Chapter 3

A/N: I am a serious Crunch fan! No! I AM! Oh, and here's the disclaimer. And this next chapter is a Crash Nitro Kart chapter, if you will.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the characters, quotes, or anything else, although I DO have a Crash Bandicoot plush toy.

A few days after I had been liberated from Cortex's evil mind control, I was happy for a long time. But then, hell began all over again. If you don't know what I mean, I will go into the next part with as much detail as I can.

It was a pleasant morning near the Crash Hut. Crash was asleep, as usual, and Coco was modifying our new go karts. And I was also in the garage, talking to Aku-Aku.

"I left the bad guys and switched over," I grumbled as I finished telling Aku-Aku my life as a minion.

"Well," he retorted, "I heard you can lose a lot of weight on it."

"But you can't KEEP it off," I snapped. "Just eat less and exercise more!"

But then, something happened, the way things always did. A strange beam of light came in through the window of the garage and the next thing I knew, the house was being lifted right off the foundation! But, I didn't panic. Something told me Cortex and his minions were about to go through the same thing.

The next thing I knew, my friends and I were on a very strange planet inhabited by crazy aliens. I'm not the complaining type, but there was something about the place that I didn't trust. No, it wasn't because Cortex and his brace of henchmen were here, although that would make an interesting reason. No, it was because of an alien named N. Trance. You see, while Crash, Coco and I had our backs turned, N. Trance clearly came up from behind and stole Polar, Crash's polar bear, and Pura, Coco's pet tiger cub, and made them race for him. And Cortex had a similar loss. Dingodile, who might have been Cortex's favorite, but it is unknown, was also brainwashed in order to race for N. Trance. We all knew something weird was going on now.

"What the hell is that alien doing?"

"What does giant bandicoot think?"

"Shut up."

I had no idea that I was talking out loud and that Tiny had heard me until he said the phrase, "Giant bandicoot", which, I might add, was insulting. I was bigger than Crash and Coco, all right, but I wasn't a giant.

And yet, something in my heart told me I was different. Therefore, I decided to remain quiet throughout the Galactic Circuit. And even after we won and went home, I was in no mood to celebrate. Aku-Aku could see something was wrong with me.

"Crunch? Are you okay, my child?"

"Please don't call me that," I replied, glumly. "I'm not a child and you know it."

"I know, but it's a habit," the floating mask replied. "So, what's wrong? You seem sad."

He had figured me out! It was all too true. Aku-Aku had known all along that I had been feeling different, like I didn't belong. I couldn't handle this kind of mind reading. I broke down and sobbed.

"I am more than sad!" I howled. "I'm MISERABLE! I'M DIFFERENT!"

Aku-Aku seemed to have been taken aback by my flood of tears, for he didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then, he frowned.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I was afraid to!" I howled again. "I didn't want you to think I wasn't happy here!"

That made Aku-Aku feel bad. He was never used to seeing a giant bandicoot like myself cry.

"Crunch, I know you've had some rough experiences, but that's why you're here. It's so you can forget those experiences," Aku-Aku snapped. "But, I guess taking you in was a mistake on my part. Maybe I should—''

"NO!" I screamed. "DON'T THROW ME OUT!"

I sobbed even harder than I had the first time. Now I had made Aku-Aku angry.

"Let me know when you're happy again!" he roared. "Until then, you can stay out on the porch! I will not let you bring your misery into my house!" And he slammed the door, leaving me to sob all night long on the porch.