A gentle breeze blew through the air, rustling the leaves in the trees and sending the scent of the wumpa fruit floating upon the air, and out to sea. The soft lapping of the waves upon the sandy shores of the N. Sanity beach mingled with the cawing of the gulls above as they dived for scraps of food.
Everything was peaceful and calm…
Except for the loud, raucous snoring.
Lounging out on a deckchair under the shade of a large sun umbrella, black sunglasses wrapped around his head and headphones hanging around his neck, was Crash Bandicoot. The heroic marsupial was enjoying his time off, since the last time Dr. Neo Cortex was vanquished, and had little else to do than laze about in the sunshine.
Dozing alongside him, was his friends; Polar, the polar bear cub, who rolled about in his sleep, sand clinging to his white fur. Pura, the tiger cub, who often had his legs suddenly erupt into a spasm of kicking in his slumber. And finally Tina, the tyrannosaur hatchling, whom basked in the warm sunshine, allowing her scaly skin to heat up considerably.
Everything was peaceful in the late morning sunlight…
Then, a cry broke the silence. "Help"
"Hmm?" Crash murmured in his sleep, before drifting back into sleep.
"Help! Someone please help me!" the voice called again.
This time, Crash sat up, giving a huge yawn and stretching his arms high. "What's up this time…" he groaned to himself as he pulled the sunglasses from his face and glanced about, for the source of the voice.
Tina yawned, exposing her huge sharp fangs, as Pura stretched his limbs. Polar remained sleeping in the sunlight. "Who gave the distress call?" Pura asked, blinking as he explored the jungle.
"Not in the jungle," Tina pointed with her stubby forearms. "Out there"
Glancing to where Tina pointed, Crash noticed out in the nearby surf, a dolphin was jumping from the waves, and crying out, "Help me! Someone please help"
Cupping his paws around his mouth, Crash called out to the frantic dolphin, "Hey out there! What's up"
In an instant, the dolphin turned and shot towards the beach. Within seconds, the dolphin had beached itself in front of them, panicking. Chattering away, she cried, "Please, you must help me! My children were playing a game together and then suddenly this great beast came and swept them away in a net! Please… You must help me get them back"
"Ok, ok…" Crash nodded as he knelt beside the dolphin. "Calm down. What did this beast look like"
The dolphin, panting in exhaustion, answered, "It was a large grey creature. It was furry and very strong. It didn't seem to be very smart though"
"Koala Kong," Tina suggested, upon hearing the description. "Sounds exactly like him"
"Please…" the dolphin gasped.
"Sure thing," Crash smiled. "I'll help find them… err"
"Gleam…" the dolphin answered. "My name is Gleam. My children are Delphi and Spot. Spot is my… 'adopted'… son. Please find them"
"You two," Crash pointed at Pura and Tina. "Get Gleam back into the water. Trusting Kong, he will now be considering what to do next. That gives me roughly half an hour before he figures out that he should return to Castle Cortex"
"It happened down there…" Gleam tilted her head to the west. "My children were playing with their new toy and this creature took them… Please"
"Find them… I know…" Crash chuckled. "Right, I'm off. You two get her back into the water," Crash ordered the two animals, before he turned on his sneakers and broke into a sprint down the beach.
He had to admit a bit though; this would be a bit more fun than simply napping in the sun…
"Nine hundred and ninety three… Nine hundred and ninety four… Nine hundred and ninety five…" the voice echoed throughout the silence of the Lost City.
In a small clearing of the ruins and pillars, a training ground lay. Heavy weights and various other exercise machines lay scattered across the tattered ruins. Among them, a thick, bulky bandicoot counted as he continued to do one-handed press-ups. His metal gauntlet hand was behind his back as he continued the press-ups.
Crunch Bandicoot, an ally to Crash and Coco, but not a sibling. Crunch had once been Cortex's servant, before Crash and Coco freed him from his mind control that Cortex had inflicted upon him.
A tall, buff body, Crunch was obsessed with keeping in shape, hence his secret hideaway in the Lost City, where he could train. The training was for two reasons; first to keep in shape, the other so that Crunch could remain as strong as ever, to beat his rival; Tiny Tiger.
"Nine hundred and ninety nine… One thousand…" Crunch hauled himself over, flexing his arm. "Alright… two minute break, then a thousand more on the other arm"
Resting for a few minutes, Crunch glanced over to his power source. A small generator, powering the lights and machines, continued to chug along, eternally powered by a Power Crystal within the glass casing at the top.
Power Crystals were very rare gems and housed incredible powers within them. Even now, the machines that Coco and Nitrus Brio built to harness the energies were barely tapping the true powers of the crystals. It was also the reason was it was important that Cortex and his men did not collect all the crystals and use their powers for destructive purposes.
Turning away, Crunch panted a little from his workout. A thousand more press-ups, then a thousand sit-ups and he'd call it a day.
Suddenly, there was a shattering sound from the generator. Snapping his head back, Crunch noticed that the crystal was gone. "What!" he bellowed, clenching his fists in anger.
"Really my dear Bandicoot," sneered a voice from behind. "Animals such as your-selves have no right to mess with the powers of such things as the Power Crystals… I on the other hand, have all the time in the world"
Snarling as he turned, Crunch growled, "N. Tropy… What right do you have to come poking around in MY training grounds, and steal MY crystal"
The Master of Time sneered, as his bio-mechanical suit chugged along, the clock pieces continuing to spin and distort time. The blue face of N. Tropy stared down at Crunch through his nose, as he clutched the Power Crystal in one hand. "Well my dear Bandicoot… Animals such as your-self own no such land… These islands belong to that fool Neo"
Giving a roar, Crunch charged at N. Tropy, drawing back his metal fist, ready to deliver a strong blow to the doctor. Throwing the punch, Crunch suddenly struck thin air, as N. Tropy warped away.
There was a sharp blow from behind and Crunch gave a loud, "Gah!" of pain as N. Tropy appeared from behind, slamming his tuning fork weapon hard into Crunch's back, creating a surge of energy through the bandicoot's body.
Suddenly, the energy surge threw Crunch forward. The bandicoot gave a yell as he flew several feet, off of the platform he had been training on and into the thick swamp that the city was slowly sinking into.
Climbing out of the swamp, Crunch breathed in laboured, sharp breaths of rage as he shook the mud from his fur and climbed back up to the temple to face N. Tropy. He was not going to let this doctor get away with this humiliation.
N. Tropy stood several feet away, the tuning fork pointed right at Crunch. Crunch froze. He may have been extremely angry, but he knew that N. Tropy could easily blow him to pieces with that weapon.
"If you value your miserable marsupial hide," N. Tropy threatened, with a snicker of triumph in his voice. "You will not take another step"
"And what," Crunch growled, his eyebrows curved in anger, muscles twitching in rage and his voice snarling at loathing. "Is your brilliant plan this time to take over the world with the Power Crystals, pray tell…? You do know that Crash and I will stop you don't you"
N. Tropy chuckled as Crunch asked the question. He did not let his guard down, but he laughed still. "Not this time bandicoot. This time that fool Neo has a fail-proof plan to forever rule this world… There is no way you can stop us"
Crunch continued to glare as N. Tropy stood there. "You know I'll get you… Don't you?" he warned N. Tropy.
"Of course," N. Tropy snickered. "That's the reason I chose to come after you… I look forward to your challenge"
"Then bring it," Crunch motioned with his fingers to draw N. Tropy closer.
"Not just yet…" N. Tropy sniggered. "You are too weak minded." Crunch snarled once again at the comment. "Once you are worthy, then we'll fight…" Then, in the blink of an eye, N. Tropy vanished into thin air with a flash of light, taking the Power Crystal with him.
"I will get you!" Crunch roared out. "Mark my words"
Then, as soon as Crunch had calmed down, he glanced over from where he stood, from the edge of the swamp and out to sea. There was N. Sanity Island, where Crash and Coco were…
He had at least better tell them of what was going on…
With a sigh, Coco Bandicoot leant back in her chair. A smaller bandicoot, Coco was Crash's sister. She was sitting in the lab within hers and Crash's house, her laptop computer out before her.
"I… am… so… BORED!" she screamed at the computer console. All this programming and development and endless arrays of numbers. She was sick to death of it.
"Maybe I should've gone to the beach with Crash and the others…" Coco thought for a moment, resting her head in her hand. Giving another large sigh, Coco wondered why she decided to stay behind.
Someone needed to reprogram several of the machines Brio had supplied them with, and she was the only one who was good enough at computers to do it. If she'd left Crash to it, the toaster would probably be cooking itself and the computers would be short-circuiting…
But still… "I need a break…" Coco groaned. Leaning towards her computer, she started typing, opening up a program called 'HackIt'. Connecting to the server, Coco smiled, "Well, Master Neo Cortex, let us see what 'brilliant' schemes you have planned to show us this time eh"
Allowing her fingers into a fury frenzy of typing, Coco began to crack, decode and decipher the inner workings of Cortex's plans. Passwords, security locks and coded messages all fell before her skills as she continued to type.
Then, "Bingo! All too easy…" Coco beamed as the screen read, 'Welcome Neo Cortex. Master and Supreme Ruler of Earth'
Flopping back to her chair, she checked the time. Two minutes and thirteen seconds. She'd shaved another nine seconds off of last time. "Man… that was too easy… Now what am I suppose to… huh"
Coco just noticed a new link on the page. It read, 'World Domination Attempt 23' and it was dated from today. Intrigued, Coco clicked the link…
'Access Denied from this Console'
"Well, well, well," Coco chuckled. "Finally, some challenge"
Erupting into another frenzy, Coco typed and clicked and tapped and pressed and finally growled in frustration. "Grr… This is quite some encoding…" Even after half an hours work, she was still with no progress. It usually took her no longer than ten minutes to break into Cortex's top secret files.
Finally, a break through. Then one more…
A location of a secret base. On the other side of N. Sanity Island. Perhaps there was a place there she would be able to uplink her computer from and gain access privileges that she currently did not currently have.
And words about the Power Crystals.
"Hmm…" Coco sat back in her chair, rubbing her chin. "Power Crystals again? This doesn't make any sense… He's tried this millions of times before… I'd better find Crash"
Standing up out of her chair, Coco quickly unplugged her laptop and collected her back harness, sliding the laptop into the harness, before slipping into the harness, with the laptop securely fastened to her back.
Quickly exiting the house, Coco blinked for a few moments as the noon sunlight blasted her eyes. Then, she glanced upon the trail to N. Sanity Beach. No doubt Crash and the others had all set up a place to relax somewhere there.
After all, the other path led to the Native Fortress and Crash only ever went there if he couldn't help it.
Breaking into a run, Coco headed towards the beach, hoping that Crash wasn't mucking about in the Wumpa Jungle or something equally as stupid.
"Awaken my creation," a man snickered.
"Uhh… Where… am I?" the creature asked as it stumbled slowly from the capsule, tilting and wobbling around the place.
"Welcome back, Cassie Bandicoot," the man smiled. A large 'N' was tattooed to the man's forehead. "It has been a while since you last saw the light of day"
"Uhh… What?" the creature called Cassie groaned. It was a young female bandicoot, roughly the same age as Coco. She had short blonde hair, kept in place with a hair-band, a heart necklace around her neck and a gold bangle around her left wrist. She wore a purple t-shirt with light blue pants. "What… What do you mean?" she asked the man. "And who are you"
The man smiled, "I am Dr. Neo Cortex; I am the man who created you"
"Created… me?" Cassie asked, as she leant against a wall for support.
"Indeed," Cortex grinned. Then, his face turned into a frown. "I am so sorry that you have had to remain in hibernation for so long Cassie. But your body was damaged during the attack and I have had to repair you over time"
"What… What happened?" Cassie asked, as she glanced about her surroundings for the first time. She was in a room, made of cold bricks. It looked like a cell. There was a window, barricaded with thick iron bars. She saw the large glass capsule that she'd been kept in. There were four others behind it, all empty.
The man Cortex began to walk around the room, revealing another… man? One half of his face was covered in robotics, with a huge missile sticking out of the head, as the man seemed to watch Cortex. "You see my dear Cassie," Cortex began to explain as he paced about the room. "Several years ago, I created an arm… err… a group of creatures as yourself, to allow you a better life. However, three of these creatures began to become evil. I tried to destroy them, but they seized all of my machinery and attempted to take over the world with it.
"These three experiments will stop at nothing to take over the world. They also near killed you, the reason you remember little and have been trapped within that capsule all this time. I have been doing my best to stop them, but every-time, they come back ever more determined.
"You see Cassie, these experiments attacked my right hand man," he pointed to the half man, half robot creature. "Dr. N. Gin. I had to help him survive too. They will stop at nothing to take over the world. That's why I need your help Cassie. They are trying it again and I need your help to stop them. If they collect the Power Crystals Cassie, it's all over for us. You must help me get the crystals before they do"
The bandicoot Cassie stared at Cortex. There was a long, pregnant pause as Cassie took in everything this man had said. "And, who are these three that are doing this that you say"
Dr. N. Gin spoke up, his voice a high metallic whine, "They are called Crash Bandicoot, Coco Bandicoot and Crunch Bandicoot. They are bandicoots just like you, except evil"
"Indeed," Cortex nodded, turning to Cassie. "I need your help to stop them. My hench… err… allies will aid you as much as you need it. But first Cassie, this door," he pointed to a door to his right. "Will lead you to my Gauntlet Run. It will test your skills and help you get ready to take on these other bandicoots"
Cassie stared at Cortex, then to N. Gin. Then to Cortex once more. "Alright then… I'll give it a shot…" She stumbled slightly as she walked to the door, then opened the door. She paused, turning back to Cortex, "This is safe right"
"Of course, my dear…" Cortex nodded, a sombre look on his face.
Cassie nodded and walked through, closing the door behind her.
"Brilliant, Doctor Cortex!" N. Gin laughed. "She fell for that, hook, line and sinker"
"Of course," Cortex chuckled. "It's amazing where a little lying can take you if you are convincing enough." Cortex glanced back at the four empty capsules. "I cannot believe that those fools let those four escape… That stupid Dingodile and Tiny allowed themselves to fall for their charms and allowed them to escape… But still, perhaps it's for the better… I seriously doubt those bandicoots will allow themselves to attack Cassie… So perhaps she may finally be able to defeat the bandicoots once and for all"
"And while she thinks that we are the good guys," N. Gin continued. "She'll continue to bring us the Power Crystals"
"And when she discovers the truth," Cortex snickered. "It'll be too late…" Then he burst into a chorus of maniacal laughter.