Before I begin this chapter, I just thought I'd share that I have checked out the playthrough of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and witnessed Coco's levels in the flashback levels, so I thought of having Coco appearing in this fic, along with Tiny Tiger, the Komodo Bros, Dingodile, and Dr. N. Gin.
After defeating Andross and saving the Lylat System, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel cruised through the cosmos.
"Just glad we saved an entire system from total destruction from Andross, but we still gotta find the Keyholes and seal them," Sora said.
"You're right. Giovanni and Ganondorf probably caught wind that Andross was destroyed by now," Kairi said.
As they cruised through the cosmos, they spotted what looked like a world that has an island with a skull carved into it, and a castle on the top.
"We should check out that world," Sora said.
"Pika," Pikachu said.
"It'll be worth a look," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
The Gummi Ship heads right for the world to seal its Keyhole and deal with any Heartless that comes their way.
On the world, we have a look at the N. Sanity Islands. In an old castle, an eerie light goes off.
Inside the castle's lab, there are two scientists conducting some sort of project.
One of the scientists is a short, typically yellow-skinned, large-headed human with a giant "N" symbol on his forehead. His head is balding, with hair only on the sides of his head and a thick strand on top. Whatever hair he does have is black and frazzled. He has a spiky goatee, and bushy eyebrows with the same color. His eyelids are prominently red. He is wearing a lab coat, with some sort of black clothing underneath, and donning leather in gloves and boots.
The other scientist is a man who is wearing a green lab coat and orange-red shoes. He has an oddly shaped head with bolts on both sides of his head. He has orangish-colored eyes with green irises. He also has bushy eyebrows.
"But Doctor Cortex! We have not determined the cause of past failures!" The second doctor said.
He laughs giddily. We see a large machine pointed at a table with a bandicoot strapped to it. He's an orange anthropomorphic bandicoot with a black nose, thick eyebrows, green eyes, and reddish-brown hair on his head, styled into a typical Mohawk. He has three fingers and a thumb. He has a yellow-orange colored stomach and a peach muzzle. He wore a pair of shorts. He wore fingerless gloves and a pair of red sneakers with white laces.
He and Cortex stand on either side of the table.
"Moron! This bandicoot will be my general, and he will lead my 'Cortex Commandos' to world domination! This time, I shall reign triumphant!" Dr. Cortex said.
The machine fires a beam at Crash, making him cry out in pain. The camera shows a stack of cages all marked with different species of animal. Brio is shown pulling a lever to raise the bandicoot, who is now seated on a chair, into the Cortex Vortex.
"We are closer than ever before! Quickly! Into the Vortex!" Dr. Cortex exclaimed.
"But Doctor Cortex, the Vortex is not ready! We have no idea what it could do!" The other doctor said as he laughed maniacally.
The bandicoot is raised into the Cortex Vortex. A loud mechanical droning is heard, and bright lights go off. A screen at the Vortex's control panel shows that the bandicoot, labeled "BANDICOOT 1.0", has been rejected.
"Failure again...!" Cortex hissed as he attempted to catch the bandicoot. "Capture him!"
The bandicoot ran towards the window and smashed right through it. He looked down to see the ocean beneath him.
"Uh-oh!" The bandicoot said as he plummeted into the ocean.
The lab assistants tried to contain another bandicoot. She has orange fur, a tall upward ear visibly seen on top of her hair, and a peach-colored snout and muzzle on her face, where her nose and mouth go. She has green eyes, long, curly blonde hair, and small black eyebrows, and is also shown with makeup, wearing red lipstick and pale rose eyeshadows. She wore a sleeveless burgundy shirt buttoned blue shorts, and wore a pair of dark red sneakers similar to the first bandicoot's, with additional burgundy socks to match her shirt. Unlike the first bandicoot, she has a short, fluffy tail at the back of her shorts that is the same color as her hair.
"Prepare the female bandicoot," Cortex said.
On the next morning, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel have all arrived in N. Sanity Island. They were exploring the beach area for any signs of the Heartless.
"No Heartless here," Sora said.
"Not yet anyway," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"You're right about that, Kairi. Just because we haven't seen any yet doesn't mean we won't see any now," Sora said. "Let's keep moving. Let's find that Keyhole and lock it up." Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel all nodded in agreement and pressed on their way.
Unknown to the couple and their partners, a pair of green eyes stared through the shrubs.
The couple kept looking around for any signs of the Keyhole, but instead of the Keyhole, Heartless appeared in their place. The Heartless all consisted of Shadows, Soldiers, Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, Green Requiems, Large Bodies, Air Soldiers, and a couple of new Heartless.
One of the new Heartless greatly resembled a Soldier, but it has A jungle theme to it. The helmet is that of an Aztec design. It has sharp claws and curly toes. This Heartless shall be known as the Jungle Soldier.
"Heartless!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed as they summoned their Keyblades and engaged the Heartless.
The Jungle Soldiers rushed right at Sora, but he slashed right through one of them, destroying it. Pikachu jumped and swings his tail and smacked a Large Body, bringing it down. Angel fired Swift and destroyed some of the Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, and Green Requiems. Kairi casts a magnet spell and it pulls in the Shadows, Soldiers, and Jungle Soldiers. Kairi casts her thunder spell and takes them out.
Once the Heartless were dealt with, Sora and Kairi dismissed their Keyblades.
"Well, we know there are Heartless here," Sora said.
"Chu," Pikachu agreed.
"We got rid of them for now anyway," Kairi said.
"That was impressive," a girl's voice spoke.
"Who's there?" Sora asked.
"Oops! I gave myself away!" The girl's voice said. The voice belonged to a female anthropomorphic bandicoot with green eyes, a full head of long blonde hair, usually tied up in a ponytail, and a blue/pink flower stuck on the side. She wore a white T-shirt, overalls, a ponytail, and pink shoes. She also wore a pair of goggles on her head. She also has a pink utility belt with an item pouch attached to it and a heart-shaped patch sewed to the right knee of her overalls. She also wore an earring on one ear, and a pink bracelet over her right wrist. "Sorry, didn't mean to snoop, I was just hiding out here. The name's Coco. Coco Bandicoot."
"Nice to meet you, Coco. My name's Sora, and this is Pikachu," Sora introduced.
"Pika, Pika, Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"And I'm Kairi, and this is Angel," Kairi introduced.
"Eevee, vee," Angel said.
"Anyway, you said you were hiding out here. Why are you hiding out here, and from who?" Kairi asked.
"I'm hiding from Cortex and his goons, that's who," Coco said.
"Cortex?" Sora asked.
"As in Dr. Neo Cortex. The mad scientist who is running the show on the N. Sanity Islands. Been hiding out here for weeks," Coco explained.
"Why are you hiding from him?" Sora asked.
"Because Cortex wanted me to be a soldier for his plans for world domination, that's why," Coco said. "Dr. Cortex, along with his goons, Dr. N. Brio and Dr. N. Gin are gathering up the animals living on the islands and altering them completely. It hasn't been easy hiding out since those things started showing up. And that's when I saw you two right up till you fought them off with those key-shaped swords. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, we came here to look for something, so we think it's somewhere on the island," Sora said.
"But the problem is, we have no idea where to look," Kairi said.
"I think I can help you out. I know these Islands like I know the back of my hand," Coco said.
"That'll be great, Coco. Thank you," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Well, we should check out the beach since there might be some things that we can use. You don't mind, do you?" Coco asked.
"No," Sora said.
"I don't," Kairi said.
"Okay, let's go," Coco said.
Joined by Coco, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel looked around the beach for anything useful, but instead, they found what looked like another bandicoot washed up on the beach. Coco stopped when she recognized it.
"What's that?" Sora asked.
"It couldn't be," Coco said.
"Couldn't be what?" Kairi asked. Coco ran up to the unconscious bandicoot and nudged him.
"Crash! Crash, Crash!" Coco said. The male bandicoot got up on his feet. "Crash. It looks like Cortex got to you." Crash does a thumbs up. "Not a very good job."
"Coco, who's he?" Sora asked.
"Right. Meet my big brother, Crash. Compared to me, he's a bit of a dimwit," Coco said. Crash just spins around.
"Da-da-da-da-da!" Crash chanted as he does a peace pose.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Crash," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
Crash looked at the couple weirdly.
"Um, what?" Sora asked. Crash sniffed Sora, making him uncomfortable. "Uh, Coco, is he always like this?"
"Not that I know of," Coco said. "Cortex must have let him out, or maybe he just got away same as me."
"Well, since he's your brother, he might as well come along with us," Kairi said.
"Vee," Angel said.
"Yeah, no point in leaving him behind," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Let's go, Crash," Sora said. Crash then gave Sora a tight hug. He began to wheeze from the tight hug. "Crash, not too tight."
Meanwhile, over to Castle Cortex, Dr. Cortex was fuming over the loss of his latest experiment.
"I simply don't understand what happened. I did everything right! How could what would have been the greatest experiment I have ever concocted be a miserable failure?! And how could I pass up a wombat over a bandicoot?! How?! How?! How, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how?!" Cortex yelled as he banged his head against the wall.
"Hey, cut that out," a familiar voice spoke. Cortex turned around to see Ganondorf and Bowser behind him. The voice belonged to Bowser. "You're giving me a headache."
"Who are you and how did you get in here?!" Cortex exclaimed.
"Calm yourself, doctor. I am Ganondorf, and this is my associate, Bowser. We have come with a proposition for you," Ganondorf said.
"A proposition? What kind? And you're not one of those door-to-door salesmen, are you? Because I've always been suspicious about them," Cortex said.
"I assure you that we are not," Ganondorf said. "But we are allies who shares a common goal. Total conquest of worlds."
"Consider us as talent scouts when it comes to diabolical evil," Bowser said.
"Well, I was one of the top ten in my class in my school days in the evil genius academy," Cortex said. "So what is it that you can offer me?"
"What if I gave you an opportunity to conquer other worlds besides this one?" Bowser said.
"Other worlds?" Dr. Cortex asked, intrigued. "I like the sound of that. I can use my army of mutants to conquer different worlds and create more soldiers, carrying out my every order without question! If you are salesmen, the I will say I like what you two are selling."
"You made quite wise choice, doctor, but there is a couple of problems for us," Ganondorf said.
"Problems?" Cortex asked.
"Yeah, there are two little brats along with two little furballs that seems to be getting in the way, and they each have something called a 'Keyblade' that they'll use to seal the Keyhole and keep us from having this world," Bowser said.
"Wait, you're telling me that you're having problems with a couple of kids? What, they're taking your lunch money or something?" Cortex scoffed.
"They're no ordinary children, I can assure you, but I can grant you a marvelous gift," Ganondorf said as the Triforce of Power glows. "The power to control the Heartless."
"Heartless?" Cortex asked as a dark aura surrounds him. "Ooh! It feels really cool! I like it! No, I love it!" Cortex laughed evilly.
Back in the jungle, Sora, Kairi, Crash, Coco, Pikachu, and Angel explored around the jungle, keeping their eyes open for any signs of the Heartless, but they came across what looks like an old temple.
It is in the form of a brown wooden mask with green eyebags, red rectangular eyebrows, red lips, a green goatee at the bottom of his mask formed out of leaves, and a pointy orange nose. He has four feathers on his head. They're blue, yellow, orange and magenta.
"Is it just me, or is this mask snoring?" Sora asked.
"I'm not an 'it'. There's no need to be rude," the mask said, opening its eyes. It has yellow pupil-less eyes. Sora, Kairi, the bandicoots, Pikachu, and Angel yelped.
"IT TALKED!" Sora exclaimed.
"Again, I'm not an 'it'. Must you be so loud? You woke me up," the mask said.
"Um, good morning?" Kairi asked.
"Good night. I need a bit more sleep," the mask said, yawning.
"Wait, we were told that someone knows something about a Keyhole," Sora said.
"Keyhole?" The mask asked, waking up again. "Why are you looking for that, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well, we were told that someone named 'Aku Aku' knows the whereabouts of the Keyhole," Kairi said.
"Aku Aku?" Coco asked, almost laughing.
"And we're planning on sealing it," Sora said.
"So you're the ones with the keys, aren't you?" The mask asked. The couple nodded. "Show it to me." Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades, showing the mask. "It is true. Warriors from a foreign world have come to the world just as the prophecy has foretold. I am Aku Aku." Sora and Kairi were a bit confused by the mask's claim.
"Wait, you're Aku Aku? I was expecting someone-" Sora said.
"You may find this hard to believe, but what I tell you is true. I was once human and my spirit was transferred into this mask to prepare for evil to threaten the world, and it would seem that time has come," Aku Aku said, floating up.
"If you know where the Keyhole is, then you must point us in the right direction," Kairi said.
"Yes. To get there, you must make your way through the N. Sanity Islands and to the top of Iron Island," Aku Aku said.
"Iron Island? Crash and I just came from there," Coco said as Crash nodded.
"Then you guys can help out," Sora said.
"And I will come with you as a guide. You will need my help in getting there," Aku Aku said.
"Sure. The more the merrier," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
With that said, Sora, Kairi, Crash, Coco, Aku Aku, Pikachu, and Angel took off through the jungle, heading right for Castle Cortex to find the Keyhole.
They've gotten past some turtles, skunks and some man-eating plants along the way. Crash picked something out from a nearby tree. It's a fruit that's orange at the top and the other side while the bottom half is yellow. Sora and Pikachu noticed the fruit in the tree.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, buddy?" Sora asked.
"Pika," Pikachu said, almost drooling over the fruit.
"Why don't you climb up and grab one for each of us?" Sora asked. Pikachu complied with his partner. The Mouse Pokémon picked a couple of the fruit off the tree and tossed one to Sora. He caught the fruit and took a bite of it. It gave off a sweet taste. It was like an apple was combined with a mango. Light purple juices smeared right on his face. "Hey, this is really good."
"Pika," Pikachu said with the same light purple juices on his face.
Kairi and Angel turned and looked at their significant others and saw what they were eating.
"What's that you two are eating?" Kairi asked.
"Vee?" Angel asked.
"Just this fruit Pikachu and I eyed. You should try it. It's pretty sweet. It tastes just like an apple and a mango," Sora said.
"Pika, Pika," Pikachu said.
"No wonder Pikachu likes it so much," Kairi said, giggling.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"What kind of fruit is this? I never seen anything like it before," Sora said.
"Those are Wumpa Fruit you're eating," Coco said.
"Wumpa?" Sora asked.
"Yeah. Wumpa's a fruit that can only be found around here on the islands, so you can't really buy them from anywhere else," Coco said.
"But they can be planted anywhere, can they?" Sora asked.
"I think so," Coco said. Sora smiled and he took the seed of the fruit he was just eating and placed it in his pocket. He figured that he could bring in a souvenir from a world that he and Kairi visited and plant it just so that other people and Pokémon can enjoy it.
"I'll plant it when we get home," Sora said to himself.
A little later, Sora, Kairi, Crash, Coco, Aku Aku, Pikachu, and Angel continue through the jungle, but then, a huge boulder is pushed from behind. Hearing the sound of the moving rock.
"RUN!" Aku Aku yelled.
The group all started to run for their very lives as the Boulder rolls right after them. They kept on running right until they made it to a ledge in front of them. Thinking quickly, Sora took out a Pokéball and threw it.
"Alakazam! Come out!" Sora shouted. Alakazam came out of his Pokéball, twirling his spoons.
"Alakazam," Alakazam said.
"That thing is holding spoons?" Coco asked.
"Use Psychic to get us to the other side!" Sora ordered. Alakazam uses Psychic to lift the group over the ledge and right to the other side. The boulder fell down the ledge.
"That was close," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"That was some quick thinking on your part, Sora," Kairi said.
"Thanks," Sora said.
"Chu," Pikachu said.
"Thanks for the save, Alakazam," Sora said.
"Kazam," Alakazam said. Sora called the Psi Pokémon back inside his Pokéball.
"Okay, let's keep going," Coco said.
A little further, they made it to what looks like a wooden wall.
"Okay, we're going to go over that, right?" Sora asked.
Just then, several Jungle Soldiers appeared and attacked the group.
"Heartless!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed, summoning their Keyblades. The Jungle Soldiers came at the couple as they swung their Keyblades at the Jungle Soldiers, destroying them. Crash spins around and he hits one and sends it right at another, destroying it as did Coco. Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt as Angel uses her Headbutt on one, taking it out. As they fought the Heartless, several of the natives came and attacked by throwing their spears at them.
"Run!" Coco yelled. They did run as they claimed over the wooden wall. Once they got to the other side, the natives threw their spears and fired their arrows, but they managed to avoid them by running for their lives. As they ran, they stopped in front of whom they think is the chief.
He is generally depicted as an obese, tanned skin indigenous and chief of the native village inhabited by his tribesmen. He wore a long green skirt, red cuffs on his arms, a blue necklace, and a large totem hat or mask that covered the upper part of his eyes. He also has red tattoos on his cheeks and red lips. He is usually seen carrying a scepter with a skull located on top and some feathers. He has tribal art tattoos along his belly and shoulders.
"Why you attack Papu-Papu's village? You bring shadows here, and attack us," the chief said.
"Hold on, we were only fighting those things and your guys attacked us!" Sora argued.
"Papu-Papu not listen to your lies! Papu-Papu smash you like bugs!" Papu-Papu said, holding his scepter. He came running towards the group. They dodged his assault and swings his scepter around, but Crash jumps on his head. "Ow!" Sora then casts his fire spell, hitting him as Kairi casts a blizzard spell, hitting him. Coco then kicked him as Crash slides, but Papu-Papu kept on swinging. "Papu-Papu mad! Papu-Papu teach you some respect!" Papu-Papu kept on swinging his scepter. Sora swung his Keyblade and it collides with his scepter, so he lands a hit on him. Crash jumped on his head once again and then Pikachu and Angel used their combo Quick Attack on him. "Take this!" Papu-Papu swings his scepter once more as Crash jumps on his head one more time. "Papu-Papu no like to lose!" Papu-Papu was knocked out from the fight.
"Served you right for attacking us," Sora said. The natives were aggravated by the fact that they beat their chief.
"Get them!" Papu-Papu shouted. Not needing to be told again, the natives chased after the group as they ran.
"They were the ones who started it!" Sora said.
"I highly doubt they would listen to reason, Sora," Aku Aku said.
They kept running right until they lost the natives through the jungle. But their newest adventure has just begun on N.Sanitu Island and they're in for one since arriving.