Steven, the old man, stood squinting at what he thought was some gym equipment. The roof had caved in on this room, but he swore that he saw bent bars, dumbbells, and even a bench press in the ruins of this particular room. He then looked down at the blackened and destroyed remains of a laptop in his hands. It at one time was pink, and the keys were worn from heavy use. Steven scratched his gray mustache. "These creatures seem to have human intelligence. Perhaps aliens do exist - or maybe these were the product of that deranged man's experiments on the other side of the islands. While this is important to note," he said while pondering his current situation, " the corpses of the creatures remain MIA." He turned and began to walk out of the ruins, almost tripping on a half-eaten Wumpa fruit as he did so. "Whatever these beasts are," he added after kicking the rotting fruit away, "they can't just appear and poof out of existence. What an enigma - I'll have to ask -" the man man just about had a heart attack as he heard a deep growl. To his astonishment and horror, one of the 'beasts' appeared right before his eyes with its robotic hand clenched tightly around Steven's throat.
"You will pay for your crimes against my brother and sister. In Cortex's castle, we would have given you a painful death. But since I'm not with Cortex, I will just snap your neck and be done with it. Then your master, "USA", will be next!" Crunch said through bared teeth as he lifted the man off the ground. Steven struggled against the muscular Bandicoot's strength as his lungs begged for air. He though that he would be dead in a matter of seconds, and it was all thanks to the general's recklessness. But then a high-pitched voice pierced his agony.
"Crunch, stop! You're hurting him!" Coco's frightened scream projected through the ruins of their house.
"That's the point, sister. This man caused all of our misery, and therefore he must pay," Crunch lifted his other hand the the frail man's head, ready to rotate it in a direction that would snap the spine instantly. But his was stopped by Coco's helpless cries of mercy. He looked over at his sister, and saw terror in her eyes. Crash stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder and an angry frown on his face. Crunch faltered for a moment. His siblings had so much investment in saving this man's life. But killing the man would serve as justice - and justice is the correct mode of action. Right?
Crunch's grip got tighter on the man's throat. Steve could feel the metal fingers begin to pry harder, and at this moment, he said his last prayers. But to his relief, the hand's grip opened up entirely, and he fell, coughing, on the ground. "Miss, I owe you my life. This one would have killed me," he said indicating a growling Crunch.
Coco stood up, wiping her tears away. "I am Coco, the one who contacted you through the Internet. Know that I did not save your life. Crunch only didn't kill you because he isn't one of Cortex's any more. But tell me, why did we give you mercy? After all you have put us through. You tried to kill us. Explain yourself." Steven looked at Coco, then at Crunch, who cracked his knuckles with his teeth bared, and back at Coco.
"I was trying to get some scientific insight-"
"Scientific insight? You almost killed us. You'll have to do better than scientific insight," Coco interrupted, angrily.
"-on the life forms of these islands. After I noted the scientist's creations, I realized that you all were intelligent. However, it was never my intent to kill you. I-" Steven was interrupted by AkuAku above.
"Children, get inside the laboratory now. The commotion you have stirred up has attracted unwarranted attention!"
Coco bolted to where the door to her laboratory used to be located in her house. She was overjoyed to see that the door to the staircase that led to her laboratory was virtually untouched. She typed her passcode into the keypad on the door and motioned for the rest of them to enter. Crunch loomed over Steven as he entered Coco's lab.
Crunch was furious. He was mad that he did not kill the man when he had the chance, but he was even more mad that he had let Cortex's genetically enhanced rage get the better of him - especially in front of his siblings. He had been ready to make a colorful smear of the man, and Coco and Crash would have seen it if he had not snapped himself out of his frenzy. It was as if red coated his vision and Cortex's Crunch took over. It was frightening.
"I can't let my rage take over again."