Chapter 2

"But, I can tell you're not ready for this."

"All these crazy exploits & adventures that you've been on, but you've let one important thing mess you up."

"Now, I'm only going to ask you, one last time."

"Where. Is. My laptop battery?.", says Crash's younger sister, Coco.

"Zzzzz", goes an oblivious & sleeping Crash. Annoyed by her older brother's heavy sleeping & ignoring her, Coco decides to take matters physically.

She yells, "ANSWER ME!", as she lays down a slug on Crash's belly.

"AHH!", screams the now woken male bandicoot. Coco frantically tries to scavenge the bandicoot household to find the battery for her pink laptop.

"I mean, seriously, it can't even be in that hard of a spot to find this time.", she claims. "It has to be somewhere in this house. Help me find it, Crash. Please."

Crash, still tired & worn out from his previous adventure, reluctantly tries to help his sister with her search.

"Wait a minute…ha!", Coco yells. "This whole time, the battery was under you in between the couch cushions?! One of our pets must've moved it again. Ugh, probably Baby T, that rowdy little dino, he thinks everything shaped like this is a bone."

Coco recovers the laptop battery & inserts it back into the bottom slot to turn it on.

"Well, at least it wasn't anywhere in the jungle this time. I still question to this day how a battery could end up in the middle of the jungle…"

While booting up her laptop, something crosses her mind.

"...Oh, & speaking of pets, have you been taking care of Polar lately?"

"Mmhmm.", Crash nods yes while still laying down, trying not to pay any mind.

"Oh really?", says Coco. "Because he still has a cold!"

After turning her computer screen on, she pulls up a diagram for the ironically-sickly polar bear, & shows Crash.

"Look, none of the remedies I've looked up worked so far; he doesn't want any soup, nor does he want to be near any source of warmth."

Crash scratches his head. Not even in his mute nature can he even give an excuse by expression.

"I mean, come on.", Coco says. "Pura & Baby T are doing a better job caring for him right now than you are. *sigh*, I know sometimes you get tired from saving the world, but you still have responsibilities at home. Our 'un-evolved' friends look up to us. Dr. Cortex may have been put away, but his ideals are still being practiced by the up-&-coming mad scientists today. The environment is never safe. We need to look after all of our little friends out there."

"You don't want anything to happen to Polar, do you?"

Crash ponders for a bit as he picks up the remote to change the channel.

*Changes channel*

"Introducing Wumpa Whip from-"

*Changes channel*

"Dr. Neo Cortex-"

*Changes channel*

"He is UGLY."

Coco quickly shouts, "Wait! Go back! They're talking about him!"

As Crash & Coco see a quick glimpse of Cortex on the screen, Coco grabs the remote & quickly changes back to the previous channel. "You can catch that dragon program another time, this could be an important update!"

"We now have an important update on the N. Carceration of the evil mad scientist Dr. Neo Cortex. Sources tell us that he's currently in the process of being transported to a maximum-security prison. His henchmen, who were found at a now defunct bar/grill establishment, are also being detained, thanks to the always welcomed efforts of Crash Bandicoot."

"Ya big showoff, hehe.", Coco says jokingly as she bumps Crash, who smiles all cocky-like.

"One can hope that this will put the kibosh on his villainous endeavors."

"Let's hope it does. I for one am glad this big-headed loser won't be causing us anymore trouble. He's endangered the vast environments, experimented on poor animals, & overall tried to doom the whole planet on multiple occasions. You can tell he was picked on a lot when he was a kid, that N on his forehead probably stands for 'nerd' or something. Thank goodness for that crazy-son-of-a-gun Crash Bandicoot, man I love that guy. His games are great, too! You ever play them, Kelly?"

"I- my son has the games. We, probably shouldn't stray away from the topic…"

"Right right, my apologies. Let's just focus on the now: a more peaceful society, & some beautiful weather, we got Ryan with…"

Suddenly, Coco receives a message on her computer. It's from Aku Aku.

"Hey, I think Aku Aku found some herbs for Polar in the jungle. The 'magic communication-thingy' that he does got through to me, he needs you down there. In the meantime, I'm going to go check on Polar. PURA, BABY T, DON'T GET TOO CLOSE!"

Coco walks away after giving Crash the news. She goes to check on Polar, along with Pura & Baby T. Afterwards, before Crash could get up, a commercial pops onto the TV screen that immediately grabs his attention.

"Come one, come all! Howdy, folks! It's your neeeew favorite clown, Dr. N. Tertain, here with an N. SAAAANE ANNOUNCEMENT! Come join the show with me & the rest of my N. Tertaining crew at the local Wumptropolis carnival! See the N. Credible Mr. Noah Visible, & then don't see him, hueheheh! A very cunning-chameleon! Also, witness the craftiness of the N. Tense Ms. Net Trap. What lucky contestants will step up to solve her glorious trap-puzzles? & last but not least, ho-ho, we got a special guest who will help shape The N. Tertaining Final Act!"

Crash, now angered, has heard enough of this obvious bandicoot-hero-bait. He gets up & heads out, but unfortunately he misses some crucial information...

"We also have a specific Australian animal species who will be N. Tegral to the whole experience…"

Before Crash takes a step out of the front-door, Coco stops him for one last thing.

"Hey, I almost forgot. I finished working on the 'Bandroid' prototype; yeah, I'm definitely copyrighting that. But, anyway It's a mobile phone, only I added in some sweet new special features specifically tailored to help you out on your adventures whenever you need it. So say you need something like, a specific gadget, this phone will automatically send the request to my lab, & then the gadget will be teleported straight to you! Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Whooo!", goes Crash.

The two bandicoot siblings access the phone's special features together, & the first thing Crash wants to see more of is the gadget option. There's so many that he's used over the years, but there's one in particular that Coco sees catch his eyes the most.

"Oh, that one's still in the testing stages.", she explains. "I don't really know what I'm going to use it for, but I can say that it can work on almost anything to anyone! It'll prove to be very useful!"

"Ooooh.", says Crash, intrigued.

"For now, though, you need keep this phone on you at all times. I'll text you to check in on you & you can text me back with- uhh..."

Coco almost forgets about her big brother's limited vocabulary, as he can't really read or write all that well. Fortunately, Crash comes across a tab in the message app for emojis.

"Yeah, the CrashMoji app! I guess that can work as communication!"

The siblings hug each other immensely, after that, it's time for Crash to get going.

"Alright, see you later on, big bro! Love you!"

-(Moments Later)-

The mighty marsupial makes his way through the jungle to catch up with Aku Aku. It's the usual exercise routine for him: Run, jump over pits, avoid water, dodge boulders, & destroy carnivorous piranha plants along the way. Finally, he reaches a small temple where Aku Aku resides. A panting Crash makes his way up the steps & meets him.

"Ah, Crash! There you are. I was just stumbling across some herbs that may help Polar overcome his sickness, until I found something else for that you may want to look into."

Crash's heavy-breathing immediately starts to go away. A huge smile develops, as he guesses that Aku Aku is referring to the suspiciously-evil circus in Wumptropolis that was in the news.

"Now, this is a great task that requires great responsibility, & it's something that only someone like you can be given great faith in."

The excitement & curiosity stemming from within Crash starts to increase after hearing Aku Aku's words.

"Crash…"

Crash nods his head like a happy dog, paying great mind & wondering what's coming.

"This...is a regular bandicoot."

"Eh?", goes Crash as his smile turns all the way upside down. Much to his disappointment, Aku Aku introduces him to a small, un-evolved bandicoot, rather than a task that he was expecting.

"I found it scared & panting very hard in a burrow. The poor thing must be in danger. I want you to look after it while I try to look into what's going on. I have a feeling that there's more at play here."

He gives the bandicoot to Crash. Once it's in his arms, it begins to relieve all of its fears & becomes comfortable & happy.

"Aw, look! He likes you already!", says Aku Aku.

Crash puts on a fake smile & casually gives up two thumbs. Secretly, he obviously isn't having any of it.

"Take him back with you to the house, along with the herbs of course. I'll join up with you later after I find out who is its tormentor.", are Aku Aku's last words before disappearing.

So now, the mutant bandicoot is left with the normal bandicoot. The normal bandicoot continues to cuddle upon his new protector & chatter with glee.

Meanwhile, the mutant bandicoot is dumbfounded that he's been given a job that he deems unimportant.

I guess he's not ready fur this, after all.