his robotic friend and kept out of the way. It did not take long for Clank to open his eyes before the humanoid cat gulped." You ok Clank?"

The small robot blinked a bit before looking around. Clank noticed Astra and sighed." Your still careless with the Sheepinator?"

"Hey, I warned her and she did not duck!"

"Well…we have even more to clean up. Thankfully you made it before things got to out of hand. We have to stop Nefarious's machine from going off though."

"Then let's do it old school buddy!"

Rachet and Clank shook hands before Nefarious saw Clank get on Rachet's back and narrowed his eyes." Bah…you would not be worthy of being my nemesis if you were so easy to subdued. Still…its to late for even the likes of you to be able to stop me!"

"Yah?" Rachet quipped back with defiance." Well I do wonders during crunch time dude! Hey Clank…know you just got free but ready to crack it into overdrive?"

Clank frowned at Nefarious before narrowing his eyes." No that's fine…I'm all to eager to repay how I been treated here. Gigantic mode engaging."

Clank's eyes glowed with light, before he transforms into an iron giant. As Rachet now hung on to Clank's pinky and climbed up his back the Lombax smirked." Heh, maybe it does not have the edge of your rip off's transformation but never mock how a classic look!"

Nefarious had his eye twitch before hissing out," You think being a mere brute can stop me?"

The metallic villain fired a rainbow colored energy blast right at Clank's eye. His target did not flinch, and suddenly punched Nefarious right into the Rift Generator. The villain had his barrier form to soften the blow, but it still caused a tremor.

Rachet saw the Rift Generation's energy become unstable before he grinned." Your one tough nut to crack but now we got you right between a rock of an experiment and a hard place! Either way it's, huh?"

To everyone's shock Nefarious had cables come out of the ground to go right into the gun barrels Clank prepared to fire. Nefarious had his eyes glow before energy suddenly was ripped out of Clank and into the Rift Generator.

As the machine glowed with even more power than before Nefarious looked ecstatic." Or maybe you did just want I hoped you would! If you were not going to open up to me Clank, I'll just manipulate you to hand the energy to me willingly! Thanks to the extra power from the Squishy's ship's reactor, now at last things are in place. Lawrence, LARRENCE!"

His robot butler appeared once more, now dressed with a blond wig and holding a guitar before he sighed." Is this important sir?"

"YES!"

"But its almost time for my solo."

"Have the generator start, to rift a hole between universe!"

"I call it Neo Bass Odyssey."

"YOU'RE WASTING MY TIME NOW FOR THIS?"

"It's supposed to be to celebrate your moment of triumph you…ugh…sir."

"That's very nice…DO IT AFTER WE WIN!"

"Oh alright." Lawrence saw Megaman, Crunch, and Alister going for him and pressed the button. The Rift Generator proceeded to fire a purple energy beam that went right into the sky. It looked like it was going to shoot out of the planet before it stopped. After a few moments the beam suddenly spread out, till covered most of the sky.

Aku Aku saw a giant purple hole in the sky before he winced." Cortex…what did you and these madmen do?"

Cortex looked at the rift in the sky, and after seeing it was stable he smirked." Oh you know…things only genius could understand."

Coco saw sparks of energy coming from the sky before she winced." Oh great, this was all to summon some sort of new nightmarish monster or something?"

Before Cortex could respond N-Tropy suddenly looked ecstatic." Oh something far better skunk. Yes, someone I can count on more than anyone else in the universe…me. Is that not right…Doctor Tropy?"

The blue man's staff suddenly glowed with energy, before a pillar of energy shot from the rift in the sky, and landed right in front of him. Suddenly a new female voice purred out," But of course. After all you managed are affairs with…such poise."

As the light cleared everyone saw a new figure stand up in front of .

It looked like a woman with blue skin wearing a bonnet. Most of her armor was black with gold lining and all of her clocks were bright green. She wore an odd tentacle-like belt that looped around her neck as well as a long blue cape. The pistons on her back were golden, and the clock on her chest looked like Tropy's.

Mike saw the woman looked younger then the blue man, but looked very simmarl before he inched up to Crash and cleared his throat." What…this girl blue man tube's long lost sister or something? Was all of this to unseal her or something?"

Crash just shrugged before Crunch grasped his metal fist." Nah…Tropy got no sister. I remember when I was still working for Cortex this freak made it clear he had no one close to him."

"No one in this universe you brute." Tropy snapped out as he slammed his staff to the ground." But thanks to a miracle I found a person that match's me more then any other, a counter part…from another universe!

There was one good thing being sent so far into the future, even if this universe is in such a broken state, because of that, I could do what I could not do before and make contact with my self from another universe! We could only talk with are minds, but we made a plan to connect with each other, and despite all the indignation it worked! And its all thanks to are masterfully executed plan."

Naturally." The female uttered as she flicked some dust off her shoulder before she looked at the blue man with desire." So did you."

The two blue individuals grasped hands fondly, and Mike saw the two looked like they were on the verge of making out before he tugged his collar." Ok then…I know self-love is important, but this seems to be taking it to a whole new level. But hold the phone here…all of this was to create a pathway to another universe! I thought you Equalizers tried to do that a few years ago Astra?"

Astra reminded everyone she was still a sheep by yelling out in outrage before Mike facepalmed." Man timing really sucks today. Still…I guess if you just wanted to come here that's not that horrible."

The female looked around before she sighed." Oh this is not all for a vacation, I'm here to see this entire universe be subjugated to be ruled."

Mike saw even Cortex and Capital B looked shocked before he let out an uneasy chuckle." Still not ruling out this being a crazy clone. Look lady you sound like you got some achievements under your belt but taking over a universe is really more then a one man or woman project."

The rift above suddenly glowed again before the woman Trophy's grin widened." Oh I'm not going to do it myself. I'm just here to scout this universe, on behalf of Emperor Nefarious."

Dozens of white and orange warships suddenly flew threw the rift, and the center most ship shot a beam, before a new being walked out of it besides the female .

This being looked like Nefarious, but was far taller than his counterpart, additionally sporting a glossy white chassis adorned with orange highlights, a much smaller cranial dome, and more rounded features.

At the center of his brow sat a somewhat teardrop-shaped crest and the inside of his orange cranial dome contained three protruding transmitters, compared to Dr. Nefarious' own mass of moving machine parts.

A moment later dozens of white- and purple-colored robots beamed down around the humanoid figure. The woman N, Tropy saw the new arrival glancing at her and instantly bowed down." Welcome to the new universe, Emperor Nefarious."

This Emperor Nefarious slowly glanced around, seeing everyone, even Doctor Nefarious looking on in shock before he nodded at the woman that seemed to serve him." Doctor Nefarious Tropy…you did well. I admit that for a while now I thought this tale of another universe was just being weaved by you to poster yourself among all my other servants. But it seems you were sincere, and you will be rewarded nicely for the deed.

After all, you did the impossible, and gave me something I thought I could never grasp again, something more to conquer. After taking over the entire universe it does feel like you reached the zenith of one's life.

Alas…the fact that there really is a whole multiverse out there…means the tale of Emperor Nefarious is not finished…it's just getting started! That's it! I have not felt content because haven't really won yet. There are still so many other dimensions…waiting to be conquered!"

Mike saw everyone, even Cortex and some of the others on the" Other side" look shocked before he cleared his throat." Wait…seriously? Your…from another universe? Then…then maybe…my parents are not dead…and are out there in this Multiverse?"

Rachet rolled his eyes before he grasped his Omni-Wrench tightly. "Man Nefarious…figures you're so delusional about yourself that your master plan is to clone yourself with a tacky pain job! Call your clone whatever you like but its going to the scrap pile soon enough!"

"Silence you squishy clown!" Doctor Nefarious cried out." Can't even your feeble minds grasp what's happened? I admit for all my genius, this universe stacked the odds against me, creating such savage monsters like the Vought clan or those damn Viltrumite or those self righteous " hero"s in the Bethel Kingdom. But, if I could find a universe where my destiny was how it should be, then I would right the grand injustice this universe brought me! And so I have!"

Rachet just rolled his eyes as he looked at all the space ships." Man you really are fitting the mad in mad scientist right about now but paint your ships what ever color you like, they still won't change anything!"

The new Nefarious eyed Rachet's glare curiously, saw his servants getting ready to strike before he made a pausing gesture, and then chuckled darkly." It's been so long since someone dared to speak me so casually. This really is a whole new universe. Ah…splendid. Well…if you truly don't understand your standing before your master…I assure you that error will soon be corrected."

Emperor Nefarious snapped his finger before the fleet above started to have hundreds of smaller fighters deploy before Crunch snarled with rage." Oh great…now what's going on?"

"Don't you hear that sound savage? Do you know what that sound is? Listen closely… is it fear? Hope? The slow inevitability of death? No. It's me. Winning."

Mike saw Astra…still a sheep…bah out in what seems like pure annoyance before he let out a bitter chuckle." Yah…somehow this is even worst then I thought was possible. Figures…there really is a whole Multiverse and are first contact is with some android fascists who took over his whole universe and wants to go for broke. Well…at least it can't get any worst then a tyrant powerful enough to rule a universe…right…right?"

Crash only shrugged before Mike resigned himself for things to go to hell, not knowing how much worst things could possibly get.

Time for another round of Authors Notes: I...hope you can pick out who was from Crash Bandicoot lol. Rilla Roo was from the one Crash Bash game that ripped off Mario Party...he only ever showed up in the remake of Crash Team Racing years later so figured I'd have fun with that. Dr. Quack's Quack-Fire Quiz was a part from Yooka-Laylee that was a nod to the game shows in Banjo & Kazooie, felt like there was enough crazy stuff going on for it to not be to out of place lol.

Alister is from a " Crack in Time' while "Klunk" was introduced in Rachet and Clank 3 and was the main enemy in the PSP game " sercet agent Clank." While...he did not do what he did in the game, he IS voiced by the same actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars so...figured I'd have some fun with that.

The female is from Crash Its About Time and Emperor Nefarious is from a Rift apart, as I said before I figured since they both recently introduced enemies from another universe it would make sense to pair them together. Its a damn shame Crash worked with Spyro but never with Ratchet and Clank...alas now that Crash somehow became Microsoft properity thanks to Actvision being absorbed to be soley for the X-box...again...damn Monopolies.

But that should cover everything for now. Hope you like how things have been going, if you do hope you like it enough to leave a review. Life's demands make me slower to update then I would like but I will try to not let the next update be to long. Till then till next time.