Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

Chapter Ten

The duo ran to the top of the tower and saw the two other islands that they had explored in the light of the setting sun.

"Whoa!" Nathan said in amazement at the sight, but Crash pulled Nathan back to reality when he started yelling for Tawna again.

"Tawna!"

"Crash!"

The both of them looked up and saw a dirigible with a 'N' on the side.

"Neo Cortex has outdone himself." Crash commented upon seeing the blimp.

"No kidding." Nathan said, agreeing with the bandicoot.

Then, Crash and Nathan saw a pelican that was twice the size of a normal human next to them. Nathan thought of a plan, but Crash started a conversation with the bird.

"Hi, Buddy."

The bird responded to the bandicoot as a human would to a friend.

"I did, but it was an accident." Crash said, "Hey! Know how to reach the blimp?"

The pelican cocked his head to the side, looking confused.

"The big thing in the sky." Crash explained.

The bird looked over Crash's shoulder and saw Nathan.

Crash responded to the action by saying, "Nathan's a good guy. I'll even promise that he won't hurt you or your friends."

The bird glared at Nathan for a moment before he nodded to Crash and spread out its wing to the duo.

"Buddy's allowing us to ride on him." Crash turned to the human.

"Really?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah." Crash replied, "Hop on."

"Okay." The human replied, very unsure.

Nathan climbed onto the bird after Crash, and the pelican flew off to the blimp.

Neo Cortex knew it was about time to change places, and he was resourceful enough to store energy from the blimp, just in case the power station failed or was disrupted by enemies. He had one experiment left, and she was very stubborn, even after sending Pinstripe to persuade her to follow him. Cortex cursed the day he chose her to be evolved as well as a few others.

"Doctor Cortex." The robotic voice of a lab assistant spoke, returning the scientist back to reality.

"Yes?"

The robots looked at their master.

"There is a bird heading towards the blimp." The robot said.

"Get an image on the screen." Cortex commanded.

In a second, an image of Crash and Nathan riding on the pelican.

"It's Crash Bandicoot, all right!" Cortex yelled out, "He's always talking to those stupid birds!" Then, the scientist saw Nathan and recognized who the boy was and said, "He is here!" Cortex turned to the robot assistants and said, "Make sure that the boy is not harmed, understood?"

"Yes, Doctor Cortex." The assistants responded.

Crash and Nathan landed on the blimp.

"Bye, Buddy! Say hi to the others for me!" Crash waved good-bye to his friend.

"Bye." Nathan said, hoping that the bird would not attack him.

"Now," Crash said, turning to Nathan, "To Tawna."

"But we need to find out where she is." Nathan pointed.

"We didn't need to know that on the islands." Crash countered.

"Good point." Nathan said.

The duo ran off to the entrance of the blimp, but they found the door locked.

"How are we gonna get in?" Crash asked, trying to open the door for the second time.

"Leave this to me." Nathan replied, pulling out a thin piece of metal.

The human placed the piece of metal into the lock and unlocked the door in a few seconds, which caused Crash to be very amazed.

"How did you do that!" The bandicoot asked, while Nathan put the piece of metal away.

"I learned it." Nathan said, "Now, let's go find Tawna."

"Hey! That's my line!" Crash exclaimed at Nathan.

"Then, be quicker next time." Nathan replied, entering the compartment that held people.

"Ha ha." Crash said flatly, following the human.

Once inside, the duo found Tawna, who was tied up with rope and gagged.

"Tawna!" Crash exclaimed as he ran to her and removed her gag.

"Crash!" Tawna exclaimed in joy with eyes coming out of her tears. Then, she saw Nathan and asked, "Who's the human? He looks like…"

"I know, but he isn't." Crash interrupted Tawna.

Nathan pulled out a pocketknife and cut the ropes that kept Tawna bound.

"That should do it." The human boy said, very pleased with himself for helping others.

"He's strange." Tawna whispered to Crash.

"So," Crash replied, "at least he's on our side."

"Look out!" The she-bandicoot yelled to the duo, pointing at what was behind them.

The duo looked behind them and saw the lab assistants running towards them.

"Lab assistants!" Crash exclaimed, "What are they doing here?"

"I'm guessing they're here to stop us." Nathan replied to Crash's question.

"I could've told you that!" Tawna pointed out.

"Anyway," Nathan said, "I got just the thing for these guys."

Then, the human pulled out a piece of metal that looked hollow and was curved at the bottom.

"What's that?" Crash's asked his friend.

"Something I've been tinkering with for a while." Nathan replied with a sly grin on his face.

Then, Nathan pointed the hollow part of the metal item, which fired yellow lasers at the robots, blasting them into pieces.

After the destruction, Crash could only say one word in his shocked state of mind.

"Whoa!"

Nathan heard this, and he smiled as his friend, pleased at himself.

"Thanks." The human said.

"I knew you were like him!" Tawna accused Nathan.

"Quit whining!" The boy silenced the she-bandicoot, "We need to get outta here!"

"Let's go, then!" Crash agreed, dragging Tawna by her hand and Nathan following both bandicoots.

Meanwhile, Cortex was watching the group and outraged by Nathan's destructive action to his lab assistants.

"Looks like I have to deal with this myself." The little man said as he stood up and started out of the control room.

In a few minutes, the trio managed to reach the door out of the blimp.

"We're gonna make it!" Crash cheered to Tawna and Nathan.

"Good to hear!" Nathan replied, smiling widely.

Crash stopped at the door, opened it, and exited to the outside. Nathan and Tawna were about to follow Crash's example, but the door quickly closed, separating Crash from the others.

"Crash!" Nathan and Tawna yelled in unison behind the locked door.

Crash turned around and saw the closed door. He ran to the door, when a bullet of green energy darted between the bandicoot and the door. Crash turned his attention to the direction where the shot came from and saw Neo Cortex, who was on a hover-board with a sick grin on his face and holding a ray gun in his hand.

"Cortex!" The bandicoot growled at the scientist; all that done was made his enemy laugh.

"Is that all?" Cortex asked mockingly.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Crash said, "Because to me, it means that we're gonna fight."

Cortex laughed as he said, "I noticed that you've made a new friend."

"Leave Nathan outta this!" Crash yelled at the little man, "He's got nothin' to do with this!"

"Silly bandicoot," Cortex mocked Crash, "Nathan is my nephew."

Crash's eyes grew wide in shock, when he grinned and chuckled to himself a little.

"What's so funny!" Cortex demanded to knew, growing furious at Crash.

"I'm laughing at myself." The bandicoot replied, confusing Cortex.

"What!" The little man said.

"I thought he was your son." Crash finished, laughing.

Cortex grew angry at the bandicoot for laughing and aimed his gun at Crash.

Noticing this action from the 'doctor', Crash got out of the way as the energy from the ray gun hit the blimp.

"Nice shot." Crash mocked Cortex.

"Hold still, you rodent!" Cortex yelled, firing his gun at Crash.

As the battle began, Nathan and Tawna noticed that the assistants were coming after them.

"Look out!" Tawna yelled.

But Nathan was ahead of the she-bandicoot's command. He pulled out weapon and shot down the androids.

"Wow!" An impressed Tawna said.

"Let's go find another exit!" Nathan announced, grabbing Tawna's wrist and dragged her from the door.

Back in the battle, Crash grew tired from dodging the shots, from Cortex's gun.

"Getting tired?" Cortex grinned evilly as he spoke.

" Yeah!" Crash responded, "I'm getting tired of seeing your face!"

Cortex's grin turned to a sneering frown, as if becoming animal-like.

"You'll pay for that remake!" Cortex roared as he resumed shooting at the bandicoot.

Nathan and Tawna made their way to the control room of the blimp.

"That was scary!" Tawna exclaimed loudly.

"You can say that again!" Nathan agreed with the she-bandicoot.

"Nathan?" Tawna asked, "Are you really Cortex's nephew?"

"Due to my misfortune." Nathan answered sadly.

Seeing this sadness in Nathan's eyes and hearing it in his answer, Tawna felt awful about the thoughts she had about him, thinking of him as an evil human, when he hated the very blood that flows in his and Neo Cortex's veins.

"I'm sorry, Nathan. I thought you were…"

Nathan raised his hand in front of Tawna, and he said, "It's not the first, and I truly believe it won't be the last."

Then, the human saw something that greatly surprised him.

"Tawna…?" Nathan started to ask, but Tawna saw the very same thing.

"I see it too." The she-bandicoot said, also shocked by the sight of the burning castle.

Crash still managed to dodge the shots, but he was becoming too tired to dodge them.

"Your time is up." Cortex grinned as he aimed at Crash for he thought would be the last time, which it was.

"I'm not running anymore." Crash whispered to himself, "I'm spinning!"

Cortex fried at the bandicoot, who spun around. When the shot reached Crash, it was deflected and returned to Cortex, destroying the hover-board and sending the evil man to his burning castle.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The scream rang out to Crash's ears as Cortex fell to, what Crash believed, his death.

"I can't believe what I've done." Crash said before passing out from exhaustion.