The Experiment
The doctor stood at the door to his laboratory. He was ready to complete the last experiment. He'd been waiting for six long months to find the right leader for his generals, but those he'd made were all insane somewhere, either deep inside or where it was able to be shown to everyone else.
Many of those he'd experimented on were animals, taken from around Australia and Tasmania. Most of those he'd taken now had their own special abilities and special characteristics.
But the new one was who he believed could become the leader of his generals. He just seemed so right, so ready for the role. But he needed to make sure.
The new experiment was a Bandicoot, one of those he'd found in a litter of them. While most of the others had died during experimentation, he and one other had survived. There was another Bandicoot he'd experimented on, but she was more of his queen now than anything else.
The man's named was Neo Cortex. He was a human with yellow skin. Stamped on his forehead was a black "N." He was just as insane as he was amazingly gifted and smart. That was the same with the others who had helped him.
One of his assistants, Nitrus Brio, who also had yellow skin and the "N" stamped on his head, stood over by the experimentation table. He was waiting.
The doors behind them opened, and in came a stout and fat man with gray skin. One side of his face was made of machinery, due to the rocket that had embedded itself into his head. Cortex had helped him to survive the accident, and now the man, known as N-Gin to them, was left with a rocket in his head and great knowledge of many things.
But he was not as smart when it came to restraining the lab rats. The small Bandicoot in his hands was seemingly biting back at him. He ran over to Cortex and Brio.
"What took you so long?" Cortex snapped.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Cortex," he replied. "This one wouldn't stop biting me! He seems to be very vicious."
"Good, that means he might just be able to help us with our upcoming mission!" Brio exclaimed. His voice was high-pitched and it annoyed Cortex very much. He was the closest to complete insanity, he believed.
"Yes," Cortex said. "Now, put him on the chair, and let's see how he turns out! Then we can decide if it will be he who becomes the leader of the generals or someone else!"
As the Bandicoot was placed into a chair, Brio restrained him, and he was lifted into an egg-shaped device. Blue light leaked out of the bottom opening.
As they waited, Cortex said to Brio, "Go get the others. Make sure they're not in the worst moods, either."
Brio nodded and ran out of the room. Cortex sighed; one of those he'd made to be a general was completely insane. Another was strong enough to break through the strongest steel (and bite through it as well). But the one he counted as best of all was a hybrid who could control fire and spoke in an Australian accent.
When Brio returned, Cortex looked his other three generals over. He named the insane one Ripper Roo, who had actually been in the mutation device too long and it made him have to wear a strait-jacket. He was all blue, with yellow eyes that seemed to be swirling like a vortex. He spoke in a high-pitched voice, but still seemed to have some smarts within his thick skull.
The other one was an orange tiger they named Tiny. He wore spiky shoulder pads, black boots, and he was more muscular than any of the other experimentations. His head was large and his snout was pointed. His eyes were a dark green, and inside them was a cross between humane beliefs and dark thoughts.
But then there was the last one. He was a hybrid between a dingo and a saltwater crocodile. Because of the cross-experimentation, he'd been named Dingodile. Due to his experiment, he could control fire and even engulf himself in fire up to a certain point without being injured. He spoke in an Australian accent. In his red eyes were the thoughts of wisdom and complete insanity. He was said to be the most dangerous out of all the test subjects. His long brown hair left over from the dingo fell over his eyes. His back and tail were that of the crocodile, which allowed him to swim well.
"What did you want us for this time?" Tiny asked in his deep, growling voice. "I was in the middle of an argument."
"With who?" Cortex asked.
"Forget it," Dingodile snapped. "Why is it that we're here?"
"You are here because we believe we've found the last general for our army!" Cortex exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
"And what exactly is he?" Ripper Roo asked, laughing in his normal high-pitched sort of way.
"He's a Bandicoot. And I think the experiment is almost over. Let us see!" Cortex ran over to the controls, searching for the override button that would stop the experiment.
When it was pressed, the chair in which the Bandicoot was sitting came back down, and they saw what he now looked like.
He was still orange, with light brown eyes. He had black eyelashes, and some of the orange fur was spiky on his back.
"What the heck?" Dingodile said. "Well, he's not as good-looking as we are, but I guess he'll do."
He, Tiny, and Ripper Roo laughed.
"Please, be good for your new ally!" Brio said to them. "What should we call him, Cortex? Also, can he speak?"
"I'm not sure," Cortex said. "Let me see." He walked over to the Bandicoot, who'd just gotten up out of the chair and was scratching his head. "Can you say anything? Can you speak to me?"
"What?" the Bandicoot asked in an Australian accent, which caused Dingodile to stare at him strangely. "Who are you? Where are we? What is this place?"
Quickly Cortex explained everything, including what had happened and what he was supposed to be doing.
"I believe we will name you Crash," Cortex said. "Yes, Crash Bandicoot sounds great! Now, can you do anything other than talk and stand around?"
"Not sure," Crash replied. "Let me check." He concentrated, and then suddenly span around at a high speed. Cortex backed away a little, trying to not get hit, knowing it would possibly hurt.
"Amazing!" Brio exclaimed. "So Ripper Roo has the power to control energy from Nitro crates, Tiny has enough strength to break almost anything, and Dingodile can control fire! And now Crash can spin around to attack his enemies!"
"Yes, it's very good," Cortex said. "Now, I have a job for you three. Unfortunately, our power levels are low. I need you four to go over to that second island and find Pinstripe. Send us a message back when you arrive. Of course, inform Crash on whatever more he might need to know. Go across the first island, just to be safe. We don't know if the natives might be planning something, so find out there and send back a message when you learn there. Do you understand?"
As the other three nodded, Crash decided to go along with it and nodded himself. But he was sure the other three would help him to learn more along the way.
"Good. Now go out there and make me and Brio proud! I have a few more friends out there just in case you need help." Cortex turned back to Brio and started talking.
"Come on, mate," said Dingodile to Crash as they followed Tiny and Ripper Roo. "There's a lot more for you to learn. I'll explain the rest along the way once we reach the boat."
When the four generals were gone, Brio said, "There was something I noticed, unfortunately. I wish I hadn't seen it, but there was that one thing in Crash's eyes."
"Yes," Cortex agreed. "He had love and friendship in his eyes. We must do something about that soon, or else. If we don't, all will be lost, and when it's lost, nothing more can be done about it."
