AUTHOR'S NOTES-
Bah. Been meaning to submit this yesterday, however much of that was spent in the aftermath of finally getting one of my music files hosted onto OCRemix. Oh yes.
Anyway, looking back at the last part in line… EcoBlood, I want to thank you for the comment once more. Interesting that you noted the opposite link between both Coco and Nina, mind; I often took into consideration that even though they're both sweet and innocent girls at the end of the day, their personalities can be shown to be rather opposite for all that matters, with Coco being similar to your local flower girl and Nina… being kinda like Wednesday Addams. XD I'll be sure to check into your Jak fic over time, although chances are I may not drop much commentary until Easter break.
But back to the subject at hand - work on part 5 on this Crash fic hasn't been put on hold at all. This part takes our team to the terrors lying around Meteor Mountain, where our team have managed to reunite with the Black Seagull to aim for the next part of the mission - to try and re-trace Kaiser Gemini via a stronghold locked deep within the mountain's more secure structures.
One of my main goals in going through this part was to try and emphasize on the fact that the relationship between Coco and Dingodile is minimal at best. Throughout the Crash games they have barely seen each other AT ALL, give or take CTR, CNK or Crash Bash. And people emphasizing on a pairing between them without a full explanation seemed to feel uneasy on me.
I try not to reference to my past fiction too much, although in this particular part there is shown to be a purposeful link towards the work I pulled off in Schoolhouse Rock: Symphony of the Future, also hosted around my archive. There is no way that I wanted to end that on a cliff hanger. ;
Anyway, be sure to take in the part as it is, and let's see how far it'll go.
Peace out,
Rexy-
A cold and monstrous atmosphere was shown all the way around the island as it reached the evening period of the day. The waves among the ocean were seen crashing further among the waters with their aggressive tone.
On the ground level of the island, various plants were seen blowing further and further within the wind, continuing to reflect on the island's painful tone that has been surrounding it. The gust itself was shown to reflect with a painful cold temperature that could cause lack of comfort to anyone's flesh.
The mountain tops were no different; as the stronghold was seen crumbling into pieces, with most of the Gemini soldiers seen jumping ship while carrying crucial parts of their Psychotron with them, the atmosphere was felt to be just as unwelcoming through the air and cliffs.
But there was one particular member of the squadron that didn't at all assist in shifting any of the parts over to its new destination. A broad figure that has managed to take interest in the actions going around the rest of the island.
Kaiser Gemini shifted his eyes from one side to the other, while in turn concentrating upon the ground level. And right there, he ended up seeing into a few black blurs that walked upon the ground. He gave out a sigh at the sight of them.
"So you wish to come back for more, do you?"
He then growled as he clutched his fists and pounded them to the ground. Then, he brought his hands within his own pockets and pulled out a small black object – one that was shaped like a cylinder.
He fixed it upon his right eye, and that left him to see into the island surroundings from a much closer angle – a miniature telescope in operation. He then focused in on a particular path around the island, one that cut through the middle of the whole scene.
There he managed to see Crash and the others make their gradual approach towards Meteor Mountain. All that the Kaiser could do was give off a strong aggressive growl at their very motions.
"Shame that with the way this world will eventually turn, you won't be able to live long enough to see what we have wanted for so long."
Kaiser then looked straight towards the Psychotron's parts being carried straight down towards the hills, its target destination shown to be unknown at that moment in time. He then showed a light growl within his own teeth, viciousness continuing to be refined upon his face.
He then stood up and walked to the other side of the hilltops, where he saw the rest of the island in motion. That in turn was shown to be just as unwelcoming as the other side; just as painful when it came to the overall colors and textures.
Some areas didn't quite get so lucky though – some of the island features ended up turning for the worse. Dense sand, leave-less trees as a whole, barely any soil to walk upon, and a lot of cliffs showing nothing but barren-like structures around them.
"A prize we needed so much since our last encounter..."
The Kaiser then smirked, before looking his way down towards that part of the island's direction, almost as if it was pleased with that half's more twisted motion in general. He then brought his attention towards a nearby mountainous structure.
Meteor Mountain was standing in all of its majesty. And that in turn left him to maintain his vicious expression as he then made his way straight towards the volcano-like structure in its entirety.
And as far as he knows, his reign around the island will still last for a long time…
Time soon passed, and it was there that a nearby lift was seen around one side of Meteor Mountain in full operation. It was seen carrying a lot of crates around the top, before transferring them back down.
Riding one of the crates itself were Crash and the others, all seen settling within the cramp spaces inside it. By then the view of the whole island were being brought right around their eyes, thus emphasizing on a clear view all around it.
The crate then made its way straight towards the top, leaving the group to get ready for their departure as it made its way towards the drop-off point. They looked around the scenes, absorbing its purple-red color schemes all around it.
"So I take this is Meteor Mountain?" Crash asked the others.
Nina looked upon some of the taller structures in silence before speaking herself. "I can tell given all this damn heat coming out from the ground..."
They looked all around the scene, and saw a lot of nearby figures making their way across the ground, most of which being shown to be various other anthro creatures in loose clothing brought all the way around them.
The ground itself was shown to have steam coming out everywhere, and a nearby volcano was seen settling along to the right, leaving a small stream of lava to end up trickling its way across the scene itself. Before they could absorb the surroundings further, the mechanism came to a halt.
"Well, looks like the elevator has stopped", blinked Coco. "It's time to absorb our current surroundings."
The door opened up, and that left everyone to leave the lift. Once they all came out one by one – with Cortex coming out last due to the carrying of the flamethrower, the fuel now established in a smaller tank - the door was automatically closed behind them and the crate then started to make its way along the zip line, back down to the ground level of the island.
This left them to explore the further surroundings all around the scene – the colors of purple, blue and red have managed to ease together easily within the colors of the sky, the ground and the individual decorations around the mountainous structure.
As they crossed the bridge that ran right above the stream of lava, they looked down towards the surface together and saw the lava running in a smooth pace, with the bright colors easily reflecting upon their own faces.
Another corner was passed, and it was there that they saw a lot of vultures flying their way around the highest cliff tops. The sound of their cawing was heard all around them, granting a fair amount of space all around the scene.
The atmosphere around the scene was an easy pleasure for Cortex to be able to absorb as he managed to take in the devious sights around him. For him, the evil-esque natures of the colors and structures were shown to be an instant paradise.
"I don't know about you, but this place looks... fiendishly beautiful!" he then snickered to himself.
Nina ended up stopping in her tracks. "What do you mean?"
Several thoughts managed to rush around Nina's head as she managed to look closer to the surrounding. Given her thoughts relating to dark monochrome colors, the surreal surroundings didn't seem to do much to her face other than provide an eye twitch.
Within the group, Crunch made his way towards a stalagmite that was curved at its peak, standing within the center of the clearing like a statue. He knocked upon it and gave off a curious smile at its structure.
"It certainly looks surreal, I can tell you now", he spoke with a broad grin. "But how do you think we could be able to re-trace Kaiser Gemini in a place like this?"
Nina looked up and pointed at something in her sight. "Look!"
Nina then brought the group's attention towards a structure that lied right at the edge of the clearing. And it was shown to be a total contrast to the deep purples and reds that scattered the building – a white wall that was shown to stand 60 feet tall.
They then managed to look above it, and right there stood a fortress on top of a lonely rock. A thunderstorm was seen surrounding it, thus providing a serious feeling of unease all around the scene given the weather conditions.
"Yeah, well that definitely manages to answer a lot", Crash whispered to himself. "Let's see if we can get inside this thing!"
Crash gave off a confident smile as he started to make his way towards the wall with his hands linked together. His walk then turned into a run, and his posture soon changed into a charge – but all he could do was just rebound from the wall upon contact.
"Ouch, why do I even bother?" he growled while rubbing his limbs from the action.
Nina then placed her knuckles directly under her chin. "Hmm…"
Nina brought her attention to the wall herself, and it wasn't long until she managed to make her walk straight towards it herself. She used her hands to knock on it – a solid structure all around. Then she used a hand to stroke the wall surface – too smooth to climb.
"Looks as if this reinforced marble is a bit too tough to break by force", she said with a frown. "We need another way around this structure."
She sighed before she made her way back, using an arm link to bring Crash – with toucans buzzing around his head - back towards the others. Once there, they looked on at one another, knowing that a way around the wall needed to be explained.
"Uncle Neo, do you think the Black Seagull would be around here somewhere?"
"I can't see her, but..." Cortex came to a sudden pause. "It's worth a try given what Kyle told us."
"Say Crunch", Crash then blurted out in a dizzy tone. "Do you see any spies here?"
Crunch brought his viewpoint all around the scene, with his eyes twitching every few seconds. He then brought his attention towards a nearby corner, where several shapes were seen moving among the distance.
"I see a small team of which turning round to that corner over there", the brown bandicoot exclaimed as he pointed at the figures ahead. "Do you suppose that could be our target?"
"We'll see if we can give it a try", replied Crash, gradually gaining his strength.
And so they all started to make their walk straight towards the scene, hoping to follow the shapes towards the corner. Over time the shapes eventually became more defined as human-like figures, although still obscured in darkness.
They then turned another corner, and it wasn't long until Crash turned the same corner. But… all they were met with was a solid wall. It was within that motion that Crash showed a face filled with confusion.
"Wait a minute, we've faced a dead end?"
"Apparently not!" giggled Coco.
With a smile, Coco walked her way towards the walls and placed her hand within a sole slot. That caused the wall to lightly shake, giving off a lot of debris and allowing various dust particles to fall towards the ground.
As that happened, the wall was seen shoving its way towards the left, allowing a gap to show within the wall. That in effect showed a corridor leading deep inside the mountain side, leaving Crash to show a smile upon his own muzzle.
"Awesome thinking, sis!"
Coco looked back at the others with a confident glance back, her teeth shown to be as clean as possible within her smile. Soon after that was over, she made her walk within the mountainside, lightly skipping as she did so.
That in turn left them to come down a corridor filled with fire-based torches all around them, with the light and warmth to instantly reflect straight towards the group. This progress continued until when they managed to reach a nearby clearing within the corridors, where a sole cave was seen right at the other side.
The opening of the cave was blocked by a wooden door that was almost Nina's size. That left them with no way through at all, although the shadow of the seagull could easily be seen from its position.
"There she is!" Cortex said with confidence.
"So you must be more of the whole rebellion pack huh?" she replied with her usual sarcastic tone. "Hmm..."
The shadow was seen gesturing with a confident posture all around her. While that happened, Cortex came up close towards the door, struggling to be able to look above the door towards her structures.
"Madam, we managed to chase Kaiser Gemini out from the hillside stronghold", the scientist replied with confidence.
"Nice feat, huh? Glad to see you managed to take it from one side to the other. Perhaps I should send you a medal, but nah..." she said with her voice slightly turning darker. "I'm afraid the war has only just begun."
"But I tried my best to defeat him, did I?"
"There is no 'try' in this battle, soldier. You either kill, or be killed. It's as simple as that."
The bitterness in her tone ended up reflecting a deeper sense of sorrow around Cortex's expression, leaving him to sigh with failure as he ended up retreating his way towards the others. Within the group, all that Crash could do was growl before stepping forwards.
"Sheesh! You can scare this 'soldier' all you want, but all he wanted to do was just put a name forward for himself!"
"Wait a minute... that voice?" the Seagull stopped in her tracks. "Do I know you?"
"I don't even understand why you kept yourself growing in this rebellion for one second, lady!" Crash shouted with a scream in his voice. "With the way you're putting it you might have ended up treating us harsher than the Kaiser! Remind me that once this war is over, you're being fought with next. Let's take care of business on our own."
Crash then growled before he started to make his walk out of the caves. But… while that happened, the wooden door was opened up, and the Seagull then made her way out in full form. She then removed the headscarf and any other forms of garments around her head, thus showing her full head figure.
She had short brown hair, as well as deep brown eyes and a well formed face that has easily been matched for that of a human. She clicked her fingers with delight upon seeing Crash, whom then turned round to face her.
"Crash Bandicoot! It's you!"
He gasped with shock at her. "What the-!"
Cortex showed an equally surprised look. "Beverley Sanchez?"
"I can't believe it's been so long since I saw you travel 25 years back in time to help save our planet!"
And as if she knew Crash within the past, she managed to make her way towards Crash and bring her hands around his chest as if in a bear hug. The force left him to growl as he tried to make his way out from her hands.
"Wait a minute, he can only just speak!" Cortex exclaimed with a confused tone. "How is that possible?"
"Yeah, I noticed that too!" said Coco nervously. "What's going on?"
"I don't know", Crash sighed. "I haven't been back in time before, or at least not to that extent. Are you telling me something I may eventually need to know?"
Crash looked back at Bev, and then at the others. Since when did he end up traveling back in time to meet up with her, he thought to himself. What kind of event would have brought them together in the first place? He then sighed before bringing his head down.
"This is getting confusing", Crunch said with a blink. "I mean, what kind of event would bring a woman like her into a fight like that?"
"I for one have no idea", shrugged Nina. "But given what Uncle Neo might have known about her…"
She glanced her way straight towards Cortex's direction, whom even though he was still in the aftershock of seeing her ended up blushing on the spot. He then thought upon the aspect of him and her, as lovers… which left him to shake his head with frustration.
"No, it's not what you think!" he then panicked. "She was a childhood friend of mine!"
"Hmm…" Bev brought her eyes up and down Cortex's body, analyzing his posture. "I don't know about you, but you look a lot different since I last saw you."
"That's what you get when the trials of Evil seem to take their toll."
"Yeah, he seemed to end up with several urges to dominate the world since he first ended up here, or at least that's what he told me. Now it seemed as if he wanted to leave his past behind or something – he barely seemed to mention much about you, even though he managed to write some kind of personal journal relating to a past experience several months ago."
Cortex then gave out a light sigh as he brought his head back towards the ground, showing a light twitch of the eye as he did so. He then was able to look up in Bev's direction, whom could only show an optimistic smile in return.
"Mind, I've been looking for you for a long time, hoping to be able to make contact based upon our childhood memories again. I just found it hard enough that this world is being turned for the worse too, which is just plain terrible."
"Do you need a hand?" Cortex asked her.
She gave out a light smirk before she turned her way straight towards the group around her. And maintaining her optimistic looks, she just brought her eyes back towards Cortex's direction and granted a light blink.
"More like, do you need a hand?"
All that Cortex could do was blink with shock. Surely he knew that Bev was starting to show her age through her facial expression alone, but that didn't mean that she still had a youthful spirit inside her. While that happened, she made her rush towards the tunnel exit.
"Now I know it may take a while to adjust to the likelihood of reunion", she then started, "but you know we will be able to continue fighting on ahead of us. Let's go."
Cortex smiled back at her. "It's good to have you back, Bev."
Just as when Cortex was about to lightly place his arms around her shoulders she started making a graceful run straight down the corridors, her eyes focusing upon the scenario ahead of her.
That in turn left Crash and the others to come out with her, only to eventually meet up with the long marble wall that they left behind again. She realized by their expressions that traversing beyond the wall would be too hard to muster.
And so they all came together and started to make their way around the walls in the direction they came in through. A long walk was seen to be ahead of them, knowing that they would be in for a rough traverse all around.
Given the wall's structure granted all around the sides and ledges around the mountain, they knew that they would be in for a very exhausting trail all around. But even with that, they refused to give up hope.
For if they do, they knew what was going to happen.
The marble wall continued its way into the deeper wasteland regions around another side of the mountain. There, the marble wall continued to stand strong with its majestic portions showing all around it.
That was shown to be a tough problem granted for Crash and the others, whom managed to see the wall continue its way without a means of an end. The height of it alone didn't seem to make much difference either – even if they placed themselves in a tower formation they would be unable to climb their way over.
Within the group, Crunch continued to show further strain and panic around his eyes, knowing that the trail will be continued much further on than once thought. That left him to bring his attention towards the others, with his eyes gradually turning a deeper shade of gray.
"Aw man, this marble wall seems to last for ever. Is there any way that we can break into this thing?"
Most of the group shrugged upon Crunch's response. They knew for a fact that they would be in for a deeper sense of strain as time happened. But… something happened that almost made Crash change his mind about the whole ordeal.
Within the background, he saw four blurred figures ahead of them, each of which being the same shapes of those that they saw prior to meeting up with the Seagull. At the sight of them, Crash's expression started to fill with hope.
"Hey, maybe they can give us a hand!"
Without second thought, Crash started making his run straight towards the four figures within the distance, each of them showing their own individual appearances within the light. One of them was a blue human figure with time-related gadgets covering his armor and body. Another was a dingo/crocodile hybrid wearing a set of cream flared pants.
The third figure was a short ginger-haired scientist donning a white lab coat, with a missile lodged into his head. And the fourth figure was another scientist, but he wore a green coat and had two bolts placed within his head. In an instant, Crash approached the blue skinned figure and raised his hand before speaking.
"Hey, do you have any idea how to break through this damn wall?" he asked him.
"What makes you think we'll care?" he scowled back with a strong British accent.
The figure then brought his pitchfork into full swing. There, he ended up showing his angered attitude towards Crash, knowing for the fact that they have easily met before. His eyes widened at the set of them.
"All we wanted out of this mess was to try and force our way through towards the Kaiser's riches, ever since we failed to take in those from the Evil Twins", he sighed back.
"Is money all you care about?" Crash growled on. "We have a world at crisis here, and we need your help!"
"Money money money, is that all they ever care about?" Bev said with a shake of the head.
"You can't blame the ambition if it's for Nefarious Tropy, Dingodile, N. Gin and Nitrus Brio", shrugged Cortex.
Back in the foreground, Crash nodded his head as he tried his best to confront the figures; however they continued to show their aggressive stances. It was even there that they slowly started to surround the others, showing their menacing postures in an instant.
"If I had my flamethrowa'", Dingodile started speaking with a strong Australian accent, "I'll aim straight at the lot o' ya!"
"What makes you think that, you sick freak?" Coco snarled back at him.
At her response, all that Dingodile could do was twitch his tail rapidly from side to side, and use that in a slapping gesture right upon the ground. He then used it to harshly pound her towards the ground.
"AAARGH!"
Her face was then buried within the brimstone grounds, which in turn left various marks around her own fur. And over time, she managed to make her way straight back up on both feet, showing a face filled with disgust around her.
While that happened, Bev managed to step near her. For spies within the rebellion, they didn't seem to be too focused upon the crucial main objectives, she thought. Bearing those thoughts in mind she then opened her mouth to speak.
"Look, we are asking for some cooperation here", she said while looking back at the dingo-crocodile hybrid and the short missiled scientist. "We just want to reach the Kaiser's lair and put a stop to this madness."
"Only on the condition if you give Dingodile's flamethrower back!" shouted N. Gin while revealing his half-human half-machine voice texture. "Why did you confiscate it from him?"
"Just like he's acting now - not fully focusing on the objective behind this rebellion. The rules are the rules, and that's what the Black Seagull is portraying to you."
"Well I... n-n-never!" growled Brio with a high pitched voice. "Let's see if we can fight for that weapon back!"
N. Gin smirked back towards his partner. "Roger that!"
Bev tried her best to speak back with the others, but… before she could even do so, N. Gin, Tropy, Dingodile and Brio all brought themselves forward with their own artillery at hand, ready to fight on against the six of them.
That in turn left expressions of fear to show around everyone over time; within them, Coco and Nina showed more fear than the others, with more concern over the strength of their opponents than the quantity of them.
"It looks as if we have no choice but to fight back!" Coco gasped with a more upsetting expression. "But how?"
"I'll see if I can square off against Tropy", smirked Crash. "Cortex and Nina, you go on for N. Gin. Coco and Bev, you can go on for Dingodile. Crunch, be sure to work on against Brio. Let's see if we can get on with this!"
And thus, all six of them cheered before they all started to make their way around the clearing, ready to show their rage towards their opponents. Within the shuffle, Crash made his way a few inches near Tropy, whom held his pitchfork with pride.
The orange bandicoot showed a light eye twitch around him. "Dare throw that pitchfork at me, or..."
All of a sudden, he aimed his pitchfork towards the air, and right there a lot of strobe lights shone down on it, thus creating an energetic stanza showing all the way around it. That left Crash to end up shivering right at the sight of it.
"AIEE!"
There, Tropy aimed the pitchfork towards him, shooting a lot of bright purple strobe lights in his direction. That left him to start making his run from the scene, ducking and diving under some of which.
While that happened, Crunch was seen making a further run straight towards Brio, whom was seen moving with a fair amount of grace upon his sleek body. Within every few seconds, the brown bandicoot used his metallic hand to punch to the ground, in a bold attempt to shock his opponent.
"Get over here you little pipsqueak!"
All that Brio could do in return was smirk towards him. "You won't be seeing t-t-that for long!"
While that happened, Brio went into his pockets and pulled out a red beaker within his pockets. He removed the cork from it, and all of a sudden he started to drink the contents as if he was approaching red wine on a Friday night.
And as he ran, he ended up surrounded in a puff of green smoke. Just as when Crunch was about to grab him… he ended up plowing his way through air. The smoke then cleared up, and he then realized that Brio was gone.
"Where did he go?" Crunch asked himself with confusion.
"BEHIND YOU!"
The voice caused him to look right behind him, where emerging from a rock was a green monstrous hand. Muscles were also seen surrounding him, as well as an insane amount of fur scattering his body.
There, he managed to witness Brio's monster form, leaving him to start panicking as he came closer. He was shown to be three times Crunch's size, leaving him in turn to start panicking at the monstrosity.
"Uh-oh...!"
And it was at that point where Brio started chasing Crunch after what happened. That left him in serious panic as he tried to make his way back the way he came. It seemed as if he had to do some serious thinking to try and bring his opponent down.
Meanwhile with Cortex and Nina, they were seen approaching N. Gin with optimistic expressions all around them, with the remains of the flamethrower still firmly placed within the scientist's grasp; a corkscrew mechanism being taped onto it to control the flow of the fire.
"As much as I hate to do this to you", smirked Cortex, "you're fired!"
And there, the mechanism was triggered, causing the fire to shoot out from the nose and suddenly strike its way towards N. Gin, thus setting fire upon his lab coat. He then started to panic from the pain surrounding him.
"YEAAAARGH!"
From the background, Nina showed a faint smile on her. "Need a hand?"
Within the flames, Nina managed to show her way from behind him and used her bear-trap-style hands to end up pinning him to the floor. That in turn left them to end up rolling under their own force, thus putting out the fire in the process.
Over with Coco and Bev, they were seen making their run straight towards the monstrosity that was Dingodile, his big teeth easily showing within his jaw. He then held his fists tightly; ready to inflict some serious damage towards the two girls.
"I know that you're after your flamethrower", Coco started speaking in a sweet tone, "but there are more important things in life than that."
"Yeah?" Dingo snorted. "Like what?"
"This world is in peril, and it needs help just like that", replied Bev in a melancholy tone. "If it doesn't get aid soon we're all going to die!"
But Dingodile didn't respond. Instead, he started making his run straight towards the girls, with his fists brought right behind his body. He then brought himself into a brisk pace around him, his bare feet taking him far ahead when it came to the overall sprint.
And there, he started using his tail to try and attack his opponents, leaving them to start making their run far away from the monster itself. While they ran, they ended up picking various rocks down from the ground and used them to hurl straight towards their opponent. However, they ended up rebounding from his body.
"I take that didn't work out!" Bev panicked from her position.
Eventually, both girls managed to split up and make their run in opposite directions. That left Dingodile to go after Bev, with his menacing hands ready to inflict further damage to her. She tried to fight back with swipes and kicks at every opportunity, only to see his broad status end up fighting easily against her force.
Then, he ended up cornering her. He brought his body over hers so that it totally obscured it. His menacing face was seen growling straight towards hers, who was seen clutching a fist thus being ready to punch him… but that was until a nearby shadow came nearby.
"Coming through!"
It zoomed past Bev's viewpoint, before it eventually started to circle Dingo's. There, he looked up… and saw no one there. He looked in the other directions, and didn't see much in terms of other shadowed figures nearby.
"Huh?"
He then scratched the top of his head with a single finger. But… little did he know that he ended up with a surprise, with a shadow jumping near him and kicking him directly upon the back, thus forcing him straight forward.
"OOF!" he growled as he clutched his teeth in pain.
Within the force, he ended up drilling a hole in the wall with his mouth, thus getting his head stuck. That left Bev to make her way out from her position, only to see Coco smiling with pride as she clapped her hands together.
Back with Crash and Tropy, they were seen involved in a closer fight – while the pitchfork itself was continuing to fire strobe lights, the bandicoot was able to run towards him while dodging the light particles at the same time.
"Take this, you little skunk!" Tropy growled towards Crash.
"You can take those words back!"
Crash soon made his assault towards Tropy – as soon as he was several paces near him, he made his jump straight towards him with his arms outstretched. He gave out a confident smile as he came ever so closer.
Right there, Tropy brought out his pitchfork to try and block his opponent… but to no avail – Crash's hands took a tight grip around the pitchfork, leaving them to end up in a roll-based brawl over the dominance over the weapon.
Several minutes passed, and it wasn't long until Crash escaped from the brawl with the pitchfork at hand. He gave off a devious smile as he tried to aim the strobe lights towards him, leaving Tropy to run with fear.
Crash continued to fire, but… it wasn't long until some of the shots started to zoom past Tropy and onto other obstacles like the walls and cliffs. Nearby, Cortex was seen assaulting N. Gin with the flamethrower… but it wasn't long until a nearby strobe light knocked it out of its possession.
The scientist then gasped with shock. "The flamethrower!"
There, it flew its way out from Cortex's grasp, leaving it to start soaring within the air. All that Crash could do was just look on at it with a worried expression that has managed to dig deep all around him.
It then eventually managed to hover its way straight back towards Dingodile's direction, whom jumped up on both feet and caught both the weapon and its tank within his broad hands. He then gave out a light squeal of success before leering straight back towards his opponents.
"Nice try, but ah got me prize back! Ah'll be sure to use it to mah full purpose, an' before long we'll be rich bachelors again! Let's get out of here, mytes."
Tropy smirked with a nod, before looking on at Crash and the others. "We may meet again soon, or maybe not. But let's see how far you can go without your precious arsenal!"
Cortex tried his best to chase after the four opponents, but it wasn't long until Tropy brought out his pitchfork and cast a bright purple flash over them all, leaving them to vaporize within the light energy and vanish.
That left the plains to end up as quiet as they were when they approached them. The gentle winds in turn were brought around Cortex's body as he ended up crouching down and placing his hands upon the ground.
"Oh great..."
From his position, he looked down upon the ground, disappointed with the result of the fight. Most of the others ended up showing grim looks to match, Bev especially as she managed to come up close to him.
"How do you suppose we can face the Kaiser now?" Cortex asked her. "We're all in no state after what we've faced out there."
"Look - just because he's bigger than us doesn't mean he's difficult to inflict a scratch on. We'll be sure to keep going even if it takes the smallest difference to fight."
Her words left his eyes to blink. Still maintaining his melancholy expression, he slowly but surely managed to turn towards her direction, her rounded face easily showing an honest glance around her.
"You must be really confident, Bev. That's one of the reasons why I befriended you in the first place."
She responded back with a smile; Cortex tried to do the same back, but it soon twitched back to its emotionless attire. He was then able to stand up on both feet, and thus continued looking on at the surroundings.
Aside from various scratches as shown around the walls, much of the structures of the building were pretty much intact, which have in turn included the marble wall that surrounded the hidden depths of the mountain.
"So, anyone still got any ideas how to break open this marble wall?" Crash asked the others with a curious glance.
"Nope, not a clue", shrugged Crunch. "Unless we find something to help us, we might as well keep walking to the end."
Crash gave out a sigh before he steadily started to make his walk straight ahead once more, his face continuing to show more curiosity as time managed to advance on. He then saw the wall advance around a nearby corner, showing itself in a more twisted attire as it went further on.
"Question is, where is the end?"
No one dared to answer him at all. That left them to all make their way around the marble wall's twisted structures in silence, shocked by the fight that they have ended up being a part of as a result.
The skies then in effect turned to a more hazardous black-purple color, thus blocking out more forms of light around the ground than ever; only the light from a few lava run-off streams can be seen reflecting into their direction.
As they walked further the grounds became denser over time. Crash wasn't the only one that managed to feel it upon the soles of his shoes; that in turn left him and the others to continue estimating how long it would be until they would finally reach the structures on the other side of the wall.
Only time would tell on how and when they would be able to get there.
end of part 5
