Uka Uka suffered. He suffered through the seemingly neverending tug-of-war. There he was, in the middle of two children. These two children, however, were doctors Neo Cortex and Nefarious Tropy. After N. Tropy's Time Twister Machine had malfunctioned, it landed the trio in an unknown location, and the two doctors were rendered mere toddlers. Once an all-powerful ancient mask, Uka Uka was now a plaything. He wondered when the two infants would stop fighting over him, or if they ever even would. The three of them seemed to be there for ages, but in actuality, it had only been several hours. Still, Uka Uka was already on the brink of insanity.

Suddenly, baby Cortex stopped tugging at Uka's beard. His stomach growled and he started to whine. Tropy was more than happy to have full control over Uka Uka, but then his stomach started to rumble too. Cortex wept.

"I'm hungry! I want food!" Cortex cried out. Uka Uka let out a sigh.

"Cortex, you little cretin! There is no food here! You two brats are going to starve to death!"

"I want food NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NO-"

"SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE TERROR! I'LL CUT OPEN YOUR STOMACH, WATCH YOUR ENTRAILS SPEW OVER THE GROUND, AND SLICE YOUR HEAD OFF!" Uka Uka yelled at Cortex. Cortex started to cry due to Uka's threats, and he was soon followed by N. Tropy. Uka Uka sighed again.

"OK, OK! I'll find whatever is edible for you two, so long as you both stop crying!" With that, Uka Uka floated off, scouring for anything that the infants could eat. All he could find that was close to eatable, however, were chunks of salt. He called the children over. Tropy looked at the salt and scoffed.

"I'm not gunna eat it," the baby said. "All it is is dumb salt. Guess we're gunna starve."

"Fine by me," Uka shot back.

"It's not fair!" Cortex yelled, starting to throw another tantrum. "I wanna eat! I wanna eat now! I dun wanna starve! Feed me food!"

"This is all I could find, Cortex, and this is all you'll be able to eat unless we find a way out of here!"

"But I want food, not stupid salt!"

"JUST EAT IT AND BE QUIET FOR ONCE!" Uka Uka shouted. Cortex reluctantly complied, and as did Tropy after some time. But then...

"Uka Uka, I'm thirsty!" Cortex whined.

"Me too," said N. Tropy.

Suprisingly, Uka Uka now seemed tranquil. At least, he seemed so.

"Now, children, you must understand that I am very furious right now. I am a hair away from killing you two. Do you understand?"

Cortex and Tropy stared with eyes widened, slowly nodding; somehow, Uka Uka seemed even more frightening when he talked in a calm tone. Uka Uka smiled.

"Very good! Now, I want you two to just sit there and do nothing, absolutely nothing. No talking, no crying, no fighting, no running around. Nothing. Do I make myself clear?"

The two babies nodded again. Uka Uka grinned even more.

"Excellent. Now, I'm going to find a way out of this place. You two do exactly as I said, alright? Or else I will kill you." The infants did exactly as Uka Uka told them to, and Uka Uka started to search for a way to leave the strange location they were in.