Here's a brief Q and A for this Chapter.
Guest: It's unlikely that I'm putting hasty here during the CSB arc, as it's near the end. In the Warped arc though, it's very likely.
Project Prometheus: I'm glad that you enjoyed this story. And I'll make sure to give your story a read too.
Disclaimer: Crash Bandicoot was created by Naughty Dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious Visions and Toys for Bob. Please support the official releases.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"
"WOOO-HOOO! This is awesome!" Tawna said.
"No kidding! Questo è divertente! (This is fun!)" Isabella said.
All of whom was in the Rock It level, which was a different sort of level from the others.
The major reason being was that it was a level where they were all flying around in a space station, due to the jetpacks that they were wearing on their backs.
When they first entered the level, they at first thought that they would have some more jumping to do, only that time, on a space station with plenty of looking out to see space. Only for them to immediately see three pads in the center of the room that had a large blast door in front of them. Along with some notes from Cortex, that told them that they require something to use for the level they were in. So they had to stand on those pads to gain those items.
Which they did, causing some walls to appear around them after rising from the floor, after some alarms went off. Which was a cue that the door was gonna open. Then suddenly, gravity turned off as they had some jetpacks put on their backs, along with some helmets, and goggles to protect their eyes. Now they were flying around in the rooms for practice, and fun.
Especially for fun later on, as they got the hang of the jetpacks.
Not only that, but they were still indoors, and not in outer space. Which means that even though there was zero gravity, they still had air to breathe, so none of them would suffocate inside where they were flying. Which is good, since with Aku Aku gone, they'd be screwed.
But they didn't think about that too much, since Tawna, Isabella, and Crash was flying around in the room, breaking the boxes, and having fun.
Although, like last time in their journey, there was hazards to avoid, like the orange lasers that they were sure would be hot enough to turn them to ash, as well as the red ones from the laser dishes that made lasers in either the diagonal lines, or the cross. Which they also had to avoid.
There was also some glowing red pipes that obviously means that they're hot to the touch. Which would hurt to touch them as Crash found out the hard way one time. Which had him putting out his burning hand, the same way he put out Coco's burning shoe back in Road to Ruin. Which is by putting it in his mouth to put it out while the smoke billowed out his ears.
Then there was the lab assistant minions of Cortex and Brio's, who was trying to stop them too, as they floated around the doors that was blocked by some sort of energy barriers, as they too had jetpacks.
Which Crash fought against by spinning against one of them, knocking him back, and closer to a barrier of fire that was blocking the closed door through the path. And Crash was going to follow up with his spin move when the Minion suddenly electrified his gloves.
And Tawna was too late to stop Crash, as he got shocked by the minion, making both her, and Isabella cringe at the sight. They've seen him get shocked before, but it still is a painful sight regardless. Especially since they too got shocked before.
Crash floated in the air with a dazed look on his face after the shock is done, just as Tawna spun away the scientist again in revenge for Crash's behalf.
Where the minion ended up screaming as he collided with the barrier, causing him to be vaporized from touching it, and for some reason, the barrier ended up vanishing while the door behind it, opened. Which they guessed, was because the minion had a switch for the barrier in his pockets, which got destroyed when they knocked him into the barrier, causing it to turn off from the lack of connection from the switch, while opening the large door too.
After that, and after Crash proving again, that he's probably made of iron, they all continued onwards through the zero gravity halls while having fun along the way.
Especially when Tawna and Crash end up flying together as they break the boxes alongside Isabella. Holding hands, and twirling in the air together, and taking in the views of space when they come across some glass halls that gives them views of Outer Space. While sometimes doing some upside down pecking kisses, like with Tawna kissing some of the electric burns on Crash's fur.
They even made out while in the air as they looked on at the Earth with smiles for a couple minutes, just taking in the view of space, and Earth. Whether they were both right side up, or upside down, they were making out, just for a bit of fun with each other as they smiled at each other. They were like dolphins, that was having fun with each other, if they were in space that is.
And like last time, Isabella looked on in envy. As she too had the hots for Crash, regardless of him, not having the looks of the model from a magazine. Instead, he just looked goofy in a good way, and he looked like he could make her laugh like he likely did with Tawna. Which established that she started to love him like Tawna does. So she thought about a way to get Crash into her bosom.
But how?
They ended up meeting another lab assistant minion, that this time, Tawna spun into until he hit the barrier, making it vanish, and opening a door, where they saw another hazard. A pair of wires that was flopping around up and down, while also making sparks, signaling to them that they're electrifying wires.
Which begs the question. Did Brio try to sabotage Cortex's space station, and was only able to get this far in? Or was Cortex's mechanics not doing their job? They didn't know.
But they didn't think about it as they just avoided the wires without too much trouble. They just didn't care about the space station's shape since it's Cortex's, not theirs.
Then they came across two hazards. One being the Nitro crates that they hate, and the other being four floating, blinking, spiked, red-lighted mines that floated around in circles. They were also moving closer together when they move towards the center of the hall to block the center, then spreading out as they move away from the center. Which makes it a little hard to keep track of the mines, and where to go to avoid them.
But it wasn't hard to move through the center to avoid them when they spread outwards. Before carefully floating back to break a single box that was surrounded on its side by Nitro boxes.
Then they proceeded to avoid the orange laser, and knock another minion into another barrier to deactivate it. Which didn't take too much trouble since they learned from Crash's mistake, and avoided his electric touch.
Then they proceeded forward, continuing to fly with the jetpacks together as Tawna continued to grin alongside Crash at the view of space. They even saw the view of Earth from space, and they all thought that Earth still looked beautiful. With Isabella also smiling at the scenic view of space. If only Crash was near her though.
Suddenly, they moved at least ten meters when they moved through an opening door, when they saw that the next room that they were entering after taking down the next lab assistant minion, had a lot of Nitro boxes inside of it. Thankfully, there was a gap in between them that they decided to move through in a single file, with Crash leading the way.
And unluckily for Tawna, he lead them, with Isabella behind him when she was fast enough to make it behind him before her. Which she was not expecting, and not happy about, but she knew that fighting her for the position would end badly with the Nitro boxes, so she put her fist back down by her side when she raised it and was prepared to fight her for the position.
Immediately after they got through the boxes, and got into the next room, they saw that there was a Crystal in the room, much to their disappointment, and delight. The former, both because they were still not fond of Cortex, and because their pretty fun ride on the jetpacks could be ending soon, and for the latter, because they were getting closer to stopping Brio from winning himself, if he was going to use the Gems for more bad purposes than Coco claimed, and is going to stab them in the back.
They'll be getting their answer soon though.
Suddenly, as they were headed to the Crystal, a creature ended up ambushing them. It looked like a mix of an Electric Eel, and the monster from the Creature of the Black Lagoon that they watched with Coco on the Laptop.
It was a Titan, known as the Eel-ectric.
"Oh crap! Is that another Titan?!" Tawna called out, noticing that it was a hostile creature that was trying to shock them. Which had Crash also looking on in surprise, and horror.
"Che importa?! (Who cares?!) It's going to kill us!" Isabella said fearfully, seeing that it was attacking them with the electric shots, out of its hands. Which made it more dangerous since it had ranged attacks to kill them with.
Tawna, and Crash was quick to dodge the attacks that the Titan threw out, alongside Isabella, as they saw it firing electricity at them in bolts. All while they dodged, and had to plan on how to get past it, grab the Crystal, and either escape from its wrath, or defeat it to proceed.
As they dodged around the Eel-ectric though, the latter was becoming more of an important option since the Titan was blocking the way forward, and it was due to standing in front of the Barrier that they might need to break to go onwards.
And even though the Jetpacks were maneuverable, and fun to use in the low gravity hall, they weren't capable of making sharper turns. And they weren't particularly strong when it came to stopping the Bandicoots into place. It was like trying to stop a car instantly, while driving over slick, rainwater covered roads. Or, like trying to instantly stop a boat while treading fast over water.
A fact that the Eel-ectric could exploit if it knew what to do in that situation they're in.
Thankfully, it was just shooting wildly without any aiming, so far at least, as they kept on flying around it. Trying to see if they could find a weakness to defeating it.
Thankfully, they were able to spin into it to knock it away closer to the barrier, (And away from the Crystal, that they quickly took too.) showing them that they can beat it like with the lab assistants, by knocking it into a barrier to defeat it.
Not only that, but Crash decided to spin one of the bolts with Tawna, deflecting it back at the Titan, which caused it to get stunned by the shot, causing them to take advantage of the stun, with Isabella knocking the Titan away from them, and closer to the barrier, before it recovered to shoot out more of the bolts.
Only that time, it used a different attack, which was a lightning bolt that was too fast to spin back at the Titan, which they were barely able to dodge. But it needed to charge that attack up when it fired it, which gave them a sign to move fast to avoid it, which gave them time to get to the Titan to spin it away again.
It wasn't too long until they were able to knock it into the barrier, defeating it, and turning it off so they can proceed onwards through the halls of the space station. Where they would find more boxes to destroy, on their way to the box Gem.
Only for them to get ambushed by another Eel-ectric, that was in front of another barrier, that blocked what they saw was the end of the level that they were going towards. And this one was just as determined to take them down before they reach the end of the hall.
They were just as determined to get to the end though, as they were able to dodge the electric bolts that it fires out of its hands.
Unfortunately though, it started to show that it was a smarter Eel-ectric that seemed to have learned from the previous Titan, where it was now shooting out the bolts to where they were going to fly to. Which, since their jetpacks couldn't stop in time, they were in huge danger of getting zapped due to the packs getting slow to stop.
Which caused Tawna to get grazed by the bolt on her hair, causing it to shock just her hair, and cause it to get fuzzy like an Afro. Much to Isabella's amusement as she had to stifle her laughter.
Which was instantly erased when she saw that another bolt from the Eel-ectric was headed her way, and she didn't have enough time to get out of the way since the jet pack also wasn't strong enough to instantly move her around in the low gravity halls. And she was going to get zapped, which could mean that she isn't going to return to the Warp Room, unless both Tawna and Crash drags her there in a body bag to pay their last respects to her.
Could this be the end of her? Is this what she gets, for trying to win Crash over to her side? She didn't know. All she knew is that she might not see her friends again. Alive at least.
Or so it seemed to her, as she suddenly saw Crash in front of her, as he blocked the shot that was headed towards her, and he was just in time to spin it back, regardless of having suffered some zapping himself. Now the bolt was sent back to the Eel-ectric, stunning it.
Which was much to Isabella's surprise as she ended up looking on in shock. "Lui mi ha salvato. Lui… realmente mi ha salvato. (He saved me. He… actually saved me.)" Isabella thought in surprise.
She then saw Tawna striking back against the stunned Eel-ectric Titan, spinning it closer to the Barrier. Isabella wasted no time in helping her defeat the Titan for Crash too, as they both spun into it.
Which was enough to have it hit the barrier, defeating the Titan, and taking down the barrier by short circuiting it like with the previous one, leaving nothing in between the end of the hall, and them.
But first, Isabella flew quickly to Crash's side, hoping he was alright.
He was. Just a bit stunned from the electricity, but he'll live, as he looked at Isabella in relief that he was able to save her. As was Isabella herself.
"You saved my life Crashie. Grazie (Thank you.)" She said, before giving him a kiss on his snout, much to his and Tawna's shock. Especially Tawna.
Then she was turning to where they would be exiting, only to stop in place, then a grin appeared on her face. Before she turned back to Crash, and kissed him deeply on the lips, shocking Tawna and Crash even more.
The latter also blushed at what she did, since he didn't expect her to be bold enough to kiss him like that. And in front of his girlfriend too. He didn't try to push her away due to his shock, and since he still liked Isabella.
He doesn't know if he'd like her as more than a friend later on though, since he still has Tawna, and he still loves her too much to let Isabella take him from her.
Once she was done with the kissing, Isabella continued to smile at him. "Chiamami un giorno. (Call me someday.)" She said, flying towards the end of the hall past Tawna. "Whatcha looking at?" She teasingly asked her, as she floated to the end platform with Crash not far behind after he just shrugged and followed behind her with Tawna still not far behind.
Whom was now glaring daggers into the Italian Bandicoot's back as she followed them, and took off her own jetpack. Then noticing her swaying her hips to Crash as he set off the Nitro detonation crate, (Who didn't notice that as he followed her.) as they were headed into the exit chamber. "That… BITCH!" She thought, not willing to let her take Crash from her, that easily.
For now though, they were getting the box Gem, then exiting the level, as victors.
The (Currently) Quartet was in the dark jungle path, like in Totally Fly, as they made sure to use the fireflies to light their way, as they jogged through the path in the jungle..
"Blimey, I wish Brio gave us a flashlight, cause it's dark in this jungle." Liz said.
"No argument there. The dark jungles give me the creeps! And I ain't even afraid of the dark in general." Yaya said, feeling relieved that the fireflies were illuminating the path that they're taking. While she rode on Polar, whom was trotting with the (Currently) Quartet to keep up with them. As well as Megumi, who was leading the way with her own firefly.
But ignoring the darkness, they saw that the jungle looked pretty. With the jungle trees, the purple mushrooms with white spots, (That they wouldn't dare eat, as they looked toxic.) and the Mesoamerican architecture that littered the jungle path that they were on, did show off the jungle's beauty in the night time. They wondered if it'd be more pretty if it was daytime.
But they didn't dwell on that, as they kept on running through the jungle with the fireflies that was following them, making sure not to fall into a pit, or get mauled by some giant rats that they spun away, or which Yaya clobbered with her kung fu. While they also broke all of the boxes that the Firefly would illuminate.
As they ran forward, they noticed Liz looking at Polar, like she was inwardly going squee at his cuteness. Which they noticed her doing earlier when she first saw Polar, shortly before their battle against Nina's mech. And she was doing it now. Guess she also thought that Polar was adorable.
Not that they blame her, as they all thought that Polar looked adorable. Even Nina thought so about the bear, which is why she didn't try to directly attack him, not counting having shot some nets that trapped him too. But he was able to get out due to his size.
Same could be said for Megumi, Isabella, Coco, and even Yaya herself. She was pretty happy that she's on his back as she rode him through the jungles, while Polar also didn't mind having her on his back as he carefully trotted through the jungle so that the (Currently) Quartet would keep up with him.
The jungle suddenly had a split in the path, one of which had a death route platform on the left, that one of them would take to get the route's Gem, while the right happened to be the normal path.
After some debating, "I'll go!" Yaya said as she decided to go to the death route, with Polar, as they took the death platform to the left path. As Yaya was also preparing to defend Polar from harm, like back in Totally Fly with Megumi with her.
"See you later Yaya! Be careful!" Ami said.
Yaya kept it in mind as she floated off to the left path while still on Polar's back. "Don't worry Polar. Your big sis will protect you." Yaya would say, patting his head.
Which Polar appreciates. As he also liked Yaya for being so friendly to him, alongside the others in the gang.
Once the death platform was at the beginning of the route, Yaya and Polar moved onwards as they braced themselves for the hazards that was going to be illuminated by the firefly that was following them.
Like the robots with a submarine like eye stalk, along with spinning blades, and a light below them that illuminated the ground. Sorta like some UFO's in the sky, at least according to the movies that she watched, only they were a little more round instead of disc shaped.
They couldn't be directly beaten easily due to having spinning blades, but they were merely patrolling left and right, which made them easy to avoid as both Polar and Yaya moved past them by moving in the opposite direction past them when they move left, or right.
While Yaya fought against the giant rats, and the frilled lizards with her slide kicks for the latter, since that's their weakness, as Tawna, and Coco took advantage of, back in Road to Ruin.
And now she was doing the same thing, while protecting Polar. It's what she'd do, like a big sister for a little brother.
She just needed to be cautious since the firefly that was following her isn't bright enough to illuminate a lot of the path that she was taking.
Particularly the enemies that she was protecting Polar from as they both went onwards through the death route taking down the giant rats, and the frilled lizards that she continued to slide kick away.
As she went onwards, she slide kicked away one of the frilled lizards when she suddenly saw the route's Gem that was on a spire that was in the middle of a bottomless pit. And it looked like it was far enough that she was unable to jump to it on her own. Which caused her to gulp in nervousness when she saw just how challenging the death route was being, at least when it came to collecting that particular Gem.
She wasn't gonna give up on that though, as she had to stop and think for a bit. Something that she didn't do often enough due to her energy. But she'd rather be able to make it back to the gang in one piece, alongside Polar.
That was when she was reminded that Polar could be pretty fast for a bear cub, according to Tawna, and Crash, and as she saw for herself when she rode on it with Megumi in Totally Bear.
And even though she was nervous about how pretty little the spire's flat surface was, she felt that Polar could make it with her on his back. She just hopes that he's brave enough to try.
Easier said than done though, when she saw that Polar was nervous about the jump. And she couldn't blame him in this case, since the platform was barely illuminated by the firefly that was with them. And it looked tiny to where even if Polar was able to land on it, he'd be unable to stop just in time before he could fall into the pit with Yaya.
Which had him whimpering in nervousness about the risky jump he'd make.
"Don't be scared. Yaya will make sure that neither of us will fall into the darkness." She said, petting Polar on his head. "In fact, maybe we could try this out." She said, before explaining to Polar what he could do if he takes the leap.
Polar still felt hesitant about it, but he was feeling more willing to do it, as he was putting his trust into Yaya. So he still felt nervous, but he decided to go through with it to get the Gem, regardless of his nervousness.
Polar proceeded to nod. "GREAT! I mean, wonderful! Now, let's get ourselves ready to jump." Yaya said smiling as she got back on Polar's back again.
Before he then walked back through the path for a minute to get a running start, only to then see one of the frilled lizards that was walking to them, ready to bite them both. Causing him to run back towards the pit out of fear, much to Yaya's surprise.
Which then turned to horror when she saw that the bear she rode, wasn't going to stop as he ran like the wind towards the pit. "WAIT! STOP! IT'S OKAY! DON'T BE SCARED! THERE'S- Ooh I can't look!" She said, realizing that he was going to jump to the spire, regardless of her trying to control him. So she covered her eyes, thinking that they might end up in the pit, either because Polar undershot, or overshot the spire with the Gem, or would slip off of it even if he landed on the spire.
Only for him to surprise her when he not only jumped to where he was able to land on the spire, to get the Gem, but he then bounced off of the spire and to the other side of the pit, much to his own surprise. But he had a different matter to worry about.
When she opened her eyes, she ended up noticing that she isn't in the dark pit, but rather back on the dirt. After seeing that the pit was behind both Polar and herself, she was going to celebrate when she noticed that Polar was hacking. Almost like he had something in his throat. "Are you okay Polar? What's wrong?" She asked.
Polar couldn't speak as he continued to hack up a storm. Until he then coughed out something that left Yaya feeling grossed out after she patted his back to help him spit out the obstruction.
Being a grey Gem.
Much to Yaya's pleasant surprise, Polar got the gray Gem with his mouth, even if it's an accident. But accident or not, Yaya was happy.
"WOO-HOOOO! YEAH! That's a good bear!" She said, jumping around in excitement as she twirled Polar around, not that he minded. "You got the Gem for me! Who's a good bear? Who's a good bear? You are. You are." She then said, petting Polar on his head, much to his delight as he smiled at her.
Even though the Gem had some slobber on it, it was worth it, as Yaya took the Gem after wiping the slobber off, and proceeded forward through the path with Polar, to see if she'll reunite with the other gang, or at least to see if her path would reunite with the normal path and make it one path again.
Thankfully, it did.
Now she was waiting with Polar on the path where they should meet back up with the rest of the (Currently) Quartet once they were done on the path to the right.
Meanwhile, Liz and Megumi was in the bonus room, making sure to break the boxes, and making sure that neither of them touches the Nitro boxes that loitered the room as well. And even Megumi had to face it. The Nitro boxes were a pain due to exploding at the smallest of touches, as they saw happen to Crash a few times.
At least they had a light source in the power Crystal that they got before hand.
"I'm gonna be so happy to be done with this if it means that I won't see more of these things afterwards." Liz said annoyed.
Megumi didn't argue in the slightest, as she lead Liz through the now dark room since their firefly got bored, and flew away forward through the room to the exit platform. Which left them in the dark of the bonus room, much to their chagrin.
They were now past the Nitro crates, but they now needed to jump some gaps between the platforms that lead to the exit of the bonus room.
Even though it was dark, they were barely able to see through the dark to where to go. Which is why Megumi had to make sure that they were going to land on the platform where luckily for them, is where the exit bonus platform was.
"Where's that bloomin platform, Megumi? I swear, there better not be any predators getting ready to kill us." Liz said, nervous of the jungle.
"Don't worry Elizabeth-chan, we'll make it." Megumi said, as she got ready to jump with Liz.
They soon jumped, hoping that they wouldn't end up falling into the bottomless put. Thankfully, they were able to make it to the platform. Now they celebrated as they took the platform out of the room, and back to the jungle path. Where luckily for them, another firefly was waiting.
Which was much to their joy as they had they got the firefly to follow them through the path, hoping to get to Yaya. Which, they ended up running into when the path united. "So, what took you both?" She asked.
"A certain bastard of a firefly just up and left us in the bonus room, making it dark. You have no idea, how hard it is to jump to a safe place in the dark." Liz said annoyed.
"At least we were able to see the Nitro boxes in the dark, since they were glowing." Megumi said, letting Yaya know that even in the dark, she could see the Nitro boxes. Much to her relief.
"At least we're getting out of this jungle now. Let's just make sure we have the Nitro detonation switch flipped when we get to the end." Liz said, noting the switches that explodes the Nitro boxes, which counts as breaking them all for the box Gem.
Now they were running through the jungle, killing the frilled lizards, avoiding the robots, and destroying the boxes, until they reached the end. Much to their joy, the Nitro switch was there, as they then pressed its button, causing them to hear a bunch of booms in the distance, before entering the exit chamber, where much to their relief, a box Gem awaited them. Before they then collected it, and exited the dark jungle level.
Back in the Warp Room, a few people were waiting, being Nina, Ami, and Pasadena. The reason being was that Coco decided to take on the next to last level of the room, being Pack Attack, telling them that she needed to grab the Gem from that level, as well as check on her computer for something, and that she'll return to do the last one once the gang unites. Now they were in the room by themselves, and waiting for her to finish the Pack Attack level so that they can finish the last one.
Nina was confident that Coco would return alive, but she was also worried, considering her injury, courtesy of Pasadena's crushing bearhug that could've ended her there, had she been unable to free Coco. But she was trusting Coco to be alive when she returns to the room.
Right now though, they noticed that someone got out of the portal. Which was Tawna, Crash, and Isabella, that left the portal with the Gem, and Crystal gained from the jetpack level.
"Hello again Ami, where's Coco?" Tawna asked.
"She's taking on the next to last portal. She told us to wait for her here in case you're wondering why we're not with her there." Ami said.
"She said she had somethin to do over there. Dun know what it is though." Pasadena said. "Who're you by the way?"
Tawna, Crash, and Isabella was surprised to see that they have what could be their final member of the gang before the journey's end. Possibly cause of her freedom from Brio's control. Which did have them wondering if she was the very final minion of Brio's that was freed, leaving him with nothing to order around, or protect him. But they didn't think about it too much.
"I'm Tawna. This is Isabella, and Crash." She said, pointing at them as they waved in greeting. "We're from the Wumpa Islands. Well, me, Crash, and Coco are from there by the way." She said.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Pasadena O'Possum. I'm a racer of Motor World. I'm sure that you've heard of that competition, have y'all?"
"Motor World? You mean that extreme racing show that had plenty of karts getting destroyed?" Tawna said, having watched some of the show with Coco on her laptop.
"That's the one. And ah was a great racer of that show, and I was named as the official mascot too, courtesy of Von Clutch. At least, until ah got kidnapped." She said.
"Let me guess. Brio took you." Tawna said.
"Why yes. And it's cause he wants me back to upgrade me to use against you guys. Even though I used to be his mutation that he kicked outta his team when ah didn't live up to his expectations."
Tawna felt bad for her, having been kicked out by Brio, and left to fend for herself. As was the rest of the gang, especially Nina.
"Then ah became a racer for Von Clutch's motor world. It was pretty fun." She then said, smiling.
Tawna, along with Isabella, and Crash, smiled at that, feeling relieved that Pasadena was given a life, as well as a job for herself.
"Say, once you ya'll is done with this here journey, mind if we let ya'll race with us? Ah'm sure that Von Clutch would be grateful for my safety." Pasadena asked.
Tawna, Ami, and Isabella had to think about it for a minute. After all, they did like seeing some races on Coco's laptop, (While Isabella saw the racing channel with Ami, Liz, and Megumi, back in Brio's new hideout, before they got helmeted.) and they did imagine themselves on the racetrack during those moments. So an offer like this was tempting. In fact, they even thought about a name for their little squad that they would form together, with Tawna also a part of it, if they go through with racing with her.
"We'll think about it." She decided to say. Before more of the gang ended up entering the room.
Which was when Liz, Megumi, and Yaya, saw Pasadena, introduced themselves to each other, while Yaya introduced Polar to her, and was given a request to try out some racing, before giving out the same response, feeling that they can do the racing once they're ready. But all of them were interested in trying it out. Ami especially.
After that, the gang decided to wait for Coco to come back to the room, before taking on the final level of the room.
As they did though, Pasadena was looking at Crash. "So you must be Crash, aren't ya?" Crash nodded in response to her question, making her smile. "Ah admit, you are a cutie yourself. Got a girlfriend? Or can I be yours?" She then said flirtatiously, making him blush.
"HE HAS ONE, AND IT'S ME!" Both Tawna and Isabella yelled out to her, making her flinch.
Then they realized who else said the same thing. And that had them both glaring daggers at each other. Much to the horror of the rest of the gang.
"You say he's yours?! He rescued me first!" Tawna said.
"He saved me too! Not every first love gets the girl first! Or in this case, the man! Because he's mine!" Isabella responded.
"He's mine first! Not some Italian racer bimbo's. Besides, what makes you think he's gonna be attracted to you?"
"We look alike, in terms of beauty, for starters. Only I'm the more elegant blonde Bandicoot. Meanwhile, you're the Bimba! (Bimbo!)" She responded.
"Bimba?!" Tawna said indignantly, feeling that Isabella just called her what she thinks she's being called. "What's to stop you from being lured away from Crash by a 'handsome and dashing' sort of guy?!"
"What's to stop you from doing the same thing?! Judging by your aspetto da troia! (Slutty appearance!)" Isabella responded, grinning on the last part.
Which made the moment tense between them, much to the gang's dread.
"I may not understand what the last part was, but I'm certain that they're fighting words." Tawna angrily, yet softly said, ready to roll up her sleeves as she cracked her knuckles.
"Of course they are. I may have forgotten to tell you, that I know how boxing works! And I was called the marsupiale furioso, (Raging Marsupial) by even Cortex himself! Mind if I show you why? Winner keeps all after all!" She then said.
"So be it then! Let's settle this once and for all!" She then said, circling the room close to Isabella.
All while the gang was scared that a catfight was about to happen. All while Pasadena looked on in both nervousness, and confusion. "What'd ah do to cause that?" She asked.
But just before they could come to blows, (Beginning with grabbing each other's shirts.) and before the gang could try to stop them, the room got dark again. Putting the fight on hold for now as they looked up, to see if Brio, or Cortex, or Coco would appear on their hologram.
Soon, Cortex ended up appearing. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked, noticing that Isabella, and Tawna was close to each other, almost like they were about to do some sort of 'untoward' thing to each other, judging by their shirt grabs. "Either way, I have good news. I have finally found where Brio is hiding. And now I plan to take him from his hide out for his just desserts." He then said smiling.
"Seriously? That's good. that means he's unable to use that laser for bad purposes. Even though he's probably just using it against you, and nothing else." Ami quietly said the last part, yet she's glad to see that Brio is found. "We're kinda in the middle of something here though, so may you come at a later time once you're done with him?"
"Actually, I just thought I'd give you all a gift, from me. Just think of this, as my sign of gratitude for the Crystals that you're all about to grab all of. And hopefully, an assurance that I have your trust, regardless of what I've done in the past, and what I've done to Nina."
"And what is that?" Isabella, and Tawna asked.
"Why Brio himself, brought to you all on a silver platter. That's right, I'm teleporting him to your location, so that you can finally punish him for being a thorn on your sides throughout your journeys for the Crystals. Hope you enjoy your prize." He said, grinning as he tried not to giggle.
Then suddenly, someone was teleported to the room that they were in. Which they then saw, was Brio himself. Who was looking around, wondering why he's there. "W-What's going on? Why a-am I here? I should be at-" He said, only to see the gang in the room with him.
Which had him terrified at the sight of them, as they then looked back at him with confusion on their faces. Then they started to have grins that basically told him that they were gonna be out for revenge against him, and he'd be powerless to stop it as they get to have fun with his punishment.
"On second thought, how about we put our fight on hold. And give Brio what he deserves. Then we finish it back on the islands." Tawna said.
"Hehehehe! Sono d'accordo. (I agree.) Let's." Isabella then said, as she cracked her knuckles, this time, intending to use them on Brio himself as he was backing away from a pissed off gang of Bandicoots. (And Polar Bear, and Panda. While Nina, and Pasadena covered their eyes at what was about to happen.) Regardless of his need for the Gems, and what they perceive as the lesser of two evils in him, he still tried to kill them. So what's to stop them from returning the favor?
D-Don't k-kill me! I swear! None of you gave me any choice! You kept on collecting Crystals for that mad scientist! I just needed to stop you, I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO!" Brio said, scared of the impending beatdown.
None of the gang was willing to let him go that easily though. "And it's too bad that you went down that route, instead of outright warning us of what Cortex would do instead. And now you failed. Prepare yourself for your just due reward." Tawna said, with the bandicoot girls in agreement.
"WAIT! D-DON'T TRUST HIM! Y-YOU G-G-GOTTA BELIEVE ME! I'M NOT A BAD G-GUY T-T-T-THIS T-T-TIME! HE IS! I S-S-SWEAR!" Brio yelled out. Horrified at what was gonna happen to him.
"It's no use Brio. They can't be talked down now, and you have only yourself to blame for their misery, and for your betrayal. Now know your place like the rest of the other losers, and take your defeat with your remaining dignity. Because there's no getting out of this, and I have you all to thank for it." He then smiled evilly at him, and the gang.
Only to then get startled as sounds of static was made, causing him to look around. "N. Gin, what's going on?!" He said, turning his head to behind him. "What?! What do you mean? Is she actually stealing our signal-" He tried to ask, only for his hologram to disappear, making the gang look up, startled at his hologram vanishing, and stopping their impending beatdown on Brio.
Then suddenly, Coco's hologram appeared in his place. And she looked horrified. "CRASH! TAWNA! Listen, Cortex isn't using the Crystals to destroy Brio's world dominating laser, he's going to harness their power to charge his super Cortex Vortex that he built on his space station! And one blast from that ray would cover the whole planet, and turn everyone affected by it into his mindless slaves! Please, don't let him get those Crystals-" Coco said as her hologram faded out.
What she just said on the hologram, had all of the gang looking up at where she was, in pure shock and horror. They did have a feeling that Cortex was up to something, but what he was exactly going to do, was what they didn't expect. And what's worse, is that their gut feeling of what he was planning to do to Earth, was on the money. He was indeed going to zap it, but instead of trying to destroy Brio's hideout like he said he would, he was doing something more sinister than they thought he would.
And all this time, even though Brio tried to kill them, he was indeed, not the villain of this journey. As Coco continuously told them.
Cortex was, instead.
Speaking of whom. "N. Gin you fool! She's telling them everything!" He yelled out to his henchman as his hologram reappeared in the room. Which was where he noticed that he was back. "Oh, uh, yes, w-were back now. Pardon the… interruption. So, what was I saying? Oh yes. Once you're all done with Brio, bring me the remaining Crystals. And your rewards will be grand. Ta-ta for now." He then said, before his hologram vanished, ending the transmission.
The gang was still looking on in shock until the hologram was gone. That was when they ended up feeling both Horror, for having nearly given Cortex the Crystals, (even though they had only two left so far,) and remorse, for having nearly given the Crystals to their true enemy, who was still their foe, and they didn't know it until now.
And they thought that Brio was their true foe. Whom, was currently feeling relief going through his mind as he was now standing back up.
"Y-You were… telling the t-truth? He… had more sinister purposes, all this time?" Tawna asked.
"Indeed. You see, when I h-heard of what his p-p-plans are for Earth, I k-knew that he was crossing the line in doing this. Sure w-we have done plenty of evil things before your b-boyfriend defeated us, and h-h-had me d-d-destroying our old f-f-fortress by m-mistake, but I had standards." He said, still feeling uncomfortable of his part in the fortress's destruction.
"Which is why, we had a f-falling out. In reality, he double crossed me, and left me in the dust after stealing some of my work, when I refused to be part of his plans. That's the true reason why I-I had to do w-w-what I did. It was to ensure t-that he doesn't g-get the r-required Crystals, should you all fail to see reason, and s-s-stop collecting those Crystals, back in the first Warp room." He then said. "The only reason why I have seemed to have failed, was because I have underestimated your determination for saving the world, as well as how skilled you are, in protecting each other. Which I admire, if I'm to be honest." Brio then said, like he was verbally tipping his hat to them.
All while they absorbed the info together, and felt ashamed that they nearly put the world in danger because of giving the evil Scientist the Crystals. At least they have only one left that they could've grabbed for him. (If Coco grabs one from the Pack Attack level.) Which left them feeling quite thankful to Coco for stopping them, from carrying out his request.
Including Nina, who was relieved that she wasn't being manipulated by Brio, as Cortex claimed she was.
And, it also stopped both Isabella, and Tawna, from fighting each other, since they felt too guilty to fight for Crash at that point.
"But if you plan on fixing this, then listen up. This platform in this room, can go up to Cortex's main room, where he should be, as we speak. Sure it may require all twenty five Crystals for you all to make it there, but I have a little solution." He then said, grinning on the last part.
"And what could that be?" Tawna asked.
"I can cut the cost of the C-Crystals by five, and use the power of some of the Gems that all of you collected too, which I still thank you all for getting by the way. And then I'll use them to also give the Elevator the e-energy, to levitate to where C-C-Cortex is. Even though 1-2 of you can only ride the Platform to the top now that there's too many of you to use it. So, who's gonna volunteer?" He asked.
There was some debating among themselves after that. If they were going to go up and face off against Cortex, then one or two of them had to take him on. It could be Isabella, or Ami, or Megumi, and Liz, but they didn't feel willing to put each other in danger. And it could've been Nina, but she wasn't angry enough, or even brave enough, to fight her own uncle.
It didn't take too long though, when Crash ended up stepping forward. And raised his hand upwards. "I dew ibt! I'll co!" He gibbered out, much to their surprise.
Which was brief for one of them, as she ended up stepping forward. "I'll go too! I just need to make sure that he'll make it, after all." Tawna said.
The gang just stared on in surprise, at seeing Tawna, and Crash volunteering to take out Cortex. But they didn't stop them, since there was no other option than this, as they decided to support their choice to fight. Including Isabella, despite being at Tawna's throat, minutes ago.
"Good luck." "Be careful against Cortex" "I hope that both of you will make it." "See you later." Was among what the gang said, giving good luck to both Tawna and Crash.
"So be it then. B-B-Both of you, shall stand on the platform, while I s-send you to him. But be c-careful, for he may have tricks up his sleeves when he fights." He said, letting both Crash, and Tawna onto the platform in the middle of the room, before he then got on his remote to control the elevator disc into going up after some typing.
"Wish us luck girls!" Tawna said as the elevator went up to the opening of the ceiling, as the gang waved to them, even after they were now through the opening to the top.
Which was when Coco exited out of one of the portals in the room, surprising the gang, before they gave her thanks for stopping them from giving the Crystals to Cortex. (While Nina proceeded to glomp her, feeling glad that she's alright, and that she stopped them from making a mistake.)
Which, was much to her initial confusion. "Huh? Wha- OH! Right! No problem. It pays to have a hacker for a friend after all." She said grinning at them, and Nina, before she then noticed Brio was there too. "Brio? Why are you here?"
"Cortex sent me here, via teleportation. He expects your gang to beat me into an orange juice pulp out of revenge. Your timely news stopped that from happening though." He responded, as he focused on her, in both confusion, then admiration. "I don't know how you got here, and joined your brother, and Tawna on their journey. But I suppose it doesn't matter now. What matters, is that I feel impressed that you've gotten quite smart. For a young Bandicoot that is." He said.
Coco was touched at what he said, as she couldn't help but figuratively tip her own hat to him. Then she wondered where Tawna, and Crash was. "I sent them up to have them fight Cortex without the required amount of Crystals. Now it's up to them." He responded.
Coco wishes that she was with them, fighting Cortex too. But that's his, and Tawna's fight, and she just knows that they can beat him on their own. She believes in them after all.
There was something that she wished she would tell them though, but something kept on stopping her from spitting it out.
"But until the outcome is over with, how about we grab the last Gems from this place? It is the last one, is it not?" He asked, before getting satisfied with their answer.
Crash and Tawna saw white leaving their vision, as they saw that they were in one of the main rooms of the Space Station, that they're sure that Cortex himself was in.
Sure enough, he was in the room with them as he had a jet pack on. "Ooh, my goodness, you're quite the quick pair of Bandicoots, having beaten Brio into a pulp, and gained the last Crystals in quick time. I have to admit, I'm so impressed. Now, about those…" He said, only to then notice a few things.
One: They were just one Crystal short.
Two: They were unwilling to give the ones they have, to him.
and Three: They were glaring at him, almost as if they have indeed, learned everything about his plan from Coco. And they were prepared to fight him instead of giving him the Crystals.
"It's over Cortex. We know what you're planning now. And we refuse to follow along, any longer." Tawna said, with Crash nodding in agreement as they both prepared for battle.
"*Sigh* I suppose that he was too late in stopping the Brat from telling you all the news. And may I presume that none of you has beaten Brio?" He asked annoyed.
They both nodded at him in response.
"Well, curses." He said blankly, not feeling surprised at that point, considering what just happened, and how N. Gin has failed in stopping Coco from telling them. "No matter, I shall take those Crystals by force if I have to. And at least, I could use their power to zap almost all of Earth with, and then conquer the unaffected parts that the ray couldn't reach, into my Empire." He then said.
"You aren't getting them that easy." Tawna said, continuing to glare at Cortex.
"That, we can both agree on. At least, unless I do this." He then said, pulling a lever to his right while grinning.
Next thing both Bandicoots knew, was that an alarm sounded, before a large airlock was opening up. Causing suction to happen as both Crash, and Tawna was yelping when felt the wind threatening to pull them out of the airlock and into space. Which they knew, could cause them to suffocate in the lack of oxygen, and atmosphere in the vacuum of space, without any helmets. So they ran, and was able to grab onto the wall of the room before they could get sucked out.
All while Cortex was floating with his jetpack, out of the room, and into space, where there was large rings that made a path to his space station. "It's no use, Bandicoots, you both shall be sucked into space, and I shall be safe out here as long as I remain in the path marked by these rings, that would feed me my desired oxygen, while I watch with glee, at your suffocating forms when you both get sucked out into space, or remain inside of that room when it loses all of its air." He said, knowing that they could get sucked out of the room, and into the depths of space out of the path of rings, while he remains in the safe zone that still has oxygen for him. (And unfortunately for him, so would the Bandicoots if they floated into the path, or were able to gain jetpacks for themselves to use.)
And they both feared that it'd be when Cortex would win, and probably grab their Crystals from their carcasses if they do get sucked out into space. So they needed to find their own jetpacks to wear, as well as fitting space helmets if they are to stand a chance against Cortex.
Which, they were unfortunately unable to find in the room they were in. And they were losing strength in their grip on the floor, as they looked around in the room to find their desired items. Not only that, but as the suction started to fade, so did the air in their lungs as the room started to lose its oxygen inside. And pretty soon, they started to find it harder to breathe as they were starting to suffocate, much to both of their horror as they started to choke from the lack of air.
"*GLCK* Can't… breathe. Gotta… find… *CLCK* jetpacks!" Tawna said, knowing that they have to find the space helmets, and jetpacks, and fast.
But there was none in the room as they were now floating inside, as the gravity in the room also faded. They now floated as they were trying to move around, trying to get their jetpacks to join Cortex on the path, before they lose their air. But at this rate, it seems that they were going to die here as they saw each other's faces turning blue, then purple, as well as leaking out tears of sadness, and out of a lack of air.
At least, until Crash noticed that there was a pair of jet packs, and helmets, that appeared out of nowhere in the room. Likely teleported to them, courtesy of Brio, or Coco. Either way, he was able to grab both of them to tie to his, and Tawna's backs, before activating them, and barely making it to the path that Cortex was on as they put on their helmets.
Which was when they were able to breathe, as they gasped the air back into their lungs as they made it to the beginning of the path where Cortex was. Much to his chagrin as he expected them to suffocate, which would've been a good time to take the Crystals from their carcasses. Now they were catching their breath before their fight would begin against him.
"Curses! I thought for sure that it'd be the end there!" He angrily said.
"*Cough* But it ain't. Now put up your dukes!" Tawna said after catching her breath.
"Yeah, but ub ya duke!" Crash gibbered out, just as ready to take him on.
Only for him to fly away through the path in response. leading to them chasing him. "Get back here Cortex! You can't fly away forever!" Tawna demanded.
Only for him to ignore that demand as he kept on flying away, like he was being a coward, or was luring them to where he would be at an advantage. Either way, Crash, and Tawna, wasn't willing to let him go that easily as they continued to chase after Cortex through the path of rings.
And they were gaining on him, despite him having asteroid rocks loitering the path to slow them down. Pretty soon, they used their spin move on him, getting a hit in against him.
Which knocked him away, as he continued to fly away from them, but they were continuing the chase on him, even though they did hit some rocks on the way to him. But they were merely speed bumps, as they slowed them down, but didn't hurt them any.
Instead, they just kept on flying after Cortex, trying to clobber him, and stop him from taking their Crystals, and activating his cannon on his Space Station.
Which he was failing steadily at, as he was not fast in moving through the path himself. Which could be because he's having as much trouble in avoiding the asteroid rocks, as they were. And despite their troubles with them, they were taking advantage of that fact, as they were catching back up with him.
Which had him shocked and scared when they were able to spin into him again. At this rate, he was going to be sent off into space. So he took out his laser gun, and shot back at them, adding another hazard to their chase.
And that an extra hazard that was dangerous, as Tawna learned the hard way, when she got hit in the shoulder by the laser.
"ARGH!" She yelped out, feeling the burning pain of the laser beam hitting her shoulder. Much to Crash's horror, and chagrin as he hoped that his girlfriend was okay. "I'll be fine Crash! J-just keep going!" She said.
Crash obeyed, as he kept on flying with her as they kept on going, making sure to dodge his lasers, and the rocks that tried to block their path to Cortex. Only this time, they were only slightly gaining ground on Cortex as he was faster with his jet pack, and kept on shooting his laser at them, even through the asteroid rocks, much to their surprise at how strong his laser's piercing power was.
He even grazed Crash's hips, just over his pants, which angered Tawna, and left her more determined to fight Cortex.
Just as they were getting quite close to him though, they were in what was a giant box shaped cage arena in space, which connected to the path to Cortex's space station. And it was also full of asteroids, but they were fewer in number on the inside. And Cortex looked like he was relieved as he started to grin again.
"N. Gin! Is my mech ready now?!" He yelled into his intercom.
Then suddenly, a large mech robot appeared via teleportation, courtesy of N. Gin. It looked like N. Gin's mech, but it had extra stuff added in. Like extra laser cannons on its shoulders, above the missile launchers, turrets around the large chest laser cannon to protect it with, and legs, that it was going to use to jump around on the bars of the arena. And, it seems to have shoulder cannons that was closer to the neck.
And Cortex was immediately entering it to fight Crash, and Tawna in. "I'll take it as a yes. Prepare yourselves Bandicoots! Cause I'm about to show why I'm the superior evil scientist, compared to that traitorous Nitrous Brio!" He said, beginning the battle against Crash and Tawna.
*Insert Live and Learn by Crush 40*
Cortex fired out some lasers against them, forcing Crash, and Tawna to back away from the mech, while he started to guard himself with a bunch of floating mines that he sent out against them. Which they were able to dodge.
It seemed that they could be fighting a difficult battle against him this time. But no matter how intimidating the mech was, Crash, and Tawna, would continue their fight against Cortex as they were trying to search for a weakness that they could use against him.
Then suddenly, they heard a voice in their helmets. "Can you hear me, Crash?! Tawna?! That mech has a weakness near where it fires all of its weapons. Aim the weapons that I'm teleporting to you both, at where the cores will be exposed once he fires. Don't let him escape into his Space Station if he somehow takes those Crystals from you. You're our last hope." N. Brio said.
Then the Bandicoots notice a pair of more little mechs appearing out of thin air. They were yellow colored, and they were basically connected to the arms, and the feet by some metal hydraulic piston bars, and a back support chassis. They basically looked like some certain power loader suits from Coco's, and Tawna's favorite alien movie, (Regardless of all the violent nightmare inducing moments in it.) except that both of them had only one vise hand, while the other had a cannon on the other, likely to shoot out ammo against Cortex's mech.
The Bandicoots were surprised at seeing them, but they wasted no time in flying to them, and entering them after removing their jetpacks, and their helmets when they were sure that the arena they were in was also full of oxygen, before Cortex could stop them. "Roger Brio." Tawna said.
Now the battle was starting to get even as Crash, and Tawna, both dodged the mines and the lasers by using the rocket feet of the mechs, while looking for the weaknesses in the mech.
"Curse your support Brio! When I'm done with them, and when the world is mine, I'm going to have my slaves clobber you, and that young Blonde Bandicoot, before making you both my slaves!" He angrily said.
Crash wasn't happy about what he said when he brought Coco into this, as was Tawna, as they both continued to dodge his shots, and shot back at him when they saw his weak spots where his mine shooters were, damaging his mech. Much to his dismay.
He continued to fire at them with his lasers, and the mines though, as he was also moving around in the box arena to avoid them. But the size of his mech, coupled with the asteroids were making it hard for him to successfully dodge and weave around them through the arena, while they were able to also dodge and weave through his attacks, and the asteroids themselves.
Not to say that the asteroids were useless for either of them, as Cortex ended up throwing them at their direction as well. But the Bandicoots either end up dodging them, or was able to take cover behind the other asteroid rocks to block the other rocks, or the mines and missiles that Cortex fired at them.
All while they also dodged any of the lasers, even from behind the asteroids, due to how strong they were in piercing through them. But so far, none of them were hit by the lasers as they continued to fire at the lasers themselves, breaking them off of the Mech.
But Cortex continued to shoot out his mines at the Bandicoots. Which continued to fail to hit them. But they were able to singe both Tawna, and Crash though.
But they were not enough to harm them both, as they shot at another weak part of the mech of Cortex's near the shoulder that shoots out missiles on the right.
And after that, they eventually were able to hit another weak part of Cortex's mech on the arm so that he won't shoot out a laser from the left hand of his mech. But he can still use the right one.
Which he used on the asteroids to have them blow up, which caused broke them into smaller rocks that became like shrapnel, that did cause some dents on Crash, and Tawna's mechs. Just not enough to break them outright.
"Don't give up Crashie! We can still take that thing down with him!" Tawna said, blasting another one of Cortex's missile launchers on his shoulders, breaking it, and leaving him with only his left shoulder's missile launcher.
Which he proceeded to fire plenty of at them, alongside the mines, but the asteroids kept on blocking his shots. Which they both took advantage of while firing at the mine launcher again to damage his mech again.
They also damaged the missile launcher on his left shoulder, leaving him with only the lasers and the mine launcher to use against them. Much to Cortex's dismay, as the fight went on.
Suddenly… "AAAUGH!" Tawna shouted out in pain.
The reason being, was that her knee got hit by a lucky shot from Cortex's laser from his mech. Which went through her right leg, and damaged one of the hydraulic bars of the mech's leg, showing that their mechs had no armor to protect them from the shots. Which Tawna learned the hard way.
And so did Crash, since quickly after that, he took another shot to his hips, and another to his left shoulder. While Tawna then took one to her own hips too. Which had them both grunting from the pain that they were suffering from the burns of those lasers.
Apparently, Cortex was learning how to aim his lasers well, as well as their dodging patterns.
"Gotcha! Now it shouldn't take too much effort to kill you both for those Crystals!" He said, continuing to shoot out his lasers to try to kill them both with.
Unfortunately for Cortex, they were also learning from his shots, as they changed up their patterns of dodging, and was being more careful of his laser shots, as well as his mines.
And that is regardless of the pain in Tawna's leg that she was trying not to either cry, or pass out from, as she kept on flying through the arena with the reduced mobility of one of the rocket boots from her mech, due to the mech's damaged leg.
"Crash! Tawna! Can you both hear me?! All of us is rooting for you! Keep going, and give him trouble!" Coco's voice sounded in their intercom. Which gave them more reason to keep on fighting against Cortex as they continued to dodge his mech's shots.
Which had him frustrated as hell, as he decided to use a different weapon against them that his mech had. "Let's see if you Bandicoots can dodge this!" He said, before shooting out mines.
"Quick Crashie! Dodge!" Tawna said as they both did just that when the mines were launched at them.
Only those mines were different. As they were guided mines that was moving after them both, which Tawna noticed when she looked behind them. "They're coming back at us Crash!" She yelled out, in fear, as Crash also gasped before they both had to move around the arena when the mines homed in on them both. It seemed like they were now playing cat and mouse with those mines.
Except, Tawna had an idea. As she made sure to tell Crash through his mech's intercom, of what it was. Before having him follow along with her as they both kept on flying through the box arena away from the mines until she's sure that Cortex is focused on them, and their demise, that he wouldn't notice the flaw with the guided mines.
Which he was, as she then ended up flying herself, and Crash, straight towards him while dodging the remaining asteroids, and the fragments of the asteroids that the mines blew up on while leading the rest of the mines toward his mech. Which was when they were close enough to his mech to where he would be able to attack them by punching them with his mech.
An opportunity, he didn't want to miss, as he attempted to punch them both. Which they barely dodged as the larger mech's fist grazed Tawna's mech, on its foot part, which was the undamaged part, leaving her with only the damaged leg to fly with, as Crash had her mech's hand to fly her with as Cortex now had his mech's chest cannon ready to fire on them.
But regardless, her plan was starting to pay off, as the mines were now on the verge of hitting his mech. Which he ended up noticing. "N. Gin you nincompoop! What good is guided mines if they come right back?!" He angrily yelled as he tried to detonate the mines before they could hit his mech.
He only partly succeeded, as they blew up when they were quite close to the mech of his, but it was too little too late, as the explosions ended up hitting his mech. And soon, they were damaging the mech, as they consumed his mech in their fiery explosions. Which caused a lot of damage for his mech as it was now sparking, and smoking. Showing both Bandicoots how badly damaged his mech was.
"Ready Crashie?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"Weady dawlin!" He gibbered back.
Before they both then aimed their mech's cannons at the damaged parts of Cortex's mech. Which they hoped, would be enough to beat it.
Luckily for them, their hopes were answered, as after some electrocution, and after some smaller explosions, Cortex's mech has had it, and ended up exploding into several pieces, some of which, was unfortunately able to bean Crash in the head as he got knocked out. While Cortex ended up flying through the space as his face was covered in soot of the explosions.
"NOOOOOOOO! Neither of you shall see the last of me, accursed Bandicoots!" He yelled out as he continued to fly off into the distance of space.
Tawna didn't really concentrate on that though, as she was making sure that Crash is okay, and that neither of them are going to float off into space, and probably towards Earth, where they'll get vaporized by the speed of their descent into Earth's atmosphere. Which was going to happen to them, but Tawna was able to get herself, and Crash out of the mechs, before pushing them away with her feet too make sure that they wouldn't float towards Earth. All while keeping them in the arena that was oxygenated too, when they removed their helmets to enter the mechs.
"Crash! Crash! Are you alright?!" Tawna asked, shaking him in hopes to awaken him.
Which lasted for minutes, as Crash wasn't responding to her shaking attempts on him. Much to her concern as she hoped that the blow to the head didn't kill him.
"Crash! Wake up! Are you okay?!" She asked again, desperate in her hopes that he's alright, regardless of the bonk on his head.
Initially, he remained unconscious. Until he ended up groaning after minutes ended up passing, of her getting scared that he died in space. Which showed her that he could still be alive.
Sure enough, he focused his eyes on Tawna after opening them, then smiled at her in relief at how she was alive.
Which she returned with her own as she hugged him. "You're alive! I knew you were tougher than that! I'm so happy to have you!" She said happily before she deeply kissed Crash. Which he was initially surprised at, before returning his own kiss to her.
Then he was reminded of their injuries. Which in his case, he didn't care about. He got hurt plenty of times before, even before rescuing his girlfriend, and his sister. But it's Tawna that he was worried about. And he was going to ask if she was fine, when she covered his mouth.
"Don't worry about me Crashie, it's just a wound that'll heal overtime. I'm just relieved, and happy that we've survived this battle together." She said, continuing to smile at him, as they cuddled on one of the asteroids, waiting for Brio, or Coco to teleport them back to the Warp Room, or to Earth.
Either way, one thing's for sure. Regardless of their struggles throughout this adventure, they were alive by the end of it. And both Bandicoots were ready to face off against what the future could throw at them, together.
For now though, they proceeded to look at the Earth for a bit, before they then felt themselves getting teleported back to the gang.
And done.
This is it, the final boss is beaten. And let's face it, I'm sure that some of us wished that it'd end like this in the actual game.
There's still something left for them to do though, so this isn't the end of the CSB arc yet. But it's ending soon.
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, I do not own Crash Bandicoot, it was created by Naughty dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious visions. Please support the official releases.
Theodore the poet signing out.