Chapter eight- Mission: Australia

There was not much to get ready. It wasn't as though Crash had a set of weapons he needed to check and load. Coco had tried to convince him to start using some kind of defense weapon he could take into battle with him, but Crash knew such hindrances would just get in the way. He tried to use a bazooka once, but ended up wrecking the stupid thing and going deaf in one of his ears for a few weeks. It was a good thing he used a wamba fruit as his projectile, or he would've blown himself to smithereens. So he decided the easiest way was to scrap the whole thing.

All Crash needed was a vehicle to get him to Australia, because he wasn't keen on swimming there. Thankfully, Coco had it worked out. She'd been working on a lightweight helicopter with superior maneuverability, she called it the Firefly. Although she went on a boring description onto why the vehicle was not perfected yet, all Crash wanted to be sure of was it wouldn't shut down while he was in midair. When she assured him it wouldn't, he offered a grin and a smile and said "Then cut the chatter and load me up, sis."

As Crash pretended to read the documents Coco had printed out for him, he could hear her grumbling in frustration. She was lying beneath one of Cortex's gliders she'd salvaged and was busy repairing it for her and Kieran's rescue mission. Crash was more interested on listening to Coco complain about Crunch than reading the details of his own assignment.

"I can't believe he's sitting it out." Coco snarled. "Crash survived his other missions mostly by luck, he doesn't have a chance without someone to help."

"My hearing capacity is as good as ever." Crash called out. "Just FYI."

"Read it Crash! Stop stalling."

Crash grumbled and pressed his chin on his fists. He didn't much care for being verbally bashed while he was in the room. However, he didn't let it bother him. He had to admit he'd been quite surprised when the big fella decided to remain on the sidelines. Crash knew Crunch, and he knew it wasn't in his competitive nature to shy away from danger. In fact, he was more willing to barge into the line of fire then Crash was. Well, in the scheme of things Crash was never entirely "willing" in the sense of the word. It just always happened to be his duty to flout Cortex when the pint sized scientist stirred up trouble. Why this was, Crash could not say. He supposed it was because he'd been the first failed experiment, and it fell to him to take care of the rest of his fellow mutations from Cortex's evil doings. Whatever it was, he wasn't very happy about it.

Although Crash was initially shocked by Crunch's refusal to join them, he couldn't blame him like his sister could. What Coco couldn't see was that some things became more important to some people as they grow older. Crunch found his purpose, and he wasn't willing to give it up. Crash could understand that. However, the upside of Coco's bitterness was that obviously she couldn't see it yet. And as long as she continued not to see it, there would be no fear of her attaching herself to that bilby friend of hers. Crash could only hope she continued to remain naïve. As Crash pondered, still avoiding reading the pages before him, Coco's voice penetrated his thoughts.

"I mean…what good is he going to be here? If Cortex does set the toxin on the islands, he'll be helpless to stop it. What's the point? Flat edge screwdriver."

Crash furrowed his brow, confused at this last statement. But as he turned he saw Kieran rifling through Coco's toolbox in search of a screwdriver. Coco's orange hand, smeared with grease, was open and awaiting the tool. She continued to complain to Kieran, listing off all the dumb reasons why it was stupid for Crunch to stay behind. Crash lost interest quickly, but before he turned back to the dreaded pages something caught his eye. A large shadow entered the chamber, and when Crash saw him he couldn't help smiling. Coco, unaware of the new arrival, continued to prattle. Kieran had gazed up, and his mouth fell slack.

"Um…Coco?"

She didn't pay attention. She talked over Kieran, elaborating on her choice topic without taking a breath. Crunch strode into the workstation and grasped a screwdriver from the bench. He strode toward Coco and dropped to one knee, setting the tool in her grip. Without a thank you, she accepted the screwdriver and her dialogue continued.

"And where does he get off saying that anyway? None of us really have a choice, do we? We wouldn't throw ourselves into harm's way just for the heck of it. It we had a chance to stay behind, we'd take it."

Crunch grinned. "Would you?"

Coco stopped talking. The entire place was completely silent. The only sound that disturbed the heavy quiet was Crash trying his hardest to stifle his giggles. Coco edged out from beneath the glider, her face dirty with grease and grime. Her eyebrows were pressed together.

"Crunch?" She asked meekly.

"Hmm?"

"How long have you been here?"

Crunch pretended to consider.

"I think since the part where you called me 'a lazy lily-livered chicken who works out all day just to sit around at home knitting sweaters'."

Coco winced.

"It sounds worse when you say it."

Crunch shook his head with a sneer. "I don't think it does."

Crunch got to his feet and wiped the dust off his pants. Crash stacked up his papers and twisted in his chair, smiling.

"So, what are you doing back here? We're discussing classified info, not for civvies."

"Civvies?" Kieran uttered with confusion.

"Civilians." Coco clarified as she got out from beneath the gilder. "Sometimes Crash gets in these black-ops moods, just ignore him."

Crunch shrugged.

"Changed my mind."

Crash shook his head. He suspected as much. Coco, of course, was flabbergasted.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going."

Coco couldn't seem to wrap her head around it. Crash didn't really understand why she was so surprised. A dangerous mission to an unknown land where anything could happen, it was the perfect recipe for fighters like Crunch. However, Crash couldn't put the entirety of the credit on his friend. Tawna had obviously suggested something to Crunch to ease his anxiety about her. Crash was thankful she did. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the prospect of going on the mission all on his lonesome. There was no one to joke with, which made the whole "life-risking" business a drag. Before Coco could get a justification out of Crunch, Aku swayed into the chamber.

"Have you prepared yourselves?"

Coco had filled Aku in almost immediately after the plan was set in motion. He was distressed that he could not accompany his charges, but being an ancient island spirit he was not able to leave his land. Crash noticed with rising concern that the old mask looked more and more haggard every day. Crash had known him enough to realize something was wearing down the old timer. He didn't voice his concern, naturally, but it still made him curious. Coco had leaned inside the cockpit of the glider and tried to activate it. The engine puttered for a minute and then it died, and Coco was not very happy about that. She snarled in anger.

"We have one vehicle ready, Aku. But I can't get this damn glider started."

"Don't curse Coco." Aku admonished automatically.

Coco offered a snort of annoyance, but she didn't flip out on Aku as she usually did. She was too preoccupied, no doubt. Crash rolled up the pages and stood up with a yawn.

"Alright, while you're fiddling with that rust bucket, there's nothing stopping us from getting started."

Coco was glaring at him with a menacing air, and Crash pretended not to notice. She crossed her arms.

"Did you read all of it?"

"Yup."

"What colour is the toxin?"

"The what?"

Coco growled. "The toxin."

Crash tapped his chin, and then glanced down at the paper in effort to find the answer. Coco lunged toward him and snatched the stack from out of his hands.

"Crash, that was in the first paragraph."

"I know, I was just…thinking. You didn't let me think."

"Then what colour is it?"

Crash grumbled. He hated being on the brunt end of Coco's frustration. He twitched his ear and tilted his head slightly.

"…Green?"

Coco smacked Crash on the head with the rolled up paper, and then pressed her hands on her hips.

"It's transparent, Crash. Transparent! That's very important because you won't be able to tell which one it is unless you shake the vial."

Crash rubbed his head, but he was grinning.

"But what colour does it turn after you shake it?"

Coco's jaw fell, and her mouth opened and closed a few times but nothing came out. Crash leaned forward and beamed.

"Exactly."

Crash did read the first paragraph, but that was the extent of it. He never followed through with directions. Coco knew him well enough now to know that. She clenched her fists in rising fury, and then took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She marched past him.

"Idiot."

Although Coco continued to be cold toward everyone while the glitches in her glider remained unfixable, she did consent to giving Crash and Crunch a semi-patient demonstration on how to fly the Firefly. Coco made it apparent she trusted Crunch more at the controls, but unfortunately the cockpit was too tight to fit him. Two bandicoots, even one as small as Crash, could not fit in the vehicle comfortably. Crash made a remark about the seat being too big, but Coco ignored him.

The preparations were complete. After a final discussion about what Crash and Crunch needed to do in the Australian lab, Coco stood in front of them both with forced good humor. She looked at each of them in turn.

"Both of you be careful, okay?"

Crash offered her a thumbs up.

"Always are, sis."

Aku floated next to Coco with his yellow eyes drawn into an expression of worry.

"And please try to avoid that female tiger if you can. She is far stronger than any of Cortex's previous minions."

Crunch offered a small chuckle.

"Can't promise that. I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with that cocky cat and having a little rematch."

"I would advise you not to take revenge upon her Crunch, but I suppose such a warning would not be observed. I will, then, say only this: Look out for each other, we don't know what other schemes Cortex has planned in secret."

Crash flipped his hand dismissively.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll keep our eyes open and our backs to the wall."

With that, Crash hopped into the pilot's seat and started fiddling with the controls. As he did, he saw Crunch step in toward Aku.

"Look after Tawna, okay?"

Aku nodded. "I shall, Crunch. Good luck."

Crunch seemed satisfied, and then followed Crash into the Firefly. It was quite a spectacle watching such a large bandicoot try to squirm in behind the absurdly large seat, but Crash tried not to smile. Crunch would be pressed against the back of his seat for the journey, and Crash didn't want to take the chance of Crunch kicking the back of his chair the whole way. When Crunch finally maneuvered into the back, he shot Crash a glare. Crash turned, and tried to keep his expression neutral.

"So…" Crash risked. "Comfortable?"

Crunch growled, and elbowed Crash's seat hard. Crash nearly bashed his face into the steering wheel, but caught himself just in time. Crunch's lips curled across his teeth in a devilish smile.

"Keep it up, Crash, and you'll be swimming to Australia."

Before Crash could make a retort, Coco leaned inside the cockpit and started the engine. She laid a hand on Crash's arm.

"You will be careful, right Crash?"

Crash could see the worry in Coco's face. He smiled.

"We'll be back with that stuff without a scratch, Coco, I guarantee it. You watch yourself too."

Coco nodded, trying her best to grin. "I will."

Crash smiled again and watched her climb back down to the ground. He lifted his gaze and they fell upon Kieran, standing quietly with his arms behind his back. Crash fixed his eyes on him, and waited until the bilby returned the contact. When he did, Crash frowned at him.

"And you…you'd better not let anything happen to my sister or I'll be coming after you. You got it?"

Kieran stiffened in astonishment, struck with flustered nervousness.

"I…uh…"

He babbled on for a moment, but it took one look at Crash to make him understand he was just joking. Crash sighed, and offered him a smirk.

"We've got to work on that sense of humor, Kieran."

Crash gripped the handle and closed the door. He offered a final wave to their entourage as Coco opened the hatch on the ceiling. Crash took a look at the controls, hoping he would remember how to use them once they got out into open air. Thankfully, Coco had designed the thing with her mechanically-challenged brother in mind. Crash activated the hovering mechanism, and the Firefly slowly lifted into the air. Crunch heaved a sigh.

"With you at the wheel, I'd give us five minutes before we're plummeting into the ocean."

"That's a little skeptical, isn't it? Don't worry, I've got everything under…"

Distracted, Crash had momentarily forgotten how to steer and the top of the vehicle struck the roof before he finally regained control. As they headed off into the darkening sky, Crash heard Crunch muttering scornfully behind him.

Although the boat Isabella had selected for her chase was supremely fast, she was having great difficulty keeping up with the plane. Thankfully, the old clunker wasn't state-of-the art, and so it was taking its time crawling across the sky. Isabella also wanted to steer clear just in case some parts started falling from the flying disaster.

When she got in a rhythm she found herself feeling incredibly invigorated. There was nothing like the feel of the cool sea spray on her face while the wind whipped through her hair. Speed was addictive, and Isabella was glad she was in a situation where speed was a necessity. Normally, she would need to rely on silence and stealth, but that was never enough to get her blood pumping. The three islands were not particularly far from Australia, maybe a three hour ride by fast boat or slow plane. Nonetheless, Isabella found that fact rather strange. Australia was bustling with computer savvy humans, just like the rest of the world. Why, then, had she never seen humans poking their noses around the islands? Surely a group of mutated animals were worthy of investigation. However, that entire thread of thought was inconsequential. They apparently did not know about the existence of the islands, and Isabella left it at that.

The coast of Australia grew larger and larger along the horizon. It didn't take particularly long for her to guide the boat dockside. The plane had soared overhead, and passed beyond her range of sight. It was fortunate that Isabella could already see the laboratory from where she stood. Although she welcomed this knowledge at first, the extensive chain of buildings seemed interconnected. Such a large group of buildings would be difficult to search, and with the time crunch Isabella was under it seemed hardly possible at all.

She hoped it would be easier once she got inside and began the hunt. So she left the boat in the water, tethering it to the dock. With quick, fluid strides she made her way toward the laboratory building. Although she was prepared for guards or security of some kind, she was surprised to find the place deserted. It appeared these humans didn't understand the worth of what they had. Isabella leapt from shadow to shadow, keeping herself concealed from possible witnesses. Her sense of smell was good, however the overwhelming scents that surrounded her forced her to rely on her other senses instead. Her nocturnal instincts were becoming more invoked as the glow of the fallen sun disappeared completely. Stars began to pepper the sky, but such beauty of the night went unnoticed. Isabella had a job to do.

She vaulted over the pitiably useless chain-link fence and landed softly on the ground below. She tore off across the clearing, taking no chances that her entry might have a chance to be monitored. Whatever quick movements the security cameras picked up would have to be studied and freeze framed to make any clear identification. Although nearly human in every way, Isabella still retained the more valuable traits of her bandicoot origin.

She reached a door, and was unsurprised to find it locked. However, it was a simple aluminum material secured only by a deadbolt. Isabella spun and delivered one hard kick to a place just aside the handle, and waited as the door collapsed to the ground. Speed was her first priority, she could worry about being sneaky once she caught up with the tigress.

Isabella moved quickly down the dim hallways. Finding she didn't know where she was, and no matter which hall she turned she received much of the same dull settings, she decided to pull up a map onto one of the computer screens. She broke the window into one of the locked offices and nimbly hopped inside. She sat herself down at one of the monitors and quickly powered up the computer. It only took a moment for her to tap into the system and extract a quick map of the facility. This was a direct security feed, and so it revealed with tiny dots whether any life forms were strolling about. As Isabella gazed across the map, she could see seven such dots, moving in a group down one of the corridors.

She knew at once who they were. Quickly, she inserted the USB stick into one of the ports and uploaded the information. She compared her diagram of the path to the laboratory containing the toxin with the live map on the screen. When she realized how far away the laboratory was and how close Tina and her team were to it she slammed her fist on the console.

"Dammit."

Her frustration was short lived. She didn't have many options open to her at this point. From the security feed, even from live cameras of the insidious group stalking the halls, she had no idea whether the tiger already had the toxin in her possession. If she did, Isabella might not beat her back to her ship. If she didn't, she would get her hands on it before Isabella could get up there. Taking a moment to contemplate, she thought about what her next move should be. She tried to get more information from Tina and her electronically-disinclined group, but all she could discover from them is they were also wired into the security feed. This would let them see whatever could be seen in the security chamber without having to keep one of their group stationed there. As Isabella watched the dots move about the screen, she had an idea.

She suddenly realized she had something Tina wanted. Something that had probably been tormenting her since the day she failed to kill her. She wanted Isabella. She wanted her dead. The realization was actually quite humorous, because it was strange Isabella hadn't thought of it sooner. If Isabella revealed herself, Tina would have no choice but to investigate. That would bring Tina to her, and Isabella's task became that much easier. Or course, the tigress did have six burly minions on her side, but that was irrelevant. What really mattered was whoever carried the toxin, and how fast Isabella could steal it before Tina realized there wasn't going to be a fight at all. The plan was a long shot, but it was the only one available that was possible to have a degree of success.

So Isabella reclaimed her memory stick and shut down the computer. With a plan in her mind she felt her excitement surge inside her, propelling her movements. Isabella considered if she placed herself into one of the monitored testing cells in the laboratory, eventually Tina would see her. Isabella knew the tiger would not pass up a visit, and that was exactly what Isabella planned for. Once she reached her destination, there was nothing left to do but wait for Tina to come to her.