"Oh, she's waking up!" A voice came from my right.
Owwww…my head…how hard did I hit it? I lift my torso up off the bed to see a blue haired bandicoot sitting beside me.
"Not so fast, Miss." The blue haired bandicoot held my body back.
"Where am I? Who are you?" I ask her.
"Wumpa City and my name is Megumi" Megumi introduces herself.
So, I did make it to the city…
"How did I get here?" I ask.
"Oh, you crashed into my backyard, and you hurt yourself quite a bit and you passed out when I found you so I carried you into my guest bedroom until you woke up" Megumi explained.
"Oh, thanks for that" I thanked her.
"You're welcome. But, what made you crash into my backyard?" Megumi asks.
"Um, I escaped from a Castle burning on fire on an island and then a teleported got me high in the sky and crashed" I explain what happened.
"How come you didn't use your wings?" Megumi asks.
"I don't really know how to fly" I confess.
Megumi giggles at this
"That's silly now isn't it?" Megumi smiled at me.
"I guess so, so um…what now?" I ask Megumi.
My stomach rumbles…I don't think I've eaten since before the escape.
"We'll make some breakfast, well, Ami is going to anyway, I better go tell her, you stay here" Megumi says as she exits through the door.
I look around the room, light blue walls, a window looking out towards the city, a few framed photos of some people and other animals that I didn't recognize but I did see Megumi in a few of them always putting that two fingered pose up and having a smile on her face, and the bed has white and blue sheet colours.
I am so used to cages and castle walls that all of this felt…weird, I was half expecting one of the doctors to come through the door ready for the next experiment. But instead, Megumi came back.
"Ami's cooking now, I hope you like pancakes." Megumi smiles at me.
"Uh, sure" I nod.
"So, what is your name?" Megumi asks me.
"Clara" I answer.
"That's a nice name, so, how did you end up here again?" Megumi asks.
"That's a bit of a story, short version, I was one of many experiments by Dr. Cortex, I escaped thanks to another subject named Crash Bandicoot setting the entire castle on fire, got guided to a teleporter by a magic mask, but said teleporter sent me here in the sky and since I don't know how to fly, I fell down and crashed." I explain what happened.
"Dr. Cortex!? You were experimented by him?" Megumi covers her mouth in shock.
"Yes, do you know him?" I ask her.
"I've heard of him…the whole world has heard of him, he's been wanted all over the world for his crimes…and you escaped him?" Megumi answers my question.
"Yes" I nodded.
I found myself wrapped in a very tight hug.
"M-Megumi! Too tight!" I manage to get out while my bones were crushing.
"Oh, sorry!" Megumi lets go of me.
"You hug really tight…" I say.
"Sorry, it's just, on the news they say he's up to no good, plans of world domination" Megumi tells me.
"He was up to world domination…I'm not sure what happened after Crash bandicoot went to face Dr. Cortex, but a blimp was flying away and I did hear a scream…maybe he succeeded, maybe he failed?" I shrugged.
Megumi looks like she was thinking as I saw a green haired bandicoot come in holding a plate of pancakes.
"Hey, finally awake huh? I'm Ami" the new girl greeted me.
"Clara" I introduce myself.
"Nice to meet ya, you sure took a fall, huh?" Ami says
"Uh, yeah." I nod, not really sure what to say.
"Well, here's your food and I'll leave you and Megumi to talking." Ami says.
I watch Ami leave as I had pancakes in front of me to eat. I decided to eat the pancakes although it was a little distracting with Megumi sitting beside me.
"Are they yummy?" Megumi asks me.
"They are, thank you" I tell her I liked them.
They are good pancakes, I feel better, especially since I haven't eaten since the castle escape. Come to think of it…I hope all the other experiments got out okay…
"So, I've been thinking, if you were kidnapped by Dr. Cortex…does this mean you don't have a home?" Megumi asks me.
"Yeah I suppose I don't really have one" I say after a little bit of thought.
"Well, why don't you stay with me? You can be my roomie!" Megumi suggests.
Did she just offer…for me to stay after what? 10-20 mins of talking to her?
"But I don't have anything to offer, that's how it works right?" I protest this.
"Sure you don't silly, but you don't have anywhere to go and what person would I be if I didn't help a fellow bandicoot in need?" Megumi explains herself.
"I uh…." I have no idea what to say to this.
"You could say thank you, you know?" Ami says from the doorway
"Well….thank you" I thanked Megumi.
"So, new roomie huh? Hope you're not a messy one, Megumi loves being clean" Ami says
"My former home was a cage in a castle, I'll try my best" I say to Ami.
"How small was it?" Ami asks.
"Ami! You don't ask someone who's escaped from Dr. Cortex how small their cage was!" Megumi scolds Ami.
"It was very small, you can't extend your feel fully, it's even worse when you have wings" I answer the question.
"That's horrible! Well that settles it, you're stay with me and there will be no cramped cages!" Megumi is shocked to hear this.
"Are you sure?" I ask her.
"Of course" Megumi smiles at me.
"Can't argue with her now, her mind is made up" Ami says.
"So what now?" I ask the pair of them.
"Well let's show you around the house…you can walk and all that right?" Ami answers.
"Of course I can" I say.
I move the sheets off me, my gloves and shoes were to my side as I put them on…my jumpsuit was a bit of a mess and my hair was all over the place but…this will do for now. Megumi stands up and exits behind Ami as I follow them.
The house has a bathroom, a living room area, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet and all of it had a light blue colour mixed with white along it, Megumi must really like these colours. I wonder what Ami's house would look like? Would she go full Green and Yellow like she's wearing?
"So, what now Megumi, do I just stay here?" I ask.
Megumi answers by sniffing me.
"You need a shower, I didn't notice before but you really smell" Megumi points out.
"And you need new clothes, those ones are all ripped up, and you can't go out in public with that." Ami says.
I look down, my grey-ish jumpsuit was all worn out and torn everywhere, I guess my landing didn't improve my outfit's quality. I sniff myself and Megumi was right, I smell awful.
"How long have you been wearing that?" Ami asks me.
"Probably a long time, Dr. Cortex doesn't exactly promote fashion…or hygiene" I answer the question.
"Well, we'll have to give you some new clothes, you can't use those clothes anymore, they're too damaged…I think so of my clothes might be able to fit you" Megumi says.
"There's kind of one problem with that Megumi" Ami points out.
"What's that Ami?" Megumi wonders.
"Her wings, how do you fit wings on a t-shirt?" Ami points to my wings.
I flapped my wings a bit, Ami raises a good point.
"How did you get that on then?" Megumi asks me.
"I don't know, I was unconscious when Dr. Cortex and Dr. Brio gave me Bird DNA and grew my wings…I kinda woke up with this outfit" I answer.
"Remind me if I ever meet that guy to kick him in the nuts" Ami says.
"Why?" I ask.
"He experimented on you, basically undressed and dressed you, and locked you in a cage. Honestly, that's a bit too weak for him…we still need an outfit for you" Ami says
"Well we could make some holes for her wings to go in" Megumi suggests.
"Well we ain't got better…Clara, go shower, me and Megumi will find some clothes for ya" Ami says.
I nod and head to the bathroom where the shower is and close the door behind me, I go to unzip my jumpsuit before I realize a problem…how do I get my wings out? I unzip my jump suit my wings are stuck, and they won't get out.
"Megumi! Can you help me?" I call out.
Megumi came through the door and noticed how I looked.
"Oh, are your wings stuck?" Megumi asks me.
"Yes, can you help me? I can't really budge them." I explain my trouble.
"Sure thing!" Megumi says
I felt Megumi getting my wings off my shirt slowly but surely, it's very hard to move my wings out from these by myself so I am grateful for Megumi's help. Until she touched the base of my wings and it's super sensitive soooo…
"Ahhh!" I let out surprised sound.
"Oh, are you okay?" Megumi asks as I fell to my knees
"Y-You touched my sensitive spot" I explain.
Megumi is blushing and I realize I kind of told her she may as well have touched my private parts…
"You didn't know Megumi, But um...please don't touch that low…upper wings are fine but not lower." I explain to Megumi.
"Okay" Megumi nods.
Thankfully the rest of my torn jumpsuit came off easily after the wings came off and I got in the shower as Megumi left, thankfully showering is much easier and I can scrub my wings alright so I actually felt clean for the first time…in forever.
"Clara, I got you some clothes, I hope they fit" Megumi calls out.
"Thanks Megumi" I thank her as she exits.
I finished my shower and got into the clothes Megumi gave me, white pants and a light Blue Tank top. Thankfully I can just get my wings to get through. The shoes didn't fit as they were too tight and the pants and tank top were a bit tight too but I managed to be clothed at least. Once done I went to talk to Megumi and Ami.
"Hey Megumi" I got her attention.
"Oh, did they fit?" Megumi asks as she looks at me.
"Shoes didn't and these are a bit tight, but they fit" I tell her.
"Well you are a bigger girl than me…also I'm really thin" Megumi says.
"Somehow" Ami mutters.
"We're gonna need to get some clothes for you, Clara" Megumi tells me.
"Yes, but she still can't go like that…the clothes are too tight for her" Ami says.
"Hmmm…good point, ooh! I'll measure you, hang on one second…" Megumi says her idea.
I watch as Megumi gets a tape measure and measures all around me…is it bad that I feel a bit self-conscious right now? She measured my legs, my waist, head to toe, and even my wings and she wrote all the information down, every single bit of it.
"Breaking news!" the TV next to us catches my attention.
I look and it's a video of Cortex's Burning Castle!
"The base of Worldwide Criminal, Dr. Neo Cortex was found yesterday afternoon on fire in the Wumpa Islands…"
"That's the castle!" I pointed at the TV.
"That's where he kept you!?" Megumi looks in shock
"Yes" I nod.
"Shhh!" Ami shushes us.
"…many of the experimented subjects of Dr. Cortex escaped and were picked up, however there are a few unaccounted for subjects whose whereabouts are unknown. If anyone has any information regarding these subjects or the location Dr. Neo Cortex, please call this number…"
So, the other experiments did escape! This makes me so happy! But…there are some unaccounted ones…me included…did they fail or were they already gone? I know Crash Bandicoot and Tawna had to have escaped…I hope they're all okay.
"How come you weren't picked up by them, and…how did you get here so fast?" Ami asks me.
"Teleporter I found on Great Tree Island…teleported me into the air though" I answer.
"Well, I should get your clothes in the meantime, any colour preferences?" Megumi asks me.
"I don't know, I'm not exactly a fashion expert" I shrug.
"Okay, I'll be back soon, Ami will be here though, she's a great friend, trust me" Megumi says.
I watch Megumi leave and enter a car out the window and within a minute she disappeared down a road. My thoughts went back to the castle, most escaped…but Dr. Cortex is still out there…which means…did Crash Bandicoot really win? No, I heard the scream and it sounded like Cortex…but they didn't find any bodies, did they? Maybe Cortex survived and escaped.
Somehow, I know he has to be still out there…I just hope he hasn't got his sights on getting subjects back, still I hope he's nowhere near…
…
Elsewhere in an unknown location…
Dr. Neo Cortex is currently flying in a hovercraft of his own creation over the ocean, next to him was a pink crystal, not just any old crystal, it was the Master Crystal, soon to be a key in Dr. Cortex's revenge.
"Blasted Bandicoot! How did I lose to my own creation? My whole base is on fire, the authorities are now all over it, I've lost my trophy wife, and all my world domination plans are in ruin! All because of that infernal bandicoot!" Dr. Cortex complained out loud.
Dr. Cortex would now have to start from scratch, the news report said the subjects escaped. Cortex knew Brio fell off the castle and was nowhere to be found, Pinstripe was defeated and top of it all, the dread of what would happen should the locked Uka Uka find out what has transpired…which means…Dr. Cortex would have to call up a collegue to help him out: N. Gin. A little on the insane side but loyal to Dr. Cortex as he starts calling him.
"Heh heh, Dr. Cortex, you rang?" 's voice sounds through the phone.
"Yes , Unfortunately, I have hit a quite a few unfortunate setbacks, I am heading to your base now as I do need your assistance." Cortex growls in annoyance when he mentions setbacks.
"Of course, Dr. Cortex heh heh, what are we going to build?" asks.
"Oh, I have a few ideas, but we'll discuss it when we get there, for now I am baseless and I already have some plans to get back at that bandicoot! I shall be there shortly, Cortex out!" Cortex grins in a evil way.
Dr. Cortex grins, sure the bandicoot somehow stopped him, but Cortex has the Master Crystal and he still has some Lab assistants around the world and thankfully, Cortex has tracking chips thanks to his incredible foresight and his screen was showing blips near the Wumpa Islands, and even one particular one in Wumpa City…he'll have to go for the lone ones first…brainwash them to his will and then retake the others.
"Soon, this will all be worth it" Cortex laughed to himself.
Cortex grins, and sends a message to his lab assistants, it's time to start cooking up the revenge plan…