Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 5: Splinter

The rain subsided and the sun set as Bumper unloaded cargo from a recently docked ship. As monotonous as the job was, it was the best he could do to help out the Resistance, for interesting types frequented the Docks, and these types often let special information slip.

Placing another crate down, a bit of laughter caught his ear. He turned to see a small group of kids caught up in a game of horseplay with one another. The badger smiled at the sight. He had always had a soft spot for kids given he had grown up in a neighborhood with lots of small children. He remembered keeping an eye on many different kids whenever their parents were away; he was their self-proclaimed "big brother."

A figure darting off toward the run down Police Station broke him out of his reverie. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow. Carefully navigating the long abandoned construction site, Bumper found himself a hiding place behind a grated door, a spot just close enough to eavesdrop on the two weasel officers across the way.

"You got it?"

"Yeah, right here." He handed his companion a folded piece of paper.

The other weasel quickly unfolded the sheet, looking over its contents carefully. From what Bumper could see, it looked like a blueprint.

"This the new vehicle Uptown's issuing?" He asked, confirming Bumper's suspicion.

"That's where I got it from, right from the Don himself."

"Th' Don?" Bumper said quietly to himself, and continued to listen.

The weasel looked over the blueprint again, "Hmm, smoke sphere, chameleon, grenade guns, torpediles, this thing has everything!"

"It also has an… interesting shape."

The weasel raised an eyebrow, taking a closer look at the paper.

"I guess it does…"

"So what should we do with it?"

"Just put it inside for now." The weasel officer said, heading inside the police station and leaving the blueprint.

The two left.

Feeling the coast was clear, Bumper emerged from his hiding place, cautiously ambling toward the police station. Conveniently, the front door was left unlocked. Thinking they'd be back when they realized this, Bumper quickly disappeared inside, quickly scanning the lobby for any signs of the blueprint. Finding it lying on a desk, the badger quickly took off out of the police station.

Little did he know that a Spy-I-Cam had seen his every move.

"A museum… yes, a museum across town," L.O.G. muttered as more of his memories became clear to him, "it has something to do with you, Banjo."

Night had now fallen over Showdown Town; the darkness was soon pierced by the faint light of a portal opening up in the gazebo by the lake.

"That's weird," Banjo began, "shouldn't LOGBOX720 be the next world?"

"Who cares? I never liked that place anyway," Kazooie remarked. "Anyways, can we get going?"

"Wait!"

Banjo whirled around to see Bumper racing towards them, with something in his grasp.

"Hey Bumper, did you find anything?"

"Sure did, take a look." He handed over the blueprint.

"Shadow Puppet?" Banjo asked, going over the drawing.

"Yeah, I over 'eard some officers talkin' 'bout some new vehicle o' sorts, thought I'd check it out."

"Think this is the only copy?" Banjo queried.

"Seems t' be."

"Geez, this thing's loaded!" Kazooie marveled at the design of Shadow Puppet, before noticing something strange.

"Banjo, does this thing remind you of Terrydactyland at all?"

Wondering what she meant, Banjo looked over the paper, seeing too what she saw.

"Kazooie…" he shot her a look of disapproval.

"What! It does look like that!"

Rolling his eyes, Banjo returned to Bumper.

"Thanks for this, it's in good hands."

"No problem, mate," the badger smiled before returning to his post.

Handing the blueprint to Kazooie, Banjo headed inside Mumbo's Motors to begin work on this strange new vehicle.

"I used to work as a Guvnor at Grunty Industries," the veteran police officer said as he and the mouse girl made their way back to the Town Square, "Waving a wrench around and yelling at slacking workers. Not the best job in the world, but it put food on the table for me and the boys surprisingly."

"Boys?" Pipsy asked.

"My kids, Piggles, Trotty, and Chris."

"Chris?" The name seemed a bit strange for a pig.

"Chris P. Bacon," Pikelet corrected.

"Oh."

Bottles scurried across town as fast as his stumpy legs would carry him. Banjoland's recent opening alerted the mole to the duo's presence in town, and brought him out of his temporary hiding place: a dirt hill on the lakeshore. Being the center of information in Showdown Town, even in these times, had its benefits. This particular bit of information would definitely help the bear and bird in the museum.

Spotting Mumbo's Motors in the distance, Bottles found Banjo and Kazooie wheeling out an odd, black vehicle with a distinct shape.

"Banjo!" The mole huffed, still tired from his run, "I'm so glad to see you."

"Oh, just him, huh?" Kazooie retorted, "Who cares about Kazooie right?"

"Exactly," Bottles replied with a smirk, he had grown used to the verbal abuse he had sustained over the years.

"Anyways, what do you have there?"

"Something those coppers won't be happy with us having…" Kazooie commented.

"This is Shadow Puppet. Bumper found the blueprint in the police station. I think it's some kind of stealth vehicle." The bear explained.

"That's perfect then!" Bottles expounded, startling the two slightly, "Well y'see, as the town info provider, I hear a lot of things."

"What did you hear?" Banjo asked.

Bottles took a breath, adjusting his glasses. "Banjoland has apparently been reworked into a high security prison."

"WHAT?"

"Typical," Kazooie said, shaking her feathered head.

"It definitely explains the absence of a few faces around town…" Bottles said quietly.

This worried Banjo a bit.

"Why, who's missing?"

Bottles wished he hadn't asked.

"Well, Mr. Fit, Boggy, Klungo, and even Jolly haven't been around lately."

"Oh, no."

"Not escort missions!" Kazooie lamented, placing a wing to her forehead.

"I'm afraid so," the mole shook his head, "But you'll be fine! You've got Shadow Puppet there to help infiltrate the museum," he paused, "and you've got me!"

There was silence for a moment.

"Do I really have to say something to that?" the breegull girl asked.

"No."

"Good, it would have been too easy."

"What can you do anyway, Bottles?" Banjo asked.

"I was the curator for Banjoland, and with my technical expertise from LOGBOX720, I can tell you everything you need to know."

"Sounds good, so you're coming with us then?"

"Only to the front gates, you're on your own from there. But I will be able to contact you through this." He produced three headsets from his jacket.

"I call these the Attach-N-Chat Headsets," the mole stated. "Just put one on and you can talk to me from wherever you are."

Kazooie looked the devices over, "They're just 360 headsets."

"Don't say it out-! Good job, now you have to pay me twenty notes just to use them,"

"Why?"

"Big Guns upstairs says so, also that payment's good for about three months."

Banjo shrugged, pocketed two of the devices and paid four silver notes. Bottles kept the other one. He was about to drive off in his new vehicle when Pipsy and Pikelet approached the auto shop.

"Banjo, we know how L.O.G. lost his memory," Pipsy began. "Grunty overpowered him and stole his memory."

"Comes to absolutely no surprise," Kazooie added.

"Well-"

Pikelet felt the need to take over, "The chip broke into pieces and scattered itself around, and that witch captured Klungo."

"Oh really, and how would you know all this?" the breegull asked.

"I was there when it happened. And I'm coming with you." The porcine said, growing serious.

"Oh come on, an escort mission going in too?" The bird complained.

"Why do you want to go anyway?" the bear felt the need to inquire.

"I let him be captured. The least I can do is to help in his rescue." Pikelet concluded.

"Well, okay then." Banjo sighed.

The newly formed group found their way up to the lake and disappeared into the portal.

"I hope they'll be okay…" Pipsy said aloud.

"They will be."

She was a little startled to see the form of the Lord of Games suddenly floating next to her.

"Don't underestimate them," the deity said, starring off into the lake, "I have… a feeling… that I once did. One I quickly renounced."

The girl nodded, her uneasiness only slightly relieved.

The quartet materialized at the front gates of the museum, Banjo at the wheel of Shadow Puppet. He placed his headset around his head as Kazooie did with hers.

"So, I guess this is where we leave you?"

"Yup," Bottles replied, fixing his headset slightly, "just a minute though…"

The mole began fiddling with the gate's control panel, hacking away at it until a creak signaled that they had finally given way.

"Y'know we could have just blasted our way through," the bird remarked.

"But that wouldn't have been very sneaky now would it?" Pikelet added.

"Alright Bottles, see you in a bit!" Banjo concluded, activating the Chameleon and driving in.

"Be careful everyone!"

"Banjo, will you hit the lights or something? It's pitch black in here!"

Upon the request, Banjo switched on the lights, suddenly wishing he hadn't. The bear couldn't tell what was more disturbing: the severed heads of the statue of he and Kazooie lying in pieces strewn about on the polished floor, or the fact that Jolly Dodger took the place of the Submarine Transformation prop in the glass case before them.

"Hey, no fair, don't blind me! Put your lights out!" the frog cried, covering his eyes with webbed hands.

"Calm down, pretty boy it's only us," Kazooie spoke.

The amphibian lowered his hands, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light, "Oh, Banjo, Bird Brain! It's so fabulous to see you!"

"Where is everyone Jolly?" Banjo asked.

"…Oh pooh, no: 'It's so nice to see you too, Jolly' at all?"

No one said anything.

"Oh fine then," Jolly huffed. "If you must know, they're being held in the other glass cases around here. There's more too; I saw them bring a dog and a squirrel in here."

"Who's 'them?'" Pikelet queried.

"Those horrid Gruntbots of course, we never stood a chance!"

"No problem, we'll take care of them and bust the prisoners out of here!" Kazooie trilled with excitement.

"Not so fast now," Bottles' voice chimed over the headset, "there are still those cameras about, and no doubt they've been activated. You'll have to disable them first; take the Gruntbots by surprise when they can't see what's happening."

"And how do we do that, Bottles?" Banjo said, adjusting the mic on his headset. "The wrench still doesn't work."

"Simple, Chicken Legs will use one of her feathers as a lock pick. The control panel is right below the cameras."

"Sounds pretty good Goggle Boy, you have a name for it?"

"Unfortunately I'm out of those."

"Right."

Ignoring the comment, the mole continued, "You'll find the cameras in the same places you found them last time. There are a total of five: one atop the Golden Goliath, one on the Rusty Bucket, one under the bridge, one in Terry's Nest, and one on one of Clanker's pieces. Did you get all that?"

"Roger that," Banjo affirmed.

"What? Do you want me big bear?" The frog called.

"Good! I'll talk with you later, Bottles out."

Banjo turned to his feathered friend, "Why don't you try it out Kazooie. Try picking the lock on the cell."

"We can't just blow it up?"

"No."

"Oh fine."

Plucking a feather, Kazooie inserted it into the padlock on the cell, moving it around until the lock clicked open.

"Oh, I owe you something special, Big Bear…" Jolly cooed, grabbing his briefcase.

"Uh, no you don't owe me anything…" Banjo quickly replied.

Jolly was visibly disappointed, "Well if you ever want a little fun-"

"Goodbye Jolly," Kazooie interrupted, already pushing him towards the exit.

"Hey, not so hard!"

"He's an… interesting fellow, isn't he?" Pikelet gestured to the frog.

"Oh yes," Banjo answered, shuddering at what sort of "fun" Jolly had in mind.

Banjo urged Shadow Puppet over the bridge, gazing at the surrounding area. Coding still lined various areas of the museum: the Freezeezy Peak display was gone, and he couldn't see the Loggo replica. Kazooie poked her head out of the backpack.

"He's gonna get us caught," she said, gesturing to Pikelet waddling after them.

"What makes you say that?"

"… Really Banjo, you can't exactly miss someone like him."

"Right," Banjo nodded, "So what do we do?"

"Can you kids slow down a bit? I'm too old for this…"

"Apparently," Kazooie muttered as the vehicle came to a halt.

"This isn't working is it?"

"No," the pig gasped, "Not too well."

Pikelet squinted, the faint light from the only window in the museum allowing him to make out a small shape in the distance.

"Banjo," he pointed with a hoof, "shine your torch over there."

The bear did as he was told, revealing a box marked "Mumbo's Motors."

"Now what's this doing here?" the bear questioned.

Pikelet opened the box to reveal, oddly enough, another box, although one made to fit on a vehicle.

"A box in a box?" Kazooie raised an eyebrow.

"I have an idea…"

The pig hefted the box upside down, and slipped underneath it. He lifted it and began to walk.

"Oh yeah, a walking box isn't noticeable at all…"

"Come on Kazooie, I think it's a good idea. He at least has some form of cover."

"That's right birdy," the veteran answered, his gruff voice muffled under the box, "I can look on my own with this at my own pace. Besides, it'll be faster if we split up."

"He does have a point," the bear thought to himself, "but we can't contact you, what if something happens?"

"The bird doesn't need a communicator does she?"

"Yeah, take it," she threw the headset to him. "I can't stand listening to Beetle Breath anyway."

"That settles it then," Pikelet stated, "I'll catch up with you kids later." And with that, he hobbled off with the box in tow.

"Wait a second," Banjo plucked one of Kazooie's feathers, ushering a sharp squawk and a glare from the bird, "use this if you find any of the cameras."

He only nodded, taking the feather and leaving in the opposite direction.

"Good riddance, he was slowing us down…" Kazooie muttered.

"I heard that, Feather Face," Pikelet's voice sounded through the receiver.

The breegull rotated the microphone towards her, "Just making sure, Porky."

Banjo and Kazooie made their way about the prison, disabling the cameras as they came upon them as did Pikelet on his side of the building.

"How many have you deactivated?" Banjo spoke into the mic.

"Two so far, and yourself?"

"Also two, we'll get the last one by the Golden Goliath."

"Roger that, over."

Shadow Puppet's roaming spotlights disturbed the slumber of one cell's occupant as it passed the Rusty Bucket display. The red squirrel stirred, holding an arm up to block the light from his tired eyes. He lowered it slightly as realization hit him: who would be up scouring the prison compound this late at night? Sitting up, he crawled somewhat painfully towards the glass for a better look. Some sort of vehicle was sitting below the cell. A stocky figure hopped from the driver's seat and ran passed his cell. The squirrel watched the figure as a lither form seemed to separate from the first one. They used a sort of tool and soon another shape joined them before running off. This one had stepped into the light revealing itself to be an aardvark. Perhaps he should try to enlist their help?

Watching Mr. Fit sprint away, Banjo returned to Shadow Puppet, driving it closer to the next cell. They'd be finished in no time.

A sort of knocking caught Kazooie's attention, "Hey Banjo, I think you missed one." She motioned to a case behind them.

"Seems I did."

The bear backed up the vehicle, aiming the lights inside the glass. He was not prepared for what he was about to see.

A red squirrel dressed in army fatigues had himself glued against the glass before them. Blue eyes seemed to try to decipher who they were through the dark. Banjo removed himself from Shadow Puppet, stepping into the light so he could get a better look.

"C-Conker? Is that you?"

Conker stared at the bear before him for a moment; yellow shorts, a blue backpack, and a shark tooth necklace. It couldn't be.

"Banjo?"

The bear looked at Kazooie, "Get him out of there."

Kazooie made quick work of the lock, deciding to go for the others while she was at it. She left the two alone.

Conker got himself out of the case, wincing a bit as he made his descent.

"What'd you do to your leg?"

"My squad and I were sent to patrol the waters close to Showdown Town when our ship was sunk. They had heavy firepower, we did not. I don't know if they made it."

It was then that Banjo noticed the burns he had on his leg. He made a face, it looked painful, and he wasn't putting much weight on it.

"So you know why I'm here, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're here on a rescue mission. A few of our friends are being held captive."

"Funny, because that statue at the front there, from what I saw of it, it looked like you."

"Well it is, but-"

"Banjo!"

The two were soon confronted by Kazooie with Boggy in tow.

"Who's the girl?" Conker asked.

"That's Kazooie, she's a friend of mine."

"A friend?" Conker paused, "Alright then…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the breegull asked, placing her wings on her hips.

"Oh nothing." Conker smirked.

"Banjo, Banjo come in! Do you copy, do you read?" The mole said, surprising the bear.

"I can read, I'm not the best but I can read."

There was silence on the other end although Banjo thought he heard a smacking sound.

"What are you doing in there? Are you done yet?"

"Almost," Banjo fiddled with the microphone, "we got everyone out."

"Good, what about the cameras?"

"Well-"

"I got that one already, you were taking too long," Kazooie butt in, "Found a memory chip in the box too."

"Alright, the cameras are all off."

"Good work Banjo, now get out of there before you get caught."

"He's right you know," Boggy added, "and before I forget Banjo, they didn't give me a lot to eat here, so I tried eating this thing I found in my cell. It's not edible." He handed a memory chip to his ursine friend.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading out of here, I'm not getting any overtime being here." And with that, the massive polar bear made his way toward to museum entrance.

"Well, I guess we can get-"

"Banjo! We can't leave yet, we haven't found Klungo, um over." Pikelet shouted over the receiver.

"No luck on your side, Pikelet?"

"Zilch."

"And then there's that dog that's here too…" Banjo murmured.

"Dog? What dog?" Bottles questioned.

"We don't know, Jolly tipped us off that there were more prisoners."

"Really? Besides the dog, who else was there?"

"A friend of mine, Conker."

"Name doesn't ring a bell, but I'll meet him soon enough."

"Who's this Klungo guy you keep talking about?" the squirrel asked, tired of being in the dark.

"Another friend of ours, the thing is we can't find him anywhere." Banjo lamented.

The squirrel folded his arms, "Could you describe him for me?"

"Ugly."

"Kazooie!"

"A bit more would be nice." Conker tapped his foot impatiently.

"Well, he's kind of big, he's green, has a hunched back, and usually wears a lab coat." Banjo answered.

"Sounds familiar to me."

"You saw him?" Banjo's expression visibly brightened.

"I think so, some weasels were dragging him off-" He paused, noticing a large reproduction of what appeared to be a toilet that hadn't been there a moment ago, "…in that direction. They said something about it being 'Feeding Time.'"

That didn't sound good.

"Um, Bottles? Are you there?"

"Right here, Banjo."

"You said that Loggo's bowl leads to the Cut for Deadlines room, right?"

"Err, yes, yes I did, and it does go there."

"What exactly in the Cut for Deadlines Room would need 'feeding?'"

No response.

"Hello?"

"Mecha Piddles."

"W-what?!"

"It was a planned boss. But alas, it's in the Cut for Deadlines Room. Why?"

Only the sounds of the newly reestablished snow machine pervaded the silence.

"You don't think Klungo's down there, do you?" the pig suddenly made his presence known.

"That's exactly what I think."

"Th-there's no time to waste then! Y-you'll have to go down there and get him." Bottles hastily concluded, "I'll… I'll open the way!"

The floor began to shake as the Loggo replica's bowl began to open. As it grew wider, the sounds of a cat, a large one, began filtering out.

"I think I understand Gregg a bit now," Conker muttered.

"Let's go."

Banjo helped Conker limp over as Kazooie ran ahead, already finding Pikelet waiting for them.

"You're quick when you need to be, huh?"

"I'm ignoring that." The porcine shot back.

Banjo and Conker eventually arrived.

"You don't think you're coming with us, do you?" the bird asked, noticing the squirrel's limp.

"I can manage," Conker replied, it wouldn't be the first time he'd fought with a hurt leg. "The question is can you three manage by yourselves?"

"It'll hardly be a challenge," Kazooie stretched her wings.

"No offense, but you should probably get out of here, you're already hurt, and I'm guessing it's a long way down." The bear explained, "How could you fight anyway?"

"You're not changing my mind, Banjo," the squirrel responded, "and as for how I'll fight…" he removed a Krotch forty-five from a pocket, "they missed one."

The bear sighed in defeat, "Okay then."

The group approached the menacing toilet bowl situated in the floorboards.

"Bottom's up?" Kazooie nudged Conker a bit.

"Ladies first…" he said, presenting the way to her.

The breegull girl quickly whacked the squirrel into the hole, his screams soon blocking the roars of the creature down below.

"KAZOOIE!"

"HAPPY LANDINGS, BUSHY BUTT!"

Banjo thought he heard him swear but it was too muffled to tell.

"Oh my."

"Well if you kids aren't gonna go, then I'm goin' next."

Pikelet sat himself on the rim and pushed off, letting out a wail as he went down.

"In retrospect, he should have gone down first…" the bird remarked, quickly realizing she was alone as Banjo had already disappeared down the hole. She soon followed.

Conker landed quite softly as he exited the chute. He stood, brushing sand off of himself, and looked around. He was in a sort of western world, the sun hanging in the sky along with strings of computer coding; the wind blew messy tumble weeds about. Cacti littered the landscape along with old, abandoned, buildings; a ghost town.

The sand suddenly erupted next to him as Pikelet made his entrance. Banjo and Kazooie shortly followed, albeit with more graceful landings. Pikelet shook himself of the sand, placing his cap back on his head.

"Banjo? Banjo?! BANJOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The ursine flinched as the cry rang through his head. Kazooie flipped the microphone her way.

"Shut up, Goggle Boy, he's right here!"

"Oh okay, I lost contact with you for a moment a kind of flipped out. Sorry about that."

"Any idea where we are?" Conker asked.

"I think this is Weird West, or what's left of it anyway." Banjo slowly took in his surroundings.

"So where's the cat?"

As if on cue, the beast burst through a sand dune in the distance, playfully chasing after a green creature in what appeared to be a white lab coat.

"Klungo!" The bear gasped.

"THAR SHE BLOWS!" Kazooie added.

"C'mon!"

The duo rushed in, with Conker and Pikelet tagging behind. Noticing the impeding rush, the colossal cat lost interest in the ogre, turning its gaze to its new prey.

Kazooie began her attack by tossing a few grenade eggs, which harmlessly bounced off of the creature's body. Conker added a few shots of his own to no avail.

"What works on this thing?" The squirrel shouted over the battle.

"How should we know, nothing about it's been released!" Kazooie shot back.

"This thing doesn't look much like a mech," Banjo spoke, continuing his trek toward the beast without hesitation.

In the distance, the duo could see Klungo pull out some sort of flask from his coat. Having enough of being chased, he chucked the container in the face of the beast as it turned back to him. Letting out a shrill howl, the monster stumbled about, crushing a few of the houses that made up the scenery. It appeared to be over reacting to such an assault, but on further inspection this was definitely not the case. Klungo, in a last ditch attempt at saving himself, had thrown a container full of acid at the beast; the chemical rapidly ate away at the fur and flesh of the creature, revealing its mechanical makeup.

"I stand corrected."

The breegull repeated her earlier tactic of firing grenade eggs at the beast, chipping away at its mechanical innards as she went. Conker backed her up with a few rounds from his firearm. Pikelet withdrew his small laser pistol, issued to him by L.O.G. in the Terrarium of Terror. He fired a few shots, striking every time.

"Think its time for a more intimate approach?"

Banjo was silent for a moment, "…Not like that…"

Kazooie slapped him, "No, with a Clockwork Egg."

"Oh."

Unleashing the little wonder, the metal bird made its merry way over to the monstrosity. The cat stopped its tirade, lowering itself to see the tiny object waddling toward it. It promptly swallowed the bait.

"What was that?"

"It's the most adorable bomb you've ever seen, squirrely," Kazooie assured. "Kitty bites the bird, birdie bites back."

The Clockwork Kazooie exploded within the mech, throwing parts of the beast everywhere. Mecha Piddles stumbled around a bit before letting out one last cry and dropping to the ground with a thud, glowing eyes dimming to nothing.

"Wasn't too hard," Conker said happily, putting away his firearm.

"Maybe a bit too easy…" The veteran commented under his breath.

Klungo rushed towards the group, throwing himself at Banjo in what appeared to be an attempt at a hug.

"Bear sssave Klungo from kitty!"

"It wasn't just me, Klungo." Banjo laughed, struggling to breathe under the ogre's weight.

"Yeah, I helped too, now GET OFF!" the breegull gasped under the combined mass of both of them.

Letting them up, Klungo brought his focus to Conker and Pikelet.

"Sssquirell essscape, pig man too!" Klungo exclaimed, giving a rather strong pat on the back to them both.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, big guy." Conker managed to spit out under the well-intentioned pounds.

"I'm sorry."

Klungo noticed the now down-trodden officer.

"I shouldn't have left you behind like that; I was a coward for doing so. It's not what we were taught to do while on the force," he paused for a breath, "It's not something a friend should do either…"

Klungo seemed to ponder something for a moment, "Friend in need isss friend indeed. Pig helpsss Klungo anyway. I sssee him asss friend."

He seemed surprised at this, "Really? Even after-"

Klungo nodded.

"Will you two wrap it up already? Banjo's crying over here."

"No I'm not! I just have some sand in my eye…"

"Not pig'sss fault. Klungo ssshould have known not to visssit missstresss Grunty. Ssshould have been fassster too." The ogre gave a goofy smile.

Pikelet seemed ready to tear up. The two hugged.

"Awwww-can we go now?"

"Kazooie, stop being insensitive!"

"I think we probably should get going Banjo…" Conker said, oddly briskly.

"Why do you say that?"

A rumbling noise suddenly came from behind them. Mecha Piddles' eyes regained their horrifying yellow glow as it stood, letting out an awful screech. It charged

"Kazooie!"

"I'm on it!" The bird dug around inside the backpack, searching for Grenade Eggs.

"ANYTIME NOW!"

"I'm all out!"

"Look's like we're hoofing it!"

"Banjo, Do you read?! What's happening down there?!"

"We're not hanging around to find out," the bear quickly glanced back at the quickly advancing cat, "thing's just got out of hand!"

"Okay! I'm reversing the suction of Loggo's pipe now, get out of there!"

"Don't need to tell us twice!" Kazooie shouted into the mic as Banjo ran.

The group ran towards the pipe extending from the wall. As he ran, Pikelet saw that Mecha Piddles would end up there way before their little group did.

It was then that he stopped in his tracks.

"PIKELET! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"He's not running anymore..."

"WELL, I CAN SEE THAT!"

Removing his pistol from its holster, he made his way toward the cat.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Banjo screamed over his shoulder.

"JUST GIT OUTTA HERE, I CAN HANDLE THIS!" The Veteran yelled back.

"No you can't…" Banjo said solemnly.

Making sure they were still leaving, Pikelet turned back to his adversary.

"I'm not running anymore."

The cat brought its attention down to the one thing standing in the way of dinner. It stepped aside, only to be followed by the pig.

"Here kitty, kitty… you ain't goin' nowhere…" he smirked devilishly.

As he neared the pipe and felt the suction drawing him in, Banjo looked to the monstrosity behind him. The last thing he saw before the Cut for Deadlines room disappeared from his eyes was Pikelet, with Mecha Piddles looming over him dangerously.

Bumper sighed, placing the last crate down on the dock as the ship began pulling away from port. It would be the last one of the day. He brought his gaze over to the small group of children playing together near some cargo. He smiled, before feeling a light pat on his shoulder.

"Good job t'day, mate."

"Thanks."

He watched his fellow worker leave, going back to watching the kids afterwards. One of the children, a little rhino boy stopped, a confused look on his face.

"Hey," he spoke.

"What is it?" the penguin girl asked.

"Shhh…"

Bumper heard it; sirens, and the roar of engines, lots of them. Deciding to see where they were coming from, Bumper rushed over to the police station. A strange noise caught his ear, and looking up, he saw it. A Spy-I-Cam had locked onto him.

They were coming for him.

The badger quickly turned back, seeing dock workers and the children still present and unaware at the dockyard.

"No…"

"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE! SEEK SHELTER, NOW!"

"Wazza meanin' o' this-"

"NOW, QUICKLY! BEFORE-"

The whistle of a torpedile silenced him as it took out a load of cargo. The police were already upon them. Bumper looked wildly about, somewhat relieved that he didn't have to warn them twice as the workers and civilians had already begun to flee. His eyes widened in realization as the kids weren't among the masses.

They weren't far away from him however; Bumper could hear them whimpering a little ways away, hiding amongst a stack of crates.

Another torpedile whizzed by him and decimated another batch of cargo nearby. A squad car positioned itself not far from him, readying its weaponry, and aiming at the final shipment left on the dock. The one the children were using for cover.

It was now or never.

As the weapon was fired, Bumper made a mad dash towards the kids, pushing them out of the way of the incoming blast. His whole body shook violently as the torpedile contacted its target, throwing them onto the ground. They were amazingly unhurt.

"Get out of here now! RUN!" The badger shouted, making himself appear as scary as possible. As much as he hated frightening at them, he had no other choice. They could either fear him or be killed. As the kids took their leave, Bumper caught his breath, his heart pounding away in his chest, threatening to burst out.

He could have sworn his heart stopped as a maniacal laugh resonated from behind him. Standing in the rubble of the cargo, was a Gruntbot, a black warning sign painted on it.

Before he could react, it detonated, sending him flying into the air as an excruciating pain rocketed through his right shoulder. He instinctively grasped, feeling blood seep between his fingers. Water exploded around him as he landed, everything soon turning red around him before his world went black.