Trouble at Cortex Castle

Chapter 5

N. Tropy secretly considered himself to be an astute tactician. As the inventor of the Time Twister, he had taken it upon himself to research suitable time periods for the sole purpose of gathering crystals. Consequently, it was N. Tropy who advised Cortex on how to wage warfare in ancient Egypt and China. Admittedly, they did have a slight advantage thanks to superior technology and genetically-enhanced minions. In the end, their plans of world domination were ruined by those two infernal bandicoots. However, this setback didn't diminish N. Tropy's enthusiasm for the topic.

No, instead it was the solitary clone of Pinstripe crashing through the window, who dampened N. Tropy's spirits. At least that bandicoot had the good sense to let him finish speaking before he attacked.

The Pinstripe clone rolled across the shattered glass that lay upon the carpet before scrambling to its feet and giggling in a disturbing manner that was eerily reminiscent of Fake Crash.

There was a shocked silence. Then all hell broke loose.

"Have some of this, pal!" roared Pinstripe. He whipped out his tommy gun and proceeded to decorate the manager's office with smoking bullet holes. The imposter Pinstripe dodged the bullets with ease. Everyone else hurriedly ducked behind the table for cover, although Dingodile would sometimes try and help his friend out by firing off a few flamethrower bursts of his own.

"Don't do that here!" yelled N.Tropy, though his plea fell on deaf ears. He was thinking about the ever-increasing bill as well as their potential demise by friendly fire.

The ensuing commotion was attracting the other clones to the broken window like flies to a rotting carcass. As the rest of the clones attempted to worm their way through the hole in window, the minons and N. Tropy realised that they had no choice but to leave their feeble cover and join the fray. The Komodo brothers hurled themselves at the window, slicing and hacking away at as many clones as they could. Any clone who got past them were stomped on by Koala Kong and Tiny Tiger. As soon as a gap presented itself, Komodo Joe and Moe sprang through the window and took their fight outside in order to distract the clones and keep them away from the manager's office.

Tiny and Koala Kong shoved the filing cabinets across so they covered the broken window. N.Tropy decided that he could take a hit to his finances and aimed his trident at a stray Komodo Moe clone. He sent a wave of electricity towards the snow-white reptile. The clone Komodo Moe leaped over the electric wave and landed in front of him. Before he could react, the reptile knocked N. Tropy's trident from his hand. The trident skidded across the floor and came to a halt at Tiny's feet. Fortunately, for N. Tropy, the clone's sword had been hit by the electricity and had promptly disintegrated. Unfortunately for N.Tropy, he now had to engage in a fist fight with a very angry clone.

Pinstripe and Dingodile, meanwhile, were on the other side of the room dealing with the clone Pinstripe. Pinstripe kept firing at the imposter, but to no avail. Dingodile managed to set the computer and chair alight in his attempt to aid his friend. Koala Kong rushed over to beat the flames out, leaving Tiny Tiger unsupervised.

As N. Tropy managed to disentangle himself from the Komodo Moe clone, Tiny picked up the trident.

"TROPY CATCH!" Tiny bellowed, and threw the trident in the manner of a professional javelin thrower. Tiny grinned as the silver trident soared through the air in a graceful arc, almost twinkling as N. Tropy spun around to meet it...with his face. Tiny's grin rapidly changed to one of sheer horror as N. Tropy dropped to the floor like Icarus mid-flight, a furious red welt already sprouting on his forehead. He was out cold. The Komodo Joe clone took its opportunity and snatched the trident.

"Just great, pal," snarled Pinstripe. "Real great."

---

Down in the Basement Labs, Ripper Roo was absolutely freezing. Outside, the miserable rain had turned to idyllic sunshine overnight. The interior of the castle however, bore more resemblance to the waterlogged remains of the Titanic. The rain had fallen through the skeletal remains of the roof and soaked through the castle, almost beginning to reach the Basement Labs. Ripper Roo had taken shelter underneath a wooden table. He was busy reading some of N. Brio's leftover notes when he heard noises from outside. Deciding to investigate, Ripper Roo bounded up the stairs and paused in the shadows near the entrance to the hallway.