The bandicoot,
Against his will,
Is forced to marry
A girl he simply cannot stand.
Why exactly is he getting married?
What is the intention?
What is the purpose, if any?
Should he back down
Or suck it up and get it other with?
It is possible the bandicoot can
Alter his views on the girl.
Granted, she might be a little insane
Whenever the bandicoot is involved,
And she may not be the best communicator
At school or any other environment,
But love can you make do crazy things,
And if changing your views of someone
Counts as being crazy,
Then love can make anything possible.
Chapter 29: Wedding Smashers
"I'm getting married?!" Crash reacted to the news. "But why? And to whom?"
"The city's mayor announced it while you and the others were away," explained Strazio. "The person you're marrying is some girl named Cynzia."
Crash fell into Crunch's arms as he sobbed miserably.
"Crash despises Cynzia to a certain extent," stated Coco.
"So I see..." Strazio stroked his chin. "...Though I do recall seeing this Cynzia person before, what with her luscious red hair...and those lovely eyes..."
"You like her or something?" questioned Tropy..
"Nah, just reminiscing."
"About your master...have you found him yet?" asked Pasadena, changing the subject.
"Not yet, but I'm pretty confident he'll show up sooner or later. Well I must be going now. Gotta continue my search. Make sure Crash doesn't go crazy at the wedding, okay?"
"We'll try and keep him in check," Aku assured.
Strazio gave our heroes a thumbs up and departed, just when Crash was finished sobbing.
"Why does it have to be me man..." moaned Crash.
"I know right?" Cortex agreed. "It should be ME getting married!"
Everyone laughed at Cortex.
After taking the extraterrestrials to a nearby hotel, our heroes returned home to Grantor's house, where they were greeted by the minions, Grantor, Chick and Stew with confetti and a "WELLCOM HOWME" banner.
"Let me guess: Tiny did the banner?" guessed Nina.
"You didn't have to ask," replied Pinstripe.
"Welcome back y'all!" Stew exclaimed before blowing into a noise maker.
"Aw, we don't deserve this," grinned Crash.
"But you all have been gone for an awfully long time," said Grantor. "Also it seems like you have some new accomplices."
"New accomplices? Where?" Fake Crash looked around. Grantor giggled.
"Say Crash, are you ready for your wedding?"
"Nope," Crash responded quickly.
"Never knew you had a thing for that red-haired girl."
"No, no, no, it's the other way around. I don't like Cynzia, she's crazy and usually stalks me at times."
"Just like my other former girlfriend!" exclaimed Crunch.
"How many ex-girlfriends did you have?" questioned Cortex. Crunch began counting with his fingers. "Forget it."
There was a knock at the front door. Crash opened said door, and guess who it was?
"Congratulations Crash!" greeted Wander, the hero of Shadow of the Colossus. In his hands was a wedding gift of sorts.
"Leave," Crash slammed the door in Wander's face. A few moments later, PaRappa and his pal PJ Berri greeted Crash at the front door, both holding wedding gifts.
"Can y'all just leave me alone?!" Crash snapped.
"You shouldn't have upset Wander like that," scolded PJ.
"Bump that guy, he's not that relevant," said PaRappa. "What is relevant is the fact that Crash is getting married!"
"No I'm not, I'm cancelling the wedding," stated Crash.
"How can you? Some dragon dude planned the wedding, you'll have to speak with him."
"You know where I can find this dragon guy?"
"He's at his academy right now," responded PJ. "But he'll be here in town later in the afternoon."
"Chantex..." Crash thought to himself.
"Will his students attend as well?" PaRappa asked PJ.
"That's what I've heard from Kratos," replied the teddy bear.
"Enough talking," Grantor appeared at the front door. "We'll need to make some preparations for tomorrow."
"Man you're old!" PaRappa told Grantor. The badger gave the rapping dog a two-finger eye poke.
That evening, the guests invited to the wedding finally made it to Excalibur. They all gathered around at the train station with their supplies. The guests included individuals spanning from different gaming franchises - here's a list of the guests invited (besides PaRappa, PJ, and Wander):
God of War: Kratos, Athena, Zeus
Jak and Daxter: Jak, Daxter, Keira
Little Big Planet: Sackboy
Spyro the Dragon: Spyro, Sparx, Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, Agent 9, Hunter
Shadow of the Colossus: Mono
Sly Cooper: Sly Cooper, Bentley, Murray
Uncharted: Elena Fisher, Eddy Raja
Starhawk: Emmett Graves
Heavenly Sword: Nariko
Hot Shots Golf: Jasmine, Nick
Sony: Polygon Man
Doku Demo Issyo: Toro Inoue
Kingdom Hearts: Sora
Dead Space: Isaac Clarke
Brio and his employees were invited as well.
"You finally made it!" N. Gin greeted the guests. Kratos grabbed the cyborg by the neck.
"Take us to our rooms, mere mortal!" frowned Kratos.
"We must wait for the other mutants..."
"Other mutants?" questioned Emmett. "Cortex's baddies are in town as well?"
"Riku told me they're living at some badger's home," explained Sora. "Hopefully the badger will let us stay there."
"Forget the badger; where's Crash?" asked Sly. "I wanna speak with him for a bit."
"At the city park," replied N. Gin. "It's two blocks away from here."
"Thanks for the info. Anyone wants to come along?"
"I'll go," said Athena. Sackboy raised his hand.
"Alright then. Let's go!"
Crash sat near a lake at the Excalibur Park, throwing stones as the skipped across the water.
"Eight times!" Coco, who accompanied her brother during his time of despair, counted the many times the stone skipped. "I believe that's a new record!"
"Records are overrated," moaned Crash.
"Aw, come on, Crash, why don't you turn that frown upside down?" Aku tried to cheer up Crash. "Don't make me use my telekinesis on you."
Sly, Athena, and Sackboy spotted Crash and Coco, and caught up with the siblings.
"What seems to be the problem?" Athena asked Crash.
"The dumb wedding is the problem," murmured Crash. "Not to mention the person I'm forced to marry..."
"It'll be fine," assured Sly. "Just because Pinstripe stole your girl Tawna Bandicoot doesn't mean you have to be all melancholy."
"Tawna and Pinstripe are the least of my worries. That girl is the one always on my mind."
"So that must mean you like her."
"Ha! As if."
"Why don't you take a walk around the city, to take your mind off of things?" suggested Athena.
"Eh, why not." Crash got up and began his little trek around Excalibur, as Aku trailed along.
The guests all settled in and unpacked at Grantor's house, which now can be considered a mansion, since he has more rooms than even I could have ever imagine. Once she was finished unpacking, Nariko decided to take a little stroll around town, and she hid behind a post office mailbox as she heard some humming from a nearby outdoor flower shop. Crash and Aku, who passed by, were grabbed by Nariko and hidden behind the mailbox.
"What's your problem?!" asked Crash.
"Shhhh!" Nariko shushed Crash as she pointed to Azalea, who was buying flowers. But they weren't any normal flowers...
"Poisonous flowers...and four flower pots..." the cashier tacked away on the cash register. "That'll be...$49.99."
"Who sells poisonous flowers at a flower shop?!" questioned Aku.
"Aku, this is Excalibur," Crash reminded. "They sell handguns at a Babies-R-Us store."
"No wonder Pinstripe frequents that store so often..."
"Wander had spoke of a brunette buying mysterious items at every store," explained Nariko. "The fiend over there must be the person he was referring to."
"Thank you, have a nice day!" Azalea took the poisonous flowers and happily skipped off.
"We better keep her and her classmates in check..." stated Crash.
"Classmates? How many of them are there?" asked Nariko.
"At least eighteen. Hopefully they won't be as much of a problem as I hope."
We now take you to Brio's Deli, where Nathan Drake, perhaps Brio's most faithful employee, served Jak, Daxter, and Keira some lemonade.
"So what do you think?" asked Drake, as the three sipped their lemonade. They all had disgusted looks on their faces.
"The salt content in this lemonade is very strong," grimaced Keira.
"Strong salt content?! Sweet Tooth..."
"It wasn't me this time, I promise!" Sweet Tooth called out from afar.
Inez and Zeferino entered the deli; Zeferino held a rolled-up blueprint in his hooves.
"How may we serve you?" Drake rushed back to the cash register to serve the two.
"Give us both your best item," replied Inez. Drake handed the two students Philly cheesesteaks, and even offered to seat them at a table. Zeferino placed the blueprint on a nearby table as he went over what was on the blueprint, remaining as terse as possible.
"Those two look suspicious," Elena Fisher, who was chillin' near the cash register, told Drake, referring to Inez and Zeferino.
PaRappa and PJ were in a music studio, writing some lyrics for some songs they plan to perform at the wedding. Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9 would serve as the band.
"Will the performance even be a part of the ceremony?" asked Sgt. Byrd.
"Come on, there's gotta be some music!" smiled PaRappa.
"I'm talking about your song. I don't think it's necessary, considering you only spit lines from someone else that you follow along."
"Say that again!"
"Say what again?" Bentley joined the conversation. "You know deep down it's true."
"Why I oughta..."
Just before PaRappa went off, Keyon and Iseult entered the room, holding wedding programs.
"Wedding programs are now available mon!" Keyon handed out the programs, as the others glanced through them. PaRappa was exasperated.
"No song?!" he frowned. "Just a solo by these dorks to start the wedding?!"
"You hired us 'dorks' to perform during your crummy song in the first place!" stated Sheila.
"Best keep your mouth shut, or that dragon guy is gonna get ya!" added Agent 9. "Speaking of whom, where is he and what is he doing?"
"He's like, taking care of some important business," replied Iseult.
"Last time we asked you that, you said the same thing," said PJ.
"Is that a problem?" Iseult pulled out her spear.
"Easy, easy now, mon," Keyon calmed down Iseult. "We'll save all the fighting and whatnot after the wedding."
Wander and Mono had a little date at a French restaurant.
"I'm pretty sure Crash didn't mean it," Mono comforted Wander after the bandicoot allegedly upset him.
"He nearly broke my nose!" complained Wander.
"You should never trust Crash, I should know from experience," murmured Luigi, who sat at a nearby table. "Behind his charmed and lovable facade is a wily and demented individual."
"You just mispronounced facade, why should we even listen to you?" asked Mono. Indeed, Luigi pronounced facade "fa-KADE".
"Just hear me out! Crash is a good-for-nothing jerk, with no true ambition or anything. Y'all should never take him seriously!"
"Are you from the Big South or something?" questioned Wander.
"Never mind. I keep telling you these things, and yet you don't hear me. I shall leave now." Luigi headed to the exit door. "Head butt!" He headbutted the door, and even though he opened it, he injured his head in the process. Bentlye rolled up to Wander and Mono on his wheelchair.
"What's his problem?" he asked.
"Beats us," replied Mono.
Kratos, for whatever reason, was having an arm wrestling contest with Sackboy, which he won easily.
"No mortal can defeat me!" flaunted Kratos.
"Dude you were going up against Sackboy, he's pretty weak if you ask me," said Sly, who was a mere spectator. This made Kratos angry.
"You dare insult my strength?! Prepare to face the wrath of..."
Before Kratos could do anything to Sly, Crash, Aku and Nariko appeared.
"Did any of you stumble across anyone with an amulet around their neck?" interrogated Crash.
"No, but why?' asked Sly.
"They're up to no good," replied Nariko. "Those with the amulets were invited to the wedding, and we saw one of them buying poisonous flowers!"
"What does poisonous flowers have to do with the wedding?" questioned Kratos.
"We'll explain later on," said Aku. "But we must hurry!"
The six ran away, as Grutika watched through her telescope.
"Seems like they're on to us," she observed.
Ratchet, Spyro, and Toro Inoue were chilling in a pool, relaxing and such. Clank was the lifeguard.
"Ahoy mateys!" Behrab entered the area and dipped into the pool.
"Would you mind reading the sign?" Clank pointed to a sign, which explicitly stated the requirement of swimming gear.
"I'm a river otter, lad, I don't need any swimming gear! And what about these landlubber over here? He's not wearing anything!" Behrab was referring to Spyro.
"Hey at least I can breathe fire!" retorted Spyro.
"What difference does that make?"
Spyro roasted Behrab alive with his fire breath.
"I rest my case," said a scorched Behrab as he got out of the pool, leaving behind a note. Ratchet swam over and grabbed the note as it laid on the water surface.
"Entice Crash at all costs..." the Lombax read the note. "What could this mean?"
We now take you to Emmett Graves and Spike, who were in the mall looking for a tuxedo for Crash.
"How about this one?" Spike held up a red tux and showed it to Emmett.
"Look kid, for the last time, the groom never wears a colored tuxedo to his wedding!" frowned Emmett.
"You make no sense! After you told me that previously, I showed you a white tux. It wasn't really colored or anything, but you still rejected it!"
"White is a...just forget about it."
"Forced to find a tux for Crash, huh?" smirked Trent, who was in the same store as Emmett and Spike.
"Who are you supposed to be, some boy band reject?" questioned Emmett. "I can definitely tell by your stupid hair!"
"Better keep your mouth shut, or I'll have to raise the stakes at the wedding..."
"Stakes?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "What stakes are you talking about?"
"Guess I said too much...ah well. Everything will be explained tomorrow. I'll leave you two be."
And with that, Trent left the store.
While Emmett and Spike looked for the perfect tuxedo for Crash, Crunch, Murray, and Sora sorted through the "wedding gifts" - emphasis on the quotation marks.
"Why in Mr. T's drawers are these gifts wrapped up?" pondered Crunch. "This ain't no birthday!"
"Unless...it's the bride's birthday!" assumed Murray. "Gotta think of it, the lass is red-haired, just like Sora's lady friend and future wife..."
"Future wife?" Sora blushed. "What are you getting at?"
"Your cheeks are turning red."
"It's because my allergies."
"What could you be possibly allergic to?" asked Crunch.
"Uhh...wrapping paper?"
"Is that why you never get stuff for Christmas?"
"No..."
"I never get stuff for Christmas!" Murray blurted out.
"Uh that's good to hear Murray."
"You know what else is good to hear?" Charles popped out of nowhere. "The true secret behind the wedding..."
"Secret?" Murray became interested. "Do tell us!"
"I would, but it's not worth getting expelled...It's a long story. I shall leave now." Charles left the three.
Coco and Athena were present at the venue of the wedding, a ginormous chapel near a train station. in Ivoire. They were hanging up decorations for the wedding and whatnot, and Mildred was far away from the two, thinking about you-know-who. Or was she?
"May I help you miss?" one of the stadium groundskeepers approached Mildred, who was writing away on a notepad in secrecy.
"Back off!" Mildred rudely told the groundskeeper, not long before moving to a different spot.
"What's her problem?" the groundskeeper simply shook his head and walked away. Now back to Coco and Athena.
"Crash is really going to appreciate the decorations," Coco remarked as she hanged up said decorations.
"Why is Crash against marrying that red-haired girl?" asked Athena.
"She's a little crazy, but only when Crash is involved. On the flip side, she is highly introverted."
Isaac Clarke walked up and approached the two.
"You ladies care for a game of golf?" he asked.
"No we're still busy," replied Athena. "But thanks for asking."
The engineer walked away, but not before Mildred caught his eye. He peeked over her shoulder, and saw what she was writing.
"Those are some rather deep thoughts you're writing there," he commented.
"Oh thanks," Mildred sheepishly grinned as she relocated to yet another spot.
Clarke took Hunter and Bentley to a golf course in Arthurtown, where Jasmine and Nick were playing a game of golf. It was Nick's turn to golf, as he hit the golf ball with swift precision.
"SQUARE ROOT OF SIXTEEN!" Nick called a fore at an unsuspecting student managed to avoid the golf ball.
"Really Nick?" Jasmine scolded Nick.
"Just wanna see if they got the joke..."
"And if they didn't?"
"...Hopefully they picked the right insurance company...and the right lawyer."
"I believe this is yours," Zola walked up to Justin and handed him the golf ball. "It landed in the bunker. Make sure you aim next time, mmkay?"
"My apologies."
"Yo, what did we miss?" asked Hunter as he, Bentley, and Clarke walked unto the golf course.
"Nothing really, just some poor and lousy putting," replied Zola.
"You're golfing as well? Sweet!"
"Who, me? No, no, not at all, I'm just getting myself prepared for the wedding."
"It seems like everyone is attending the wedding," said Bentley.
"What exactly do you mean by 'everyone'?"
"Apparently the city's mayor is inviting all the civilians to attend. Kinda makes sense if you ask me, the venue's quite big..."
"Not only that, but they are also tickets for the event," added Clarke.
"Chantex allows this to happen?!" wondered Zola.
"I believe he spoke with the mayor about it," stated Hunter. "Though I could be wrong."
Frustrated and confused, Zola left the golf course.
Crash, Aku, Kratos, Sly, Sackboy, and Nariko reached the city hall, where the mayor was speaking with Chantex. The group went up the stairs and confronted the two.
"You gotta help us mayor!" Crash pleaded to the mayor. "There's a bunch of students in town, and they're..."
"Students you say?" said the mayor, before glancing at Chantex.
"I hope my pupils aren't causing that much harm," said the dragon as he held out his paw at Crash, expecting a handshake. "I'm Chantex, and it's a real pleasure to finally meet you...Crash Bandicoot."
Crash jumped back and got in a defensive stance. The others got on the defensive as well.
"So you're Chantex!" frowned Crash. "Is your little staged wedding some sort of scam?!"
"First off, bandicoot, this wedding was not my idea, and it's not staged," explained Chantex. "On a second note, how on earth couldd you possibly think it would be a scam?"
"Now, now, there's no need to fight," the mayor stepped in between Chantex and Crash. "Here's the deal: if I catch any of you fighting before AND during the wedding, I will ban you from the event. I'll extend this rule to the other invitees. Do you understand."
Both Crash and Chantex nodded.
"Excellent! Now shake each other's hands, so there won't be any bad blood between you two."
The two enemies shook hands, albeit reluctantly.
Nighttime fell in Excalibur, as Grantor's guests gathered around the badger's ginormous dinner table eating dinner, along with our heroes, the mutants, and Chick and Stew.
"I never knew Grantor had such an expansive kitchen," remarked Dingodile as he chewed his food.
"This feast is an utter disgrace!" complained Kratos. "There's not enough meat to fill my stomach!"
"Take what you get," said Ratchet, who was invited to attend along with his co-workers. Kratos got up so he could give Ratchet a piece of his mind, but not long before Athena sat him back down.
"Hey Crash, we found the perfect tuxedo for you," Emmett pulled out Crash's tuxedo. "Whaddaya think?"
"Eh, it's alright," Crash responded apathetically.
"Cheer up Crash," Coco tried to comfort her brother. "It'll be all over sooner than you know it."
Crash sighed.
It is afternoon in Excalibur, and the wedding was about to begin as everyone got seated inside the chapl, which was essentially big enough for most of the city's population. Grantor's guests - including the employees from Brio's Deli, the mutants, and our heroes - were on one side, and Chantex's students were on the other. Excalibur citizens filled up the rest of the seats.
"Where's Dave?" Chantex wondered. Indeed, the squirrel was not present.
"He says that he's having a very private meeting with the Alpha, or at least what he told me," explained Xavier. "He may not return to school for a certain amount of time."
"Hello and a cockle-doodle-doo to you all!" reported Chick, who were inside the dome. Yes, the wedding is also televised. "This is Chick Gizzardlips, along with my partner Stew!"
"Today is a grand day for two lucky people!" reported Stew. "Crash Bandicoot, a hero at the center of a certain prophecy, is forced to marry Cynzia Gessati, an introverted student at a prestigious school!"
"Chick you weren't supposed to say that..."
"The part about Crash being forced to marry? Well what else was I supposed to say?"
Crash was escorted to the altar by Cortex, against his will. Cynzia, who didn't have her sunglasses on, was escorted by Chantex. She looked lovingly into Crash's eyes as the two were on the altar.
"Don't think about it," Aku told Crash as he accompanied the nervous bandicoot.
Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Crash Bandicoot and Cynzia Gessati in matrimony commended to be honorable among all," said Langford, the officiant, "and therefore is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, passionately, lovingly and solemnly. Into this - these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together - let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
"I OBJECT!"
Everyone turned their attention to Fake Crash, who was wearing a tank top and blue jorts, not suitable for a wedding by any means.
"State your case, Mr. Informal Dresser," Langford gave Fake Crash his chance to speak.
"Think about this: if Cynzia marries Crash, then she'll be Cynzia Bandicoot. She's not even a bandicoot!"
"...That's your objection?"
"People will pick on her for not being the same species as Crash."
"Take that man out of here please!" Several officials escorted Fake Crash out of the chapel. "Now we will have our speaker come forth and deliver her message."
Mindy, the school's resident matchmaker, walked up to the altar.
"Love," Mindy began. "What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful. It has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love's spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots spreading into deep and mysterious days. The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving, and being loved."
Mindy cleared her throat as she was about to begin the second half of her reading.
"Only love can bring individual beings to their perfect completion, as individuals, by uniting them one with another, because only love takes possession of them and unites them by what lies deepest within them. This is simply a fact of our everyday experience. For indeed at what moment do lovers come into the most complete possession of themselves if not when they say that they are lost in one another? And is not love all the time achieving - in couples, in teams, all around us - the magical and reputedly contradictory feat of personalizing through totalizing? And why should not what is thus daily achieved on a small scale be repeated one day on world-wide dimensions? Humanity, the spirit of the earth, the synthesis of individuals and peoples, the paradoxical conciliation of the element with the whole, of the one with the many: all these are regarded as utopian fantasies, yet they are biologically necessary; and if we would see them made flesh in the world what more need we do than imagine our power to love growing and broadening, till it can embrace the totality of human beings and of the earth?...Thank you all for harking to my words. And for the record, I did not write what I just wrote."
Mindy promptly went back to her seat, as Langford headed back up to the altar.
"Well that was a mouthful," he remarked. "Up next we will be having the vows. These vows are like a sign of commitment, they keep man and woman inseparable. With these vows, the two standing before me are promising each other a lifetime of commitment, but most importantly, love. We'll have Cynzia start the vows."
Cynzia took a deep breath as she began her vow:
"I, Cynzia Gessati, take you Crash Bandicoot, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."
"Crash will now perform his vow," commenced Langford.
"Yeah right, I ain't gonna do it," Crash said defiantly.
"You better, they don't pay me enough to be the officiant..."
"Fine I'll do it!" Crash cleared his throat. "I, Crash Bandicoot, yadda, yadda, yadda, take you Cynzia Gessati, yadda, yadda, yadda, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, yadda, yadda, yadda, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, yadda, yadda, yadda, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part, yadda, yadda, yadda...and Keyon is the absolute worst best man in history."
Keyon wanted to fight Crash, but he wasn't at the appropriate setting to do so.
"Jarogniew, the ring bearer, shall come worth with the rings," Langford commenced as the hipster walked up to the altar with the ring case, accompanied by Azalea, who had flowers in her hands. Jarogniew opened up the case, and inside was a note.
"Surprise...?" Crash read said note before Azalea shoved the flowers - the poisounous flowers she bought the other day - near the bandicoot's nose, causing him to faint and prompting a collective gasp from the crowd.
"Now!" commanded Chantex as the "wedding gifts", which were sitting behind the altar, turned into Gloombreed. The Excalibur citizens ran out of the chapel screaming out of fear.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Sora donned his keyblade, as everyone else got on the offensive.
"You fools!" Chantex laughed evilly. "This was all a trap, to bring the bandicoot to us!"
"But why?" pondered Cortex. "I thought you had a great disdain for Crash!"
"Having the bandicoot in our possession would give us the ability to gather the rest of the masks!"
"And that is such a huge deal because?" questioned Coco.
"According to Dave, if you don't find the masks in a certain order, an apocalypse of sorts would transpire. However, with Crash, we could avoid said apocalypse, and fulfill The Dark Fate!" -insert dramatic music-
"Where is that music coming from?" Eddy Raja looked around.
"Now, Gloombreed, attack!"
The Gloombreed lurched at those remaining in the chapel, save for the students, who headed outside. The hooded figure, who was prevalent in Excalibur, entered the chapel, grabbed Crash, and dragged him away. Aku, who saw this, followed the mysterious figure.
"Where did that dragon go?" Daxter wondered as everyone easily vanquished the Gloombreed.
"Up there!" Yaya pointed at a gaping hole in the ceiling. "He must have flown out!"
"I'll go after him!" Spyro was about to fly out, but was stopped by Coco.
"Before you do that, we must nab his students first. Let's split up!"
Sly and his pals Bentley and Murray were in the Excalibur Museum - which was closed down for the wedding - searching for Chantex's students.
"Coco said that they have an amulet around their necks," Sly reminded his comrades.
"Did she say something about a dragon insignia on them?" asked Bentley.
"Yeah, why?"
Bently pointed to a brown Chantex amulet lying on the ground. Sly walked over and picked it up...
"Sly look out!" shrieked Murray. Sly dodged out of the way of a statue flying at him. The three thieves looked up, and saw Grutika, who had statues orbiting around her.
"I believe this establishment is closed," the fox snarled as she threw another statue at the thieves. Murray grabbed the statue and threw it back at Grutika, who was unguarded, causing her to fall to the ground, along with the statues.
"Trap her, Bentley!" commanded Sly. The turtle nodded and pressed a button on his wheelchair, launching a net at Grutika and trapping her inside.
"You won't get away with this!" vowed Grutika. "Besides, the marriage was only half of our plans!"
"Yeah whatever," scoffed Sly as he picked up a nearby phone to call a certain inspector.
Ratchet, Clank, Kratos, and Sir Daniel rummaged among the Ivoire coastline, where they found Behrab and his Ghost Pirates.
"That's him!" said Ratchet. "You two keep him occupied; me and Clank have a little surprise for him..."
"A birthday surprise?" questioned Dan.
"NO...Well, you'll see," replied Clank. "Now go there and do your job!"
So Kratos and Dan confronted the pirate otter, donning their swords.
"I smell a sword fight!" Behrab whipped out two pirate swords as he began to duel with Kratos and Dan.
"Not even a lousy otter can edge me in battle!" boasted Kratos.
In the middle of the sword fight, a volley of small missiles hit the Ghost Pirates, leaving behind several targets. Deadly shots rained down on said targets, decimating the Gloombreed. Behrab looked behind him and saw the destruction.
"Retreat!" Behrab ran off as Ratchet and Clank appeared next to Kratos and Dan.
"Harbinger?" Kratos said to Ratchet.
"Harbinger," the lombax smirked.
Trent stood on top of a radio tower, looking at the city's skyline.
"In just a couple of minutes the creature attack..." he said.
Unbeknownst to Trent, a purple pixilated head appeared behind him...
"Boo!" Polygon Man startled the blonde, causing him to fall off the radio tower and into Spike's net.
"Gotcha!" Spike managed to catch Trent with the net, before handing the next to Kong, who accompanied him. "You take care of the rest."
Kong smiled evilly at Trent, who was imtimidated by the mutant's smile.
Dingodile and Nariko traveled on Emmett Graves' tank, in search for Chantex's students. They saw Azalea in the city park.
"There she is!" said Emmett. "Everybody out!"
The three got out of the tank, and confronted the brunette.
"Left the wedding so soon?" smiled Azalea.
"Drop the act!" demanded Dingodile. "No villain should be as happy as you!"
"You must be truly mistaken if you think my cheery personality is some sort of facade. And since you think that way..."
The trees in the park turned into tree monsters at the snap of Azalea's fingers. Dingodile, Nariko, and Emmett took them out quickly.
"Is that all you got?" asked Nariko.
"Yes, or at least at the very moment," replied Azalea. "But no worries; the monster that's about to attack this city will take real care of you all!"
And with that, Azalea departed, leaving the three slightly uneasy.
"So have you and Kratos been getting along lately?" N. Gin conversed with Zeus, even though this was a time of peril.
"Not exactly," replied Zeus, who has no clue why N. Gin is holding this conversation in the first place. "You know how most sons can be..."
"Can we at least stay focused on the task at hand?" implored Sweet Tooth, who happened to tag along.
Suddenly a wave of sludge washed the three away. Xavier was responsible for causing this wave.
"Well that was easier than expected," he said. He turned around...
...and saw Zeus behind him.
"Lighting strike!" The ruler of Olympus struck Xavier with a lightning bolt, effectively knocking him out unconscious.
Sora, Sackboy, and Tiny lurked around the city hall to see if there was any student lurking. An arrow was hot at their direction, but Sora blocked it with his keyblade.
"Who goes there?!" shouted Sora. Charles made himself visible to the three, as she perched on a streetlight.
"Friends of the chosen one, I presume?" said the chameleon.
"Who, Crash? Why does that matter?"
Charles did not answer the question; instead, he fired more arrows, which Sora blocked with his trusty keyblade.
"Time to take matters into my own hands," Charles whipped out a makeshift keyblade and jumped to the ground, as he and Sora began to duel it out.
"This too much makes sense," commented Tiny. Kinda ironic considering his grammatical flaws...
While Sora and Charles fought each other, and the guests and minions teamed together to find the rest of Chantex students, our heroes searched through the chapel in search of Crash. They found the bandicoot - and Aku - in a separate room with the hooded person.
"May I use one of your feathers?" the hooded person kindly asked Aku. The floating mask held his erm, head down, allowing the person to pluck of a feather. The hooded person took off their hood, revealing a young woman with ombre hair. "Hopefully this feather will do..."
The woman put some sort of ointment on the feather, and held it near Crash's nose. Crash sniffed said feather, and rose up in an instant.
"He's okay!" cheered Aku. "How can we thank you...what's your name again?"
"It's Isabel," responded the woman.
"Ah, yes, Isabel, such a lovely name."
Isabel rolled her eyes.
"Crash!" Coco exclaimed as she and the others went to check on the bandicoot.
"Is the wedding over?" Crash moaned as he rubbed his head.
"Sort of," replied Tropy. "Turns out it was all a trap to get you to join Chantex's side."
"Right now the mutants and the guests are taking care of the students," added Yaya.
"Forget them, who's that fine lady over here?" questioned Cortex.
"Guess introductions are in order," said Isabel. "I am Isabel, and I've been..."
Isabel trailed off when she noticed Cortex staring at her lovingly. Nina dragged the N head away.
"Anyways, I've been lurking around here in Excalibur, searching for any crucial evidence regarding Chantex and/or his pupils."
"You know the guy?" asked Uka.
"Used to be a student of his. But it was a bit of a spy mission of sorts."
"Got here as fast as I could," Grantor entered the room, worried after hearing what happened to Crash. He saw the bandicoot, and rushed to him.
"About time you got here," remarked Crash. Isabel just stared at Grantor, like she knew him from somewhere.
"Have we...met before?" she asked the badger.
"I don't believe we have," replied Grantor. "Tell me your name."
"I-Isabel..."
"Alright then Isabel, tell me where you saw me before."
"You best were friends with Xuan and Yerofeyev..."
"How interesting that you know those two fellows."
"Well, I have known them since childbirth..."
"Yo!" Langford barged into the room, just when the conversation was about to get exciting. "Some giant monster is attacking the city!"
"That's cool," Crash sounded casual. "The guests got it covered."
"The monster also destroyed Brio's Deli!"
"Not my favorite restaurant!" Crash got up. "Come on, you guys, we must hurry!"
Our heroes headed down to the city square, where a giant lizard-like creature was destroying buildings and whatnot. Grantor, Langford, and Isabel were with our heroes.
"Woah Nelly that thing his huge!" exclaimed Langford.
"How do we stop it?" pondered Aku.
Suddenly a beam of light pierced through the giant lizard's chest, and it exploded, releasing the guests and mutants trapped in his belly (which were essentially all of them).
"That was easy - and a little underwhelming," remarked Fake Crash.
"Whuzzat?" Toro Inoue looked around and saw the town in lizard goo.
"Please tell me you guys didn't get swallowed up..." sighed Pasadena.
"Yeah, about that..." Pinstripe chuckled nervously.
"My apologies; I should have given a fair warning before I fired that shot."
Out of the lizard goo was Collator.
"Collator?" Fake Crash was puzzled.
"Collator?" Grantor was shocked.
"Collator?" Isabel was stunned, for some reason.
"Ah, Grantor, long time no see, old friend!" Collator was delighted to see the badger. "it seems you have Crash and company with you."
"They've been staying at home residence for some time now," explained Grantor.
"I must speak to the bandicoot at once. But first, we must clean up this mess."
After cleaning up the city, our heroes, the guests, and the mutants headed back to Grantor's place, where Chick and Stew held a big feast, relieving Grantor of having to cook. Crash sat in a room with Collator, who wanted to speak with him.
"I bet you're probably wondering how I know you and your friends," Collator started off the conversation. "You see, Crash, I'm a central figure of The Dark Fate-" -insert dramatic music- "and therefore I know everything about..."
Crash didn't listen to a word Collator say, since he was snoring. The glounce snapped his fingers and woke up Crash.
"You were saying something?" asked Crash.
"As I was saying, I'm a central figure of the prophecy you're a part of, meaning that I know everyone and everything that is a part of said prophecy."
"Sounds cool. What exact role do you have anyway?"
"I am the mediator for the chosen ones - or at least when they were around. Ever since they disappeared, I've been living at the home island until you Fake Carsh and Von Clutch came along, indicating that you were present in Gemstone Island."
"Must be a little tough to be the mediator."
"Did you know that I can also relieve curses?"
"You can?! Great, cause my guardian mask, Aku..."
"Grantor told me everything."
Once Aku was rid of his curse, Crash and Collator joined the others for the feast.
"It feels great to be normal again!" Aku smiled, now that his curse was gone.
"When were you ever normal?" joked Uka, receiving a glare from Aku.
"Whatever happened to Chantex and his students?" asked Crash.
"They sent a person to find you - that girl who did the introduction at the 'wedding' - but since she was unsuccessful at finding you, they left the city and let the lizard behemoth wreck the town."
"We also kicked the students' butts!" added Daxter. "Tood bad none of us could get our hands on the dragon!"
Crash looked to the dining room, and saw Isabel sitting on a couch by herself. He got up and sat next to her.
"There's some turkey and ham in the kitchen," Crash tried to entice Isabel.
"Yeah I'm not interested," Isabel tried not to look at Crash.
"Is anything bothering you?"
"Not really...It's just that...you guys...I'm not really who you think I am."
And with that, Isabel got up, and walked off. Kong walked by when he heard her say this.
"'I'm not really who you think I am'?" Kong reiterated. "She's an impostor or something?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Crash.
End of Chapter 29
We now take you to Chantex's academy. Since the plan to get Crash to join the dark side (non-literally speaking, of course) was a failure, it was time for Chantex to prepare for the next mission.
"It is time that we put the wedding behind us, and revert our focus on the masks," Chantex said to the eighteen silhouettes in the meeting room. "The sixth mask, the Mask of Courage, is located in Yaosu Terrace. I already have Effam, Xavier, and Zola stated to go, any volunteers?"
"Me," Zeferino, the magneta silhouette held up his hoove.
"I'll go as well," said Cynzia, the pink silhouette.
"Excellent! I will notify you about your departure time. Now that's taken care of, this meeting is adjourned...However, I want Behrab to stay."
All the silhouettes save for the blue one vanished.
"You wish to speak to me sir?" asked Behrab.
"Didn't you say...you saw the traitor in the city?" questioned Chantex.
Coming up next...
We learn more about Isabel, the strange woman Crash and the others meet. What could she be hiding?
