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Week 36

#246


#247


#248




CRASH & BASS: further plotline synopsis

At this time, it seems more likely that I'll never pick up Crash & Bass up again (or any sprite comic or sprite Flash, for that matter), than that I will. Yet every few days I still get an e-mail from someone telling me they've enjoyed the comic, or asking me to continue it, and I feel bad for letting those people down. I've also gotten numerous offers from people to continue the comic for me, but I won't do that. If someone continued it for me, it would become their comic, their style, and that wouldn't be fair to people who've enjoyed the comic so far. However, I want to give some closure to the people who've been coming back here to see if anything's changed yet. Therefore I wrote this plot synopsis of what I'd intended to fill the rest of Crash & Bass with, and I'll put all my sprites on the site for people to download and use in their comics. It would probably be nice to see some characters pop up in other people's sprite comics, though I hope everyone'll have the courtesy of not overusing them. If you want to, link this page on sprite comic forums so other people can check it out. Thanks for the support, it's more than I could've asked for with my limited wit and write-myself-in-a-corner timetravel storyline.

YOU CAN FIND ALL MY UNRELEASED SPRITES HERE NOW.

A LAST NOTE:

If someone wants to take this storyline and try to finish it for me with my own sprites, I don't think it's a great idea, but I'm not going to stop you and I'm not looking forward to getting anymore e-mail questions about Crash & Bass, and maybe you're actually a much better writer and spriter than I am, so yeah, go ahead. I'd be more enthusiastic towards the idea of a spinoff comic, maybe starring some of the secondary characters, or a follow-up comic to see what happens to Crash & Bass or their friends and enemies after this story is over. In short: do what you like, don't bother with asking permission, and have a good time.



...In the last few comics, Crash and Bass were contacted by the mayor, who alerted them that a group of vegetable and fruit mutants were rampaging through the city. The two robots quickly teleported into town, meeting with the first two mutants...

Crash and Bass face off with Dr. Ploppy's mutant Botanicks throughout the city, splitting up to fight them separately, and eventually meeting again to meet Dr. Ploppy himself, observing the battle from one of his airships.


Laser Carrot
Special ability: fires laserbeams from eyes.
Battle Banana
Special ability: super strength and agility (attacks boomerang-style).
Shadow Beet
Special ability: partial invisibility and creating smokescreens.
Ink Blueberry
Special ability: firing blinding ink from his proboscis.

Thunder Tater
Special ability: channelling electricity.
Magma Pepper
Special ability: spitting acid and generating extreme body heat.
Jab Cactus
Special ability: launching deadly needles.
Razor Pineapple
Special ability: spinning around and slashing with sharp leaves, impenetrable scale armor.


In another session of humiliating banter, Ploppy accidentally reveals the root of his decision to become a supervillain: a flashback reveals that his mom didn't pay him a whole lot of attention when he was a kid.



He soon recovers, though, and summons his ultimate creation:


Moldmaster - giant radioactive fungal mold


Crash and Bass do their best to fight the monster, but get beaten down. Bass contacts Doc Light, asking him if Treble is ready yet, so he can be sent over to help. Doc informs him that Treble isn't ready, but he'll sent other help. Bass expects to see Ed, but the good doctor has decided to teleport Frank. Another reason for Bass to hate the Light-robot. Frank proudly displays his new buster upgrade - lemon juice. Much to everyone's surprise, one acidic blast of it succeeds in shrinking Moldmaster to a more agreeable size.



Finally defeating someone seems to stir something in Frank. He hugs Crash enthusiastically and dances around, as if he's discovered the joy of being a hero too. Ploppy makes some idle threats and departs once again, defeated. Crash and Bass prepare to leave, but find themselves suddenly surrounded by armed human soldiers. The soldiers command them to come along to their headquarters. Once there, they are introduced to the leader of this human resistance force - Tom Light XI, a descendant of Dr. Light, who leads this force as his generations before him did.



He explains that, after programming his hologram and abandoning his lab, the original Dr. Light was taken in by civilians and hidden. He started a family and formed the resistance force, which was eventually dubbed the Army of Light, to protect the city from characters such as Dr. Ploppy. Tom has been monitoring Crash and Bass, sizing up their conviction, making sure they were on the right side.

The conversation is interrupted when the robotic Dr. Light contacts Crash and Bass, asking them what's taking them so long. They reply that he'd better come and see this, and Dr. Light teleports into the resistance's hideout. The soldiers and Tom himself are amazed to see this perfect representation of the statue of the first Dr. Light that they keep in their hideout. After it's explained that he is a robot, Tom brings out a relic passed down along the generations by his fathers. The robot recognizes it as Megaman X's "Remote Crisis Transponder," a device that causes a chip in X's brain to send out a signal in case he malfunctions, mapping out his direct environment for rescue attempts. The robot Light sees a chance here to formulate a plan.

The entire company, Crash, Bass, Frank, the robot Light and Tom Light return to the laboratory together. Connecting the RCT to the computer, the robot Light receives a basic layout of X's fortress. It seems that Wily's programming has affected X to an extent where he incorporated a big flaw in his wasteland fortress: a central complex, surrounded by eight domes that generate an impenetrable force field around the center, the power source of each dome being a robot master.

The RCT's activation has not gone unnoticed by X, so they have to hurry. Crash and Bass separately set out to each defeat four of the robot masters and absorb their weapons.

Author's note: this section of storyline would start with a Megaman 7-style robot master menu where you could select the face of the robot master whose fight you wanted to see. At first all but one of the robot master pictures would be darkened, and each time I'd put a new fight on the site, that robot master picture would become active. At least one fight would be done in Flash instead of a static comic, but I might've ended up doing them all in Flash. Every fight would end with Crash or Bass teleporting out of the exploding robot master stage, arriving back at the lab and receiving explanation on the new weapon they'd received from Dr. Light, in faithful MM7-style, ending with the "you got [this weapon]" posing screen.


Smashman
Weapon: Piledriver Punch
Stage: Garbage Compactor
Blowman
Weapon: Wind Pipe
Stage: Ventilation System
Brainman
Weapon: Cerebral Pod (allows telekinesis)
Stage: Power Center
Blastman
Weapon: Blast Missiles
Stage: Test Range

Segwayman
Weapon: Too Much Money (throw money, causes greed)
Stage: Security Center (Las Vegas-like setting)
Crunchman
Weapon: Crush Jaws
Stage: Garbage Grinder
Balloonman
Weapon: Balloon Animals
Stage: Gas Refinery
Cannonman
Weapon: Nuclear Cannon
Stage: Nuclear Plant


Author's note: I threw these robot masters together rather quickly, to fix a plothole. As such they're mostly kind of boring, and I intended to completely redesign all of them and in some cases rename them by the time I got to this storyline. Blastman, Balloonman, Brainman and probably Segwayman would've stayed (but redesigned, ie Brainman would have a brain in a fragile orb of glass on his head), but I hadn't narrowed down exactly what the new robot masters were going to be, though I tried to make them mostly industrial, to suit X's efficient purposes as leaders of his operations. Ideas at the time: Toxicman/Venom Man, "Radiation"man (placeholder name), (nameless robot master with powers of speed). Balloonman's fight would've been done in Flash, in order to give him an audible helium-voice.

With all eight robot masters defeated and their domes destroyed, the force field protecting the central complex falls. Crash and Bass return to base to find that in the mean time, Tom Light and his army have not been sitting idly by either...

Author's note: to go out with a bang, I planned to end the series with a big final Flash movie (possibly in two or even three parts), showing the final battle with X, and Crash and Bass's last effort to set the timeline straight and prevent the dark future from happening.

CRASH & BASS: OUT OF TIME

The Army of Light has been recruiting and arming civilians, producing weapons, new Autolytes (blue Autos, also seen in Crash & Bass #100) and ride armors in the factory below Dr. Light's laboratory. Crash, Bass, the Light robot and Tom Light discuss the problem that they don't really have enough vehicles and no air support to accompany them in the attack on X's fortress. At this, Crash contacts Dr. Ploppy to suggest that he helps them. Ploppy is obviously reluctant, as is Tom Light, but Crash manages to convince both of the need to join forces.

At X's headquarters, Clashman is anxiously pacing about, waiting for X to finish filtering his brain of all human influences, which is now nearly complete. Then they detect the oncoming of enemies.

The Army of Light stands on a hill, looking to the fortress. The gates of the fortress open, and hordes of X drones come pouring out. The Army of Light attacks, followed by Dr. Ploppy's fleet of airships, and battle ensues. Crash and Bass engage the drones, as does the Light robot, who shows that he's not as harmless as he looks:



The battle rages on, but the Army of Light suffers heavy losses. Tom Light urges Crash and Bass to do what they're here to do - find Clashman and steal his timetravelling weapon, the Time-Crasher. Then he rushes off and is caught in an explosion. Crash and Bass, supported by the Light robot and Ed, blast a path to gates of the fortress, and rush in, collapsing the ceiling behind them.

Crash, Bass and the Light robot reach X's "throneroom," where he welcomes them, as his filtering process just ticks off its last seconds in that moment. As it finishes, a pod opens, and out steps X, in a brand new body.

Author's note: sorry, no picture here. At the time of writing, I could not figure out how to make his body, since it'd have to radiate power but also be simplistic, being designed by a robot. Ideas were: a recolored 32-bit Megaman X from the Megaman X 4-6 series, a black Megaman X silhouette with glowing eyes, and briefly, the red and yellow "Megaman Q" character I made ages ago, but none seemed proper to use. Incidentally, this would've been the cliffhanger moment where you'd get "continued tomorrow."

The Light robot tells Crash to press on and find Clashman, as that's all that matters. X tries to close a door to stop him, but is just too late. The Light robot tries to reason with X, telling him timetravel is too dangerous even for him. X explains that he has analyzed the 'accidental' technology of the Time-Crasher, and aside from knowing how to make it stable, he has discovered that its bearer is protected against all changes in the timeline, unless it is destroyed itself. He summons another group of drones to occupy the Light robot, while he faces off with Bass (who, at this point, has merged with Treble).

Crash discovers Clashman's quarters. Trapped in a pod, he finds none other than Flashman. He frees the robot, but Flashman is not exactly grateful. He blames Crash's incompetence for his long imprisonment by Clashman. Eventually he attacks Crash, and the two have a battle, but Crash manages to defeat him, and subsequently absorbs his Time-Stopper weapon. As he recovers, he finds that Clashman has entered the room.

Meanwhile, Bass is doing his best to hold out against X, with little success. X smashes Bass to the ground and prepares to blast him, when he is distracted by a shot of... carrot juice. Standing in the room are Frank and the eight robot masters he freed from Dr. Wily's Rejected Robots chamber. Bass wonders aloud how these robot masters can still stand, when he destroyed them in battle. Frank explains through post-its handed to Porcelain Man that he stole a number of the clone-pods that Dr. Wily always used just before his final battle with Megaman, to resurrect the robots. He meant to use them to attempt again to kill Crash and Bass, until he had a change of heart in his fight with Moldmaster, and decided to use these robots for good. He orders the robot masters to attack X.

In Clashman's quarters, Clashman engages Crash. Both use their ability to stop time (Flashman's weapon), and they have a lightning-quick battle across a frozen timescape. Eventually Crash comes out on top, and manages to defeat Clashman without damaging his weapon. Crash's weapon absorption module begins doing its work...

In X's throneroom, Frank's robot masters are doing little more than annoying X with their futile attacks. Soon X shrugs them all off with a single attack, and prepares to destroy them all. Just then, Crash enters the room, his armor colored purple from the acquisition of Clashman's weapon. In this moment of distraction, the Light robot and Bass together blast X. Crash then time-hops across the room, planting bombs all over the place. The company rushes out as the bombs go off, burying X beneath the rubble.

Outside, the battle has mostly wound down. The Army of Light came out on top, but with terrible losses. Since the Light robot will need to use the laboratory's computer to analyze the Time-Crasher and calculate the proper space/time coordinates for Crash to use to travel back in time and set things right, they have Dr. Ploppy bring up one of his airships to ferry them back. Arriving back at the lab, the analysis begins immediately.

On the battlefield, the rubble suddenly shivers, and the few soldiers that remain in the area watch helplessly as X breaks out of the remains of his fortress, furious, and takes off into the air, pursuing his enemies.

As the analysis of the Time-Crasher weapon winds down, the laboratory's sensors detect something approaching through the city at extreme velocity. The company realizes X is coming to finish the job. With the coordinates for Crash's journey ready, he prepares to leave and stop Clashman before he can engage his plans. The Light robot warns him that the weapon is only partially stabilized - when he returns, he can only return to the point where he left the future, plus the minutes he's spent in the past.

Just as Crash activates his weapon and vanishes, X literally tears the roof off the laboratory, demanding the Time-Crasher.

Crash arrives 100 years earlier, at the moment when Clashman breaks out of his pod in Rejected Robots. Clashman is astonished to see Crash there, looking different than before. Crash wastes no time, and before Clashman can attack him, he fires. Clashman explodes, his Time-Crasher destroys. A wave of temporal change begins forming around Crash, but he feels confident that it won't affect him. Then he realizes he feels a tug at the Time-Crasher on his arm, and energy is swirling around it. The destruction of an older incarnation of the Time-Crasher is catching up with the weapon Crash carries now, and it threatens to wipe him from the timeline. Alarmed, Crash activates the weapon and travels back to the future, pursued closely by a wave that is reassembling the timeline as it should be.

Author's note: this is a part of the plotline I've spent ages grinding my gears on, because when you start messing around with ideas of timetravel and paradoces, you really, really write yourself into a corner. I'm sure you can still find holes in it big enough to drive a truck through, but be so kind as to not rub it in my face.

Crash arrives a few minutes after he departed from the future, with X looming over the company, ready to destroy them. Crash detaches the Time-Crasher and tosses it at X, telling him he can have it. Startled, X fires just as the temporal wave of change overtakes them, and the Time-Crashes explodes. The wave erases X from existence...

As the wave subsides, Crash, Bass, Frank, the robot Light, Ed and Dr. Ploppy find that they are still standing, in a reassembled future, as it should have been: peaceful, inhabited by humans and reploids living in peace. The eventual destruction of the Time-Crasher deflected the wave of change somehow, shielding the small group from paradoces and temporal changes. Dr. Ploppy leaves in a fury, realizing his entire army has been wiped from time, swearing revenge. Crash and Bass meet at the window, looking out over the city with a feeling of accomplishment over saving the future. Credits ensue... but at the end, you catch a glimpse of Maverick reploids flying across the screen. The End.

Final author's note: the ending is another thing I long put thought into. I considered putting the company back 300 years, leaving them in Dr. Light's lab while it was still occupied by Dr. Light himself, Megaman, Roll, and the rest. Eventually I decided on keeping it in the future, though I could never entirely figure out a credible explanation to give for why the company ends up being protected from changes to the timeline, so I left it up in the air somewhat.




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This comic owes a debt of inspiration to Bob and George, the Comic Strip. Spritesheets provided by Sprites Inc. Crashman, Bass, and all characters from the Megaman videogame series are the creative property of Capcom. All original titles, names and material are copyrighted by Fragile-Minds.com. Nothing from this site may be reproduced without express consent from the creative owners. For more information, contact the author.