Odds and Ends

Eh, this chapter may not be the greatest… But, read on if you dare… :D

Nina Cortex was busy sorting through various things in her uncle's lab. Right now, she was considerably bored. Then, she noticed a rather comical looking gun sitting on a far counter. Nina snickered slightly as she sauntered over to where the weapon lay. She picked it up, and eyed it devilishly.

She needed a test subject, and quickly found a rat that Cortex had trapped in a cage for experiments. Nina pointed the gun at it, and pulled the trigger. A blue beam shot out of it, and the shrieked, as its doom was inevitable.

When the girl was finished, she looked at the rat in fulfillment. It was reduced to a mere pile of ashes. She chuckled heartily, and threw the gun back on the table. "Stupid animal."

Abruptly, two figures began to materialize in the lab she was in. She sighed as she saw Nega, holding a rather shocked Kate Clark. Nina smiled. "Seems you've arrived."

"Yes, brat, I've come back successful," Nega growled while taking Kate's wrists and holding them behind her back. Kate brought her eyes to Nina, and saw a small resemblance to her and Cortex, and was probably working with him, so it would prove useless to ask for help.

"Where's Crash?" Nina asked indifferently.

"He's long gone." The teenaged girl was rather shocked by this, and looked at the girl.

"You actually managed to succeed in killing that orange bandicoot? Uncle will be very pleased to hear about this!" Nina spoke to Nega in a congratulating tone.

"Yeah, yeah, speaking of the devil, where is Cortex?" he asked. Nina motioned for her to follow him and he followed, pushing Kate along. She then showed the two to a dark office, and as soon as they entered, the chair behind the desk turned around.

Neo Cortex looked upon the two with a rather happily. Kate was nearly disgusted with his grin. "I see you've returned with the girl. I presume you killed the Bandicoot as well?" Cortex said.

Kate grimaced. "What do you want with me?"

Cortex smiled. "Allow me to remit you, my dear."

Crash was thinking heavily behind the glass walls of Coco's teleportation device. This was meant for long-distance teleporting, and that is why he stood there. Coco was standing behind a large computer and was typing commands into the system. She sighed and faced her brother.

"Crash, you don't have to do this." He began to talk, but she couldn't here him. She quickly flicked a switch to the microphone. "Mind saying that again?"

"I said that yes, I do have to go and do this," he repeated. "Remember, dear sister, saving the world is my specialty."

"But, Crash… By the time you get there, she could already be…"

"I have to go anyway. Kate… She needs me."

Coco studied his face. And by the looks of it, he needed her just as well. Coco knew what happened to her brother while he was gone, and if he didn't get her back, not only he would be hurting, but the world would be doomed anyway.

"Alright, big brother. Please be careful." She pulled the lever that would send him to Cortex's space station. Crash gave a small smile and winked as he disappeared rather rapidly.

"Have a nice pile of Wumpa fruit ready for me when I get back."

He didn't care for teleporting in the least, but it sure came in handy. When all the whirling around stopped, he found himself in a metal room that was surprisingly dark. Crash stumbled a bit at the sudden landing, but regained balance soon enough.

He studied his surrounding thoughtfully. It was rather dull and not kept well enough. The metal floors gave no warmth, and Crash could feel it was rather frigid in the space station. He walked among the darkly lit hallways in search on any clues on where his friends may be.

"Now if I were an insane doctor, where would I keep a redhead like Kate?" he questioned aloud. He would've expected an alarm by now, but apparently Cortex wasn't worried about him at the moment, which wasn't exactly good.

Crash stopped. His bandicoot ears picked up a noise, which when he listened closer, was voices. It was hard, but he managed to decipher what they were saying.

"Alright, Nega, let's take her to the chamber."

"Grgh, make me do all the work."

"Don't fret bandicoot. You will be paid and on your way."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Crash exhaled slightly. He could hear Kate's voice in the background, but it was mostly only grunts and growls. He crept along a wall, sticking to the shadows. He stopped at the edge of the hall, where they were standing. Kate spoke. "You can't to this to me! It's cruel!"

"Do you think I care, my dear? I was doing the same thing the day I created Crash Bandicoot. I curse the day."

"Crash is not dead! Nega didn't kill him!"

Now it was Nega who spoke. "I shot 'im myself!"

"Then how come I didn't die?"

"Because I merely stunned you, and I—"He paused, and his tone changed. "…forgot to set it to kill mode."

Crash smiled. That idiot thought he killed me, eh? Sorry, bud, not this time. Then an enormous amount of racket was heard, and the pitter-patter of feet running his way got louder with each step. "Get her!" Cortex barked.

Kate passed by the hallway that Crash hid, and the latter shouted out to her. "Kate!" She turned around swiftly, and saw that it was her friend.

"Crash!"

She ran up to him, and was about to embrace him in a hug, but he only pushed her to the wall and told her to shush. Right then, Nega ran to the entrance of where they were concealed. He was snarling, and was looking around for Kate. He glanced down their hallway, and saw she was gone.

He walked down that hall, but didn't notice that they were sitting in the shadows. As he walked down, he finally got to the point of where they couldn't see him. Kate looked at Crash, and smiled warmly.

"You're alive." She wrapped her arms around his waist and locked them together. Crash couldn't help but smiling and returning the gesture. They stayed that way for what seemed like hours, when only mere seconds ticked by.

"Hey, I'm not someone you can get rid of so easily," he said upon pulling away. He grasped Kate's wrists, and led her to a spot where he thought would cover them more efficiently. They got on their knees and Kate looked him in the eye.

"So what's the escape plan?"

Crash opened his mouth to speak, but he hadn't really thought of one yet. "Uh… Well—"

"You don't have one, do you?" Kate questioned. Crash sighed, and Kate rolled her eyes. "Good for thinking on your feet."

"Look, I'm sure there's an escape pod somewhere, so until we get there, let's try and ditch these losers." It sounded like logic to Kate, so she shrugged passively. Crash once again took her hand and led her down the hall.

Kate followed along obediently, because she figured he knew much more about Cortex's labs than she did. But she smiled sheepishly as he led her along down the corridor. "Crash."

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to hold my hand. I'm twenty, and I think I can manage." He released his grip instantly as he felt his face grow hot in embarrassment.

"Sorry, mate." Kate chuckled, and sighed.

"It's okay."

Crash continued to lead her down the long hall that seemed endless, but carefully avoided any contact by various scientists and minions. When he reached another corner, he flattened himself against the wall. "Alright, Kate, I see some escape pods. You ready?"

He heard no reply, and furrowed his brow. "Kate?" He twisted around, and instead met the barrel of a black gun. His eyes looked up to the wielder of the gun.

"Crap," Crash muttered. Nega was holding an unconscious Kate, and was smiling wickedly.

"Light's out, pretty boy." He promptly brought the nose of the gun to Crash's chest and let off a green beam that when it hit him, his counterpart lost consciousness. Nega seemed to take an extreme liking to guns, and secured his present firearm under his arm. He brought out a radio, and pressed the button.

"Alright, their out. Send someone to help me, would ya?"

It took a moment, but a static-ridden voice spoke from the communication device. "Alright." The person on the other line seemed to be N. Gin, but Nega couldn't really care less. He glimpsed at Crash with an easy smile.

"You're going to love what Cortex has in store for you, Bandicoot."

Alright, I know this chapter is short, but I was anxious to post it! I promise that the next one will be longer! :D Love you guys!