Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day outside. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, and everything was peaceful. Not much had happened since the Cortex Vortex was destroyed. Crash and Coco were simply living their lives in peace with Aku-Aku and their pet polar bear Polar.
With the laser used in their last adventure out of commission, Coco used it to update her technology, finalizing the settings on her brother's smartphone and working out texting so they could stay in contact. Interaction with the outside world was still scarce, mainly doing so to exchange the fruits on the island for money. It was enough to live on, Crash was even given a yo-yo as a third birthday present. Despite this, there was one thing the family was unable to get their hands on.
Information on aether was practically nonexistent on Earth. Books, temple ruins on the islands, websites, nothing. Since two years had passed since Crash's adventure in Dimension 11 with the Skylanders, time could be running out on a way to help his friend from his terrible situation. That wasn't even getting into finding a way to the Skylands. It was in another dimension and Coco highly doubted knowledge on inter dimensional travel was on Earth too. She and Crash asked Aku-Aku about his times traveling to dimensions since he mentioned it once but he said it was long ago and didn't know if he could teleport them to other worlds.
So right now they were taking a break on their front lawn. Crash playing with his yo-yo with Coco typing on her laptop for anything that could help and Polar resting next to her. Before they knew it, the sky started to darken and the air grew cold. The sound of evil laughter could be heard, making Polar huddle close to Coco out of fear. The children looked around, unsure what to make of it.
"Uh, is it supposed to rain today?" Crash asked.
"No. And I highly doubt thunder sounds like that" Coco placed a hand on Polar to comfort him.
Aku-Aku however was starting to shake. His eyes widened as the laughter continued. No. It cannot be he thought. He hoped this would never happen but it seemed the time had come. "Children, get inside!"
Hearing the panic in his voice worried the bandicoots. "Is everything alright?" Coco questioned.
"Get in and I'll explain everything!" the mask flew in the house. Seeing this was serious, the others followed but the door closed early making Crash slam headfirst into it. With him stuck in a daze, Coco dragged him inside.
Sitting in front of the fireplace, Crash spoke up once he regained consciousness. "So what's going on? We've never seen you so scared before."
Aku-Aku let out a sigh, "Remember my stories of evil masks and having a family member who took drastic measures when looking after the islands?"
"Yessss?" they didn't like where this was going.
There was silence before the mask spoke gravely. "My brother...has broken free."
***
"I don't want to go in! I'm already loyal to you!"
Nitro and Tiny shoved the newest mutated animal forward to a new Cortex Vortex. "Stop whining!" N. Gin said. "It's Cortex's orders. He's not taking any chances."
Cortex watched on as he let out a sigh. This was the first of his new evolved animals, being a cross mutation of a dingo and a crocodile named M1. The process worked perfectly as his strength and durability was unlike any other. He was also quite skilled with a flamethrower. However, he was refusing to go into the Vortex, saying he would willingly work for him. After what happened with the bandicoots, he wasn't making the same mistake twice.
Just as M1 was strapped in, the winds outside were getting louder and the power went out. A bright blue light then burst through the walls.
"Gah!" Nitro shielded his eyes. "Dr. Cortex, what is that?" He turned to him to see panic in his eyes. "Uh...master?"
"No...oh nononono" the scientist uttered as the light circled around the room. It then spoke in a threatening voice.
"None have dare failed the great Uka-Uka even once. But you Cortex, you have failed me twice!"
Cortex fell to his knees, "Great Uka-Uka! It was those infernal bandicoots! I don't know how they've managed to outsmart me! I was prepared for anything!"
This made his henchmen stare with wide eyes. "You know this ball of light? Doesn't look that scary" M1 said.
The light then shone brighter until it vanished, revealing a very dark and angry mask. He had a black, orange, and red color scheme with bones on his head and sides. His eyes were yellow and full of rage. The sight made the other three cower in fear too.
"Of course he knows me!" the mask yelled. "He's been working for me and carrying out my plans for world domination! From deep inside my temple prison, I sent simple instructions to follow! I even used what power I had to control his body to ensure everything was going according to plan!"
Nitro then remembered the time where Cortex was yelling when using the hologram device after he failed to get the twenty crystals from C1. "So that yelling...that was you?"
"It was" Cortex nodded. "Uka-Uka's the real mastermind. He promised to help me with something personal if I achieved success. Every once in awhile he would possess me to make sure I wasn't failing. It...wasn't enjoyable."
"Even with that YOU STILL SCREWED UP!" Uka yelled, making the four jump back. "You lost the gems, you lost the crystals, and I have lost my patience! There is now no other power source left on this planet!"
Swallowing his fear, Cortex spoke up. "I know we've had a few unfortunate...setbacks and some spanners in the works..."
"AND FAILED!" The mask floated close, his eyes glowing green. "I should atomize you right now for your incompetence. However, your creations did manage to set me free. So I am feeling...generous. There is still a way to amass the power needed to enslave those unworthy, ungrateful humans."
This interested the villains. "How?" Tiny asked.
Uka-Uka used his powers to create a portal. "I have been working alongside another scientist in case I needed a back up plan. All of you, get in."
Not one to argue with a furious mask, they did so. On the other side was what seemed to be some kind of time machine. There were five sections and a main control panel.
"Ooh!" Gin ran his fingers along the keyboard. "It's so advanced! Who made this?"
"Hands off the Time Twister simpleton!"
The voice made the villains turn to see a man with blue skin wearing orange clock armor. Cortex's eyes widened, "Tropy?!"
"Ah, I figured you would be unable to accomplish the great Uka-Uka's work" Tropy smugly smiled. "Just like how you barely scraped by at the Academy of Evil."
"You sure get around with a lot of vile people" M1 snarked. He regretted those words when Uka glared at him.
"Care to repeat that?"
M1 furiously shook his head.
Tropy slammed his tuning fork on the ground revealing an elevator. As they rode down, he started talking. "Uka-Uka gave me orders to create this time machine to gather crystals and gems that lay scattered across time. I placed it in the Bermuda Triangle so world governments would not interfere. We are going to travel through time to get the crystals and gems and use them to rule the world. With me watching over the Time Twister, nothing will go wrong. I am advanced in quantum regularities and my powers allow me to predict the outcome of success."
"Time travel..." gears turned in Cortex's head. "So we can go anywhen in time?"
"Yes" Tropy answered. "But don't think about using it to correct a past mistake you did. The coordinates are set for only where crystals and gems are. I am well aware of the risks of time travel. I mainly dabble with it to cause paradoxes that won't affect me. But for this..."
They arrived at a factory where robot lab assistants dressed as people from different time periods were being warped away. "These lab assistants will search for the crystals and gems" Tropy went on. "They blend in perfectly and won't cause a panic in different time periods. You job is to watch over them so they don't screw up."
"And your job is..." Nitro started.
"I will watch over the Time Twister. Even taking the crystals and gems out of their time period will cause a ripple effect that could affect us." Tropy pressed some buttons creating crystals and gems. "I will send these to replace them. They don't have powers but they will be worth just the same amount of money."
While the villains seemed okay with this plan, Cortex folded his arms. "I'm not doing the bare minimum. I know what these crystals can do. Not to mention you haven't dealt with-"
"Those sewer rats?" Tropy cut him off. "I have heard of them. They're nothing more than children who have no idea what they're doing. But to keep you happy, I suppose you can watch over security in case they have the bright idea to try and stop us."
Uka-Uka ascended above the others. "This is your final chance. You are aware of what's on the line Cortex. At least this time, the Great Uka-Uka will make sure that you do it right."
With that, the villains set off to get the crystals. Certain that nothing could stand in their way.
***
As Aku-Aku told his story, Crash and Coco were completely silent.
"Long ago, my brother Uka-Uka and I watched over the islands with our family. As mentioned, he had different ways of handling problems but we managed just fine. He was less optimistic about humanity's good nature than I was and believed they were all evil and incapable of learning from their mistakes. One day, the gems were found by the Budakans and Uka-Uka saw the potential they had. He and other members of our family wanted to use them to force humanity into submission but I said no. In a rage, he tried to take the gems by force and destory mankind."
Coco glanced over to see her brother falling asleep. This wasn't new, he tended to doze off when a story went too long. This one was important though so she shook him awake so he could pay attention.
"Sorry" he whispered.
Aku went on, "I was forced to lock him away in an underground prison to protect the world from his malice. As for the rest of our family...they did not survive. Even with the imprisonment, Uka-Uka had found pawns to use in an attempt to achieve his goals. I suspect Cortex is his latest lackey."
Everything was starting to make sense to Crash. The blood red eyes, the sudden moments of yelling, and that moment where it seemed he was talking to himself, that mask must have been controlling him. Guess the evil spirit wasn't a lie. Despite this, he wasn't going to believe Cortex was forced into evil. He learned his lesson in that.
"So what are we going to do?" Coco asked.
"We have to stop him from taking over the world" Aku said. "First, we need to find out where he and Cortex are. I have no doubt they started plans already."
As Crash glanced to the right, he spotted glowing from the closet door. The crystals and gems collected were stored there so to see them glow was confusing. He opened the door and saw it was the colored gems from his first adventure that were glowing. He placed them in the living room to show his family.
"Crash? What is this?" Aku-Aku was confused at the setup.
The child placed his hands on the gems as facial markings appeared. He didn't know why but he had the urge to use these gems to help. He thought about the evil mask and a vision appeared. He saw the villains in something called a Time Twister and heard about 'a Bermuda Triangle' before he started to feel faint.
"Big brother" Coco pulled the gems away and gave him a Wumpa to eat. "We still don't know what these gems do or what those marks on your face mean. Not to mention that it weakens you."
Crash groaned, "I know but...I felt that those gems could help and they did. I saw them in a time machine in the ocean. It's somewhere called the Bermuda Triangle."
"Bermuda..." Aku stated. "It is known for myths on mysterious disappearances so it's no wonder my brother chose to have his operations there. I do have enough power to teleport there and back but I doubt I can stop Uka-Uka on my own."
The bandicoots knew what this meant. "We're with you. Won't be much different than the last two times" Coco reassured him.
The three ran out the house onto the next adventure to save the world. As Polar watched them he could faintly hear from Crash...
"And Polar can look after the house!"