Something happened during this dimensional leap that hadn't occurred in any of the others. Crash felt his stomach lurch, and an instant headache crashed down on him. He felt as though he had been thrust into a great hurricane, being tossed around like a rag-doll and there was nothing he could do about it. He heard a far off scream, and Coco's image appeared in his mind. He reached out, but his hands couldn't grasp anything. He spun through the air so fast and in so many staggeringly different directions that he could he was afraid his head would fly off his shoulders. He closed his eyes tight and willed the crazy whirling to stop.
Which is did, eventually. Crash hit a surface hard, but he suspected it wasn't the ground. His observation proved right as he slid down the surface to connect with another. Yep, this was the ground. Crash lay motionless for a few moments, not even daring to open his eyes. Soon he could hear distorted noises and unintelligible jargon, and eventually he was sane enough to pile words together.
"These cannot possibly be the creatures that disturbed our plans. They're no more than faulty lab experiments."
Crash forced one eye open, and could sort of make out a bipedal creature standing not six feet from where he lay.
"Intriguing that they are able to cause such mischief, however, that time has come to an end."
Crash moaned and struggled to his knees, still feeling quite nauseous.
"Look pal, I'm not in a very good mood right now so could you just shut it?" By the venomous tone in Crash's voice, it wasn't a question.
The man was silent for a moment, and his voice betrayed just a hint of shock.
"Intelligent enough to talk, hmm? Cortex didn't mention that."
Crash was on his feet in an instant, ignoring the shaking of his legs and the horrible lightheadedness that washed over him. Whenever Cortex was around, there was trouble. Crash had learned that the hard way.
"So, where is good old Cortex?" Crash asked with a tight grin. "I've got something I've been hoping to tell him."
The man was becoming clearer in Crash's vision, and all Crash could deduct was that he looked pretty weird. His skin was a sickly ashen colour, almost blue. He had two thick black hairs growing out of his chin that didn't quite pass for a goatee, but what made Crash stare was what this dude was wearing. An oddly proportioned ticking clock substituted his chest, and one of his arms was bulked with the same kind of machinery. In one hand he held a long shaft of metal that looked almost like a big fork. Crash grinned.
"Or should I apologize, since I seem to have interrupted dinner. You must be having one hell of a roast with cutlery that size."
This guy was not nearly as fun to bug as some of the other enemies Crash went up against, but that didn't bother him. Though he was in the mood to strike a nerve today.
"My name is Dr. Nefarious Tropy. I have been charged by the great Uka Uka to dispose of the creatures who keep interfering with his plans of world domination."
Crash sighed. "What is with all this world domination stuff? Why can't we all just be friends?"
Tropy looked at him with one raised eyebrow, as if he didn't understand what he was hearing. Crash got that a lot. Finally, Crash remembered Coco. With a quick scan, he plainly saw that she was nowhere in sight.
"Where's my sister dirt bag?"
"She may be fine, or she may be not. She has landed in another time, as has that tiger of yours. Yet there is no reason to fret about that, what you really need to be concerned about at this moment…is me."
Tropy aimed his iron fork at Crash, and as a gathered energy blasted from the tips, Crash flipped out of the way. Just as the soles of his shoes touched the ground, another attack headed for him. Crash dodged, sliding across the ground with a quick loss of balance. When the next shot came, Crash had no choice but to duck, and this left him vulnerable. Somehow Tropy appeared directly in front of him, and in a fluid motion he smashed Crash across the face with his pole. Crash fell flat on his back.
"Ow. Now that hurt."
Crash rolled as the fork speared from above, aimed to be driven right through his chest. Crash was in no mood to be a pincushion, not today at least. Crash did his best to ignore the aching of his head as he got to his feet and backed away to gain more ground. Again, that Tropy guy disappeared and reappeared right in front of Crash. Crash shielded himself with his arm and grunted as the metal thwacked down on the exposed limb. Using the force of the blow to spin out of the way again, Crash held his arm delicately.
"What the hell?" Crash was angry now, his frustration level rising and making him edgy.
Tropy laughed. "Haven't you been informed Bandicoot? I have the ability to manipulate time, among other talents. You have no chance against me."
Crash opened his mouth to offer an argument to that observation, when the air around him began to whirl and the scene before him changed. Now instead of fighting within darkness, Crash appeared in a strange place, the colours of twilight just brightening the sky above. The buildings suggested that this place was somewhere in Arabia, and from the warm air and flittering of sand Crash was pretty sure there was a desert surrounding him. He paused to scratch his head.
"This is…really…."
"Strange?"
Crash let out a shout of surprise and sidestepped to avoid being clubbed again. The bastard was behind him! How'd he manage that? Tropy looked very amused. Crash stepped back slowly until his toes were balancing on the edge of a building.
"Yeah, I think this would classify as strange." Crash really was freaked out.
"I can warp into any time zone of my choosing. Which makes for an interesting battleground."
Crash shrugged. "I don't think it's so hot really…"
Tropy lunged again, and Crash flipped off the side of the building and landed gracefully on a market tarp. What wasn't so graceful was his awkward spin through the air, unable to find a place to land. He needn't have worried, since right when he was about to strike the ground the scene changed again. Crash collided with a mossy bush and bounced off, landing on his back again. Crash moaned.
"This just isn't my day."
--
Coco rubbed her head and moaned as her awareness returned. She was really starting to hate this stupid adventure she'd been so eager to have. It was far too complicated for her. Her first act was reaching into her pockets and making sure the relics were safe. Her next task now was to find Crash and Pura, whom she seemed to have separated from. She stood up and stretched a monstrous kink in her back, and then started forward at a stumbling pace.
"Crash! Where are you?"
Nothing answered but ominous silence, and Coco felt instantly uncomfortable. Where was she? The ground was wet, covered with a thin layer of water, and she suspected that might pose a problem. She walked a little farther, and to her relief she saw torchlight ahead. When the light began to reflect off the walls and statues surrounding her, Coco was caught in a momentary sense of awe. The carved hieroglyphic columns and golden statues of ancient pharaohs proved she was in ancient Egypt. She was too excited to be worried, which was the first mistake. As she stepped forward to examine the pillars, she felt a slight scratching at her leg. She slowly glanced down, and her green eyes widened in instant shock. An insect as big as her palm was attempting to climb up her limb, hooking its claws on her pant leg. With a small screech, Coco kicked the insect away from her and took some quick steps back. Silence prevailed again, but soon Coco began to hear a scraping noise get louder and louder. Coco stepped back with a terrified look on her face as dozens of frighteningly massive bugs scurried toward her.
Promising she would never relay to Crash what occurred, Coco turned on her heel and started to run, her scared screams disturbing the stillness.
--
Aku Aku could feel Crash and Coco out there somewhere, still whirling through the cloudy mists of time. Aku hoped they would find a way to use the relics as transportation devices, since his first method was a failure. He had been certain he would be able to sense the bandicoot children through the time warp, but he was wrong. Now that they were in possession of all three relics, Aku could finally pinpoint them, and knew that they were on their way home. He had never been more relived.
As he directed their landing, he felt a very strange disturbance. Something was wrong. Aku winced as he felt the time warp tear, and the entire dimensional change deteriorated. A blast of energy lit up the temple, and Aku flew back to avoid it. A figure materialized before him, and at first he felt a wave of hope wash over him, but it was short lived. The creature before him was a young Bengal Tiger, dazed from the teleportation but still releasing signs of fury. He was aware of the disturbance.
"What has happened?" Aku demanded.
The tiger remained wary, but could obviously sense by his aura that Aku was a friend. Aku translated the animal's mode of communication, and felt a jolt of shock shake him.
"No…"
--
Crash was tired of running around. He needed to find a way to beat this guy. Crash was stuck in medieval times, and unfortunately he had dropped into the middle of a castle siege. Tropy was nowhere in sight, and Crash had to be quick just to dodge flaming arrows that strayed his way, as well as keep out of the way of catapults. One thing was certain, if Crash didn't get out of this freaky time warp he was gonna go nuts.
"Come out Bandicoot!"
Crash stepped back into the covering of a castle stable, hiding in the shadows. The sky was darkening, but still bright enough to easily give away his position. Crash tilted his head, and saw Tropy standing quite confidently on the tip of a tower.
"Your demise is inevitable Bandicoot, come out and face it."
Crash took a quick look around, and then felt a bright idea materialize in his mind. His smile was slight, but full of mischief.
"Alright."
Crash had already figured how Tropy's time traveling business worked. It was that mechanism on his arm. When he did his disappearing act, or when he changed a dimension, that thing glittered brightly. Crash decided that was his best shot. Quickly and quietly, Crash lifted a dull sword discarded on the ground, and shifted toward the machine that would be his salvation. A catapult, all wound and ready for snapping. Crash sprinted across open ground with a demonic expression guiding his action. With a long leap and quick cleave, Crash had sliced through the rope and was now shooting through the air, right where he needed to go. Tropy's eyes were wild with shock, and he made no move to react.
"Eat steel bastard!" Crash laughed manically.
Crash slashed the sword downward, and felt a rewarding collision and a nice sparking of broken machinery. Tropy seemed more confused then enraged.
"What?"
As the world started to dematerialize, Crash kept one hand firmly clasped around Tropy's arm. He wasn't gonna be left behind, especially when wamba fruits probably hadn't even been discovered yet.
--
Coco sprinted through the endless labyrinth of tunnels and passageways, feeling her breath come out in gasps as she forced herself to keep moving. More and more huge insects were joining the fray, and although she was terrified to look behind her the consistent scratching of millions of legs assured her they were still there. Her fear was driving her speed, but she was getting tired. She squeezed her fists.
"Crap! I hate bugs!"
She continued to run, twisting and turning with no idea where she was going. Suddenly, as she rounded a corner she skidded to a stop.
"Oh no!"
The way was blocked. Coco smashed her closed fists on the rock wall, willing the wall to fall away and give her room to escape. It didn't budge, naturally. Coco twisted, and felt her entire body shake as the bugs came around the corner. She clutched her jaw in a last effort at regaining her pride before she was devoured.
"Bring it! You're gonna get the stomping of your life."
Before the bugs were close enough for Coco to fulfill her threat, she saw a light appear in the darkness, and it wrapped around her. An instant later, she disappeared.