> Video Game Journeys: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
>  by CrashGuy41
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Mysterious GameStation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!  TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED!" Sunset roared as she frantically pushed random buttons on her game controller.

She was playing one of her favorite video games, a 3D platforming game called Starswirl's Quest.  She was at the most frustrating part of the game again.  That part being an area with several switches inside a castle.  She hated that part because she had no clue what the game was trying to ask her to do, which was to hit the switches in a certain order.  The only problem was, that there was nothing in the game at that point that would tell any player to do that, hence her frustration.  Just as she was about to lose her last life, her console short-circuited.  The console had died.  She dropped her controller in disbelief.  The game had fixed save points, which meant that all of her progress up to that point was gone.

"THAT'S IT!  I'm getting a new console right now!"

Sunset stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind her.





At the Canterlot Mall, Sunset looked around the video game store for a new console.  She saw a lot of sleek-looking new models of the current console that she had.  It wasn't what she had in mind, though.  She wanted a console that could play all of her games with backwards compatibility.  Suddenly, there was a certain game console that caught her eye.  It was black with a rainbow-colored lid, shaped like a Nintendo GameCube that she had heard so much about.  On the side was the word GameStation.  She was immediately enamored by the look of the console.  She spotted one of the workers and went up to him.

"Excuse me, sir.  How much for that console over there?" she asked.

The worker looked at her with concern.

"That thing?  That's been here since last month.  No one's ever bought it," he told her.

"If that's the case, then I'll take it.  How much?"

"Well, usually these things go for about $500, but for you, how about $100?"

"Deal!"

She handed the worker the money at the cash register and brought her new console back to her house.





Later that day, after hooking up the console, Sunset decided to invite her friends over to see it.  It was about 2:50 in the afternoon when Sunset heard a knock on the door.  She quickly dashed downstairs and was greeted by Twilight and the others.

"Hi, Sunset!" greeted Twilight.  "You're saying that there's this new console you want to show us?"

Sunset smiled at her friends.

"Yeah, it's upstairs in my room.  Come on, you've got to see it!" she said.





Sunset led the others to her room and showed them the new GameStation console from the game store.

"Woowee!  That's a mighty fine piece of work!" Applejack beamed.

"Yeah, it's 20, no, 70% cooler than the last console you had!" Rainbow said.

Suddenly, the console's power light started flickering and the TV instantly turned on.

"Um, darling, is it supposed to do that?" Rarity asked.

"I don't think so.  Did I not hook it up right?" Sunset said.

Just then, images of what appeared to be an orange marsupial wearing pants and shoes flickered on the monitor.  Then, they all heard a deep voice coming the TV.

"Help us.  Our world is being threatened because the ending is not right.  You must help us get this game's ending right.  Help us."

Suddenly, an ominous swirling vortex appeared from the TV and sucked the girls inside.  They didn't know what was going on or why, but it would soon be clear when they would start their brand new adventure.
> Twilight and the Mad Scientist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight landed with a loud thud in what appeared to be a dark, cold castle.  Everywhere she looked, however, she could see various pieces of scientific equipment.  Twilight slowly got up and looked around in amazement.

"Wow.  This place is loaded to the brim with so much science I think I'm going to burst!" she squealed.

She was so entranced by all of the equipment that she failed to notice a wire directly in front of her, causing her to trip and fall flat on her face.  Lifting up her head, she noticed a peculiar black rectangular object on a table.  She walked over to the table and picked up the object.  On the front there was a label with a large letter N on it.  Twilight then noticed that there was some writing on the bottom of the object.  On the bottom there was a yellow label with some writing in black marker that read Cortex Vortex Pre-Check 09-09-1996.  She immediately realized that she was looking at a relic of the past: a VHS tape.  She glanced around the area until she saw an old 90's television set with a VCR built into it.  She walked over to the TV and turned it on, then put the videotape into the slot.  The video on the screen then came to life with the audio and visual playback.

"Experiment Log: Bandicoot Subject Final Trial," a voice from the videotape said.

The voice sounded like it was coming from the speakers in the video.  Twilight noticed that a metallic crane had dropped an orange male Eastern-barred bandicoot wearing blue shorts and brown shoes in front of some castle doors.  She watched with amazement as the bandicoot made his way through the various crates with ease.

"I got you a little graduation present, Subject.  A name: Crashworth Cortex I!  Um, Crash, for short," the voice on the tape continued.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head while smiling.  The name made sense.  The bandicoot was clearly crashing through various wooden crates.

"Just think what this kind of science could do for the good of mankind," Twilight beamed.

As the tape was nearing the end of its runtime, the bandicoot on the recording celebrated his victory through the test.

"Excellent work, Crash!  It's time for you promotion!" the voice on the tape said before the video ended.

As Twilight ejected the tape, she heard some voices coming from one of the nearby monitors.  She went over to the green monitor with a control panel and saw two men, presumably scientists, with the bandicoot from the tape strapped to an operating table under a ray known as the Evolvo-Ray.







One of the men was a short, yellow-skinned scientist with a large head.  On his head was a large metallic capital N above his face.  He had black frazzled hair on the back of his head, that showed up from the sides, a thick strand on top and a goatee.  He was wearing a white lab coat with clothing underneath, yellow leather gloves and black leather boots.  The man next to him was about a head shorter than Twilight, but still taller than the other man.  The had a bald beaker-shaped head with two bolts embedded in his temples.  He wore a green lab coat with blueish-green clothing underneath and blueish-green lab shoes.

"But, Dr. Cortex, we haven't determined the cause of past failures!" the tall man laughed nervously.

"N. Brio, you moron!  This bandicoot will be my general.  And he will lead my Cortex Commandos to world domination!" Dr. Cortex chastised.  "This time I shall reign triumphant!"

Twilight gasped in horror.  The voice she heard on the tape was the short scientist known as Dr. Cortex.  The bandicoot, known as Crash, received one final blast from the Evolvo-Ray before he was transferred to another machine.  This machine was the one that Twilight presumed was the Cortex Vortex.  A brainwashing machine.  Various other mutated animals, such as a tiger, a deranged kangaroo, a tough koala, and a mean-looking potoroo looked on from their cages in the lab as Crash was prepped to to be raised into the spherical-like contraption known as the Cortex Vortex.  Just then, Twilight thought she heard a noise nearby.  She quickly turned her head, but much to her surprise, there was nothing there.

"That's odd," she said to herself.

"We are closer than ever before!  Quickly, into the vortex!" Dr. Cortex demanded as he pressed some of the buttons on his control panel.

He then threw the switch that turned the Cortex Vortex on.

"Nonononononono!  If that thing goes in there being that smart, the world will be doomed!"

Just then, something caught Twilight's eye.  It was a purplish-pink lightbulb attached to a machine with an X-shaped button.  She assumed that it was the eject button.

"I hope I don't regret this," she gulped.

She hit the eject button on the machine, causing the lightbulb to pop out.  After quickly catching it, she smashed it on to the floor.

"But, Dr. Cortex, the Vortex is not ready!  We have no idea what it could do!" N. Brio laughed as he raised Crash into the machine with a lever.

As soon as he did, the machine malfunctioned thanks to Twilight's intervening.  The brainwashing experiment was a failure.  Twilight was relieved that the bandicoot ended up being incompatible thanks to the lightbulb being out.

"Failure again!" Cortex groaned.

This wasn't the first time one of his mutated animals wasn't compatible with the Cortex Vortex.  The animals watching from their cages were also put through the Vortex and were considered failures, as well.  Crash, despite now being dumb, had enough smarts to try to escape his creator's clutches.

"CAPTURE HIM!" Cortex bellowed.

Crash ran towards a window and broke right out of the glass.  Realizing that he was so high up, he gulped.

"Uh-oh," Crash whimpered as he fell.

"Um, sir, there is a disturbance in the halls," N. Brio said.

He brought up an image of Twilight, who realized that she had just been discovered.  She started to run off, but was soon captured by two lab assistants.

"Bring the girl to me," Cortex said sinisterly.

N. Brio went over to Twilight's location and saw that she was struggling to get free.

"My master has plans for you, my little purple one," N. Brio chuckled.

He ran his hand across her face sinisterly.  What he had planned, she didn't know.  All she knew was that it was going to be bad.  The lab assistants, two tall men with brown hair and round glasses, both wearing white lab coats and black shoes, brought Twilight to Cortex's lab, where he was waiting anxiously for her.





"Hello, my dear.  I am Dr. Neo Cortex, but you may call me, master," Cortex said.

Twilight spat in his face out of disgust.

"You kids today have no respect for your elders."

"I have absolutely no respect for what you're doing to these poor animals!  If my friend, Fluttershy, saw what you were doing, she'd be very, very, VERY UPSET!" Twilight hissed.

"Like I care.  I have only one goal in mind.  World domination.  And you, my dear, are going to help me achieve that goal, whether you like it or not."

He pulled out a red laser gun and shot it at his lab assistants, causing them to short circuit.  Twilight realized that the lab assistants were only robots and not much of a threat.  Cortex, however, proved to be a much more dangerous foe than she had realized.

"Oh, don't even think about using that little geode on your shirt, there."

"How did you?"

"My scanners indicated that you had some kind of power when they discovered about your presence in my castle.  Now do you see what your up against?  Oh, and don't bother trying to escape.  I've got this whole area wired with security cameras, so don't think I won't see you at all times."

Twilight gulped.  There was no way out of helping this guy.  She had to do what he said, or else he might vaporize her, or worse.

"Now then, if you're going to be my new assistant, you might as well tell me your name."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Odd name, but no matter.  Your first job will be..."

Suddenly, Twilight saw a female bandicoot, named Tawna, punch a lab assistant to the ground from the shadows.  She was a tall, beautiful-looking bandicoot with blonde hair and purplish-pink eyeshadow.  She wore a similarly colored tank top with blue jean-shorts, a brown belt, white socks, and red shoes.

"Ah, perfect.  Your first assignment as my new assistant will to be to help me prepare the female bandicoot, Tawna."

He snapped his fingers and the lab assistants closed in on Tawna, leaving her trapped.  Tawna glanced at Twilight with a nervous look.  Twilight gulped again.  What had she just gotten herself into and how would she ever get back to Canterlot City with her friends?  Would she ever find them?  Would Tawna end being brainwashed?  She had so many questions that were about to be answered.
> Fluttershy and the Natives
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Pinkie and the Deranged Kangaroo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Building a boat to the next island wasn't easy.  Fluttershy had use whatever materials that were available.  Eventually, she made a paddle boat and took Crash over to the second island, called Wumpa Island.  As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by a crazy blue kangaroo with swirls in its yellow eyes and wearing a white straitjacket.  His name was Ripper Roo.  Just then, Fluttershy heard a very familiar voice.

"Boingy!  Boingy!  Boingy!"

It was Pinkie.  She was bouncing on a pogo stick.  Classic Pinkie, being completely random.

"Pinkie?  Is that you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Fluttershy!  You've got to hang out with this guy!  He is such a crackup!" Pinkie chortled.

"Um, I don't think so, Pinkie.  Not when there are explosives everywhere."

"Huh?  What explosives?"

"The crates in the water that say Big TNT."

Pinkie looked in water and sure enough, there were large crates that read Big TNT on them.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Those explosives.  Right."

Ripper Roo hopped around while cackling like a hyena at the zoo.  Fluttershy was taken aback by his deranged behavior.

"I hate to say this, but if we want to go any further, we'll have to defeat him," Aku Aku said.

"Normally, I'd disagree with you, but seeing as how this kangaroo has pretty much lost his mind, I feel like it's our only option," Fluttershy said.

Pinkie continued bouncing on her pogo stick until she crashed right into a tree, releasing some of the loose wumpa fruit.  One of the fruit bounced right on top of one of the Big TNT crates, which started a countdown.

"That doesn't sound good, does it?" Pinkie asked worriedly as she heard the honking countdown sound.

Ripper Roo just laughed like a maniac as he continued hopping around the platforms on top of the waterfall.

"TAKE COVER!"

Luckily, both Fluttershy and Crash found a small opening that allowed them to be safe from the blast as the crate exploded in Ripper Roo's face.  Weirdly enough, it only made him go even crazier.  He continued hopping around while laughing, which really freaked out Fluttershy.  Seeing his new friend in danger, Crash decided to step into the arena.

"Crash, wait!  What are you doing?!" she called out in a whisper.

Crash jumped on one of the crates and quickly got out of the way just before it went off.  The explosion hit Ripper Roo again and made him even more insane.

"One more hit should do it," Aku Aku said.

Pinkie leaned over where she was to see the action better and nearly fell down into the water.  Luckily, she managed to pull herself back up safely.  Suddenly, she spotted a rope on the ground.  This gave her an idea.

Crash, meanwhile, was trying to find the perfect opening to jump on the last Big TNT crate to finish off Ripper Roo.  After about a few minutes, he decided to jump onto the crate, starting the countdown.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect, as Ripper Roo had hopped right on to the top-middle platform as soon as the crate exploded.  All of those explosions to the face made the deranged kangaroo dizzy.  So dizzy, in fact, that he fell into the water near the edge of the waterfall.  It didn't take long for him to come to, though.  Once he did, however, he realized where he was and plummeted down the waterfall like an anvil.  Crash dusted off his hands in victory, only to be met by a very upset Fluttershy.

"Crash Bandicoot!  Do you realize how stupid that was of you?  I mean, I know we had to get past him, but you could've gotten yourself hurt!"

Before anyone else could say anything more, Pinkie lowered a rope from the top of the other waterfall for them to climb up.  The two of them grabbed on to the rope and climbed up to Pinkie's location at the top of the waterfall.

"Are you alright?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, Pinkie.  I'm fine."

"Good, because I want to know WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!"

"Pinkie, this is Crash Bandicoot.  He's trying to get to that large castle on that island over there."

Fluttershy pointed to a tall castle in the distance on the third island.

"That scary looking place?  Well, aren't you the brave one?"

"Actually, Pinkie, it's because Crash is trying to rescue his girlfriend from a mad scientist trying to brainwash her."

"Aw, that's so sweet.  But just one question: WHAT IS THAT?!"

"Not WHAT, young lady.  Who.  I am Aku Aku," Aku Aku said.

"A talking witch doctor's mask?  Now I've seen everything."

The four of them decided to press onward, hoping that they could get to Cortex Castle to save Tawna before anything bad could happen to her.





Back at the castle, Twilight was working endlessly in order to stay on Cortex's good side.  It was pure torture.  She had never worked for this long with barely any sleep.  During this time, she had also overheard N. Brio talking about secretly plotting against Cortex behind his back.  She didn't fully trust N. Brio, but she started to trust him little by little.  It had been five months since first testing Coco.  During that time, she had started to warm up to the young, female Bandicoot, who even had the chance to meet Tawna, as well.  Cortex had also hired some extra help, as well.  A short, stout man named Dr. N. Gin.  He had orange hair and a near-melted missile in the right side of his head.  He wore a white lab coat with black gloves and brown boots.

One day, Twilight was searching for an outfit for Coco and came across a white t-shirt, blue overalls and fuchsia-colored tennis shoes.

"Dr. Cortex, sir, I think I found the perfect outfit for Coco," Twilight said, showing him the clothes.

"Excellent.  Put it on her at once," Cortex said.

"Yes, sir."

She walked over to Coco and presented her with the outfit.

"Arms up."

Coco did as she was told and put her arms above her head.  Twilight then put the shirt on over her head.  As she put the overalls on Coco, she couldn't help but smile.

"You look just like your big brother, Coco."

"Twilight?  Is my brother really bad?" Coco asked.

"No, of course not.  Cortex is lying to you.  In fact, I have a feeling he'll be coming back sometime soon."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He'll be back," Tawna said from her cage.  "Trust me, I know he'll be back, especially for me."

"You got that right, Tawna," Twilight agreed.

"Twilight!" N. Brio called.

"Yes, sir?" Twilight asked nervously.

"Are those my overalls?  Mother made me those!  Blast that Cortex using old clothing on his experiments!"

Twilight finished putting the overalls on Coco's body, leaving only the shoes left.  It didn't take long to put Coco's shoes on.  After that, Twilight looked on in admiration at Coco's new look.



"Wow, Coco.  You look amazing!"

"I feel amazing," Coco replied.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but it's time for another test," N. Brio chuckled.

"Good luck," Twilight said with a wink.

Coco winked back at her as she ran off.

"Are you sure she's the last one left, Dr. Cortex?" N. Gin asked.

"N. Gin, for the final time, Coco's the last bandicoot.  If this doesn't work out, I'll have to change animals," Cortex groaned.

"Like what?"

"Let's see, we have... crocodiles, dingos... Ugh!  If only I didn't have to choose!"

"Why not both?  A dingo-crocodile hybrid.  Dingodile!"

"Hmm... Dingodile.  N. Gin, I like how you think.  Twilight!"

"Yes, sir?" Twilight asked frantically.

"I'm about to create a new specimen.  Codename: Dingodile.  It'll be one my greatest creations yet.  And it'll also need a weapon of its own.  Something that says heavy firepower, like fire itself."

Twilight gulped.  Now she was really worried.  Another creation from the evil Dr. Cortex?  How much longer would she be forced to serve him?  So many unanswered questions ran through her mind.  She needed to get out of that castle soon, or else she might end up going insane.
> The Potoroo with the Tommy Gun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy, Pinkie, Crash, and Aku Aku walked through miles of jungle avoiding whatever death traps that were put up by the original inhabitants of the three islands.  Eventually, they came across a volcanic mine with blue crystals growing inside.  As soon as they entered, they heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere in the caves.

"You reprehensible brute!  Can't you collect one of these without breaking them?!"

"Was that Rarity?" Fluttershy asked.

Just then, they heard a loud shriek coming from the caves.  That's when they noticed a tall, muscular koala wearing a red tank top. yellow pants, a belt with a skull on the buckle, and spiked wristbands carrying their friend, Rarity.  She was hitting him with her fists as hard as could.

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU RUFFIAN!  THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY!" Rarity screamed.

Crash shrugged his shoulders in confusion at her behavior.  Fluttershy, on the other hand, was extremely angry.  No one treats any one of her friends like they're some sort of object.

"PUT!  HER!  DOWN!" Fluttershy snarled.

"Girlie no tell Koala Kong what to do.  Koala Kong do as he pleases," the Koala replied.

And with that, he shoved Rarity into one of the mine carts.  He then picked up a boulder and hurled it towards them.

"INCOMING!" Pinkie shouted.

Everyone jumped over the boulder to avoid getting hit.  Just then, Koala Kong picked up an even larger boulder and hurled it towards them.  He taunted them by showing them his muscles like a bodybuilder.

"If only Applejack were here, she'd throw that thing right back at him," Fluttershy squeaked.

This gave Crash an idea.  He spun into the boulder, knocking it directly at Koala Kong.  This of course, made him mad.  He tossed three more large boulders, each of which were deflected right back at him with Crash's spin.  After getting hit three more times, Koala Kong growled at everyone, threatening to come over to their side.  Rarity had had enough of his nonsense.  Getting out of the mine cart, she shoved him inside, then kicked the mine cart, sending him away.

"Honestly, it serves you right, you big brute!" Rarity scoffed.

"Well, I don't think we'll be seeing him for quite a while," Aku Aku said.

"Uh, girls?  Did that mask just talk?"

"This is Aku Aku, Rarity.  And like us, he's helping Crash get to the castle on the next island," Fluttershy explained.

"A castle?!  Ooohhh!  Count me in!"

"This isn't like some fairytale castle, young lady.  It is actually a laboratory that is home to an evil scientist by the name of Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex," Aku Aku explained.

Pinkie then burst out laughing hysterically.

"Periwinkle?  That's his middle name?!" she guffawed.

"Do not be fooled.  He is very dangerous and must be stopped before he uses an entire army of mutated animals to take over the world."

"Mutated... animals?" Fluttershy stammered.

Her right eye began to twitch.  She was way past mad at this point.  Now, she was furious.  Mustering up all the courage she had, she was determined to teach this Cortex guy a lesson.  No one uses innocent animals as a means to take over the world on her watch.  The group of six made their way out of the mine and headed off towards Cortex Island.





May 6, 1997

Nearly one and a half months passed for everyone, including Twilight.  She was tired.  She had to work almost day and night to get the army of Cortex Commandos ready.  She hated it.  She just wanted to leave.  Suddenly, she heard a whisper.  It was Coco.  She motioned for Twilight to come over to her location.  Twilight walked over to Coco and asked her what was going on.

"Look at this.  I found something that appears to be a super secret escape hatch in an unknown test chamber," Coco said, pointing to a pink laptop.

"Good work, Coco," Twilight whispered, not wanting Cortex to hear her.  "It seems to me that you have a real fascination with technology.  I'd better write this in the report."

Twilight got out a clipboard and jotted down some notes about Coco's obsession with technology.

"So, are we going to use that hatch to escape this place?"

"Yes, but only when the time is right."

"When will we know?"

"You'll know because I'll do this."

Coco held up the laptop like a signal mirror, slightly moving it up and down.

"But how am I going to get out?"

Coco pointed to an air vent above them.

"I see."

"I just hope Crash can get here in time to help rescue all of these other innocent animals from Cortex's inhuman experiments."

"I know.  And I really hope he's not too late, because Tawna's scheduled for extermination in three months."

Coco gasped.  Cortex was going to eliminate Tawna for not being cooperative.  That wasn't good at all.





Speaking of Crash, he and the others made their way through various factory-like areas.  These were led by a potoroo by the name of Pinstripelli Potorotti, or Pinstripe Potoroo.  Eventually, they made it into Pinstripe's main office at Cortex's power plant, where they met with Pinstripe himself.  He was a tall, mafia-like potoroo with brown fur, slicked-back black hair, short ears, yellow eyes, dark eyebrows, a long snout, and dark markings around his eyes.  He was wearing a red suit over a green undershirt, a black tie and black dress shoes.

"Well, I sees youse made it into my office," Pinstripe snarked.  "And lemme guess.  Youse come all dis way just to get past me to reach my boss, Dr. Cortex?"

"Well, um, yes, actually," Fluttershy said as he walked towards a corner.

"Yeah?  Well, youse can just forget about it."

"And why, pray tell, is that?!" Rarity snapped.

"Listen, toots, if you really wanna get past me, then youse gonnas hafta go on a date wit' me."

"Ex-CUSE me?!"

"I don't get too many women walking up to me everyday, you know."

"I can't imagine why.  You're absolutely despicable!"

"Oh, so that's how you wanna play, is it?  Well, too bad, toots.  Since youse won't go out wit' me, you and your friends are about to EAT LEAD!"

He immediately showed them a tommy gun upon turning around.

"SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY!  HE'S GOT A GUN!"

Pinstripe knocked over his table and leaped on top of it, pointing his gun at them.

"Say hello to Tommy!"

"TAKE COVER!" Pinkie shouted.

Pinstripe fired his gun rapidly, causing everyone to duck behind the two chairs in the room.  They eventually got to safety, but Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf from the rapid gunfire.

"We're going to die!  We're going to die!  We're going to die!" Fluttershy whimpered, shielding her head through her tears.

Crash slowly peered out from behind the chairs and saw that Pinstripe was moving to the right side of the room.  Seeing a quick chance, he spun into him, making his enemy dizzy.

"Youse got a death wish, bandicoot?!" Pinstripe snapped.

Crash quickly ducked back behind the chair.  He then hit Pinstripe a couple of more times as he moved from one side of the room to the other.  As he did, he would stop to fire his tommy gun with his itchy trigger finger.

"I'D RATHER NOT DIE TODAY!" Rarity wailed.

Just then, they heard the sound of clicking, as the firing had stopped.  Peering out from behind the chairs, they suddenly realized that Pinstripe's gun had jammed.  Seeing an opportunity, Crash spun into him again before ducking behind the chair again for safety.  After two more gun jams, Crash gave him the final blow.  All of that getting hit, caused Pinstripe to shoot the glass behind him, which also shut down the entire power plant in the process.

"Alright, you joiks win.  Go on ahead across the bridge and you'll soon be at Cortex Castle," Pinstripe said, cradling his gun in defeat.

Fluttershy was hyperventilating from the rapid gunfire.  All of that intense action left her almost traumatized.  Crash grabbed her right arm and dragged her out of the office, with the others following suit.  They were now at the home stretch towards Cortex Castle.  Only a few more obstacles stood in their way between them reuniting with their friends.
> Bandicoot Power!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crossing the bridge was no easy task, as it was suspended high above the ocean.  This made Fluttershy extremely nervous, as she was deathly afraid of heights.  Eventually, though, they made it inside of the castle and found Dr. N. Brio in his own personal laboratory.

"Well, hello there, Crash.  So nice to, hehhehhehheh, see you again," N. Brio laughed.

"Uh, I don't get it.  How is that funny?" Pinkie asked.

"Um, Pinkie, I don't think that's why he's laughing," Fluttershy whimpered.

Suddenly, N. Brio threw his green beaker, causing slime monster to appear on the floor.

"Ugh!  That thing is absolutely disgusting!" Rarity cringed.

Luckily, Crash jumped on it, squirting N. Brio in the face.

After a few more slime monsters were created and defeated, N. Brio drank his own two potions and transformed into a green Hulk-like monster.  Even though he was strong, now, he was still no match for Crash Bandicoot.  Upon being defeated, he stumbled backwards into his own equipment, which set some things ablaze.  He tried to fly like a bird back into the castle, but gravity forced him back down and into his normal form again.





While all of this was going on, Twilight managed to steal a gem right from under Cortex's nose.  It was a flat, purple gem that was used to possibly power the Cortex Vortex.  For her, it was finally time to escape.  She climbed up Tawna's cage and made her way inside the air vent while Coco did her test in the room with the super secret escape hatch.  The two of them finally managed to escape and even met each other outside of the castle in front of Cortex's blimp.





Suddenly, they heard an explosion coming from inside the castle.  The castle suddenly burst out in flames with Cortex escaping on his hovercraft, holding a laser gun in one hand and Tawna around his other arm.  Looking up, Twilight saw her friends in the room where N. Brio's lab was.

"Quick, Coco!  Get in the blimp!  He's got Tawna!" Twilight shouted frantically.

The two of them got into the blimp's cockpit and took off.  The first thing that they did was rescue Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Crash, and Aku Aku from the burning castle with the blimp's ladder.

"Who is that?" Rarity asked, pointing to Coco.

"Another bandicoot created by Cortex?" Aku Aku asked.

Crash climbed on the very top of the blimp, ready to face his creator and save Tawna.

"Darn you, Crash Bandicoot!" Cortex scowled.

The girls made their way inside the blimp and met up with Twilight and her new friend.

"Thanks for rescuing us, Twilight.  Who's your friend?" Fluttershy asked.

"Her name's Coco.  She helped me escape the castle," Twilight responded.

"And Crash is my big brother," Coco added.

The others were shocked.  They had no idea that Crash had a smart little sister.

"He never told us!" Pinkie said.

"That's because he didn't know she existed," Twilight explained.

"But he will soon," Coco said.





While all of this was going on, Crash was deflecting Cortex's green laser blasts back at him.  One of them even sent Tawna flying towards the blimp.  Crash, of course, helped her on top of the blimp to keep her from falling.  Cortex then shot one final green laser blast right towards the two of them.  Thinking fast, Crash deflected it back at him with a spin attack, sending the mad scientist hurdling towards the ocean.





Inside the blimp, Pinkie and the others saw Cortex fall to his supposed doom.

"HE DID IT!  HE WON!" Pinkie screamed.

"WE did it, Pinkie," Twilight corrected.  "Except, I get the feeling that this won't be the last time we'll be seeing Cortex."

"Oh dear.  You don't mean...?" Fluttershy whimpered.

"Exactly, Fluttershy.  We're still nowhere close to going home, yet.  We have no idea where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or even Sunset Shimmer, are!"

"What are you talking about?" Coco asked.

Twilight sighed heavily.  It was time to break the ice to Coco.

"Truth is, Coco, my friends and I aren't even from this world.  We're from a place called Canterlot City.  You see these geodes that we have?"

"Uh-huh."

"They contain magic.  REAL magic.  For example, Rarity can generate a diamond with her magic.  Show her, Rarity."

On cue, Rarity created a gem-like shield with her geode's power.

"Wow.  That's amazing!"

"I know.  But we still need to find the rest of our friends.  I just know that they're out there, somewhere."







Cortex continued falling and falling until he landed right smack in the middle of a dark cave.  He lit up a match and saw that pink crystals were growing inside of it.  He laughed maniacally.  He had just found a new power source.

"Crystals... of course!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, the match went out, leaving him in the darkness.





July 24, 1998

One whole year had passed and Dr. Cortex was now inside a space station that he had built with his new assistant, Dr. N. Gin, as Brio had left, for his own personal reasons.  The station was hovering above Earth ominously.

"But Dr. Cortex, to reach full power, we need not only your Master Crystal," N. Gin said, referring to the large Power Crystal that he had collected in the cave in a certain device on the station.  "But also the remaining 25 Slave Crystals from the surface."

N. Gin stumbled towards his boss after pressing a few buttons on the control panel.

"How do expect to retrieve them when we don't have any Earthbound operatives left?"

"You fool!  Do you think I'm unaware of the situation?!" Cortex snarled.  "Ever since Twilight betrayed us, I've had to rely on you to pick up the slack, which I might add, you have done a wonderful job of doing.  And if we don't have any friends left on the surface, then we'll need to find... an enemy."

Cortex grinned sinisterly.  He was obviously referring to Crash, since he was so gullible when he attempted to rescue Tawna.





Speaking of Crash, Tawna had actually left him for Pinstripe or reasons unknown.  She just dumped him.  That was it.  Anyways, in the entire year that had passed, Fluttershy and her friends had built Crash and Coco their very own house to live in on N. Sanity Island, close to the beach.  Today, however, they were in the jungle just hanging out as usual.  Crash was being as lazy as ever, since he was sleeping soundly.  Coco, of course, was busy on her laptop, when suddenly, the battery went dead.

"Crash!  Crash!  Cra-ash!" she said, shaking Crash's arm, waking him up.  "My battery is fried!  Make yourself useful, big brother, and bring an extra battery for me."

She closed her laptop and Crash slowly got up form his nap.

"I'll go, too.  It's for the best anyways.  Since Crash'll probably forget where the battery is," Twilight said.

"Thanks, Twilight," Coco said.

Crash and Twilight raced back to the house.  When they were halfway there, however, they were instantly teleported into what appeared to be a weird-looking warp room.
> Search for the Crystals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight looked around the warp room in amazement.  She had never seen anything like it before.

"This place is so amazing!" she beamed.

Just then, the two of them heard a noise as the lights dimmed.  As soon as they did, a surveillance robot, a round metallic robot with a long camera lens, projected a hologram of Cortex's face right above them.  Twilight gulped.  She didn't know what he would say ever since she bailed on him to aid in Coco's escape from his castle.

"Well, well, well.  If it isn't Crash Bandicoot and my former assistant, Twilight Sparkle.  Welcome," Cortex greeted.  "I apologize for the crude means used to bring the both of you here, but I'd rather expect a written invitation would've been turned down.  I need your help."

"And just exactly do you mean by 'help'?"

"Well, surrounding you are a series of five doors.  Through each door lies a well-hidden crystal.  The crystals are a bright purple color and have rhombus sword-shape.  Bring me those crystals.  Oh, and Twilight, you are to monitor Crash's progress at all times.  When he gets five crystals in this warp room, you are to take that glass elevator up the next floor and wait for him there."

"Yes, sir."

"That is all I will say for now.  We will speak again."

And with that, the hologram disappeared, leaving Crash confused as to what just happened.  Twilight sighed heavily.

"Well, Crash, it doesn't look like we have much of a choice."

She walked over to a monitor and got two communicators to wear in the ear.  She put one of them in her right ear and the other in Crash's.

"There.  We'll use that to keep in touch with each other as you locate the crystals Cortex wants you to find.  And don't worry.  I'll be here in the warp room monitoring all of your progress to make sure you don't run into too much trouble."

Crash then spoke in his usual gibberish, causing Twilight to facepalm.

"Crash, I can barely understand a single word you're saying.  Talk slower."

He did as he was told.  Despite still being in gibberish, she could understand a few of the words he was saying.

"You think something's up?  Well, I do, too.  But we can't worry about that now.  Go into Turtle Woods and retrieve the crystal from that area."

Crash stepped inside the swirling vortex and instantly warped to Turtle Woods.





Meanwhile, back on N. Sanity island, Fluttershy and Pinkie had gone back with Coco to her house to pick up a spare battery.  Waiting for them at the house was Aku Aku and Rarity.  Rarity didn't stay that long in the jungle, due to the humidity frizzing up her hair.

"Back so soon, Coco?" Aku Aku asked.

"I came to pick up a new battery for my laptop.  Have any of you seen Crash stop by?" Coco said.

"I thought he was with you, darling," Rarity responded.

"Last I remember, both him and Twilight were going to stop by here to pick up a battery," Fluttershy explained.

Coco immediately replaced the battery into the back underside of her laptop as they spoke.

"Well, if that is indeed the case, we should've seen them around ten minutes ago."

"So, what you're saying is that you haven't seen them at all?"

"That is precisely what I mean, Fluttershy."

"Maybe they got lost?"

"I doubt it.  Not with Twilight by Crash's side."

"Or maybe, somehow, when they were on their way here, they got suddenly teleported into a location that's completely inaccessible by any normal means necessary!" Pinkie guessed.

Rarity facepalmed.  Of all the things Pinkie could've said, that was undoubtedly the most ridiculous thing she ever heard.  Coco booted up her laptop and instantly found Twilight in front of a monitor as Crash came through a portal.

"Look!  There they are!" Coco exclaimed.

"See?  I told you!"

"Yes, Pinkie.  We hear you," Fluttershy said, rolling her eyes.

Crash reached into his back pocket and pulled out a crystal.

"Mother of mercy!  What is THAT?!" Rarity gasped.

"That is a crystal!  If Crash has found one, then that means that someone is forcing him to gather them for reasons that we don't know about," Aku Aku explained.

The crystal went right into the slot on the pillar to the left of portal once Crash tossed it into the air.  As soon as that happened, he also managed to spit a clear gem out of his mouth.

"UGH!  THAT IS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!"

"That's my big brother, for you," Coco said.

The gem went into the slot below the crystal.  To celebrate his first victory, Crash did a little dance.  Just then, static started to fill the screen.

"Hey!  What's with the static?" Pinkie asked as Coco banged her laptop monitor.

"Something's interfering with the signal!"





Back in the warp room, the lights suddenly dimmed and loud clanging noise was heard, startling both Crash and Twilight.  They looked up and saw a hologram of Cortex appear before them.

"Well done, Crash!  And you, too, Twilight.  I knew I could rely on you," Cortex congratulated.  "Now listen carefully: These holograms are hard to maintain.  During the course of my intellectual pursuits, I have stumbled across a force that threatens to destroy the world."

As he spoke, however, he was unaware that his audio was leaking over into Coco's laptop back on N. Sanity Island.





Fluttershy gasped in horror.  She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-Is he being serious?" she stammered.

"Shhh!" Coco hushed.

She didn't want Cortex to know that they were eavesdropping on his conversation with Crash.





Back in the warp room, Cortex continued talking with Crash about his discoveries.

"The crystals are the only means of containing it.  The fate of the world is at stake.  It is imperative, therefore, that you bring them to me."

Twilight narrowed her eyes as Cortex spoke.  She couldn't be for certain if he was telling the truth or not.  Regardless, she knew that they had to go along with it if they wanted to find out more.  As his hologram disappeared, a hologram of Coco suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Are you there, Crash?  Crash?  Crash?  Are you there, Crash?  Are you there, Crash?" Coco asked before the signal was cut off.

"That was weird," Twilight said, scratching her head.





Back on N. Sanity Island, Coco's laptop had static emitting on the monitor.  She had just lost the signal to connect with Crash and Twilight.

"Darn it!  I thought I could get a message to him in time!" she growled.

"Something isn't right.  Why would Cortex enlist Crash to help him gather crystals?  There has to be another reason than the one he just gave," Aku Aku said.

"I think you're right.  If only I could get a better signal to warn him about trusting Cortex."

Just then, they heard another voice coming over the laptop.  It was N. Brio.





Back in the warp room, Crash had just gotten the blue gem from Turtle Woods.  It wasn't easy, as he had to not break a signal crate in the area. Not a single one.  He was lucky to get it on his first try.  After getting the gem, a hologram of N. Brio suddenly appeared and spoke to him.

"Ssssssssssssssssooooooooooo, you are helping Cortex gather the crystals?  Yet, you have acquired a gem!  Hehehehe... Interesting.  Hehehehehe!  Nya!  Hahaha!  Well, Crash, Twilight, know this: As long as you are allied with C-C-C-C-C-C-C-Cortex, you are my sworn enemy and I will anything in my power to s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-stop you!  HAHAHAHA!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Twilight cringed as he spoke.  The laughter was really starting to creep her out.

"If the fate of the world is truly your concern, you must g-g-g-g-g-g-g-gather the gems, not the c-c-c-c-c-c-crystals!  Let me tell you this: I know that you stole one of the gems from the castle, Twilight.  But you best hold on to it.  It is one of the gems that you need to g-g-g-g-g-g-g-gather.  And if you obtain all 39 gems, I can use them to f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-focus a laser!  HAHAHAHAHA!  YES!  A laser beam that will destroy Cortex and a space station that he has created!  Until then, I must use my f-f-f-f-forces to stop you f-f-f-from gathering crystals!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!"
> Ripper Roo, Professor of Insanity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After N. Brio finished his message, Twilight was extremely nervous.  She had every reason to be.  N. Brio, the man who had kidnapped her and forced her to work for Cortex, was now saying that he was against him?  She had never been so confused in her entire life before.  Crash, on the other hand, was busy gathering the remaining four crystals and clear gems that were available in the warp room.  He had to get over many obstacles along the way, but he eventually got the first warp room completed.  As soon as he received the fifth crystal, Twilight opened the glass elevator and rode it to the second floor as Crash entered a portal, containing an old foe.  That foe, of course, was Ripper Roo.





It turns out that Ripper Roo had become exceptionally intelligent over the course of a full year.  He was in the forest reading a book with very advanced text.  Still sporting his straitjacket, he now wore a red-and-white polka-dotted bowtie, glasses, a blonde wig and mustache, and a black top hat.  He also had a cane sitting on top of the desk he was reading at.  As soon as Crash entered, Ripper Roo became enraged that Crash was interrupting his studies.  He flipped his cane off the desk with one of his feet and started bouncing on it, creating TNT panels on his brick flooring between his bookshelves.  He was still as crazy as ever.

Crash moved over to the bottom-left side of the arena just as the TNT panels exploded.  The explosion  knocked off Ripper Roo's glasses and top hat and made him laugh like his usual crazy self.  He then planted green panels on the arena that read NITRO.





Twilight, who was monitoring Crash's progress in the second warp room, saw this and her eyes turned to pinpricks.  The word NITRO could only mean one thing: nitroglycerin.  An extremely sensitive chemical that is can be dangerous if handled improperly.

"Crash, look out!  If you touch one of those NITRO panels, you're history!" she screamed.





Crash, who was battling Ripper Roo, heard her, and moved to the bottom-ride side of the arena just in time.  Once Ripper Roo was finished placing the Nitro panels on the arena, he jumped on one, detonating all of them.  The ensuing explosion made him very dizzy.  Seeing an opportunity, Crash spun into Ripper Roo, damaging him.  The cycle continued two more times until Ripper Roo was eventually defeated.





After the battle was over, Crash warped back into the first warp room and rode the circular platform in the middle to the second one above him.  As he stepped off the platform, the lights suddenly dimmed and a hologram of Cortex appeared, laughing heartily.

"I see that Ripper Roo failed to prove much of a challenge, yet again," Cortex said.  "But back to business.  There are crystals to be gathered.  You need only twenty, to be exact.  The planets will align shortly, all thirteen of them, and this will create a power great enough to rip the Earth apart.  Properly utilized, however, the crystals can absorb and contain the energy."

Twilight angrily rolled her eyes as the hologram disappeared.  That had to be the most ridiculous story she had ever heard.  Just then, a hologram of Coco suddenly appeared.

"Crash!  Twilight, is that you?  Thank goodness you're alright!" Coco said.  "Listen, I don't have much time to tell you this: You have to be careful!  Trusting Cortex seems a little unwise, Crash.  I-I-I-I-I can't keep the data path open much longer.  Look, you to find..."

Before she could say anything more, the transmission was suddenly cut off.  Suddenly, Twilight noticed that there was a blip on the monitor.  The signal was coming from the door marked Bear It.

"That's weird.  Why would there be an unknown signal in that portal?  Unless..." Twilight pondered.  "Crash, why don't you start with that Bear It door?  Whatever's in there is moving really fast."





Crash decided to give it a go and stepped inside the portal to Bear It.  Once he entered, a cute little polar bear cub named Polar was waiting for him.  Crash hopped on the little guy and started riding him with no hands.  As he rode Polar through the area, he heard the sound of someone screaming on an adult polar bear.  It was Rainbow Dash.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS THING!" she screamed.  Crash raced to her side while getting the crystal on the way.  Eventually, the two of them came to the end where the warp was.  The two polar bears bucked them off of their backs, as there was a massive lake in front of them.  Luckily, they landed right in front of the warp door.

"That was terrifying, yet so AWESOME!"

The two of them then warped back to the warp room with Crash holding the crystal and Rainbow holding the clear gem.  The gems went right into their slots next to the warp door.

"That was so cool!  You're alright, dude.  Uh, whatever you are."

"He's called Crash Bandicoot, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said sternly.

"No way!  Twilight!"

Rainbow ran up to her friend and gave her a big hug.

"I've been looking everywhere for you in that frozen wasteland!  What happened?  Where are the others?"

Twilight lowered her friend's hands and proceeded to explain.

"Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are with Crash's sister, Coco, on N. Sanity Island, where they live.  A man by the name of Dr. Neo Cortex brought Crash and I here to gather crystals for reasons that we don't know about."

"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhh... That's kind of a red flag right there, Twilight."

"I know, but we don't have much of a choice.  Besides, Dr. Cortex enlisted me to keep an eye on Crash's progress as he searches for crystals."

As she spoke, Crash entered two other levels and got their crystals.  When in Air Crash, though, he took a platform marked with a skull and crossbones, much to Twilight's shock.

"Crash, what are you doing?!  That's a death route!  YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

Crash, however, managed to survive, even coming back with a gem and the crystal for his troubles.  Twilight, however, was not happy.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!  DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD'VE HAPPENED IF YOU DIDN'T TIME YOUR JUMPS PROPERLY?!"

She sighed heavily, then went back to the console to monitor Crash as he searched.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're either really brave, or just incredibly stupid."

She didn't know what to think, now.  After all, she was the one who smashed the lightbulb back in Cortex Castle to prevent Cortex from conquering the world in the first place.  If she hadn't smashed it, the world would be under Cortex's control by now, so there was that.

"Honestly, Crash, I don't what I'm going to do with you.  Just get into the next level and get its crystal."

Crash did as he was told and came back with both the crystal and gem once he completed the level.

"Seriously, Twilight, don't you think you're being a bit too hard on him?" Rainbow asked.

"Maybe a little.  Still, I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen.  And that Crash is the only one who can stop it."
> Meet the Komodo Brothers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight wasn't too far off with her statement, even if she didn't know all the details, yet.  Back to Crash, though, he went through another level and even discovered a green gem hidden behind a fake vault door.  After retrieving it, he continued through the level and even managed to retrieve both the crystal and clear gem from that level.  He now had ten out of 25 crystals.  At this point, Twilight knew what she had to do.  She took the glass elevator up to the next floor to wait for Crash until he defeated the boss blocking his way up.  Unfortunately, the elevator could only accommodate one person at a time.  This meant that Rainbow either had to wait for the elevator to return, or to go with Crash and face the boss of the warp room.  She decided to do the latter.





Upon entering the portal, the two of them were transported into a circular arena, where two green Komodo dragons with blue-green brow ridges and spiny tails were both juggling each others' scimitars.  These two were known as the Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe.  Joe was a tall, thin Komodo dragon that had a long snout with two fangs sticking out and three-toed feet.  Moe, his younger brother, was rounder than his brother with a short nose, a large underbite, a small beard, and two-toed feet.  They both wore spiked Ottoman-style helmets, indigo Arab shemaghs, purple robes with solid golden hems, and white undershirts held together by sashes.

The two brothers laughed upon seeing their opposition appear before them.  Crash Bandicoot and his new friend, Rainbow Dash.

"Ssssso, thisssss is our opposition, brother?" Joe hissed.

"Looksssss like a weakling, brother," Moe said.

"Indeed.  Let'sssss sssssee what you can do againssssst usssss."

Joe assumed a position in front of the red platform in the middle, holding up his one scimitar in front of him.  Moe kicked his brother, sending him spinning around the arena, while bouncing off some of the walls.  Rainbow hid behind some of the people, not wanting to be on the receiving end of his weapon.  Luckily, Crash managed to dodge Joe the entire time.  Eventually, Joe collapsed from being so dizzy, giving Crash the opportunity to spin him right into his brother.  He did this two more times until the Komodo Brothers finally admitted defeat and collapsed on top of each other.

Rainbow peeked out from her hiding place, then ran over to where Crash was.

"Nice going, little dude!" she exclaimed.

The two of them gave each other a high five in victory before teleporting back into the warp room.  As soon as they arrived, the glass elevator had returned and Rainbow Dash rode up in it to the next floor.  She was greeted by a very cross Twilight.  Needless to say, her friend was EXTREMELY angry.





"I hope you're satisfied with yourself," Twilight said in a monotone voice with her arms folded.  "Because one wrong move and you could've BEEN KILLED!"

Before the conversation could go any further, Crash arrived via the platform and the lights suddenly dimmed.  A hologram of Cortex suddenly appeared before them.

"Good show, Crash," Cortex congratulated.  "The Komodo Brothers obviously lacked your mettle.  But now's not the time to get cocky."

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment upon hearing him say this.  Being cocky is pretty much what she's known for by her friends.

"There are still many crystals to obtain.  Remember, the world is counting on you."

The hologram disappeared and the lights returned to normal.  Crash then entered the next portal to the level, Plant Food.  Once inside, he obtained the crystal, a clear gem and a yellow gem for completing a time trial.





Back on N. Sanity Island, Coco was busy typing in a hacking program to find out what Cortex what was really planning on doing with the crystals.  She then made it past Cortex's computer's firewall and saw something that made her gasp in horror.

"Girls, look at this!" Coco exclaimed, pointing to her laptop's screen.

"MY GOODNESS!" Rarity gasped.

"Oh... My!" Fluttershy whimpered.

"Uh, that's bad, isn't it?" Pinkie asked nervously.

"Definitely bad.  I've got to warn Crash and Twilight right away!" Coco said, typing the program to reach the warp room.





Crash had just come out of Sewer or Later with the crystal and both clear gems when the lights suddenly dimmed.  A hologram of Coco suddenly appeared and communicated with them.

"Crash, thank goodness I reached you guys!  Listen, I hacked into Cortex's computer and found detailed schematics for an improved Cortex Vortex and a suspicious-looking space station.  It might be the one that Brio talked to you about.  I just barely managed to overhear him talking to you after my first signal went bad.  I'm not completely sure about this, but I think that Cortex might be trying to..."

Before she could go into any more detail, the hologram disappeared from interference.

"Who was that?" Rainbow asked.

"That was Crash's little sister, Coco.  She's a wiz with technology.  She's probably back on N. Sanity Island trying to help us as we speak," Twilight answered.

"Woahwoahwoahwoah!  Time out, Twilight!  Are you saying that we somehow ended up in some video game world?!"

"To put it simply, yes.  And it looks like the only way for us to return home is to A: Reunite with all of our friends, and B: Make sure we get this game's ending just right.  In other words, we have to help Crash and the others stop Cortex and find both Applejack and Sunset Shimmer if we ever want to return home."
> Tiny Tiger: All Brawn, Little Brain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now although Crash isn't too big in the brains department, he still has enough common sense to know when something doesn't feel right.  In fact, in the next three levels, he started questioning the real reason why Cortex wanted him to gather the crystals in the first place.  After all, given their rocky history in the past two years, it just doesn't seem like Cortex to immediately turn over a new leaf and renounce his evil ways.  After finishing Road to Ruin with both the crystal and Death Route gem, much to Twilight's annoyance, the lights dimmed and a hologram of Cortex appeared.

"Crash, my boy, you are more than halfway there," Cortex congratulated.  "But I'm sure you've noticed that things are getting harder.  The last ten crystals will be the hardest to gather.  And my.. AHEM!  I mean, OUR enemies will be sending their strongest forces to thwart you.  I'll contact you again when you have completed the next warp room."

And with that, the hologram disappeared and the portal leading to another one of N. Brio's enforcers, Tiny Tiger, activated.  Twilight quickly took the glass elevator to the next warp room.  As soon as she entered it, she returned the elevator, which allowed Rainbow Dash to follow suit.  After her little episode with the Komodo Brothers, she definitely wasn't going to follow Crash into the next boss battle again.





Speaking of the boss, Crash was waiting on a bottom center platform of nine when he heard a fierce roar coming from behind two metallic doors in front of him.  On the doors was a picture of Tiny himself, a fierce-looking tiger with large teeth.  Tiny soon forced the doors open and made his presence known.  He was a large mutated Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, the last of his kind.  He was an orange, muscular tiger with sharp fangs and pointed claws.  He wore spiked shoulder pads, metal bracelets, a green leopard-spotted loincloth, and red sneakers.  He looked around the arena trying to find his opponent.  For someone that was ironically named Tiny, he wasn't very bright.  As soon as he spotted Crash, however, he let out a fierce roar similar to that of a modern-day Bengal tiger.

Tiny then started hopping on the platforms, one at a time, making his way towards Crash.  Crash, however, literally remained one step ahead of him every time.  As they were engaged in their little game of platform chase, an alarm soon started to blare.  Some of the platforms began to flash red, signaling a malfunction.  Thankfully, Crash made it to one of the platforms that were still green as the red ones dropped from the arena.  Tiny, however, wasn't so lucky, as he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.  Because of this, Tiny fell into the pit onto one of the platforms that fell.





Meanwhile, in the fourth warp room, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were watching Crash fight the tiger.  As soon as Tiny fell into the pit, Rainbow Dash ended up laughing hysterically.

"You think that's funny?!" Twilight hissed.

"Oh, come on, Twilight.  That big tiger is obviously even more stupid than your friend, Crash," Rainbow replied.

Twilight just rolled her eyes.  Eventually, Crash defeated Tiny and made his way up to the fourth warp room.  After getting two more crystals, the lights dimmed and a hologram of Coco appeared.

"Coco!  What's going on?  You look worried!"

"Crash!  Twilight!  Listen, I haven't got much time left to tell you this.  I'm with N. Brio and the rest of your friends on the ruins of Cortex Castle," she explained.  "Some of the gems you gathered are already assembled into his laser device.  But that's not why I'm contacting you guys.  I have to tell you that Cortex has almost completed the new space station."

"I knew that Cortex wasn't completely telling the truth!  He must've been lying to us from the very start!"

"Maybe, but for now, continue to play along until the rest of the girls and I can find out more about Cortex's plan.  But beware of the tricks he's trying..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the signal cut off and the hologram disappeared.





At the ruins of Cortex Castle, N. Brio groaned at the signal going bad.

"I knew I should've gotten a better hacking device," he chuckled.

"We can't worry about that now.  The more crystals Crash gathers, the closer Cortex gets to his goal.  And if I know Twilight, which I do, I'll betcha that she's going to question Cortex the next time he sends a message to him in the warp room he's in," Coco said.

"I still can't believe that Rainbow Dash ended up in that frigid wasteland," Rarity said.

"It is NOT a wasteland, Rarity!  There was a cute little polar bear cub there.  I think we should call him... Polar," Fluttershy said.

"He is kind of cute," Coco added with a giggle.





Back in the warp room, Crash had just finished the level, Bee-Having and had put in both the crystal and clear gem in the slots when Cortex's hologram appeared.

"So, Cortex!  I take it you're here to tell us about our so-called opposition.  Am I right?" Twilight snapped, folding her arms.

"Well, aren't you a clever girl, Twilight Sparkle," Cortex mocked.

"You're lucky we're in this warp room, otherwise, I'd give you what for!" Rainbow roared.

"Well, well, looks like we have a feisty one with you.  A friend of yours?"

"Yes.  This is Rainbow Dash," Twilight groaned.

"Whatever.  Just remember to be on your guard and deliver the crystals to N. Gin!"

Crash mumbled some gibberish that was hard to understand, but decipherable in some cases.

"What did he say?" Rainbow asked, raising a brow.

"I believe he was asking who N. Gin is," Twilight answered.

Crash nodded his head in agreement.

"Long story short, N. Gin is Cortex's new right-hand assistant.  He is very loyal and even helped to create Coco in the place."

"Create?  What are you talking about, Twilight?"

Twilight sighed.  It was time to explain the truth.

"You see, Dash, Crash was originally one of Cortex's evil experiments for world domination.  But then I came along and sabotaged the Cortex Vortex so that Crash would be incompatible with it.  And then, I was pretty much captured and forced to get a female bandicoot ready for brainwashing."

Rainbow Dash had her jaw on the floor.  She couldn't believe that something like that could even happen.  Yet, she was standing with a mutated Eastern barred bandicoot who was gathering crystals for his arch-nemesis.  Things just got a lot weirder for her, but the weirdness was far from being over.
> Goodbye, Cortex Vortex!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Uka Uka is Free?!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



The destroyed remains of the Cortex Vortex continued to plummet towards the Earth's atmosphere back towards Australia.  It eventually crash landed in a secluded temple, where it unfortunately released an evil spirit.  The spirit let out an evil chuckle in its blue spiritual form.

"Free at last!" the spirit exclaimed, as it took Cortex and N. Gin with it.





October 31, 1998

Crash and the others, including their new friend, Polar, were relaxing in front of the Bandicoots' house, having needed it after tangling with Cortex for a second time.  Suddenly, the sky darkened and an evil laugh echoed throughout the skies.  It sent shivers down Rainbow's spine.  She's not the type of person who gets scared easily, but that laugh was enough to make her extremely uneasy.  No one was more scared than Fluttershy, though, as she ran up to Rarity and held her tightly.

"I don't like the sound of that laugh," Pinkie gulped.

Twilight heard it, as well.  In fact, the laugh was so frightening, that she looked around frantically, trying to find the source.  Coco and Polar were scared, too.  In fact, Polar shivered and leapt underneath Coco's trembling free arm as she glanced up at the sky, worriedly.  Crash paid no attention, though, as he was focused on doing tricks with his blue yo-yo.

"Uka Uka is free?!  No!  It cannot be!" Aku Aku said at last.

"I'm afraid to ask, but who's Uka Uka?" Twilight shivered as the laughter continued.

"A name that I must tell you about.  If he is free, that can only mean that great evil has come."

Sensing danger, everyone except for Crash went inside the house.  After finally realizing what was going on, Crash darted for the house, only to find himself face-first into the door.  While he was dazed, Coco managed to safely drag him into the house, away from all of the potential evil.





Meanwhile, in a machine with five areas with metallic flooring called the Time Twister, Dr. Cortex was met by the blue spirit, who was very displeased with him.

"None have dared to fail the great Uka Uka even once!  But you, Cortex, you have failed me TWICE!" Uka Uka snapped.

Cortex was now on his knees, pleading for his forgiveness.  He was obviously terrified.

"Great Uka Uka, it was that infernal bandicoot and his new friends!" Cortex pleaded.

Just then, the blue light shattered and revealed Uka Uka's true form.  He was a witch doctor's mask like Aku Aku.  His face was a dark-brown/blackish color with a small, rectangular nose, golden pupil-less eyes with dull green eyebags, light brown eyebrows, sharp teeth, and three bones.  One was tied to his forehead and the other two were dangling from his sides by the use of ropes.  He also had a large, ginger beard and a yellow jagged stripe on his forehead with red outlines.  He then began to chastise Cortex even more about his failures for world domination.

"From deep inside my temple prison, I sent you simple instructions to follow!  But you've lost the gems, you've lost the crystals, AND I HAVE LOST MY PATIENCE!  There is now no other power source left ON THIS PLANET!"

"I know we've had a few unfortunate... setbacks."

"AND FAILED!"

Cortex was even more terrified than before.  No one could predict what Uka Uka would do next.  Unlike Aku Aku, this spirit was pure evil, plain and simple.  To his surprise, however, Uka Uka was willing to give Cortex another chance.

"But since your bumbling has managed to set me free, I am feeling generous.  There is still a way to amass the power needed to enslave this miserable planet.  And this time, this time the great Uka Uka will make sure that you do it right!"

As he finished speaking, a circular warp orb appeared and from it, came a tall, skinny human with cold blue skin.  He had long eyebrows, two equally long skinny beards and skinny legs.  He wore a golden-brown, smog producing, piston-driven time machine, which obscured his white lab coat.  He also had a tall piece of headgear and had a huge metal glove with a clock on it.  His name was Dr. Nefarious Tropy, keeper of the Time Twister and a master of time travel.





Back on N. Sanity Island, Aku Aku was telling everyone the story of Uka Uka, who was his evil twin brother.  The two of them were locked in a feud when they were humans and still continue that feud to this day.  Twilight was shocked.  She couldn't believe that all of Uka Uka's reign of terror was the result of a brotherly feud that he refused to let go of.  Yet, it was true.  Even as spirits embodied as witch doctor's masks, they still continue to bicker.  It got so out of hand that Aku Aku had to begrudgingly seal Uka Uka inside a temple prison.  He had no choice.

"I used to get into spats with my brother, Shining Armor, but it never got that ugly," Twilight admitted.

"Uka Uka is different, Twilight.  I had to imprison him.  It was to protect the world from his malice.  Now that he is free once again, there is no telling what he will do," Aku Aku replied.

Twilight suddenly remembered that Cortex planned on using the crystals to enslave everyone on Earth the last time they confronted him.  Knowing Cortex, he'd probably try to do it again.  The only problem with that was that the crystals were pretty much gone now thanks to the space station being destroyed.  Aku Aku, however, informed her that the crystals were not completely gone.

"The crystals and gems were not completely lost.  They were, instead, returned to their rightful places in time.  I fear that Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex may be planning on retrieving them through the use of time travel.  Which means that my twin brother must be stopped!"

Both bandicoots and the girls stood up and followed Aku Aku out of the house.  Soon, they were instantly teleported to the Time Twister.





"Woah!  This place is amazing!" Twilight squealed.

"Children, Uka Uka and Cortex plan to use this Time Twisting machine to gather crystals that lay scattered across time," Aku Aku explained.  "I have brought you here to recover the crystals before they do.  To open a time portal, simply stand on a button and then jump into the portal."

As he spoke, a random frog hopped on button number one, which led to Toad Village.  It opened up a time portal, which then sucked the poor helpless frog into the level.

"That doesn't sound too hard," Rainbow said.

"Maybe to you, but the rest of our friends could be in any of these areas!  Who knows what dangers lie in those portals?" Twilight responded.

"Crash, Coco, please be careful," Fluttershy said.

"Don't worry, we will," Coco said reassuringly.

"Good luck," Aku Aku said with a smile before teleporting away.
> Applejack the Pirate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time travel seemed like it was a farfetched concept, but in this world, it was pretty much real.  Thankfully, Twilight had outfitted both Crash and Coco with receivers on their left ears in order to communicate with them as they travel through time.  Keeping in touch with them was very important in case they ever ran into trouble.  Crash started things off by traveling into Toad Village.  As soon as he entered, though, the girls received a message from Dr. Cortex.





"Crash, Crash, Crash.  Why must you always muck in my mud?" he groaned.  "Oh, look!  I have a mask helping me, too."

Uka Uka was a bit taken aback by this.  He didn't expect Cortex to be a showoff by telling his archenemy that he existed.

"Well, girls, I know you're there in the Time Twister.  What do you think of this mask, hmm?  Evil, isn't it?  We will find out which one is more powerful soon enough!"

And with that, Cortex ended his message and the image on the big screen showed Crash arriving in the Dark Ages.





Despite the level being called Toad Village, there were actually more frogs than there were toads.  Even so, the girls didn't worry about it too much, as Crash made his way through the level without too much difficulty.  He even managed to break all of the crates in the level, as well, earning himself a Clear Gem, along with finding the level's crystal.  As soon as he returned back to the Time Twister, both the crystal and gem disappeared into the Time Twister.  After that, Crash did his victory dance, since he had just found a gem.  He then decided to go back into the level, as there was one final thing to get: a Time Relic.

Upon reentering the level, there was a floating yellow clock that looked like a pocket watch in the level.  Crash grabbed it and started blazing through the level, even breaking yellow crates with numbers on them.  These crates froze a timer for the amount of seconds that the numbers on the crates displayed.  After he finished the level, Crash was awarded with a Sapphire Time Relic, the lowest tier of Time Relics.  Despite that, it was still a relic and one step further to stopping both Cortex and Uka Uka from taking over the world.

After that, Crash stepped on the second button and saw that it was an underwater level.  As soon as he noticed it, he panicked.  Fluttershy quickly ran over to him and knelt down.

"What's wrong, Crash?" she asked.

Crash explained through gibberish that he couldn't swim.

"What's wrong with Crash, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

"He's too scared to go into the next level, because he can't swim."

Twilight put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Crash.  I'll make sure that as soon as you enter any underwater level, that you'll be equipped with scuba gear."

Twilight nodded to Coco, who typed in a program on her laptop.  After she did so, Twilight pulled one of the levers on the machine, powering it up.

"There we are.  Now you should be good to go."

Crash was still unsure, so Fluttershy gave him a small peck on the cheek for good luck.

"Don't worry, Crash.  We'll be watching you from here in the Time Twister.  Now, go get that crystal!"

Filled with a new sense of confidence, Crash jumped into the portal and instantly transported underwater, complete with scuba gear.





After a bit of traveling, Crash obtained both the crystal and clear gem from the level without any trouble.  He then went back into the level for the second time to get a relic.  He emerged victorious with another Sapphire Relic.  After getting it, he stepped on the portal to the next level, Orient Express.  Just before he could enter, Twilight stopped him.

"Wait, Crash!" she called.

Crash tripped and fell flat on his stomach.  He got up just inches away from the portals, scratching his head.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but this next level is for your sister."

"Me?!" Coco asked enthusiastically.

"Yep.  Go get 'em, girl."

Coco excitedly ran to the portal and jumped straight in.





Soon, Coco was teleported into ancient China, during the construction of the Great Wall.  On the wall was an excited tiger cub named Pura.  Coco gave a little wink, then hopped onto Pura's back and started riding him across the Great Wall.  She rode the young eccentric tiger cub with ease and even managed to get both the crystal and clear gem in the level.  As soon as she reached the portal, she got off of Pura and nuzzled him like a house cat.





Back in the Time Twister, Fluttershy couldn't help but find Coco's actions to be adorable.

"Aw, isn't that just the cutest thing?" she cooed.

Eventually, she and the others heard the portal open back up.  Coco emerged from the portal and dug into her pocket, pulling out the crystal.  She then checked around for the gem, as she couldn't feel it inside her pockets.  She turned around upon hearing the sound of the gem cling on to something.  It turned out that the gem had somehow got stuck to her back.  Of course, this little mishap caused both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to laugh uncontrollably.  The two of them both thought that it was the funniest thing in the world.

After having the laugh of their lives, Coco went back inside the level.  As soon as she did, a message appeared on the Time Twister monitor coming from the old Roman Colosseum.  It was from Tiny Tiger, who was chained up between two pillars while dressed up as a gladiator.

"Uka Uka and Cortex want Tiny get crystals and bring them to big colosseum in Rome," Tiny explained.  "Crash!  Leave them for Tiny... Or Crash get CRUSHED!"





As soon as he finished, the feed cut back to Coco, who was doing her time trial in Orient Express.  Upon finishing the level, she came back through the portal and presented the second-best Time Relic there was, a Gold Relic.  Now that she was done, Crash could go into the next level, Bone Yard.





He entered and immediately started getting chased by a triceratops.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Rainbow cried in shock.

Pinkie let out a huge gasp.  She wasn't expecting to see a big dinosaur chasing their friend.

"Don't let it catch you, Crash, unless you want to end up as flat as a pancake!" Twilight shouted into her mic.

Crash continued running until he got far enough away from the triceratops.  He stopped to catch his breath, as all of that running made him exhausted.  Luckily for him, the crystal was right in front of him.  He grabbed it and put it into his shorts pocket.

Twilight wiped off a bunch of sweat from her forehead.  All of that chasing made her extremely nervous.

"That was too close.  I just hope he manages to survive the rest of the level."

"I'm certainly sure he will, darling.  Crash may be a bit dense, but he does know what to do whenever someone is in danger," Rarity said reassuringly.

Sure enough, despite being chased by another triceratops, Crash managed to get the first clear gem on his way out and complete the level unharmed.  Upon getting back, he dug into his pocket and pulled out the crystal.  After that, he tapped his left ear and the clear gem came out of the other.  He then went back into the level to obtain the relic.  He was really fast this time, as he came back with a gold relic for his troubles.

After that, he stepped on the fifth button and saw that it was filled with surface water and a jet ski.  He was extremely nervous, as he didn't know how to properly use one.  Coco decided to take the level instead.  She jumped into the portal and instantly got transported into the golden age of piracy.





She rode the jet ski through the level until she came across a pirate ship.  There, aboard the ship, was an oddly familiar girl with light blonde hair, wearing an eyepatch and pirate clothing.  It was Applejack.



She captured both Coco and her jet ski and brought her aboard.

"What are y'all doing here, ya landlubber?" she asked suspiciously.  "And what are ya supposed to be?  Some kind of rodent?"

"I'm a bandicoot," Coco responded.  "Now, let me go!  If I don't help my big brother and his friends gather the crystals, Cortex and Uka Uka will enslave the entire world in my time!"

Applejack lifted up her eyepatch upon hearing that.  She was deeply concerned now.

"Did you just mention something about crystals?" she asked.

Coco nodded her head as she struggled to get out of the rope.  Applejack walked over to her and cut her free.

"Lucky for you, I found one here.  Would this be it?"

She showed her a crystal, causing her face to brighten up.

"That's it!  That's the one!"

Just then, Twilight's voice came over Coco's earpiece.

"Coco!  Coco!  Is that Applejack with you?  You need to get back to the Time Twister with that crystal!  Cortex's lab assistants are coming after you!" Twilight said.

"Was that Twilight?" Applejack asked.

Before Coco could answer, some pirate lab assistants slowly made their way towards them.

"Quick, you need come with me!" Coco exclaimed.

"But yer jet ski's only got one seat!  I can't sit on the back of that thing!"

Applejack noticed two loose boards and decided to use them as water skis.





After a quick change of clothes into her everyday outfit, Applejack rode on the water skis as Coco blazed through the level, while breaking crates along the way.  The two of them eventually collected the clear gem on the way back into the Time Twister.





As soon as they arrived, Applejack slid onto the cold, metallic floor in front of her friends.

"APPLEJACK!  YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Pinkie shouted, giving her distant cousin a big hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Pinkie," Applejack chuckled, returning the hug.

She then turned to Coco.

"It's, uh, Coco, right?"

Coco nodded her head.

"What the hay can these crystals do to stop some crazy people from taking over the world, anyhow?"

Aku Aku suddenly transported into the Time Twister behind her.

"The crystals have extraordinary power that if in the right hands, can be a force for good," he explained.

Upon hearing his voice, Applejack jumped and noticed that he was a talking mask.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You're a talking mask!"

"I am Aku Aku.  And my evil twin brother, Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex, the creator of both Crash and Coco, here, plan to use the crystals to conquer the entire world."

"Hold up.  You're saying that some crazy mad scientist created these two?"

"Unfortunately, it's true.  And if it wasn't for me, they'd be fully under his control by now," Twilight explained.

"Woah.  I-I-I-I-I didn't realize that."

"There is no need to be sorry for what has been done in the past.  As of now, Tiny is waiting for the crystals in ancient Rome.  Crash, you must defeat him once more, but beware!  He has some new tricks this time.  Good luck."

And with that, he teleported out of the Time Twister.
> Meet Dingodile
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash stepped on the button with Tiny's face on it and jumped into the portal, taking him to ancient Rome.  Once he did, Tiny sent a message from said area.

"Crash!  Coco!  Stole the pretty crystals!  Tiny take them back in gladiator arena!"

"Who the hay was that?" Applejack asked.

"That was Tiny Tiger," Twilight groaned.

She hit her hand on her face and shook her head in disbelief.

"Is that a problem?"

"Listen, Applejack, I thought for sure that when Crash defeated him last time, that we would just give up.  But apparently, it seems that he now works for Cortex instead of N. Brio."

"Who the hay is N. Brio?"

"That would be Cortex's former colleague.  They had a bit of a falling out after Cortex's first defeat."

"Well, if you say so."

"Girls, look!  There's Crash in a gladiator arena facing Tiny now!" Pinkie said, pointing at the screen.





Sure enough, Crash was indeed facing off against Tiny Tiger, who was also wielding a trident to try to attack Crash.  Instead, though, he only wore himself out as Crash dodged his every movement.  As Tiny was catching his breath, Crash decided to spin into him, taking him down a peg.  Furious, Tiny grabbed his trident and leapt back onto the stone he was on while chained down.  Just then, the five doors in front of Crash opened up and a bunch of lions started running out to try to eat him.





Twilight's eyes turned to pinpricks as she saw the doors open.

"Crash, look out for those lions!  If one of them catches you, you'll be his lunch!" she screamed.

Luckily, Crash managed to dodge every lion that came his way and ended up attacking Tiny two more times until he admitted defeat.  Upon being defeat, Tiny dropped a power-up for the bandicoots.  It was called the Super Charged Body Slam.  It was a more powerful version of the ground pound attack they had earlier.  After picking it up, Crash warped straight back into the Time Twister victorious.  As soon as he did, the electricity that was in front of area two disappeared.

"Uh, what just happened?" Rainbow asked.

"I believe that since Crash just defeated a boss, the next area of the Time Twister automatically unlocked," Twilight explained.  "But we're not done, yet.  Coco, do you think you can get the time relic in Makin' Waves?"

"Sure, Twilight.  I'd be happy to get it," Coco responded.

She ran over to the level and jumped into the portal to get a time relic for Makin' Waves.  Upon returning, she had presented the others with a gold time relic, much to everyone's delight.

"Thank goodness that's over.  Now we can move on to the next area," Rarity said.

Before they could, however, Cortex and Uka Uka sent them a message on the monitor.





"WHY?!  WHY MUST YOU CONTINUE TO BE THORNS IN OUR SIDE?!" Uka Uka roared, possessing Cortex.

After he was finished, Cortex immediately came back to his senses and started mourning the potential loss of Tiny.

"Honestly, at least try to be more reasonable with my minions, next time," Cortex said.

After that, the message ended and Crash immediately entered the new level, Gee Wiz.  Barely managing to avoid getting kissed by the frogs, Crash managed to come back with both the crystal and gem in the level.  After that, he went back in for the relic and came back with another sapphire relic.  He then went into the next level, Hang'em High and got the crystal, the clear gem and a sapphire relic.  Getting to the next level, though, made Rainbow's eyes light up.  It was a race set in the 1950's in the middle of a desert.  While the lab assistants were all in blue cars, Crash was riding a motorcycle, even sporting his own biker jacket and sunglasses for the occasion.

"Awesome!  Crash is definitely going to win this race!  I'm sure of it!" Rainbow squealed.

The traffic light counted down and then the racers were off.  Crash sped past most of the racers while breaking the crates along the way.  Eventually, Crash came in first place and won the crystal.  He teleported back into the Time Twister and presented his two achievements.  He then went back inside for the relic.  As soon as he did, a new face appeared on the monitor in the Ice Age.  He was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile.  He wore blue pants and had a flamethrower equipped, powered by a gas tank strapped to his back.





"G'day, mates," he greeted.  "Dingodile's the name and Uka Uka and Cortex gave me orders to bring the crystals to them during the Ice Ages.  So, give me the goods and shove off!  Or I'll roast youse!  That includes you too, Twilight!  Heh heh heh heh."

And with that, the message ended.  Twilight gulped.  She was the one who helped give Dingodile his flamethrower in the first place, via Cortex's orders.  The others glanced at Twilight with concerned looks.

"Would someone mind telling what the heck is going on, here?" Applejack asked.

"It's complicated, Applejack.  You see, when we all got separated, Twilight ended up being forced to work for this Cortex guy and now he apparently has a huge vendetta against for her 'betrayal'," Pinkie explained.

As she was rambling on, Crash ended up going into Tomb Time and came back with the crystals and both of the gems, due to already having the purple gem from when he was helping N. Brio.

"Is that true, Twilight?"

"Unfortunately, Applejack, it is," Twilight said sadly.

"But it wasn't your fault, Twilight," Coco said reassuringly.  "You didn't know that Cortex would try to use you for his insane experiments to take over the world."

"Still, I can't help but feel partially responsible."

Seeing how hard Twilight was being on herself, Crash managed to cheer everyone up with a recently obtained sapphire time relic from Tomb Time.  Yet again, he managed to prove himself useful to everyone that he definitely had what it takes to save the world.
> Dr. N. Tropy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a bit of cheering up, everyone decided to refocus on their goal to save the world by obtaining all of the crystals and gems.  Coco decided to take the next level, since it had Pura.  She had really warmed up to the cute little tiger cub.  Travelling the Great Wall wasn't as easy this time, but the duo managed to do it and obtain both the crystal and the gem in the level.  After getting through, it was finally time for Crash to face off against Dingodile.  After Coco returned with the crystal and gem, Crash stepped on the button and warped straight to the Ice Age.  The screen showed Dingodile in said place as he sent them a message.

"Well now, I guess you're coming here with those crystals.  But you're not just going to hand them over so easily, are you?" Dingodile said.

"What do you think, Dingodile?!" Twilight growled.

"Right.  You're going to fight for them.  Now you've gone and done it.  I tried to warn you that I'd fry you, because I meant it.  You'll be lucky if that bandicoot friend of yours survives this.  Because if he doesn't, them crystals are mine."

And with that, the message ended and immediately cut to the Ice Age.





The first thing that everyone noticed was that Dingodile was threatening an innocent penguin, named Penta, with his flamethrower.  This, of course, made Fluttershy extremely aggravated.

"He's lucky I'm here in the Time Twister and not in the Ice Ages right now!" she snarled.

Just then, Crash made his entrance and caught Dingodile's attention.

"Break out the butter, I'm going to make toast!" he boasted.

Penta thankfully ran out of the way as ice crystals soon formed around Dingodile, creating a barrier.  He then shot of a few small bursts of fire into the air, which landed in specific spots around the arena.  Crash managed to dodge them all, then decided to taunt Dingodile by clucking like a chicken.

"Why you--!  Now you're asking for it, mate!"

He aimed his flamethrower at Crash and let out a huge stream of fire from it, breaking some of his barrier.  Seeing an opportunity, Crash spun into Dingodile, knocking him flat on his stomach.  Doing so, however, caused the gas tank's alarm to go off.  Knowing very well that it was going to explode, Crash narrowly got out of the way of the blast, which sent Dingodile rebounding back into the center.  This was done two more times until Dingodile eventually admitted defeat.

"You thrashed me, mate.  No worries.  You'll soon be up against much worse."

Penta jumped on Dingodile as he laid on his stomach in defeat, dropping a new powerup for the bandicoots.  The powerup was a Double Jump, which allows the user to be able to jump for a second time at the top of their first jump.  Crash then returned to the Time Twister, where everyone was waiting for him and congratulated him on his victory.

"That was awesome how you beat that jerk, Crash!" Rainbow beamed.

"Abso-tiva-lutely!  And that was really close, too," Pinkie added.  "I mean, if you hadn't beaten him, we would've been stuck in this video game forever and we wouldn't be continuing our search for Sunset Shimmer in the sequel!"

"Pinkie, what are you talking about?"

"Uh, nothing.  Never mind."





THE TIME TWISTER

Wait, why is the game paused?  Oh, great.  It's the first fourth-wall break of the entire series.  Pinkie, are you serious, right now?

What?  You ARE going to be doing a sequel, right?

Well, yes, but I have to finish this story first.  Plus, I'm making myself laugh just by writing your lines.

Well, d'uh!  That's 'cause I'm the funniest character, riiiiiiiiiiiiiight?

Okay, yes!  But just keep your mouth shut about spoilers!  I like to surprise my readers and keep them guessing.

Okie-dokie-lokie, Mr. Gamer-Writer.  Hope your gameplay and YouTube videos help you out.  And the Let's Plays.

PINKIE!

Alright, alright.  Party-pooper.

Ahem!  Anyways, back to the story.





After their celebration, Coco decided to go back into Midnight Run and get the relic.  Upon returning, she typed a few lines of code on her laptop, revealing a gold relic that she obtained from the time trial.  Coco wasn't done, however, as she stepped on the platform in the middle and ended up going to a new level.  A jet ski level for her entitled, Ski Crazed.  She went through the level and then came back with its gem.  Both Crash and Coco were making excellent progress so far.  Coco then made her way back up to the main floor of the Time Twister just as another message was being transmitted.  This time, it was from N. Tropy.

"Well, haven't we gotten far for a pair of fuzzy marsupials and a group of pastel-colored magical girls?" he mocked.  "I am Dr. Nefarious Tropy.  Master of time and the creator of the very Time Twister machine you see before you.  Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex have sent me to end this little charade, so you won't be leaving my area with the crystals.  I swear it!  And if you think it's strange for me to know that the six of you girls have magic, let me tell you that it won't be the strangest thing you'll encounter in this world."

Twilight and the others looked at each other with confused glances.

"What in tarnation are you talking about?" Applejack asked.

N. Tropy only chuckled at her comment.

"If only you knew the real reason why you were sent here.  Unfortunately, if I told you now, it could potentially cause a paradox that would alter the course of history in your world.  So until you find out for yourselves, you'll have to deal with me and other villains in this world, you brats!"

And with that, the transmission ended, leaving Twilight and her friends stunned and speechless.  So many questions were racing through their minds right now.  Why were they sent to fix the game's ending in the first place?  Why did they end up being separated?  Even with all of this, they knew that they had to stop Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex from taking over the entire world by gathering the remaining 15 crystals scattered throughout time.

In the next area, Crash managed to not only get the next two crystals, but also managed to get the gems, including the final colored gem.  The gem in question was red in color and was found in the level, Deep Trouble.  He also managed to find a secret exit leading to a secret gem in a level called, Eggipus Rex, found in the level, Dino Might!  Not only that, but he also managed to get a gold relic in Dino Might! and a sapphire relic in Deep Trouble.  After doing so, however, N. Tropy sent another message and he wasn't very pleased with their continuing progress.

"So, you pesky little rats aren't going to back off, eh?" he snarled.  "Just you continue to gather crystals and see what I do!"

And with that, the message ended, causing Fluttershy to hide her face in her hair.  There was no denying it.  She was terrified of N. Tropy's threat.





The following levels were quite interesting.  In High Time, Crash managed to get the crystal, the gem and a sapphire relic.  In the next level, Road Crash, Crash was once again out on a North American desert highway in the 1950's.  The track was much harder, now, as there were pits in some places.  What they didn't expect, however, was for him to go back in and hit the alien sign, transporting him back into the Time Twister, while Coco got transported to a new level, Hot Coco.  Coco managed to get all of the crates and received not only the gem, but also a sapphire relic for her troubles.  It was a tricky level, but she managed to do it on her jet ski.





Soon, Crash did another level, a strange motorcycle level called Area 51?  Twilight's eyes turned to pinpricks upon seeing the level's name.  This made her extremely nervous.  Area 51 was located in Roswell, New Mexico.  A place known for its supposed alien sightings.  Not only that, but the security around that area was incredibly strict.  Thankfully, though, this was a video game and not their world.  It was, of course, another race with Crash on a motorcycle.  He not only came in first, but also managed to get all of the crates and earn a sapphire relic for the time trial.  Both Crash and Coco were on a roll with collectibles.  Crash soon went back into Road Crash for the time trial and earned a sapphire relic.  Finally, he traveled into the last medieval level, Double Header, which had giant two-headed lab assistants wielding turkey clubs.  As soon as he entered, Cortex and Uka Uka sent everyone a message.

"Well, you've crashed a few parties before, but I never expected you to make it this far," Cortex said.  "If you don't turn back..."

"I will inflict 1,000 years of suffering on you AND THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!" Uka Uka concluded as the message ended.





Crash, however, wasn't going to turn back, now.  He had to get the crystal in order to save the world.  And get it he did.  Not only that, but he also managed to get the gem, as well.  Soon, it was time to face N. Tropy and stop him from getting the crystals they had worked so hard to collect.  He stepped on N. Tropy's boss platform and then jumped into the portal to face him.  As soon as he did, N. Tropy sent one final message and he was very cross.

"AARGH!  You little vermin are way too stupid to understand what you're getting yourselves into!  This time, you've done it!" he snarled.

As the message ended, the girls saw N. Tropy adjust a giant stopwatch with his own face on it.  After he finished, he pushed it out of the way using his giant tuning fork.

"Now, you're on my time, you little skunk!  GIVE ME THE CRYSTALS!"

N. Tropy banged his tuning fork on the ground, creating several platforms in front of Crash.  He then sent a thermal bomb hurdling towards Crash, which he managed to dodge.  After that, he tried electrocuting him with the magnets close to him.  Doing so, however, only caused him to get exhausted and created a path towards him.  Upon reaching the other side, Crash spun into him, causing N. Tropy to go over to the other side.  This was done for two more times until he finally admitted defeat.  Upon being defeated, he dropped a very helpful powerup to help get across gaps easier, the Death Tornado Spin.

"My time is up, but yours soon will be, too," N. Tropy said as he teleported out of his suit to get a new one.





Crash then teleported back to the Time Twister, where he was greeted by a bunch of happy girls.  Everyone was so excited that he had just defeated N. Tropy.  Their celebration was short-lived, however, when Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex sent them a message.

"YOU INSOLENT INSIGNIFICANT MORONS!" Uka Uka roared.  "By defeating N. Tropy, you have placed all in in GRAVE DANGER!"

Cortex shook off Uka Uka's possession and came back to his senses to try to calmly reason with the others.

"Crash, Coco, girls, you must realize that this Time Twister machine is very delicate," he pleaded.

"Delicate as in how, you ruffian?" Rarity growled, folding her arms.

"Please listen to me.  I'm being serious.  Without Dr. N. Tropy's constant care and control of the Time Twister, who knows what it will do?"

And with that, the message ended, leaving everyone in complete shock.  Did defeating N. Tropy really mean that it would eventually cause the Time Twister to malfunction?  Only time would tell if that were true.
> Take to the Skies!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Cortex's warning, Crash managed to go back into Double Header and ended up coming back with a gold time relic.  After he did that, he went into the next area and got both the crystal and both of the clear gems in the level, Sphynxinator, due to already having the blue gem from helping N. Brio.  He then went back in and got the sapphire relic for the level's time trial, which really stressed out everyone watching on the monitor.  He had to dodge various traps set up by Cortex's henchmen, the lab assistants, but he managed to just barely get the sapphire relic and come back unscathed.  The next level was for Coco, set in World War I during the time of fighter bi-planes.





Coco entered the level, Bye Bye Blimps and was instantly piloting a dark pink biplane known as the Flying Queen.  Her goal in the level, was to shoot down all seven of Cortex's blimps to get the crystal.  It wasn't going to be easy, as Cortex's henchmen were piloting their own biplanes trying to shoot Coco out of the sky.  There were also crates that were held up by balloons.  Luckily, Coco was extremely skilled at handling her vehicle and managed to get all of the crates, as well as shoot down all of Cortex's blimps, earning both the crystal and gem for the level.  After that, she went back into the level and obtained a sapphire relic for quickly shooting down the blimps.





Upon returning, Coco instantly went into the next level, Tell No Tales, a jet ski level, where she not only got the crystal, but all of the crates, as well.  Much to Twilight's surprise, there were some crates that were in an isolated part of the level.  Had Coco not explored the entire level, she would've missed them and not have the level's gem.  After getting both the crystal and gem, Coco went back into the level for the time trial and came back with another sapphire relic.  Despite that, though, Coco eventually decided to go back into Ski Crazed to get the relic.  She emerged victorious, just barely obtaining the sapphire relic from the time trial.  Of course, Crash didn't want to be left out, so he went back into Dino Might! to get the relic from Eggipus Rex.  Just barely making it to the end on the back of a baby t-rex, he managed to obtain the sapphire relic, much to everyone's shock.

"What?  How?  I thought---?  How did that count?!" Twilight stammered.

No one was in more shock than her.  She thought Crash had botched the time trial, when in reality, he just barely managed to get into the portal with enough time to obtain the sapphire relic.  As soon as he returned with the relic, though, N. Gin appeared on the monitor inside a glass dome.

"What the?  Who the hay is that?" Applejack asked in shock.

"N. Gin!  Just what is it that you want, this time?" Twilight growled.

"So, resorting to mild threats, are we, Twilight?" N. Gin retorted.  "Well, if you're so eager to know, Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex want me to teach your bandicoot friends a lesson."

"Oh yeah?  You couldn't win last time, you bucket of bolts!  What makes you think you'll be able to beat us, now?" Rainbow snapped.

"Well, I've made a few modifications to my mechanics since our last encounter, Skittles."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!  You're lucky I'm in the Time Twister instead of wherever it is you are, you big jerk!"

"Calm down, Dash, before you blow a fuse," Applejack pleaded.

"And this time, I don't plan on taking this out on Crash Bandicoot.  Instead, I'll take it out on the one who hijacked Dr. Cortex's hologram signal!" N. Gin said.

Coco gulped.  She knew that he was referring to her.

"So, back off, Coco!  Or be DELETED!"

And with that, the message ended.

"Applejack, you're crushing my arms!" Rainbow groaned.

Applejack instantly let go of Rainbow Dash, who then started rubbing her arms to ease the pain.  Applejack sometimes had a hard time of controlling her super strength with her geode.  It wasn't just her, though.  Every signal one of the girls sometimes had trouble with their magical abilities, especially Pinkie and her ability to make decorative sprinkles explode.  Despite his threats, Crash didn't let that deter him from his goal, which was to stop Cortex from taking over the world.  Now more determined than ever, he went right into the next level, Future Frenzy, a futuristic-looking level.





After going through the level, he managed to come back with the crystal, but not the gems.  Despite not having the gems, though, went back through the level for the relic.  After going through the level as fast as he could, Crash returned with another sapphire relic to help stop Cortex and Uka Uka achieve their goal of world domination.  Crash wasn't done, however, as he ended up going to the bottom floor and used the secret entrance to get both gems from the level.  After that was over, he came back up to the main floor and entered the final level of the area, Tomb Wader.

After barely managing to get through the level due to the fact that the water level constantly rose and fell, Crash managed to come back with both the crystal and the clear gem.  After that was done, it was time for Coco to face N. Gin for the crystals again.  Coco, however, wasn't feeling too confident, since N. Gin had threatened to destroy her for good.

"Coco, listen.  I know N. Gin threatened you a while ago, but that doesn't mean that you should back away from all of this," Twilight said reassuringly.  "If anything, you should get in there and teach that robot-obsessed jerk a lesson!"

Coco cracked a smile, then gave Twilight a big hug.

"Thanks, Twilight.  I really needed that," Coco said.

"Now, get in there and show him what for!"

Coco jumped into the portal to face off against N. Gin, who instantly sent a message once Coco regained her confidence.

"So, you want to go a few rounds, little Coco?  When this is over, we'll see who's obsolete!" he said as the message ended.





N. Gin was ready with a giant robot mech in the deep reaches of space above the moon while Coco piloted a spaceship.  He tried hitting her with laser guns and homing missiles, but she managed to take out the weak spots.  After doing so, Pura joined up with her in his own spaceship, armed with a large laser cannon as he attached his spaceship onto hers.  It was time for phase two of the boss fight.  Coco and Pura dodged the lasers and missiles as they attacked the weak points of N. Gin's robot.  The two of them eventually managed to defeat him, causing the robot to explode.  Upon defeating him, a new powerup was obtained.  A weapon known as the Fruit Bazooka, an actual bazooka that uses unlimited Wumpa Fruit as ammo.  Coco went through the portal and returned victorious, much to everyone's delight.
> Crash VS. Cortex: Round 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was amazing, Coco!" Twilight congratulated.

Their celebration was cut short, however, when Cortex and Uka Uka sent them another message.

"It's funny how history repeats itself," Cortex said unimpressed.  "Yet again, N. Gin has failed to defeat you bandicoots."

Uka Uka was very cross upon hearing this.

"WHAT?!  For this we must destroy you!" he threatened.

Cortex shook off Uka Uka's possession and held his head in pain.  It was really starting to hurt from all of the times Uka Uka had been possessing him to get to the point.

"Oh, my aching head.  I'm not feeling myself these days."

"Gee, I wonder why," Rainbow said sarcastically.

"Just shut up, Dash," Twilight said, facepalming.

"Ignoring your friend's insult, it would be that the end is in sight," Cortex continued.  "Gather another five crystals and again you will have foiled my plan.  Or will you?"





As the message ended, the last sentence made Twilight a little nervous.  What did Cortex exactly mean by that?  Whatever it was, it didn't sound good to her.  Despite that, Crash managed to go back into Tomb Wader and obtain a sapphire relic for the time trial.  After that, he went into a new level in the basement, Rings of Power.  In the level, Crash flew a blue biplane known as the Orange Baron.  This level was a race.  In order to get one of the gems, Crash had to come in first place while flying through all 30 rings.  It wasn't easy, thanks to the handling of the plane, but he managed to do it and beat the time trial all in one go.  Upon returning, he not only had both gems, but also a gold time trial relic for his troubles.

After that, he traveled to the next level, Gone Tomorrow and obtained not only the crystal, but also both gems in the level.  Upon returning to the Time Twister, he immediately went back in for the relic and was eventually rewarded with a sapphire relic.  After that, he entered the next level, which was the final racing level in the 1950's, Orange Asphault.  The race was surprisingly a lot easier than it was in the level, Road Crash.  Crash even managed to get the clear gem after getting all of the crates.  Once again, after returning to the Time Twister, he went back into the level for the time relic.  It was once again, another sapphire relic.  The following level, Flaming Passion, was the final level set in ancient Arabia.  Crash managed to get the crystal and clear gem from that level.  Not only that, but he barely managed to get a sapphire relic upon entering it for the second time.  After getting Flaming Passion's sapphire relic, Aku Aku teleported into the Time Twister, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oh, my goodness!  What are you doing here, Aku Aku?" Fluttershy asked.

"Children, I have come to warn you about our upcoming battle.  Remember, it is not only Dr. Cortex that we battle," Aku Aku warned.  "Beware of Uka Uka, my children.  He is a far more dangerous enemy than anyone can imagine.  It will not only take the power of you, Crash, but also the power of our new allies."

"Us?!" the girls all exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, you.  You must use your magical abilities to help Crash defeat both Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex.  Worry not, though.  I will attempt to weaken Uka Uka while Crash deals with Dr. Cortex on the battlefield.  You must use your powers to not only protect him, but to also aid him in battle.  We will need all the help we can get if anyone is to stand a chance."

Twilight and looked at her friends, who were all deeply concerned.

"We've made it this far.  If we're going to stop this crazy scientist and this evil mask, then we need to work together and show them that these kind of actions will never triumph over the magic of friendship!" Twilight exclaimed, putting her hand in the middle.

"Twilight's right, y'all.  If we can go up against foes like the Dazzlings, then we can sure as heck go up against a deranged mad scientist," Applejack said, joining in the middle.

"Abso-tiva-lutely!" Pinkie exclaimed, also joining.

"Here, here," Rarity added, joining in as well.

"Count me in," Rainbow said, putting her hand in the middle.  "Come on, Fluttershy.  We can't do this without you."

Fluttershy was hesitant at first, but eventually joined in with her hand in the middle.

"Anyone who would dare use or threaten animals like Crash and Coco for their own selfish needs is enough to get me in this fight.  I'm in," she said, joining in with the others.

"Then it's settled.  Once we defeat Cortex once and for all, we're going to find Sunset Shimmer and return home!" Twilight exclaimed.

Everyone lifted up their hands in excitement as they agreed on Twilight's comment.

"Good luck, children," Aku Aku said before teleporting away.





Filled with energy after seeing the Rainbooms give each other a well-deserved pep talk, Crash decided to tackle the next level, Mad Bombers.  The goal was to destroy all five red fighter planes.  It wasn't easy, since the lab assistants were constantly gunning for Crash in the air.  He managed to succeed, however, even managing to come back with both the crystal and gem in the level.  He then went back inside and obtained another sapphire relic for the level.  He was then about to go into the final main level when Twilight stopped him.

"Hang on, Crash.  I'm picking up another level on a completely different area of the Time Twister," she said.

She brought up the level on the screen.  It was another futuristic level.

"Coco, do you think you can take this level and get one or both of the gems?"

Coco looked at the level on the screen.  It looked very hard, but she was confident that she could do it.

"Yeah, I think I can take it," Coco said.

"Alright.  Good luck."

Coco gave Twilight a big hug before setting off on the platform close to the first area of the Time Twister.  The platform took her to an isolated area of the Time Twister with a single button with the number 31 on it.  It was the level, Future Tense.  Coco stepped on the button and then jumped into the portal.  Everyone eyed the giant monitor worriedly as Coco made her way towards the death platform.

"Please be careful, Coco," Fluttershy pleaded softly.

Coco managed to use all of the abilities that she obtained, including a new one that Twilight equipped her with just before entering the level.  It was a special powerup called the Speed Shoes, allowing her to run faster.  As soon as she got the clear gem at the end of death route, she noticed something odd dancing in the distance.  It looked like Crash, but not exactly.  He had huge bushy eyebrows, tiny pupils, a large round nose, longer ears, and big teeth.







Back in the Time Twister, everyone was shocked at this abomination that looked like Crash Bandicoot.

"What in the world is that ugly thing?!" Rarity cringed.

Fluttershy angrily rolled her eyes at Rarity's comment.  Even though it was a weird copy, she still believed that it deserved to be respected.

"A weird imitation of Crash.  I think it should be called Fake Crash," Twilight said.

"Look at that thing dance.  It's so silly," Rainbow laughed.

Applejack could barely contain her laughter and ended up cackling at Fake Crash's goofy dance.





Soon, Coco made her way back into the Time Twister with the gem that she obtained from the death route.  That was one more gem to add the collection to stopping Cortex's scheme for world domination.

After making her way back up, Crash decided to tackle the final level, Bug Lite.  The first time he went through, he got the gem from the multi-colored gem path.  He then went back in for a second time to get both the box gem and the crystal needed to stop Cortex's evil plans.  He returned with the final crystal and the 45th gem needed to stop Cortex.  Everyone was so happy, that they all did a variant of Crash's iconic dance to celebrate.  After that was over, all that was left was to defeat Cortex for the third time.  It was finally time to take the battle to him once and for all.  Before they could, however, Cortex and Uka Uka sent them a message.  To their surprise, Cortex was laughing as if he had cracked or something.

"I'm sorry.  This is the part where I'm supposed to be angry, full of rage, incensed beyond belief," Cortex said.

As he spoke, Uka Uka raised an eyebrow in confusion.  Why was Cortex acting so calm when he should be screaming his head off in anger?  For him, that just didn't make sense.

"Once again, you have outsmarted and outspun my best henchmen.  I should be rather upset, shouldn't I?"

Unable to take any more of his useless banter, Uka Uka possessed Cortex to get straight to the point.

"AND IN FACT, WE'RE FURIOUS!" he roared.  "But it seems you have overlooked one small detail, you little orange delivery boy.  Now that you have gathered all the crystals and all most of the gems, all we have to do IS TAKE THEM FROM YOU!"

And with that, the message ended.  Twilight looked at Coco as Crash stepped on the portal with Cortex's face on it.

"Coco, stay here and monitor us.  I want to make sure that Cortex sees the face of the person he once called his assistant once he's defeated," Twilight said, determined.  "Come on, everyone.  Let's go teach Cortex a lesson he'll never forget."

Everyone stepped into the portal and prepared to face Cortex in battle.





They arrived somewhere in the Time Twister machine, where Cortex was now on an improved hoverboard with Uka Uka possessing him happily.

"Welcome to your doom, everyone!  I am so happy that you have come, for you have brought all of the crystals and all of the gems needed to me!" Uka Uka exclaimed.  "Ultimate power is mine!  The world as we know it IS ABOUT TO END!"

Uka Uka unpossessed Cortex to let him fight Crash while he fought against his brother, Aku Aku.  The girls, on the other hand, were watching the fight form the nearby monitors, safe from harm.  As Cortex fired his laser gun at Crash, both Aku Aku and Uka Uka fired beams at each other, which were equal in strength.

"Be careful, Crash!" Fluttershy called out worriedly.

Crash responded in gibberish as he did his best to dodge all of the attacks coming at him.

"I know it's dangerous, but you have to do your best!  For the sake of the entire world!"

Just then, Cortex mixed things up a bit by throwing land mines that exploded similarly to TNT crates.

"CRASH!  LOOK OUT!" Twilight shouted as the mines started counting down.

Thinking fast, Pinkie pulled out to bottles of sprinkles out of her hair and threw them at the mines, causing them to explode.  The resulting explosion from the sprinkles knocked Cortex off of his hoverboard.  Seeing an opportunity, Crash spun Cortex down into the shaft into the middle of the arena.  Not wanting Cortex to go down that easily, Uka Uka lifted him back up and gave him a shield to protect himself.

"What in tarnation?!  Now that jerkwad's got a shield!" Applejack exclaimed.

"No fair!  Now we can't damage him as easily!" Rainbow said.

Suddenly, Aku Aku and Uka Uka were spinning around the arena as they fought each other intensely.  Seeing that Crash might get pulverized, Rarity used her magic to conjure up a shield to protect Crash from the two brothers as Cortex continued to fire at him.

"Nice work, Rarity!"

"Thank you.  Sadly, this shield is only good against both Aku Aku and Uka Uka's constant fighting and has no effect against anything Cortex has up his sleeves," Rarity responded.

As soon as Cortex threw the mines, his shield malfunctioned, leaving him exposed.  Knowing that Crash might get hurt if he went near Cortex, due to the fact that he was so close to the mines, Applejack decided to use a nearby boulder to knock Cortex off of his hoverboard.  The impact made him see little birds above his head.  Since it was another opportunity to attack, Crash did just that and spun him down into the shaft again, with both the hoverboard and Uka Uka following suit.  It was time for the final phase.  During this time, both Aku Aku and Uka Uka had resorted to a classic brawl.  Every now and then they would attack each other and spin like crazy before going back up into the air.  Suddenly, Cortex revealed a whole slew of mines around the entire arena.  Knowing that Crash might be trapped, Twilight used magic to get some of the mines out of the way.  She even used one of them to knock Cortex off of his hoverboard.  Crash once again spun Cortex into the shaft, where he landed on his stomach with a loud thud.

"WE DID IT!  WE WON!"  Pinkie shouted.

Just then, they all felt something rumble underneath their feet.

"Uh, I don't think that was my stomach."

"No, Pinkie.  It's worse.  THE TIME TWISTER'S ABOUT TO SELF-DESTRUCT ON ITSELF!  WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!" Twilight screamed.

Thinking fast, Rainbow Dash used her super speed to get Crash as Twilight set the coordinates back to N. Sanity Island.

"Aku Aku, you've got to get Coco out of the Time Twister!  We'll meet you back at N. Sanity Island!"

As she spoke, a portal leading to N. Sanity Island appeared and they all quickly jumped in.

Underneath them, however, Cortex and Uka Uka were not so lucky.  One of the portals, which led to a volcano, was starting to suck the two of them inside.

"No!  It cannot be!  Not a prisoner of time again!" Uka Uka pleaded as he tried to get away.  "AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

It was no use, however, as he attempt to get away from the portal were all in vein, since it was sucking everything in.  Back on the main floor of the Time Twister, Coco started panicking as the machine was self-destructing on itself.  Thankfully, she was barely rescued just in time by Aku Aku.





It was now the month of December.  Snow covered the island around the bandicoot house as Crash, Coco, Aku Aku, Polar, Pura, who had decided to join Coco on their way out, and the Rainbooms gathered around a burning fire by the fireplace.

"Oh jellybeans, that was close.  How could something like that even happen?" Fluttershy remarked.

"To put it simply, the Time Twister machine could not hold itself together," Aku Aku explained.  "We were lucky to escape."

"I'll say.  That was three adventures we went on all in one, yet we still don't know what happened to Sunset Shimmer," Pinkie responded.

"I'm sure your friend is out there somewhere, Miss Pinkie," Aku Aku said reassuringly.  "Mark my words, one of these days, you will find her and then you will most likely be able to go back into your world."

"Now that's one thing I'm looking forward to," Applejack said.

"Hmm... That makes me wonder.  What happened to that Cortex character and your brother, Uka Uka?" Rarity asked.

"It is difficult to say what has happened to our enemies, but I doubt we'll be seeing them for a LONG time," Aku Aku said.





Meanwhile, imprisoned near a volcano, were two evil babies.  They were actually Cortex and N. Tropy, having been reduced to infants thanks to the Time Twister imploding on itself.  The two of them were tugging on Uka Uka, wanting to take control of him.

"Give me the mask!  With it, I shall take over the world!  Come on!" Baby Cortex groaned.

Was this truly the end of Cortex?  Or had things begun to stew for an act of revenge in an even bigger plot?  And what of Sunset Shimmer?  Will the Rainbooms ever reunite with her?  Only time will tell.

TO BE CONTINUED...