Hi guys sorry that it has been so long since I have updated! But here is another chapter! Please read!! I have created a poll for the next story I should upload after the completion of this fanfic; please visit my profile and cast your vote. Instructions for voting are on my profile page. Thanks! You can also leave your votes in a review as well, I just need votes!

Disclaimer: WolfKeeper989 does not own Crash Bandicoot or any ideas or characters, except: the split persona of Coco, Tiny, and Pura. I also own Carley the Chameleon, Grandma Grace, Coco's invention of SLUDGE, my Version of Danni Dingo, and the story idea.

Chapter 11

Ya Lose Some, Ya Win Some

Coco was numb and dumbstruck. She could feel everything that she had been working to accomplish began to unravel around her. She could not lose Crash! It would be the end of her for sure. But still that did not tell her what she could do to save her sibling, the only other living family that she had besides her grandma. She had been zoned out for at least a few moments, when she thought she heard Cortex calling her name. She jerked out of her daze and quickly covered up her discomfort by addressing her employer,

"Yes, Master Cortex?"

"Would you like to be part of this little horror show, or would you rather be a spectator?" he asked as he eyed Crash with barely restrained malice. Crash literally growled and then spat at Cortex. Cortex's faced flushed in anger and Coco tensed slightly. Cortex signaled to the Komodo Brothers and they hauled Crash to his feet. Cortex stormed over to him and the lizards forced the bandicoot to his knees. Coco did not even have a chance to blink before Cortex raised his hand and slapped Crash across his muzzle. She had to bite her tongue to keep from calling out. Cortex was going to strike him again when Uka Uka called for Cortex to stop. Coco released a breath that she hadn't notice that she was holding. Cortex angrily gestured for the Komodo Brothers to take Crash away. "Do you have an answer for me, Ms. Rage?" he asked pleasantly as if the tense situation a few moments ago had never happened. Coco really looked carefully at the renowned mad genius and she was paralyzed by fear. He really was purely mad. She could see the gleam of insanity with in his cold, black and white orbs. His mood swings were another testament to his slowly fraying sanity. She would have to stop him at all costs, because eventually world domination would not be enough. After another moment, she spoke,

"You know, Dr. Cortex, I do love a good sport but I am afraid that I will have to sit this one out." She looked down at the wound on her arm to make her point. It was only stinging slightly now, but she was bleeding quite a bit. Thin streams of red liquid trickled down her arm. One of the long blood trails was almost to her wrist. She was thankful that she was not squeamish; fainting at the sight of her own blood would not have looked good for her image. Cortex eyed the wound intensely.

"You should have Ripper Roo look at that wound, it may need stitching." He responded with a hint of concern, but Coco wasn't fooled by it. Although, she knew she had to play along.

"Of course, Dr. Cortex," she responded. Cortex seemed to look thoughtful for a moment before he exclaimed,

"Aha!" Both Coco and Uka Uka looked at each with confused and questioning gazes. Coco shrugged and Uka Uka probably would have shrugged too, if he had shoulders. But instead he just raised the bones that served as his eyebrows in response. They both turned back to Cortex as he explained, "I will allow for you to pick the final participant in tonight's death match! In order to make up for the atrocious manner that I have treated you in, you see. I allowed for my big head to get in the way and allowed for you to get hurt by that infernal bandicoot! It is the least that I can do." Coco stared open-mouthed with disbelief. But she quickly recovered and managed to say,

"F-Forgive my response Master Cortex, I am just over-whelmed by your faith in me and your most gentlemanly treatment of me these past few weeks!" She decided to soften him up a bit more while she was at it. It would make her job of getting more information from him later easier. But her mind was already at work trying to figure out how to use Cortex's apology gift of sorts to help her brother. She was finally excused by Cortex to go get cleaned up for the death match, she had two hours to do everything she needed to do before the match. Halfway back to her bedroom, she felt slightly disoriented and nauseous. Her arm was still bleeding, but not as bad as before. But she knew that she needed medical care and some rest before the match, if she was going to be of any help to her brother. She as she continued to walk, she felt an itch on her chest. She reached into her bra and pulled out the note that Ripper Roo had given her. She changed her destination and headed for the basement. Perhaps, if she spoke to Ripper Roo, she could kill two birds with one stone…

After obtaining a piece of cleaning to cloth to help control the bleeding in her arm, she came upon the stairwell that led into the basements below the dungeons. The basements weren't really basements but more like catacombs with barred doors. Weird sounds were coming form some of them. Curiosity got the best of Coco at times and she would stop to peek into some of the rooms. There were various animals stashed in some of the rooms. Their makeshift cages were unclean and covered in slimy feces and stale bits of food. Even some of the animals were dead and their carcasses left a heavy and pungent order in the air. Coco had to stop on more than one occasion to catch her breath to keep from crying or throwing up. Some of the jail-like cells also held poor animals that had already been experimented on with the Evolvo-ray. Some were misshapen and miserable hybrids that could barely move, like a poor dog/seal fellow that was lying in a corner of his cell. He managed to drag himself to the front of the cell.

"Please," he begged, "I need water." His voice was arid and harsh. Coco felt tears of anger and pity splash down her checks. She promised that she would find some and bring it back as soon as she could. He thanked her and collapsed where he was, too tired to crawl back to his corner. By the time Coco had reached the near end of the catacombs, she was sobbing and she swore that she would stop Cortex by any means necessary. Even if that meant, taking a knife shoving it through his frozen heart while he slept! She hurriedly wiped at her face as she continued to walk. She noticed a light and the end of the corridor. As she got closer she noticed that it was coming from one of the cells. She saw that the door was opened and stepped inside. She gasped at what she saw. On a folded black blanket, a young tigress was lying on her back and groaning pitifully. Her swollen stomach was moving slightly as she breathed. Another surprised gasp escaped her when she noticed that the person attending to the young tigress was none other than Ripper Roo. He was no longer restricted by his trademark straight jacket, but she did not know how he had got it off. He took the stethoscope that was around his neck and placed it in his ears before he placed it on the mother-to-be's abdomen. Then after a moment, he placed the bell on the tigress's chest and shook his head. Coco nearly jumped out of her skin when Ripper turned to look at her.

"You can come in, Coco Bandicoot." said a refined male voice in her head. Coco had to slap both hands over her mouth to keep from screaming aloud.

"How are you doing that?" Coco blurted as soon as her heart rate went back to normal. She stepped further into the cell and stood next to Ripper Roo as he continued to check the young woman's vital signs.

"It is a side effect of that awful Evolvo-ray! I was born evolved like you and your brother. My mother had been a circus performer and when the owner went bankrupt, he sold her to Cortex. Around that time, he was just starting his experiments with the device. He would just practice evolving certain species to a certain point, but he had started mixing species together yet. He experimented on my mother, and eventually my mother would meet a young feisty Bandicoot named Grace Bandicoot. The two became fast friends. Eventually, with my mother's help and another young bandicoot named David, they uncovered a hidden passageway that Cortex did not even know existed. The three of them escaped. Later on, my mother began feeling out of sorts. Julia figured that it may have been a side effect of the latest experiments that N. Gin and Cortex had been performing on her. Then a few months later I was born." He explained as he went and retrieved a wet wash cloth from a makeshift sink within the cell. Upon seeing the sink, Coco remembered the seal/dog fellow that she had met earlier.

"Is there a bucket that I can use? There is a seal/dog guy that is in desperate need of water." She said quickly. Ripper nodded towards a corner to the left of where they were standing. There was a wooden bucket sitting there. She rushed over and picked it up, before she filled it with water and hobbled out of the cell door with it. She reached the correct cell and the creature looked up and began to whimper in anticipation. Coco sat the bucket down with a huff and rubbed her sore arm. Then she realized that she did not have the key to his cell. Then she looked to her right and saw a key hanging on the wall. She decided she could try that key out and then if it didn't work, Ripper Roo may know where the key to this cell was. She reached up and took the key off of the rusted nail that it was hung on and slid it into the lock. She turned it and felt the lock click open. She grinned triumphantly as she opened the door and placed the bucket inside the room. The creature thanked her profusely before lapping up the water.

When she returned, Ripper was waiting for her with a wash cloth in his paw and a threaded needle in his teeth. He gestured to a small chair in the room's center. She went and sat down on the coarse wood and listened as it groaned in protest under her weight. She winced slightly as she felt the sting of the water and antiseptic on her wound. As the kangaroo continued to clean her wound, Coco stared at the softly groaning tigress on the floor near the door.

"Is there anyway, I can help her?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing you or I can do for Renita, but I am doing my best to save the child. But this process takes time." said Ripper softly.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Coco remorsefully.

"She is bleeding internally, probably due to poor nutrition. I suspect that her uterus wall ripped with the start of her contractions. When she finally does give birth, she will bleed to death." said the kangaroo. Coco just bowed her head, silently cursing Cortex a thousand times over. Coco bit down on her lip as the needle pierced through her flesh. She hissed again and again as the needle bit into her arm again and again. After about 15 minutes of anguish, Ripper announced that he was done and wrapped her arm with some gauze that he extracted from his medicine bag. As he pulled his hands away from the finished bandage, the tigress screamed. Ripper rushed to her side, Coco was a few steps behind him. The blanket was soaked with blood. The baby's head was already visible.

Not even 5 minutes later, Ripper Roo called for Coco to hand him a clean blanket on the sink. She ran to the sink and came sliding back to the blue kangaroo, placing the material in his waiting paw. Then he commanded the young woman to push and after about three good pushes; Ripper hopped back with a bloody, white mass huddled in the blanket that he held. Coco looked back at the mother with pitying eyes. The tigress mother met Coco's eyes and smiled, much to the young bandicoot's awe and surprise. She then looked up imploringly to Ripper Roo and asked,

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

"A tigress," He replied. The mother reached out her arms weakly. Ripper Roo moved to her side, and placed the squirming baby into her mother's arms.

"My baby… Svetlana, my little Svetlana." She cooed softly. Coco looked over into the blanket and smiled. The little tigress had white fur that gleamed like snow; her stripes were a bewitching silver color that was almost transparent against her white fur. Her hair was also the same soft, silky white as her fur, but Coco could not see her eyes, but she vaguely wondered what color they were. Would they be the same warm brown as her mother's or would they be the same color as her father's or would she have one of each? Ripper Roo took the little tiger back and not even a few moments later; the young mother's eyes slid closed and she drew one final shuddering breath and died. Ripper Roo shook his sadly. Coco felt yet more tears leak down her face.

"I will go get my assistant, Carla, to come and bury her." He sighed. He turned and headed out the door with Svetlana in his arms. He turned back to look at Coco one last time before heading out the door. Coco was shaken from her mourning by Ripper's voice invading her head again,

"Come on, only the dead belong with the dead." Coco was shocked at his words. An icy feeling spread through her body. Maybe Ripper was more like Cortex than she thought. But then again, he had given her the note warning her about in N. Gin… but… "I know my words sound harsh and cold, but they are true, nonetheless. I am trying to teach you, not scare you." He added as he came back into the room and noticed her despairing countenance she wore. Coco frowned slightly as she followed the sapphire colored kangaroo out the door.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked briskly as they walked.

"Coco, you can trust me! I grew up with your parents." He said. "But my comment back in the cell, I was trying to tell you that you cannot dwell on the losses in your life, especially in this business. It is ok to grieve, but you have to do it quietly and while moving forward. Because when the living dwells with the dead, Death also finds them, spiritual death." He explained. "Her physical life is over, but she can continue to live through Svetlana through those that knew her. You cannot get sidetracked by the losses or else it will create more."

"I know that… but I have never had to actually witness death… I don't know how to grieve, I never actually had to. The closest I have ever come to grieving was being sad over the fact that my mom was dead… but I don't know if that counts." Said the bandicoot girl softly and slowly. Ripper nodded as the two continued to traverse the catacombs. After about 10 minutes, Ripper came to a dead end. He then turned and handed the baby to Coco and stepped towards wall. He held out his hand and then his eyes began to glow white and the wall began to tremble. Then it almost soundlessly slid back and to the side to reveal a large sewer pipe. The pipe itself was well-kept and clean, it seemed to stretch on for miles. Ripper took a torch from the wall, and began to hop down the dark passageway. The wall behind them immediately closed after she followed the kangaroo inside. The air inside the pipe was cool and damp. But it did not smell as bad as she thought it would.

"This pipe used to lead to a water purifier that cortex used to use for purifying water from the waterfall and rain runoff. But he later had a more efficient machine built and the pipes were abandoned. Most of the major pipes that led into the castle were blocked, but this one was hidden behind the wall that you just saw. After a mishap while working down here, Dingodile, Tiny, and I discovered that the wall was moveable and the rest of it is history." explained Ripper. The two continued walk through the pipes. The only sounds that Coco heard were the metallic clinking of her heels and the subsequent echoes. Ripper Roo's claws also made a similar sound as he hopped down the pipe. After about 10 minutes, Coco's sensitive ears picked up the sound of running water. As they neared the sound, not only did the sound grow larger but the pipe, too. A few moments later, they entered a huge intersection that had been carved out of the rock. Coco could hear the waterfall very well now and when she turned to the right, she could see the waterfall in front of another pipe. Ripper Roo turned to the left and continued down another pipe. After another five minutes, They ran into a door at the end of the pipe. Ripper placed the torch in a holder near the door. He knocked three times and waited. Then the door was opened by a female gray lupine. She had beautiful black hair and bewitching eyes. One was a steely gray and the other was a vibrant green, she was about two heads taller than Coco. If her brother were here she would stand about an inch taller than him! But when she smiled down at them gently, Coco realized that this woman despite her slightly intimidating appearance was kind. The woman was slightly muscular but not so much so that it took away from her very womanly figure. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a forest green t-shirt that said, "Don't worry, I don't bite… (unless you ask! ;) )" in bright green block letters.

"Dr. R, you back already?" she said with a slight accent that Coco did not recognize.

"Yes, Carla I am done for the night. Unfortunately, I could not save Renita, but I managed to save her daughter." said Ripper as he bypassed the wolf. Coco shyly followed the marsupial into the room with a quiet hello issued to the lupine named Carla. Carla responded kindly. "Carla could you find somewhere for Svetlana to sleep?" called Ripper's disembodied voice from another room. Currently Coco was standing in a parlor. The floor was covered in fine oak wood flooring and there wasn't much furniture in the room, save for a floor lamp and a large welcome mat on the floor. There was a small coat rack on the back side of the door, too. There was a staircase next to the archway that led to the next room. The rails were painted a soft off white and the banister was wooden with a nice finish.

"Excuse me, tovarisch, but are you-?" started Carla. Coco immediately understood what the woman was about to ask and beat her to it,

"No, this is Svetlana." Coco looked down at the tiny cub to indicate her point. Carla gently reached for the child and took her into her arms. The large lupine female headed up the stairs with hardly another word. Just as Coco was starting to get a little uncomfortable from standing in the middle of their large parlor, Ripper Roo came back into the room. He motioned for her to follow him into the next room. The next room was a little smaller than the parlor and the walls were a light blue with a white trim along the bottom and top of the walls. There were ceiling high bookcases packed with books of all kinds and in various languages on two adjacent walls and then on a third wall there was a desk with a dark blue desk lamp on it. The desk was made of cherry wood and chair was also made of the same material. Ripper Roo gestured for her to have a seat on the tan leather couch. The weary young woman dragged herself over to the couch plopped onto it. She groaned with relief as she allowed for her tired and achy feet to rest. After a few moments she reached down and removed the sandals and whimpered. While she had been walking around she had not noticed that her feet were suffering, but once she sat down they made their grievances known. The doctor looked at the tired bandicoot and said,

"Why don't you rest for a moment, the death match will start in about 50 minutes and you will need your strength. But I do have a question, who are you going to pick for the death match?" Coco wiped her head around in surprise and blurted,

"How do you know about that?" Ripper Roo laughed, it was a pleasant sound.

"I can read people's minds." He replied, still chuckling.

"Oh… but I guess my pick would have to be Dingodile, I know I can trust him to make sure my brother doesn't get hurt too bad." She said with a slight nod of her blonde head. Ripper nodded in agreement. He gestured for her to get comfortable and sleep. Coco stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes…

40 minutes later…

Cortex looked around at the arena with barely restrained glee. Today, he would be rid of that infuriating bandicoot for good! The small training arena was mainly used for testing his minions' fighting progress. The arena had a sand bottom and two three tier blenchers on either side of the arena floor. There was sky box attached to the wall opposite the arena exit. The building was 40 feet long and 30 feet wide, which meet that there were 1200 square feet of area and 875 square feet of fighting space. The sky box was fully furnished with wood floors and a crème colored leather furniture set including a reclining chair, a two seated couch, a glass coffee table, a mini bar, refrigerator, and a sectional sofa in a corner. The glass windows covered three of the four walls of the sky box. The mad genius turned at the sound of heels on the floor. He turned and smiled softly as his eyes fell on the always amazing Rage Bandicoot.

She was wearing a slight variation of her work outfit. The black combat boots and khaki shorts were still present but the tank top was no longer green but black, matching the fingerless gloves that were covering her hands. The silky black hair that had been loosely flowing at dinner was now back in its familiar French braid and tied off at the end by a black scrunchie. The bandicoot's blue eyes were hard and determined. Cortex spied a crisp white bandage on her arm, no doubt it was Ripper Roo's doing, then he noticed that she held her faithful bo staff in her hands. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her.

"Don't worry, Dr. C, I won't get in the way of your fun but I have decided that I want to have a little fun, too. So I'll make you a little wager…" goaded the woman. Cortex grinned. He had not lost a bet in his life, although he had been losing constantly to those infernal bandicoots!

"All Miss Rage, what is your wager?" he asked.

"I bet that the bandicoot will last the entire thirty minutes, if that does happen, I get to finish him off. Of course, I am a fair sport, I will give him a 20 second head start." She grinned maliciously. Cortex was taken aback by the ruthlessness and cunning that the bandicoot woman possessed. If she were only human and little older, he would have definitely attempted to woo the devious diva.

"All right, I will take that wager. I bet he won't last the entire thirty minutes. If you lose you have clean up duty for the entire arena." Cortex shot back snidely. Rage's smile only grew wider.

"Well may the best woman win." She shot back with a smirk. Cortex laughed loudly before gesturing to the couch in the middle of the room and offering her a seat.

Coco finely felt her breathing and heart rate return to normal. She leaned into the comfy couch and steeled her nerves for the fight that she knew was coming. She could see that the bleachers were full with the various technicians, minions, and other lesser workers in castle. They were all cheering raunchily and loudly. Coco felt her stomach drop as two doors at the end of the arena on the left side opened and the minions slowly filed out and began taking their positions around the arena. The cheering only grew louder. Coco sat up a little straighter when Dingodile finally stepped into the arena. She caught his eye from the sky box and he winked back at her. She felt her body relax a little after that. She knew that Dingo would do his best to help her brother as much as he could. She became introverted momentarily as she replayed their earlier conversation in her mind…

Coco hurriedly made her way back to the front of the castle. She had reentered the castle about five minutes beforehand thanks to another secret passage way that Ripper had shown her. She hurried past her own room and quickly knocked on the door that was next to it. She waited. Finally, Dingodile opened the door and Coco nearly ran him over in her haste to get into the room. He slowly shut the door behind her. She looked around his room in mild curiosity. The walls were white and there was a single twin sized bed and a small wooden side table that was being kept level by a small book without a title. A small lantern on the table provided the only source of light in the room. Coco sat on the end of the bed and looked down at her neatly folded hands.

"Coco? Wat's the matter, sheila?" asked Dingodile. Coco sniffed softly and at the same time she was silently cursing herself for crying again. Especially since she swore that she would not cry anymore. When she finally did look up, she started in surprise. Dingodile was no longer by the door but kneeling in front of her with a solemn look on his face. He slowly reached up and wiped her tears away. She took a shaky breath and tried to explain what she needed him to do. He frowned after she finished her explanation. "Well, that is quite a problem, Coco. I can only promise that I will do my best to help your brother but, there will only be so much that I can do." She immediately leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Dingo, thank you!" she whispered fiercely. "That is all that I need." Dingodile released her and both of them leaned back and began to stare at each other. Coco noticed an intense look come across Dingodile's features. She gave him a quizzical look but he just shook his head. He stroked the side of her face gently. Then he leaned forward as if he was going to kiss her on the lips. Coco felt her heart speed up and a lump began to form in her throat. She started to lean forward as well with her mouth slightly open. Her eyes slid closed and eventually he must have chickened out because he placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose instead. She grinned through a few tears and giggled softly. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence. Finally, Coco stood up and made her way towards the door. But she stopped halfway to her destination when she felt a warm hand grab her wrist. She turned back to look at Dingo, who was now standing behind her with a worried glint in his eyes.

"Be careful." He whispered. She smiled again and nodded saying,

"You too, Dingo—" but the girl did not get to finish her sentence because Dingodile had already effectively silenced her with his lips. Coco felt her knees quake and moaned softly as his tongue began to explore her mouth…

Coco snapped out of her daze with her hands resting on her lips and a small smile on her face. She quickly straightened up when she realized what she was doing and who she was doing it in front of. Thankfully, no one had been paying any attention to her, they were all too preoccupied with not missing a second of the pending fight. Coco focused back on the arena floor. The minions were all in a semicircle in front of the only exit leading to the outside world. Then there was a rumbling sound and a section of the floor sunk in and opened to reveal a rather large circular opening. The sand that had been on top of the opening had long since spilled into the chasm. Small streams on sand continued to spill into it. Then a loud whirring sound came from within the hole. Then a platform appeared with Crash standing on it. He was nervous she could tell. His entire body was stiff. He eyed each of the minions wearily as they circled him. He crouched down, probably readying himself for an attack. Aku Aku always taught them to be mindful of their surroundings, and by getting as low to the ground as possible Crash improved his balance, therefore making it easier to duck or dodge an enemy attack. "Come on, big brother! You can win this fight! You have to…" Coco urged in her mind.

"Rage would you be a dear and officiate things for the match, you know, state the rules and such and say go… yada yada…" Cortex's voice jammed into her thoughts. She turned to see Cortex handing her a cordless microphone that he had retrieved from somewhere in the room. She wasn't sure where because she had not been paying that much attention to what was going on in the sky box. She nodded dumbly and took the device. She cleared her voice.

"ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME TO THE 1ST EVER DEATH MATCH AT CORTEX CASTLE!!! TONIGHT'S COMPETITORS ARE: N. GIN, PINSTRIPE, KOMODO JOE AND MOE, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST DIIINNNGGGOOODILE! AND THE ONLY OPPONENT FOR TONIGHT: CCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHH BAAANNNDDDIIICOOOOT!!" she announced. The crowd went wild! Coco had to wait a few moments for the crowd to die down. "Here are the rules for tonight's match! The five minions from Cortex Castle will face off against their arch nemesis Crash Bandicoot in a thirty minute death match! There are no rules governing the match. All competitors are expected to give their all during the fight. If Crash Bandicoot lasts the entire thirty minutes, he will be allowed his freedom. But if he does not… well that is pretty self explanatory isn't it? SOOOOO ARE YOU GUYS READY?!" She received a roar from the crowd and few nods from the competitors. "READY… SET…" she prayed for Crash in her mind before exclaiming, "GO!" The timer on the front of the sky box set itself for thirty minutes and began to countdown and the arena's exit was blocked by a metal wall that lowered in front of it. No sooner had the word 'go' left Coco's mouth, the minions pounce on the defenseless Crash. A huge thick whitish, grey cloud of sand billowed up from the fight taking place in the center of the arena. Coco's heart was galloping at an unsafe rate, where was her brother? Then after a few mind numbing moments, she noticed a distinct shadow appearing on one side of the cloud. Then a few seconds later, her brother rolled out of the fray. He was breathing hard but he slowly climbed to his feet. Then she saw him sway and slump to one knee, right knee in the air, clutching it. "Oh no, he can't be injured, it has not even been a full five minutes yet!" she thought anxiously as her stomach and heart plummeted.

Crash groaned. He looked at the blood on his hand from the shallow gash in his right leg. He growled in pain as he used his left leg to push off of the sandy floor and began to limp towards the wall. He hid in the shadow of the skybox above him. He grew angry as he thought about the vile monsters that were in that box, and how they were probably laughing at his expense. The very same group of people that was responsible for the death of his only family. He had to defeat this challenge, so that he could kill every last one of them. After a few seconds, he slumped onto his backside, hissing in pain. He vaguely hoped that those idiotic minions would fight each other for the rest of the match, but the marsupial knew that would never happen. Crash slowly struggled to his feet and began to make his way to the other side of the arena, making sure to stay next to the wall. Crash heard a strange sound coming from the fray. The dull sound turned into a huge roar right before a stream of fire shot out of the smoke cloud. The flames were headed straight for him and at the last second, Crash leapt out of the way. Crash looked behind him to see a huge black outlined, smoldering hole where he had just been. The force of the fire blast blew away all of the debris and sand. The cloud had been blown away. Now all the minions were comically frozen in various fighting positions. Pinstripe had his Tommy gun's barrel under Komodo Joe's chin and Komodo Moe was lying on his back with his sword pointed at Pinstripe's throat. N. Gin was perched on Dingodile's back with his hands pulling on his muzzle. Dingodile's head was tilted back with a stretched smile on his face from N. Gin's tugging. The hybrid's flamethrower was pointed skyward. The audience began to howl with laughter. Crash could not help but join in with the people's laughter.

But he stopped laughing as soon as Pinstripe's eyes wandered over to where Crash was hiding. The marsupial began moving as fast as he could with his injured leg. It was as if time had slowed to a crawl and Crash couldn't seem to move fast enough. Pinstripe instantly whipped his Tommy gun around to point at Crash and began firing off shots in rapid succession. Crash subconsciously brought his hands up to his ears and continued to run. He could feel the heat radiating at his back as the bullets hit the wall and exploded. He yelped every now and then when small chunks of concrete thrown by the explosions, slammed into his shoulders and back. After a good 2 minutes, the gun started drawing blanks and Pinstripe had to reload. But Crash could not enjoy his break for too long, because Komodo Joe and Moe were advancing towards him with their swords ready to impale him. Crash's breathing was ragged and heavy. Crash tried to move out of the way but his injured right leg began to throb painfully. So, he ended up slipping and falling on his side, crying out in pain. He barely had time to look up before he caught a glint in the corner of his eye and he had to roll over towards the wall to avoid Komodo Joe's sword. He gasped as the sword buried itself in the sand merely centimeters away from his muzzle. He gulped before crawling out of the way of Moe's sword with yelp. Crash scrambled to his feet and began to limp across the arena again.

Meanwhile, Dingodile was still fighting to remove N. Gin from his back. N. Gin did not notice that Dingo was the one he was pulling on, since he had his eyes squeezed shut. Dingodile finally grew frustrated and threw down his flame thrower and began scratching desperately at N. Gin in an effort to pull him off. While trying to reach the tiny man behind him, the hybrid accidently kicked his flamethrower and activated it. It fired off a single fireball. The flaming projectile sped off in a random direction. It ended up hitting the wall where Komodo Joe and Moe were still trying to remove their swords from the sand. Both reptiles looked up at the same time and went bug eyed. The two komodo dragons abandoned their weapons and ran out of the way screaming. The fireball exploded when it finally made contact with the wall. The two swords were blown into the air. They landed on the ground bent and burning. The two brothers looked at each other bewildered. Although, Crash was just as bewildered by his sudden luck streak, he was not complaining, because he knew that he needed every advantage that he could get in order to stay alive. He stole a quick glance at the clock glaring down at him from the skybox. There were 21 minutes and 5 seconds remaining. Crash could not help but groan. He was no where near the end of this earthly hell.

Crash's attention was drawn back to the fight when a bullet from Pinstripe's reloaded gun grazed his left shoulder. He dropped to his knees cursing. He had to roll out of the way of the subsequent bullets. Crash made it back to his feet and began running despite the pain in his leg. Crash knew that he was running out of time, he was losing blood and he was outnumbered 5:1. He continued running away from the crazed rat with the Tommy gun. Crash knew he could not run forever, he needed to get rid of that gun. As he was running, he spied Dingodile's flamethrower. He had no idea how to use it, but he did not waste anytime before sprinting for device and picking it up. He turned on Pinstripe and pulled the trigger. Crash cried out as he was knocked off his feet by the force of the fire jet that had issued from the weapon as soon as Crash squeezed the trigger. The rat did not have much time move out of the way of the blast and he threw the gun away and dove out of the way. The flame made contact with the gun and the device exploded sending shrapnel into the air. The hot metal and bullets smashed into the ceiling, which immediately began to crumble. Massive chunks of concrete began plummeting towards the arena floor. Minions and spectators alike scrambled for cover. A larger flaming boulder slammed into to a set of bleachers. The spectators barely scampered out of the way.

Coco had tears running down her face from trying to keep her laughter at bay. But as she watched N. Gin get burned on the behind by some falling embers, Coco lost it. She could only reel with laughter as the smaller man quickly let go of Dingodile's face and started running around the arena holding his butt. Unfortunately, N. Gin forgot, due to his panicked state, that oxygen only fuels fire. Suddenly, his whole body combusted and the mechanical genius became a fireball dashing around the arena. Meanwhile, Dingodile was rubbing his face vigorously; trying to restart the blood flow in his face. Coco's giggles immediately ceased as she watched horrorstruck as the flaming man ran straight into Dingodile. The hybrid happened to look up a second before N. Gin collided with him and tried to move but he wasn't quick enough. His pants leg was touched by the fireball and immediately caught fire. Dingodile was smarter then N. Gin when it came to fires and how to put them out. He fell to the ground and began to roll around. Eventually the flames were snuffed out and the hybrid rose to his feet again. Thankfully, the fire had only burnt through his pants leg and singed some of his fur. Otherwise, he was fine. Coco instantly returned her attention back to her brother.

Crash was currently holding the Komodo Brothers at bay with Dingo's flamethrower. Every time one of the brothers tried to move towards him, he would pull the trigger. The gun would then spit a stream of flames at the reptiles and the brothers would scramble away. Coco quickly realized that without their swords, Komodo Joe and Moe were powerless, but something in Coco's mind still said that Crash wasn't out of the woods yet. Then Coco looked at the clock, there was now 14 minutes and 9 seconds left. "Come on big brother! You're almost there!" Coco cheered in her mind. Coco's eyes strayed over the rest of the arena, and she gasped when she saw that Pinstripe had regained his bearings and had pulled out a small handgun. Coco had been doing some research as of late, to make sure that when N. Gin finally sprung his trap she would not be caught off guard. She had forgotten that Pinstripe always carried a concealed weapon on him in case he needed a back up weapon. She was visibly torn on what to do if she warned Crash, her cover would be blown; if she did not he would be shot in the back.

Crash heard a slight clicking noise behind him. Crash quickly spun around and squeezed off another round from the flamethrower. Pinstripe had enough time to dive out of the way. But now Crash's back was to the Komodo Brothers. Komodo Joe saw N. Gin making in his way back towards their end of the arena as the flames surrounding him continued to burn. Komodo Joe signaled to his brother and they both rushed forward and shoved Crash into N. Gin's path. The marsupial cried out and landed with a muffled thud. The flamethrower was knocked from Crash's hands and went sliding across the sand. Crash looked up in time to see N. Gin heading towards him. Crash used his hands to push himself up and backwards as N. Gin ran past and landed on his back. Crash groaned as his injured shoulder began to throb from the sudden effort. The flames just barely missed Crash. But a few sparks and embers fell on to the fur of his left arm. The salty sweat on his fur acted as gasoline, and his arm burst into flame. He howled in pain before beginning to roll around on the ground to try to put the flames out. Finally, the flames were extinguished and Crash slowly crawled to his feet. He was gripping his brunt arm. The flames and burnt away most of his short fur and the blistered skin underneath was an angry and bloody red.

All of a sudden, Pinstripe fired another bullet at Crash but missed and hit one of the exposed pipes, it happened to be a water pipe, in the ceiling and the pipe exploded; electrical wiring and other material and started to fall from the ceiling. The pipe was ripped from its moorings in the ceiling and water gushed from the pipe as it fell to the ground. Ironically, N. Gin ended up running right in front of the spray. The pressure from the water slammed the smaller man into the wall and quickly extinguished the flames. N. Gin was left unconscious and sopping wet with a huge amount of burns on his body, but thanks to the flame resistant clothing he was wearing, the burns were only first and second degree burns.

Crash was still lumbering about the arena trying to avoid the bullets from the rat's six-shooter. So far the last three bullets failed to hit the marsupial, but Crash was slowing down more and more by the second. He saw the Komodo Brothers rushing to help Pinstripe finish him off. He looked up and saw the pipe that had been blow open by Pinstripe's bullet. Crash would have to time it right, but he just might make it work. Just as he got really close to Pinstripe, the rat fired another shot at him. Crash quickly ducked while wincing in pain and kept moving forward. Then he jumped and land on Pinstripe's head and jumped off. This gave him some extra air and the bandicoot grabbed for the pipe with his good arm and hung on. He began to swing his body back and forth. The pipe creaked from the strain. Then Crash heard the sound of ripping metal. He looked up and saw that the pipe was starting to break. Crash put all his energy into one last swing. At the peak of his swing he let go and went sailing through the air. He landed awkwardly but managed to stay on his feet somewhat. He was now close to the sky box and Dingodile's long forgotten flame thrower. He picked up the weapon and took a few steps back until he could see into the sky box.

Meanwhile, the pipe finally broke and began falling down vertically. The end closest to the ground had a sharp point on one side of it from when it burst. All the minions were having trouble moving out of the way because they had all collided with one another after Crash's daring stunt. They were current stuck in a dog pile. Dingodile was on top, Komodo Joe underneath him, Pinstripe followed by Komodo Moe. Dingo saw a glint in his peripheral vision, looked up, and screamed. He managed to scramble out of the way, shoving Komodo Joe off of Pinstripe in his panic. Pinstripe slowly rolled onto his back and then screamed in panic when he saw that the pipe was about to impale him. He rolled so quickly that when he hit the ground, the gun he was holding was knocked from his hand and land a few inches away from him. Then he heard the sound of metal hitting flesh and looked beside himself. He paled and gulped. Komodo Joe looked for his brother as he slowly made his way to his feet. Then he saw the pole was pinning his brother's body to the floor.

"MOE!! MOE!! SSSSSSSSPEAK TO ME!" screamed Komodo Joe as he crawled to his brother's body. The komodo dragon let out loud, anguished cry when the larger of the two brothers did not answer. Coco could only cringe as Komodo Joe lamented the loss of his brother because, in her own head she could still her brother's screams from when she forced him to watch "Coco's" death. Coco shot an unnoticed glare Cortex and Uka Uka for their disrespectful display in response to the dragon's lament. Then she realized that her own brother was missing. As she looked around the arena for him she noticed that he had appeared again… with Dingodile's flamethrower in his hands and looked hell bent on blowing the sky box open.

"Master Cortex, we need to—" but her words died out as the occupants of the sky box saw three successive fireballs heading towards them. Uka Uka teleported himself and Cortex out of the room, leaving Coco to fend for herself. "Figures!" she muttered darkly. She had a few seconds before she would be blown to bits. She finally decided that running to the door would be futile and so would running to the other windows; So, she took her bo in her hands and ran straight towards the window that the fireballs were about to come in contact with. With about a millisecond to spare Coco swung her staff into the window as she jump through it; the fireballs slamming into the viewing area just as she exited. Coco was pushed farther out into the air by the heat wave from the blast and cut a flip before she landed safely on the ground. She winced due to several small but painful cuts on her body due to exploding glass. Then she heard a rumbling sound come from the direction of the exit. All the spectators and minions, except for Joe, looked to the door and were surprised to find it opening. "The electronic lock must have been destroyed in the blast." thought Coco. But she could not do anything else because at that moment, she managed to dodge a red tornado that was bent on destroying her. She jumped and back flipped over her brother leaving him to bash into the other minions, scattering them. About a few feet away from the exit, Crash stopped spinning and fell face first onto the ground breathing heavily. After moment, he pushed himself up and started hobbling towards the exit. He looked like he was really starting to feel the extent of his injuries. After some of the spectators started to hound her about not fighting, she made as show of yelling at the minions. Eventually, everyone was scrambling for weapons and heading for Crash.

Coco watched silently as Crash neared the arena's exit. "He's going to make it!" she cheered in her mind. But what she did not know, was that Pinstripe had one shot left. The rat picked up his gun, took aim, and fired. Coco had heard the bang and watched horror struck as her brother dropped to his knees and slumped over onto the ground. "No, no, no, no…" she moaned in her mind. She tightened the grip on her bo to keep herself from crying. Her heart felt like someone was stabbing it repeatedly with a knife. She was starting to feel nauseous and guilt was starting to eat away at her insides. But just as Coco's body was about to give out from grief, Crash's body twitched. Then the marsupial pushed himself back onto his knees. Coco watched as her brother coughed up blood and started to crawl towards the opening. He was about a foot from the exit. Then Cortex's voice rung out across the arena,

"Get the wretched marsupial before he escapes the arena!" Coco looked back at the burned and gutted sky box to see a soot-covered Cortex standing next to Uka Uka. "Pity, they lived!" Coco groaned mentally before she snapped back to reality as Pinstripe, Komodo Joe, and Dingodile raced forward to try and apprehend Crash. She rushed forward. If she timed this right, she could save her brother. She suddenly positioned her staff for a strike and then struck at the ground with the end of her staff that was closest to the ground without losing any momentum. She pushed on the staff and catapulted herself over the three males, completed a graceful summersault, and landed in a crouched position in front of them. As she got to her feet she heard a loud screeching sound and watched as the giant sliding door began to descend once again. Crash was going to be crushed under it at the rate he was going. Coco began sprinting again, her determined blue eyes intent on saving her injured brother. The door was about three-quarters of the way down and Crash's legs still weren't over the threshold. Coco pushed herself to go faster and practically kicked up dirt behind her as she sped up. The hole was growing smaller and smaller, Coco jumped and started sliding across the sand covered arena on her back as she landed. Then with about a second to spare she slammed into her brother before she and Crash both slid under the door as it finally slammed to the ground.

Cortex cursed from his position next to the door's manual controls. Just then sparks flew from the lever and Cortex jumped back out of fright. "Curses! The bandicoot got away and controls for the door are decimated! We'll have to pry the door open to get out! The bandicoot might be long gone by then!"

"Calm yourself Cortex! After all, your new overseer also made it under the door and the marsupial is gravelly injured. He won't be able to escape her." Uka Uka chuckled darkly. Cortex grinned maliciously as the weight of what his dark master said became clear to him…

Coco quickly stood up. She looked behind herself to find that the door was sealed tight. "Oh well, this will make things easier for me!" thought the girl to herself. She turned back to her brother and nearly cried again. He was lying on his side and blood was pooling beneath him. She ran to his side and fell to her knees, then rolled him onto his stomach, with his face facing her. There, close to his spine, was a neat bleeding hole. Coco winced and immediately began remove her tank top, she did not care that this left her in a black strapless bra. She balled the shirt up and pressed it to the wound. Crash groaned and began to stir. She watched as his eyes slowly opened to reveal tired brown eyes. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he tried to fight against her but she was able to hold him down with her other hand. "Stop struggling, big brother! You will only bleed more!" she insisted. Crash frowned in confusion for a moment and stopped struggling.

Crash looked up at the strange figure before him but in his pained and weakened state, he could not tell who she was. At first he thought that the figure was the crazy, cockney bandicoot that he had lost to before, but then she called him such a familiar nickname and she had such a familiar voice. Even as darkness began to cloud his vision felt himself utter a single name, "Coco?" Then he slowly lost his grip on consciousness and everything faded away…

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Alright! All done! Please remember to vote! And I will hope have the next chapter up soon!

Chapter 12

Experimenting

…The orange and blacked furred woman slowly sat up on the hard examining table and looked around, "Who are you and what have you done to me!" She cried angrily and jumped and the bandicoot next to the table…