A sky was seen at this moment in time, and as this occurrs, the rocketship can only just be seen, as a black spec. As we take a look inside, we see most of the crew, sleeping on top of each other. Smash was no exception, as he kept on moving about while he dreamt, most preferably of running across African soil. Sooner or later, a speaker was heard right above them.
"May I have your attention please? This is your pilot Captain Whiteowl speaking. We have just entered the atmosphere for our destination, and we'll be making a touch down about 20 miles from Amsterdam. Thank you for flying on the rocketship Medusa-93, and have a safe trip."
The call brought up the attention of the crew, as they all started to stand up one by one, and take a glance into each other's eyes.
"Did you hear that?" James smiled. "We're almost there! Yeah, this is gonna be fun!"
"I doubt it will be, mate", sighed Crash as he shook his head. "Just because it's not like back home doesn't mean that it'll be better."
"That's exactly what I was thinking", frowned Smash. "It could get pretty wild out there... not to mention COLD!"
"Cheer up Smash - I brought a year's supply of thermal underwear", Rexy winked on at him. "You can use something out of there if you like."
"I think I'll pass."
Jessica looked outside, seeing into the vast desert scenery around them. "Boy, does this area seem like a total wasteland. It reminds me of the swamps near the Future Rivals Contest arenas in my… future?"
"We'll get it sorted out, somehow or other", started Cortex, "but we have to be..."
Before he could finish, a bang was given off at the bottom of the ship, causing the group to jump up together. It was there that the spaceship landed on the ground, causing them all to fall on top of one another as it surfaced.
"HAH! Boy drivers!" James growled while rolling his eyes.
The doors opened from the space shuttle, and sooner or later, out came the whole crew, minus their space suits. Wooffy took the lead on the exit.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you all to feast your eyes, on the Galaxy of Europe."
An exhibition has begun. The whole crew started walking across the mainlands, absorbing some of the lack of the scenery around. No trees can be seen for a while, and if there were any signs of plantlife it would only be stumps. The sand felt dry under everyone's feet, as they continued walking. Further on they came across a set of skeletons, lying alone in the ground. At this point, Jessica started shaking.
James took a hold of her hand, but no sooner than he did, she took it off and held onto Crash's. Once again, he looked down, sighing with misery. The sun came over them at its highest point in the sky, causing most of the heat to become unbearable to stand.
"OK Smash", Crash blinked, "you said that this place was gonna be cold, right?"
"Well I never knew there'd be another star providing heat in this galaxy", the lion shrugged.
"Aright, I'll let you off this time, just that the unexpected seems to follow us around here."
"I was thinking the same thing. It's like only a few of the trees and animals are adapting here, so I doubt we'll be able to survive this mission."
"Look, the plants are coping fine, and the animals are coping fine, so we should too! Simple as that", giggled Rexy as she folded her arms.
No sooner than she said that, an armadillo came right towards her. Then... it collapsed at her feet.
"So much for having an overconfident dinosaur on the team", Jessica sighed.
"She does have a point, though", nodded Cortex. "Those that aren't suffering from the side effects here seem to have an increase in confidence, so-"
"Can it old man", growled Jessica. "We're not here on a science field trip."
"Oh yes we are", James smiled. "The science that's involved here is a hint of chemistry, and we have a lot of that together."
Her face turned white, as she immediately backed away from him. No sooner than she did that, something was seen on the horizon. Some sort of black speck.
"Do you think we should check it out?" asked Crash.
They all looked at each other. Suddenly, the spec came right towards them. The black figure came closer and closer to the gang, and at this time it was only 10 metres away from him. Their eyes widened at the sight of it, as the figure stood tall, with brown-bronze fur, a red shirt, a dark waistcoat and trousers, and those light blue eyes on his head. They all looked right at the dog.
"Excuse me sir", Crash started speaking, "but-"
"I've heard about you in the newspapers up around these parts!" the dog smiled while speaking in a fake Scottish accent. "You must be Crash Bandicoot, savior to all and backstabber to no-one!"
"I'm a bit unsure about the last part, but that was a good guess."
"Well it's a pleasure to come across to you. We need you at a time like this."
"Hellooooo?" Rexy started to growl at him. "You look absolutely nuts! What kind of common sense do you have inside your waistcoat?"
"I... er…" the dog struggled to answer.
"And if you tell us who you are and what you're doing here we'd accept you for a bit of help!" she gestured madly.
"Right, get ready for it. I'm Shep Collie, and I'm a Scotsman - I mean, dog - living here at the Reading Badlands, on the outskirts of Amsterdam."
"The Reading Badlands?" Cortex blinked. "That name sounds familiar..."
As he rooted inside his backpack, he pulled out a small leaflet. It was opened wide, and some others looked over it.
"A map", sighed James.
"Not just any old map", Jessica smiled. "It looks like a street map of Panama City, Florida…wait a minute, wasn't that where Cortex spent his childhood?"
"You're right!" Cortex responded. "And the Reading Badlands was right outside the town itself! But... how could it do that?"
"I feel clueless. I mean, how can a local part of America end up in Holland?" Jessica asked with a shock filled expression.
"That's because it wants to find a new love with the cheese over there", James guessed with a romantic tone, "and you are my Danish blue."
He came up to her again, but she moved away.
"Now, let me get back to what we were at a minute ago", Shep asked. "I could help you by leading to a group of people that provide balance to the world. They could help you restore your planet back to what it was before."
"Balance?" Crash asked. "But I thought I could do that!"
"It's in the hold of a series of elemental gatekeepers, of fire, ice, water and earth."
"But I thought they only came in the form of fictional characters in fairy tale story books!" Smash asked with a jaw-dropped expression.
"Yeah, this elemental power's just a bunch of mula", sighed Crash, "so why seek for their advice instead of mine?"
"What about the time you found a regular owl in my bird bath, and kept on telling it to say 'Hi Crash', thinking it's a parrot!" growled Wooffy. "And there you were trying to convince me about the same bloomin' facts! Man, if I have to follow your stupid orders one more time, I'm gonna layeth the smacketh down on your body!"
"So why are you with me in the first place?" Crash asked.
"Because Cortex told me to", the owl sighed.
Crash started blushing at this point. However, he turned back to Shep.
"Come on Crash", the collie asked. "I know that whoever it is has done several bad things before, and I want to make my day!"
"Right, so, can you help us?" Crash asked him. "It looks like we really need you on our journey!"
"OK... but it's not for my own sake... it's that he stole my wife's underwear last week!"
Crash fell down with an anime sweat drop on his face.
"Right, at least we got one clue", he said from his position on the floor. "This villain is male."
"And there's quite a lot of them out there", frowned Cortex. "But we won't give up!"
"Problem is... where do these elemental ladies hang out?" Crash asked.
Shep's face showed that of confusion.
---
The humid winds started to go around the area, and in the distance, our crew could be seen walking up ahead, with their new comrade Shep leading the way.
"Now excuse me if I go totally the wrong direction", blinked Shep. "I've only been around these parts for a week."
"Now he tells us", Rexy whispered to herself.
"Phew... it's almost like we've been walking for ages!" Crash sighed, while wiping the sweat coming from his small forehead.
"I need a drink! Orange juice would be nice", James panted.
They kept on going, until they came towards something at their feet. It was a short creature, with pointed teeth, and red eyes. It has limbs shorter than its head.
"Awww, how CUTE!" Jessica screamed.
"JESSICA!!!" Crash growled over at her.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist", she giggled.
"Hey, let me see if I can give him a stroke", Smash smiled. "He just looks so adorable."
Smash brought out one of his paws, and kept his claws in one by one. Then he slowly brought it down to the monster. It started looking into his face, and eventually, his teeth started to appear more pointed than ever.
As he reached down to stroke the head, the monster just jumped up, and sunk his teeth deep into his arm.
"OWWWWWWW!!!"
"Smash!" Cortex shouted. "What's happening?!?"
The monster continued crawling up the arm, and then it sunk the teeth further into the arm. It caused a big rip down the top, allowing some blood to seep out. Smash continued squealing, as it climbed onto his back, and started jumping up and down like a crazed maniac. His expression was now of bitter anger. His rage continued on, as he started running around in circles. But the monster clinged onto its maine... with its teeth, and arms. After twelve seconds or so, he stopped. The monster was then seeing with bits of Smash's maine in his mouth, slowly slurping away at them like spaghetti bolognese. At the end of it all, he gave out a large burp.
"Aright skippy, no one messes with any friend of Wooffy Jonny Whiteowl!" the owl growled while rolling up his sleeves on his soccer shirt.
"Be careful with this creature", panicked Cortex. "He could eat your wings if you're not careful!"
"Can it old man."
He took hold of the monster, with two of his fingertips. Then, he brought it close to his face.
"Listen you! If you dare mess with MY pal then you're gonna have to mess with ME with it!"
The monster quickly increased his height so that he was level with the owl.
"Oh, so you want a bit of that, do you?" he growled at the monster. "Well get this!"
He went into his backpack, and took out a chainsaw. He turned it on, and started chasing him with it, until he was out of the way and heading into the sunset.
"Smash!" Crash shouted as he went up to him. "Are you OK?"
"I am now, that experience was frightful!" Smash said with shock.
Jessica's eyes started to widen. "I'm sorry for calling that monster cute, I never thought it would be that dangerous!"
"Me too", shrugged James. "Anyhow, do you think that was the demon that broke the planet?"
"I don't think so", said Shep as he shook his head. "Another thing I knew was that the villain came in a spaceship, and that thing was too small for it!"
"It's official - our criminal is a male alien", pondered Crash. "But there's millions of them out there, trust me!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, our scavenger hunt has now moved on to a new height", Rexy whispered with a wink.
---
Elsewhere, on the segment, the same monster that fought the crew came towards a temple. He went inside, and was soon escorted by two others - one being a dark lion with a black mane, the other being a purple striped tiger with long white hair and a mostly red outfit. In the main room, there was a throne. And sitting in it, was none other... than Nitrous Oxide himself. Someone came into the room - holding an axe, and wearing a dark outfit.
"Ah, Chain Bandicoot, what a surprise to see you here!" he said to him.
"I have received a call from Carrie's Cute Random Demon", Chain growled with a deep tone.
"Bring him in here!"
The monster came coming in, presuming that's the Random Demon. The two cats went out of the way, and stood at the sides of the doorway. Soon they started communicating in grunts and growls, presuming that's the only language that he could understand. Then...
"I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!!!" Oxide's scream echoed. "I found you people here at this segment for a purpose! You know that I can't get to the planet's magic source alone, can't you?"
"I never thought there was anything like that", Chain blinked.
"You do now! We have to get there before someone else does it first! And I have the perfect rascal to do the job for us."
He looked at the people in the room, and sooner or later, he came to a shady creature, in a corner. He started grinning at his face, as he knew there was another chance to earn control.
---
The area was viewed from the inside of a cave. Sooner enough, eight figures soon came inside. Once again, Shep lead the group. Once inside, they took hold of some metal railings on the side, and walked straight on. Their voices echoed as they went deeper into the cavern.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Elemental Cavern, home to the Elemental Gatekeepers of planet Earth", nodded Shep.
"Whoa, the art around here seems awfully fascinating!" James smiled.
"Yeah, at least they do better DIY than myself", Rexy started to blush to herself.
"Say, eh Shep, how did you know about this place?" Crash asked.
"That's where my biplane landed."
"I should have known about that much earlier."
A set of steps were in front of them, and they started climbing up.
"So who exactly are the Elemental Goddesses?" asked Jessica. "They sound like a really interesting topic."
"I'm glad you asked", Shep nodded. "They are Lozzy Gabbiani, a white demon with spiked green hair, representing Ice", he said as he went past a cave drawing of her, "Spin Wolarcoot, another green haired girl, but equal parts wolf, bird and bandicoot, representing Earth", he kept saying as he passed another cave drawing, "Eden Lynx, a fallen angel that prefers life on Earth, representing Water", he said when going passed her image, " and Rosie Monkey, an old chimpanzee with that stunning cloak... oh, and she's the representative of fire", he finished when going passed her cave drawing.
"Something doesn't sound right", said James as he twitched his ears.
"Why do you say that?" Rexy asked. "Is there... something wrong?"
"Well yeah, something's wrong, I've read about this as much as you have! We can't have a bunch of Elemental ladies without Star Wolarcoot! Where on Earth is she?"
A sweatdrop fell down the side of Rexy's face.
"If you're referring to Spin's sister", Shep started, "well she was here for a while but she's spending a couple of months on some planet named Yevron. I don't know why tho'."
"I've heard of that place... but somehow I don't seem to remember why I do", sighed Wooffy.
"Wooffy", Cortex started, "Yevron was where the Wolarcoot race existed before they came to Earth. Do you understand?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot that", he blushed.
"I'll accept it now", sighed James.
They reached the top of the stairs, and stood in front of a platform. Four symbols were at the top - a red sun, a yellow ice stalactite, a green mound of grass, and a blue water drop.
"So you think these Elemental ladies will restore order around here?" Crash asked.
"Not only that, but they'll give some love to yours truly", James grinned while flexing his not-so-brilliant biceps.
"Well... how do we set them free?"
"You have the power", nodded Shep. "Only you can set them free. Fit your hand inside."
On the wall was a handprint. Therefore, Crash went right up to it, and placed his hand inside.
"This elemental business is still a bunch of mula, no matter what happens here", the bandicoot sighed.
Crash's hand started glowing inside the rock. With immediate panic, he took it out as soon as he could.
From the platform, something broke out, which was surrounded with a magical red aura. It started developing into a shadow, then a humanoid figure. A cloak was also distinguishable. When she came into the light, she showed brown fur, a posh outfit, a cloak with blue on one side and red on the other, and she donned black spectacles. It was Rosie Monkey.
She took her position on the far left stand. As she looked into Crash's eyes, she took the ends of her skirt and curtseyed to him. However, his facial expression was of total confusion. Then something else started shuffling from the platform.
Another aura escaped, this time it was glowing green. Once again, the shadow was developed with ease. Then she came into the light. She wore black bootleg pants, a grey t-shirt, and dark shoes. She had wings coloured a dark shade of turquoise, and had green hair, with grey fur with patches of orange from time to time. It was Spin Wolarcoot. She took her position down on the platform, and smiled at Crash, whom started smiling back.
A third aura went into the atmosphere, this time it was glowing yellow. A shadow was easily determined. Then, it reached the light. A black skirt and matching shoes were seen on her body, as well as long blonde hair. Beautiful orange fur surrounded her. That was the figure... of Eden Lynx. She attempted to land on the platform, but her feet sank inside it, so she hovered up. Crash raised an eyebrow.
Everyone turns around at the brown platform. They all started looking at it, and soon, it started glowing ice blue. A mild earthquake was felt, and a few small rocks fell from the ceiling.
A wild final aura bursted out, coloured blue this time. Soon, it started developing into a shadow. Large red boots were formed, then came lengthy white legs, with a short red dress, donning long sleeves. Surrounding that was a light blue cloak with a black and white striped trim, and a white collar, and behind them came dragon wings, black tipped, with yellow spikes, and red scales. Her hair was green and spiky, and her red eyes glowed with seriousness. It was Lozzy Gabbiani.
She took her position on the platform between Rosie and Spin. Once on, she winked at Crash, whom winked back, feeling shy. Everyone else looked at the girls, and now, they realised that this was the beginning of a way to restore peace.
-end of part 2-