Chapter One
Beached Messenger
A calm sunny day on the shores of N. Sanity Beach was proving to be an absolute treat for everyone who lived now in the house of Crash and Coco. Deciding to briefly relax from their last battle, the crew had all agreed on a picnic down at the beach for a break.
The snoring was heard from Crash Bandicoot as he lay out in the shade of a palm tree, sand clinging to his orange fur, some of which was blackened slightly still from their last mission.
Coco Bandicoot lay nearby as she hacked away at her pink laptop computer, debugging a few programs of hers. Maintaining the power of the Time Weaver was not an easy task. It requires constant care or else the power of the machine could tear it-self apart.
Polar the polar bear cub and Pura the tiger cub were both busy splashing about in the lower tide and playing tag with one another. Neither seemed to care about much other than their own games.
Baby T, or Tina the tyrannosaur hatchling was digging about the nearby logs and bushes at the jungle's edge, searching for small creatures. Whenever she did, she would quickly wolf it down before it got a chance to escape.
And the two newest friends, the dragon twins Scorch and Spark were taking Crash's idea of snoozing, although the blue and pink dragons were sitting out in the sunshine. Since they had been brought back, Coco and Crash had noticed their true personalities.
Scorch liked to be in control. He had a thing about being the leader and bossing others about. He did know his limits, but he was at his most happy whence he was the authority. He got along well with Tina more than Polar or Pura, but then again, he was a reptilian creature and so was she, while the other two were mammals.
Spark was turning out to be quite a skittish creature, often sleeping on Coco's bed for comfort at night. She looked up to Scorch for protection most, but Coco was also someone Spark often turned to.
Coco sighed as she typed in the last line of her debugging, saved and pressed the shutdown button. A sickening crunch was heard from behind and Coco turned to see Tina, with a rat's tail hanging out of her mouth, her jaws moving up and down. "Errgh," Coco moaned. "Do you really have to eat that in front of me?"
Tina sucked in the tail and gave a hearty swallow and then licked her lips. "You are truly disgusting Tina," Coco shook her head as the young Rex giggled.
Crash gave a loud yawn as he awoke from his nap, stretching out his arms before he sat up. "What's the racket about this time?" Crash asked as he blinked a few times to clear his eyes.
"Your tyrannosaur decided to eat a live rat in front of me," Coco said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.
"Hey!" Tina protested. "It was dead by the time you turned around."
"But I had to hear the crunch."
"Hey! Whoa! Chill out girls!" Crash laughed. "There's no need to fight. I mean, what's the big deal anyway? Tina ate a rat near you, big deal! She'll be eating things so much larger when she's fully grown."
Tina blinked.
Coco whispered to Crash, "You don't intend to keep her that long do you? I mean, you saw what her father was like... What if she comes out like him?"
Crash suddenly remembered the frightening encounter with Tina's father, Tyrannataur. The beast had tracked Crash across the land, after him. But, the brute made a mistake of attempting to follow them over a small pathway over an active volcano.
The pathway had broken and Tyrannataur had fallen in. Tina did love her father, but did see his ending fit as he had endangered the entire world by giving into Uka-Uka.
To answer that, Crash had no idea. Did he intend to keep any of the animals that long? Polar's father Bearminator was brutal and strong, but he'd been frozen solid when Cortex's Ice Age Machine exploded and then was believed to have been shattered when the base came crashing down.
And Pura's mother, Tigeress had been a real nasty piece of work. She'd attacked them many times, playing cat and mouse, waiting for the perfect chance to attack. When she'd decided the time to kill them, she'd slipped and fell down a hole for Cortex's drilling rig, seconds before it was activated.
And as for Inferno, Scorch and Spark's father, he had hunted them down and attempted to kill Crash. He even attacked Scorch, his own young one to get at Crash. He met his end when Crash dropped the portcullis down on his neck... an accident for Crash had only wanted to knock him out, not kill him.
How would they cope whence the animals grew larger? Would they have to abandon them or send them away or what? Crash didn't want to think of that.
"Hey look!" Polar called out, he and Pura having paused the game to gaze out to sea. Scorch and Spark awoke to look out, while Crash, Coco and Tina turned and gazed out to the water.
There was a pod of dolphins out there, but it was unlike anything they'd ever seen before with dolphins that lived in these waters. A strange yellow harness sat on their body, smoothly made to match their bodies' natural flow. It looked like some sea snakes had clung to the body, their tails joining in the end.
But there was a dolphin, just like the others, only a lighter color, which was seeming to try and escape the others. But, the other dolphins were faster and had the dolphin encircled and where viciously beating it up with their snouts.
"That's horrible," Coco gasped as she watched the dolphin struggle to escape, only to be brutally smashed again and again. Her face screwed up in torment and anger. "I'm gonna stop it now!"
"What?" Crash asked, stunned as his sister blew past him.
Running down the beach a bit, Coco found her WaveRunner Jet Ski. Its awesome lime green and yellow colorings glinted in the sun as she dragged into the water. Ignoring the cries from Crash and the others, she leapt onto the vehicle and jetted out towards the group of dolphins, bouncing through the waves.
"Stop it! All of you!" Coco called out as she approached the aggressive mammals.
The attacking dolphins froze and turned to her, as the injured one managed to slip away, towards the shore where Crash and the others were. "It's one of them!" one of the dolphins cried out in mirth, its eyes full of evil glee.
"Get her!" another shrieked.
Suddenly, two dolphins smashed into her Jet Ski from behind and Coco was launched into the water where the dolphins were, with a startled squeal and then a splash. Submerged under the surface, Coco frantically attempted to paddle to the surface, but the dolphins began to attack her, ramming her with their snouts and forcing her deeper still.
Short on air, Coco began to weaken as aches appeared all over her body. She could not reach the surface, for these dolphins would not allow it. Her lungs were on fire and her bones felt brittle and weak.
'This is it,' she thought. 'I'm not gonna make it...'
She raised her arm as the dolphins continued to pummel her body, raising it towards the light, as she felt her life ebb away. Then, she felt something grip her arm. Summoning the last of her strength, she grasped as well and felt her-self being lifted upwards.
Gasping sharply as she broke the surface, the be-ragged bandicoot glanced upwards, her soaked blonde hair flopped over her face. There was her brother, Crash, rigged into the Copter-Pack, the propeller blade spinning rapidly, pulling her above the waters below.
Suddenly, the dolphins leapt up and grasped Coco's legs with their teeth. Coco screamed as the teeth dug into her flesh and she and Crash were pulled downwards, towards the surface.
Then suddenly, they started to ascend once again. Coco glanced up to see Scorch and Spark holding onto Crash and helping drag him skywards. One by one, the dolphins realized they were now fighting a losing battle against the bandicoots and let go. Crash and Coco ascended, Scorch and Spark breaking free to fly off on their own accord. Underneath them, the angry dolphins chattered and screamed at them, seconds before they disappeared beneath the blue blanket of the surface.
"Let's get you to land and Aku-Aku," Crash said as he looked at the bloody mess her legs were now in. He then used his free hand to push the control bars and pilot the pack back towards the shore.
"That was very foolish of you Coco," the female bandicoot heard as soon as she touched the warm dry sand. Turning, she saw the mask Aku-Aku floating before her, a scowl that resembled that of Uka-Uka upon his face. Even his feathers seemed to portrait his anger. A beam of white light shone from his eyes, striking Coco and healing her torn legs. "You should know not to rush off alone, particularly into water. You know you don't stand much of a chance if you're in the water your-self and cannot escape."
"Okay, okay," Coco protested as she ran her fingers through her hair, wringing out the water. "I screwed up okay.. But I had to help that dolphin.. What happened to it?"
Crash, who had just finished detaching the Copter-Pack from his back, pointed to the beach, where Scorch, Spark, Polar, Pura and Tina were waiting. The dolphin had actually dragged it-self onto the beach to escape the other dolphins, but it was still where the water gently lapped its body to keep it moist. It was a female dolphin and seemed a little above middle aged.
"Hey," Coco asked as she approached the dolphin. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," the dolphin panted feebly.
"What was going on out there?" Crash asked the dolphin. "And what's with this harness thing?"
The dolphin took several shaky breaths through its blowhole. "Thank you for saving me... but it'll only be temporary... they'll still come for me."
"Who?" Scorch asked as he used his wing to fling some more water onto the dolphin's body.
"We are slaves," the dolphin panted. "They use us... Control our minds with these harnesses... I was able to escape but they saw me... and came after me."
"But, who is doing this to you?" Coco asked as she knelt down next to the dolphin.
"I don't know... All I know is that we are their slaves," the dolphin gasped. "They take our young away and we don't see them again... My daughter was taken and I don't know where she is... Please you have to help us..."
"Of course we'll help," Aku-Aku answered softly. "What is your name?"
"My name is Gleam... and my daughter is called..."
"Look out!" Pura screamed as he rammed Coco out of harm's way as she stood next to the dolphin, the others tripping over their own feet in shock.
Exploding from the water was a huge head, full of teeth. It grasped the body of Gleam gently in its mouth, the dolphin screaming out, "Help us! Help us all!"
Then the massive black and white head of the killer whale retracted back into the water, an amoral chuckle heard from the beast as it and Gleam vanished beneath the waves.
The gang sat on the beach, wondering in confusion what was going on.
Beached Messenger
A calm sunny day on the shores of N. Sanity Beach was proving to be an absolute treat for everyone who lived now in the house of Crash and Coco. Deciding to briefly relax from their last battle, the crew had all agreed on a picnic down at the beach for a break.
The snoring was heard from Crash Bandicoot as he lay out in the shade of a palm tree, sand clinging to his orange fur, some of which was blackened slightly still from their last mission.
Coco Bandicoot lay nearby as she hacked away at her pink laptop computer, debugging a few programs of hers. Maintaining the power of the Time Weaver was not an easy task. It requires constant care or else the power of the machine could tear it-self apart.
Polar the polar bear cub and Pura the tiger cub were both busy splashing about in the lower tide and playing tag with one another. Neither seemed to care about much other than their own games.
Baby T, or Tina the tyrannosaur hatchling was digging about the nearby logs and bushes at the jungle's edge, searching for small creatures. Whenever she did, she would quickly wolf it down before it got a chance to escape.
And the two newest friends, the dragon twins Scorch and Spark were taking Crash's idea of snoozing, although the blue and pink dragons were sitting out in the sunshine. Since they had been brought back, Coco and Crash had noticed their true personalities.
Scorch liked to be in control. He had a thing about being the leader and bossing others about. He did know his limits, but he was at his most happy whence he was the authority. He got along well with Tina more than Polar or Pura, but then again, he was a reptilian creature and so was she, while the other two were mammals.
Spark was turning out to be quite a skittish creature, often sleeping on Coco's bed for comfort at night. She looked up to Scorch for protection most, but Coco was also someone Spark often turned to.
Coco sighed as she typed in the last line of her debugging, saved and pressed the shutdown button. A sickening crunch was heard from behind and Coco turned to see Tina, with a rat's tail hanging out of her mouth, her jaws moving up and down. "Errgh," Coco moaned. "Do you really have to eat that in front of me?"
Tina sucked in the tail and gave a hearty swallow and then licked her lips. "You are truly disgusting Tina," Coco shook her head as the young Rex giggled.
Crash gave a loud yawn as he awoke from his nap, stretching out his arms before he sat up. "What's the racket about this time?" Crash asked as he blinked a few times to clear his eyes.
"Your tyrannosaur decided to eat a live rat in front of me," Coco said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.
"Hey!" Tina protested. "It was dead by the time you turned around."
"But I had to hear the crunch."
"Hey! Whoa! Chill out girls!" Crash laughed. "There's no need to fight. I mean, what's the big deal anyway? Tina ate a rat near you, big deal! She'll be eating things so much larger when she's fully grown."
Tina blinked.
Coco whispered to Crash, "You don't intend to keep her that long do you? I mean, you saw what her father was like... What if she comes out like him?"
Crash suddenly remembered the frightening encounter with Tina's father, Tyrannataur. The beast had tracked Crash across the land, after him. But, the brute made a mistake of attempting to follow them over a small pathway over an active volcano.
The pathway had broken and Tyrannataur had fallen in. Tina did love her father, but did see his ending fit as he had endangered the entire world by giving into Uka-Uka.
To answer that, Crash had no idea. Did he intend to keep any of the animals that long? Polar's father Bearminator was brutal and strong, but he'd been frozen solid when Cortex's Ice Age Machine exploded and then was believed to have been shattered when the base came crashing down.
And Pura's mother, Tigeress had been a real nasty piece of work. She'd attacked them many times, playing cat and mouse, waiting for the perfect chance to attack. When she'd decided the time to kill them, she'd slipped and fell down a hole for Cortex's drilling rig, seconds before it was activated.
And as for Inferno, Scorch and Spark's father, he had hunted them down and attempted to kill Crash. He even attacked Scorch, his own young one to get at Crash. He met his end when Crash dropped the portcullis down on his neck... an accident for Crash had only wanted to knock him out, not kill him.
How would they cope whence the animals grew larger? Would they have to abandon them or send them away or what? Crash didn't want to think of that.
"Hey look!" Polar called out, he and Pura having paused the game to gaze out to sea. Scorch and Spark awoke to look out, while Crash, Coco and Tina turned and gazed out to the water.
There was a pod of dolphins out there, but it was unlike anything they'd ever seen before with dolphins that lived in these waters. A strange yellow harness sat on their body, smoothly made to match their bodies' natural flow. It looked like some sea snakes had clung to the body, their tails joining in the end.
But there was a dolphin, just like the others, only a lighter color, which was seeming to try and escape the others. But, the other dolphins were faster and had the dolphin encircled and where viciously beating it up with their snouts.
"That's horrible," Coco gasped as she watched the dolphin struggle to escape, only to be brutally smashed again and again. Her face screwed up in torment and anger. "I'm gonna stop it now!"
"What?" Crash asked, stunned as his sister blew past him.
Running down the beach a bit, Coco found her WaveRunner Jet Ski. Its awesome lime green and yellow colorings glinted in the sun as she dragged into the water. Ignoring the cries from Crash and the others, she leapt onto the vehicle and jetted out towards the group of dolphins, bouncing through the waves.
"Stop it! All of you!" Coco called out as she approached the aggressive mammals.
The attacking dolphins froze and turned to her, as the injured one managed to slip away, towards the shore where Crash and the others were. "It's one of them!" one of the dolphins cried out in mirth, its eyes full of evil glee.
"Get her!" another shrieked.
Suddenly, two dolphins smashed into her Jet Ski from behind and Coco was launched into the water where the dolphins were, with a startled squeal and then a splash. Submerged under the surface, Coco frantically attempted to paddle to the surface, but the dolphins began to attack her, ramming her with their snouts and forcing her deeper still.
Short on air, Coco began to weaken as aches appeared all over her body. She could not reach the surface, for these dolphins would not allow it. Her lungs were on fire and her bones felt brittle and weak.
'This is it,' she thought. 'I'm not gonna make it...'
She raised her arm as the dolphins continued to pummel her body, raising it towards the light, as she felt her life ebb away. Then, she felt something grip her arm. Summoning the last of her strength, she grasped as well and felt her-self being lifted upwards.
Gasping sharply as she broke the surface, the be-ragged bandicoot glanced upwards, her soaked blonde hair flopped over her face. There was her brother, Crash, rigged into the Copter-Pack, the propeller blade spinning rapidly, pulling her above the waters below.
Suddenly, the dolphins leapt up and grasped Coco's legs with their teeth. Coco screamed as the teeth dug into her flesh and she and Crash were pulled downwards, towards the surface.
Then suddenly, they started to ascend once again. Coco glanced up to see Scorch and Spark holding onto Crash and helping drag him skywards. One by one, the dolphins realized they were now fighting a losing battle against the bandicoots and let go. Crash and Coco ascended, Scorch and Spark breaking free to fly off on their own accord. Underneath them, the angry dolphins chattered and screamed at them, seconds before they disappeared beneath the blue blanket of the surface.
"Let's get you to land and Aku-Aku," Crash said as he looked at the bloody mess her legs were now in. He then used his free hand to push the control bars and pilot the pack back towards the shore.
"That was very foolish of you Coco," the female bandicoot heard as soon as she touched the warm dry sand. Turning, she saw the mask Aku-Aku floating before her, a scowl that resembled that of Uka-Uka upon his face. Even his feathers seemed to portrait his anger. A beam of white light shone from his eyes, striking Coco and healing her torn legs. "You should know not to rush off alone, particularly into water. You know you don't stand much of a chance if you're in the water your-self and cannot escape."
"Okay, okay," Coco protested as she ran her fingers through her hair, wringing out the water. "I screwed up okay.. But I had to help that dolphin.. What happened to it?"
Crash, who had just finished detaching the Copter-Pack from his back, pointed to the beach, where Scorch, Spark, Polar, Pura and Tina were waiting. The dolphin had actually dragged it-self onto the beach to escape the other dolphins, but it was still where the water gently lapped its body to keep it moist. It was a female dolphin and seemed a little above middle aged.
"Hey," Coco asked as she approached the dolphin. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," the dolphin panted feebly.
"What was going on out there?" Crash asked the dolphin. "And what's with this harness thing?"
The dolphin took several shaky breaths through its blowhole. "Thank you for saving me... but it'll only be temporary... they'll still come for me."
"Who?" Scorch asked as he used his wing to fling some more water onto the dolphin's body.
"We are slaves," the dolphin panted. "They use us... Control our minds with these harnesses... I was able to escape but they saw me... and came after me."
"But, who is doing this to you?" Coco asked as she knelt down next to the dolphin.
"I don't know... All I know is that we are their slaves," the dolphin gasped. "They take our young away and we don't see them again... My daughter was taken and I don't know where she is... Please you have to help us..."
"Of course we'll help," Aku-Aku answered softly. "What is your name?"
"My name is Gleam... and my daughter is called..."
"Look out!" Pura screamed as he rammed Coco out of harm's way as she stood next to the dolphin, the others tripping over their own feet in shock.
Exploding from the water was a huge head, full of teeth. It grasped the body of Gleam gently in its mouth, the dolphin screaming out, "Help us! Help us all!"
Then the massive black and white head of the killer whale retracted back into the water, an amoral chuckle heard from the beast as it and Gleam vanished beneath the waves.
The gang sat on the beach, wondering in confusion what was going on.