Hello everyone, and today, the final battle is at hand! Will our heroes stop Cortex from changing the past? Let's find out!

Also, bet you weren't expecting me to post a new chapter so soon. Let's jsut say I was in the zone.

Cortex Island (1996)

Emerging from a massive rift, Cortex's airship approaches a castle.

"And now for me to stop... ME!" Cortex declares before discarding Kupuna-Wa, who hits our three heroes, who were hanging of the docking bay door, causing them to fall.

Thinking fast, Kupuna-Wa, and the rest of the Quantum Masks who followed the heroes, opened a rift to catch the heroes.

A rift then opens into the toxic sewers of the castle, dropping the heroes on a platform safely.

Checking himself over to see if he was alright, Bandicoot does the Crash Dance, getting playful claps from Coco and Dragnarok.

That's when a green hologram of Cortex appears.

"You again?! You three are so clingy! Take a hint already!" The scientist said in a aggravated tone.

That's when a yellow hologram of Cortex appears, this being his past self.

"Who's on my super secret personal frequency?!" Cortex (Past) demanded before spotting the hologram of his future self. "What?! Who is this... this imposter?!"

"Do you not recognize your own face?" Cortex asked. "I've come from the future to warn you! If you try to turn Bandicoot into the general of your army you will fail!" As he talked, Bandicoot looks back and forth between the two Cortexes, going cross-eyed in confusion. "The machine rejects hi—"

"Fraud! Fiend! N. Brio, alert the guards!" Cortex (Past) shouted before turning over off the hologram.

"Ugh... why won't I listen to me?!" Cortex groaned before turning off his hologram.

"Come on!" Dragnarok said as the three and the masks take off.

"Listen up, lackeys! There's an impostor-me on the loose." Cortex (Past) Said through an intercom. "Identical in appearance: beady eyes, lips like two overripe bananas, skin like a jaundiced mole rat... a bona fide ten."

"More like a 3.5, at best." Dragnarok mocked as he and the others used Ika-Ika's power to avoid machinery, giant cockroaches that released electrical burst, rats with spiked shields, and green, glowing blob that tired to roll into them and explode.

Then soon reached a machine that was pumping some sort of green, toxic waste.

"Guards, increase security! Protect your master!" Cortex (Past) ordered through the intercom.

"Is that what I sound like? Do I have a weird voice?" Cortex asked through the intercom.

Pressing on, our heroes fought their way through more enemies and hazards, all while avoiding taking a drip in the green sludge.

"Please, listen to me..." Cortex pleaded.

"Please, listen to me!" Cortex (Past) mockingly repeated.

"Agh! Rude!"

"Ooo! Rude!"

"Gah! 'I'm a stubborn moron who's going to destroy his own future'!" Cortex said, trying to trick his past self.

"Ooh, I'm a stubborn mo— hey, wait a minute!" Cortex (Past) repeated, only to stop when he realized what he was about to say.

Laughing at this, our heroes continued on, using Kupuna-Wa's power to slow the machinery down, allowing them to pass. (As well as, find another VHS tape)

They soon reach a mining tunnel of sorts, as mines carts were moving along some tracks.

"Ugh. Why did you — I — have to choose a bandicoot?" Cortex asked himself over the intercom. "If I'd just stuck with the wombat, this all could've been different..."

"Pah! Wombats!" Cortex (Past) scoffed. "This bandicoot is strong, clever, and above all: loyal! He'll make the prefect Kwami to my homemade Miraculous!"

"You were original going to be a wombat based hero?" Dragnarok asked, surprised by this.

"Yeah, Cortex was original going to use this wombat named Willy, but changed his mind." Coco said before gaining a pondering look. "I wonder what happened to him..."

"Not the time! We must stop him!" Aku Aku shouted, putting the heroes back on course.

Maneuvering around the mine carts, as well as various traps, such as electrical teslas, they soon reached a door with four colored locks on each corner.

"I wonder what's in here?" Coco asked.

Bandicoot dug into his pocket to get his phone, only to pull out the blue gem. Surprised by this, the orange hero dug into the rest of his pockets, pulling out the other three colored gems.

"Where did you get those?!" Dragnarok couldn't help but ask.

Shrugging, Bandicoot puts that gems into their respective locks, causing the door to open.

Going in, our heroes had to avoid being zapped, being ran over by mine carts, barbecued by machinery, and/or falling into the toxic sludge.

They soon made it outside, which was full of lava and more machinery, with Castle Cortex in sight.

"What must I do to prove myself?!" Cortex shouted in frustration over the intercom. "Mother's name: Sharon. Childhood pet: rock with googly eyes. Favorite food: buttered noodles, butter on the side."

"N. Brio! Change the password to my diary. This brute's been snooping." Cortex (Past) ordered.

"So... This is where it all started, huh?" Dragnarok asked as he stared at Castle Cortex.

"Yep." Coco said as she and Bandicoot had slightly haunted looks, no doubt reliving some bad memories.

"Mind giving me a tour?" Dragnarok asked in a joking manner, getting laughs/giggles from the siblings.

Pressing on, our heroes maneuvered around the machinery while avoiding taking a dip in molten lava. (as well as finding another VHS tape)

Soon enough, they reached the entrance to the castle.

Going inside, they found the hallway full of laser beams, monitors, and other various devices.

"Somethin tells me Cortex doesn't like visitors..." Dragnarok muttered as Lani-Loli attaches himself the draconic hero's back.

"You'll never find me, 'Neo Cortex'. This castle is a maze!" Cortex (Past) proclaimed through the intercom. "I alone know all its secret halls and passages!"

"Like the one behind the portrait of grandfather that opens when you press on his triangular fossa?" Cortex asked.

"...But how?!"

Ignoring them, the three heroes pressed on, using Lani-Loli's power to block the lasers and bring platforms into existence.

They soon reached an hallway that was shooting giant saw blades from the walls.

Kupuna-Wa attaches herself to Coco, who uses her power to allow her and her friends to move across safely, as well as use some of the saws as platforms at some points.

They soon reached an opening that took them to an outside ledge.

"I've had it up to HERE with your games, you lout!" Cortex (Past) shouted in anger.

"Lout?! Why I never!" Cortex said in a offended tone.

"Wha? Wha-what is it...? Am I seeing double?" N. Brio (Past) asked himself.

"N. Brio, quickly! Revoke this fraud's hologram access!" Cortex (Past) demanded.

"No, N. Brio! I'm no fraud! I'm from the future, you must listen to me!" Cortex pleaded.

"N. Brio, do you not recognize your own master?! I'm the real Cortex!" Cortex (Past) shouted.

"No N. Brio, I am!" Cortex shouted.

"Uhhh... DING DONG DING DONG! Oh my, sounds like the doorbell! I'd better go see who it is!" N. Brio (Past) said, not wanting to deal with this.

While this was happening, Akano attaches himself to Bandicoot, who uses the Dark Matter Spin get across some ledges and fight some knights who used special shields while Dragnarok carried Coco across.

Once across, Akano switch places with Ika-Ika, allowing Bandicoot to use his power to maneuver around some lasers.

Once inside, they saw a minion fall out of a chute and into a giant metal bucket, which raises a bridge for a heroes to use.

?!

Ignoring that, our heroes continued on.

"Eugh! Help! Help!" Cortex (Past) shouted, as he could be heard from a distance.

"Ack, quit struggling! Don't make me—" Cortex threatened.

"Help! Anyone! We have an evil doppelgänger situation!" Cortex (Past) shouted.

"I'm not a doppelgänger! I'm — ugh, forget it!" Cortex said.

"Hel — ugh!" Cortex (Past) said, only to go quiet.

"There! That'll shut me up." Cortex said.

"Come on! We have to stop him!" Dragnarok shouted as they pressed forward.

Using all four of the Quantum Masks to maneuver around the various traps (As well as find the final VHS tape), our heroes soon reached the entrance to the main lab.

Entering, our heroes saw Cortex seated in a command center, with his past self suspended in a small cage by him, unconscious.

"Do you have any idea how stubborn I used to be?!" Cortex asked the heroes upon seeing them.

"Yes." Coco and Aku Aku said with deadpan looks.

"Mm-hm." Bandicoot said, nodding his head.

Dragnarok couldn't help but snicker.

Cortex scoffs and glares down at the heroes. He then points at his past self.

"I need to stop him from making you," He said, pointing at Bandicoot. He then points back to his past self. "but I can't kill him because that would kill me," He points to himself before pointing at Bandicoot. "so I guess that means I have to kill you."

"Ha. Even if you kill Bandicoot here, the Chris from this point in time has already has the Bandicoot Miraculous, and is making his escape." Dragnarok said.

This causes Cortex to laugh while Bandicoot, Coco, and Aku Aku try to avoid eye contact.

"And where did you hear that?!" Cortex asked in a amused tone.

"When I first met Bandicoot and Aku Aku, they told me how Chris snuck into your castle and rescued Crash." Dragnarok said, recalling what was told to him.

"And do you really believe that an ordinary teenager could sneak in and out of this high guarded castle?" Cortex asked with a smug grin.

"...In retrospect, no." Dragnarok said with widen eyes, realizing a major flaw in the story.

"Yeah... We may have... oversimplified the story." Aku Aku said with a sheepish grin.

"Here something that might help paint a better picture." Cortex said as a robotic claw hands that draconic hero a piece of paper.

On it, it read:

Certification of Adoption

This is to certify that

Christopher

has officially been adopted into

The Cortex Family

On the 30th Day of December Year 1995

Dragnarok's eyes widen.

"Are you saying..." He started.

"That Chris is my officially adopted son, then yes." Cortex said, the smug grin still on his face. "Christopher Cortex... Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Bandicoot looked to the ground, shame painted all over his face. He then detransforms, a look of hopelessness on his face

"H-how?" Dragnarok asked, shaken by the reveal.

"Let Chris tell the story." Cortex said as a monitor with a keyboard lowered to the orange hero.

With a heavy sigh. Bandicoot began typing.

"I've spent my earlier years growing up at an orphanage." The monitor displayed. "The other orphans and the lady running the place were nice, but no matter what, I couldn't get adopted. As I got older and older, my chances for adoption got smaller and smaller. So, on my 14th birthday, at midnight, I ran away. I then stumbled upon Cortex's castle, where I got captured. The orphanage lady then got government agents to hunt me down. Cortex, not wanting the Australian government poking around, as well as wanting to gain a new test subject, adopted me."

"And, as my first birthday gift to my newly adopted son, I gave him Crash and my handmade Bandicoot Miraculous." Cortex said, continuing the story. "I was going to make him the general of my army." He then looks at Bandicoot. "Christopher Cortex, as a good father, I am going to give one last chance. Stand down, let me change the past. We could be a family, ruling the world together as father and son."

Bandicoot looks the ground for a bit before looking at Crash, Coco, and Aku Aku. Gaining a determined look, he starts typing

"You know, in a weird way, I'm thankful for what you've done." The monitor display, surprising everyone. "Thanks to you, I've became Bandicoot, a hero. But more importantly, it was thanks to you that I found something I've always wanted... A family. Crash, Aku Aku, Coco, Polar, Pura, and Baby T... They're my family. I may legally be Christopher Cortex on paper, but in my heart and soul, I am Chris Bandicoot, member of the Bandicoot family, and I'm not going to let to take that away from me!"

"You tell him Chris!" Dragnarok cheered, giving his friend a thumbs up.

"You are the best brother I've could've wished for." Coco said, with Crash nodding in agreement.

"And you are the son I never had." Aku Aku said with smile.

Flashing them a smile, Chris turns into Bandicoot before glaring at his father/nemesis, who glares back.

"Why you-! Looks like I'll have to ground you, forever!" Cortex shouted before slamming a button in his command center. Suddenly, all four of the Quantum Masks were pulled from the heroes and forced into energy cages next to the command center. "Yoink!"

Suddenly, a turret comes out of the floor and aims at the heroes.

Acting fast, bandicoot jumps on it, breaking it.

Did you… jump on the Shoot-o-Matic?!" Cortex asked in a shocked tone. "Cheater!" He summons two more Shoot-o-Matics, only for Dragnarok and Coco to jump on them. "Unbelievable! Assistant, help!"

A Lad Assistant teleports in, aiming a energy bazooka at the heroes. But before they could fire, Bandicoot spins into them, sending them flying into Cortex's command center, damaging it.

"Blast it!" The scientist shouted before using the command center to grab Lani-Loli from his cage. "Just relax and accept non-existence."

He then starts using Lani-Loli's power to phase the floor from beneath the heroes feet, only for Dragnarok to grab Bandicoot and Coco and take to the sky.

"Shoot-o-matics: shoot!" Cortex shouted, summoning two Shoot-o-matics, only for Dragnarok to drop the bandicoot siblings on them, destroying the turrets.

Dragnarok hero then throws a Electric Orb at the command center, damaging it.

"Time out, time out!" Cortex shouted as he puts Lani-Loli back into the energy cage before lowering the command center to the heroes level. "AnnihiLaser, fire!" Three lasers were then fired at the heroes forcing them to dodge. "What's the matter? Afraid of the searing deadly laser?"

Cortex then pulls the command center back and uses it to grab Ika-Ika.

"Careful! I might flip!" Cortex taunted as he uses Ika-Ika's power to flip the heroes' perpective, forcing them to see the world upside down. he then starts firing lasers at the heroes. "Yes… your whole world is upside down! Confused? Disoriented? I can see your tiny brain cells frying themselves! Ahahahahahahaha!"

Even with the flipped view, Dragnarok, Bandicoot, and Coco managed to maneuver around the laser before the former fires an earth Shot, forcing the command center back, as well as restoring the three's perpective.

Cortex then puts Ika-Ika back into his cage before pulling out Kupuna-Wa.

"Can't keep up the pace?" He taunted as the floor beneath the heroes began to shift. "Think fast!"

Cortex then uses Kupuna-Wa's power to slow time down.

"Sloooooooowing…" He said as the heroes try to move around in their slowed state. "Read, set…"

Cortex then stops the effect and summons more Shoot-O-Matics.

"Cower before Cortex!" He shouted as he randomly slows and speed up time. Despite the disadvantage, our heroes managed to break to turrets. "Assistant, go!"

A another assistant teleports in, only for Dragnarok to throw them at the command center.

"Rude!" Cortex shouted before putting Kupuna-Wa away and grabs Akano. "Enough! I'm bored of your shenanigans!"

The command center then does the Dark Matter Spin while firing lasers.

"Armor Up!" Dragnarok as he grabs his amulet, summoning his Dark Armor.

He then fires a sphere of Aether at the command center, making it explode sending Cortex tumbling down to the ground below.

The scientist pounds the ground with his hands in frustration.

"Not like this!" He shouted. The command center careens down into the pit below. Its impact sends a small pile of crates on a nearby shelf falling down onto Cortex's head, one by one. "Doh! Ugh! Oh! Ow! Huh! Augh!"

Finally, Cortex collapses. Bandicoot pulls a lever on a nearby control panel, freeing Past Cortex from his cage. Coco quickly hides behind the panel, pulling Bandicoot and Dragnarok behind it too. Past Cortex shakily climbs to his feet and stretches before noticing his present self unconscious on the floor.

"Ughhh... oooh! Hmm, must've taken a hit to the old temporal lobe. But a fallen foe can only mean one thing... it came to blows and I WON!" Cortex (Past) cheered before looking down at his future self. "My new General's first order of business will be to dispose of you! Muahahaha!"

Past Cortex cheerfully runs off to his lab, leaving Present Cortex alone on the ground. Dragnarok, Bandicoot, and Coco emerge from behind the panel and notice a feed of the lab on a nearby monitor, which shows Cortex (Past) and N. Brio (Past) raising Bandicoot (Past) into a orb-shaped device.

"We are closer than ever before! Quickly! Into the Vortex!" Cortex (Past) declared.

"But Doctor Cortex, the Vortex is not ready! We have no idea what it could do, ehehehehe!" N. Brio (Past) said.

Bandicoot leans against a piece of machinery as he watches his past self being raised into the Cortex Vortex. He accidentally presses a button, causing some kind of power source to fall out of place and shatter on the ground, making the Cortex Vortex malfunction.

"Failure again!" Cortex (Past) shouted as the monitor displayed Bandicoot (Past) making a goofy face as the words, Bandicoot 1.0: Rejected, were appeared.

"Explains a lot." Coco said, looking at her brother(s) with a small smile.

Meanwhile, Present Cortex begins to stir.

"Nyuuuagh..." He groans, only for Akano to pin him down.

"You. Stay." The Mask of Dark Matter said.

"Ugh... what are you going to do to me?!" Cortex demanded.

"Nuh-uh-uh! Looks like somebody needs a little time out..." Kupuna-Wa said.

"...somewhere he can't cause any trouble!" Lani-Loli continued.

"Enjoy the end of the universe!" Ika-Ika said as he and the other Quantum Masks conjure a Quantum Rift, which quickly sucks Cortex in.

With Cortex defeated, Bandicoot does his Crash Dance before looking at the reader with a smile.

We then cut to a brand new Dingo's Diner commercial. Dingodile walks into frame in front of the diner.

"Dingo's Diner is back and ready for you!" Dingodile declared. "Say g'day to delectable dishes inspired by my interdimensional travels! Enjoy the breeze with our innovative three-wall dining room design! Dingo's Diner: health and safety rated - 'D' for 'Delicious!'"

"Warning: 'D' is a failing sanitation grade and does not stand for delicious." The Narrator said.

We then cut to to Cortex, who is standing alone at the end of the universe.

He looks around at the endless dark wasteland surrounding him. He laughs once bitterly, before laying down on the ground, relaxed, hands behind his head.

"Ahhhhh... Peace at last." He said to himself.

We finally cut to N. Sanity Beach, Where we see Chris and Crash napping on the couch while Coco, Nix, and Tawna play a video game. Aku Aku and the Quantum Masks watch them play while Drake, Spyro, and Cynder play with Prill. N. Brio's egg is sitting by the couch.

"Ooh ooh! Almost there, almost there! Get the—" Tawna said before she, Nix, and Coco cheered.

"YES!" They shouted as they have a three-way high-five.

"Wumpa victory!" Coc declared before looking at Chris. "Hey Chris, you're in!"

Tawna throws her controller to Chris, which hits him in the head, making him jump awake. He grabs the controller and sits up, ready to play.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Coco, Nix, and Tawna said before Chris starts playing the game.

"Drake." Aku Aku said, getting everyone attention. "I think it's time for you to got home."

"I suppose your right." Drake said before facing his interdimensional friends. "I enjoyed the adventure we had, but it's my time to go."

"Hopefully, we can have another adventure with you guys soon." Spyro said, with Cynder nodding in agreement.

"One rift to Paris, coming up!" Kupuna-Wa said before she and the Quantum Masks opened a rift.

Drake was about to step into it, but noticed Prill was following him.

"No Prill, you have to stay here." He said as he leans down to the shnurgle's eye level. "I can't have an alien animal running around." Prill let's out a sad whimper. "I know, I'll miss you too. But I'll visit you whenever I can."

Prill let's out another whimper before giving a understanding nod.

Getting back onto his feet, Drake, Spyro, and Cynder give one final wave of goodbye before entering the rift.

Chris, Crash, Coco, Tawna, and Nix wave as the rift closes.

Aku Aku let's out a smile before looking out into the sea.

All is at peace.

And that's that!

It's About Time is now over... mostly.

I do plan to to one final chapter about the 100% ending, and the 106% ending.

But yeah, Cortex and the N. Tropys are defeated, the Multiverse is saved, and another grand adventure has been completed.

And I'll see you next time!