Chapter 4
Thanks to the works of the new evil scientist known as Dr. N. Trap, Crash Bandicoot & the mutant tigress remain stuck inside a claustrophobic trap, & they're both one little bandicoot bilby short. Crash barely has any room to try to struggle & get out, &, well, it's also due to this big-cat female having a huge fit. She relentlessly moves her body around & makes Crash more & more uncomfortable, & a bit freaked out.
(Yes, she's a mutant like Crash. I forgot to clarify that detail in the previous chapter. Forgive me, hehe!)
"Get back here!", she yells. "I won't let you do this to me again! *sigh*, this exact thing happens between me & her. Every. Time."
Crash tries his best to calm the irate mutant tigress down. When she does, she takes a few deep-breaths, & realizes that the whole situation between her & him is all a big misunderstanding. She then tries to make amends with the bandicoot.
She then asks, "So, your little bandicoot companion told me that your name is, Crash, right?"
Crash responds with a nodding yes, followed by a big smile. Maybe she's heard of him? Who wouldn't know of Crash Bandicoot, "The Super-Marsupial", "The Blunder From Down Under"? "The Bandicoot With A...Plandicoot"? (That one sounded a lot cooler in my head)
"I- don't think I've ever heard of you, to be honest.", the tigress claims.
This shocking revelation to Crash is followed by frustrated bewilderment.
"Well, Crash, if you really are a good guy, do you happen to have any ideas on how to get out of this stupid net?", the tigress asks while she wiggles her tail in curiosity.
"Hmm…", mutters the marsupial.
Crash tries his best to look around for a solution in the tight squeeze that he's in. Eventually, he gets an excellent idea. The first part of his smart & complex idea is…grabbing the tigress's...tail. Okay?
"Wha- Hey! Paws off!", the tigress shouts. "That's private property!"
He takes the tail & throws it through one of the net's holes & latches it onto a branch with a very sharp-end. The tigress spectates Crash's N. Sane plan of action.
"What are you even trying to-"
She then notices that the targeted branch is conveniently located next to the rope that holds the net-trap.
"Ahh, I see!", she says. "Okay okay, I'm gonna try to pull. Get ready for the drop!"
She manages to find room to get one of her arms out to pull her tail, which swings the sharp-end of the branch to cut the rope holding the net-trap.
"WOOAAH!", they both scream as they fall & hit the ground. The mutant tigress is now able to move both her arms, & she begins to slash through the net, creating an opening for her & Crash. Afterwards, she shows her gratitude towards him.
"Phew, thanks for getting us out of that trap.", she says. "I, heh, I guess I was wrong about you."
In nervousness, she continues to the bandicoot, "Oh, &, sorry for attacking you before. Seeing someone like you with a smaller animal like that just, triggered something inside me."
Crash raises an eyebrow while scratching his head as he gets even more curious with the tigress's cryptic statements.
She elaborates, "What I mean is that, well, you remember when I said before that there was another bandicoot out there poaching his & your own kind? He was BIG, & mean, too. But you don't seem to be like that. You seem pretty cool."
Crash blushes at the tigress's compliments.
"Whoever he is, we gotta stop him.", says the tigress. "But first, we gotta get your little buddy back from that stupid circus-hag! Let's go!"
Crash then gets that classic look of readiness on his face & prepares to run off through the jungle on a rescue mission with a newly-gained ally.
The tigress finally introduces herself properly, "Oh, & I'm Jade, by the way! Nice to meet you, Crash Bandicoot!"
-(Moments Later)-
Elsewhere, farther down the road, N. Trap's rather-zany means of transportation breaks down. Annoyed, she gets out to check on it, while the little bandicoot remains locked up in a cage sitting in the trunk, scared like he was before he came into contact with Crash.
"Drat!", mutters. "I knew I should've refueled this thing before coming onto to this stupid island."
Crash & The tigress named Jade arrives to the area. They find cover behind big rocks & a few bushes.
"There they are.", Jade whispers. After her & Crash assesses the situation, they then try come up with a gameplan. Jade continues to whisper. "Alright, she's got Bandicute all stationed up in that small cage."
As Crash is listening along, he becomes dumbfounded by Jade's out-of-nowhere but pretty catchy nickname for the trapped little bandicoot.
"What? I think it's a pretty cute name!", she says. She looks back at the distracted doctor & then tells Crash, "Okay, she's occupied with that gas-tank for now, so we need to approach this, very carefully."
With both bandicoot & tigress behind confrontation lines, they're each confident that this plan can't go wrong as long as they just...
"YOLOLOLOLOLO!", goes Crash as he unexpectedly charges at full speed towards Bandicute.
Ugh...quite the unpredictable wild animal, he is.
"That's your idea of carefully?", Jade says to herself before she throws her striped paws up & loses all care of the "plan". "Ugh."
Bandicute hears & sees Crash coming back for him, & he starts to jump around in the cage & cheer. This catches N. Trap's attention, who also gets caught off-guard by Crash's obnoxious battle-cry as it begins to reign closer. Crash gets within range & throws the Wumpa fruit he saved from earlier at N. Trap's head.
"What the-", & before she could finish- SPLAT!
"UGH!", shouts the distraught Russian doctor. "Pechal' vo blago! It's all in my hair!"
(Good grief)
Crash laughs as N. Trap attempts to ravage the Wumpa juice out of her hair, & unfortunately it's almost to no avail. This gets interrupted by Jade's arrival.
"You two again?! You're N. Terfereing with my business!", says the Wumpa-covered N. Trap. Jade snaps back with a witty response:
"Yeah? Well, guess what? OUR business is still unfinished!"
The lady scientist seemingly surrenders all her wrongdoing to both heroes. The mood she gives off shifts from mean-spiritedness to kindness, but Crash & Jade aren't buying one second of it.
"Now now, why don't we all just be civil…"
While sweet talking, N. Trap takes out a sort of remote-control.
"...& squash this beef once & for all?"
She presses a button on the remote & it immediately activates an obstacle course for Crash & his new tigress friend. From both directions, giant, disk-shaped rolling-stones roll out from between the trees & totem pillars.
"Crash! Watch out!", yells Jade.
"WOAH!", yells Crash.
The two heroes easily dodge the stones by stopping to wait for them to roll out of the way. Crash is in front, & he is about to clear the last big stone. When he does, a surprise-attack awaits him after the dust settles, as a smug N. Trap prepares to strike him with a cheap blow to the face.
"Ha!"
But Crash manages to "matrix dodge" her attack, leaving Jade open to pounce onto the mad scientist.
"Oof!"
While Jade has N. Trap pinned, Crash rushes over to the trunk of her car. He karate-chops the lock off the cage holding Bandicute & opens the door for him. The mini-marsupial leaps onto Crash's upper-body & hugs him tight.
"You got your buddy?", Jade asks.
Crash gives a thumbs-up to Jade, who ties N. Trap up to a tree. She assures to her in a growly tone, "It's over, Netra."
But the nasty human woman responds with cockiness saying, "Hahahaha! You poor, confused pussycat. This is FAR from over! You & your new bandicoot boyfriend don't have the slightest idea what you're up against, do you?"
"What are you going on about now?" Jade questions. "& he is NOT my boyfriend!"
Crash once again throws up his paws in denial.
"I suppose you've told him about our very own Crunch Bandicoot, no?", N. Trap says. "So strong, so focused, & the perfect match for Crash."
"& the best quality that I admire about him is that he may be big, but you'll never know when he's coming. If I were you, I'd keep my guard up at all times, Crash. Because he knows how to make a first impression, mmmhehehehehehe-"
Jade cuts her off by knocking her out cold.
"Sorry, she was asking for it.", says Jade.
"Hehehe!", goes Crash.
"Well, there you two go. Reunited, & it must feel good, right?", Jade asks.
Bandicute cheerfully crawls up & down Crash's body, much to Crash's slight discomfort. But oddly, he doesn't even get mad, it's as if the mutant marsupial is starting to develop a bond with his un-evolved counterpart.
"Aww, he's so happy to see you!", says Jade. "You must've been taking good care of him!"
Crash nervously smiles, half-assuring Jade that he was "taking care of him".
Just then, seeing Crash bond with Bandicute makes Jade think. She opens up to Crash about a past experience, saying:
"This actually reminds me of a small companion I used to be close with. We would do almost everything together. But then, one day, I couldn't protect her. & I've regretted it ever since."
Crash's sadness from Jade's story makes his ears flap down as Jade's depressing words almost brings tears to his eyes. She continues,
"Sometimes, I feel like the fact that I didn't look after her enough was the reason for her...demise."
After eavesdropping on Jade's conversation, regular animals from the sidelines come out to comfort her as if she was a furry Snow White; animals such as turtles, monkeys, armadillos, possums, & even skunks. As Jade further elaborates, she puts her brunette hair into sort of a ballet-bun, all while gracefully dancing like a ballerina amongst the surrounding animals. This is a stark contrast from what Crash has seen from her before. Next thing he knows, she may start singing.
"These animals, they're all like little siblings to us. This jungle should be one big sanctuary from people like Netra & Cortex. You know what I mean?"
The animals all look at Crash with slight disapproval. They all remember his neglectful ways from his past adventures. Crash gets slightly uneasy, but Jade unbeknowingly giggles.
"It feels so good to try & relax & dance away all the negativity. Do you dance, too?"
Crash nods yes. He ponders if he wants to show her his dance moves, but they may not be in line with what Jade does. Trust me.
"Anyway, I hope you take good care of Bandicute.", Jade says. She then places her hand on Crash's shoulder & says, "He needs you, Crash."
Crash smiles in agreement. He's almost mesmerized by Jade's blue eyes, & also her sudden change in vibe. Before she was ferocious & rough, but now she's graceful & calm. Crash then looks to Bandicute as if he was a newborn brother & he holds him in his arms. His views on him & his importance has changed immensely since earlier, for he now sees the glowing responsibility of taking care of him & protecting him from harm. The big bandicoot bops the little bandicoot on his nose.
"Hehehe!", goes the giggling little bandicoot bilby. His reaction brings joy to Crash's eye. Then, Crash receives an alert from his phone: its a video-call from Coco. He taps to answer.
"Crash! You get those herbs yet? Polar seems to be getting worse, & Baby T's lava-soup is not helping, at all. HEY, DO NOT SPILL THAT! Hurry back to the house, please!"
The call ends, & Crash decides it's time to part ways with his new friend Jade for now.
"You go ahead,", Jade says. "We'll deal with the so-called 'trap-queen'."
Ignoring the fact that that phrase most likely has a completely different meaning, Crash winks to Jade & waves goodbye while holding Bandicute, who also waves.
"See you around, Crash Bandicoot.", she says with a wink. "Bye, lil' Bandicute!"
As Crash & Bandicute make their way back to the Bandicoot Residence, Jade & the animals turn their attention to Dr. N. Trap, who appears to be gaining consciousness.
"Uunnh, what happened?", she says dizzily. Unfortunately for her, the consciousness she gained is quickly going to go back away.
"Naptime isn't over yet.", declares Jade.
The army of animals all gang up on N. Trap, & the skunks are the ones who get up close & personal, backsides first & tails up...
"Oh you gotta be kidd-"
….
….
"AAAUUUUGGHH!"
The scream heard all around N. Sanity Island makes birds from everywhere fly away, & it's music to Crash & Bandicute's ears.
