//------------------------------// // Episode 4: The Temple of Zoom // Story: Equestria Ninja Girls: Crash of the Titans // by RainbowRaptorDash1 //------------------------------// The heroes walked into the temple and were in awe of the structure. "Wow." The heroes gasped. "That's ancient temples for you, not impressive on the outside, but amazing on the inside." Aku Aku said. "WAHOO!!! Rainbow Dash is gonna be so jealous! This is like Daring Do!" Pinkie squealed in excitement "Oh, yeah. It is." Mikey agreed. "Daring Do?" Crash asked. "Popular book series back home." Sonata explained. "As much as I would like to hear more about this, we need to get across this spike pit." Aku Aku informed them. "Indeedy! And how?" Pinkie rhetorically asked. "By swinging on those ropes!" Mikey answered as he jumped onto the swinging ropes and got to the other side. Pinkie secured the straps to her Goar mask and swung across after Mikey. "Alright Sonata, your turn." Sonata took a deep breath, and breathed out. "Okay. Here goes!" Sonata said as she managed to swing across to the other side. "Not bad, mates. But here's how it's done. Extreme Rope Swinging!" Crash cried out as he swung across the ropes, doing backflips and frontflips, and landed, doing a handstand. "Ta-Da!" Everyone held up score cards of a perfect 10 in response to that. "You earned it, buddy." Mikey said. "Wait a minute! How or where did you get those?" Aku Aku asked, baffled on how they had them in the first place. "I had them in my hair." Pinkie simply answered. "But how-?" Aku Aku tried to ask once more, but was cut off by Sonata. "Don't question it. It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." "That's what I really like about her! Her unpredictability!" An unknown cheery female voice said, making Crash and the ninja trio jump in surprise. "Don't be afraid. I'm on your side." The voice assured, making everyone look at Pinkie's Goar mask, which seemed to be the source. "*GASP!* You can talk?!" Pinkie asked in surprise. "Yessiree bob! And guys, thanks for freeing my big brother. But what's his name again? Pumbear?" The mask assumed, making the heroes and Aku Aku shocked. "BROTHER?!" They asked, caught completely off guard by that. "What? You didn't think mutant titans have families too?" The mask asked. "Huh. That's actually a reaaaally good point." Pinkie admitted. "I didn't even know you guys had genders. Eh, no offense Foxer." Mikey said. "None taken, Mikey." Foxer responded. "This means we're gonna be awesome friends, Grihoga!" Pinkie said, excited by a new ally. "Ooh! I like that name! From now on, call me Grihoga!" Grihoga said in the same tone Pinie was in. "We should look around to find away forward. Foxer, you and Grihoga will stay here and stand guard." Crash told the titan mutants. "Can do." Foxer confirmed as the masks transformed into their real selfs, but Grihoga's form was different, her fur was brilliant rose light, her tusks were light ceriseish gray, and had brilliant cerulean blue tribal tattoos on her fur. "Pretty." Pinkie awed. "The moment you two see trouble, hold out and until we can get back." Crash informed them as he and his friends climbed the left steps, when Mikey said something interesting. "Hey Crash, your pretty good at being a leader." "Really, mate? I never noticed that." Crash said, bashfully. "Yeah! You're like us, but you have the skills of a team leader!" Pinkie added. "Pinkie's right! You're like Leo, Sunset, Twilight, Karai and Adagio!" Sonata agreed. "They have a point, Crash. You are leader material." Aku Aku said to his bandicoot friend. "I just think if we work together and watch each other's back, we can win." Crash said with words of encouragement as everyone smiled at the fact he was right. While they were walking ahead, they heard Ratnicians complaining. "What is with this floor? It's coated in some slippery substance." A Ratnician whined when Pinkie got an idea as she put on her roller skates. "If this floor's slippery, we'll need to go on wheels." Pinkie declared as Sonata folded her bike out and Mikey brought out his skateboard. "You gonna be okay, Crash? We can't take passengers." "Don't worry guys, at times, in order to get through downhill slopes, I let Crash use me as a board." Aku Aku informed them. "Wait? You're still okay with that?" Crash asked in concern for his friend. "Of course, Crash. It's not like sliding my face on the ground can hurt me. But like before, I won't be able to protect you." Aku Aku reminded the bandicoot hero. "It's fine, Aku Aku. We've got the advantage." Crash said. "Let's have a demolition derby." Mikey declared as everyone grabbed their weapons as they got started on riding towards the minions. "Hey! Ratnicians! Over here!" Sonata called out, drawing the Ratnicians' attention to them as Sonata zoomed by, whacking a few of them with her tonfa and Mikey rolled by on his skateboard, bashing a few more. "Come on, guys. We have the numbers. Why is it they're beating us?" A Ratnician complained. "Because we have speed." Pinkie answered as she attacked a Ratnician with the sickle of her weapon and kicked another with her foot in a roller skate. "Not to mention we can get around this slippery surface." Pinkie added as Crash slid across and swung his Bokken Sword. "I am so glad I ask you guys to train me with this." Crash said in gratitude. Meanwhile, at the center of the temple, a few of the Ratnicians bolted out straight towards Foxer and Grihoga. "Ready to knock out some Ratnicians, Grihoga?" Foxer asked her fellow titan. "You got it, Foxer!" Grihoga replied as the two mutant allies attacked the Ratnicians. Meanwhile, in the left sanctuary, Crash and friends could hear the beating and cries for "Mother!" from where they were. "Come on, guys. I don't think we want to see that." Crash suggested. "I see a tunnel nearby." Pinkie said, pointing to the open mouth of the monkey statue. "But it looks like we won't be able to get there." Aku Aku noticed when Mikey spotted something red and swung across to it from the dangling rope. "Dude, what's this gizmo?" Mikey wondered as he touched the machine, making it spread out and glow, causing Spikes to appear near the others. "My fault. That's on me." "Pinkie, give me a smokescreen." Crash requested as Pinkie threw down a smoke bomb, followed by Crash spinning in the cloud and launching himself into the air. "DUST STORM ROCKET!" Crash yelled out a special move as he slammed his Bokken Sword on a Spike, stunning it. "Mikey, jack it." "You got it, bro!" Mikey responded as he jumped onto the stunned Spike and jacked it. "Here's Spike!" Mikey-Spike called out in a creepy voice as he summoned spikes from the ground, knocking out nearby Ratnicians and destroying a strange barricade, revealing another one of those machines that Mikey touched. "Uh, I'll just hang back." Sonata touched it, making a Snipe appear. "Now that's my bad." "Actually, I think it's a good thing you did that." Aku Aku said, confusing the heroes. "Huh?" They asked, not understanding what he meant. "You see those red and white circles?" Aku Aku pointed out as the heroes then saw the targets on the walls. "If we can destroy those targets, we can get into that tunnel." Mikey-Spike grabbed the Snipe and threw it to the ground, making his friends a bit scared. "Easy on the brutality, Mikey. They're just as much victims as Coco." Crash reminded his friend, making Mikey snap out of it. "Gah! Sorry dude, guess the Spike's instincts are gettin' to me. Now it's all you, Pinkie." Mikey-Spike said, letting his pink party friend have the honors. "You got it, Mikey!" Pinkie said with a smile as she jumped onto the Snipe and jacked it. "Time to play some Feather Darts!" Pinkie-Snipe declared as she threw her feather darts, destroying both targets, making the tongue of the monkey statue move forward, creating a path into the tunnel. "Weird, but effective." Sonata admitted as everyone climbed up and found the slope covered with the same slippery substance. "Dudes, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mikey asked in excitement as the others nodded their heads, knowing what needs to be done. "COWABUNGA!!!" Mikey shouted out, quoting his 80's counterpart and his friend, Mondo Gecko as he got onto his skateboard, Pinkie into her roller skates, Sonata onto her collapsable bike, and Crash onto Aku Aku, and rid down the slope. "This is awesome!" Pinkie cheered. "I've never felt so alive!" Sonata said as she felt the adrenaline flow through her veins. "YAHOO!!!" Crash whooped as he and his friends rode on curves and went straight to the end of the tunnel, finding Foxer and Grihoga mopping up the unconscious Ratnicians, with all of them bruised, missing teeth, and broken glasses. "Wow, I'm glad we didn't see this beat down." Sonata admitted as the others nodded in agreement. "Oh! You guys came just in time, 'cause we took out these mutant minions while you were in there." Foxer said. "Ooh! That green mouth statue has a bridge to it now!" Grihoga pointed out as everyone as a staircase rise, connecting the center and the green monkey statue. "That's convenient." Mikey noted as the four friends stepped over the Ratnicians, trying not to step on them out of pity. The right sanctuary was a bit strange. They saw a bowl pit, filled with slime and a Ratnician was in the center of it. "Sonata, why don't you seat this one out. I don't think putting your bike in there is a smart idea." Crash suggested. "Sure. You guys have fun and I'll mop up any strays with the others." Sonata said in agreement. "Ready for some fun, Sonata?" Foxer asked her friend. "Am I ever, buddy!" Sonata answered with a smile. "Oh my gosh! This is gonna be so much fun!" Grihoga said in excitement with a different voice, sounding like a vampire teenage girl. In the right sanctuary, Crash, Pinkie, and Mikey had fun beating the tar out of the Ratnicians and shredding on their wheels. "This is so awesome!" Mikey said in excitement. "BOOYAKASHA!!!" Pinkie yelled out with the turtles' battle cry. "Woohoo!" Crash cheered as he and the party ninjas rode down slopes, swung across ropes and grinded on rails, only to make it to the end of the tunnel, getting back to the center and meeting up with the others. "Whatever you guys did gave us the path to go on ahead." Sonata said as she and everyone else went forward, finding themselves outside and Cortex still draining the Mojo, with the evil scientist watching them rush up to him. "Crash, you and your new... *Growl* and traitorous... Friends are gullible fools. You’ve all walked right into my trap. Now, I'll have you, your new friends, and the Mojo." Dr. Cortex boasted. "Cortex, why do you keep doing stuff like this?!" Coco asked. "Well, actually it's pretty fun. You should try it. You know riding around in huge rumbling machines and what not? Very stimulating." Dr. Cortex answered, confusing the heroes and the mutant titans. "Huh?" They asked. "Uka Uka taught me a new process called 'Mojo Mutations'. I will use the stolen mojo to create a huge army of loyal mutants! Not rejects like you guys!" Dr. Cortex said, upsetting Coco and the other girls. "You jerk." Coco replied. "But best of all, I will this army to construct a mighty robot. The largest doomsday device I ever built! I will smash Wumpa Island and take over the world! And I shall call this robot.. the Doominator!" Dr. Cortex declared, scaring only Crash. "Oh no!" Crash gasped. "Dude... Seriously?" Mikey asked, totally unimpressed. "The name sucks!" Coco called out. "Something's telling me he'll get along well with Boxter Stackman." Pinkie noted as back in their world, Baxter Stockman let out a sneeze all of a sudden. "Because of the names of machines or moves that have 'doom' in it?" Sonata guessed. "Yes." Pinkie confirmed. "Cortex! Deal with Crash, the turtle, girls, traitors and my pathetic brother. I'll take the mojo and bandicoot female back to our base." Uka Uka said as the airship retracted the suction hose and the carrier. Then a strange titan mutan that looked both organic and cybernetic, with qualities of a yak, octopus and duck. And after that, Cortex landed on one of the high grounds behind him. "Oh boy. We got trouble!" Pinkie dreaded as Sonata was in absolute shock of the state the titan was in, greatly angering her. "CORTEX!!!" Sonata roared, making Dr. Cortex flinch at the scream. "Look at what you did to this mutant!" "I turned him into the perfect weapon for combat." Dr. Cortex simply said, not caring about Sonata's opinion, angering her further. "Wh-Pe-We... You..." Sonata growled in absolute anger, emitting a red aura, and gaining her pony ears and siren wings. "Gah!" Mikey gasped. "Yipe!" Pinkie yelped. "" Crash yipped as he jumped back. "Uh... Sonata? You might wanna calm down." Foxer suggested as Sonata looked behind her and saw why Foxer asked her to, and took a deep breath, making her red aura disappeared, but retaining her wings and ears. "Thanks, Foxer." Sonata said in gratitude. "No problem." Foxer replied with a smile. "Guess it's time to magic up!" Pinkie declared. "Aw yeah!" Mikey agreed as he and Pinkie went into their Crystal Ninja Guardian forms. "Ooh!" Crash awed. "Amazing!" Aku Aku said, astounded by their transformation. "Sparkly and shiny! *GASP!* I got an idea!" Grihoga said in excitement as she jumped toward Pinkie, shifting into her mask form, followed by the pink party kunoichi grabbing it out of the air. "My turn!" Pinkie said as she donned the Goar masked, causing light to erupt, with a new combination in her place. It was an anthro human-shaped Goar with pony ears, a ponytail, Pinkie's clothes and weapons, having a mark on her right cheek. "Hello everybody! Pinkoga in the house!" The new fusion said while Mikey eyed the giant-sized mutant. "You know, I think I will call that big guy's titan kind, the Yuktopus!" Mikey declared when the Yuktopus' right cybernetic arm began to glow, making Foxer realize what's about to happen. "Watch out for its tentacle and mojo blast!" Foxer warned. "Don't forget the tunes, silly!" Pinkoga added as everyone jumped out of the way when the Yuktopus fired his mojo blast. "Mikey, you and me are on distraction. Sonata, marksman. Pinkie, play quarterback." Crash ordered. "Got it! Let's go, Foxer!" Sonata said. "Okay!" Foxer agreed as she turned into her mask form, which Sonata put on her face, transforming her into Foxata once again! Then Pinkoga roared at the Yutopus, stunning it. "He's good for nailing down, Foxata." "Good, I couldn't get a clean shot." Foxata responded as she threw four poison tonfa feather darts at the Yuktopus, completely stunning it. "Crash, jack it!" "Alright!" Crash agreed as he got onto the Yuktopus, and put Aku Aku on its face, jacking it as brilliant cerulean colored tribal tattoos appeared on its body, mostly its tentacle. "Cortex is too high, right now. Time to take out the high ground he’s on!" Pinkoga informed. "Alright, big guy. Your gonna help us beat Cortex, then we'll set you free." Mikey told the jacked mutant. "Not that guy! I liked that guy! As a friend…" Dr. Cortex said. "With the way you were treating him, you don’t deserve to be his friend!" Foxata responded in anger. "Oh, spare me the scolding." Dr. Cortex scoffed as he snapped his fingers, making Ratnicians show up. "Take care of them." "You got it, boss!" A Ratnician said as he and the other Ratnicians began to surround the heroes, but then the Yuktopus’ back began to twitch as he started playing a bagpipe tune from the hose on his back, sending out sound waves that knocked out the Ratnicians, and destroyed one of the pillars that Dr. Cortex was on, making him fly over to another one. "Cortex, you may have intelligence. But I have the one thing you never had." Crash said as he got the Yuktopus ready to fire. "And what is that?" Cortex asked. "Friends!" Crash answered as he had the Yuktopus fire his mojo blasts and the last two pillars before Cortx could take the high ground on them, making him land on the same ground as they were. Then Pinkoga and Foxata transformed back into Pinkie Pie and Sonata. Crash and Aku Aku got off of the Yuktopus. "You think you and your friends have won, you furry simpleton? Well, Uka Uka got away with the mojo and your sister. You’ll never find them in time. The next time you see me, Crash, I’ll be controlling a world-conquering robot. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, I love to laugh." Dr. Cortex chuckled as he flew away with the rockets strapped on his boots. "Come on, everyone. We're going to get Coco back." Aku Aku said. "Yeah, let's go get her." Crash agreed. "Everyone, we must stop them. We have to follow Cortex and find out where they've taken Coco." Aku Aku explained. "First, we should probably stock up on supplies." Mikey said. "Mikey's right. Me and Foxer will follow Cortex as long as we can. You guys head back to the house and stock up on food and water." Sonata informed them. "But what are we gonna do about this big guy?" Crash asked as he motioned to the freed Yuktopus, who was confused. "Oh, him. Leave him here, I guess. He seems okay." Aku Aku said. "Hey, big guy. Thanks for the help. We need to leave. You going to be okay?" Pinkie asked in concern as the Yuktopus nodded that he'll be okay, waving goodbye as the heroes split up to their separate ways. Meanhwile at Dr. Cortex's lair, he started playing the piano as Uka Uka showed up. "Cortex, that was ridiculous and appalling! You failed to destroy Crash Bandicoot or capture his new friends!" Uka Uka said in anger. "I don't see what the big deal is. We got away with the Mojo and Crash's sister. And you didn't tell me to capture the vermin's new pals." Dr. Cortex responded as a man, who’s face was half-man and half-machine, known as Dr. N. Gin, gave him a tea cup. "I got away with the mojo, and the BIG DEAL is that Crash bandicoot and his friends are still alive! Cortex, I’m going to replace you." Uka Uka said, making Dr. Cortex spit the hot tea into N. Gin's face. "Ahhhhh! Thank you, master." N. Gin said as he rubbed his right eye. "You can't replace me. My name's on the stationery." Dr. Cortex countered, pulling out a stationery paper, as N. Gin laugh in agreement. "That’s right, tough guy! Unless you want to bite on the stationery, you respect to master!" N. Gin said. "It’s a really nice stationery too." A tiger mutant known as Tiny Tiger said in agreement. "Can’t argue with that, mate." A dingo/crocodile mutant known as Dingodile agreed as well. "Ooh, I know! Glossy." N. Gin said in glee. "Cortex, you have never been more wrong..." Uka Uka said, confusing Dr. Cortex. "Duh uh, thank you. Eh, What?! What do you mean?" Dr. Cortex asked as he threw his tea cup at N. Gin’s face, hurting him even more. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Thank you again!! Hotter than the first!" N. Gin said as he laughed insanely, giving two thumbs up. "Allow me to announce your replacement. Nina Cortex!" Uka Uka announced as A teenage girl with an “n” on her forehead showed up with two female bat mutant minions, for it was Dr. Cortex’s niece, Nina Cortex! That announcement made Dr. Cortex spit what little tea he had left in his mouth in N. Gin's face, much to his dismay. "Ah, come on. He didn't even have a cup." "Take out the trash, girls." Nina order as the two minions tied up and left Dr. Cortex hanging. "Sorry, uncle. But it's time for some young blood to lead us to victory. And now that we have Coco, we can make her build the robot." "You won't get away with this! Crash and my friends will come for me and kick your butt!" Coco said. "Oh, I hope Crash and others try, I really do. After all, I need a new fur coat, shell and magic artifacts. *Laughs then snort* Get to work on the Doominator! Make more mutant soldiers! I want Wumpa Island smashed flat!" Nina ordered. "Your... hair is dumb!" Coco said, trying to come up with an insult. "Oh shut her up!" Nina calmly ordered as a strange helmet was put on Coco, bringing her under Nina's control, when Cortex had an idea to save his skin. "Hey, Uka Uka, I have useful information on the Siren girl." Dr. Cortex said, getting the evil mask's attention. "What is it, Cortex?" Uka Uka asked. "That Siren girl got all nasty when she saw my mutant. Her evil magic might still be in her." Dr. Cortex informed. "Hmm... Then there's still a chance to get her onto our side." Uka Uka said in realization. "That's good to hear, and from the looks of things, it'll take 5 days to finish the Doominator, 4 after today." Nina said, informing the others about how long it'll take to build the machine. "Me and Tiny are just about to head out and oversee the material shipment." Dingodile told Nina. "Good. Oh, and if you see Crash and his friends, make sure to kill then and capture the siren." Nina order. "Okay, Nina." Tiny agreed. "Righty-o, Boss." Dingodile said in agreement as well. To be continued...