-AUTHOR'S NOTES-
Another broken down fanfic, huh? Might as well be brief with the description.
Two years ago I wrote this fic. At the time I wanted to do something different, and add more of a fantasy-based touch to a Crash Bandicoot fanfic. To make the project even more dynamic, I even asked for some input from some online friends at the time - some I even kept to this day - for character suggestions.
This didn't intend to be a sequel to anything, but in the end it ended up with some Power Crisis references, which soon allowed the story to be tied into the third and last of my Schoolhouse Rock stories a year on… even if it was the mention of Volcano Isle and some locations from said fiction, including the Reading Badlands and Honesty Shores.
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed the fic as much as I enjoyed writing it… yes, you two. :P
Peace out,
-Rexy-
---
We all live in a beautiful world around us. Even with that in mind, all inhabitants around it may show differences, regardless of age, gender, race… or form. I live on an island down under, far from any form of heavy human civilization, but that doesn't mean I'm alone.
The most recognized guy I know around these parts is some bandicoot by the name of Crash. He's been known for protecting the world from several different forms of evil within these past years. He even has times for great pals surrounding him too.
Two pals of his that I know happen to be a lion called Smash, taken from Africa for experimentations, and hasn't faced the same life he once had since. And then there's Rexy, an anthro dinosaur that came out of a mutated fossil found in the jungle weeks ago. The three of them together have done pretty much almost everything together since a terrifying event that rocked their world - the arrival of elemental masks, brought out from minions of the only human that lives on my island - Dr. Neo Cortex.
Speaking of whom, I've spent almost all my life with this guy. He seems to have a split personality once you get to know him - one minute he's demanding revenge upon the world and what they did to him, and the next he's wanting to sit with me, watch the soccer, or do anything to keep us happy. You really ought to feel sorry for him.
On top of us five, there have been two others that have made their mark around here recently. Jessica Yamazaki has been known for her ventures into the future, always wanting to do well in the Future Rivals fighting tournaments over there. Even if she doesn't exactly go as far as the rest of her family, she still knows how to heal a mean thigh injury. But she's had some problems lately, with a new guy that moved here two weeks ago - James Dingo II. He's a natural treasure hunter that came here from South Figaro, and one that's been seeking for a girl ever since he got here. Try and guess how many times Jess said no!
And finally, there's me, Wooffy Whiteowl. As I said earlier, I've been hanging around with Dr. Cortex for as long as I can remember. It may look a bit depressing inside the labs, but there's one thing that keeps me going - seeing the Blackburn Rovers soccer team on cable TV every Saturday. But once inside the labs myself, I worry about what could be the next time when the world will be in grave danger.
But this time… this was a sign of the unexpected.
---
-FAN FICTION PRESENTS-
-A fanfic by RexRock-
-CRASH BANDICOOT: Galaxy of Europe™-
---
A star started twinkling brighter and came towards the screen, and it showed itself as a jade green spec. Eventually, it showed itself as a spaceship, with a minute cockpit, and gigantic wings on the side, with powerful rocket boosters on the back.
In the darkness of the vehicle, a scaly hand took hold of a lever, showing a purple sleeve. As the camera goes higher, a face is shrouded in darkness. As the ship comes closer to the Sun and another planet, which were out of a nearby window, his face and the planet's surface can be seen. It was Nitrous Oxide at the lever, and the planet Earth was a few thousand yards away from him.
The lever was brought forward, and in the machines, a grated plate came over the boosters, therefore decreasing the acceleration. A couple of titanium plates emerged at the sides of the spacecraft, cutting down the speed dramatically. A few seconds later, the spacecraft came to a halt.
Oxide turned around, and got out from his seat. Facing him now was a glass chamber, and inside it was some sort of spiked iron ball. Underneath it was a hatch. So he pressed a red button, and the hatch was opened, sending the ball down to the surface. It went through the atmosphere, and once near the crust, the ball went inside a nearby volcano.
It stormed its way through the mantle, and continued heading down at a constant speed. The fluid started t turn from a tangerine orange to a golden yellow colour. Then it started to slow down at a white ball - the core of the planet.
Back on the spaceship, Oxide waited patiently for the result of his actions. What we now see on him is a vile smile going right across his long trunk. Back below, the ball's spikes left the body, and went around the core. We see red wires attatching each spike to the ball. A power surge started to go through.
On the Earth's surface, a yellow glow came around the cracks in the tectonic plates. Eventually, the glow managed to cover the whole planet. Seven segments can be seen through there.
Within time, there was a bright yellow flash, pushing the segments away from each other instantly. After two seconds, they were already 50 lightyears apart. But they started slowing down. On the ship, Oxide's face started becoming red with fury. So he jumped back in the cockpit, and took control of the steering wheel and pedals.
The ship turned around 180º and started heading in the direction of one of the largest of the seven segments. Faster and faster it went, and so did Oxide's patience. In fact, he was so mad he stormed the ship through the atmosphere and to the surface.
But the segment we will focus on is the furthest away of them all, and the smallest, holding a vast ocean, and millions of islands. Where we shall focus is a trio of islands, on the South-East of the largest island - Australia.
---
On the land of one of the islands, the scenery made things so quiet. The gentle winds brought the trees back and forth. However, some of the plants weren't coping too well, as they were turning a shade of yellow. A hut stood in the middle of it all, and nearby were some shallow footprints in the sand. As we zoom in one of the windows, we end up in darkness, and three figures can only just be made out, all of which in hammocks.
The sound of three knocks following one another caused one of the figures to stir in their own hammock for a few seconds, and then jump out onto the floor. It placed its head out into the light, revealing himself, as Crash Bandicoot. As he looked down, another figure was seen impatiently knocking on the door. That, of Dr. Neo Cortex. The sight of him turned the furry marsupial's face a clear white.
"Holy shipwreck!"
He went to the doorway, and turned the lights on, revealing the other two figures in bed. One is a female dinosaur with brown spiked hair, and the other is an orange lion, with pointed ears.
Crash brought back his face for exclaiming. "Oi, Rexy! Smash! We got company!"
With one push, he shoved them both out of bed and onto the floor. Sooner or later, they stood upright. As that happened, Crash rushed into his closet, and pulled out his pants and gloves. He immediately started dashing downstairs with them. The sound of hopping was heard... and then a tumble, and finally there came a crash at the bottom. Both Smash and Rexy shook their heads.
Back outside, the door was finally opened, and the two of them came face to face.
"Crash!" Cortex sighed with relief. "Finally, you've opened the door! I have a favor for you."
"What is it?"
"I'll explain it once you put your shoes on your feet, and the gloves on your hands."
Crash looked down at himself, and saw him with his shoes and gloves the wrong way round. Immediately he swapped them over.
"That's better", Cortex growled as he stepped inside. "Now if you just look outside that's a hint of what I want you to do."
"OK."
And so he did. Immediately, his face turned green.
"Pah, I never thought the air tasted so FOUL!" Crash growled with disgust.
"It's more than that. Take a look around."
He went over to the flower patch in his back garden. As he came across them, he saw them withering away, one by one. He looked up, and his tree house was wrecked, with the tree that supported it looking pale and fragile.
"I don't believe this", Crash panicked. "What's happened to the world today?"
"I've picked up a satellite reading of it back at the lab", smiled Cortex. "We'll try and show you there."
"Thanks."
From a window above the door, Smash poked his head out and spoke with a casual tone. "Crash! If you need help, I'm coming with you."
Rexy soon followed with her head above Smash's. "Trust me, you saw us when you tried to deal with the elemental problem, ya?"
Crash started speaking again. "I'm not sure you'd-"
Before he could say anything else, they both dashed out of the house and up towards the castle. Immediately, Crash started running after them.
"Guys, wait for me!" Cortex panicked from his position.
And that started a long run for the four, up towards a mission that they are about to undergo.
---
Cortex Castle was just a few yards away. As the four of them keep on running, they started to have sweat poured down their faces. No sooner than they came towards the gates outside, they all made a stop.
"Okay, so how exactly do we get in here?" Rexy asked Cortex.
"It's something too simple. All you have to do is use the key!"
"Whoopsie!" she responded back with a blush.
He rooted into his lab coat pocket, and pulled out some sort of skeleton key. It was twice as big as a normal household key and glimmered silver. It was placed in the padlock of the gate, and no sooner than it turned around, it was released, and the gates were opened.
"Right, looks like this is free for the taking!" Smash smiled with happiness.
However, Crash's attention was brought straight down onto his feet. "Uh, just hang on guys, I have to tie my shoelaces."
"Okay," said Cortex moodily, "but make sure you come inside, right?"
Smash started to chuckle. "You can count on him, he's a best friend!"
They started walking inside the castle gardens, leaving Crash behind for his shoes. As he was about to grab hold of the laces, a sound was heard.
This caused Crash to move along to his right, and that was where he saw two figures. One of them held a first-aid kit and wore a pink fighting outfit with short crimson hair measuring up to her shoulders. The other was lied down on the floor, moaning, and was wearing a white shirt, jeans and a dark coat. Immediately, Crash approached them.
He then brought his hands into a waving gesture towards the girl in the fighting costume. "Hi Jess, is there something wrong?"
She turned around, with a shocked expression on her face. Crash seemed to honestly know this girl - it was a Dalmatian hybrid; none other Jessica Yamazaki.
"Oh, Crash! You're just in time!"
"Er, what?" he asked her.
"Let me explain once I deal with this patient here."
She crouched down next to a humanoid dingo. It started moaning, and clutching on to his knee. It revealed that right under one of his bare feet was a massive splinter. She took out a pair of tweezers from the first aid box, and placed them onto the thorn.
"Just calm down, this won't bite."
Carefully, she pulled it out. That resulted... in the dingo smiling back at her.
"Thank you very much Jess. If there's something I can do to pay you back, let me know. Or..." he smiled cheekily, "I'll try this right now."
He took her by the hand, and pulled her face to his.
"Ugh, there's no way that I'm getting kissed!" she growled back at his direction. "You are not my boyfriend!"
"I wish I was", frowned the dingo.
"Well James, I have an idea for you. Just shape up your attitude, will you?"
She pulled herself away from him, and went back to Crash.
"You were saying..." Crash paused, "I was just in time for what?"
"Oh, that", she smiled. "I was back home in my mansion, just having breakfast, when I saw the sky suddenly turn red, and the area suddenly died out. I heard Jamie-boy's screams outside, and he wanted me to go to Cortex Castle and sort it out... but I didn't have time to say bye to mom and dad!"
"Don't panic, if we find a phone, you'll tell them."
"Thanks", the Dalmatian smiled. "By the way, we should come with you. You seem like you're doing the exact same thing."
"Of course."
"Yeah, time to get treasure hunting, baby!" James smiled, pumping his fists into the air.
"Uh, Jim, if that's your real name," leered Crash, "you don't get me, don't you?"
They started walking their way through the gates. A result awaits inside the castle, and so do Cortex, Smash and Rexy.
---
Inside the castle lounge, there was the sound of light chanting, running, kicking... and eating popcorn. In there, we see a white owl, wearing nothing than a soccer shirt. He has blonde hair, green eyes and a distinctive feather pattern on him. A television was right in front of him, and it was showing a soccer game.
"Here comes David Beckham, coming all the way to the penalty area... whoa! Did you see that tackle? Damien Dunn took the ball off him!"
The owl screamed at the top of his lungs. "YEAH! Come on!"
"What's this? He's coming up the pitch! He makes a quick pass to Andy Cole... coming towards the Penalty Box...!" Cheering was then heard through the TV's speakers. "GOAL!"
"YAHOO!" The owl jumped up and started singing to himself. "Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy Andy Andy Cole! He hits the ball and scores a goal, Andy Andy Cole!" He clapped his wings with happiness. "Yeah!"
"This has become the biggest upset in soccer history! With 50 minutes of the match to go, it's Blackburn Rovers - 3, Manchester United - 0!"
"YEAH!" cheered the owl. "Come on Rovers!!!"
But all of a sudden, the TV was turned off.
"WHAT?!?!?" the owl sighed angrily. "Alright, whoever cut the power supply from the TV is gonna get a bopping for his life!!!"
He turned around in a rage... but his eyes were met. Standing near the door, was Dr. Cortex, with Rexy and Smash. The latter had the remote control in his paw.
"Uh..." the owl started to laugh hesitantly. "Sorry, Dr. Cortex."
"It's alright. It was only fair that you saw a great match for once."
"But…" he paused, "But it's not over yet! It's almost half time!"
"Don't panic, we'll find out the results after the briefing."
The owl then looked on at him with a blank look, "What are you talking about?"
"Listen Wooffy, have you seen something peculiar happen to the sky at all this morning?"
Wooffy's expression started to turn as white as his feathers. "I have absolutely no idea on what you're talking about."
"Look here, feather brain!" Rexy growled over at him. "You spend so much time watching football that you don't notice that the sky has turned red, the air has turned acidic and all plant life is slowly going away?"
"Uh... I didn't", the owl blushed.
"And there has to be a cause for this! Do you know where the tracking satellite is?"
"It's just downstairs in the lab!"
The three looked at each other and started going downstairs. As they did so, they started engaging in discussion.
"So who exactly is the feathered boy?" Rexy asked Cortex.
"Oh, that's my new lab assistant. His name's Wooffy Whiteowl. However his passion for soccer has ended up being a downfall in his characteristics."
"He's only young", smiled Smash. "He'll grow into knowing what the world is all about."
"Of course", Rexy beamed back.
They went into the lab, and there in the middle of the room, was a large microcomputer, with tracking signals on it.
"There's the satellite", said Cortex as he pointed at it. "It can detect signals from around the globe and along the atmosphere into outer space."
"It seems... a bit complex", whispered Smash with widened eyes.
"But it's fascinating nonetheless", smiled Rexy.
They came towards the computer, but... there was a problem.
"Uh, Wooff," Cortex gestured at the owl, "have you been messing with the global detection system?"
"No... why?"
"Because it's not working!"
"Maybe it's because we picked something up at the entrance to space."
Some papers were printed out, and he started reading from them.
"It says here that at 0640 hours", Wooffy started, "a figure came from the Eastern part of the galaxy. Something came out from there and went straight towards Earth. Then, at 0645 hours, it was split into seven segments across the Universe. The ship went steering towards one of the segments, being the largest of them all. And I have a picture of that segment down here."
"I'll take a look at it", nodded Smash.
He placed his paws on Wooffy's shoulders, and took a look at the picture of the segment. His eyebrows suddenly raised.
"This 'figure' came across to a segment holding the continent of Europe. But... what's he doing there?"
"We'll find out on the way there", Cortex sneered.
"What do you mean?" Wooffy asked Cortex with a blank expression.
"You're going to summon rocket ship Medusa 93 on this journey."
"Awww, do I have to?" he moaned angrily. "A - I hate controlling spaceships, and 2 - I don't know what the Hell you are talking about!"
"Wooffy, if you can't take us there, then how else can we make our journey?"
"I dunno... um..." the owl rolled his eyes, trying to think. "Try flying. I do that everyday!"
"Listen snowy, we have no time for your fun and games right now!" roared Smash. "If you don't take us to the segment holding Europe, then we'll all die a horrible death! And you don't want that to happen, don't you?"
"Uhhh..." Wooffy then sighed with a depressed tone. "OK, but I really want to see the Rovers game score when we come back!"
Everyone fell over with anime sweatdrops on their face. At the same time, Crash comes in, with James and Jessica.
"Guys!" the bandicoot shouted. "Sorry I'm late! We just found two other people who want to help out."
"Ah, I remember them!" Cortex smiled over at them. "That's Jessica Yamazaki. Yes, I was there on the day she was born. And the dingo? Ah, I remember James Dingo - I've been helping him with his mortgage payments for his first few weeks here."
"Mortgage payments?" Wooffy asked the scientist.
"You're too young to understand", Cortex growled back, causing the owl to look on at him with a shocked look.
"We'll be there every step of your way", smiled James. "So, what's the first orders?"
"Hmmm... you seem very confident, so take these instructions", Cortex commanded. "All of you should board spacecraft Medusa 93! It'll be a long journey to Europe, where I think that most of the clues for the planet's destruction lie."
---
Round the back of the castle, there stood a tall spaceship. It was almost reminiscant of Thunderbird 3, but its tops were plated with gold instead of silver, and the Cortex Coat of Arms was held between the door and the main window.
Then from the back door, came the crew, wearing astronaut suits. The crew board the ship one by one - Crash, Smash, Rexy, Jessica, James (who was trying to kiss her arm behind her back), Cortex, and then Wooffy. The two of them came into the cockpit and took the controls, while the other five sat waiting in the room behind. A button was pressed to set the fuse countdown from 10 down to one. As the LCD numbers started to decrease, the whole crew placed their hands together with hope.
The ignition was set, and it was a gradual blastoff. Sooner or later it started taking off through the atmosphere, increasing in speed, height and velocity all at the same time. Finally, it went out into outer space.
The five of them looked out of the window, and saw their home continent, as a broken segment. They all looked at each other as they continued, further across the galaxy. They have now known, that an exhibition to an outside world has only just got started.
-end of part 1-
