High above the planet Earth, a small space station was in orbit. Its low faint humming noise echoed throughout its dark and dimly lit corridors, but these were soon drained out by a loud thunderous voice.
“Cortex, you pathetic wretch!” shouted a hovering Voodoo mask, bathed in a hellish-red glow. This was the Great Uka-Uka, a deranged and evil spirit, who had grand ambitions to take over, or to destroy the world. He looked down at the kneeling scientist before him. “You have been a constant disappointment to me! Years of failure, years of wasted opportunities, hundreds of Crystals and Gems lost because of your incompetence.”
“Please, Uka-Uka.” begged Dr. Neo Cortex. He was a short man with yellow skin, and a large letter metal ‘N’ implanted on his forehead. The bit of black hair he had left stuck out on either side of his head, and a think strand was perched on the top of his balding head, and he also had a short beard ending in three points. “I promise I can do better.” he insisted, looking up at the seething mask, “It’s just that interfering Bandicoot…”
“AND WHO’S FAULT IS THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!” bellowed Uka-Uka, as Cortex whimpered slightly, “Everything that is wrong goes back to that brainless marsupial, which in turn goes back to you! If you hadn’t been so thick headed and destroyed him after you had created him, we would be controlling the world right now. But no, you let him live and you are now paying the price! You do realise of course, that there are no longer any sources of power left on the planet because of this petty battle, no more gems and no more crystals!”
“Yes, I do understand.” said Cortex, getting to his feet, “Crash was my fault, and as long as he lives, world domination is out of our reach. However, I have been thinking of an alternative way of success.” he smiled darkly as he headed over to the main computer. He tapped a few buttons on the monitor, and the screen lit up.
A tall and thin man with cold blue skin appeared on the screen. He had thin eyebrows, with two thin beards on either side of his chin. He wore a tall golden brown metallic hat with a clock in the middle and a top half of a silver tuning fork on the top. The top half of his body could be seen, which he wore large and bulky armour, the same metal of his hat, and a large clock was in the centre, it arms moving around fast. “This had better be important, Doctor.” he spoke in a droning British accent.
“Just seeing how our experiment is coming along, N. Tropy.” said Cortex, in a giddy manner.
“Well if you must know, I am nearing completion.” N. Tropy smirked, “We can show its full potential within the next hour.”
“Excellent. I’ll meet you and the others down at the base.” said Cortex as he switched the monitor off and turned back to face Uka-Uka, “We better teleport down there straight away, don’t want to miss the meeting.”
“Cortex, what is going on?” Uka-Uka asked.
“You’ll see.” grinned Cortex as he stood under what looked like a large hairdryer, with a pale pink glow coming out of the end. He leaned over to the control panel, flicked a switch, and slowly his body and Uka-Uka began to turn into pink and red pixels and they suddenly vanished, only to appear in an old laboratory, where many disused and broken parts lay scattered across the floor and workbenches. As they stepped out from under the teleport, a sharp wave of cold swept over him as his breath could be seen in the air, “You know, maybe building a large scientific research station floating in the middle of the Antarctic Wastes wasn’t such a good idea.” he shivered as he opened the door to the main corridor.
They headed down a flight of steps, until they walked into a large room where a strange assortment of creatures and people sat around a large circular table, some of the larger beings stood at the back. “Greetings my fellow scientific mistakes!” Cortex called out proudly, ducking quickly just as a shower of bullets and fire came straight towards him. When it had died down, he straightened up. “Yes, I am aware that conditions here are not entirely fitting for some,” his eyes fell upon the Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe, “And that you are sharing a room with others you would rather kill than talk to, but this is going somewhere.”
“If it don’ involve youse taking a walk off a pier with concrete shoes, I aint stayin’.” said Pinstripe Potoroo.
“Now I have been collaborating with an old friend of ours these last few months, and we have good news to give.” said Cortex, clapping his hands together excitedly, “Now let’s give a big welcome and thanks, to Doctor Nefarious Tropy!”
Slow clapping filled the room as the door opened. N. Tropy walked casually in, the large pistons on his back pumping up and down as the large clock in the centre of his armour ticked loudly. “A fair greetings to you all.” he bowed graciously to the snarling faces, “Now we are all here, for one common problem in our lives.” he flicked a switch on the table, and a small holographic image appeared in the centre, that of an orange anthropomorphic bandicoot. Everyone booed and hissed at the image, “This revolting, brainless rat has been constantly the fatal heel to our Achilles.” said N. Tropy.
“I’ve wasted over three dozen essential firearms, just on that little bugger alone!” snapped Dingodile.
“Tiny want to crush Crash into tiny pieces!” roared Tiny Tiger, clenching his fists.
“All my beautiful research, all my great machines, gone up in smoke, because of the disgusting Bandicoot!” sobbed N. Gin.
“I faced two great perils in my life, and he’s sointainly at the top.” said Pinstripe.
“What wasss the other one?” asked Komodo Joe.
“Marriage.”
“Oh, I did hear about that.” said Cortex from behind N. Tropy, “How is Tawna by the way?”
“If I may continue!” N. Tropy called out, crossly. “And I hate to drive the knife in any further than it already has, but I’m afraid that as long as Crash knows of our doings, we will never be able to stop him.” Everyone stood up from their seats and began shouting in protest, and giving rude hand gestures. “However,” said N. Tropy loudly, “That doesn’t mean we have no chance of success. Over the last few months, I, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, Master of Time itself, have devised a cunning solution. If you were to all follow me to the control room?” and he led the party out of the conference room.
When they reached the highest point of the research centre, N. Tropy led them into another large room, where a large computer monitor screen was in the corner, with an array of wires coming out of it. Attached to the ceiling, was a large spinning orb, where a beam of blue light was emanating from the open bottom section, while circling around it, were four other extended arm sections, each with their own smaller orbs, and they too were casting a blue light into the centre, and where the lights met up, was a bright white glow that created another light of purple, which lit up the circular floor pattern underneath it.
“I trust some of you will remember Doctor Cortex’s Psychetron.” said N. Tropy, “It was this very machine that opened the gateway to the 10th Dimension, but after that escapade, it became completely inoperable, until I came along and added a few elements of my own. Many will know of my Time Twisting Machine, well I have been able to scavenge some of its assets from deep within the fabrics of time itself, and work them into the Psychetron’s plans.”
“And how does this help us, mate?” asked Dingodile.
“I would explain if I wasn’t constantly interrupted.” N. Tropy breathed heavily, “Now unfortunately, after all the years we have fought the Bandicoots, we have completely used up the planet’s power sources, meaning no more Crystals and no more Gems. But with the improved modifications, I now have full control of the time-space continuum, and can now send us to another dimension, where these supplies are not scarce. We shall be able to take control of that dimension, use the powers of their gems and crystals and when the time is right, we shall return to this dimension and Crash shall not have time to thwart us before we have conquered the planet.”
“Well that’s all brilliant and all,” said Dingodile, “but how exactly do you expect us to come back to this dimension, when there is only one portal?”
“I have been able to develop a tracking system into my armour.” said N. Tropy, opening the clock on his chest like a door, to reveal a complicated system of mechanisms inside, and he pulled out a small cube like object from the centre. He flicked the sides of it open, and it looked now like a mobile phone. “This will be able to link me back to the laboratory, should I need some more equipment. When we are settled in, I shall begin construction of a twin portal which will act as a link for us to return.”
Many of the group gave nervous glances at each other, but N. Tropy ignored them as he placed the cube back in his chest. “I have already placed the co-ordinates for the most appropriate dimension for us, Doctor.” he called over to Cortex who was walking over to the computer, “All you need to do, is switch it on.”
Cortex swivelled on his chair, and slowly pulled down on one of the bigger levers. The Psychetron began to glow a brighter blue as the machine warmed up, and the white orb in the centre began to grow, as a small picture could be seen emerging. Everyone leaned closer to get a better look.
“Tiny is uncertain.” said Tiny over their heads.
“Is that a…?” asked Pinstripe.
“Yes, I believe it is.” said N. Tropy, an awkward tone in his voice, “Still, it should make the conquest that bit more easy.” and he stepped slowly forwards towards the orb, and as he got closer, his top half began to shrink into the picture, until it had disappeared entirely. Pinstripe was the next to follow, clutching his Tommy-Gun as he felt himself being sucked into the orb after N. Tropy.
One by one, the mutants were disappearing into the other dimension, until it was just Cortex and Uka-Uka left. “This plan had better not fail Cortex, or it’ll be your head that will be experimented on!” snapped Uka-Uka as he floated towards the portal and disappeared.
“I can’t see any reason why it should fail.” said Cortex as he stood in front of the portal. He gave one more look around the lab, a mad grin across his face, “Soon Crash, soon you will finally receive the sweet serving of vengeance!” he chuckled madly to himself as the portal sucked him in, and he was now travelling through the time vortex, towards victory at last.
