AUTHOR'S NOTES

Ouch, I was meant to put this part up yesterday but I was really, REALLY stuck for time. O.o

But anyhow, it's time we advanced onto part 6 of my Crash fic. Those that can remember the previous episode saw that Cortex was finally confiscated of Dingodile's flamethrower, which returned in his direction although in its more minimalist form. Here, our group continue to follow among the marble walls of Meteor Mountain and try to find a way to break towards the other side, which isn't easy. Oh, and be prepared for a light amount of sudden drama too, heh.

Going back towards the response from last time… EcoBlood, don't panic if you're the only person reviewing this thing – as far as I'm concerned, every little helps. Interesting that you thought Crash reminded you of Daxter – with the way this was going I was hoping to aim for a rather stubborn form of character as a whole granted the 3 months that he was imprisoned, so that could explain the defensive approach towards Cortex… methinks. And yes, Beverley is indeed my name but I prefer Bev. However this Bev in the fic is totally fictional and is trying hard not to be a Mary Sue. Mwaha.

Anyhow, sit back and enjoy the show. Hopefully I shouldn't fall behind again…

Peace out,
Rexy


Half an hour passed since the flamethrower equipment were taken from Cortex and returned to Dingodile after a sudden encounter. All that they could do to follow on was to continue following the marble walls for a way to reach the darker areas of Meteor Mountain.

By that time, the first stars were starting to settle into the sky and shine with white light energy, as well as the occasional meteor that managed to fly across the sky with a radiant yellow color upon its tail.

The sights of the night sky, even with the neon light flashes that have still occurred amongst the remains of the clouds, were seen to fill what can be shown as a pleasant atmosphere all around the scene.

That thought of peace has been easily reflected onto Coco, whom instantly smiled as the stars gradually started to become brighter. That in turn left her to start slowing down, with Nina eventually taking a hold of her through an arm lock and dragging her forward.

Another corner was passed, and it wasn't long until they managed to face yet another corner. As that was passed, they ended up seeing into yet another long pathway, with the wall continuing on for yet another half a mile, although under a high bridge-like structure near the middle.

"It's almost as if we've been walking alongside this wall forever", sighed Coco with despair.

"Don't panic too much about the pace", Crunch replied back. "As long as we just keep going, that'll be just fine."

Crunch showed a face filled with optimism towards Coco, who gradually started to feel weakened within the amount of walking she had to end up enduring. That left Nina to end up tugging her harder, leaving her to be forced to briskly walk by her side.

Within the group, Cortex continued to walk forward with a faint expression of confidence, looking on at the night skies, at the brimstone walls and occasionally at the marble barrier. But… there was something within that barrier that left his eyes to widen over time.

"Those walls..."

He then ended up thinking in silence as he passed the marble structures. Eventually, the bright colorful statuses eventually turned deep shades of green, cyan and black, with feather-like shapes also showing within the structures.

They eventually started to form some further refined shapes over time, taking hold of more human-like forms all around them. That itself ended up with Nina showing curiosity, thus leaving her to let go of Coco – whom was then taken a grasp of by Crunch – and approach him.

"Is there something wrong Uncle?" Nina asked him.

"Buh?"

Cortex gave out a blink of shock. That in turn left him to look on at Nina, whose face showed that she was gradually becoming interested in looking into what he was thinking. And thus, all he could do was shake his head with hesitance.

"No, no, course not!"

Her eyes twitched. "Are you sure you're not hiding something from us?"

She gave out a light eye twitch towards her uncle's direction, whom in turn could only just panic further. That in turn left him to look back towards the marble barrier, where in fact, the similar haunting structures were there.

That in turn left Nina to take a hold of him by the hand – harshly – and bring his eyes in a lock onto hers. She growled back at him, her buckteeth shining within the starlight and her eyes showing further menacing statuses around them.

"Nina, leave your Uncle alone", growled Bev from the sidelines. "He might just be facing an illusion somehow. These marble patterns can be pretty confusing."

Crash brought his attention towards the marble wall himself. "Yeah, and with these strange colors I feel almost anything can happen if you stare at them for too long."

Nina looked back at the marble structures themselves, and it was there that she ended up sighing as she ended up letting go of Cortex's hand before advancing her way straight back towards the others.

But… it wasn't long until a few light rocks started to crumble from the rocky bridge, leaving a light amount of debris to in turn fall upon the ground. That left the bandicoots to take note of it and look straight on at the bridge itself.

"Wait a minute!" Crash exclaimed.

Crunch then gasped as he saw a shadow come onto the bridge. "Kaiser Gemini?"

Crunch pointed straight up as he saw a broad figure emerge its way around the scene. Its eyes were seen glowing within the darkness, thus showing that its vision was as clear as it was upon first vision of it.

Even with him being positioned higher above the scene, this did in effect leave expressions filled with panic upon the group, knowing that they could be eventually be spotted. But that was until Coco noticed a few rocks upon the left hand side of the path.

"Quick, duck!"

And within a sudden flash, they all managed to take cover behind the rocks. There, they managed to hide far away from the viewpoint of the Kaiser, whom continued to walk his way among the bridge.

Eventually, he brought his attention towards the pathway underneath him, his eyes slowly starting to twitch as time rolled on. He looked to the left, and saw not much trace of anything as a whole. That left him to sigh with relief.

He then faced the right, and saw the remainder of the pathway, which in turn included the rocks used to obscure Crash and the others from view. He continued to focus on at the scene for many seconds at a time, but… the stones were too still to suspect anything.

"I swear I sensed a rat in the works..."

He gave out a sneer upon his own face before he started making his way further up the bridge, deep footsteps showing upon the ground. Within the background, the group continued to focus their eyes upon their opponent.

Eventually, he managed to turn back towards the rocks… where the vision was shown to be further away than expected. He gave out a light growl, before looking straight towards the night skies with a snarl on his face.

"Might as well continue on to the next phase of the plan soon."

And thus, he continued to make his way across the bridge, thus settling on the area of the mountain on the other side of the marble wall – the area with the dark stronghold nestled right upon it.

As soon as he disappeared, the others managed to come out from the rocks, and back onto the main path. Within the group, Cortex showed fear upon his face, which was gradually turning pale over time.

"That... that face..."

The visions of the face of Kaiser Gemini were reflected straight back upon his face. And there, the haunting visions left him to eventually bring himself back onto his knees and bring his face towards the ground, with fright showing upon his eyes.

The expression soon managed to catch the attention of Nina, whom in turn managed to dash her way towards him. Once there, she brought herself into a crouch position, trying her best to level her eyes with his.

"Uncle, is there something wrong?"

He didn't respond. That left her to show further impatience through her own eyes and tensed muscles, leaving her to take a grasp around the pebbles upon the ground and snapped them within an instant.

"Uncle Neo, speak to me!"

"Nina, just give him room to breathe and then he might speak", whispered Crash in a casual tone.

Nina looked on at Crash, whom ended up showing a very relaxed expression all around him. That left her to end up taking a slight shift backwards, while easily maintaining her focus upon her uncle.

He then slowly managed to bring his head back up level with hers, although his eyes were still fixed straight onto the marble wall, the strange feather-like shapes haunting the structures that stood among it.

"I should have mentioned this to you when we first stepped onto the island in the first place."

He gave out an anxious sigh before managing to stand up on both feet again, his legs starting to shake on the spot. All that Nina could do was show a deeper face of concern as he managed to come further up.

While time happened, he started to make a more gradual walk towards the walls, his hands starting to twitch over the time that has managed to pass. Then, he gave out an honest blink and looked back towards his niece.

"Remember when we defeated the Evil Twins back at Twinsanity Island?"

Nina's response was with a shaky nod. "Yeah?"

"And you know the theory that there is an opposite to everything?"

Nina gave out a light nod at his response. Of course, the physical theory that has resided upon the time line for many years at a time, she thought quietly. Meanwhile, Cortex was seen shaking as he gradually came to terms with speaking again.

"I feel that whatever we did at Twinsanity Island has caused the change on N. Sanity Island over time. If that's the case... you can point the blame on me for getting the island into this mess."

"Uncle Neo!" Nina exclaimed to him.

"Don't blame yourself, doc", growled Crunch as he clutched his fists into a furious pose. "It's Squadron Gemini that did this, and they are going to pay for it!"

"No..."

Crunch showed surprise upon Cortex's response, his expression becoming more regretful over time. There, the brown bandicoot ended up releasing the grip upon his fists, looking further upon the scientist's face.

"The Evil Twins were MY pet parrots, and it's MY past that brought us all into this mess."

He sighed, before pointing his head back to the ground again. While most of the group felt uncertain about the scientist's will to move on, Crash ended up making his advance towards him, placing a hand upon his shoulders.

"Hey, I don't want you to blame yourself for this whole thing. There is no way that that can provide a direct influence on the Gemini's attack."

Cortex remained in silence for five seconds, before steadily bringing his head towards the bandicoot's direction. "You want to bet 10 Wumpa Fruit on it?"

With a face filled with confidence, Crash gave off a light smirk while revealing a part of his tongue, nodding his head with determination as a whole. He then used his arms to steadily bring Cortex back onto both feet.

"Trust me, I'm sure that this island will restore itself somehow", beamed Crash. "We have the faith."

He gave off a confident smile back at the scientist, whom still continued to show a face filled with fear all around him. While they both made their way back to the others, they in effect showed more concerned faces than ever.

"Crash, how do we expect to take him down without heavy artillery?" Coco asked in a nervous tone. "I mean, even he might knock out Crunch with his eyes closed!"

"No way will that be possible!" retaliated Crunch. "But yeah, you do have a point in saying that fighting him won't be easy."

"Is that a call for help I hear?" shouted a mysterious voice.

The call of the female voice was echoed right across the clearing, which in turn left the group to look around the scene and track down the source of the voice. And then… a shadow came from the top of a nearby cliff.

It then brought out claws from its hands and quickly abseiled its way towards the ground, landing gracefully on four limbs before bringing herself into the light. The golden fur, bright clothing and deep blue hair instantly showed her as Kazaa.

All that the group could do was look on at her with amazement – somehow, she often seems to be waiting for the right time and the right place to show up. Within the group, Crash stepped forward, with his eyes twitching.

"Kazaa, what are you doing here?" Crash asked her.

"I heard you needed help trying to get to the Kaiser. And I know just the way."

She gave off a confident smile as she managed to take a hold of Crash's hand, thus bringing him towards the marble wall itself. While that happened, Cortex brought his attention to Bev, his face showing an indifferent emotion.

"Do you suppose you must have taught her too much?" the scientist asked her in a lower voice than the usual.

Back with Crash she reached the wall and brought out her claws as she got closer. "It's right here. Have a try at feeling that with your own hands."

Kazaa pointed on at a portion of the wall that looked no different than the others aside from a darker shade placed upon it. That left Crash to gave out an expression of curiosity as he managed to come close to it.

Then, he used his hands to be able to touch the surface. He twitched his eye at the response, which in turn left Coco to run to the scene herself and stroke the surface. She too showed surprise at the touch.

"It feels so… dusty?"

"For lack of better wording, maybe", she responded with a relaxed tone and a twitch of the nose. "Mind, given what has been provided we're in for the weakest point among the wall. Should that be broken down you should be able to reach the Kaiser's stronghold over time."

Crunch beamed from the sidelines. "Kazaa, you're a life saver!"

With an optimistic smile, Crunch made his way straight towards the wall, with his hands clutched as tightly as possible. He then managed to charge straight at the dustier portions, his optimistic expression continuing to show.

But… once there, he ended up crashing into the structures, squashing against it like a fly on flypaper. He then slid down it and looked on at the structures, the surface still looking pretty much intact.

"But… it's still too hard to punch down?" he asked in a confused tone.

"I'm afraid so", frowned Kazaa, "but that doesn't make it impenetrable."

She gave out a light smile as she looked on at the structure, as well as a smaller path that was brought directly behind her. A light breeze then picked up, allowing her hair to start blowing gently within the wind.

"I'm sure there's something you can use in the waste clearing up ahead, to try and use to bring down the hole itself. I have a lot of faith within you all, I am sure."

"You just wait right there", said Crash with a sneer on his face. "We'll be back with the toughest texture we can find."

Crash gave out an optimistic smile as he ended up making his walk straight along the pathway. He showed a confident smile, as he knew that he would be able to bring something straight out from that area of the mountain alive.

Within the others, Cortex managed to emerge and start following him, drawing out his laser pistol with a confident look. Coco also showed as much concern through her own eyes, leaving her to make her run straight towards him.

That left Kazaa alone with Bev, Crunch and Nina by her side. Silence passed them for several seconds at a time, but as soon as that was over, the Black Seagull herself provided a light smile towards her comrade.

"You know Kazaa, your hunting skills have been growing strength to strength since you first joined us."

"Thanks", smiled the mercat. "Could have been a bit more confident with the whole thing given what happened back at my old home."

Crunch's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Kazaa tried to open her mouth to speak, but in the end… she gave out a light blink, and just brought her head straight down towards the ground, her ears quivering with fear upon her own rampaging thoughts.

"I take you don't want to express anything just yet?" he said in a sympathetic tone.

"I'd rather not. I just want to see this damn menace gone before I can do anything relating to the home I came from."

She sat down on a nearby rock, leaving room for her tail to twitch among the surface as she sat down. That left her to look on towards the ocean horizon along her, the strobe lights glistening among the waters.

Her hair soon managed to hide her face, which ended up leaving her with a light frown showing around her. From nearby, Bev managed to notice her and stroke her lightly upon her back, leaving the mercat to blink at the response.

"I understand."

Kazaa's ears then pointed up. "Really?"

She looked back towards Bev with a melancholy yet hopeful expression around her; a light smile upon her gradually started to show upon her, as she knew that she was gaining support from the rebellion group around her.

Her tail started to twitch happily from side to side, leaving her to show a more peaceful status all around her. She gave out a light blink of the eyes and left her attention to focus straight on at the opening once more.

The shadows of Crash, Cortex and Coco were seen vanishing slowly into the distance, as they managed to venture deep within pastorals completely unknown to them. That left faces of curiosity upon the others, wondering how they would fare.

No one knew what they would eventually find down there. No one knew if they would eventually find anything down there. But as far as they know, the sub-venture could make all the difference between world saving and world domination.

A difference that is easily hanging on the edge of the world's fate…


The plains that resided on the outer edges of Meteor Mountain were shown to be spacious Wasteland-type regions that managed to expand themselves for almost two miles before advancing towards the edge.

Within them, the sands were shown to be smooth to walk through, although colored red to match the brimstone established upon the rocks and a few traces of leafless trees that were established right around the clearing.

Within the area, Crash, Cortex and Coco were seen making their walk through the scene with faces filled with wonder as they went through the haunted scene for itself, the winds easily blowing straight through their bodies.

"Crash, are you sure looking through this place is a good idea?" asked Cortex in a hesitant voice. "Because I for one don't like the looks of this place."

"Are you telling me you're afraid of everything and anything?"

Crash growled towards Cortex before turning straight into his direction, whom can only show a fearful look back. They remained in silence for a while, before the bandicoot blinked and continued to look around.

There, the sands were seen brushing up against his feet, and thus providing a smooth and pleasure-full sensation as they went across the lower parts of his legs. That left him to gently smile before turning back to the others.

"Heck, surely this can't be as bad as Twinsanity Island. I mean, look at this place – we're still at a firm sense of security that we should end up returning back where we started."

He brought his attention back towards the opening that he came through with Cortex and Coco, showing much of the pathway that in turn led into the deeper regions of the volcanic structures itself.

Walking near the entrance was Coco, whom was seen with her hands locked behind her back, looking on at various tall wall structures. She showed a wide-eyed expression all around her, giving off a light smile upon her face.

"Coco, did you find anything yet?" he asked her.

"Not yet, but I feel that given the intensity of the rocks we might come across something soon."

She then started to make her walk back towards Crash's direction, looking on at the rocky structures leading to his position. As she walked, she saw that most of which were gradually becoming brittle as they reached the edge of the volcanic plains.

But… all of a sudden, she took a step forward and as she did that, a crack was heard on the ground. She looked beneath her, and saw the ground starting to shake over time, with smaller cracks forming.

"Coco, look out!" Crash exclaimed towards her.

She then looked down to her feet, showing fear upon her own face. "AAAH!"

In an instant, Crash ran to her direction and took a hold of her arms, long before the ground that she was standing on crumbled into nothing like ice on a skating rink, thus revealing nothing more than a deep pit with nothing but lava at the bottom.

"Hm, well…" Coco gulped. "Maybe this place isn't so safe after all?"

Crash lowered his head, showing a more bitter expression upon him. "Just keep with me and we'll see if we can keep advancing onwards."

Coco showed a face filled with deep concern as she was guided by Crash towards the other side of the clearing. The vision of the collapsing rubble couldn't leave her mind at all, knowing that it could easily scare her for a long while.

Meanwhile, back with Cortex, the scenery left him to show further fear around his face. Shaking his limbs, he managed to place himself into a firm position around a slightly larger boulder than himself. But… his eyes soon widened.

"Wait a minute…!"

He looked over the boulder, and saw a lot of pebble-like rubble situated around it, with something that looked like antique gold being maintained within the stones. He then made his walk around the boulder and looked deep towards its structures.

"Is that… treasure?"

Crash noticed his actions from nearby. "Oh great…"

Cortex's eyes widened with wonder at the structure as he slowly placed his hands towards it, a devious smile showing on his hands. However, Crash started to run faster, with Coco sliding behind him, while maintaining a panicked look upon him.

"Don't touch it! It could curse you just as much as anything!"

His face was filled with horror as Cortex came closer and closer towards the golden structure. His hands started to twitch as the distance between his hand and the object became shorter over time.

And then, he managed to take a grasp around the metal itself. All that Crash could do was come to a stop as he watched the reaction between Cortex and the object… but nothing happened at all between them.

"Wait a minute…" Crash looked confused. "It didn't?"

"More specifically…" Cortex focused his eyes upon the object. "What kind of scrap metal is this?"

Cortex then pulled the metallic structure out from the ground, which in itself was shown to be a curved claw like shape. It had an arm-like extension on the back, but with some wires sticking out from it.

He then managed to give a light stroke towards the metallic rim – almost as if it was pristine in structure. He smiled before opening up the claw for himself, with Coco soon analyzing the situation from her distant position.

"Wow, is that… a hypno-disc?"

She gave out a gasp as she managed to make her way closer, her feet twitching further over time. And once there, she took a grasp onto the disc wedged within the machine – one that had red and white colors spiraled around it.

"I don't know if we need the hypno-disc", Crash blinked, "but we'll sure as heck have a try at returning the metal back with us. It may be useful should Nina want it."

Coco gave out a light smile as she folded up the hypno-disc and placed it within one of her pockets wedged within her pants. While that happened, Cortex tried to lift the claw from above the ground while he started to walk.

And so they all started to make their return straight towards the opening that they came from, with the items they claimed at tow. No one knew how affective the items could be until they could eventually be used in practice.

But what they did know was that they might have find the right equipment to force their way straight through to the Kaiser's lair, depending on the general structure of the equipment in general.

Where the foreign items came from, they didn't know. And who owned the metallic arm to begin with, they certainly didn't care.


Back at Kyle's headquarters, the seaside scenery was shown to be at their quietest. Only a few black crows flying around the scene could tend to break the silence, which in turn provided a gentle atmospheric touch all around the scene.

Deep within the HQ building itself, Kyle was seen making his way towards a door that went untouched right at the opposite end of the entrance. After emerging through the crumbled roof parts from Cortex's fall earlier, he managed to make his way there.

He then opened the door, thus bringing himself into a light dome-like building, where a small tunnel was seen provided deep underground. He then dashed down a set of stone steps, deep within the building's basement.

Once there he turned the light on, and right there he managed to see into an underground garage. Within it, a sole machine can be seen within it – a blimp type machine, standing with various majestic blue shades although some parts were still obscured in darkness.

Right at the door were various technical carvings brought around it, including four letters that read the word "CODA" in a vertical fashion. At the sight of it, Kyle managed to smile at the accomplishment of the machine.

At that moment, no one knows when the machine would be used to its full glory. But he knew that when it would, it would be one step in contributing to the restoring of peace all around the island. For all he knew, it's wedged in him as a fact.

-end of part 6-