Chapter Nine – Out of the Frying Pan…

Cortex clenched his teeth so hard he thought his skull would implode from the pressure. Yet there was nothing else he could to calm the raging white flame of rage that blossomed inside him. He hissed low under his breath as he caught a glimpse of Crash Bandicoot darting through his space station in an oxygen tank and jet pack. Cortex hadn't even given it a second thought when he left his spare technology lying about. He hadn't believed the bandicoot would figure out how to don the equipment before the oxygen had fully disappeared and suffocated him. Cortex was attired in similar gear, with a more powerful protection and a longer oxygen supply. Now he was barricaded in the bowels of his space fortress, and not willing to confront his indestructible adversary as of yet. He still had a few plans to rid himself of his failure, and he was sure his next plan would work. He floated toward a computer and typed out a quick sequence. Obviously, the bandicoot wanted to get back to the planet, therefore he need to escape this space station in an escape pod. Cortex had a maniacal look on his face. The trap was set, now all he needed to do was wait.

--

Crash rocketed toward the escape pod dock, and prepared to hoist himself into one. Yet he figured that once he got inside, he would have no idea how to make the thing work. He shrugged, and grasped the supporting rail above and began to swing himself inside. Instantly, the door on the escape pot shut. Crash bounced off the closed door and steadied himself at the wall. His jaw dropped as shafts of pink light danced off the control panels and jettisoned every solitary escape pod. The emergency doors snapped shut, and Crash was left there in the silence wearing a very perplexed face. Then finally he pushed off the side wall and pressed his face against the window. His wits came back to him in an instant and he slammed his fist on the metal.

"What....the…HELL!"

Crash was so angry he momentarily forgot his hunger. Why were these crystals so determined to see him dead? He was about to holler another curse, when suddenly each escape pod exploded in a blossom of flame. Crash's gaze was fixed on the window, and he felt a moment of shock as he absorbed what happened. As he watched the explosions fade away to nothingness, Crash leaned back slightly and reset his jaw.

"Oh."

--

After the escape pod fiasco, Crash hadn't the slightest idea of what he was planning to do. Cortex was around somewhere, and he was quite desperate to turn Crash into space dust. And that was a campaign Crash was not interested in pursuing. Maybe he could find some kind of space ship in the station somewhere, and miraculously find a way to start it, an even more miraculous way to get it out, and an impossibly miraculous way to actually fly it. Crash couldn't get the picture of him hurtling through the atmosphere only to explode on impact. He felt shivers. Suddenly, he had quite a fantastic idea. Maybe he could use Cortex's crazy technology to send a message down to his sister. She probably knew he was in some trouble, thanks to Aku, and she was always on that silly computer of hers. Crash studied one of the control panels with a furrowed brow. When he realized he had no idea what he was doing, Crash just started touching buttons rapidly in hopes he was making enough of a disturbance to get his sister's attention.

--

Coco was quite frustrated. She didn't have any way to contact her brother on that space station. She could connect to a communication device easily enough, but that space station was huge. It would be next to impossible to actually get a hold of Crash from her position. She just had to hope that when Brio kept his part of the bargain, Crash wasn't going to do anything stupid. Yet that was a long shot, and probably too much for Coco to hope for. As she considered what little options she had, she could see a connection begin to blink on her computer. It was coming from the space station, and with a confused look Coco hesitantly activated the line. Instantly a miniature version of Crash appeared on the screen, and Coco squealed

"Crash! Are you okay?"

Crash fixed her with a look that seemed to say "what do you think?", but he didn't answer. Coco noticed then that he was wearing some weird looking contraption.

"What are you wearing?"

Crash still didn't answer, and aggravatingly pointed to the mouthpiece that no doubt connected him to an oxygen supply. Coco understood why he wasn't talking now.

"Oh, you can't talk with that thing on huh?"

Crash tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows skeptically. Then he clapped his hands slowly in a sarcastic applause. Coco clenched her fists.

"Fine, you can just find your own way off that space station then, you stupid jerk."

Crash slumped his shoulders, and then offered her his ridiculous pouty-eyed look. Then he leaned back and spread his arm in a gesture that conveyed to "aw, come on". Coco grimaced.

"Alright, I made a deal to get you out of there. So you need to wait there until he gets there to pick you up."

Crash raised one eyebrow, but Coco decided just to leave him in that confusion.

"Trust me Crash. Okay?"

Crash gave her a salute, just as the picture began to fade away. As Coco watched the picture flicker, she swallowed hard.

"Crash…be careful."

--

Crash wondered how the connection faded, but he wasn't in the mood to look for another. His very considerate sister had already planned his escape for him, so there was really nothing left for him to do. He pushed himself away from the computer and floated for awhile. He wondered who Coco had conned to come get him, but whoever it was, Crash didn't really mind. As long as whoever it was got there soon. Crash didn't really have anywhere pressing to get to at present, so he settled on just drifting around. As he spun about the lab he noticed a sharp beeping noise in one ear.

Now, what the hell's that?

Crash stopped his playful twirling, and supported his lightweight self on a desk. Then he began to rapidly check every dial that dangled off the jetpack. Finally, he found the cause of the noise. When he took a good look at it, he felt his heart skip.

Oh, that's not a good thing.

The dial on the air meter in his palm was twitching toward the zero mark, which meant very clearly that Crash was just about out of oxygen. Crash furrowed his brows and began to speed through the corridors, having absolutely no idea what he was planning to do. There was no air anywhere, and unless someone was planning to inject the oxygen back into the space station, Crash was in very big trouble.

--

When Cortex had seen an explosion through the corner of his eye, he felt a moment of true joy wash through him. Yet when a dozen more explosions followed, Cortex's hope was shattered. He rushed to the window and pressed his face to the glass. Sure enough, every escape pod on the starboard side of his station had been jettisoned. And as Cortex had intended, each had exploded just after launch. He deducted that the bandicoot couldn't possibly have set off all those escape pods, therefore he must still be alive. To confirm, Cortex found another visual on one of his many cameras, and cursed callously when he saw the bandicoot as he suspected. He smashed his fist on the console and ignored the sparks. Why was it so difficult for this marsupial to die?! Cortex clenched his jaw tightly, just as another fiendish plan leaked into his mind. He had enough of this farce. This time he was going to kill Crash Bandicoot, and watch him die with his own eyes.

--

Crash glanced down at the gauge in his hand, and although the dial was hovering just over zero now, he could still breathe. Yet he was pretty sure that wouldn't last very long. Crash sped around corners, his eyes glancing around rapidly looking for anything that could help him. Nothing came up. Crash snorted as he forced the jets to speed up.

After all this, I'm going to end up suffocating myself from loss of oxygen? Come on, after all the enemies I've gotten away from? Darn it, I pretty much did the job for them.

Crash continued do search, but still to no avail.

Well this sucks.

He was just about to call it quits and descend into a nice, leisurely death, when he caught a glimpse of something. A large screen had blinked into activation, and read the words: EMERGENCY OXYGEN Override Activated

Crash sped forward and blessed the stars surrounding him as he glided into a chamber, not even stopping to think that he could be cruising into a trap. However, at least he wouldn't die by suffocation. If he died by something else…well, that was a different matter entirely. The iron door clanged shut, and Crash instantly felt the orange hairs on the back of his neck rise. Ignoring the sensation for the time being, he rejoiced as precious air was filtered into the chamber, and he landed with a soft rock on his feet. He tore off the oxygen mask and jetpack, tossing them both aside. Now within the wonderful embrace of oxygen, Crash prepared to dance out his invigoration. Unfortunately, something decided to happen.

"So Crash Bandicoot, how are you holding up?"

The voice was creepy, but Crash knew who it belonged to. He sighed. His dance would have to wait.

"Just fine thank you, and yourself?" Crash's tone was pure acid, and he had a remarkably cold smile on his face. His mood was not likely to improve until he was out of that chamber and got some nourishment.

"You still have the crystals I see, and I notice as well that you also obtained the master crystal."

"Oh, is that what that was? It's heavy, so I thought I'd use it for a paperweight or something. Unless you have a better use for it…the bidding starts at a ride home, how's that for a deal?"

Crash heart a satisfying hiss from the other line. It was always fun to be the cause of rising Cortex's blood pressure.

"Crash, my intentions haven't changed. Preserving the world is still my purpose, but to do so I need those crystals. Why don't you hand them over?"

Crash grimaced, but the smile didn't disappear. "Listen fella, I'd be happy to hand them over if you supported your allegation with one smidge of truthfulness. Unfortunately though, I can't say you do. I must remark that you continue to dash down my self-esteem with your opinion of me. Obviously you find me to be pretty stupid." Crash chuckled pleasantly. "And maybe I am, but stupid or not, I'm sticking to my first instinct. Never trust a back-stabbing homo sapien with bad trust record."

Crash then heard what sounded like a gnarled curse, and knew instantly that Cortex was aware of every word he was saying. Good thing too, because Crash was tired of talking to himself. Suddenly, Crash's ears pinned back, and that was never a good sign. Crash took a look around the chamber to see what his primal instincts had caught on to, and saw what it was an instant later. Dozens of slots slid open around the perimeter of the room, and some large guns appeared and began humming to life. Crash would have taken a few steps back, if he hadn't known that the same cannons threatening from the front were also were situated behind him. Crash swallowed hard. Now this was going to be a tough situation. Slowly, he turned around, scoping the chamber for any way out, or at least some cover. He saw nothing, and as he moved, he saw with dismay that every gun was trained on him. Crash gritted his teeth.

Crap.

"Your death was inevitable Bandicoot, you had to have known it. You were a failed creation, and it only stands to reason that you must be executed."

"Whose reason is that?" Crash snarled under his breath as he twitched his fingers.

"So, without further delay, farewell Crash Bandicoot."

The guns started making some questionable noises, and Crash felt a shiver dance up his spine.

"You know, if you want the crystals, you're not helping your case by blowing them to smithereens."

There was silence for a moment.

"Of course I have already added this into my plan Bandicoot, the crystals will shatter, but only momentarily. Their forces will soon bring them back together and they will reconstruct themselves. I do not need you alive to ensure their delivery." Crash could imagine Cortex grinning wickedly, one of his trademarks. "I just need to dig through your remains to gather the pieces."

Crash winced.

Ouch. That was unnecessary.

Crash stared at the guns in front of him, and realized that there was nowhere he could run now. He was covered at every angle, and once the firing began he didn't have one iota of a chance. He felt a blazing uneasiness build up within his chest, but surprisingly he was not close to the edge of panic. He simply felt…regretful. The cold white flashes of several attacks at once caused Crash to shield his eyes, and he waited patiently for the searing pain. Yet, none came. There was something inside him that seemed to be speaking, or trying to. As though it was attempting to gain his attention and tell him something very important, but he just didn't understand. The sensation was irritating, but once Crash realized the laser blasts were not shooting through him, he didn't mind so much. An iridescent scarlet light was dancing off the tips of his fur and singing the air. Crash's eyes felt as though they were burning, and as he focused on each narrow blast, he was baffled to see that each laser ricochet off the light red barrier. Where the crystals shielding him? Hmm, that would be convenient.

Cortex will pay for his treachery. No human should disturb the balance. Repercussions must be appointed.

Crash gulped. The voice in his head was very clear now, and so soothing it could have been delivered on a breath of wind. Crash shivered. He was possessed now, and he didn't think he liked it. His hands rose on their own, and his fingers spread apart as power gathered within his open palms. Crash grimaced as a scraping energy built up within his chest, and slowly spread down his arms.

All right already, enough drama. If you're going to do something, do it.

An instant later, the power blasted from Crash's body like a title wave, and Crash was blinded by a searing white light.