Alrighty, ummm, here, we should be reaching Cosmo and Nova's first level. Here we go!

Enter Team Chaotix: Detective Kremlings Are Back in the Krew!

Unknown forest region

After evading the SKWID Squad, and Ava's Heart Star, the mysterious croc ship came out of hyperspace over a forest area, and landed in front of a small yellow house with a red roof.

Inside that house, Team Chaotix was sitting around, doing their usual stuff: Vector, a green crocodile with black shoes and a golden necklace, sat at his desk, nodding his head to music in his headphones. Espio, a purple chameleon with a yellow horn and purple shoes, sat in a corner, meditating. Charmy, a short bee kid with a black helmet and yellow shoes, was floating in midair in another corner, playing his Nintendo 3DS.

TEAM CHAOTIX!

They're detectives you want on your side!

TEAM CHAOTIX!

Their directives trackin' down your crime!

Vector's music could be heard from his headphones.

"Man, this game stinks!" Charmy whined. "Why aren't we in this game like in the 360 or PS3 versions? This sucks."

"That's what you get for buying Nintendo's versions, Charmy." Espio replied. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Charmy exclaimed, zooming over and swinging the door open. "AND what can we do for- YULP." His mouth was forced shut by a strong, green hand.

"Charmy, who is- ULP." Espio was grabbed as well.

"AHHH!" The two detectives were thrown against the wall behind Vector's desk. The crocodile paid no mind and continued nodding to his music, unaware that King Kroctus Rool and his two brothers, Kaptain Kruckers and Baron Kolamitous Rool, were marching up to his desk.

Come along for the ride.

Truth can run but not hide.

Come on. The game is on NOWWW.

K. Rool raised his fist and yelled, "WAKE UP! !", and pounded down, smashing the desk, knocking Vector over.

"Hey, what's the big idea? ! Can't you see I'm trying to-" His eyes widened at who it was. "OH! ! K-King K. Rool… uh, long time, no see! Haha! Uh, how have things been with you?"

"Terrible, you desertionist swine. Those impudent Kongs bested us left from right. I got TWO headaches."

"Arr, and no thanks to ye deserters, arrr." Kruckers followed.

"But excusing our rudeness, we forgot to ask how your little detective business is fairing, mmm?" Baron asked.

"A lot better than you, it seems." Espio answered.

"Whaddya want, K. Rool?" Charmy snapped.

"The Dark Master has recruited us in his ranks. We're pulling all our forces so we can find the Eight Firstborn before those wretched children, so all evil races can dominate all. As members of the Kremling Krew, you are included as well, and we require your assistance."

"Eh…" Vector sat his chair back up, sat in, and turned around. "Sorry to bust your jaw, K. Rool, but we aren't Kremlings anymore."

"We're detectives now, and we FIGHT bad guys like you!" Charmy followed.

"But don't you miss the old times aboard the Krew?" Kroctus asked.

"Eh… a little… but we're good as we are now as detectives." Vector replied.

"So whatever it is you're selling, no deal." Espio followed.

"If ye fools don't help us, ye'll be walking the plank, ayeee!" Kruckers yelled.

"Krew members or not, I'm still the king." Kroctus said. "And I demand it."

"Hmmmmm…" Vector shut his eyes and thought to himself. They're definitely up to no good. If we go with them, we could spy on them and figure out what they're up to. "You got yourself a deal, Kingie!" he decided, shaking his hand.

"Excellent! MWEH HEH HA HAH! Now let's get going. Lord Gnaa granted us special permission to get a head start. I think we'll go after the spirit, Manaphy! MWAH HA HAH!" With that, the Chaotix gang followed the 3 K. Rools out to the ship.

"Are you sure about this, Vector?" Espio asked.

"Trust me, Espio." Vector whispered. "This croc's hunch is never crocked."

"I hope they have some better games in there." Charmy followed as they were boarding the ship.

"This is going to be a long trip." At Espio's likely guess, the ship took off, and Team Chaotix's theme played in the background.

Come on. We'll kick yo'… TEAM CHAOTIX!

KND Moonbase

The Kids Next Door Moonbase headquarters seemed the same as ever. Ever since the base was repaired, everything was back the way it was. Officers working at their stations and other kids playing Whisby or some game. Nigel was currently pacing back and forth in front of Numbuh 362's office, hand on his chin in thought. "Hey, Numbuh 1!" he heard Numbuh 2 call, and saw his team, plus Eva, Kade, and Violet, come over.

"Whatcha doin'?" Abby asked.

"Oh. Just waiting for Rachel to finish looking at that data. It's the closest thing we got to solving this mystery. Good thing we got it out of that base."

"Good thing Numbuh 5 downloaded it to Sector V's treehouse instead of Moonbase." Abby said. "Otherwise it woulda been too obvious."

"That's using genius right there." Eva replied.

"I would figure downloading it to Sector V was too obvious, too." Violet said.

"Hehe! Villains always were stupid!" Kade joked.

"Yeah, and we were dealing with a brain in a jar." Violet followed.

At that moment, Rachel's door flew open and the guys turned to salute her. "Man, that was complicated. Stupid loading screens…" she mumbled, walking out.

"This BOY just HAD ta check his messages!" Fanny complained as she and Patton walked out of the office.

"Hey, my Philippine friend mighta been calling!" Patton argued.

"Did you find anything?" Nigel asked.

"Well, it didn't have very much info to go on…" Rachel began. "But it said something about the Eight Firstborn being, like, really powerful spirits, and this 'Gnaa' wants them in order to conquer the universe. He's supposed to be an evil Dark Master from the Negaverse that controls the four Dark Elements."

"The Negaverse?" Hoagie asked.

"Apparently."

"Hmm, then there really was more to that place than it seemed." Nigel said.

"You think our Negatives know about this?" Kuki asked.

"It's a safe bet Yllaw did, that cruddy sack of…" Wally mumbled, angrily.

"Well, what should we do now?" Patton asked. "Go to the Negaverse and kick this guy's butt?"

"Yah. Ya wish it was that easy, lazy boy." Fanny retorted.

"She has a point, Patton." Rachel said. "Until we're sure who we're dealing with, we should-" Before she could finish, Sector W suddenly arrived, running over and panting. "Sector W?"

"N…Numbuh 362!" Sonya panted. "Lehcar and Scarlet came back! And they just captured Harvey!"

They all gasped.

"They jumped into a fountain and vanished!" Paddy explained.

"They must've went to the Negaverse!" Nigel concluded.

"Well, so much for waiting." Rachel said. "We have to go down there and get my brother back!"

"Ugh. Why do I feel like we always risk our lives for that pest?" Fanny asked.

"Kids Next Door, Fanny." Patton said simply. "It's what we do."

"We'll get to the Negaverse using the city pool." Nigel suggested. "Kids Next Door: let's go save an annoying beaver!"

"Ahem."

"Who is Rachel's precious little brother."

"Thank you. Now let's go." At Rachel's command, the kids were off.

After they left, the two time spirits, Jagar and Clockwork, appeared out of thin air. "Well? Shouldn't we help them?" Jagar asked. "You know what's gonna happen."

"Of course I do. But it's not our place to interfere with time."

"But what's the point of having this power if we can't even use it for something good?"

"Dialga chose us for a reason, Jagar. Any person can be chosen to bend an element, but Dialga only grants his powers to those he can trust. True, while saving Harvey now would make things easier… perhaps…" he changed to his baby form and smiled, "it's better this way."

"Hmph…" Jagar looked away.

Black Acropolis, Alaska

It was a cold, snowy night at the Black Acropolis, Alaska. Dr. Eggman's secret base built on a mountain was under heavy guard, by robots and searchlights. Cosmo and Nova hid behind a stone, looking down at the base from a hill. "Are you sure about this, Cosmo?" Nova asked.

"Hey, these guys are all up to something. We can't just sit around and do nothing, and let the others handle it. As Kids Next Door operatives, it's our responsibility, too."

"Hmm… I guess you're right."

Cosmo tossed her a snowboard and said, "It'll be fine, Nova. Now, come on. We'll shred our way in! Race you down!" With that, Cosmo dashed, hopped on his board, and began sledding down.

"Hm hm hm!" Nova giggled, then chased after him on her board.

However, hiding by another area of the base, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat looked at it as well. "Well, that's an Eggman base if I ever saw one." Rouge said.

"Huh. The doctor and his robots. Different dimension, same strategy." Shadow said in a cocky tone.

"Readings indicate there's a Chaos Emerald in there as well."

"Hmm. Then let's go." With that, the two agents sped toward the base. (Play the "White Acropolis Snowy Peak" Theme from Sonic 2006!)

Stage 3: Black Acropolis

Mission: Break into Dr. Eggman's base.

Act 1

Cosmo and Nova slid side-by-side on their snowboards toward the base. The alarms immediately went off and a bunch of Eggman robots zoomed up on rocket skis, trying to shoot them. Cosmo drew out his staff and did several twirls on his board, knocking them over while Nova dodged and evaded them. The two were speeding up to a ramp on a ledge, leading into an abyss, but they gained momentum and jumped the ramp, doing a spin trick before landing firmly on the other side, then continued sledding. More Egg Pawns came and fired bullets, but Cosmo spun his staff and deflected them. He tripped one of the robots and took its gun, then shot at any others.

Nova looked over and saw a family of penguins. Using her powers, she spoke to the penguins and had them slide down the hill, tripping any more robots. The two aliens slid around a corner and started dodging giant snow boulders that the robots were rolling up and dropping down. Some robots up ahead made snowballs and rapidly chucked them, but the aliens ducked, and Cosmo grabbed one and hurled it back, blinding a robot, and causing him to throw snowballs at others.

The two easily slid past the robots, only to be chased by more robots on skis. The two saw a huge ramp leading straight upwards, smirked to each other, and gained enough speed to shoot straight up. The two spun around in the air as Cosmo drew out his staff again, allowing Nova to grab onto one end as they slid back down. Side-by-side, holding the staff, the two sped past the robots, making the staff trip them. Cosmo stylishly flipped to Nova's right as he took the staff back and smiled to her, continuing to slide downwards.

Unbeknownst to them, a robot stood on a small hill, aimed at the mountain top, then launched a speeding missile, exploding at the top, and creating an avalanche that slid toward the two aliens. "Oh no!" Nova screamed. "Hurry, Cosmo!"

"Crud! What I wouldn't give to be a cricket right now!"

China

At this time, Mushu and the Lucky Cricket were reading this story. "Pfft. He's mah Lucky Cricket."

Crick crick. The cricket chirped.

At the stage

"Come, we'll try and lose it up ahead." As Cosmo said this, more robots came from ahead of them, but the aliens avoided, making the robots get buried beneath the snow. Ahead of them, they could see the entrance to the base through a small door. "The base is just up ahead. Let's go!" With that, the aliens slid into the entryway, which quickly closed, stopping the avalanche. (Play the White Acropolis Base Theme!)

Act 2

Shadow the Hedgehog Spin Dashed through another entry to the base, then kept speeding along with his ski shoes, followed by Rouge. The ultimate life form warped to any robot that came their way, knocking it out, while Rouge tossed bombs that shocked and stunned the robots, leaving Shadow to throw Chaos Spears.

With the aliens, Cosmo and Nova were running through an outside field of the base where several searchlights skimmed around. The aliens took cover behind some barrels while a searchlight passed over them. They kept going and quickly dodge-rolled behind another set of barrels, avoiding a searchlight. They kept running and narrowly dodged and flipped a few more searchlights. They saw one coming straight toward them, and gasped and held on to each other in fright.

At this time, Shadow and Rouge were running to the roof of the base where the searchlight towers are. Rouge noticed the aliens down in the prison field and said, "Who are they?"

"I'm not sure. But they must be after something of Eggman's, too. Let's help them for now." With that, Shadow ran straight for the searchlight that was about to spot the aliens. "Chaos SPEAR!" he yelled, throwing a Chaos Spear and knocking out the robot manning the searchlight.

The two aliens shut their eyes for the blinding light, but suddenly noticed it go out. Rouge zoomed over to the next light to knock it out. The two aliens just shrugged and continued on. They were almost at the base's entrance, but the doors suddenly closed, and three large robots wielding helmets and hammers—Egg Hammers—dropped down. Cosmo gave a fierce expression and ran toward them, dodging as the large robots tried to hammer him.

Nova climbed onto one of the robots' backs and held her hands over its eyes. The robot went crazy and spun trying to shake her off, swinging his hammer and knocking out the other robots. The last robot became dizzy and stopped, leaving Nova to jump off and for Cosmo to kick it over. As a result, its helmet came off.

The three now-helmetless robots recovered and stomped after them again. One robot tried to swing its hammer into Cosmo, but he jumped onto another one, making the hammer whack its head. The third tried to smash him, but Nova shielded its eyes, making it smash the other robot's head. The last robot tried to reach for and grab Nova, but the Harnitan jumped off, and the last thing the robot saw before fainting was the flash from Cosmo's ray gun.

After the robots were defeated, the doors to the base opened. Cosmo and Nova smiled and high-fived before heading in. Shadow and Rouge jumped down from the roof, exchanged nods, and followed after them. (Stop the music.)

After fighting through a few more robots, the two aliens made it to some kind of control station. There seemed to be a glowing spot on the ground. "What is it?" Nova asked.

"A space transporter. It's set to transport you to… the Death Egg?"

"Death Egg? What's that?"

"It sounds familiar. Come on, Nova. Let's check it out." With that, the two aliens stood on the transporter, and warped away.

Shadow and Rouge arrived just in time to witness this. "Oh? They're gone!" Rouge pointed out.

"They've gone up to Eggman's space station. The Chaos Emerald must be up there, too. Let's follow them." With that, the government agents teleported after them.

Mt. Gnaa

Harvey McKenzie lay unconscious in a frozen, blizzard field, finally waking up and gripping his aching head. "Ohhh… what happened?" He opened his eyes and found where he was: a pitch-black field of nothing but snow. "Where am I?" Out of the blackness, he noticed something approach him: a black shadow of a bald-headed boy with an arrow on its head. "Huh?"

"Heh… HEH….." The being smirked evilly.

"Uhhh…" Harvey still looked a little tired.

"Ispanasasha. Nehmasoshayaaa…" it spoke. It turned away and flew off, and Harvey could plainly see the forbidden mountain ahead.

Harvey couldn't help but stare at the glowing column of purple that emitted from the top of the mountain. There was something about the glow that seemed… so tempting in his eyes. Without a single thought, the Sector Leader stood up, brushed the snow off his pants, and slowly approached the dark mountain.

AND there was Cosmo and Nova's first stage. Black Acropolis is actually based off of, as you guessed, White Acropolis. And yes, Harvey has reached Mt. Gnaa, and is being drawn in by the Darkness. But NEXT TIME, we should battle the first boss! I'll see you then!