//------------------------------// // Goodbye, Cortex Vortex! // Story: Video Game Journeys: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy // by CrashGuy41 //------------------------------// Despite not wanting to deliver the 20 crystals he collected to N. Gin, Crash knew that he had to face him regardless. It was either give the crystals to N. Gin or defeat him in a battle. Of course, Crash wasn't going to just hand them over to N. Gin. Instead, he decided to fight Cortex's new assistant. Naturally, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash took the glass elevator and waited for him in the final warp room. N. Gin was piloting a red flying mech close to the space station that Cortex had built. "Like Dr. Cortex said, give the twenty crystals you've collected TO ME!" N. Gin shouted. Rainbow was speechless. N. Gin was nuttier than a fruitcake. Twilight, however, just rolled her eyes at N. Gin's speech. If all of her time being forced to work for Cortex had taught her anything, it was mainly to try to ignore the crazy mad scientist banter. Crash was armed with unlimited Wumpa Fruit to toss at the mech. Every time he hit one of the weak spots, that part of the mech fell off. Soon, N. Gin was on the mech and Crash had to hit the big green target in the middle. He did so, sending N. Gin flying. He was victorious. He teleported back into the warp room and onto the final floor, where he was met with a hologram of a very cross Cortex. "AARGH! What is your problem, bandicoot?!" Cortex snapped. "I will not ask you again to BRING ME THE CRYSTALS!" "What's his beef?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because Crash attacked N. Gin in self-defense for actually TRYING TO KILL HIM!" Twilight roared. "Seriously, Cortex! I'm not kidding! I saw the whole thing on the monitor! Your new assistant actually tried to outright kill Crash Bandicoot!" "Oh, please. Spare me your teenage drama," Cortex mocked. Twilight was furious. Crash had barely managed to survive the attacks from N. Gin's flying war mech, yet Cortex was shrugging it off as if it was a minor inconvenience. After the hologram disappeared, Crash got to work on obtaining the remaining crystals and nearly all of the remaining gems. After doing so, the hologram of Cortex appeared one final time. This time, however, he was laughing victoriously. This confirmed Twilight's suspicion that Cortex had tricked Crash all along. "You dirty, double-crossing, good-for-nothing, egocentric, animal-hating crazy mad scientist! I knew all along that this was a trick! And you and I both knew that Crash was extremely gullible from the start! That's why you warped us here in the first place, ISN'T IT?!" Cortex, however, didn't respond. He was looking around as if he had just noticed that something was wrong. "N. Gin! What's happening?! What's that? Is she stealing our signal?!" The person he was referring to was, of course, Coco, as her hologram took the place of Cortex's. "Crash! Cortex isn't going to use the crystals to contain the planet's energy, he's going to harness the force and use it to power the super Cortex Vortex he's built on his space station," Coco warned. "One blast and the ray will cover the entire world, turning everyone into Cortex's slaves! Crash, don't let him have those crystals!" As soon as she finished, Cortex regained control and tried to play it cool, but it was too late. Crash and the girls knew everything. Realizing that he had been found out, Cortex only had one last thing to say to Crash. "Bring me crystals!" Of course, Crash wasn't going to hand them over without a fight. He stepped into the boss portal to face off against his nemesis for the second time. This time, though, it was in space near the space station where he had built the Cortex Vortex. In one hand, Cortex held the last crystal that Crash had collected. He started fleeing towards the space station with his jet pack, all while Crash was in hot pursuit. All Crash had to do was to spin into Cortex to damage his jet pack. He did this three times, ultimately destroying it, sending him hurdling towards the space station, while Crash retrieved the crystal he stole. Just then, he heard a buzzing sound from his earpiece. It was Twilight. "Crash, can you hear me? Brio says to come back to the warp room and collect the final gem. He's laid out a path for you in Spaced Out. It's a gem path. It'll be hard, but I know you can do it!" In an instant, Crash warped back to the warp room and did exactly as Twilight told him to. After collecting the final gem, Crash did his signature victory dance, causing Rainbow to snicker. "Okay, that's pretty funny," she remarked. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and a hologram of N. Brio appeared. He was very happy. "Hehehehehehehahahahahahahaha! You-- You have acquired all of the gems! Even the one you stole from the castle, Twilight! INCREDIBLE!" he laughed. "Crystals are not the only means of harnessing planetary energy. Hahahahahahahahaha!!! The gems have that ability as well, and with them, I can destroy the Cortex Vortex... FOREVER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHEHE! Let me warp you to my completed laser installation. Mmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhehehehehehehehe!" And with that, the hologram disappeared. Crash took the platform in the middle to get to the laser, whereas Twilight and Rainbow Dash were instantly teleported there, with their friends waiting on them. As soon as they arrived, no one was more excited to see them than Pinkie. "RAINBOW DASH!" Pinkie shouted. She ran up to her friend and gave her a big hug, finally reunited with her. "It's nice to see you too, Pinkie," Rainbow said, gasping for air. Pinkie loosened her grip and smiled a cheshire-like grin. She was so happy that her friend was safe. "Alright, enough of the mushy reunion stuff. Hehehehehe! Twilight, please put the last gem into the blue energy portal in the device," N. Brio said. Twilight took the purple gem out of her pocket, which had somehow managed to regain its original size after getting it out. She didn't really question it, though, as she had now accepted it as video game logic. She placed the gem into the energy portal, which then got absorbed and completely powered the laser, along with the rest of the gems. It was now fully functional. "We are ready, Crash. Would you care to the.. hehehehehehahahaha! Honors? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Crash was delighted to help. He performed a ground pound on the big red button, which activated the laser. Everyone watched as the laser fired at the space station with Cortex and N. Gin aboard. The laser pierced through the station, ultimately destroying both it and the Cortex Vortex. Part of the station, however, started plummeting down towards the Earth's atmosphere with both Cortex and N. Gin aboard that section. "I honestly hope that's the last we'll ever see of this Cortex character," Rarity sighed. "Somehow, I doubt it, Rarity. If Cortex managed to strike back once, he'll most likely try to do it again," Twilight said. She was right. Cortex wasn't the type of person that gave up easily. What he had planned next, was anyone's guess. Still, if stopping Cortex a third time meant that it would help them find their other two missing friends, then it would be worth all of the trouble that he would potentially cause.