Disclaimer: Crash bandicoot was created by Naughty dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious visions. Please support the official releases.
The gang ended up back in the Warp Room, with a new Bandicoot named Ami as their new member and friend. Now they all looked around as they saw that they had all the Crystals and the Gems on the walls, including the Green Gem that Isabella had in her hands, much to her dismay.
"Ah phooey. I wanted to keep that pretty Gemma (Gem) in my hands." Isabella said disappointed.
"Welcome to the party, girl." Tawna also said, remembering having lost the blue gem, (Which was their first Gem that they got.) after getting it.
Nevertheless, they were proud of their accomplishments, as Crash and Coco decided to do the 'Crash dance' together in celebration. Which had Tawna, Isabella, and Ami feeling amused at the sight, while Aku Aku smiled warmly at them, as they all thought that the dance was adorable looking. Especially when both Crash and Coco does it together.
Then the room grew dark again, showing that Cortex was about to speak to them again. Which he did when his head's hologram appeared again.
"Ten of Twenty-five Crystals. Your all on your-" He said until he saw Isabella and Ami. "Oh my! Is it really you gals?! I thought that you all perished when our old fortress was destroyed in the flames! Thank goodness it was just my imagination!" He said, feeling relieved that they were alright.
"Nice to see that you're concerned for us?" Ami said, with both Bandicoots not expecting Cortex to feel caring for them. "But nevertheless, it was all thanks to N. Brio. Whom later on, gave us helmets to try to impede you. Only for both of us to fail."
"Hmph. Typical Brio." Cortex said annoyed for obvious reasons. "But nevertheless, I'm glad to see that you're both alright, and free from his control. I hope the same could be said for the other two."
"They're probably fine, and I know we might see them again soon." Isabella said. "But we shall ensure, that none of us will be his 'animali domestici' (pets) again." She whispered to Ami, who agreed with her, since they have no love for Cortex either. Instead, they want to be free from their control.
And they hoped that they shall, if they continue following the Bandicoot Trio that freed them.
That was when Cortex also noticed another unusual character that was by Crash's side, being Polar. "Hello. Who is this?" He softly asked at seeing Polar, who was slightly cowering behind Crash. Almost as if it could smell the evil on the sight of Cortex.
"That is Polar. It's our pet Polar bear cub. He's been of good help to us in one of the snow paths. Weren't you Polar, yes you are, yes you are." Tawna said, petting Polar behind the ears, much to his delight as he felt himself calming down.
"How adorable. Now back to business. I need to conserve my hologram's energy here, so communications between us has to stop for now. Just remember that you can use the Platform in the center of this room to get to the next room. Although you all can get intercepted on the way there. So brace yourselves for an ambush. And remember, I'm counting on you." He then said before his hologram vanished, signaling his call to them ending.
"So, that platform in the middle of this room sends us up to the next Warp Room?" Ami asked.
"Mm-hmm. Not only that, but there's also a basement room that I stumbled upon around the time we freed Isabella. I suppose it's for the secret Gems that we could gain." Tawna responded.
"Basement? So that's where you've been when you vanished on that square that you bounced on the boxes towards?" Coco asked, getting a nod from Tawna. "Well that's good to know, since that way, we can grab every gem in this room and in that secret room for N Brio. Which would mean we can save this world from Cortex."
"That is, once he betrays us." Tawna said. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, let's get to the next room."
The gang didn't need to be told twice. As they all huddled on the platform in the center, with Polar getting carried by Crash, before it then floated upwards to the hole in the ceiling. Then a flash took up all of their vision as they got teleported from the platform.
When the white flash faded from their vision, they ended up looking around, and found themselves in what could be like a set of a gangster movie that Pinstripe seems to enjoy watching. (Which Tawna views as an influence on Pinstripe's gangster look.)
Except that, the set that they were on was in a warehouse, and they were standing in what looked like a room had plenty of golden coins and other treasures that had almost all of the Bandicoots, (Minus Crash. And Aku Aku.) starting to look on in smiling glee at how much treasure that was around them. With Isabella even imagining herself in such a room of treasures as she sat on the throne like a sultan. Complete with Knights Ami, Megumi, and Liz protecting her, Jester Coco and Tawna making her laugh and entertaining her, Aku Aku singing to her, and male belly dancing Crash entertaining her in a different way that had her lusting for him.
They could've continued to gawk at the treasure trove, until they ended up hearing some chattering and fast talking that was from above them. Which had them looking up in curiosity at what or who was making all that noise.
Only to see what looked like a hanging Arabian cage above them, which held a thin panda girl inside. Who has black and white fur, with her face having white fur, eyelashes and pink lipstick, as well as pink fainter blushes on her cheeks, pink skin on her black ears, white colors on her palms, green eye colors, and raven black hair that was braided into a ponytail that trailed to her waist. She wore a green cheongsam with red stitching that had a faint white tree pattern on it, with a red sash wrapped around her waist along with red puffy pants, and red and green shoes. She also had a white flower in her hair on the back of her head.
And she was basically running and jumping all over the cage's interior like a beehive, not standing still for at least five seconds as she tried to break out of the cage bars. And she wasn't being quiet as she yelled out plenty of words a minute, for someone to save her.
"HEYLEMMIEOUTYOUCAN'TDOTHISTOME, IDIDN'TDOANYTHINGWRONGTODESERVETHIS! IJUSTWANTEDSOMEBABOOFROMMYHOMEINCHINASOICOULDGOSWORDFIGHTING!" She yelled out as she jumped in the cage. She seemed to be full of energy, to where she could give Coco a run for her money at her most energetic.
The Bandicoot gang was staring at her in confusion, wondering why a panda was in an Arabian cage that was hanging over a room, when she ended up focusing on them. "Oh? HELLO! Say, can any of you let me out? I would be willing to kiss one of you if you do!" She loudly said, looking at Crash.
Whom was staring confused at her initially, "Huh?" he said. Before Tawna then got to his left. "Sorry miss panda! But he's taken already!" Tawna responded to her.
The panda girl ended up facepalming. "Uugh. And I was desperate to kiss somebody who would be willing to rescue me." She groaned out.
"But you want to be set free? You got it!" Tawna then said, with the gang in agreement.
That had the panda girl excited again. "You'll set me free?! YIPPEE!" She yelled out again, feeling excited to exit the cage as she jumped around again.
The gang decided to search around the room for a key to the cage that the panda girl was trapped in, as they searched in the gold coin pile for the key that could go to the cage. "OOH! I forgot! My name is Yaya by the way! Yaya Panda! And it's nice to be saved!" The panda girl known as Yaya said.
"And it's nice to save you, miss Yaya!" Coco said, quickly taking a liking to Yaya, as she searched the gold piles for the key to Yaya's cage.
"I'd save the time for searching for later I'm afraid! The guys that trapped me in here has the key!" Yaya said. Which was a relief for the gang since it narrows their search down.
Even though they knew that they have to fight the ones that trapped her in the cage. Which they felt, are the ones that they must face off against like when both Tawna and Crash fought Ripper Roo.
"Who are the guys that trapped you?" Ami asked.
"Dat would be us." A new voice said as the curtains opened. Revealing a familiar face, and two new faces.
The familiar face happened to be whom Tawna wished she wouldn't meet again. He was a Potoroo that had brown fur and a pointed snout, jet black hair that was slicked backwards, and he happened to look like a gangster with the pinstripe suit, and holding his Tommy gun with a barrel drum clip. Except, he happened to be a bit more muscular than last time. It was none other than Pinstripe himself.
And by his sides, were a pair of anthropomorphic lizards, whom have green scales that could be seen on their faces and their hands that wields a pair of Scimitar swords. Both of them also have yellow sclera's and blue irises, but that's where the similarities end. One of them was slimmer, with a longer snout and wider cheeks, while the other one was more muscular yet fatter, and he has a square jaw with a little curly beard on it, and a flatter snout. And they are wearing white Arabic-like robes, with violet trench coat-like cloaks that trailed to their feet, and they wore small golden helmets with one spike on them, and dark purple cloths that covered the sides and backs of their heads.
And the lizards were pretty acrobatic, as they jumped and flipped around before landing in front of Pinstripe before jumping to his sides.
"Well, well, well. I neva thought we'd be he'ya again, Tawna. And look at dat, you'se still wit dat doity Bandicoot? I expected dat you'd break up with him." Pinstripe said, still using his gangster accent as he stared flirtingly at her, as well as annoyed at Crash.
Whom stared back at him with a mean glare alongside Aku Aku, since he was also annoyed at the fact that he's seeing Pinstripe again. He also kept himself close to Tawna, as she also kept herself closer to him.
"Well, are you disappointed yet? Because I'm not gonna even think about leaving him. Not even for you." Tawna said annoyed, much to Pinstripe's dismay, and Crash's joy.
"You know him?" Ami asked, with Isabella also curious. After all, neither of them ever met Tawna, or Crash, and Coco, or the Potoroo. Since they were in a different section of the fortress that Brio saved them in when it caught fire.
"Unfortunately." Tawna said deadpan. "And his name, is Pinstripe. He used to be part of the group that Cortex and Brio created from his mutation experiments. And now, well..."
"Da Bandicoot boyfriend of yours, beat the tar outta me, and left me to die in dat reactor room for you. Thankfully, I lived and found myself a business in Chicago with a city-wide Sanitation Company. Even though, It doubles as a casino." He said grinning as he gave his Tommy gun a spit shine. "And I was gonna run a Gubernatorial campaign when Brio gave me an offer, that I just couldn't refuse, since it involved both of ya's."
Tawna was not surprised, nor was she thrilled at the fact that Pinstripe of all people, has been hired by Brio as well. She did hope when Brio met them again on her first journey with Crash, that he'd forget to hire Pinstripe, or would have the decency to not get on her bad side by hiring him. But the sight in front of her, dashed her hopes.
Aku Aku was also disappointed, as he too wasn't fond of Pinstripe due to his fight against Crash, and his boasting about how he'll have Tawna by his side. And yet, Tawna is still with Crash, much to his relief since Crash went through a lot to save her.
"But I can see that a pair of lovely ladies is also wit Tawna. It seems like it's my lucky day." He said grinning at both Isabella and Ami. "It's a great pleasure to meet both of you'se. I'm Pinstripe."
"Charmed." Both female Bandicoots said, with Ami merely glaring back at him as she spoke sarcastically, and deadpan, while Isabella felt a bit charmed by his Gangster look. After all, he looked like a Sicilian gangster, and they are from Italy according to the word on the street. (At least in the more southern parts.) And he looked handsome and cute in her eyes, especially with that slicked hair, and the outfit.
"Who are those guys though? And what's their story?" Coco asked.
That was when the Lizards ended up smiling at the Bandicoots. "Why we are the Komodo Brothersss." The thin one said. "Call me Joe, and thissss is my brother, Moe."
"We are Ronin. Sssssamurai's without Massstersss." The muscular one known as Moe said.
"Which is odd, since they don't look like ronin, they look more like Arabian Sword masters, than Ronin." Coco whispered to Tawna, Isabella, and Ami. Whom all agreed, but it could be an honor thing being the reason for all they care.
"We were created by some ssssscientistsssss, and we were casted out of the fortressss, before we were given ssssome combat lessssonssss, from a sssssword masssster. Now we follow no one. Just ourselves." Joe then said.
"Then what are you guys doing with that guy? Even though I'm guessing that it's cause he's paying you?" Ami asked.
"You're half right." Moe said.
"He'ssss paying ussss plenty, in becoming his guardssss. As well as his officerssss. But we were hired by Brio to protect him." Joe said.
"And why is the panda up there? Did she do something wrong?" Isabella tried to ask.
"Let'sss jussst ssssay, she sssstole some trade goodssss from our bossss." Joe said.
"OFCOURSENOT! IJUSTWANTEDMYBAMBOOSTICKS!" Yaya responded. Before taking a calming breath to rephrase herself a bit. "Ahem! What I mean is, I wanted my bamboo sticks for practicing some sword fighting with! I didn't know it belonged to that Al Capone wannabe!"
The last part had the gang chuckling at the last part, which they felt was an accurate description of Pinstripe. Even the Komodo Bros, who works for Pinstripe, couldn't keep a straight face. Much to his chagrin.
"You do know, dat there is nothing stopping me from turning youse inta swiss cheese, with dis friend of mine, don't ya?" He said angrily at Yaya, as he pointed his tommy gun at her.
"Ooh, dat supposed to scare me?!" She responded while using Pinstripe's accent to mock him. "If I was out of this cage, you'd be the one dancing, if you know what I mean!"
The Bandicoot gang couldn't hold it in as they laughed at the last part, having got it, and finding it as a funny joke that Yaya made to Pinstripe, who was simmering with anger as even the Komodo Bros were chuckling at that too.
Even though Pinstripe could've ended it with some firing in the air, he decided to be polite just this once, and let them finish their laughter-
Never mind, he just fired at the ceiling in the air, which startled some of the gang out of their laughter, even though there was at least two still chuckling at that, the two, being Coco and Crash.
After they were done, Pinstripe ended up reloading his Tommy gun again, before pointing it at the gang. "Let's cut to da chase now! I'm ordered to eliminate you all should you continue to gather Crystals, but I could be persuaded to change my mind, if you could-"
"NO! And don't even try that gangster's charm in the movies, because my answer will never change!" Tawna said, seeing his question coming from a mile away.
"Aw come on Tawna! I've got riches, a mansion, and even some limos for dating with! And yet you choose him?"
"Yes. And I'm staying by his side, because he has something that you don't!" She said, before wrapping her arms around Crash's chest, while gesturing to his center above his abdominals. "This! He has a heart! And he's shown it to me, by going through everything for me, regardless of what you, and the other mutants in Cortex and Brio's army, threw at him. All for me, and my safety!" She said before pecking him on his cheek. "And in my eyes, that's all I want for my man, and no amounts of good looks, and muscles will change that. So don't you even dare expect me to eventually say yes, no matter how many times you beg. Because I'll still remain with my Crashie no matter what!"
And like that, Crash was reminded of why he loves her. He saved her from Cortex, and because of that, she refuses to leave Crash's side due to her own love for him. Her love for Crash, is so strong, that not even the handsome Gangster like Pinstripe could hope to win her heart because of that, no matter how hard he tries. And that is something about Tawna that Crash loves so much, other than her sexy looks.
Coco on the other hand, was quite proud of her for that too. As she loves her brother like a sister would, and she would be quite upset if someone hurts his feelings. And she always hoped that Tawna would not leave Crash's side for anybody like Pinstripe, which always makes her happy when her hopes get answered. It's no wonder she thought of Tawna as like a sister to her.
Both Isabella and Ami was pleasantly surprised that she chose to remain with Crash. Even if Isabella inwardly hoped that she'll hook up with Pinstripe, she was still proud of her for remaining by Crash's side.
Especially since Isabella noticed the glare that Ami was giving him earlier, like she didn't trust or like Pinstripe herself. Which is a sign that there's some bad traits that Ami notices about Pinstripe that she should look out for. And since she trusts Ami, the glare is warning her that he's no good for her, which was why she didn't feel as attracted to him as any other female would. Especially since she felt that Pinstripe would merely view herself and Tawna as merely trophy wives, which is why he's not her type. Even though a part of her hoped that he could change his tune if they ever meet again so that they might hook up themselves.
Not to mention, Aku Aku was smiling warmly at Tawna for remaining with Crash, and not hooking up with whom he describes as 'the psychopathic animal with the rapid firing weapon' that tried to kill Crash and himself. (With zero success on the latter due to his mojo magic blocking the bullets.) "I'm so proud of you Tawna." he thought.
All while Pinstripe was both seething with anger, and sulking in defeat. Feeling that Tawna's right, that there's nothing he can do to win her over to himself.
"Have it ya way then. I'll just take the other blonde gal… who is named… what's ya name?"
"Isabella. Salve. (Hello.)"
"Ooh, an Italian? That's a good accent. Makes ya look attractive with it." Pinstripe said, starting to have some love for her.
"Grazie? (Thank you?)" Isabella said, feeling flattered at his flirting, yet confused at how she's the one that he's flirting with now that he knows, that Tawna won't return his feelings.
"Say, once dis is done, we should go to a countryside in Chicago, look at the view of the ocean. As well as da flowers." Pinstripe said.
"Sorry Pinstripe, but there's something about you that makes me feel that you're not my type of man. I hope you understand." She responded, much to Pinstripe's dismay.
Now Tawna, Aku Aku, and Coco were the ones surprised. Since the former did think that Isabella would say yes to Pinstripe's advance towards her. "Guess I was wrong on that part. But I understand and respect why she would reject him too." Tawna thought.
All while Ami was merely smiling at Isabella for that, since she did think that Pinstripe would be a sleazeball. And she was glad that Isabella could see that too.
Pinstripe couldn't stop the sigh that was in his breath as he looked down at the floor, before he then readied his gun again. "So be it den! I've been ordered to eliminate you all, and I can't just leave Brio disappointed. So, it seems that you're ending you're journey here, and giving us your Crystals, or your lives."
Even though they felt that they might end up getting shot and killed by Pinstripe's Tommy gun, they didn't back down, instead, they braced themselves for what could be another battle. Then they noticed that the movie set wall behind them, was made of metal that could be hard enough to cover them from Pinstripe's bullets. They all decided to hide behind the wall when Pinstripe shoots.
On Tawna's mark, they quickly dashed behind the wall before Pinstripe was ready to shoot his Tommy gun, causing him to shoot in a fan pattern as they retreated behind the wall, in hopes that he'll hit them all regardless his lack of accuracy, even though they're behind the wall that was able to protect them. (Aku Aku still had magic to protect him, but he too retreated behind the wall with the Bandicoots.)
Even though his bullets still grazed some of the gang that barely got behind the wall, with Tawna and Crash feeling at least three of them grazing their abs and their arms, and Coco feeling three grazing her back as she carried Polar to safety. They all cringed in pain of the grazing marks, but they knew that there's bigger problems to deal with. Like how to defeat Pinstripe, and how to defeat the Komodo Bros.
"What'll we do?!" Isabella asked through the gunfire.
"Give me a minute! I'll think of something!" Tawna responded, making up a plan to defeat Pinstripe and the Komodo Bros.
Pinstripe ended up losing his entire clip of ammo on his Tommy gun, which forced him to stop firing to reload. "Sic em! And bring me dat stupid one's head!" Pinstripe said, referring to Crash.
"Assss you wissssh, Pinsssstripe." Joe said as he and Moe proceeded to dash to the wall, preparing to ambush the gang while Pinstripe .
That was when Tawna had a plan for the Komodo Bros. "Ami, Crash, can you both fight on equal footing with the Komodo Bros? And Coco, can you get a trap ready?" Tawna asked.
"Trap? For what?" She asked.
Tawna proceeded to point at the hanging cage that Yaya was still inside. "I need to get Pinstripe under it, And I think I know what to do once the Komodo Bros are beat." She said before whispering to her about what she's planning. Which had Coco smiling at how well it could be pulled off, even though she also cringed at how he'll take it.
"O-okay. Let's do it." Coco said.
"Good. Now Ami, Coco, Isabella, Crash, take down those Komodo guys." Tawna commanded.
"Got it!" Ami said as Crash also saluted Tawna. Before they then proceeded to jump out quick enough to do battle with the Komodo Bros. While Tawna protected Polar.
The Komodo Bros was caught off guard by their fighting to where they couldn't ambush them, but it was not enough as they used their acrobatics to dodge both Ami's punches, and Crash's spinning move.
Ami and Crash was forced to continue their fight as they changed their moves to her using some Karate that she remembers learning from Megumi, to keep Moe at bay, while Crash switched to a fisticuff combat stance to fight Joe.
Despite the Komodo Bro's skills in using a sword, Ami and Crash was able to fight them on pretty even ground since they were fast enough to dodge their sword swipes. Which wasn't too hard to see coming since they were using scimitar swords.
Which, compared to katana swords, they were a bit larger in mass (For scimitars anyway.) to where they were easier to see coming, and they also seemed weighty to where they were a little bit slow in making another swing after finishing their previous swing, taking into account of twisting their wrists to have the sharp side facing the Bandicoots. Which both Ami and Crash took advantage of as they counterattacked them with some punches after dodging their swings a few times.
That's not to say, that they were able to gain an upper hand, since the Komodo Bro's showed them that their skills in swords is not an exaggeration, as they kept the fight from turning in the Bandicoots favor due to their acrobatics. And they were able to land some cuts on Crash and Ami when they tried to dodge their sword strikes. But their improvising efforts kept the fight from turning in the Komodo Bro's favor.
Which was why, after they both suffered a right hook from both Ami and Crash, the Komodo Bros had to change their combat tactic. So they jumped over to the center of the stage of the movie set, before Joe ended up crossing his arms to where he turned his hands to have the blades facing away from his chest. "Let'ssss get them brother! Like we rehearssssed!" He said.
Moe then grabbed his top torso with a sash, then with a mighty pull, used the sash to have Komodo Joe spinning around like a tornado as he slid around the circular arena, while Pinstripe was merely standing back and watching the fireworks, hoping that it'd end the way that he expects if their skills are as good as they claimed.
Which caused Ami, Coco, Isabella, and Crash to run and jump their way through avoiding the spinning Komodo Joe as he tried to slice them to bits with his scimitar swords as he spun around. They even saved each other by pulling each other out of the way when Komodo Joe was about to slice them to ribbons. Which happened a few times with Crash saving Ami, Coco, and Isabella, while Coco saved Crash just as often alongside Isabella and Ami, and while Ami kept on saving Coco and Isabella as well, and while Aku Aku kept them all in balance with his levitation magic too, not wanting to see them getting diced. They shown themselves as quite a team against Joe and Moe. And Isabella just met the Bandicoots just hours ago. (While Ami just met them minutes ago.)
All while Yaya Panda was still yelling around, only now, she was warning them of the attacks coming. And she was cheering for them to win. Which was a slight help for them.
And while the Bandicoots was also trying not to collide with each other, which could end in them getting diced up if they weren't careful, and lucky.
Thankfully, they were both, as Joe eventually slowed down in his spinning before having to sit down to recover from his dizziness of spinning around. Which gave them a chance to strike back against Joe, with both Crash and Coco using their spin attack to send Joe sliding on the floor, before getting slammed into Moe. Causing them to fall to the floor in tangled limbs.
After getting untangled, the Komodo Bros decided on another attack that involved spinning. Only this time, while Moe was the one spinning, Joe took out some scimitars, and threw them around, attempting to impale the Bandicoot gang with his throwing scimitars.
Which slightly succeeded, as both Ami and Coco ended up getting cuts on their arms as the swords grazed them, with Tawna and Crash glaring at the Komodo Bros as both of them hates it when their friends gets hurt. Especially if it's Crash's little sis with the laptop. But before Coco or Isabella could get revenge on them by taking their scimitars, they vanished into thin air before Joe threw another one, which she had to dodge as she had to contend with a spinning Moe.
Fortunately, Crash protected her from Moe's spinning attack with his own spinning, redirecting Moe back into Joe as he crashed into him this time, sending them falling in a mess of tangled limbs again. Even though he also suffered some cuts on his torso, but to him, the cuts were worth saving his sister.
Coco felt relieved before she then hugged Crash for his rescue. "Whew. Thank you for the save big brother." She said before playfully kissing him on his cheek. Before they both focused on the Komodo Bros.
Whom were charging back at them with their swords again, putting Crash and Coco on the defensive. And they could've been overwhelmed with the combo, had they not decided to obey some code of the samurai, and arm both Coco and Crash with their other scimitar swords, to get a proper fight out of both Bandicoots.
Even though Both Ami and Isabella ended up intervening too with some golden scimitars in their hands that they found in the gold pile. Which put the Komodo Bros in an even fight.
Especially with Crash taking the other scimitar from Coco, arming himself with two, since she wasn't good at sword combat. Although, neither is Crash, but he's better than her at defending himself if given a melee weapon.
Even though, with the Komodo Bros in direct combat, it wasn't easy as the armed Bandicoots had to parry each of the sword blows with their own scimitar swords. Which they felt, was more fragile and likely to break compared to the steel swords that the Komodo Bros were using against them.
But they held their own against the Komodo Bros, and that's considering their skills in swords compared to the Komodo Bros, even though they were merely even in the combat circle.
At least, until Crash and Ami ended up disarming the Komodo Bros of one of their swords, leaving them with one sword to work with in defending themselves. Which they did a good job at since they were still quite good at fighting with swords, even to where they gave Ami and Crash some cuts, and even gave Isabella some cuts as well
Unfortunately for the Bandicoots, upon eventually disarming them of their other sword, their gold ones ended up breaking too. Which made them useless since they had no sharp ends to fight with on what's left of the swords. And Crash accidentally fumbled and dropped the pair of his steel swords as well.
Which gave the Komodo Bros enough time to be changing their tactic again, to where they were ready to dice the Gang with their next move, where they stood on top of each other, making a tower after pulling out another pair of scimitars, before spinning again to dice up the Bandicoot gang.
Ami had a little plan for that though, as she proceeded to pick up Crash by his wrists, (With his permission by the way.) as she had a baseball player-like focus on the tornado attack that the Komodo bros were doing to where she could imagine the baseball music that plays whenever someone was up to bat, and about to swing.
Which is what she did with Crash, as she swung him with all her might at the Komodo Bro on the bottom, while Crash had his feet forward like some swinging superhero, which sent him flying along with the one on top, all while Crash didn't even suffer a cut from the scimitars since they faced away from him when he hit them. Now they were sent backwards as they screamed in fear as they were sent spinning around the room like a pinball.
Until finally, they fell to the ground unconscious, making the Bandicoot gang the winner, and making Pinstripe as their only obstacle in freeing Yaya Panda and getting back to the Warp Room.
Speaking of whom, he ended up pointing his Tommy gun at the gang when they stood victorious. Now they were raising their hands up as he kept his gun pointed at them.
"I must admit, you all have some skills, or da Komodo Bros had a poor training regimen in being ronin." Pinstripe said, disappointed at the Komodo bro's failures.
Which is regardless of how much of a good job that they did, as they had the Bandicoots on the ropes in some sections of the battle.
Little did he know, Tawna was putting her plan into motion as she did some preparations while telling Polar to stay at a safe distance. And Isabella was taking part in it when she snuck off to Tawna.
"But nevertheless, orders are orders. And I can't just disobey Brio. So either stop here, or i'mma turn all of youse into swiss cheese. And don't make any sudden movements-"
"And miss all the fun we could have?" Tawna's voice asked behind him, in a husky tone. Which quickly got his attention as he turned around.
Where he saw Tawna seductively grinning at him, while she had her short's pant legs rolled up to show more of her legs. All while she was swaying her hips a bit while looking at him through her bang. As was Isabella too, as she was also swaying her hips too. While showing her cleavage, and rolling up her pant legs to show her shins, and she also looked at him through her bangs too.
They looked like they took a sudden interest in Pinstripe, and is showing him their sexiness. Much to the shock of the rest of the gang. Especially Crash as he was confused and shocked that Pinstripe was somehow able to attract them both. As well as terrified that it would mean he'd lose Tawna, despite what she said to Pinstripe before the battle began.
All while Polar merely looked on in confusion.
"After all, I admit, you are a carino, (cutie,) with that chiseled jaw, those muscles showing through your suit, and even that Pettinatura (Hairdo) caught my attention." Isabella said.
Pinstripe couldn't stop a blush that spread on his cheeks, as he smiled back at them. "Well, *hehe* I do keep it slicked back meself, since it attracts the ladies. Cortex said it'd make them go wild fuh me."
"Well, he told you right. It's driving us insane." Tawna sarcastically said, then she turned to Isabella. "Just like this Lizzie Borden character that I learned about." She whispered.
That got a chuckle out of Isabella.
That had Pinstripe starting to walk to them as he lowered his Tommy gun to the floor. While Crash was now terrified that Tawna might've turned to Pinstripe for love, despite what she said to him before the battle. It was almost like he had some sort of body spray scent that had both Tawna and Isabella attracted to him when they took a whiff, and Crash wanted some of that too if that was the case.
"Hey Crash!" Ami whispered to him when she felt that he'd be saddened. Causing him to turn to her, and see her pointing upwards at the cage that Yaya Panda was in. Which he suddenly noticed, was what Pinstripe was walking under.
Then he noticed his sister silently jogging to the chain holding the Cage up. Like she could be trying to get to it to untie it from the wall.
That sight in front of him, had what could be a single gear in Crash's head turning, as he started to piece what Coco was about to do and what Tawna and Isabella was doing to Pinstripe. And that was when it hit him, and after also some explaining from Aku Aku, and Ami, the latter of whom joined Coco in untying the chain, that he was calming down from his sad state.
Now he was joining Ami and Coco in untying the chain too, while hiding his smile, as he witnessed Pinstripe getting closer to both Isabella and Tawna as they were distracting him to their spot like they were planning as Yaya was wondering what they were doing. "Ooh I hope that it'll lead to a butt kicking for Pinstripe, because he really had a butt kicking coming! OOOH I CAN'T WAIT!" She thought excitedly.
Pinstripe was now under the cage as both Bandicoots were now close to him, about to hug him as they had their snouts close together. "I feel that we might be loving you." Tawna said huskily. Making Pinstripe believe that he's about to get a kiss from Tawna.
Which had him preparing to give his birdie to Crash, if he's able to catch his drift.
"There's just something we'd like to say first though." Isabella then said.
All while Coco was nearly done with the knot that held up the cage, now she just needed her cue to let the cage drop.
Which Yaya ended up noticing at the last minute, as she got nervous about that. She was prepared to ask Coco what she was gonna do, but Ami had her hushing before she could do that.
Yaya was about to ask why, when suddenly, "NOW!" was what she heard, before she heard Pinstripe making a yelp of pain, then next thing she knew, she felt the cage that she was inside going into free fall, as she also heard a girl screaming, before landing with a loud crash as she felt herself landing on her butt after the cage landed on the floor.
At that point, it made sense to her. Tawna and Isabella merely lured Pinstripe into standing under the cage, while Coco ended up untying the chain that held up the cage she was in, sending it plummeting down onto Pinstripe's head after Isabella and Tawna dove to safety. (But not before giving Pinstripe a little 'below the belt' attack to make sure.) And all he could do, was merely scream like a girl as he then got flattened.
"HAHAHAHAH! Good one! That was awesome!" Yaya yelled out at figuring out what just happened while she rolled in the cage laughing.
Now the Bandicoot gang was catching their breaths in the aftermath of the battle that just ended, as Yaya was laughing at what just happened. While Tawna and Isabella was taking relieving breaths at the close call of dodging the falling cage. While Crash, Ami, Aku Aku, and Coco was happy that Tawna's plan worked for Pinstripe.
"That's one way to defeat a gangster." Isabella said catching her breath.
"No kidding." Tawna then said
It was after they caught their breaths, that Tawna ended up seeing Crash jogging up to her before hugging her in his arms. Which had her feeling nervous about what to say.
"C-Crashie. I"m sorry-" She tried to say, only to get kissed by Crash in return.
"Dat oday. Yu wa jut twikin Pindripe." He gibbered, telling her that he knows that she was only trying to trick Pinstripe into going under the Cage.
Tawna was relieved to hear him say that. "Oh, thank goodness you understood." She responded, smiling at him as she kissed him back.
Which had Isabella feeling envious at seeing that, wishing that he would kiss her too.
Before they could celebrate though, they were reminded that Yaya panda was still inside the cage, and that they should let her out first. "Okay, Isabella, do you have the key?" Tawna asked.
"I thought you had it." Isabella said, having forgotten to grab the key to Yaya's cage out of Pinstripe's pockets.
"I thought you did." She responded, realizing that she didn't get the key out of Pinstripe's pockets either. "Don't worry Yaya, It'll take only a few-"
Before they could say another word, they saw Crash getting up before taking one of the scimitar swords out of one of the unconscious Komodo Bros, and then holding it backhanded before spinning at the lock with it in hand. Which gave it enough speed to slice the padlock's bar that held the door close.
Tawna had to admit, that was probably the smartest move that Crash has done, as Yaya ended up exiting out of the cage, now free.
And she was jumping around excitedly, happy to be free from her prison. "YIPPEE! I'MFREEATLASTTHANKYOUSOMUCHGUYS!" She yelled out excitedly, still speed talking as she hugged Crash and Tawna tightly. With the former dropping his sword.
"R-really, it's… no problem." She said, cringing at how strong Yaya was, despite her thin looks, and small height that was around Coco's. (Despite being a panda.)
"It's nice that you're free from that stronzo. (scumbag.)" Isabella said. "How does it feel to be free?"
"It feels better than being trapped in there! That's for sure!" She said, lowering her voice a bit since she was close to the gang. "That was awesome by the way, how you guys were able to stand up to those Ronin lizards! I thought that you'd be goners at some points!"
"We also thought that too. I guess we've gotten lucky throughout this journey." Isabella said. "Spero che la nostra fortuna resisterà entro la fine. (I hope our luck will hold out by the end.)" She then said in Italian.
"I hope so too." Ami said, understanding her Italian after her teaching during their time in Cortex's former fortress.
They ended up hearing some sudden stretching noises like someone was pulling themselves out from beneath something. Which caused them all to turn and see Pinstripe pulling himself out from under the cage with his tommy gun, before succeeding in getting out, and getting ready to aim as they looked back in shock.
"Ya tricked me! I have to say, I should've expected that from both of ya's. But now it's-" He tried to say, only to then focus on Yaya panda.
Who was steaming mad at him for caging her, and she was about to get some payback. Which had Pinstripe feeling scared when he realized that she was out of her cage, and all he could think about was only two words.
"Oh crap."
Which is when she dashed to Pinstripe before laying down a beatdown of her own on him, by rapidly kicking him in the face as she floated in the air for a few seconds. Before she then made a feigned kick like she was pointing a sword at Pinstripe like a knight was, only replace the sword with her foot. Then, she kicked him in the face some more with some expertly delivered kicks, and somehow, even having a third leg appearing out of nowhere to kick Pinstripe's face when he caught her double kick. (Which had him befuddled at how she did that for a brief moment before the kicking resumed.)
All while the Bandicoot gang stared in awe at how well Yaya panda can kick. She was sorta like a certain kung fu fighter from a certain tv show that takes place in texas that Coco liked to watch. Except replace the buff bearded action guy, with a panda girl that was around her size.
Soon, she finished off Pinstripe with a strong roundhouse kick that sent the Potoroo to the ground, now unconscious. "That was for my Kendo Bamboo sticks!" She said, satisfied for her revenge.
Then she walked merrily back to the Gang, happy that her revenge is over. That was when she and Coco saw each other. "Hello. I see that you're with them?"
"Why yes. Name's Coco by the way. This is my brother Crash, his girlfriend Tawna, and then there's Isabella the Italian Bandicoot, and Ami, both of whom we just met shortly before you." She said introducing the other Bandicoots. "And that is Polar. My brother and Tawna met him in a part of this world. That is a he right?" Coco asked, getting a nod from Crash and Tawna in return.
"That's nice. By the way, can I join you guys?! I don't know what else I can do now that I'm done with that guy." She then said.
They didn't hesitate when they said yes, considering how friendly Yaya panda seemed to be to them, now that she was out. "Of course you can. Welcome to the team Yaya." Tawna responded, giving her a handshake.
Which Yaya returned with energy, reminding Tawna of how energetic Yaya panda was.
And it was right around the time that the teleporter was activated, and it was now sending the whole gang back to the Platform on its way to the next Warp Room, with Yaya panda also getting teleported, since she was still touching Tawna.
By the time they were on the platform, they were now approaching the Warp Room, which now looked like they were in a chamber in a sewer, with plenty of pipes on the walls around the portals. Thankfully for Isabella and Tawna, they didn't smell any bad smells that could be in a sewer. And it looked like it had ankle deep fresh water in the room, so they felt that it was at least some improvement from the icy chamber of the Warp Room as it isn't cold in this chamber.
After they stepped off the platform, the room darkened once again, and Cortex's face appeared before them. And he was smiling in relief.
"Good show dear friends, the Komodo Brothers obviously lacked your mettle. And I see that you've gotten a new comrade." He said noticing Yaya.
"Names Yaya! Yaya Panda! And who're you?" She asked curiously.
"Cortex. Dr. Neo Cortex. I'm an evi- *Ahem* former evil scientist, and the one that helped begin this little journey that this little fellowship is going through, to atone for my mistakes. And it warms my icy blue heart, to see that this fellowship is starting to grow" He said smiling.
"But now's not the time to get cocky. There are still plenty of Crystals to gather, and it seems that Brio is not backing down from this fight. So make sure that none of you will too. And remember, the world is counting on you." He said before his Hologram vanished. Leaving them to their own devices as Aku Aku healed their cuts from the fight.
It seems, that their adventure was still ramping up, and it's gonna get bigger than Crash's previous one.
And done.
And yes, Yaya Panda is in this as a damsel to Pinstripe and his two goons, being the Komodo Bros. And now she's with the gang as a new member alongside Ami and Polar.
Which does beg the question. Who is that girl in the shadows that Brio was talking with?
Well, you might know who she is when you think about it, but let's just say, she's the part robotic girl that we all loved since her debut in Crash purple. (Which came out a few months before Twinsanity. I checked.)
Finally one more thing.
I hope that you enjoyed the chapter,
please give constructive criticism, just don't be rude,
do not forget to read and review,
hope you all stay safe,
And once again, Crash bandicoot was created by Naughty dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious visions. Please support the official releases.
Theodore the poet signing out.