*Chapter 6: Danger Ahead!*
Arriving inside the lab, everyone hears a doorbell out of nowhere. Cortex faces the door that wasn't there before. He figured it was the Evil Twins. What happened to the Aku Uka Brothers? Did something happen?
"It's...probably for you." Cortex spoke to Crash who faced him in confusion. Before Crash could open the door, the door opens and revealed the Evil Twins, wearing the masks. Aku Aku and Uka Uka are motionless.
"Trick or Treat! Trick or Treat!" They laughed before throwing the masks at Crash and Cortex's feet. Crash was shocked as he picked up Aku Aku. What had happened to him and his evil brother? Coco rushed over to examine the mask as one Evil Twin spoke.
"Fools! You thought these two party toys could defeat us!?" Victor asked sneering at the group. "We are MASTERS of the Infinite Dimensions, with power over reality itself!"
"And RICHES beyond imagination!" Moritz said. That caught Cortex's attention.
"Riches?"
"Riches?" Victor scoffed before slapping his brother's helmet. "What's wrong with you?! Always bringing up the riches!" Moritz rubbed his clear helmet with a sorry look on his face. Coco glared up at the Evil Twins, gripping on motionless Aku Aku.
"What have you done with him?!" She asked, showing them the mask.
"Oh, don't worry about the masks." Victor spoke. "They will wake up soon. We are too powerful for such tiki masks." Crash glared at the birds. Victor then turned his attention to Cortex. "You don't remember us, do you doctor?"
"Should I?" Cortex asked, raising his eyebrow. "When was the first time we encounter?"
"You ruined our lives!" Victor said. "This is why nobody likes you! You will rue the day! We shall return!" He went through the door. Moritz faces the group before leaving.
"Oh, forget about the riches thing." He said with an innocent smile. The door closes and disappeared. Crunch faces Cortex with a sneer.
"Gee, is there something you need to tell us, doc?" He asked.
"They could be lying!" Cortex protested. "I don't know who they are!" Tawna went by him with a look.
"I doubt it, doctor. They have hatred in their eyes. They seem to know you so well than anybody else in your life." She told him. "I may know you for some time since you got back, but I can tell who supports you or hates you." Cortex faces her with innocence in his eyes.
"I...ruin the lives of so many. I can't remember them all. Believe me, I've been evil for years and the memories are foggy in my head!" He told her. Then, they heard some groaning. Coco looked down to see Aku Aku regain his consciousness, same as Uka Uka.
"Uggh, what happened?" Aku Aku asked, hovering away from Coco's hands. Uka Uka faces Cortex with anger.
"Cortex! Who are those evil upstarts?!" He hollered.
"I don't know!" Cortex replied. "They seem to know me somewhere, but I don't remember!"
"Such a big head, such a tiny brain!" Uka Uka growled, getting close to Cortex's face, making the scientist whimper a little. Aku Aku turned to his brother calmly.
"If we deliver him to the Evil Twins, perhaps they will spare us." He suggested. That made everyone gasp in shock. Aku Aku would sacrifice an enemy to the most dangerous enemies. Even Crash didn't want that to happen.
"But they'll kill me!" Cortex exclaimed. "They'll take away my brain and take over your islands! Aren't you aware of that part, Aku Aku?!" The ancient mask doesn't have any other choice. He must protect his islands, and his children from any harm.
"That is the risk I'm willing to take." Uka Uka spoke. "It is your fault after all. If you had release me from the icy tomb, none of this would've happened!" Then, everyone but Crash started to argue all at once. The poor bandicoot doesn't know what to do. He faces Cortex who held his head in panic. Sure, he is an enemy, but Crash knew that Cortex doesn't deserve fate from the Evil Twins that came from another dimension.
Finally, after talking things over, Cortex faces the orange marsupial.
"Crash, I've been like a father to you. I created you, nursed you...and tried to destroy you..." He told him softly. Crash then sees him stick his hand out for him. "So what do you say? With my mighty intellect, and your vacuous stupidity, we'll be unbeatable!" Cortex said. Crash grinned and shook Cortex's hand. Crunch turned to Tawna who had her arms crossed.
"You in?" He asked.
"I suppose." Tawna replied. Cortex told everyone to follow him to the Psychetron. The bandicoots and the masks walk through the lair. Tawna walked beside Crash who kept a grin on his face like nothing bad is happening. Tawna turned to Aku Aku, getting his attention. "You really sure Crash is a warrior? He looks like he is very unaware of what's happening." She asked.
"He is a warrior." Aku Aku replied. "Sure, he is naïve, but I will always be there for him to guide him to a right path. He's the one who has awaken me a few years back." Tawna turned back to the orange hero, then back to the mask. "Crash is a brave fighter with a good heart. He never let any of us down." Aku Aku said with a gentle smile. Cortex heard this, and rolled his eyes. Crash better not try anything to ruin anything. Good thing Coco and Crunch came along to keep him away from trouble.
XX
"Our magic is no match against the twins' power!" Uka Uka spoke as Cortex is typing on his computer.
"What we need is a brute force." The scientist suggested. The screen now shows Mecha Bandicoot being repaired by N. Gin, and Cortex faces the masks. "Mecha Bandicoot was made with an electronic brain, programmed with Crash's own cerebral patterns." Everyone turned to Crash who has a light bulb in his mouth and it blew up in his face, covered in black. He blinked in surprise before facing his allies.
"Are you sure it was wise?" Aku Aku asked, turning back to Cortex.
"Let's bring it home." Cortex said, pressing the autopilot. "What could go wrong?"
Mecha Bandicoot started to cause havoc in Native Fortress, and the villagers started screaming and speak in their language. Papu Papu told his people to gather weapons and put children to safety. Tia'ka and her husband watched in horror, wondering where the machine came from, but figured that it belongs to Cortex.
"That mad man will pay!" Tia'ka yelled with a look. Mecha Bandicoot let out a roar as the villagers run for their lives.
"Cortex, we only got four crystals, and it is not enough to travel the Tenth Dimension. We don't know where the other crystals are?" Coco said, looking up on her pink laptop.
"Unless..." Cortex spoke with a grin. "Come along!" He rushed out of the lab as the bandicoots follow him.
Crash spotted Cortex leaning over the rail, pointing at the sea that is too far to walk. If only Crash brought a snowboard from his house.
"There! To the sea I tell you! Our salvation floats across the briny blue! We must reach N. Gin's battleship and quickly before it sets sail! But how? Think Cortex, think!" For some reason, Crash got his eyes on Cortex's butt that sways back and forth, while some catchy a cappella music played in the background. Crash just stood there, staring at the butt, his head bobbing in time with Cortex's cheeks. Crash narrowed his eyes and stuck his tongue out confidently.
"...Crash?" Coco asked, feeling uncomfortable what was happening. The orange hero came behind Cortex, his hands at ready...
"Don't tell me..." Crunch spoke before closing his eyes. Crash then kicked Cortex over the railing. Cortex fell into the snowy abyss, and Crash happily jumped after him. Tawna slowly turned to the bandicoots and the twin masks who is just as disturbed as she is right now. What the heck did they just witnessed?
"Does Crash have a-" Tawna started, but Uka Uka shook his body.
"I don't want to know! Let us follow the two before any more strange things happen around us!" He flew down after the bandicoot and a scientist.
"AAAHHHHHH!" Cortex screamed as he flew down the mountains as Crash uses him as a snowboard. Crash gripped on Cortex's black hair to steer him, making him scream more. Crash avoided the TNTs and Nitro crates, and spotted the building labeled Cortex, and images of Cortex wearing a chef hat, and a frightened chicken across from it. The two crash through the building, hearing chickens around them. "Get them off me!" Cortex shouted, getting feathers on him. "Shoo! Shoo! Get!"
"Yahoo!" Crash cried out happily. The two flew out of the back door, Cortex covered in feathers. He's never been so humiliated in his life. Crash continues to skate down the side of the mountain before breaking into another building labeled Moulin Cortex. "Whoa!" Crash cried out when he passed by the female bandicoots he never seen before. Cortex crash against the wall before shaking off the snow and feathers. He looked up to see the ladies looking down at him and Crash.
"Ladies." Cortex greeted with a smile, brushing down the snow. The female bandicoots rush pass him and greet with Crash by petting his fur and hair, making him grin. Crash stuck his tongue out, laying down on the wooden floor, shaking his left foot like a dog as one of the girls rubs his belly. Cortex rolls his eyes. "Oh gross. What do the ladies see in that brainless marsupial?" He grumbled. He pulled Crash away from the crowd of the female bandicoots. They smiled and waved goodbye at the orange hero. Crash winked at them before pushing Cortex out the back.
In the shed, Dingodile is reading a book quietly, unaware that a giant snowball came towards his shed. It crashed down. Cortex is facing down the snow, feeling the pains all over his body after being a humiliskate. He had to call himself that after Crash uses him at the snowy mountains.
"I have never been so humiliated..." Cortex grumbled in the snow. "No amount of treasure could ever be able to compensate." Dingodile popped out of the snow after hearing the word treasure. He formed a smirk.
"Treasure, eh? Better call the boys."
Crash walked over to Cortex with concern on his face. He nudges his head, but Cortex told him to go on without him. Cortex needs time to recover. Crash shrugged and went off without him. He must wait for Coco, Crunch, Tawna, and Aku Aku.
