Chapter Five
Heated Battle
"Well, well, well," the sinister voice of Dr. Neo Cortex gloated as Crash turned around to see him, still wearing the crown and sitting comfortably in a comfortable throne. Dressed in his usual lab coat, the doctor's 'N' on his forehead glistened in the weak light of the room, through small patches in the tiling of the roof and from the weird items Neo chose to hoard here. "We are a clever bandicoot, aren't we? I never would have guessed you would have made it this far, but here we are again... Meeting under the same world domination circumstances."
"Only because you are the one who always sets up these schemes," Crash snapped.
"Well, well, well," Cortex smiled, ignoring Crash's insult. "I suppose you want to know why we are here in this time, in our attempts to rule the world."
"We? Our?" Crash babbled without thinking first.
"You always seem to forget bandicoot," a darker, more malevolent voice called out from above. Two glowing red eyes appeared as the mask Uka-Uka, the twin brother of Aku-Aku, lowered into view. Crash almost slapped him-self as he realized he'd forgotten about this evil entity. Black in coloration, three bones tied to the mask and vents of dark energy flowing from him, Uka-Uka was a force to be reckoned with. The mask continued, "That Cortex does not work on his own accord. Otherwise he is nothing more than a bumbling idiot."
"Hey!" Cortex protested.
"You are Cortex. Do you wish to argue against me?"
"No, my Lord," Cortex bowed his head and shut up, although it was plain to see, he hated the remark. The doctor glared up at Crash and grinned, "Anyway, my dear bandicoot guest... I believe we were going to explain our plot.
"In these times, the people are very superstitious. Only far too easy to make them think I am a God. And by doing so, I can be written down as a God in history. Then, when I return to the future, the world is ours, and you and your friends are extinct."
"But of course," Uka-Uka added, a wide, evil grin curled around his face. "We needed something that can make people identify him in the future."
"Ever read King Arthur?" Cortex chuckled. "We decided to do our own real 'Sword in the Stone' legend. Together with the help of Uka-Uka, I made this..." Cortex stood up and withdrew the sword that was sheathed to his belt. A fine sword it was indeed, except for the fact that the hilt was twisted and curved in an evil manner, the blade was black and dark energy was radiating from it. "Magnificent isn't it?"
"More like ugly," Crash answered. "A real sword would look much better than that."
"Like this bandicoot?" Uka-Uka laughed as a majestic sword appeared before Crash. It was covered in jewels on the hilt and the blade was clean. "Go on, take it..." Uka-Uka laughed. "We made that especially for you... You'll need it..."
Crash took the sword and held it cautiously. It was perfect in weight, size and everything else, as if it had been indeed made for Crash. "Why would you make me a sword like this? Why not just destroy me?" Crash asked suspiciously.
"Oh, only a very small and minor matter," Cortex snickered. "I want to test out this sword on you and saw it fitting to at least give you a fair chance. Although, since mine is full of dark energy, both you and your sword will be sliced in half in one go." And Cortex threw back his head and laughed.
"And my pitiful brother is not here to help you," Uka-Uka snarled.
"So, let's go Crash Bandicoot!" Cortex ordered. "I promise you will feel lots of pain."
Crash turned to face the door. But it was gone, a solid brick wall stood in its place. "No escape this time bandicoot," Uka-Uka snapped. "That is one of my many mystical traps; a one-way door."
Cortex gave a yell and charged at Crash, swinging his sword to end it all. Crash lifted up his sword, his eyes closed, to counter the attack although he knew it was pointless.
A bright flash of light and Cortex was thrown back, his dark sword clattered away. "What the?" Uka-Uka roared.
The benevolent voice of Aku-Aku appeared over them, even though he was not present, "How many times must I tell you brother... Good will always triumphant in the end. These bandicoots are under my protection and as they have opened their hearts to me, I have mine to theirs. My powers, are their powers and this, as long as you remain shrouded in darkness is something you will never understand. The true power... comes from the heart."
Crash opened his eyes to see that his sword was now glowing with pure good energy. His blade was a blade of undiluted virtuous intensity; no dark force could harm it.
Neo Cortex stood up and roared in frustration. He snatched up his dark sword off of the floor and charged Crash again. With another simple counter, Crash blocked the attack and Cortex was thrown to the other side of the tower.
After a stunning fourth failure, Cortex attempted to charge Crash one last time, ready to outwit the bandicoot with a deceptive attack, followed with a rebuke of Crash's block and then a low strike. The perfect plan to get at Crash and destroy him.
A enigmatic expression swept over Crash's face. Uka-Uka was able to read the expression and predict the bandicoot's anticipated move. "Cortex!" Uka-Uka shrieked. "No!"
But it was too late...
With a simple parry swipe, Crash severed the dark sword into two. Cortex was again blown back and screamed, "You fool! You simple-minded, brainless buffoon!" He stared at horror at the two shattered sword fragments. "Have you any idea of what you've done?!?"
"I've ended your attempt at world conquest," Crash grinned as he held out his sword.
"Uka-Uka!" Cortex shrieked as he glanced at the remnants of the dark sword, which was beginning to shake. "Let's get out of here!" The evil mask attached it-self onto Cortex's face, with a dark aura engulfing them both.
And as a portal through time opened behind them, the two beings spoke as one, "You realize Crash Bandicoot that all that dark energy was extremely badly compressed into that sword. With its sudden expulsion from the blade, it is now going to explode. It is completely unstable and now you are going to go boom with this entire castle. Farewell..." and with a flash, the two disappeared.
Crash glanced over at the dark blade. It was violently shaking, sparks now flying from the two severed pieces. Glancing around, Crash knew there had to be a secret exit here somewhere. Spotting a trapdoor underneath Cortex's throne with his keen eyes, Crash threw the chair aside and jumped down the hole, sliding down the ladder. He emerged from the portraiture of Cortex that they had past so many times, meaning he was now on the ground floor of the castle.
He had began to travel through the maze of passageways, when he heard the explosion far above him and a rushing noise of dark flames. The bandicoot began to fly down the labyrinth, knowing that the flames were pursuing him the whole time.
Glancing back, he saw the wall of black flames swiftly approach the start of the tunnel behind him and start in his direction. The flames were spreading throughout the castle, incinerating anything in its path and when all of the passageways became blocked with dark fire, the castle would blow up. And if he wasn't out and far away by that point...
"Gotcha!" a voice snarled ahead. Crash glanced ahead to see the young dragon Scorch pounce at him and wrestle him to the ground. Crash struggled, but the young dragon wrestled him down and into submission, attempting to engulf the bandicoot into the confines of his outstretched wings.
'This is it,' Crash thought as he fought the young dragon and heard the flames racing towards him. 'I'm a goner this time.'
"NOOOOOOOO!" Coco and 'Crash'/Spark shrieked as she saw the castle explode with a black flame from the far distance in their hiding hole cave. A few seconds later, the sound hit them. The explosion that shattered the entire castle to ruins. Stones flew as far as they were. She saw a stone strike Koala Kong to the ground, but the humor of the situation didn't pass the fact that Crash could have been in there.
She pressed the button on her communicator and called out, "Crash? Crash? CRASH!" But the voice message just said, "This unit you are trying to contact, is offline."
"Scorch..." 'Crash'/Spark muttered, her voice cracking. She remembered her brother was waiting in the dungeon for their father to return. He would not have moved for anything but the father. Was it likely that even he too, was gone?
She and 'Crash' stood there staring at the debris falling from miles around. Then, they both burst into tears. They bawled for a while until Crunch, a larger bandicoot with a metal gauntlet sneaked into the cave. At first, he startled them, but once Coco realized it was him, she threw her-self into his wide arms and continued to cry.
Crunch waited for a little while, comforting her, before he said to Coco, "Cortex has ordered us to leave. He says Crash was in the castle when it blew up. Is that true?"
Coco nodded, tears streaming down her face.
Crunch glanced back into the cave, "But, Crash is here..."
Just then, the potion wore off and Spark, in a shower of embers, reverted back to her normal self. Crunch staggered back in shock, but keep his feet and holding Coco.
Crunch glanced back out towards where the Commandos were grouping. Tiny was helping support Koala Kong up. "They'll come for me soon, so I'd better go. Listen, get back to Aku and explain the situation. He'll help you through it Coco. Don't stay here and mope around. Crash died in doing what was right. And you should be proud of your brother for this. I know I am and I know this is the reason Cortex fears him. Seek the guidance of Aku. He'll help you to no ends." And with that, Crunch let go of Coco slowly, so she stood to her feet and swiftly scrambled down and hurried over to all the other minions.
Coco glared at all of them. How she hated them all, even Crunch and Brio. She hated Cortex. She hated Tiny and Dingodile and Rilla Roo. She hated them all! She screamed in frustration, rage and sorrow. She'd kill them all for what they'd done to her.
Before she knew what she was doing, Coco was running down towards them, ready to take them all her-self. "Coco!" Spark screamed and chased after her. Coco didn't care if she was killed anymore, just as long as she took out several of the others before she was taken her-self.
But, before she could even reach their eye sight, there was a flash of light and they were all gone.
Coco released a cry of anguish and fell to the ground, pounding it with a fist.
Coco and Spark walked down to the shattered remains of the castle. It was barely even a skeleton of it's former self. Slabs of stone littered the grounds for miles. They passed the blackened remains of Inferno, still stuck underneath the portcullis, probably the only things still standing. Coco wondered what he was doing here. Spark was curious to why her father was dead.
"We'll find the bodies," Coco growled. "We'll find them, take them back and try to find some way to bring them back."
"But..." Spark argued. "Isn't that against the law of nature? Isn't death the end?"
"Crash and I have been against nature from the start!" Coco exploded. "Thanks to Cortex, we can fit no-where! We're not human, nor are we animal anymore! So I ask you, where do we belong?" She roared in rage again and angrily kicked a large black stone. A faint wheeze was heard from it. "What the?"
The stone had moved inwards from where Coco had kicked it and slowly reverted back to its original shape. Not only that, but a faint, familiar groan was heard. "Crash?"
Slowly, the stone opened up. The stone was in fact, Scorch's wings, blackened from the blast. Within, burnt, bruised and battered were Scorch and Crash curled up, but still very much alive. The two slowly stood up to their feet, Crash leaning on his sword, while Scorch shook the blackness from him-self.
Coco threw her-self at her brother and started to cry, while he helped support her up, while leaning on the sword he still had for support him-self. He glanced over at Scorch, who had Spark rubbing up against him in an affectionate way. And he seemed to be enjoying it as well.
"But... but... I don't understand," Coco stammered once she'd stopped crying. "How did you... survive that blast?"
Crash chuckled a little, "I wouldn't have if Scorch had decided to change sides."
"What?" Spark asked her brother.
"I found father," Scorch explained. "But he was extremely cruel. He did not care for me. Nor for you. He attacked me and was willing to let me die. I realized when I woke, still alive, that someone had saved me. And there was only one kind enough to do that. Then, I saw father dead. I was hurt, but I knew that, perhaps, friendship could be stronger than family in some instances. I remembered these two who were kind to us, although I lashed out. And so, I sought out Crash in the castle before the explosion."
Crash took over, "As it seems, dragons can survive extremely hot temperatures, the reason Inferno survived the volcano, he simply waited for the chains to melt then hauled him-self to a nearby ledge. He was weakened of course, just like Scorch here. Scorch smothered me and at first..." Crash slipped over a bit and Coco grabbed him to prevent him tumbling over. "Thanks. At first... I thought he was attacking me until he said 'Be still, I'm trying to save you!' And so, I let him cover us up and we were able to survive."
"And that sword?" Coco asked, seeing it glowing white as Crash leant on it.
"Long story," Crash answered with a barked laugh. "But to cut it short, Aku gave it to me. But," he grimaced. "I don't wish to keep it. It's power is far too strong." He stumbled over to a large slab of stone from the castle. He raised the sword high and jammed it deep into the rock, hot sparks flying as he did so. "There. Now no-one will use it in case they become corrupted."
Coco walked over and gave the sword a tug. "It's stuck fast."
Crash glanced over at the two dragon fledglings. Spark was now licking one of Scorch's deeper wounds. "You think, we should take them with us? I mean, we're their friends now..."
"Oh boy," Coco laughed. "At this rate, we'll be able to open a pet store. Yeah, alright. I suppose they've got no-where else to go, so lets take them home with us. Oh, and there's another reason..."
"What's that?" Crash inquired, his face curious at this odd pose by Coco.
"Well," Coco began. "You see, dragons don't live in our world right? This is because the last of them die out today... or at least, do not live in this time-span. You see Crash, we were intended to destroy the last of the dragon-kind. But, we maybe able to take Scorch and Spark with us and therefore, they stand a new chance in the future..."
Crash grinned. "Okay, C'mon you two," Crash called over the dragons. "We're going home. Back to our home, but you can call it your home too if you want to."
Spark stared at Scorch hopefully. "Yeah," Scorch smirked happily. "We'll come with you."
Crash and Coco walked over to the two fledglings. Coco pressed a button on her communicator, "Aku, bring us back now! The mission was a success!"
There was a crackling, then Aku-Aku's voice, "That's passage for two through time, coming right up."
"Make that four," Crash added to Coco's transmitter as his was busted.
"Four?" Aku-Aku's voice gasped. "Don't tell me you're picking up time hitch-hikers again."
Coco sniggered and answered, "Yeah, for four Aku. We'll introduce you when we get back."
"Okay, that's in five... four... three... two... one..."
A bright flash of light, and the bandicoots were gone...
"What are you doing that for Crash?" Scorch asked as he observed Crash doing the strangest thing he'd ever seen, just at the edge of their section, the beginning of the jungle. "Since when did you enjoy gardening?"
"Sorry Scorch," Crash sighed as he stood up, shuffling something with his foot carefully into the flower bushes that were planted there. "But this is just something I felt I needed to do. I'll explain it all and show it all to you and the others when you're older."
As Crash led the young dragon away from his secret patch, he was unaware that Aku-Aku had been watching. He read out the inscription on the tablet of stone Crash had hidden into the flowers to him-self quietly. "Dedicated to Inferno. The Last of the Great Winged Fire Lizards."
END
Heated Battle
"Well, well, well," the sinister voice of Dr. Neo Cortex gloated as Crash turned around to see him, still wearing the crown and sitting comfortably in a comfortable throne. Dressed in his usual lab coat, the doctor's 'N' on his forehead glistened in the weak light of the room, through small patches in the tiling of the roof and from the weird items Neo chose to hoard here. "We are a clever bandicoot, aren't we? I never would have guessed you would have made it this far, but here we are again... Meeting under the same world domination circumstances."
"Only because you are the one who always sets up these schemes," Crash snapped.
"Well, well, well," Cortex smiled, ignoring Crash's insult. "I suppose you want to know why we are here in this time, in our attempts to rule the world."
"We? Our?" Crash babbled without thinking first.
"You always seem to forget bandicoot," a darker, more malevolent voice called out from above. Two glowing red eyes appeared as the mask Uka-Uka, the twin brother of Aku-Aku, lowered into view. Crash almost slapped him-self as he realized he'd forgotten about this evil entity. Black in coloration, three bones tied to the mask and vents of dark energy flowing from him, Uka-Uka was a force to be reckoned with. The mask continued, "That Cortex does not work on his own accord. Otherwise he is nothing more than a bumbling idiot."
"Hey!" Cortex protested.
"You are Cortex. Do you wish to argue against me?"
"No, my Lord," Cortex bowed his head and shut up, although it was plain to see, he hated the remark. The doctor glared up at Crash and grinned, "Anyway, my dear bandicoot guest... I believe we were going to explain our plot.
"In these times, the people are very superstitious. Only far too easy to make them think I am a God. And by doing so, I can be written down as a God in history. Then, when I return to the future, the world is ours, and you and your friends are extinct."
"But of course," Uka-Uka added, a wide, evil grin curled around his face. "We needed something that can make people identify him in the future."
"Ever read King Arthur?" Cortex chuckled. "We decided to do our own real 'Sword in the Stone' legend. Together with the help of Uka-Uka, I made this..." Cortex stood up and withdrew the sword that was sheathed to his belt. A fine sword it was indeed, except for the fact that the hilt was twisted and curved in an evil manner, the blade was black and dark energy was radiating from it. "Magnificent isn't it?"
"More like ugly," Crash answered. "A real sword would look much better than that."
"Like this bandicoot?" Uka-Uka laughed as a majestic sword appeared before Crash. It was covered in jewels on the hilt and the blade was clean. "Go on, take it..." Uka-Uka laughed. "We made that especially for you... You'll need it..."
Crash took the sword and held it cautiously. It was perfect in weight, size and everything else, as if it had been indeed made for Crash. "Why would you make me a sword like this? Why not just destroy me?" Crash asked suspiciously.
"Oh, only a very small and minor matter," Cortex snickered. "I want to test out this sword on you and saw it fitting to at least give you a fair chance. Although, since mine is full of dark energy, both you and your sword will be sliced in half in one go." And Cortex threw back his head and laughed.
"And my pitiful brother is not here to help you," Uka-Uka snarled.
"So, let's go Crash Bandicoot!" Cortex ordered. "I promise you will feel lots of pain."
Crash turned to face the door. But it was gone, a solid brick wall stood in its place. "No escape this time bandicoot," Uka-Uka snapped. "That is one of my many mystical traps; a one-way door."
Cortex gave a yell and charged at Crash, swinging his sword to end it all. Crash lifted up his sword, his eyes closed, to counter the attack although he knew it was pointless.
A bright flash of light and Cortex was thrown back, his dark sword clattered away. "What the?" Uka-Uka roared.
The benevolent voice of Aku-Aku appeared over them, even though he was not present, "How many times must I tell you brother... Good will always triumphant in the end. These bandicoots are under my protection and as they have opened their hearts to me, I have mine to theirs. My powers, are their powers and this, as long as you remain shrouded in darkness is something you will never understand. The true power... comes from the heart."
Crash opened his eyes to see that his sword was now glowing with pure good energy. His blade was a blade of undiluted virtuous intensity; no dark force could harm it.
Neo Cortex stood up and roared in frustration. He snatched up his dark sword off of the floor and charged Crash again. With another simple counter, Crash blocked the attack and Cortex was thrown to the other side of the tower.
After a stunning fourth failure, Cortex attempted to charge Crash one last time, ready to outwit the bandicoot with a deceptive attack, followed with a rebuke of Crash's block and then a low strike. The perfect plan to get at Crash and destroy him.
A enigmatic expression swept over Crash's face. Uka-Uka was able to read the expression and predict the bandicoot's anticipated move. "Cortex!" Uka-Uka shrieked. "No!"
But it was too late...
With a simple parry swipe, Crash severed the dark sword into two. Cortex was again blown back and screamed, "You fool! You simple-minded, brainless buffoon!" He stared at horror at the two shattered sword fragments. "Have you any idea of what you've done?!?"
"I've ended your attempt at world conquest," Crash grinned as he held out his sword.
"Uka-Uka!" Cortex shrieked as he glanced at the remnants of the dark sword, which was beginning to shake. "Let's get out of here!" The evil mask attached it-self onto Cortex's face, with a dark aura engulfing them both.
And as a portal through time opened behind them, the two beings spoke as one, "You realize Crash Bandicoot that all that dark energy was extremely badly compressed into that sword. With its sudden expulsion from the blade, it is now going to explode. It is completely unstable and now you are going to go boom with this entire castle. Farewell..." and with a flash, the two disappeared.
Crash glanced over at the dark blade. It was violently shaking, sparks now flying from the two severed pieces. Glancing around, Crash knew there had to be a secret exit here somewhere. Spotting a trapdoor underneath Cortex's throne with his keen eyes, Crash threw the chair aside and jumped down the hole, sliding down the ladder. He emerged from the portraiture of Cortex that they had past so many times, meaning he was now on the ground floor of the castle.
He had began to travel through the maze of passageways, when he heard the explosion far above him and a rushing noise of dark flames. The bandicoot began to fly down the labyrinth, knowing that the flames were pursuing him the whole time.
Glancing back, he saw the wall of black flames swiftly approach the start of the tunnel behind him and start in his direction. The flames were spreading throughout the castle, incinerating anything in its path and when all of the passageways became blocked with dark fire, the castle would blow up. And if he wasn't out and far away by that point...
"Gotcha!" a voice snarled ahead. Crash glanced ahead to see the young dragon Scorch pounce at him and wrestle him to the ground. Crash struggled, but the young dragon wrestled him down and into submission, attempting to engulf the bandicoot into the confines of his outstretched wings.
'This is it,' Crash thought as he fought the young dragon and heard the flames racing towards him. 'I'm a goner this time.'
"NOOOOOOOO!" Coco and 'Crash'/Spark shrieked as she saw the castle explode with a black flame from the far distance in their hiding hole cave. A few seconds later, the sound hit them. The explosion that shattered the entire castle to ruins. Stones flew as far as they were. She saw a stone strike Koala Kong to the ground, but the humor of the situation didn't pass the fact that Crash could have been in there.
She pressed the button on her communicator and called out, "Crash? Crash? CRASH!" But the voice message just said, "This unit you are trying to contact, is offline."
"Scorch..." 'Crash'/Spark muttered, her voice cracking. She remembered her brother was waiting in the dungeon for their father to return. He would not have moved for anything but the father. Was it likely that even he too, was gone?
She and 'Crash' stood there staring at the debris falling from miles around. Then, they both burst into tears. They bawled for a while until Crunch, a larger bandicoot with a metal gauntlet sneaked into the cave. At first, he startled them, but once Coco realized it was him, she threw her-self into his wide arms and continued to cry.
Crunch waited for a little while, comforting her, before he said to Coco, "Cortex has ordered us to leave. He says Crash was in the castle when it blew up. Is that true?"
Coco nodded, tears streaming down her face.
Crunch glanced back into the cave, "But, Crash is here..."
Just then, the potion wore off and Spark, in a shower of embers, reverted back to her normal self. Crunch staggered back in shock, but keep his feet and holding Coco.
Crunch glanced back out towards where the Commandos were grouping. Tiny was helping support Koala Kong up. "They'll come for me soon, so I'd better go. Listen, get back to Aku and explain the situation. He'll help you through it Coco. Don't stay here and mope around. Crash died in doing what was right. And you should be proud of your brother for this. I know I am and I know this is the reason Cortex fears him. Seek the guidance of Aku. He'll help you to no ends." And with that, Crunch let go of Coco slowly, so she stood to her feet and swiftly scrambled down and hurried over to all the other minions.
Coco glared at all of them. How she hated them all, even Crunch and Brio. She hated Cortex. She hated Tiny and Dingodile and Rilla Roo. She hated them all! She screamed in frustration, rage and sorrow. She'd kill them all for what they'd done to her.
Before she knew what she was doing, Coco was running down towards them, ready to take them all her-self. "Coco!" Spark screamed and chased after her. Coco didn't care if she was killed anymore, just as long as she took out several of the others before she was taken her-self.
But, before she could even reach their eye sight, there was a flash of light and they were all gone.
Coco released a cry of anguish and fell to the ground, pounding it with a fist.
Coco and Spark walked down to the shattered remains of the castle. It was barely even a skeleton of it's former self. Slabs of stone littered the grounds for miles. They passed the blackened remains of Inferno, still stuck underneath the portcullis, probably the only things still standing. Coco wondered what he was doing here. Spark was curious to why her father was dead.
"We'll find the bodies," Coco growled. "We'll find them, take them back and try to find some way to bring them back."
"But..." Spark argued. "Isn't that against the law of nature? Isn't death the end?"
"Crash and I have been against nature from the start!" Coco exploded. "Thanks to Cortex, we can fit no-where! We're not human, nor are we animal anymore! So I ask you, where do we belong?" She roared in rage again and angrily kicked a large black stone. A faint wheeze was heard from it. "What the?"
The stone had moved inwards from where Coco had kicked it and slowly reverted back to its original shape. Not only that, but a faint, familiar groan was heard. "Crash?"
Slowly, the stone opened up. The stone was in fact, Scorch's wings, blackened from the blast. Within, burnt, bruised and battered were Scorch and Crash curled up, but still very much alive. The two slowly stood up to their feet, Crash leaning on his sword, while Scorch shook the blackness from him-self.
Coco threw her-self at her brother and started to cry, while he helped support her up, while leaning on the sword he still had for support him-self. He glanced over at Scorch, who had Spark rubbing up against him in an affectionate way. And he seemed to be enjoying it as well.
"But... but... I don't understand," Coco stammered once she'd stopped crying. "How did you... survive that blast?"
Crash chuckled a little, "I wouldn't have if Scorch had decided to change sides."
"What?" Spark asked her brother.
"I found father," Scorch explained. "But he was extremely cruel. He did not care for me. Nor for you. He attacked me and was willing to let me die. I realized when I woke, still alive, that someone had saved me. And there was only one kind enough to do that. Then, I saw father dead. I was hurt, but I knew that, perhaps, friendship could be stronger than family in some instances. I remembered these two who were kind to us, although I lashed out. And so, I sought out Crash in the castle before the explosion."
Crash took over, "As it seems, dragons can survive extremely hot temperatures, the reason Inferno survived the volcano, he simply waited for the chains to melt then hauled him-self to a nearby ledge. He was weakened of course, just like Scorch here. Scorch smothered me and at first..." Crash slipped over a bit and Coco grabbed him to prevent him tumbling over. "Thanks. At first... I thought he was attacking me until he said 'Be still, I'm trying to save you!' And so, I let him cover us up and we were able to survive."
"And that sword?" Coco asked, seeing it glowing white as Crash leant on it.
"Long story," Crash answered with a barked laugh. "But to cut it short, Aku gave it to me. But," he grimaced. "I don't wish to keep it. It's power is far too strong." He stumbled over to a large slab of stone from the castle. He raised the sword high and jammed it deep into the rock, hot sparks flying as he did so. "There. Now no-one will use it in case they become corrupted."
Coco walked over and gave the sword a tug. "It's stuck fast."
Crash glanced over at the two dragon fledglings. Spark was now licking one of Scorch's deeper wounds. "You think, we should take them with us? I mean, we're their friends now..."
"Oh boy," Coco laughed. "At this rate, we'll be able to open a pet store. Yeah, alright. I suppose they've got no-where else to go, so lets take them home with us. Oh, and there's another reason..."
"What's that?" Crash inquired, his face curious at this odd pose by Coco.
"Well," Coco began. "You see, dragons don't live in our world right? This is because the last of them die out today... or at least, do not live in this time-span. You see Crash, we were intended to destroy the last of the dragon-kind. But, we maybe able to take Scorch and Spark with us and therefore, they stand a new chance in the future..."
Crash grinned. "Okay, C'mon you two," Crash called over the dragons. "We're going home. Back to our home, but you can call it your home too if you want to."
Spark stared at Scorch hopefully. "Yeah," Scorch smirked happily. "We'll come with you."
Crash and Coco walked over to the two fledglings. Coco pressed a button on her communicator, "Aku, bring us back now! The mission was a success!"
There was a crackling, then Aku-Aku's voice, "That's passage for two through time, coming right up."
"Make that four," Crash added to Coco's transmitter as his was busted.
"Four?" Aku-Aku's voice gasped. "Don't tell me you're picking up time hitch-hikers again."
Coco sniggered and answered, "Yeah, for four Aku. We'll introduce you when we get back."
"Okay, that's in five... four... three... two... one..."
A bright flash of light, and the bandicoots were gone...
"What are you doing that for Crash?" Scorch asked as he observed Crash doing the strangest thing he'd ever seen, just at the edge of their section, the beginning of the jungle. "Since when did you enjoy gardening?"
"Sorry Scorch," Crash sighed as he stood up, shuffling something with his foot carefully into the flower bushes that were planted there. "But this is just something I felt I needed to do. I'll explain it all and show it all to you and the others when you're older."
As Crash led the young dragon away from his secret patch, he was unaware that Aku-Aku had been watching. He read out the inscription on the tablet of stone Crash had hidden into the flowers to him-self quietly. "Dedicated to Inferno. The Last of the Great Winged Fire Lizards."
END