//------------------------------// // Fluttershy and the Natives // Story: Video Game Journeys: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy // by CrashGuy41 //------------------------------// Crash woke up unharmed on N. Sanity beach of N. Sanity Island, where Cortex had built his castle. He remembered seeing a female bandicoot in the castle and how pretty she was. Crash may not be highly intelligent thanks to Twilight's meddling, but he had a gut feeling that Tawna was in danger. Crash ran his way through the jungle, breaking various crates along the way and eventually broke a crate containing a witch doctor's mask. The mask was made of wood and had an Easter-island facial design on it. There were four feathers on the top of the mask of different colors, blue, yellow, orange, and red and there was also a small green feather at the bottom like a beard. "Greetings, bandicoot," the mask said. Crash was dumbfounded. A mask that could talk? Now that was crazy. "I see you are confused. My name is Aku Aku. And because you have freed me, I now serve to protect you. You are going towards the castle, correct?" Crash nodded his head at the mask. "Well then, the evil scientist who lives in that castle trapped me inside that crate to prevent me from intervening with his plan for world domination. And you are headed there because you want to rescue someone that you love, correct?" Crash nodded again. "Then it would appear that great minds think alike. That evil man is known as Dr. Cortex, and he must be stopped at all costs!" Crash ran off out of the jungle and towards what appeared to be a native village, where something was happening. At the village, many of the native tribesmen, men about the height of Crash with bowl haircuts, wearing green tribal skirts and tooth bracelets, were gazing at a passed out Fluttershy. "She not from here," one of them said. "She very pretty, though," another said. "What going on?" a booming voice demanded. It was the tribal leader, a tall, stout man with black hair, red facial paint and tattoos on his belly named Papu Papu. He was wearing green tribal shorts and a skull-like headdress, indicating his status over the tribesmen. In his left hand was a staff with a skull on the top. "Who this intruder?" "Not intrude, great Papu. Girl appear from sky," one of the tribesmen said. "Papu no like how you lie," Papu Papu growled. Just then, Fluttershy's eyes flickered open as she groaned in pain. "Where am I?" she asked groggily. "Girl wakes, mighty Papu," a tribesman said. Fluttershy looked around her and immediately yelped in shock. "W-W-W-W-W-W-W-Who are you? W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-What's going on?" she squeaked. "You at mighty Papu Papu's stronghold. Why you come here?" Papu Papu asked. "I don't know. Last thing I remember was looking at Sunset's GameStation before being sucked into this weird portal. Next thing I know, I'm surrounded by you guys." "See, mighty Papu? Girl speak truth," a tribesman said proudly. "Silence! Take girl to hut immediately! She not allowed to leave here!" Papu Papu snarled. The tribesmen tied her up and took her to Papu Papu's hut. Fluttershy screamed as she was being taken hostage. Crash, who was nearby, heard the scream and wondered what that was. "That sounded like someone being kidnapped by the local natives of the island!" Aku Aku said. "Papu Papu must have her! We must hurry!" Crash nodded and headed towards Papu Papu's hut as fast as he could while avoiding various giant boulders. At long last, he found Papu Papu's hut. Fluttershy was tied to a wooden stake next to Papu Papu's throne, where he was sleeping. "Oh, my goodness! Have you come to rescue me, little guy?" Fluttershy cooed. "That's so sweet of you." Suddenly, Papu Papu woke up and instantly saw Crash as a potential threat. "Bandicoot try take Papu Papu's bride! Papu Papu smash bandicoot!" he roared. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO MARRY YOU!" Fluttershy shrieked. Papu Papu slammed his staff on the ground and started going around the hut in a circle like a clock. Crash tried attacking him by spinning, but got knocked into the wall by the staff. "Bandicoot stupid. No can hurt Papu Papu. Papu Papu strong man." "Are you alright?" Aku Aku asked. Crash fell to the floor and gave a thumbs-up. "Try jumping on his head. He's vulnerable there." Papu Papu did his staff clock move again, and this time, Crash retaliated by jumping on his head. This infuriated the leader of the tribe, so he did his move again. Unfortunately, after getting jumped on four more times, he eventually fainted from being so dizzy. "Yee-haw!" Crash cheered, jumping for joy, giving two victory signs with his fingers. He then proceeded to untie Fluttershy from the stake. After he did, she kissed his head, showing her love for animals. "Thanks, little guy. What are you doing here?" she asked. Crash could only mutter gibberish, yet somehow, thanks to her geode, Fluttershy was able to understand him. "You're trying to get back to the castle to save your girlfriend?" Crash nodded his head. "Then I will help you. Truth is, I've been separated from my own friends, and I must find them no matter what!" "That sounds like a good plan if I do say so myself!" Aku Aku said happily. "Eep! A t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-talking mask!" "Oh, sorry. I am Aku Aku, which means spiritual guide." "I see. I'm Fluttershy, and you are?" Crash explained his name in his gibberish language. "Crash Bandicoot, huh? I think it's a good name." Papu Papu groaned in pain from being jumped on so many times. "Come on, let's get out of here before he wakes up!" She dragged Crash out of the hut and the three of them started heading towards Cortex Castle. Traversing through the jungles of N. Sanity Island was no picnic. They had to deal with a crazy warthog, killer man-eating plants and more hostile native tribesmen. Eventually, though, they made it past the hidden village and decided to rest for a bit, as Fluttershy was feeling exhausted after traversing through miles of jungle for three entire weeks. Night soon fell and Fluttershy decided to start a campfire to keep herself warm. Crash looked at her worriedly. "Aw, don't worry, Crash. I'm sure your girlfriend will be just fine," she said. Still, she couldn't help but be worried herself. They had been on the island for nearly an entire month. She couldn't help but wonder how they were going to get to the second island and find Tawna before she was completely brainwashed. Speaking of Tawna, it turns out that like Crash before her, she was also incompatible for the Cortex Vortex. Her will was too strong for the machine to handle. "I thought I told you to fix that darn machine!" Cortex snarled as Twilight frantically worked the console. "I did, sir. Her will is too strong! She's far too advanced for the Vortex to handle!" Twilight said frantically. "I don't want excuses, I want results!" "Dr. Cortex. Forgive me for interrupting, sir," N. Brio laughed. "But we have acquired another female bandicoot for us to use." "Another female bandicoot?" "Yes. I suggest we run tests immediately. Hahahahahahahaha!" "Hmm. Sounds promising. Where is this bandicoot?" "She's in the test chamber awaiting orders, sir." As they were talking, Twilight unstrapped Tawna from the chair and helped her back to her temporary prison, an iron cage. Cortex switched the monitor over to the first test chamber. Standing there was a young female bandicoot with blonde hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a pink flower accessory. "That's the subject?" "I assure you, sir, she will not disappoint." Cortex pressed a button to start the recording of the test and another that put his voice over the speakers. "Begin Experiment Log: new subject, code name Coco." Coco began smashing through the crates at an even faster rate than Crash did when he started. "Wow. That girl's almost as smart as I am," Twilight said in amazement as she watched the monitor. "If that rapscallion brother of yours hadn't escaped, you wouldn't be so alone. Crash is the real villain here." Twilight glared at Cortex as he was focused on the recording, but he didn't notice. "I hate you," Twilight hissed.