Author's notes: Thanks for all of the reviews! I can't believe how many
I've gotten for the story!
Note to Raiegki Leviathan: Thanks for sticking up for me against the flame. But don't worry, she didn't faze me at all. In fact, I actually enjoyed the flame, because it was the first one I ever, EVER got (besides one for my first fic because the guy didn't like the pairing)! And yeah, I got that N. Gin joke from the Emperor's New Groove. I remembered laughing my head off at that joke and realized that it was too good to pass up! Although it's not the only joke I used. Dingodile's 'mirror' trick with Rilla Roo is based off of a Marx Bros. bit.
For those of you who may be confused with my selection of baddies to reform, let me explain. Like Raiegki said, Dingodile and Tiny joined Crash's side in Crash Bash, but unfortunately, that was Naughty Dog's last Crash game, so that plot element didn't stick. But one of the reasons I liked the game was the fact that two of my favourite Crash baddies were on the good side! And the reason Ripper Roo is on the good side is because we haven't heard from the poor guy in such a long time that I decided to put him to good use. As for Fake Crash, he joined Crash in Crash Bandicoot 2 for the GBA, which pretty much gave it away that he became good. Even in Crash Nitro Kart, FC is an unlockable character for Crash's team.
Anyway, onto the story!
Chapter six: Reunited
Dingodile groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He was instantly greeted with the unfriendly glow of a lamp hanging from the ceiling of the room he was in. He quickly closed his eyes again, wondering how long he had been out for. He tried to shield his eyes with his arm, but quickly realized that he couldn't move it. Come to think of it, he couldn't move his other arm either, and it felt like he was sitting on a chair.
Dingodile moaned. Cortex's goons had tied him to a chair.
Soon, Dingodile's eyes were well enough to open against the bright light coming from the lamp. He looked around. He was in a small room with a door behind him. The only piece of furniture in the room was the chair he was currently bound to. Dingodile looked around for his flame-thrower and spotted it sitting in the corner of the room, clearly out of his reach. He growled as he thought of some ways to get out of this situation.
Minutes passed. Dingodile had tried almost everything. He tried snapping through the ropes using his strength, but the ropes were simply too strong for Dingodile to make the attempt. Dingodile couldn't bite any of the ropes, as none of them were within reach of his jaw. Pretty much the only thing he hadn't tried was topple the chair onto its side and inch his way to his flame-thrower, activating it to burn off the ropes around his wrists. Dingodile, however, didn't want to try this theory. Sure, he could set the thing to fire a quick burst of fire so it wouldn't burn his fur off, but lately, the flame-thrower had been acting up, so anything could happen.
Dingodile muttered something under his breath, directing it mainly at himself. He couldn't believe that he could let himself get captured so easily. All because he took his eyes off that stupid koala for a second.
Dingodile had been so wrapped up in blaming himself and Cortex's cronies that he never heard the door to the room open and close.
The female bandicoot pressed her ear against the door, listening for the Komodo Bros. to pass. Once she heard their footsteps fade away, Coco exhaled in relief. She was about to leave when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye that look remarkably similar to Dingodile's flame- thrower. Looking into the room, Coco instantly spotted something that made her heartbeat stop: The one who supposedly died trying to protect her was alive, tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Both hands flew to Coco's mouth to prevent herself from gasping.
When she finally overcame the shock, Coco released her grip on her mouth, although her eyes were wide and her mouth was open, the shock clear on the face. She slowly and quietly walked up behind Dingodile as she heard him scold himself.
"I can't believe myself." Dingodile muttered. "I break into Cortex's castle and wallop Rilla Roo with no problem, but then I lose to a bunch of cheating freaks." He sighed sadly. "I've failed her. I can't believe I failed Coco."
As Coco heard that, her shocked expression became one of disbelief. The corners of her mouth slightly turned up, turning her open mouth into a shocked smile. Dingodile was under the impression that she was dead, and fought as hard as he could to avenge her? She was touched. The mere thought of what Dingodile felt when he thought she was dead made a lone tear run down her face.
"You didn't fail me, Dingodile." Coco said gently. "I just hope you haven't told anyone that I died yet."
Dingodile's head snapped up, his eyes widening just as fast. {That voice!} He thought. {Could it be her?}
Slowly looking over his shoulder, Dingodile found himself staring into the kind and beautiful eyes of the girl he loved. The girl he thought had been murdered.
"Coco?" Dingodile asked, tears starting to form, half from happiness, half from disbelief.
"Yes, Dingodile." Coco replied, instantly starting to untie his hands. "It's me."
Once Dingodile was free, he stood up and turned around to stare at Coco with wide eyes, with Coco giving him a similar glare.
"I...I don't believe it." Dingodile said. "I heard a sword and a yelp from you and thought the worst."
"I saw you go down the cliff." Coco added, more tears coming from that memory.
Almost instantly, Dingodile and Coco lunged at each other, throwing their arms around one another and sobbing tears of happiness to be together again.
As Coco rubbed her head against Dingodile's chest, Dingodile ran his hand through Coco's hair several times, each of them promising themselves that they would never let anything like this happen again.
"Coco, I'm so sorry for almost letting you down." Dingodile sobbed. "I was just so upset that you might have died before I confessed my feeling for you."
"Your feelings?" A teary-eyed Coco asked hopefully, looking up at Dingodile's face.
"Yes." He replied with a warm and relieved smile. "I love you, Coco. More than anything. And I'm so terribly sorry for not telling you sooner."
"I'm so happy you feel that way, Dingodile." Coco replied. "I love you too."
Dingodile couldn't believe what he was hearing. Coco just said that she loved him back! This was almost considered a miracle for him. He never would've thought that anyone could love someone like him. He wanted to continue hugging Coco, but suddenly remembered something vital.
"Wait a minute! We never found out what Cortex is planning!" He whispered, not wanting to raise an alarm.
Coco's eyes snapped open in realization. "Oh my gosh! That's right!" She replied.
"Looks like we'll have to stick around a little longer." Dingodile said, wiping his tears away. "It's a good thing, because I want to get back at Cortex for everything he's done to us since we started this mission!"
"Well, once we get this done, we'll be able to head back." Coco replied, also wiping her tears away. "And we'd better do it quick. This is the second day. Aku Aku should be getting ready to send out a search party for us soon."
Dingodile nodded. He was about to turn around to grab his flame-thrower when he remembered something else. "Wait. I'd better give this to you before I forget." He said. Reaching one of his suspenders, he grabbed something that Coco hadn't noticed before: A blue flower. Dingodile pulled it from his suspender and held it out to Coco. "It's yours." He said. "I was going to keep it to remember you by, but now that you're not dead, I don't need it to remember you."
Coco smiled as she gratefully took the flower and placed it back in her hair. As she did, Dingodile quickly retreated to the corner of the room to fetch his flame-thrower. He came back to her in a matter of seconds with the flame-thrower hanging on his back.
"Ready?" Coco asked, smiling.
"Ready, Coco." Dingodile grinned.
The reunited pair walked towards the door as Coco pushed it open quietly. Once they were in the hallway, Coco shut the door as she and Dingodile quickly looked around a couple times to see if anyone was coming before sneaking down the hallway.
Coco and Dingodile sneaked down the hallway for a couple minutes without encountering Cortex or any of his minions. For once, however, the duo would've liked to encounter Cortex's henchmen just so they could see what they looked like after losing two straight battles.
While sneaking down the different hallways, Dingodile was the one to lead. This was because he had been in Cortex's castle in the past, and knew all the hallways like the back of his hand. Thus, Dingodile knew that he was leading them straight into Cortex's lab to see what the doctor was planning.
However, after a good while of walking later, Dingodile suddenly stopped at a corner and held his arm out, preventing Coco from going any further as well.
"What is it, Dingodile?" Coco asked.
Dingodile responded by placing his finger to his mouth, indicating her to keep quiet. He pointed around the corner. Curiously, Coco walked over to the corner and dared to look around it. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Cortex's five animal lackeys walking down the hallway. Unlike the last encounter they each had with them, none of them were talking.
Coco pulled herself away from the corner and looked up at Dingodile. "It's those guys again." She whispered.
Dingodile smirked. "You up for a little revenge?" He asked.
Coco was silent for a few seconds before a smirk floated across her face as well. "You bet."
As Dingodile cocked his flame-thrower and prepared to fire it, Coco cracked her knuckles and balled her hands into fists. Looking at each other one more time, the pair smirked and walked around the corner at the same time. They came to a halt after turning the corner completely, standing beside each other, facing the minions of Cortex. All of them saw the duo standing not too far away, froze in their tracks and remained silent, trying to realize how the two people they originally thought were dead were now standing down the hall, ready for a fight.
After a few seconds of standing in silence, all the minions let out a loud moan.
"Ah, man! We gotta fight them AGAIN?!" Pinstripe, now sporting two black eyes, complained.
"They're gonna kill us again!" Komodo Joe, missing a few teeth, cried.
"Can't we just flee in terror?" Komodo Moe, looking about the same as his brother, asked.
"No. We must prevent them from defeating Cortex." Koala Kong replied, a good amount of his fur burnt a dull black.
"Said the guy who did next to nothing in every fight we've had with these two!" Pinstripe accused. Rilla Roo, sporting a painful-looking lump on top of his head, snarled at the giant Koala in agreement with the gangster- wannabe.
"Just drop it." The elder Komodo said, whipping his sword out in synchronization with his brother and pointing it at Dingodile and Coco. "Let's get them."
Everyone, even Koala Kong, charged down the hallway, heading straight at the duo at the end. Dingodile smirked as Coco narrowed her eyes. Both of them remained unfazed and refused to budge.
"Let's do a partner change." Coco suggested, not turning her gaze from the oncoming minions. "I'll take on the Komodo Bros. You take on Pinstripe and Rilla Roo. Whoever Kong goes for will take him on as well."
"Are you sure you're alright to take the Komodo Bros.?" Dingodile asked, not looking at her.
"Call it an act of revenge." Coco replied, rubbing her shoulder.
Dingodile nodded as he gripped his flame-thrower tightly. He and Coco suddenly charged towards the oncoming minions, straight at the ones they were going to take on.
Dingodile saw that Pinstripe was again getting ready to start firing his machine gun, so the half-and-half went for him first. As Pinstripe started firing the machine gun, Dingodile fired a reasonably big ball of fire from his flame-thrower, knocking all of Pinstripe's bullets to the ground. Dingodile continued by charging at Pinstripe, knocking him over using his shoulder, temporarily taking Pinstripe out.
Looking over his shoulder, Dingodile saw his extremely-dense rival, Rilla Roo, lunging at him. Thinking quickly, Dingodile spun around and clobbered Rilla Roo using his flame-thrower. The monkey mutant was sent flying back several feet before landing on the ground.
While Dingodile was having more of a melee-battle, Coco was more relying on skill. Using her extremely skilled gymnastic ability, Coco leapt over, ducked under, or dodged beside all of the swings the Komodo Bros. were dishing out, even sneaking in a punch or two. While they looked really weakened thanks to the state Dingodile left them in the last time they encountered him, the Komodo Bros. were both still extremely vicious.
Coco saw Komodo Joe starting to try a low attack, while his elder brother was attempting a blow higher up. Thinking just as quick as Dingodile, Coco leapt into the air slightly and arched over Komodo Joe's sword, and under Komodo Moe's. Before landing on the ground, Coco delivered a quick kick to each of the Komodo Bros. chests, knocking them back a little bit.
Coco quickly saw Koala Kong charging at her, preparing to attack. Coco, luckily, was much more intelligent than the giant koala, and performed a back flip, leaping high into the air as Koala Kong passed underneath. Coming down, Coco planted both feet against the giant bear's back, knocking him into Komodo Moe, sending them both to the ground.
Rilla Roo swung his fist at Dingodile, but his opponent swerved to the side, dodging the blow. Dingodile countered with a punch of his own, his attack much luckier than Rilla Roo's, striking the monkey in the jaw. As Rilla Roo staggered back, Dingodile heard a psychotic yell coming from behind. Thinking quickly, Dingodile reached over his shoulder and grabbed Pinstripe's hand just as it was about to come into contact with his neck. With little effort, Dingodile threw Pinstripe over his shoulder, sending him flying into Rilla Roo, knocking them both out.
Coco leapt into the air, bringing her foot up to strike Komodo Joe in the chin. Knowing her opponent's attack strategy, Coco quickly ducked in midair, dodging a cowardly sword attack from behind by Komodo Moe. Coco quickly thrust her feet out backwards, striking the elder Komodo in the face, sending him to the ground. Landing on her feet, she saw Komodo Joe recovering from her kick. Coco ran at the younger Komodo, leapt into the air and delivered a powerful karate chop to his neck. As Komodo Joe bent over in pain, Coco thrust her foot into his stomach as hard as she could, making the lizard finally collapse.
Coco landed on her feet gracefully, looking at both of the downed Komodo Bros. Once she was certain that they were both knocked out, Coco exhaled in relief and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt something grab her from behind. Before Coco had time to react, she was lifted off the ground, the person holding her by the back of the collar of her shirt. She tried kicking whoever was holding her, but he was holding her too far away from his body. Coco sighed. She was caught, and knew that the person holding her was Koala Kong.
"Traitor!" Koala Kong called to Dingodile.
Dingodile, who had just finished his fight with Pinstripe and Rilla Roo, turned to see Koala Kong holding his girlfriend captive. Dingodile snarled at the enemy. "You let her go!"
"Nothin doin, pal." Koala Kong replied, shaking his head. "Surrender or she dies!"
Coco watched as Dingodile seemed to be pondering something. After a few seconds, he smirked slyly and winked at her. Coco raised an eyebrow, wondering what Dingodile was thinking of.
She quickly found out, as Dingodile quickly spun to his right and shot a ball of fire from his flame-thrower. The ball of flames reflected off of Komodo Joe's sword, off a lamp hanging from the ceiling and ending by hitting Koala Kong's non-burned arm, igniting it in flames as he had done with the other one. Koala Kong dropped Coco and ran off screaming, trying to put out the fire on his arm.
Dingodile rushed to Coco's side and helped her to her feet. "You okay, Coco?" Dingodile asked.
"That was a very risky thing you did, Dingodile." Coco replied before smirking slightly. "But I'm glad you did it."
Coco quickly hugged Dingodile before Dingodile spoke again. "Now let's take care of Cortex." He said with a smirk.
Coco nodded as the duo turned around and walked away, leaving most of Cortex's minions unconscious.
To be continued.........
Note to Raiegki Leviathan: Thanks for sticking up for me against the flame. But don't worry, she didn't faze me at all. In fact, I actually enjoyed the flame, because it was the first one I ever, EVER got (besides one for my first fic because the guy didn't like the pairing)! And yeah, I got that N. Gin joke from the Emperor's New Groove. I remembered laughing my head off at that joke and realized that it was too good to pass up! Although it's not the only joke I used. Dingodile's 'mirror' trick with Rilla Roo is based off of a Marx Bros. bit.
For those of you who may be confused with my selection of baddies to reform, let me explain. Like Raiegki said, Dingodile and Tiny joined Crash's side in Crash Bash, but unfortunately, that was Naughty Dog's last Crash game, so that plot element didn't stick. But one of the reasons I liked the game was the fact that two of my favourite Crash baddies were on the good side! And the reason Ripper Roo is on the good side is because we haven't heard from the poor guy in such a long time that I decided to put him to good use. As for Fake Crash, he joined Crash in Crash Bandicoot 2 for the GBA, which pretty much gave it away that he became good. Even in Crash Nitro Kart, FC is an unlockable character for Crash's team.
Anyway, onto the story!
Chapter six: Reunited
Dingodile groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He was instantly greeted with the unfriendly glow of a lamp hanging from the ceiling of the room he was in. He quickly closed his eyes again, wondering how long he had been out for. He tried to shield his eyes with his arm, but quickly realized that he couldn't move it. Come to think of it, he couldn't move his other arm either, and it felt like he was sitting on a chair.
Dingodile moaned. Cortex's goons had tied him to a chair.
Soon, Dingodile's eyes were well enough to open against the bright light coming from the lamp. He looked around. He was in a small room with a door behind him. The only piece of furniture in the room was the chair he was currently bound to. Dingodile looked around for his flame-thrower and spotted it sitting in the corner of the room, clearly out of his reach. He growled as he thought of some ways to get out of this situation.
Minutes passed. Dingodile had tried almost everything. He tried snapping through the ropes using his strength, but the ropes were simply too strong for Dingodile to make the attempt. Dingodile couldn't bite any of the ropes, as none of them were within reach of his jaw. Pretty much the only thing he hadn't tried was topple the chair onto its side and inch his way to his flame-thrower, activating it to burn off the ropes around his wrists. Dingodile, however, didn't want to try this theory. Sure, he could set the thing to fire a quick burst of fire so it wouldn't burn his fur off, but lately, the flame-thrower had been acting up, so anything could happen.
Dingodile muttered something under his breath, directing it mainly at himself. He couldn't believe that he could let himself get captured so easily. All because he took his eyes off that stupid koala for a second.
Dingodile had been so wrapped up in blaming himself and Cortex's cronies that he never heard the door to the room open and close.
The female bandicoot pressed her ear against the door, listening for the Komodo Bros. to pass. Once she heard their footsteps fade away, Coco exhaled in relief. She was about to leave when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye that look remarkably similar to Dingodile's flame- thrower. Looking into the room, Coco instantly spotted something that made her heartbeat stop: The one who supposedly died trying to protect her was alive, tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Both hands flew to Coco's mouth to prevent herself from gasping.
When she finally overcame the shock, Coco released her grip on her mouth, although her eyes were wide and her mouth was open, the shock clear on the face. She slowly and quietly walked up behind Dingodile as she heard him scold himself.
"I can't believe myself." Dingodile muttered. "I break into Cortex's castle and wallop Rilla Roo with no problem, but then I lose to a bunch of cheating freaks." He sighed sadly. "I've failed her. I can't believe I failed Coco."
As Coco heard that, her shocked expression became one of disbelief. The corners of her mouth slightly turned up, turning her open mouth into a shocked smile. Dingodile was under the impression that she was dead, and fought as hard as he could to avenge her? She was touched. The mere thought of what Dingodile felt when he thought she was dead made a lone tear run down her face.
"You didn't fail me, Dingodile." Coco said gently. "I just hope you haven't told anyone that I died yet."
Dingodile's head snapped up, his eyes widening just as fast. {That voice!} He thought. {Could it be her?}
Slowly looking over his shoulder, Dingodile found himself staring into the kind and beautiful eyes of the girl he loved. The girl he thought had been murdered.
"Coco?" Dingodile asked, tears starting to form, half from happiness, half from disbelief.
"Yes, Dingodile." Coco replied, instantly starting to untie his hands. "It's me."
Once Dingodile was free, he stood up and turned around to stare at Coco with wide eyes, with Coco giving him a similar glare.
"I...I don't believe it." Dingodile said. "I heard a sword and a yelp from you and thought the worst."
"I saw you go down the cliff." Coco added, more tears coming from that memory.
Almost instantly, Dingodile and Coco lunged at each other, throwing their arms around one another and sobbing tears of happiness to be together again.
As Coco rubbed her head against Dingodile's chest, Dingodile ran his hand through Coco's hair several times, each of them promising themselves that they would never let anything like this happen again.
"Coco, I'm so sorry for almost letting you down." Dingodile sobbed. "I was just so upset that you might have died before I confessed my feeling for you."
"Your feelings?" A teary-eyed Coco asked hopefully, looking up at Dingodile's face.
"Yes." He replied with a warm and relieved smile. "I love you, Coco. More than anything. And I'm so terribly sorry for not telling you sooner."
"I'm so happy you feel that way, Dingodile." Coco replied. "I love you too."
Dingodile couldn't believe what he was hearing. Coco just said that she loved him back! This was almost considered a miracle for him. He never would've thought that anyone could love someone like him. He wanted to continue hugging Coco, but suddenly remembered something vital.
"Wait a minute! We never found out what Cortex is planning!" He whispered, not wanting to raise an alarm.
Coco's eyes snapped open in realization. "Oh my gosh! That's right!" She replied.
"Looks like we'll have to stick around a little longer." Dingodile said, wiping his tears away. "It's a good thing, because I want to get back at Cortex for everything he's done to us since we started this mission!"
"Well, once we get this done, we'll be able to head back." Coco replied, also wiping her tears away. "And we'd better do it quick. This is the second day. Aku Aku should be getting ready to send out a search party for us soon."
Dingodile nodded. He was about to turn around to grab his flame-thrower when he remembered something else. "Wait. I'd better give this to you before I forget." He said. Reaching one of his suspenders, he grabbed something that Coco hadn't noticed before: A blue flower. Dingodile pulled it from his suspender and held it out to Coco. "It's yours." He said. "I was going to keep it to remember you by, but now that you're not dead, I don't need it to remember you."
Coco smiled as she gratefully took the flower and placed it back in her hair. As she did, Dingodile quickly retreated to the corner of the room to fetch his flame-thrower. He came back to her in a matter of seconds with the flame-thrower hanging on his back.
"Ready?" Coco asked, smiling.
"Ready, Coco." Dingodile grinned.
The reunited pair walked towards the door as Coco pushed it open quietly. Once they were in the hallway, Coco shut the door as she and Dingodile quickly looked around a couple times to see if anyone was coming before sneaking down the hallway.
Coco and Dingodile sneaked down the hallway for a couple minutes without encountering Cortex or any of his minions. For once, however, the duo would've liked to encounter Cortex's henchmen just so they could see what they looked like after losing two straight battles.
While sneaking down the different hallways, Dingodile was the one to lead. This was because he had been in Cortex's castle in the past, and knew all the hallways like the back of his hand. Thus, Dingodile knew that he was leading them straight into Cortex's lab to see what the doctor was planning.
However, after a good while of walking later, Dingodile suddenly stopped at a corner and held his arm out, preventing Coco from going any further as well.
"What is it, Dingodile?" Coco asked.
Dingodile responded by placing his finger to his mouth, indicating her to keep quiet. He pointed around the corner. Curiously, Coco walked over to the corner and dared to look around it. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Cortex's five animal lackeys walking down the hallway. Unlike the last encounter they each had with them, none of them were talking.
Coco pulled herself away from the corner and looked up at Dingodile. "It's those guys again." She whispered.
Dingodile smirked. "You up for a little revenge?" He asked.
Coco was silent for a few seconds before a smirk floated across her face as well. "You bet."
As Dingodile cocked his flame-thrower and prepared to fire it, Coco cracked her knuckles and balled her hands into fists. Looking at each other one more time, the pair smirked and walked around the corner at the same time. They came to a halt after turning the corner completely, standing beside each other, facing the minions of Cortex. All of them saw the duo standing not too far away, froze in their tracks and remained silent, trying to realize how the two people they originally thought were dead were now standing down the hall, ready for a fight.
After a few seconds of standing in silence, all the minions let out a loud moan.
"Ah, man! We gotta fight them AGAIN?!" Pinstripe, now sporting two black eyes, complained.
"They're gonna kill us again!" Komodo Joe, missing a few teeth, cried.
"Can't we just flee in terror?" Komodo Moe, looking about the same as his brother, asked.
"No. We must prevent them from defeating Cortex." Koala Kong replied, a good amount of his fur burnt a dull black.
"Said the guy who did next to nothing in every fight we've had with these two!" Pinstripe accused. Rilla Roo, sporting a painful-looking lump on top of his head, snarled at the giant Koala in agreement with the gangster- wannabe.
"Just drop it." The elder Komodo said, whipping his sword out in synchronization with his brother and pointing it at Dingodile and Coco. "Let's get them."
Everyone, even Koala Kong, charged down the hallway, heading straight at the duo at the end. Dingodile smirked as Coco narrowed her eyes. Both of them remained unfazed and refused to budge.
"Let's do a partner change." Coco suggested, not turning her gaze from the oncoming minions. "I'll take on the Komodo Bros. You take on Pinstripe and Rilla Roo. Whoever Kong goes for will take him on as well."
"Are you sure you're alright to take the Komodo Bros.?" Dingodile asked, not looking at her.
"Call it an act of revenge." Coco replied, rubbing her shoulder.
Dingodile nodded as he gripped his flame-thrower tightly. He and Coco suddenly charged towards the oncoming minions, straight at the ones they were going to take on.
Dingodile saw that Pinstripe was again getting ready to start firing his machine gun, so the half-and-half went for him first. As Pinstripe started firing the machine gun, Dingodile fired a reasonably big ball of fire from his flame-thrower, knocking all of Pinstripe's bullets to the ground. Dingodile continued by charging at Pinstripe, knocking him over using his shoulder, temporarily taking Pinstripe out.
Looking over his shoulder, Dingodile saw his extremely-dense rival, Rilla Roo, lunging at him. Thinking quickly, Dingodile spun around and clobbered Rilla Roo using his flame-thrower. The monkey mutant was sent flying back several feet before landing on the ground.
While Dingodile was having more of a melee-battle, Coco was more relying on skill. Using her extremely skilled gymnastic ability, Coco leapt over, ducked under, or dodged beside all of the swings the Komodo Bros. were dishing out, even sneaking in a punch or two. While they looked really weakened thanks to the state Dingodile left them in the last time they encountered him, the Komodo Bros. were both still extremely vicious.
Coco saw Komodo Joe starting to try a low attack, while his elder brother was attempting a blow higher up. Thinking just as quick as Dingodile, Coco leapt into the air slightly and arched over Komodo Joe's sword, and under Komodo Moe's. Before landing on the ground, Coco delivered a quick kick to each of the Komodo Bros. chests, knocking them back a little bit.
Coco quickly saw Koala Kong charging at her, preparing to attack. Coco, luckily, was much more intelligent than the giant koala, and performed a back flip, leaping high into the air as Koala Kong passed underneath. Coming down, Coco planted both feet against the giant bear's back, knocking him into Komodo Moe, sending them both to the ground.
Rilla Roo swung his fist at Dingodile, but his opponent swerved to the side, dodging the blow. Dingodile countered with a punch of his own, his attack much luckier than Rilla Roo's, striking the monkey in the jaw. As Rilla Roo staggered back, Dingodile heard a psychotic yell coming from behind. Thinking quickly, Dingodile reached over his shoulder and grabbed Pinstripe's hand just as it was about to come into contact with his neck. With little effort, Dingodile threw Pinstripe over his shoulder, sending him flying into Rilla Roo, knocking them both out.
Coco leapt into the air, bringing her foot up to strike Komodo Joe in the chin. Knowing her opponent's attack strategy, Coco quickly ducked in midair, dodging a cowardly sword attack from behind by Komodo Moe. Coco quickly thrust her feet out backwards, striking the elder Komodo in the face, sending him to the ground. Landing on her feet, she saw Komodo Joe recovering from her kick. Coco ran at the younger Komodo, leapt into the air and delivered a powerful karate chop to his neck. As Komodo Joe bent over in pain, Coco thrust her foot into his stomach as hard as she could, making the lizard finally collapse.
Coco landed on her feet gracefully, looking at both of the downed Komodo Bros. Once she was certain that they were both knocked out, Coco exhaled in relief and brushed her hair out of her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt something grab her from behind. Before Coco had time to react, she was lifted off the ground, the person holding her by the back of the collar of her shirt. She tried kicking whoever was holding her, but he was holding her too far away from his body. Coco sighed. She was caught, and knew that the person holding her was Koala Kong.
"Traitor!" Koala Kong called to Dingodile.
Dingodile, who had just finished his fight with Pinstripe and Rilla Roo, turned to see Koala Kong holding his girlfriend captive. Dingodile snarled at the enemy. "You let her go!"
"Nothin doin, pal." Koala Kong replied, shaking his head. "Surrender or she dies!"
Coco watched as Dingodile seemed to be pondering something. After a few seconds, he smirked slyly and winked at her. Coco raised an eyebrow, wondering what Dingodile was thinking of.
She quickly found out, as Dingodile quickly spun to his right and shot a ball of fire from his flame-thrower. The ball of flames reflected off of Komodo Joe's sword, off a lamp hanging from the ceiling and ending by hitting Koala Kong's non-burned arm, igniting it in flames as he had done with the other one. Koala Kong dropped Coco and ran off screaming, trying to put out the fire on his arm.
Dingodile rushed to Coco's side and helped her to her feet. "You okay, Coco?" Dingodile asked.
"That was a very risky thing you did, Dingodile." Coco replied before smirking slightly. "But I'm glad you did it."
Coco quickly hugged Dingodile before Dingodile spoke again. "Now let's take care of Cortex." He said with a smirk.
Coco nodded as the duo turned around and walked away, leaving most of Cortex's minions unconscious.
To be continued.........