"Congratulations, Nina! You have finally captured that rodent, Crash Bandicoot! And the condition he was in… I've thirsted for such a sight for many years," the voice was familiar, but it sounded muffled to the orange ears that attempted to get a better hearing.

Then, a near-childish voice replied, "What are we gonna do to him, Uncle?"

An evil chuckle echoed through the room. "Everything. He'll be wishing to die."

"And what of Coco and Crunch?" The marsupial's ears perked up at the mention of his sister's and adoptive brother's name. "They're still out there."

He mentally sighed, thankful that his family was nowhere near this dreadful place. He continued listening.

"Keep some of the minions on guard around the island. If they come across the bandicoots, they will bring them here. Otherwise, I am not too worried about those two. After all, we have Crash Bandicoot. Speaking of which, how about we pay a visit to that disgusting rat?"

Footsteps sent a chill down Crash's spine as he remained on the floor in a fetus position. He wanted to scramble to the back of the cell to hide from the predators that sauntered towards him, yet he was in too much agony to even try to move a muscle. His glistening eyes peered upwards, waiting for the arrival of the old faces that he had grown used to.

Doctor Neo Cortex and his niece soon came to a halt at the barred door, smiling in at the orange being. Cortex was the one to speak, "Ah, you're finally awake."

"W-w-why am I h-h-h-here?" Crash choked out, staying glued to the floor.

"Why are you here?" the scientist busted into laughter. "Why are you here? Seriously, boy, is that the best question you could come up with?"

"Maybe Tiny did hit him a little too hard," Nina added with a slight giggle.

"I-I've done n-nothing wr-wr-wrong!" Crash attempted to speak up for himself, hating that they were laughing at his question.

Cortex pulled closer to the bars and stared down the marsupial. "Wrong. You've done a lot of things wrong." He then turned to the teen-aged girl. "Nina, do you think we should bring him a friend so he won't feel alone?"

"Fr-friend?"

"Yes, I do think we should bring her in," Nina answered her uncle with a metallic finger on her chin before yelling, "Pinstripe!"

The brown potoroo came into vision, containing a struggling woman.

"Let go of me!"

He drew her close; his breath on her ear and neck tickled. "Ah, ah! You're the one that doesn't love me anymore, honey. If you're not gonna be my girl, you belong in a cage with the other animals."

She spat at him, angering the volcano within further. He shoved her to the ground and grasped a handful of her blonde hair, yanking it back to where she faced him.

"Stop! N-no!" Crash cried suddenly after seeing his ex-girlfriend hit the ground.

Pinstripe paused his actions to smile at the smaller anthro. "What are you gonna do, Bandicoot?" He knelt down and started to nip and lick the back of the blonde's ear, making his way down her neck and her shoulder. She shivered as his lips repeatedly brushed her.

Nina looked away, sickened by the gangster's perverse ways while Cortex mostly relished on Crash's speechless expression.

Pinstripe ceased his actions in order to talk, "You know why she came to me, Crash?"

The she-bandicoot formed tears, pleading him not to say or do anything further. "Don't listen to him."

Pinstripe's yellow eyes gazed at her. "Now, baby, I've got to tell him. Ooh, it'll break his little heart. Don't you want to see him in agony?"

She shook her head, eyes locked on Crash who tried to inch his way to the front of the bars. "T-Tawna… Wh-why did you leave me?"

"Go ahead," the potoroo urged, kissing her forehead. "Tell him why you left him for me."

"It was wrong. I should have never done it. I'm sorry."

"Tell him!"

Her head went side to side as her shoulders jerked from her uncontrollable crying. "I-I can't do that to him. He doesn't deserve it."

"Go ahead," the grin grew wicked, "and tell him that you left for me because you wanted it."

Crash's face grew pale, understanding what the foe meant by 'it'. Tawna merely cried harder. "No!"

"Yes, you did. It's not nice to lie, now, is it, honey? You wanted to feel a real man's hands caress you," He played with her hair. "You wanted to feel like you were on top of the world, that you had power." Pinstripe stared at Crash. "You know that she slept with me the first night?"

That was when the bandicoot erupted in a fit of tears, hands clenched tightly around bars as he shook himself violently. "No! N-no, she didn't!" He reached a hand through the bars. "Tawna, please say th-that's not true!"

Cortex's foot trapped the furry hand on the concrete, putting pressure on it each second until the marsupial wailed in pain.

"Enough, Pinstripe. Put the girl in the next cell, and let's leave them be for the next half hour."