Odds and Ends

Coco sat in her room in a pensive position on her bed. Her brother had been gone for nearly a week now, and she no idea when he'd be back. She did, though, thanks to the device, know that he was moving around at a remarkable pace. Three days ago, he'd left Germany to go to Russia, and from what he told her it wasn't easy. Right now, he was in China, in some sort of village.

She began to make her bed. Of course, she'd wanted to come, but she couldn't because she knew that Crash wanted to go on the mission alone. Well, in fact, he hadn't wanted to go at all. He didn't like going out in public. But, nonetheless, he did.

Coco folded her blanket and sighed. He began to talk more and more about that Kate to her over the walkie-talkie device. He'd say things about her "womanly attitude," but end on a good note, saying something about her "unusual talents."

"She's almost as ingenious and quick-witted as me," he'd said to Coco the other day. "In fact, I can't help but say that it's almost…"

"Attractive?" Coco had said.

"No! I was going to say interesting."

Coco's mind back to the present, she sighed. "Why don't you just marry her already?" She gently placed the blanket at the foot of her bed and fluffed her pillow. "That ought to do it."

She heard a knocking on her door. "What is it this time, Crunch?" she shouted in reply.

"It's not Crunch," said the voice from the other side. "May I come in?"

"Sure."

Aku-Aku, the floating witch doctor mask, came in and looked at the blonde bandicoot. "I see you've kept your room clean," he said with a smile.

"Yeah. Boredom's a killer," Coco shrugged.

"I also noticed you cleaned up your brother's room… May I ask as of why?"

Coco became sheepish. "Well, I uh… It was in need of someone to clean it."

"Yes, I suppose. But, you've never cleaned his room before."

"But he's never been gone this long before!"

Aku smiled and looked at the teenaged bandicoot girl before him. "You miss your brother, don't you?"

"No, I don't. His lazy carcass wasn't any help around the house," she replied defensively. "I would be cleaning, and he would point out, 'Hey, you missed a spot 'or 'Lemme help you with that,' and then he'd walk off!"

"I see. So, you don't miss your brother?"

"Well, he is pretty nice sometimes… And his arrogance kind of grows on you."

"So you miss him?"

"I don't know!" she replied, sitting on her bed with a huff. Aku hovered over beside her.

"Coco, it's natural to miss your family, and it's natural to worry over their well being too."

She sighed. "Yeah…"

"And I'm sure he's missing you guys as well."

"Maybe."

"And I know that Crash has been on plenty of missions like this before, and can handle himself."

"Aku?"

"What is it, Coco?"

"You've been watching Dr. Phil again, haven't you?"

The mask sighed. "Dear, I've been around for quite some time, and I have had to give plenty of 'pep talks' before."

She smiled. "I would hug you right now if you had a body."

"Haha, yes, I would do the same," Aku chuckled.

Crash looked back at the sleeping Kate. She was so sound, and was all tuckered out from the running they did that day. He crawled out of the old-fashioned Chinese window, and climbed onto the ledge. He was going to out alone tonight.

He crept along the ledge and leapt onto the other building. The rain was fierce and was cascading from the sky like a mad torrent of water. Crash slipped and nearly fell off the building, and would've fallen to the ground 30 feet below, if it hadn't been for a shingle jutting up from the roof.

Crash sighed in relief. "That would've been bad." But, the shingle pulled loose, and the bandicoot slid down the slick roof and fell to the ground with a thud, landing on his back. He groaned in pain. "Ugh… I spoke too soon."

He slowly rose to his feet, and grimaced. "I hate falling." He was considerable dirty and wet now and he was pretty sure that the mud stains in his fur would take a lot to wash out. He'd left his upper attire at the rental room he and Kate were staying in, and was going bare-chested through the Chinese interior.

It was about time he could be himself.

Crash looked around, seeing that none of the villagers were out and about, and he jogged out of the small village. He went off into a cornfield, rushing past the leaves that brushed and scraped his face as he moved forward at a rapid pace. He was, even through his lazy personality, loving the run he took. It was totally pointless.

"Just they way I like my things," he said aloud with a grin. He reached a clearing, where the entrance to a forest lay, and a large boulder jutting out of the ground. Crash decided to stop here, and rest under a tree for shelter.

He ducked underneath the nearest maple tree, and sat on the dry ground beneath it. Although he was sopping wet, he smiled. Alone time at last.

Crash folded his hands behind his head and slid lower down the trunk. "If only I could sleep as much as I did." His eyes slid shut, and he took in a breath.

He rested underneath the maple for quite some time, that is, until a snap in the woods caught his attention. His ears perked up immediately, and he stood as still as ice. The only thing filling the silence was the heavy rain.

Crash furrowed his brow, and dared not to move a muscle. His eyes scanned the dark forest in search of any movement. Nothing. Crash assumed it was probably just some rain that broke a small limb off of a tree, or the wind even.

He turned his head and sighed. He closed his eyes again, and tried to rest some more. But his actions were halted when he saw a shadow dart behind his tree. Crash, wide-eyed and frozen stiff, was now sure that this time, something—or someone—was there.

He furrowed his brow, and brought his knees to his chest. Crash slowly slid up the slick tree trunk, looking to his left in aggression. He clenched his fists, inhaled, and quickly threw himself to the opposite side of the tree.

But there wasn't anyone there.

Crash was perplexed. "Hm. Funny, because I could've sworn—"

Suddenly, he was brought to the ground by brute force from above. Crash gave a grunt as he hit the wet grass on his chest. The heavy weight of another person on his back knocked the wind out of him. "What the—"

The attacker grabbed Crash's muzzle, and held it shut tightly with their gruff, clawed hands. "Shut up, you mongrel." The voice was deep and raspy, but was shockingly similar the Crash's own.

The latter had his eyes shut tight and squirmed to get free. The attacker was on top of Crash, using one knee with his combined body weight to hold the bandicoot down. "You know, I would have thought that you would've put up a damn good fight. You're not as good as you were before."

The voice was in heavy Australian, and was getting annoying. Crash thrust up an elbow, and it made stark contact with his attacker's jaw. When he was able to slip away from the grasp, he tried to get a good look at his attacker.

He was still on the ground, and saw a shadow slowly rise from the ground. A flash of lightning lit up the rainy night, and Crash saw his aggressor. It was an Anthrian, just like him, bearing a muzzle that was cream and his fur was crimson red. He wore a brown leather jacket, and bright blue jeans that were ripped open at the knees and torn at the cuffs.

"Who are you?" Crash asked him. "Do I even know you?" The menace laughed darkly.

"You don't recognize me?"

Crash smirked. "Can't say I do right away, but there's a vague familiar vibe coming to me…"

"It was long ago… You might not. But I don't see how you can't recognize your match."

"My… match?"

"I'm a certain crimson bandicoot who knows you just as well as I know myself. After all…" the Anthrian got closer to Crash's face, an evil smile curled upon his lips, a deadly glint in his golden eyes. "…your match happens to be your evil twin from the Tenth Dimension."

Crash furrowed his brow in confusion, but was soon shocked when he realized who he was up against. "Evil Crash Bandicoot… How did you even get here?"

"Oh, please. That was my old name. I go by Nega now, mate," the opposite bandicoot said, snarling upon the word "mate."

"Interesting," Crash said, getting off the ground quickly as he dusted dirt off of himself. "It keeps you from ripping off my name."

Nega bared his sharp canines. Crash only gave a casual grin, and darted to his right. Nega soon gave pursuit, and was quickly behind Crash. He was about to pounce, when the orange-furred bandicoot ducked and performed a sweep kick, knocking his negative self to the ground on his back.

Nega was shocked, and he took a moment to regain himself. Crash looked down at him, and smirked. "Knocked the wind of ya, eh?"

The fallen bandicoot growled deeply, and brought a swift leg to Crash's ankles, knocking him on his back. Nega, now fully recovered, tackled Crash and pinned him down.

"Not so fun, is it pretty boy?" he snarled with malice. Crash met the hard stare of his enemy and spoke.

"What big eyes you have," he smirked. Nega, just as stubborn and cocky, snarled a smile. Crash grinned. "And what big teeth you have."

"Ah, the better to sink them into you with." Crash's smirk quickly vanished, and he squirmed to be free, but his opponent didn't let up. Nega quickly grabbed Crash's throat, and grinned with hatred. "Tonight, you die."

"If I only had a dollar for every time I've heard that," Crash said with a smug look. Nega furrowed his brow and frowned. "I'd be rich."

Nega hadn't realized that he'd let go of Crash's arms, and the latter threw a fist into his aggressor's ribs. Nega tumbled of in pain, and Crash hurried to his feet. He stood and watched Nega get up, holding his left rib and giving a savage look to Crash.

"You little runt," he spoke with a dark tone. "I need to be paid more for this."

"Paid assassin? This is a first. Cortex didn't make you a minion?" Crash gasped in sarcasm.

"Heh. As if. I probably would've killed that yellow bastard if he hadn't offered me over ten million big boys."

Crash whistled. "I'm worth quite a bounty, I'd say. Might as well turn myself in to get the money myself! So what did the job description say?"

"Well, I'm confused as to why she's not around, but I'm paid to kill you, and get her. And Cortex said if one isn't completed… Payment's invalid."

Crash looked at his counterpart with a sneer held high on his face. "Looks like you're gonna leave here broke."

"Dream on, you little shit," Nega cursed, and ran at Crash with a clawed hand held high. It probably wasn't one of his brightest moves, because when he was within striking range, Crash threw a balled fist that hit the crimson bandicoot square in muzzle.

Nega staggered backward with an astonished look held on his face. He gazed at Crash with a toothy grin on his lips. He chuckled a bit, and suddenly collapsed onto the ground, out cold. Crash stared rather dumbly at the unconscious form, and quickly took this as an opportunity.

Crash ran toward the village and didn't slow down. He ran through the corn and straight into the parish. It was beginning to dawn on the distant hills, and Crash was alarmed. The villagers would awaken soon. He rushed to his temporary hut with Kate, and peeked into the window.

Kate yawned, and stretched. She opened her gray-green eyes, and blinked groggily. "Jack?" she asked. There was only silence and darkness. Kate rubbed her eyes and scanned the room, and there wasn't a sign of life all around the small given establishment. His bed was empty.

"Where does he keep running off to?" Kate looked outside and saw the rain had ceased. But what also caught her eye was something that moved in the window's corner, and was gone. She was puzzled, and crawled out of her bed. What she failed to notice as she started toward the door was her comrade's jacket and helmet on his nightstand.

Kate opened the door and poked her head out and looked at the side of the hut where the window was located, and saw the space devoid of life. She sighed, and stepped outside. The grass was wet and soaked her bare feet, but nonetheless she scoped the house for an unknown presence.

"Jack? Stop being stupid and come here." She searched the side of the hut, looking away from the door. But as soon as she did, she heard it slam shut. Kate was surprised, and jogged over to the door. "Jack! Let me in!"

She tried opening it, and found it locked. She groaned in irritation, not wanting to be caught in the rain if it started again. "Open the damn door!" she yelled as she pounded her fists on it. She heard rustling from behind, and turned. An elder Chinese woman was looking at her in curiosity. Kate sighed.

"I was locked out."

"Ah… So, is young man boyfriend?" the lady asked, knowing just enough English to communicate. Kate held a smirk on her lips.

"Like I would want this Australian buffoon for a lover."

"Hurtful."

Kate turned her head to the doorway and saw Jack looking at her with a forged offended face. "What was that all about?" she asked.

Jack was still aware of the aggressor from earlier, and spoke. "We have to leave. Now."

"Wha—"she began, but Jack quickly grabbed her and picked her up bridal style. Kate was at loss of words because of her sudden shock. He ran toward a cart filled with hay that was led by two mules, and laid Kate inside.

"Stay."

"What the—I'm not a freaking dog! What's going on?" she asked irately. Jack only sat in the "driver's seat" of the cart, and grabbed the reins.

"Mush!" he yelled, and he snapped the reins. The mules gave a few snorts and squeaks before running off down a dirt path. Kate was tumbling around in the cart, still totally clueless to the whole situation.

"Jack! What the hell's going on?" she yelled when she sat up painfully.

He turned his head. "Let just say that there's a guy I met when I was out, and that he's not exactly one you'd like to meet."

"Why must I curse to get your attention?"

"Because by now he should be awake."

The elderly woman Kate had spoken to before was taken aback by the duo's sudden departure, and was even more so when a large male figure walked up behind her. She turned around and met the dead glare of the crimson hybrid of a bandicoot and human. She would've screamed, but he grabbed her rag coat collar and snarled.

"Which way did they go?"

The woman stared into the dark golden eyes. "T-they take mule cart… They run to hills!" she cried frantically. Nega's snarl vanished, and his ears flattened.

"They got away. Cortex can't find out about this, or he'll cut my pay." Nega threw the old woman to the ground and stared at the rising sun just bordering the horizon as she scampered away frightened.

"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Crash Bandicoot," he spoke darkly. "I hereby swear I will get that little red-headed tramp, and I will kill you. Even if I have to drain your iron-filled blood. One. Drop. At a time."