Chapter 6:

Kras City Recruitment

The Javelin X pulled up next to a rather dirty looking bar named The Bloody Hook. Jak had told Crash and Spyro that this was where they could find Razer, someone who could take them to Rayn. Crash walked up to the bar, leapt onto a stool and leaned coolly against the bar. The bald bartender walked up to Crash while wiping a greasy glass with a dirty rag.

"What do ya want?" he asked gruffly, eyeing the bandicoot suspiciously.

"I'm not interested in drinking," he flinched slightly when his eyes alighted on the dirty cup which was getting steadily dirtier, "I'm looking for a guy by the name of Razer." Suddenly, a switchblade flew past the bandicoot's arm and stuck in the bar. He turned around to see a man in a blood red trench coat smoking a cigarette. The man (obviously Razer) blew a puff of smoke into the already smoggy atmosphere of the bar.

"So, you are searching for me?" he asked in a thick German accent, tapping the ash off the end of his cigarette before taking another drag.

"Yeah, that's right. I want to talk to your boss, Rayn." Razer walked towards the bar and jammed his forefinger into Crash's furry chest.

"Why would I let you talk to my boss? You're just a little small fry fur ball." Crash puffed up indignantly.

"I am more than worthy to talk to your boss and I'll prove it too." He and Razer were both nose to nose.

"You want to bet, on a race?" he challenged. Crash's mouth formed a huge smile.

"You're on." His smile was matched by Razer's scowl.

The Javelin X was lined up next to Razer's Street Grinder. Crash smiled over at the scowling Razer, wiggling his eyebrows annoyingly. Razer swiped the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it to the ground, glaring at the smirking bandicoot. Crash held out a hand to him.

"Hey, may the best bandicoot win," he chuckled, earning a furious growl from Razer. A brown haired girl with a checkered flag bounced on the balls of her feet as she held the flag up.

"Ready…" Razer gripped the steering wheel and started rubbing the leather under his hands. "Set…" Crash smirked and set his own hands on the steering wheel coolly. "GO!" Both man and bandicoot slammed the pedal to the metal and sped past the girl, causing her to spin around in the slipstream. Razer easily pulled ahead with a Blue Eco turbo boost, laughing mockingly over the radio connection. Crash never lost his cool and simply turned to run into one of the Yellow Eco canisters strategically placed on the racetrack. He watched as the yellow meter on his dashboard filled up, indicating that his forward weapons were fully charged. A barrage of bullets from Crash's guns made Razer's rear bumper resemble chrome colored Swiss cheese. He pushed a lever on the steering wheel so that the guns aimed further up on the car, damaging the Red Eco rear weapon launcher. The minimal amount of Red Eco inside reacted with the Yellow Eco from Crash's guns with rather explosive results. It didn't demolish the car like Crash wanted but it was effective to slow it down so that Crash could take the lead. Crash picked up a turbo boost, not that he needed it but it couldn't hurt. It did its job, giving Crash a significant lead over Razer. He then heard a sound Jak had told him to dread, the unmistakable sound of a Peacemaker being launched towards him. However, Jak had told him of a good trick to avoid the near unavoidable Peacemaker and slammed on the brakes. It worked as Razer sped in front of Crash, forgetting that now he was the target of his own weapon. Razer's car was turned into a heap of scrap on the track, meaning he was immediately disqualified. Crash walked out of his car, standing gloatingly by the wrecked car.

"Well?" he smirked. Razer glowered at the bandicoot hero and nodded irritably.

Razer led Crash and Spyro into a large penthouse apartment full of expensive artifacts and cruel looking weapons. As Crash and Spyro paused to look at a wickedly curved sword of Precursor metal, Razer walked forward into the shadows of a bedroom to speak to the mysterious Rayn. He came back out followed by a slender woman with chopsticks stuck in her short, blue hair.

"Hello, my name is Rayn Krew, the 'big cheese' for the gangsters around here," she introduced. Crash took the hand she offered him and kissed it in a gentlemanly way.

"G'day Ms. Krew, my name is Crash Bandicoot, a friend of a man by the name of Jak Mar," he returned.

"And I'm Spyro," he interjected, "another friend."

"You are friends of Jak's?" she asked in surprise. "I-I never thought he'd ever want to talk to me again after how I betrayed him and his friends."

"Well, he's definitely forgiven you enough to the point where he told us to get to you and ask for your help in our fight," he assured.

"We need the help of your resources to combat the forces at work attacking our worlds," Spyro added. Rayn nodded.

"I wish for nothing more than to be trusted again, I shall provide you with the resources you need," she assured them. "Actually, I think now would be a good time to give you something." She smiled at Crash before turning to a drawer, pulling it out, and throwing a bundle at Crash. "You're clothes look a little worn out; here are some new clothes with a little more protection." Crash opened the bundle to reveal tough, indigo jeans, and Precursor metal elbow and knee pads and armored boots.

"Thanks," he said gratefully as he slipped into one of the bathrooms to change. He came back out, looking very proud of his new attire and nodded to Spyro and Rayn. "Let's get back to Spargus and wait for Jak there then go back to Haven once he comes back." They followed him out to the Javelin X and drove away into the desert back to Spargus.