Chapter Six- An Inevitable Confrontation

Crash struggled to his feet and started walking, gritting through the immediate head rush that threatened to knock him back down to the ground. He wanted to get out of this jungle as soon as possible, and that meant no lazing about. Crash had been wandering for no more than a few minutes, when he saw a strange shine flickering from the centre of a steep cliff. Crash shaded his eyes with one hand, and whistled.

"Now that's some climb."

"Do you see the shard Crash?" Coco's voice cackled over the radio.

Crash moved toward the cliff, thinking the gleam may grow brighter the closer he got. Yet he realized that the only reason he saw the shine was because of the angle the sun hit it. The shine had disappeared, but that didn't matter. He knew the general area it was hidden in.

"Well, I don't see it per say, but I know where it is. I'll get it no problem."

Crash stood directly below the cliff, took a deep breath and flexed his fingers. It'd be a difficult climb, but Crash wasn't worried that he couldn't make it. What he should have been worried about were other interfering factors that would turn his predicament into a problem.

"Hey grass rat!"

Crash turned around slowly, and raised one eyebrow at mountain of a figure standing behind him.

"You talking to me?"

A tall anthropoid bandicoot strode forward with an evil smirk demonizing his strong features. As Crash noted his broad shoulders and impossibly large muscles, he figured that this must be Cortex's latest experiment he had seen a while ago. The bandicoot narrowed his dark green eyes in Crash's direction, and blatantly ignored Crash's previous question.

"You remember me?"

Crash pretended to ponder that. "If I remember correctly, you had quite an unfortunate name. Cortex seems to still be in a rut for any good ones. Crunch…was it?" Crash smiled. "I'm Crash, a pleasure to meet you."

Unlike the other enemies Crash had faced, this one didn't offer any evidence of anger at Crash's jeers. The cold grin remained on his face as he took a step closer. Crash felt a twinge of nervousness dance up his spine.

"I had hoped that I'd be able to tear you to pieces myself, unfortunately, Dr. Cortex seems to be very keen on using these elemental masks to get rid of you. So," Crunch dropped his shoulders and clenched his fists, in the next half a second his entire body became completely encrusted in rock. "I'll settle with simply pulverizing you."

Crash offered a hesitant smile. As if the brute wasn't strong enough without the rock amour. Crash stepped back until his shoulder blades were pressing into the rock wall behind him. Crunch didn't move an inch, but focused on him with eyes now devoid of any emotion. Crash swallowed back his anxiety, and remembered what he had to do.

"I don't suppose it would be too much to ask if you'd just wait here till I get back." Crash asked with a crooked grin.

Before Crunch could even determine what he was talking about, Crash had leapt onto the side of the cliff and began to climb madly. At first, no attack came, and Crash was wondering if his opponent was actually going to wait for him to get the shard. That would be right chivalrous of him. Unfortunately, Crash should have known better.

"You moron." Crunch called up from below. "How do you figure you'd escape a commander of ground and rock by climbing up a cliff?"

Crash stopped for a moment. Crap, he was right. Crash was half-way to his destination already, and now he realized why Crunch had waited so long to attack. Crash could hear a loudening rumble, and soon enough he felt the cliff shake beneath his fingers. When he looked up, he dropped his jaw. At the very top of the cliff, an avalanche of crumbling rock began to rain down on him. With a small squeak of alarm, Crash leapt off the cliff just as the first wave of rocks crashed down. More than forty-five feet from the ground, Crash twirled in the air for a while before he slowed down his momentum enough to land softly to the ground. Well, maybe not so softly. Just as his feet touched the ground he felt a hard substance strike him hard behind one knee. He fell flat on his back, and found himself looking at another massive rock falling down upon him. Crash quickly rolled out of its path, and then scrambled back to his feet. It was apparent now that Crunch was the jerk who was throwing those rocks.

Crunch laughed, tossing an unimaginably large rock in the air and catching as though it weighed nothing. "What's the matter, rodent? Not quick enough?"

Crash returned the smile with a hint more acidity. "It'd be a little easier without you hurling rocks at me."

Crunch's laugher had sobered to an amused chuckle. "That's the idea."

Crash didn't have a retort ready, but even if he had he wouldn't have gotten it out in time. Crunch threw the boulder at him, and Crash dove out of the way and ran madly back to the cliff. There would be no way he could match this hulk on the ground, but if he started climbing again he'd probably be in an even worse fix. Crash watched Crunch heave another rock out of the corner of his eye, and decided to choose the more direct route. He started to ascend the cliff again, but this time, he was cautious of what was going on below him, as well as above.

"Not this again. I'd rather destroy you down here so I can have a better view to watch you die."

Crash smiled and yelled back. "Sorry to disappoint you Crunchy-boy."

As Crash continued to climb, he was a little surprised that Crunch did not start another rock slide on him. An explosion sounded just beside his head and he immediately realized why. Crunch was still throwing rocks, but this time he was attempting to pick Crash off like a fly on a wall. Crash groaned, and put more speed into his pace. He had to constantly dodge attacks before they turned him to mush, and doing so were making his fingertips raw and red. Still he kept going, until finally he reached the small opening in the rock.

He peered inside and felt his breath still when he saw it. It was a bright topaz crystal, resting peacefully in a sculpted cradle of stone. Yet Crash didn't really have the time to admire it. He reached into the hole and wrapped his hands around the crystal, feeling an incredible power shoot up his arm as he did so. This left him momentarily stunned, and apparently that was all the time Crunch needed to wallop him. Crash felt a bone crunching impact on his left arm, and hissed in pain as his entire arm, from fingers to shoulder, lost feeling. Unable to hang onto the wall anymore, Crash started falling though the air, plummeting quickly back to the ground. He twisted in midair so he was able to get a better view of the ground rushing up to meet him. Crunch looked quite pleased from below.

"Bull's eye."

Crash felt a wicked smile twist his features. Crunch obviously expected Crash to twirl out of the way. To get clear from the rocky monstrosity so he could regroup. However, Crash was not in the mood to be so discrete. Before Crunch even had the time to react, Crash whirled through the air and used his gravitational momentum to plunge the shard into Crunch's chest. At first, Crash was afraid that it would shatter, but it slid through the rock as though it wasn't even there. Crunch's eyes widened not in pain, but in bewilderment. Crash remained pressed to Crunch, face to face. Then Crash grinned pleasantly.

"Likewise."

Crash leapt off Crunch and flipped through the air to land in a standing position, left arm cradled against his chest. Crunch collapsed, and the impact of his rock body hitting the ground was almost the strength of a small earthquake. Crash staggered, but regained his footing before he too fell to the ground.

The rocks on Crunch's body faded away, and those rocks whirled into a spinning vortex of slate and stone. Hovering over Crunch's unconscious form, a weird looking face materialized. It had frighteningly jagged teeth and what looked like two shafts of wood coming up like antlers on the sides of its head. It took another moment for him to realize that this thing was some version of mask, kind of like Aku Aku. This mask looked none too pleased.

"You macho idiot! You'll pay for this!"

The mask's angry words faded away, and soon enough both the freaky mask and Crunch, still unconscious, disappeared. Crash stood there with a bewildered expression on his face. Suddenly, he heard a noise from his walkie-talkie.

"Crash? Are you okay? What was all that banging?"

Crash was silent a moment, and then shook off his stunned look.

"Well, that banging noise was probably the sound of boulders exploding around me. Or it could have been the sound of your jeep crashing."

"WHAT!"

"Sorry about the jeep, but I was getting chased by-"

"I don't care about the jeep Crash, it was garbage anyway. Who was throwing rocks at you?"

Crash was about to answer, when he remembered the throbbing in his arm. "Like to tell you Coco, but how about we discuss it in person. Can I get a ride?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure."

Crash waited for a moment as the air grew denser around him. Although he had been through a whack of portals, he still felt a little jittery before traveling instantaneously.

"…cross your fingers…"

"Coco, who are you talking to?"

"Oh, Crash! I didn't know if you could hear me."

"You couldn't be talking to Aku, he doesn't have any fingers!"

"Don't get ruffled Crash, it's just an expression."

"Why did you say 'cross your fingers'?"

"Don't worry about it Crash."

The light enfolded Crash, and he had no choice but to follow his crazy sister's advice.