Chapter 3

"Amelia!" The evil scientist yelled, completely out of frustration. The female bandicoot was just arriving into the convention room, which for her dull amusement she saw all the same villain folk reunited around the large table, waiting for her personal coming. She sighed not only because she has failed her first mission on working there and for being reckless of her most expert abilities, but because she had now to endure that stupid doctor's complaints.

"Amelia! How come you not have rid of that filthy animal yet?! I demand a reasonable explanation!" He grumbled.

"I'm sorry, Cortex." She replied, though that she was somewhat pissed of hearing his voice. "I almost had succeeded my plan, but I have unwittingly stumbled."

"Well then I hope you don't stumble next time!" He retorted. "I'll give you a second chance, but remember, one more mistake and you'll be kicked outta here with no food or money. Understood?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, sir."

"Good girl. I barely can wait to see that useless hero as a dead rat." He finished, and just in the moment he turned his back to her, Amelia showed her tongue at him and left.

"Having problems with women, Cortex?" Dr. Nefarious Tropy snickered in tease.

"I'm starting to guess that this whole 'new brilliant plan' of yours is gonna end really bad." Uka Uka spoke in menace. Dr. Cortex gulped nervously at his statement.

"H-hey, she's still new here, so don't you think it's better to give her a little more time? At least she's smarter than most allies I've had so far." He tried to convince the mask as he exchanged a fake yet a huge smile, despite that he also made all the other guys huff towards his last sentence.

"I'm already giving you too much than I should have Cortex, so don't abuse." He glared at the scientist. "Furthermore, I've decided that if she fails more this time, you're also going with her."

"What?" His eyes went wide. "But master, you can't do that!"

"Yes, I can!" He shouted back. "And when I mean it, it's for eternity! How can I arrange my revenge to my twin brother if I always have a futile, oh-so-called-scientist who is an incapacitated to even kill a fly?! Huh?!"

"B-bu-but, things will getting better!" Cortex despairingly assured.

"When? In 50 years, like I've stated?"

"No! Soon! I-I mean, real soon."

"Then began counting your days, Cortex. 'Cause the one who will become a pile of trash at the end, it's you." Uka Uka finished harshly as he flew away from him, while the rest of everybody glanced at the short scientist with mischievous expressions on wishing to settle his fate upon their hands.

"Oh Mother, help me..." He prayed in an almost soundless voice.

"Crash? Are you verily, truly sure you're okay?" The blonde bandicootess kept urging to her brother with preoccupation after the incident from last night. At the moment it was occurring like a typical afternoon, but knowing that the entire family was in risk on being assassinated, there was no rest in regards to question after question.

"Coco, for the millionth time, I'm alive." He reassured, a bit annoyed. "I survived, ok? Stop checking me."

"Now I'm afraid to sleep at night for fearing that lady spy cutting my neck." Crunch shuddered.

"Come on children, I know this seemed a little unforeseen and even maybe a bit traumatized, but we're already too accustomed on these situations." Aku Aku said.

"Accustomed?" Coco furrowed her brow, a bit snappy at his unexpected comment. "It's not every day that anyone reaches my brother's room and tries to cut down his throat, you know."

"His throat?" The muscular bandicoot gasped. "Tell me whatever you want, but I'm going to sleep with my teddy bear tonight."

"I know Coco, and you're right. I confess that I'm a little surprised that Cortex could arrange an expert spy, especially when it comes to a female."

"Maybe because he has thought she would give me a kill kiss and then move on. What an idiot." Crash sneered, but everyone looked at him like chuckleheads. "All right, seriously. She wasn't nice at all."

"If she dares once more to approach near my house or my own family, she's toast." The blonde bandicootess ensured as she began preparing her karate skills. "And I mean it."

"Sadly Coco, I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon." Crunch added, unimpressed. "You don't even know how she looks like."

"But we all know that she works for Cortex. But for what purpose?" Aku Aku inquired.

"I have no idea." The aussie bandicoot shrugged. "Though personally she had some kind of hatred towards me without even knowing her elsewhere."

"Then perhaps Cortex has forced her to do such deed or even changed her mind otherwise? For some odd reason, I don't believe she's evil by heart."

"How can you be so certain of that theory?" Coco asked, still not convinced. "It's not the first time. All the other allies of Cortex were spiteful to Crash and they still are. Why do you think she'd be different?"

"Not all of them. Ripper Roo is no longer one of them, and Rilla Roo."

"Meh, there's only two nonetheless." The burgundy bandicoot stated.

"The only thing that I actually did stay astonished about this all was the fact that she was one of us." Crash declared.

"One of us? In what sense?" The voodoo mask asked him.

"She was a bandicoot, just like us. Probably from a different breed, since she had a tail and a longer muzzle, but still from our species. If Cortex hates bandicoots that much like we've always known him, why that one?"

"This is getting too confused for my sake." Crunch rolled his eyes.

"I really don't have an answer for that, but I'm guaranteeing you all that she won't be pleased to meet me." Coco insisted while Crash chuckled for thinking of how girls could be so competitive.

"So I guess only time can tell what happens next, apparently." Aku Aku sighed, ending the conversation.

"Stupid bandicoot." The black spy muttered hatefully as she wandered through the whole island, rethinking over and over. "Stupid Cortex... always thinking he can order me anytime he wants. Asshole. When I get my job done on this so called hero or whoever he is, I'm gonna take my reward and leave that hellish spaceship." She assured to herself.

Suddenly, Amelia's ears twitched as she hearkened at least three voices, which an acquainted one has caught her attention.

"(Bingo.)" She thought, smiling in triumph. She tip-toed leisurely towards the bushes that were closest to the small house and secretly peeked the bandicoots through them, awaiting eventually that her prey would be leaving them at any time.

"Well, if you guys excuse me," Crash spoke as raised up from the grassy ground. "I need to go. Nature calls."

"Just make sure you don't do it near the river, you can contaminate it." Crunch laughed as Coco also joined him.

"Hah hah, very funny. Silly." He turned his back as he peacefully walked away from them. The spy bandicootess scanned him at sight without taking off her eyes by oblivion, and soundlessly followed the orange bandicoot until the destined place he was about to settle in. Fortunately, it wasn't too far - at the minimum it was only around two hundred meters to reach to the river. She was lucky that the island itself wasn't very populated, or scarcely at all, thereby she enjoyed the opportunity.

Feeling a kind of a sudden discommodity for no apparent reason, or a tiny presentiment running through his body that he wasn't alone in that area, Crash didn't hesitate to give a brief glance at every point of view. Believing that once again was just himself, he kept stepping undisturbedly until he stopped to begin unclosing his jeans' zip, but for some reason he yet couldn't do it freely.

And, just in that moment, she reappeared; directly, Amelia was standing right behind the unwarned hero, smirking wider whilst he wasn't noticing her and simply folding her arms towards such event.

"Nature calling, huh?" She remarked, raising her eyebrow. "I never knew you didn't use the bathroom."

Incredibly, Crash almost startled like a rocket.

"You again?!" He shouted, turning his face straightly at her. "What are you now, a stalker? Can't I have my own privacy?"

"I'm afraid not, little fool." She began approaching him. "But I'm glad I didn't watch you doing that. I'd totally dispense that."

"Why you..." Crash growled as his ears moved against his skull.

"Oh, please don't get mad." She sneered. "It's useless anyway. You won't go anywhere without being caught in my hands."

"By you? Oh please. If I myself defeated a tiger with almost the weight of an elephant, why would I be captured by a female like you? You're not even pretty." He lied.

"You're gonna regret what you just said."

Beginning the battle, Amelia ran towards the aussie bandicoot whom has accepted the challenge and both knocked each other several times, making the situation even turbulent as Crash began failing his attacking moves due to the fact that the spy was swift-handed enough to escape from his skills.

"Umm, you're good." He smiled. "But not as good as I am."

"Believe me, I'm so much superior than you'll ever be." She responded in smug as she did an attack-surprise and knocked him down right in the nose with her foot, causing the orange hero fall bluntly into the herbage.

"Oops, please don't piss your pants." Amelia teased as she laughed. "They're too pretty."

"Grrr." Crash growled again as he surprisingly lifted up from the ground and out of the blue gave her a powerful kick into her legs, making her to fly at least a meter and half away from him.

"Ouch!" She whimpered as she fell on her knees, placing her arms under her abdomen in pain. "That hurt!"

"After all it's not only men who suffers that." The bandicoot grinned in victory. The bandicootess wasn't about to surrender herself and showed her fangs in pure rage, walking towards her enemy and giving him a bitchslap right in the cheek, leaving him even unbalanced with the sudden impact. Oddly, Crash just stood there staring at her.

"For a hero like you can only be the biggest sucker I've ever known." Amelia avowed, but he didn't stay pleased to listen to that statement.

"Sucker, huh?" Crash narrowed his eyes face to face at the female spy. "And what are you? You're just nobody who's wasting her time to try to murder a guy she has never met in her life."

"I'm only doing this for business and survival, mutton-head." She retorted. "And before I get with the idea to kill you right now with my razor just precisely where you're standing, your pathetic little family can't hear you around these sites."

"I don't need them." He replied. "Even less you!" He knocked down the knife that she had in her hand.

"Oh, I see. You don't like fighting." Amelia admitted as she put her hands against her hips, unconcerned. "You're a weak. I guess it's better to leave a sissy than wasting precious time when you can never understand a dimwit." She turned her back.

"Thanks for describing me, and now do me the biggest favor to leave me alone." Crash retorted, impatient. "Find someone else to do the job for me."

"Fine." She merely ended, shrugging. But just in the instant the aussie bandicoot also turned his back to return to his business, the spy wasn't finished at all; stepping silently towards him without even making a teeny noise, she stood when she thought she was close enough to him.

"Hey." She spoke out to catch his attention.

"Huh-Ahh!" He screeched as his eyes got infected by a spray she used, pressing his hands against his eyelids. "It burns! I can't see anything!" Crash panicked as he slowly began to get dizzy, and shortly after the effect he couldn't hold up and fell unconscious, falling once again into the greenery ground.

"This will teach you a lesson." Amelia sniggered unmercifully as she dragged him away with her.