Chapter 4 – Lost and Found

A/N: Hey everyone, don't worry I haven't abandoned this story. I've just been suffering from writer's blog for the last few months, but I still plan on finishing this fic. I'm also planning on adding some twists to what happened in the game so you guys might notice some things going differently from canon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Crash Bandicoot.

Enjoy!

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Coco huffed as she closed the book she was reading and placed it back on her desk. Leaning back against the chair, she let out tired sigh and looked around herself. She couldn't remember how long she had been sitting in this room. She had buried herself in her books and after a while she lost track of time.

Standing up, the bandicoot walked across the room and stared through window. Her gaze stayed on the distant islands and she felt her chest grow heavy with worry. She hated being locked up here when she could be looking for her brother. She wanted to leave this place and head for the islands to find him.

But you don't even know if he's really there. The memory of her brother falling into the ocean flashed in her mind. Coco quickly shook her head and pushed the negative thought to the back of her mind. No, Crash had to be there and she refused to believe otherwise!

She peeked out of the window and looked down below, feeling a shudder run through her spine at how high she was. Unfortunately for her, her room was on the top floor of the castle so she couldn't try to escape through the window and risk falling into the ocean.

Cortex probably knew that too.

The thought of the scientist made her scowl angrily. She turned away from the window and began pacing the room, trying to think of a way to escape this place, but no matter how hard she tried the girl couldn't come up with anything.

Of all the times her brain had decided to fail on her…..

Out of frustration, Coco marched towards the door and with all her strength she kicked it hard. The result was pain immediately shooting through her foot and the girl winced. Okay, bad idea.

She made it back to her bed and took off her shoe to massage her sore foot before flopping down on the mattress in defeat. There was just nothing for her to do. She no idea how to leave this room, let alone the castle and she knew almost nothing on how she would find Crash. He could be anywhere on those islands and it might take her weeks before finding a trace of him. The feeling of helplessness from her situation was weighing on her mind.

Suddenly, the door opened and Coco sat up to see none other than Dr. Cortex enter the room. "Why, hello there Coco."

Coco immediately scowled. "What do you want Cortex?" she huffed and crossed her arms, not in the mood to deal with him.

The scientist just smiled. "Oh nothing, just came to check on you. After all, you are the smartest mutant I've created…..unlike that idiot of a brother you have." He added with a look of disdain on his face.

This wasn't the first time Cortex spoke that way about her brother and it infuriated her. "Hey, my brother is not an idiot!"

"Everybody in this castle would probably disagree with you." Cortex replied calmly. "So, have you changed your mind about working in the lab?" he said, recalling the mess she made when she refused to cooperate. That's what ended her up here in the first place.

Coco shook her head with a scowl on her face. "There's no way I'm helping you with anything!"

"Well, if want to be difficult about this then fine. You'll change your mind eventually." He said grinning and Coco couldn't help shivering, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

The Vortex.

"I'll be heading out now," Cortex said and began walking towards the door.

Coco grabbed a pillow from her bed and quickly flung it at Cortex, nailing him at the back of his head. The scientist growled and glared at the female bandicoot before he shut the door and walked away.

Grumbling under his breath, Cortex began making his way back to the lap. It wasn't long until he saw N. Brio working a computer. The man turned to him. "There you are sir, I've been waiting for you!"

"What is it?" Cortex asked with a raised brow.

"I found Crash." Brio said. "He's on Wumpa Island!" the man pressed a few buttons and the huge screen showed Crash running through the jungle.

Cortex smirked. "Excellent."

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"Crash, slow down!" Aku-Aku exclaimed as he tried to keep up with the bandicoot who was sprinting back towards the old house. Hurrying inside the house and into the bedroom, Crash looked around for a moment until he spotted his gloves on the nightstand.

He wasted no time putting them to cover that awful N symbol on the back of his hand. Grinning, Crash then made his way outside where Aku-Aku was waiting for him. "Alright, now can you explain to me what are you planning?"

Instead of answering him like he expected, Crash simply pointed back to the forest, but Aku-Aku didn't get what he wanted. The mask had concluded that the bandicoot wasn't much of a talker and only spoke when it was needed, but why is that?

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say," Aku-Aku said. Crash frowned and scratched his head before he started making growling noises and swiping at the air as if he has claws.

It soon dawned the mask what he wanted and his eyes widen. "Wait, you want me to take to where the monsters are?" he asked in disbelief, but Crash grinned and nodded at him.

"No!" Aku-Aku muttered firmly and the marsupial's smile fell. "I won't do that. Why do you even want to see one?"

Didn't they barely survive that fight with the demonic plant? He thought Crash wouldn't want to go anywhere near those creature after that horrible encounter.

Crash clutched his fists and began punching the air in front of him.

"You want to fight them!?" Aku-Aku's jaw dropped. "Y-You can't be serious. Why would you want to-"

It was then he realized the bandicoot's intentions and sighed. "You want to protect the island, don't you?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. Crash nodded frantically.

"Look Crash, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I can't let you go through with this. It's too dangerous. Do you understand that?" he muttered. Besides, protecting the island and everyone was Aku-Aku's duty and he can't accept someone else's help.

…especially a mutant.

Aku-Aku blinked, not sure where that thought came from.

Crash frowned and pointed to the forest again urgently this time, but Aku-Aku shook his 'head'. "No Crash, go back home and rest." He said, his tone gently, but firm.

Crash huffed and began walking to the house, making Aku-Aku sigh in relief.

He should have known that was too easy.

In a flash, Crash turned around and sprinted past the mask towards the forest.

"Crash!" Aku-Aku exclaimed, but the bandicoot continued running as he if didn't hear him. The mask quickly flew after him. "Crash, stop!"

Crash just flashed him a teasing grin and jumped over a log on the road before continuing his dash through the jungle. Crash soon stopped in his tracks when he found a monster blocking the road. It looked like a crab, but it was huge, bigger than the ones he saw on the beach.

A strange gurgling noise came from within the creature before it charged at Crash, trying to tear at him with its claws. Crash yelped and quickly dodged the attacks before jumping on top of the crab and landing behind it.

The monster made an angry noise and dashed towards the bandicoot. Grinning, Crash charged at it and then began spinning like a tornado. The creature was knocked away and crashed into a tree.

Crash quickly turned to the mask and pointed at the dazed monster urgently.

"A-Alright!" the mask flew over the monster and casted his green magic, changing the monster back to a normal crab. He then floated away from the monster, unable to believe that actually worked.

Crash whooped and gave him a thumbs-up. Aku-Aku tried to stop himself from smiling, what Crash did was pretty reckless and irresponsible, but…he failed. "Fine, you might be onto something here," he admitted with a small smile and Crash grinned cheekily before pointing at the path again.

Aku-Aku bit his lip in uncertainty and glanced at the spot where the crab was before sighing. "Alright, I'll lead the way,"

Crash cheered and then ran down the path with mask by his side.

For the rest of the day, the two came across several monsters including crabs and even demonic flytraps. With every monster defeated, Crash's grew more determined and Aku-Aku began to feel a little more confident in the bandicoot's plan.

Maybe…..there was actually a chance for them to save this island after all.

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"Alright, it's getting late. We should head back now." Aku-Aku said, watching the sun as it began to set.

Crash didn't argue this time as the exhaustion began to catch up on him. Now he wanted nothing more than to go back to the old house and sleep.

Wasting no time, the two turned around and began heading back to the beach.

Suddenly, the two stopped when they heard a loud sound coming from behind them. "Did you hear that?" Aku-Aku asked.

Crash nodded. It almost sounded like….an explosion. Curious, the orange marsupial made his way to where the noises were coming from until he stopped when he reached the shore. He narrowed his eyes to see a distant island up ahead. He looked down to the water, but he didn't think he could swim all the way over there.

Crash scratched his head, not knowing what to do. He glanced around and suddenly spotted a boat nearby. He made his way towards the boat and checked it.

This was perfect!

Crash's grin fell slightly and looked around, but saw nobody. Who left this boat here and where were they?

Deciding on not to dwell on it, Crash hopped inside the boat. "Crash, are you sure this is a good idea?" Aku-Aku asked.

Crash pointed at the other island where bright lights were flashing in the dark and the loud noises kept coming.

"Very well," Aku-Aku sighed.

Crash then used the boat to get to the island. He hopped off the boat once they made it to the beach and cautiously began walking through the dark towards the noises. Aku-Aku stayed close to Crash, his expression wary. The jungle was more dangerous at night so he had no idea what to expect.

Once they made to out of the bushes, they gasped. The entire clearing was destroyed. There were holes in the ground, the grass was singed and some trees had broken branches.

"What happened here?" Aku-Aku muttered in shock. Crash shrugged his shoulder, confused too.

Suddenly, the two snapped out of their trance at the sound of high-pitched laughter. Their gazes followed the sound to the ledge of a waterfall to see a blue kangaroo in a straight jacket, looking down at them with a crazed look on his face.

"Is he one of your friends?" the mask asked him uneasily, but the panicky look on Crash's face told him otherwise.

Ripper Roo let out a manic laugh before sending several TNT crates down at them. Crash gasped and quickly ran around the clearing trying his best to avoid being blown to pieces by the explosives. He scrambled towards the bottom of the cliff and away from the clearing in his panic.

Panting heavily, the bandicoot knew the other mutant had to be stopped before he destroyed the rest of the island. He scowled and began climbing the stones.

"Crash, be careful!" Aku-Aku muttered.

Gritting his teeth, Crash continued climbing until he finally made it to the top. He pulled himself up and stumbled onto the ledge. While trying to catch his breath, Crash looked up just in time to see Ripper Roo pounce and slammed him into the ground.

Crash's hands held the kangaroo back as he snapped his teeth at him. Growling, Crash used both his feet to kick the crazy mutant off him, sending him tumbling into the ground.

Despite being hurt, the kangaroo continued laughing, much to Aku-Aku's disbelieve.

Once he got back on his feet, the kangaroo started hopping towards them and Crash rolled out of the way before he squashed him.

Crash looked back and yelped as Ripper Roo charged towards him again with the same unfocused look on his face. Without a second thought, Crash ran across the ledge and hopped onto the stepping stones to avoid him.

More TNT crates began falling from the waterfall, probably Ripper Roo's doing. Thinking for a moment, Crash suddenly had an idea and began waving for the psychotic kangaroo to come to him.

Ripper Roo let out a crazy cackle before bouncing to Crash, ready to crush him. Crash smirked and jumped on a TNT crate before moving out of the way. The blast caught Ripper Roo and left him stunned on the stepping stone.

Crash took the chance and knocked the mutant away with a spin attack, sending him falling into the water.

"You did it, Crash. Well done," Aku-Aku said and Crash grinned proudly. Unfortunately, neither of them were paying enough attention to their surroundings at the moment. The mask then saw it coming and cried out too late. "Crash, look out!"

Confused, Crash turned around just in time to see a TNT crate falling towards him and before he could react it hit the rock he was standing on.

Crash was knocked away by the blast, but instead of landing on the ground immediately like he expected, he found himself falling through the air. The last thing Crash heard was someone calling his name before he fell into the water with a splash and his world gone black.

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A/N: This turned out a bit longer than I expected. Anyway, thanks for reading!