Chapter Seven- Prehistoric Ambush

Cortex presented his latest creation to his superior, a beaming smirk on his face. The creature that stood before Uka Uka was tall, oddly proportioned, and uglier than any living animal alive. Cortex couldn't be prouder.

"Great Uka Uka, I introduce to you the minion who will be the key factor in Crash Bandicoot's destruction."

"Empty words Cortex." Uka snarled. "What exactly is that thing?"

"The name's Dingodile mate, and I don't take kindly to being called-"

Cortex cut off his new minion's complaint with an awkward cough. "He's the combination of an Australian dingo and a crocodile. He has a dingo's natural speed and ferocity, as well as a crocodile's brute strength and raw fury. He is a creation that I am confident will not let us down."

Uka seemed to consider, looking over both creation and creator with a skeptical expression.

"Very well. This creature seems satisfactory. Now have it ready to be transported."

Cortex watched hesitantly as Uka floated away. "May I ask what the next step is, Great One?
"No." And Uka was gone.

--

At first, Crash thought he was asleep. It would have been a nice surprise if he had woken up to the warm humidity of jungle air and a sweet fresh smell of wamba fruit waiting to be devoured. Crash opened his eyes, and as his gaze scanned the massive rusty rocks and rivers of magma he groaned. Steam hissed from the cracks that split across the ground, which, to Crash, looked disturbingly unstable. He got to his feet, stretching a knot in his back, and immediately searched for his sister. He found her not three strides from him, laying on her back in a delicate unconsciousness. What surprised Crash the most was the tiger from their China exertion had somehow been trapped within the rift, and was now standing there before his eyes. The tiger appeared very concerned, and nuzzled Coco in attempt to rouse her.

Crash dropped down beside Coco and looked her over for injuries. She seemed fine, but Crash did notice quite a lump on her forehead. Crash supported her head in one arm, and felt a wave of relief at this information. It was his first time saving the world with a sidekick, and he was still getting used to it. However, he was glad that at least Coco had the capacity to take care of herself, and even him for that matter. She was a smart girl, his sister. The tiger glared at him warily, making Crash clear his throat in nervousness.

"Hey kitty, don't you worry your tail about her. She'll be fine."

The tiger didn't seem convinced, but it backed off just the same. As Crash glanced around, he had just begun to notice the prehistoric theme that was dominating the environment. Crash smiled without humor.

"Pirates, dragons, dinosaurs…I'm sure this little trip will become more interesting eventually."

Crash lifted Coco, who was surprisingly light, in his arms and stood. Suddenly he remembered the relics. Coco was still holding the sapphire talisman in her hands, for which Crash was thankful. Yet as he fumbled around for the gold relic, he began to feel tense. He heard the tiger growl, and he turned to find the threat. A skinny dinosaur was pleasantly flipping the gold relic in its clumsy claws, having a grand old time. Crash started in a mad dash toward it, which probably wasn't the best idea.

"Hey you! Give that back you rotten…"

Crash trailed off as the dinosaur began bouncing at an amazing speed from its previous position. Crash started running over the prehistoric rock, knowing that the rough movement was not good on his unconscious sister. He gently laid Coco in an indent of stone, and looked hard at the tiger.

"Watch her, kay? They'll be some catnip in it for you."

Crash waited until the tiger plopped down beside its charge, taking its job seriously enough that Crash felt safe to chase the relic-filching lizard. Crash started running at a full sprint, able to see the green dinosaur in the distance. He was in a cave at the moment, and by the glowing pools of lava, it looked as though he was in some kind of volcano. Wherever he was, he needed that relic so he could get out. He didn't much fancy dinosaurs. The bouncing reptile was fast, and it didn't take long for Crash to loose the thief. For a couple moments he just wandered around aimlessly, searching for any indication where his relic may have gotten to. Just then, he could see it on the stone not to far away. Crash guessed the lizard got bored with it, but he couldn't see why. The thing was so damn shiny it made Crash tingle. As he sprinted toward the relic, he could hear the distinct sound of shrieking. Despite his hurry, Crash stopped dead. Through the billowing steam, Crash's eyes widened when he saw the massive terrifying head of a tyrannosaurus rex, and began to step back when his eyes fell upon the rows of deadly sharp teeth.

Thankfully, the huge carnivore didn't appear to see him. Yet Crash still wasn't convinced he was in the clear. He continued to step back slowly, and only subconsciously realized that his foot struck a nice patch of slippery mud. He would have groaned if he had time to do so, and instantly he found himself sliding down into a very ominous crevice. Yet the crevice was not a black hole, which was great, but Crash still wasn't enthused about the situation he plunged himself into. When his rolling momentum ceased, Crash glanced up to gaze at a very large egg. When he glanced around further, he could see massive discarded shells littering the nest he was standing in. Crash scratched his head, and laid his hand on the egg after struggling to his feet. He put his face to it, and thought it felt warm to him. So why wasn't it hatching? After a brief moment of contemplation, Crash shrugged. What'd he care if an egg hatched or not?

Just as Crash began to walk out of the nest, he heard the faintest sound of chipping. He turned, and strode back to the egg. It looked almost identical to when Crash last looked at it, except for this time Crash could see just the smallest sliver chipped from the eggshell. Crash tapped the egg with his knuckles, and a few more cracking sounds were heard along with some flaking eggshell that fell to the ground.

"Come on little dinosaur, keep pluggin' away. You're getting there." Crash murmured encouragingly as he continued to tap a tune on the shell.

The baby lizard seemed to be gathering more determination, and Crash spied a tiny gray claw push its way through the tough outer crust. It began to chip away at the hole, until its wide snout popped out and it made a very peculiar noise. Crash froze. This lizard had teeth. It must have been the offspring of the killer T-rex he saw a few moments ago. When that little gaffer got out into the open, he'd probably be hungry. Crash began to step back, watching the pieces of shell start to crumble as the baby rex fought through it.

"Well, keep up the great work fella and…uh…be seeing yah."

Then Crash turned and started in a mad rush to get away from where he was. He had entered what appeared to be some kind of slimy swamp, and as his shoes filled up with gross water he winced. This wasn't turning out to be a very good day. Crash sloshed through the swamp, swinging his arms to gain momentum as he did so. It had become uncomfortably quiet all around him, and so Crash was sure something was up. He stopped, and took a slow look from one side of him to another. He crumbled into a ball when he heard a blood-curdling shriek. He took a brave look upward, and with widened eyes he could see the glittery shape of the golden relic. It was clamped in the jaws of a substantially large pterodactyl. Crash growled.

"I don't care if you're big enough to carry me away. That's mine and I want it."

Crash exploded into a sprint, which wasn't as fast as normal due to the three feet of thick liquid he was pushing his legs through. Out of the corner of his eye, Crash spied more winged creatures swoop at him. He covered his face as best he could, and kept his eyes focused on the gold talisman. He could feel the sharp scrapes of claws at his skin, and he realized as they began to pull at his fur that he might be in some big trouble. If one of these flying freaks got a hold of him and carried him into the air, who knew what would happen.

"Get outta here!" Crash yelled as he swatted at the creatures.

His verbal threats were no use against the pterodactyls. Just as he was about to give up on the relic and dive for cover, he felt his feet lift from the ground. At first, he thought it was one of the animal kingdom rejects, but as his head swiveled he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or upset. The baby T-rex was running at top speed, holding the back of Crash's pants between his teeth. Crash wasn't sure if the T-rex saved him to eat him, or just to be a Good Samaritan. Crash decided on the latter, since he wasn't in the mood for any more negativity. Crash grasped the T-rex around the neck and swung around gracefully so he was riding on his back.

"Thanks a bunch fella, now if you don't mind I'd like to get that relic back."

The dinosaur didn't seem to have any qualms about helping. The dino continued to run, and Crash adapted himself to the giant lizard's unorthodox movement. He wasn't a very smooth runner, but considering he had only been on the earth for five minutes, Crash was pretty impressed. It didn't take long to catch up to the pterodactyl, and with one leap off the T-rex's shoulders Crash grasped the relic from the flying reptile's greedy talons. Crash plummeted back to the ground and landed none too elegantly. He stood up and shook the disgusting swamp water out of his fur, and caught his breath. The baby T-rex wandered over and started cooing, its big ugly eyes wide with excitement. Crash took his chances and stepped up to the dinosaur that, as a baby, stood a foot taller than he did. Crash patted the T-rex's scaly neck affectionately.

"Thanks a lot lizard face. Now, I've got to get somewhere pretty quick, would'ja mind given me a ride?"

--

In no time at all, Crash was back at the starting point, the golden relic safely tucked into his pocket. He jumped off the baby T-rex, and jogged to where Pura guarded his still unconscious sister. Crash patted the tiger with relief.

"Thanks puss, you did good."

The baby T-rex was looking a little restless, so Crash offered him a quick thumbs up.

"If you've got somewhere to go Baby T, then go for it."

Although Crash was pretty sure the prehistoric reptile didn't understand what he was saying, he seemed to get the meaning well enough. The T-rex turned and bounded back into the swamp.

"Thanks for the ride fella! Much appreciated!" Crash called as he dropped to his knees beside Coco. "And now Sis, how's that lump doin'?"

Crash supported her head as he placed the back of his hand against her forehead. There was a good sized goose egg there, but it'd heal quickly. Coco tossed her head to the side and moaned. Pura stood right beside the pair, as still as a statue. Crash felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw Coco's eyes begin to open.

"Crash?" Her voice was a bit distorted, and by the way her eye twitched she seemed to have a painful headache. Not that Crash was surprised.

"Hey Coco, you've got to learn to land on your feet."

Coco groaned but Crash couldn't be sure if it was because of his foul sarcasm or her head. He assumed it was a combination of the two. The twin buns pinning back Coco's long blond hair were coming out, and strands covered her face. Her pretty pink number was looking fairly dirty, probably from laying in the ash, but otherwise Coco looked fine. Crash prepared to ask about the Chinese dress and sandals, but he decided to bring it up when they got out of this prehistoric volcano.

"Are you ready to-"

Crash stopped. He heard something behind him click, and the noise of building pressure hissed through the rocky cave. Crash wrapped his arm around Coco and leapt out of the way, Pura following suit an instant later. Crash touched down lightly, careful of his sister, and watched as a fiery explosion blasted through the spot they had been occupying seconds ago. The cause of the explosion was the ugliest thing Crash had ever seen. It had an odd shaped head with twitching ears, and its jowls were quite large and dangerous looking. What surprised Crash most was the thick crocodile tail that brushed over the ground as it walked. When the creature realized that Crash and Coco weren't melted corpses in the path of his flamethrower, he snapped his fingers.

"Damn. Missed."

The thing looked up at Crash, and the latter felt himself gulp nervously. The creature's crooked under-bite only added to the ferocity of its appearance, but Crash had to say that he was more concerned about the creature's incredible weapon. The weirdly proportioned fellow was sporting a flamethrower with a muzzle longer than Crash's arm. On his back was strapped a power pack of some sort, and Crash was not rightly in the mood to be on the business end of that thing. However, Crash couldn't pass up a good jeer.

"So, what are you supposed to be?"

The creature looked at Crash, and then offered a chillingly wicked sneer.

"Name's Dingodile mate."

"Dingodile eh? Original name, combining two species together like that. No, I mean it. Fitting." Crash stretched out his arms and slowly moved away from his sister. He didn't want Coco involved in any fighting, at least not in her current condition. Dingodile stepped forward, the humor in his grin disappeared and was replaced with irritation.

"Gotta big mouth for a rat in a trap, dun'cha?" Dingodile uttered through his teeth.

Crash angled his head toward Pura. "Get her out of firing range, would you?"

Pura was beginning to complete the command when Coco propped herself up, wincing at the movement.

"No way, I'm staying with you."

Crash smiled tightly. "No you're not. Wait till you're a hundred percent and I'll let you practice on one of these goons."

Coco looked as though she wanted to protest, but she must have seen the logic in Crash's words. She was a smart girl, and knew when she was useful, and knew when she'd just get in the way. She accepted Pura's help and let the tiger drag her under the cover of a rock overhang. Crash turned back to face his adversary.

"Alright, where were we?"

"I was preparing myself for a nice meal of roasted bandicoot."

"Hmm, not really my dish fella. I think a nice salad will do for me."

Dingodile opened his mouth to say something else, but apparently thought the flamethrower would be a more efficient way to get his point across. Crash darted out of the way, using this time to steer clear of Coco and Pura. He stopped on the rocky plateau, waiting for Dingodile to discover that he was not in the same place. He slowly turned, and his face bent into a gnarled sneer.

"You're a quick one, ain'tcha?"

Another blast of flame heated the air, and Crash moved again. He dropped not two meters from where he started, and offered a slight shrug.

"Can't complain."

Dingodile was getting impatient, and looked as though he wanted to end the battle quickly. Unfortunately, although Crash had a similar goal, the result would be the direct opposite. Crash found that he could always fight harder against the minions who planned on eating him, since the mental picture was quite nauseating.

"So, you're another one of Cortex's cronies than?" Crash liked to get into a bit of conversation while he was dodging attacks, it made the time pass faster.

"Dr. Cortex ordered me to get the relics you've collected and deliver them. Oh, and to take care of you as well."

Crash ducked as a stream of fire seared over him, and rolled to get completely out of its path. He stood back up.

"Well, that was nice of him. He's such a hospitable tyrant."

Dingodile was getting very frustrated. "Why can't you stay still, and we can get this over with?"

Crash danced out of the way again, smiling. "Why don't you stop trying to melt me, and we'll have a nice chat?"

Neither request was fulfilled, and as Crash leapt out of the way once again, he found himself getting increasingly uninterested. He wanted to get out of here quick so he could get the last relic. The half-dingo, half-croc seemed to realize his method wasn't working either.

"One last chance bandicoot." Dingodile growled. "You don't sit still and let me barbeque you, they'll be another item on the menu."

Crash furrowed his brow in perplexed confusion, and only when he saw Dingodile aim toward where Coco was hiding, did Crash realize what he implicated. With a sharp inhale, Crash moved like a streak of orange light. He stood directly in front of the massive science experiment, and held onto the barrel of his flamethrower with both hands. Crash's eyes were alight with anger as he let his mouth curl into a dangerous grin.

"Not cool, mate."

Dingodile seemed surprised at first, but he recovered quickly.

"This is the creature Dr. Cortex is having such a hard time destroying? I can't imagine."

Crash's frightening smile intensified. "I always thought someone could only get run over by an ugly bus once, but congratulations freaky-face, you've broken the record."

Crash was so worried about keeping the gun from rising, that he didn't notice a massive fist fly out of nowhere. Dingodile smashed him right in the jaw, and the force of the blow caused Crash to stagger backwards. Before Crash could recover, he felt a hard blow to his stomach that crushed the air from his lungs. He sailed through the air as he noticed it was Dingodile's leathery tail that smoked him. Crash landed hard on his back, and his enemy was wasting no time now that he had the upper hand. Crash forced himself to roll out of the way as flames reached for him. The smoke from the fire burned Crash's eyes, and he was momentarily blinded.

"Crap, that hurts!"

Crash rubbed his eyes franticly, but before he could get himself to his feet, he felt a hot tip of a suspected weapon against his throat. Crash gulped as tears from the fumes poured down his face, and he could just make out the blurry shape of a very happy Dingodile.

"Say goodbye bandicoot."

Suddenly, Crash saw someone leap onto Dingodile's back. Dingodile snorted in surprise, and removed the gun from Crash's neck. Crash's vision was returning, and he watched with momentary shock as Coco sat atop the power pack on Dingodile's back. She was scowling at him angrily.

"Pick on someone your own size, you ugly brute."

Then Coco reached down and yanked a plug from the side of the power pack, and the explosive container began to wail loudly. Dingodile yelped in shock, and bucked Coco off of him. Crash got to his feet and dashed to cushion Coco's fall. The two of them lay sprawled on the rocky ground as Dingodile ripped the power pack off of him.

"Damn you fuzzy rats. You'll pay for this!"

"I've heard that one before, and I haven't received a damage bill yet." Crash mumbled pleasantly.

Coco faced her brother just as Dingodile disappeared, leaving his wailing power source in the middle of the battleground.

"Crash, that thing is going to explode. When it does, it'll probably set this volcano off as well. We need to get out of here."

"Gotcha Sis." Crash whistled loud.

Pura had already been in motion ever since Coco had surprised him with her attack, and he approached the bandicoot siblings with a sulking expression on his face. Coco patted him.

"Sorry Pura, but it's my job to help out my inept brother when he's about to kill himself."

"Would've been a nicer rescue if you could have taken him out before he scorched my eyeballs."

Coco leapt on Pura's back, and Crash realized the tiger wouldn't be able to support them both. He was pretty unsure of what he was going to do before he got an idea.

"Hey Baby T!"

Coco stared at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Baby T! Come on out buddy!"

It was a long shot, but it worked. The baby T-rex came bounding happily into the rocky clearing. Crash immediately jumped on his back as he clarified.

"This place is gonna blow, okay lizard-lips, so we've got to get out of here. Help us out?"

As if in compliance, the little rex began to trot, and Pura cautiously followed. As the time bomb behind them began to send out sharper and louder screeches, Coco and Crash picked up the pace. They were at a full gallop when the power pack exploded, and sent shockwaves shaking through the ground. The animals staggered slightly to gain their balance, but continued to run even as a rumbling shook the earth. Crash glanced behind him with a look of urgency.

"This doesn't look very good."

Crash prodded Rex with his feet, and Coco latched her arms tightly against Pura's neck. The only thing that could save them now was the speed of their steeds. The mountain was rumbling madly, and spurts of liquid fire splashed the trees around Crash and Coco, setting them ablaze. All Crash could see was the frightening golden and crimson glow of fire raking the swamp before him, and he gulped. Directly in front of them, a river of lava broke free of the volcano, and blocked their path. Crash looked behind them, and saw with unease that more lava was pouring like waterfalls and running toward them with gathering speed. They would never make that jump. Yet thankfully for the bandicoot siblings, their rides' already had a way out. Rex gathered speed, and squatted low before shooting through the air at a remarkable speed. Pura pressed both paws into the dirt, and sprung forward using his strong hind legs. Both dino and tiger sailed through the air, and their bandicoot riders could do nothing but hang on. They soared over the path of fire, and landed somewhat inelegantly on the other side.

The pair continued to run until they were well away from the volcano, and the smell of burning ash was gone from the air. The two steeds slowed to a stop, and Crash and Coco shakily dismounted. The first thing Coco did was wrap her arms around Pura, thanking him for rescuing her. Crash patted Rex on the neck.

"You did good buddy. Thanks."

Rex seemed happy with the praise, but soon his eye had caught something wandering in the darkness. He licked his chops, and glanced at Crash hopefully. Crash offered a hesitant smile.

"Sure fella, I'm not gonna stop you. Eat up chum."

With one final pat, Rex disappeared into the trees, on the prowl for a meal. Crash exhaled deeply, and turned to Coco who had rose up to a standing position again. She had the sapphire relic in one hand. Crash reached into his pocket and revealed the golden relic, and walked over to his sister. She arched an eyebrow.

"Nothing happened while I was unconscious I trust."

Crash grinned. "Of course not. This gold shiny was in the best of hands."

Coco sighed, and laid a hand around Pura's neck. "Do you think that the platinum relic is here?"

"I'm thinking Cortex's mask buddy forced us into this dimension as an ambush. He wouldn't be able to know which dimension to send his goon in without getting one of these relics, but I guess he was able to control where we landed, in which case his crony would presumably take us out. But don't listen to me, what do I know?"

Coco's brow was furrowed as she absorbed this, and then she took her brother's hand.

"Let's get going then."

"Do let's."

Coco closed her eyes, opened them, and uttered the phrase that would send them to the next dimension. The familiar light of interlaced blue and gold surrounded them, and they disappeared.