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Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day outside. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, and everything was peaceful. Not much had happened since the Cortex Vortex was destroyed. Crash and Coco were simply living their lives in peace with Aku-Aku and their pet polar bear Polar.

With the laser used in their last adventure out of commission, Coco used it to update her technology, finalizing the settings on her brother's smartphone and working out texting so they could stay in contact. Interaction with the outside world was still scarce, mainly doing so to exchange the fruits on the island for money. It was enough to live on, Crash was even given a yo-yo as a third birthday present. Despite this, there was one thing the family was unable to get their hands on.

Information on aether was practically nonexistent on Earth. Books, temple ruins on the islands, websites, nothing. Since two years had passed since Crash's adventure in Dimension 11 with the Skylanders, time could be running out on a way to help his friend from his terrible situation. That wasn't even getting into finding a way to the Skylands. It was in another dimension and Coco highly doubted knowledge on inter dimensional travel was on Earth too. She and Crash asked Aku-Aku about his times traveling to dimensions since he mentioned it once but he said it was long ago and didn't know if he could teleport them to other worlds.

So right now they were taking a break on their front lawn. Crash playing with his yo-yo with Coco typing on her laptop for anything that could help and Polar resting next to her. Before they knew it, the sky started to darken and the air grew cold. The sound of evil laughter could be heard, making Polar huddle close to Coco out of fear. The children looked around, unsure what to make of it.

"Uh, is it supposed to rain today?" Crash asked.

"No. And I highly doubt thunder sounds like that" Coco placed a hand on Polar to comfort him.

Aku-Aku however was starting to shake. His eyes widened as the laughter continued. No. It cannot be he thought. He hoped this would never happen but it seemed the time had come. "Children, get inside!"

Hearing the panic in his voice worried the bandicoots. "Is everything alright?" Coco questioned.

"Get in and I'll explain everything!" the mask flew in the house. Seeing this was serious, the others followed but the door closed early making Crash slam headfirst into it. With him stuck in a daze, Coco dragged him inside.

Sitting in front of the fireplace, Crash spoke up once he regained consciousness. "So what's going on? We've never seen you so scared before."

Aku-Aku let out a sigh, "Remember my stories of evil masks and having a family member who took drastic measures when looking after the islands?"

"Yessss?" they didn't like where this was going.

There was silence before the mask spoke gravely. "My brother...has broken free."

***

"I don't want to go in! I'm already loyal to you!"

Nitro and Tiny shoved the newest mutated animal forward to a new Cortex Vortex. "Stop whining!" N. Gin said. "It's Cortex's orders. He's not taking any chances."

Cortex watched on as he let out a sigh. This was the first of his new evolved animals, being a cross mutation of a dingo and a crocodile named M1. The process worked perfectly as his strength and durability was unlike any other. He was also quite skilled with a flamethrower. However, he was refusing to go into the Vortex, saying he would willingly work for him. After what happened with the bandicoots, he wasn't making the same mistake twice.

Just as M1 was strapped in, the winds outside were getting louder and the power went out. A bright blue light then burst through the walls.

"Gah!" Nitro shielded his eyes. "Dr. Cortex, what is that?" He turned to him to see panic in his eyes. "Uh...master?"

"No...oh nononono" the scientist uttered as the light circled around the room. It then spoke in a threatening voice.

"None have dare failed the great Uka-Uka even once. But you Cortex, you have failed me twice!"

Cortex fell to his knees, "Great Uka-Uka! It was those infernal bandicoots! I don't know how they've managed to outsmart me! I was prepared for anything!"

This made his henchmen stare with wide eyes. "You know this ball of light? Doesn't look that scary" M1 said.

The light then shone brighter until it vanished, revealing a very dark and angry mask. He had a black, orange, and red color scheme with bones on his head and sides. His eyes were yellow and full of rage. The sight made the other three cower in fear too.

"Of course he knows me!" the mask yelled. "He's been working for me and carrying out my plans for world domination! From deep inside my temple prison, I sent simple instructions to follow! I even used what power I had to control his body to ensure everything was going according to plan!"

Nitro then remembered the time where Cortex was yelling when using the hologram device after he failed to get the twenty crystals from C1. "So that yelling...that was you?"

"It was" Cortex nodded. "Uka-Uka's the real mastermind. He promised to help me with something personal if I achieved success. Every once in awhile he would possess me to make sure I wasn't failing. It...wasn't enjoyable."

"Even with that YOU STILL SCREWED UP!" Uka yelled, making the four jump back. "You lost the gems, you lost the crystals, and I have lost my patience! There is now no other power source left on this planet!"

Swallowing his fear, Cortex spoke up. "I know we've had a few unfortunate...setbacks and some spanners in the works..."

"AND FAILED!" The mask floated close, his eyes glowing green. "I should atomize you right now for your incompetence. However, your creations did manage to set me free. So I am feeling...generous. There is still a way to amass the power needed to enslave those unworthy, ungrateful humans."

This interested the villains. "How?" Tiny asked.

Uka-Uka used his powers to create a portal. "I have been working alongside another scientist in case I needed a back up plan. All of you, get in."

Not one to argue with a furious mask, they did so. On the other side was what seemed to be some kind of time machine. There were five sections and a main control panel.

"Ooh!" Gin ran his fingers along the keyboard. "It's so advanced! Who made this?"

"Hands off the Time Twister simpleton!"

The voice made the villains turn to see a man with blue skin wearing orange clock armor. Cortex's eyes widened, "Tropy?!"

"Ah, I figured you would be unable to accomplish the great Uka-Uka's work" Tropy smugly smiled. "Just like how you barely scraped by at the Academy of Evil."

"You sure get around with a lot of vile people" M1 snarked. He regretted those words when Uka glared at him.

"Care to repeat that?"

M1 furiously shook his head.

Tropy slammed his tuning fork on the ground revealing an elevator. As they rode down, he started talking. "Uka-Uka gave me orders to create this time machine to gather crystals and gems that lay scattered across time. I placed it in the Bermuda Triangle so world governments would not interfere. We are going to travel through time to get the crystals and gems and use them to rule the world. With me watching over the Time Twister, nothing will go wrong. I am advanced in quantum regularities and my powers allow me to predict the outcome of success."

"Time travel..." gears turned in Cortex's head. "So we can go anywhen in time?"

"Yes" Tropy answered. "But don't think about using it to correct a past mistake you did. The coordinates are set for only where crystals and gems are. I am well aware of the risks of time travel. I mainly dabble with it to cause paradoxes that won't affect me. But for this..."

They arrived at a factory where robot lab assistants dressed as people from different time periods were being warped away. "These lab assistants will search for the crystals and gems" Tropy went on. "They blend in perfectly and won't cause a panic in different time periods. You job is to watch over them so they don't screw up."

"And your job is..." Nitro started.

"I will watch over the Time Twister. Even taking the crystals and gems out of their time period will cause a ripple effect that could affect us." Tropy pressed some buttons creating crystals and gems. "I will send these to replace them. They don't have powers but they will be worth just the same amount of money."

While the villains seemed okay with this plan, Cortex folded his arms. "I'm not doing the bare minimum. I know what these crystals can do. Not to mention you haven't dealt with-"

"Those sewer rats?" Tropy cut him off. "I have heard of them. They're nothing more than children who have no idea what they're doing. But to keep you happy, I suppose you can watch over security in case they have the bright idea to try and stop us."

Uka-Uka ascended above the others. "This is your final chance. You are aware of what's on the line Cortex. At least this time, the Great Uka-Uka will make sure that you do it right."

With that, the villains set off to get the crystals. Certain that nothing could stand in their way.

***

As Aku-Aku told his story, Crash and Coco were completely silent.

"Long ago, my brother Uka-Uka and I watched over the islands with our family. As mentioned, he had different ways of handling problems but we managed just fine. He was less optimistic about humanity's good nature than I was and believed they were all evil and incapable of learning from their mistakes. One day, the gems were found by the Budakans and Uka-Uka saw the potential they had. He and other members of our family wanted to use them to force humanity into submission but I said no. In a rage, he tried to take the gems by force and destory mankind."

Coco glanced over to see her brother falling asleep. This wasn't new, he tended to doze off when a story went too long. This one was important though so she shook him awake so he could pay attention.

"Sorry" he whispered.

Aku went on, "I was forced to lock him away in an underground prison to protect the world from his malice. As for the rest of our family...they did not survive. Even with the imprisonment, Uka-Uka had found pawns to use in an attempt to achieve his goals. I suspect Cortex is his latest lackey."

Everything was starting to make sense to Crash. The blood red eyes, the sudden moments of yelling, and that moment where it seemed he was talking to himself, that mask must have been controlling him. Guess the evil spirit wasn't a lie. Despite this, he wasn't going to believe Cortex was forced into evil. He learned his lesson in that.

"So what are we going to do?" Coco asked.

"We have to stop him from taking over the world" Aku said. "First, we need to find out where he and Cortex are. I have no doubt they started plans already."

As Crash glanced to the right, he spotted glowing from the closet door. The crystals and gems collected were stored there so to see them glow was confusing. He opened the door and saw it was the colored gems from his first adventure that were glowing. He placed them in the living room to show his family.

"Crash? What is this?" Aku-Aku was confused at the setup.

The child placed his hands on the gems as facial markings appeared. He didn't know why but he had the urge to use these gems to help. He thought about the evil mask and a vision appeared. He saw the villains in something called a Time Twister and heard about 'a Bermuda Triangle' before he started to feel faint.

"Big brother" Coco pulled the gems away and gave him a Wumpa to eat. "We still don't know what these gems do or what those marks on your face mean. Not to mention that it weakens you."

Crash groaned, "I know but...I felt that those gems could help and they did. I saw them in a time machine in the ocean. It's somewhere called the Bermuda Triangle."

"Bermuda..." Aku stated. "It is known for myths on mysterious disappearances so it's no wonder my brother chose to have his operations there. I do have enough power to teleport there and back but I doubt I can stop Uka-Uka on my own."

The bandicoots knew what this meant. "We're with you. Won't be much different than the last two times" Coco reassured him.

The three ran out the house onto the next adventure to save the world. As Polar watched them he could faintly hear from Crash...

"And Polar can look after the house!"

Chapter Text

Cortex mindlessly checked the security cameras as he heard the sound of lab assistants being warped away. It wasn't fair. He and his henchmen had experiences with fighting and machinery! Why were they given the job of overseers? It was like he wasn't playing a part in this scheme. N. Gin, T1, and M1 seemed content enough but he wanted to do more. He took charge in his previous two attempts at world domination and he wasn't going to start playing second fiddle to his school rival.

"So tell me, how did your animal experiments work out?" he heard Tropy over his shoulder.

Mentally sighing, Cortex faced him. "It was working fine. I had an army of Australian animals set to accomplish Uka-Uka's task of world domination."

Tropy raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating. So...where are the rest of your soldiers? I only see an extinct tiger and an abomination of nature. And didn't you have another assistant with you?"

"They uh...are a disclosed location!" Cortex lied. "The government started hunting them down so Brio has them hidden until they give up. He'll let me know when the coast is clear."

"Oh really?" Uka-Uka floated above him. "It looks like my time possessing you messed with your memories. I seem to recall your kangaroo going native, your koala and potoroo getting jobs to be adored by society, two Komodo dragons running off with Brio to who know where, a bombshell bandicoot disappearing off the face of the Earth, and your 'generals' pummeling you to a pulp twice!"

While angry, Cortex didn't dare argue but still stood tall. "I planned out everything to ensure success. I don't know how C1 and C2 have managed to best me. There's something off about them. It's like they were born lucky! First there was C1 reappearing after going over a waterfall, then there was my blimp being taken over even though I had made sure C3 couldn't escape, and I nearly succeeded in getting the Slave Crystals only for C2 to somehow uncover the truth. And when I tried to escape with the Master Crystal, C1 caught up with me and took it with almost no effort!"

"Luck?" Tropy scoffed. "There's no such thing as luck. How can you possibly believe two children are capable of doing such feats?"

Before Cortex tried to explain the markings he saw on C1, Uka-Uka's face scowled. He noticed he was looking at the screens and turned to see C1, C2, and their mask on the Time Twister.

Tropy's eyes widened. "What?! How did they find us?!"

Cortex folded his arms, "Like I said, they have something that allowed them to stop me. We just have to know what that is."

Uka seemed to agree, "It's most likely my brother's doing. His powers match mine. But with me at the helm, the playing field is even."

"I suppose it would be best to ensure they don't get in our way" Tropy returned to the main power source. "Keep a close eye on them and make sure they don't get any crystals and gems."

Once he left, Cortex walked to the android panel. "What are you doing?" Uka-Uka kept a close eye on him.

"He said to make sure we don't lose crystals and gems" Cortex typed in some commands. "So I'm giving the lab assistants a third objective."

***

Teleportation was similar to warping as Crash found himself in the middle of the ocean on a giant floating landmark. It was nighttime and a full moon shone down on what seemed to be the Time Twister. There were five extended areas themed around medieval times, Arabian nights, ancient China, ancient Egypt, and the future. Looking up, stars decorated the sky.

He walked to a ledge to look out at the ocean. "Whoa, it's so pretty."

"It is" Aku-Aku glanced at the locked gates of all areas but the medieval one. "But we can't get distracted. We must start looking for the crystals and gems." Crash didn't come over at that, still looking out. "Coco, can you get your brother to-"

"EEEEEEE!" He was shoved out of the way as the girl ran to the main control panel. Stars were in her eyes and a big smile was on her face. "This place is amazing! I've never seen technology like this! It's even more advanced than what Brio had!"

Aku tried not to groan. Coco always got giddy when technology was involved, especially new technology. "Child, remember who made this."

She slowly turned around, "Oh, right. So how do we get the crystals?"

"With only one area open, I think we should start there" the mask stated. The three of them made their way over when five buttons appeared. They were numbered one to five. Crash stepped on number one and a portal appeared saying Toad Village.

He was about to jump in when he remembered what happened the last time he did time travel. "Uh, Aku-Aku, I'm nervous. You said that any change in the past will affect the future. What if by getting the crystal and gem, the timeline changes and we'll risk our existence?"

"You have a good point" Aku agreed. "But if Uka-Uka gets the crystals, the world will be in even more jeopardy. I do not know if temporal immunity will happen for us but...we don't have any other options."

Looking back at the control panel, Coco had an idea. "I could watch over it, make sure the timeline won't change drastically."

That made Aku skeptical, "Do you even know about quantum singularities?"

"Uh...no. But it can't hurt to try."

Risk or not, Crash and Aku-Aku jumped into the portal leaving Coco alone. She walked to the control panel and gazed at the buttons. "Okay...it's kind of like a computer so this shouldn't be hard. Which button lets me see the timeline?"

She looked at each button as her eyes fell on a purple one. Something in her urged her to push it so she did so, revealing an elevator. "Huh" she got on and saw there was one button present. Pushing it, she descended below the main deck and stopped in a room that made her eyes pop.

"This can come in handy."

***

Upon arriving, Crash saw a giant castle in the distance with houses lined along the path. He recognized this as a medieval village from the books he read at the castle during captivity. He was about to bolt off to explore when he noticed his shoes looked different.

"Where are my sneakers?" he questioned.

Aku had a better look, "Looks like the Time Twister was wired to have people blend in when traveling through time."

"Wait, I have my smartphone" Crash took it out and pulled up the camera to see himself. He was wearing an emerald green doublet like medieval princes wore. He also wore medieval pants, white gloves, and his shoes were brown low boots.

"Ooh. Looks nice." He took a picture of himself, smiling. "Must be a way to keep locals from getting suspicious. Doesn't change my species though."

The two then started off to look for the crystal. Crates were present so Crash destroyed those. Quite fascinating that they existed this far back in time. It was a struggle for Crash to stay focused as he kept looking around and taking pictures. Patiently, Aku-Aku guided him along, telling him about the land he saw and what animals were present. This included goats and chickens which Crash had a strong urge to attack.

"Why chickens?" the mask asked. "They're not dangerous."

"I don't know" Crash looked back at one he walked past. "There's something about them that make me want to spin them."

Large puddles of water were also present and the soaked socks and shoes made Crash groan. He lightened up when he saw Wumpa fruit present. It seemed they were around for a long time too. And in different continents. Due to this being the first area, it wasn't a surprise it was easy. He also made sure to avoid spinning enemies as that could change the timeline too.

After avoiding a frog, the heroes saw a knight trying to swing a sword. Upon close inspection, it looked like a lab assistant. "It seems our enemies don't want to cause large ripples too" Aku moved close when the sword nearly sliced him.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" Crash told him.

The assistant just looked up and tried to raise his sword to attack but it was too heavy. This allowed Crash to spin him into a bridge pillar, knocking him out. Something fell out of his pockets, making the bandicoot pick them up.

"A crystal and a gem. He must have found them already but...I don't feel any power."

Gears turned in Aku-Aku's mind, "Must be replacements for the real crystals and gems so the timeline won't change. The ones here must be further ahead."

They continued forward, only attacking boxes for the real gem. There was another lab assistant also dressed as a knight so he was disposed of. There was a purple glow in the river below the bridge so Crash waded through the water to find the crystal. He placed the powerless one in its place and he and Aku-Aku arrived at a stone wall where the last two crates were. They were a little different, having different symbols switch every second like a slot machine. Timed right, when they were smashed, there was a lot of Wumpa.

The gem then appeared along with the portal back to the present. Swapped with the replacement, Crash felt a little at ease that there were preparations to avoid changing the timeline too much.

"How many crystals and gems do you think we'll have to find this time?" he asked Aku.

"Well there are five areas so it's likely they all have five buttons so I would say twenty-five crystals. As for gems, we have to see."

They returned to the present where Crash was back in his normal clothes but his socks were still wet. "Come on! My wet socks are the one thing from the past that carried over?!" He was brought out of it at the sight of books in the center of the Time Twister. Walking up to them, he saw Coco reading a book on the founding of America.

"Coco, where did these books come from?" Aku-Aku gazed at the piles.

"I found an elevator that took me to a room full of history books" she answered. "This can help us prepare for when the portals will send us. I even found books on quantum singularities and other cataclysmic events so I can have a good grasp on the main control panel."

While happy they had a means to form strategies, the mask had a neutral face. "That is good but what if the villains saw you? We're on their territory and are doing all they can to succeed. Next time, wait for us so we can see everything this place has to offer. I don't want you getting captured."

The screen of the main control panel began to glitch making the heroes face it. There was a message present with Cortex and Uka-Uka leering at them. "C1 and C2 why must you always muck in my mud?" Cortex condescendingly moaned. "First you take my crystal and now you invaded the Time Twister's library."

Neither of them were happy at the tone of his voice. "We didn't have any other choice" Crash shot back. "Crystals and gems are dangerous in the wrong hands."

"I know the power they wield. This mask of mine told me all about them. That's right, I have a mask too." Cortex moved over so Uka could face them.

"So I finally meet my brother's pawns who do his dirty work." Aku's eyebrows became angry at that. "Pathetic! I can't believe you're the ones responsible for Cortex's failure! The evil mask glared at Crash. "I do have a bone to pick with you though. Seeing how you gave me tossed Wumpa cookies right from the oven two years ago!"

Crash thought back to that ride on the blimp. How his stomach couldn't handle the sharp movements which led to...

His eyes widened, "I'm sorry about that! It was motion sickness!"

"TOO LITTLE TOO LATE!" Uka shouted. "You might have the means to travel though time but you won't best us this time!"

He floated off leaving Cortex to finish up. "You should quit while you're ahead. Time travel is complicated and gets messy real fast. I'm actually working with someone who knows how to handle dealing with it. Even if by some miracle you get more crystals, we'll fix that as we see who's mask is more powerful soon enough."

The communication went dead, leaving the heroes alone. Aku-Aku looked at the bandicoot siblings. "This adventure is more dangerous than the last two endeavors. Do know that we will get through this, and I do not see you as pawns. My brother tends to say things to tear people apart. Don't let him get to you."

Crash and Coco nodded as they looked over the books. Crash also showed his sister the photos he took, intriguing her on the wardrobe change and replacement crystals and gems. With the current buttons present and knowledge of history at their fingertips, they had a better chance of keeping the timeline as unchanged as possible.

Chapter Text

Upon jumping into Deep Trouble, Crash saw he was in his regular clothes aside from being barefoot so he and Aku-Aku couldn't have gone that far back in time. The portal showed only an ocean so it was hard to pinpoint when in time they were. For one thing, they arrived on a small island surrounded by ocean. There were only a few trees and bushes.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find the next crystal" Crash started searching but Aku-Aku didn't seem sure.

"I don't see any crates though. They tend to lead to the crystal."

The sound of a different voice got their attention. Peeking through the bushes, they saw a lab assistant dressed in a diving suit with diving gear close by. A regular crystal and gem to replace the ones here were off at the side. The lab assistant had a communicator that showed a familiar face to Crash.

"The crystal and gem are where?!" the lab assistant said.

Tiny stumbled with the papers he had to read off of. He finally learned how to talk but reading and pronunciation... "Uh...under wooter. Uka-Uka say pretty crystal with sharks. Bring to Tiny."

The lab assistant was shivering with fear. "What if the sharks eat me?! I wasn't prepared for this!"

As the two went on, an idea formed in Crash's head. He crawled behind the man so Tiny couldn't see him. Once he was in position, he spun him, cutting off communication to Tiny.

"Good thinking" Aku floated behind him. "We can use the gear to find the crystal ourselves."

Crash stopped at that. "Uh...I don't know. I never had swimming lessons while training."

"Oh..." Aku-Aku's eyes fell at that. He never taught the bandicoot siblings how to swim. Mainly due to not having any limbs to help out. Something then crossed his mind, "What about the jet pack you used? You were in zero gravity and used your arms and legs."

He did have a point. Swimming couldn't be that much different. Crash would just have to use his arms and legs to move forward rather than rely on a jet pack. So he slowly put the gear on which included flippers, goggles, and an oxygen tank. As he faced the water, he still seemed unsure.

Aku caught on, "Don't worry. I'll guide you."

The heroes dived beneath the waves, seeing the first set of crates. Crash kicked his feet out of panic which moved him forward along with his spin attack. This allowed him to destroy the crates. With this method of swimming, he slowly calmed down. That is until he saw a shark and underwater mines.

"Easy" the mask floated ahead to show a path to swim around the obstacles. Crash carefully followed, looking around to his amazement. For so long he avoided going underwater on adventures. He never knew the ocean could look like this. It was beautiful. Colorful fish swam around him making him smile through the mouthpiece. Due to his phone being waterproof, he took pictures all over only to stop when he heard Aku call his name.

"Crash! We need to keep going!"

Nodding, he put the phone away and dove deeper into the water. The two then came across metal structures with glass and fans. Crash pointed at them to ask what they were.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know how these got down here" Aku-Aku answered. "Best to keep going."

It wasn't hard to get the crates even with the water physics. Crash was stunned that he picked up swimming quickly. He would have to teach Coco when they had the time. Diving down deeper, he found what looked like a metal fish with handlebars. An N was etched into it which made a light bulb go off in Aku's head.

"Of course. Cortex must have sent them here to help the lab assistant. Don't know why he placed it this far in though." He watched Crash turn it on and fire its missiles constantly. It proved useful in destroying coral that covered boxes. It even helped with swimming through the currents. Reaching a small metal tunnel, Crash had to leave it behind as it couldn't fit.

The further he swam, the more concerned he was. He hadn't found the crystal yet nor the gem. Was it found already? It couldn't be as the crates were present so someone couldn't have gone through here already.

***

Tropy tapped his foot as he waited for the others to show up. Once they arrived, he faced them. "So, did any lab assistants find the crystals and gems so far?"

"Not yet, mine are still lost in pyramids or trying to enlist in WW1." Nitro shared. "I've been working on something myself to help with-"

"NO!" Tropy cut him off. "We can't afford any mistakes! I don't trust you using my technology." He then faced M1, "What about you mutant?"

M1 glared at him, "No. Those buggers don't even seem to be interested in finding them. Why can't we look for the crystals? I'm stronger than any of those lackeys!"

"Because if people see creatures like you, they'll panic and cause issues in the timestream! We have to do this carefully" Tropy folded his arms.

Cortex couldn't help but empathize with M1. That smug snake was underestimating their skills. Not even giving them a chance.

"And you?" Tropy asked Tiny.

"Tiny talk with diver to give instructions" the thylacine smiled. "Lost communication though."

That got Cortex's attention. "How did you lose communication?"

"Uhh..." Tiny scratched his head. "Tiny heard grunt and saw orange blur."

"Ugh! It's that bandicoot!" Uka-Uka shouted. "At this rate, my brother will succeed in outsmarting us! I thought you said you had everything planned!" he stared down Tropy, his eyes turning red.

Remaining calm, Tropy walked to a panel. "I do Great Uka-Uka. I figured those rodents would be able to travel through time so I built something to keep them from getting far."

He pressed some buttons and an object appeared. It looked like a cross with a hexagon at the top with a red gem in the center. The others were confused at what it was so he explained. "This is a time relic. I have placed some of my power in them to lock the entrance to five portals that lead to gems. There are thirty-two in total and twenty-five are needed to unlock all five portals. It's also the only way to access this floor. The only way to get them is to rush an area as fast as possible. And with how dangerous they can be, our enemies won't get very far."

Cortex just rolled his eyes as his rival went on. "I have also hidden two portals to gems and relics in two of the crystal paths. Only I know where they are and how to activate them so that's taken care of. That isn't even getting into the blocked gates to the other Time Twister sections. Each of us has a switch to deactivate it so as long as we're still standing, we have a chance."

Uka seemed pleased, "Very well. You do have a strong grasp on what you're doing. Unlike some people" he eyed Cortex as he said that.

Heading back to their stations, the man got Tiny's attention. "You want revenge on that bandicoot that trounced you last year?"

Tiny happily nodded as the two snuck to the control panel. "We'll see who's more capable of forming a plan very soon."

***

It felt like an eternity but the crystal was finally found in one of the coral reefs. With the replacement put in its spot, Crash focused on smashing the last of the crates. When the gem appeared, it filled him with happiness. Until he turned and saw a shark was chasing him.

Panic gripped his body as he bolted for the exit portal. He and Aku-Aku managed to make it as the shark chomped one of the flippers. Back at the time twister, Crash saw that he was still wearing the diving gear. Made sense as it was brought from the present.

"Whew" he took the gear off and brought it to the center. "Aside from that, I really enjoyed swimming. You think we'll have to do that again?"

"Possibly" the mask said.

With how well they were doing so far, Crash did his dance he made up to celebrate. The sound of snickering made him turn to see Coco holding a book on China.

"You still like that dance huh?"

"Yeah. Still don't have a name for it."

His sister opened her book to show him a picture of a giant wall. "I checked the third portal Orient Express and this is where it would lead so I started research to prepare for it. You'll be sent to 221 B.C. during the Qin Dynasty. With how many people will be present during its construction, blending in is a must."

Aku looked over and got worried at one sentence. "And being careful. It says over 400,000 people died as it was made, some buried alive."

The thought of that did scare Crash but this had to be done. He was about to head off when he saw a book that caught his eye. Upon reading the cover it said, Dimensional Travel for Dummies. "No way" he started to read it.

"Crash we can't get distracted" Aku-Aku tried to get him to come but the child was already lost in it. "I understand why you want to read it but we have little time."

"I can take the next one" Coco suggested. "Give him some time to recover."

Aku looked at her, "Are you sure?"

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm no stranger to looking for powerful rocks through obstacle courses."

The mask seemed sure enough. "Alright. We won't be long Crash so once we get back, be ready to go."

"Okay" he called out, not taking his eyes off the book.

With that, the two pressed button three and warped to the Great Wall's construction.

***

It was sunny as soldiers and convicts worked on the wall. Once Coco arrived, it didn't take her long to notice her new attire.

"Wow" she pulled out her phone on selfie mode to see herself. She wore a nobility hanfu dress with long sleeves. The outer dress with sleeves was black while the outfit under was light blue. Her shoes had become high-heeled clogs with embroidery on them. Her hair was also out of its ponytail with a lotus on the right side of it. Taking a picture of herself to show her brother, Coco looked out to see what she had to deal with. Could be easy, if she wasn't wearing a dress that dragged along the floor and shoes that were hard to walk in.

A mewl made her and Aku-Aku turn around to see two people, a man and a woman, working on a lock that held a caged tiger cub. They were dressed as the workers but their faces were obscured by solider helmets. "What are you doing?" she asked them.

"Giving this cub a better future" the man said. When he spoke, Coco paid attention to the voice. It sounded familiar.

"Have we met before? You sound like someone I met."

"Lots of people have similar voices" the woman said. She had just broken off the lock allowing the tiger to be free. The woman than gave her a replacement crystal and gem. "It's amazing what you can find throughout history."

Coco looked at the objects, "How did you get these? Only Cortex's lab assistants have them so-" she stopped as she looked up to see they were gone. This stunned her as she didn't hear footsteps. She would have pondered on it more but the tiger started nuzzling against her leg. The contact made her kneel down slowly. "Hey, you like me?"

The cub meowed softly as if to say "yes." Seeing how narrow the wall was, an idea formed in Aku's head. "I think this animal can help us."

"Wait like...ride on the tiger?" Coco could remember barely hanging onto that hog in the village and that was with her brother. She didn't know if she could handle animal riding alone. But the cub was already friendly to her and there was no way she could go on foot without tripping. "Alright, I'll give it a try."

She got on the tiger's back and once she was situated, they took off. "Whoa!" Coco gripped on the animal's shoulders as they rushed past workers. This animal was fast. Not to mention agile, avoiding barrels and workers with ease. Crates did not stand a chance.

Occasionally, there were Chinese dragons going across making the tiger jump or duck under them. While still feeling shaky, Coco got the hang of riding on. It helped that she had control and good balance this time. Workers watched them fly by, but just shrugged it off and went back to work. One worker up ahead was much different than the others, having glasses and a familiar face. He dug a hole in the path and stopped when he saw a purple glow.

Pulling it out, it was a crystal. "I did it! I found one!" he shouted happily. "The doctors will be so happy!"

A second later, his grip held air as a powerless crystal fell in front of him. In shock, he faintly heard, "Thanks for the help!"

Back with the heroes, they kept smashing through crates and some falling barrels. The tiger had enough durability to go through them while running at top speed which brought more thrills.

Aku took notice of Coco's laughter. "Having fun?"

"Yeah! Who knew riding animals was so exhilarating?" she spotted a big jump ahead as the cub ran at top speed to make the distance. They landed safely as the box gem and portal back appeared. Coco climed off her tiger and gently hugged the animal. "Thank you for helping us."

"This young cub is quite strong" the mask smiled. "He's like Polar with his comfort with you."

Taking a closer look, Coco faced him. "This is a girl."

"Oh. My mistake" Aku apologized.

After taking a group picture, Coco switched the gems and left with her mask. The cub watched her leave with sadness in her eyes. The furry girl was nice. She could feel it. The people who freed her said the person who would ride her was special along with her brother. If special meant nice and caring, she believed it.

Hopefully they would meet again soon.

***

"You really think this will work?"

Cortex worked to not let fear overtake him as Uka-Uka eyed him. He and Tiny were planning to show him their idea to get the crystals and so far, it looked like he wasn't going to be pleased. "Yes Great Uka-Uka. Tropy has stated that we have the keys to each barrier. Once the bandicoots get all the crystals in the first section, they'll come after us to try and continue forward. That's when we fight back and take the crystals and gems from them."

The mask seemed less unsure but still suspicious. "I will accompany you. Those creatures won't last long."

"Don't worry. You won't have to fight" Cortex was careful with this point to avoid offending him. "You're already busy with Tropy and making sure things go smoothly. T1 is my strongest soldier. C1 had to rely on falling platforms to best him last year. But this is a one-on-one fight in an arena. He won't stand a chance. I'll even watch over to ensure nothing goes wrong."

The mask flew close to him, getting in his face. "Make sure that is so."

As he flew off, Cortex let out a huge breath. "Alright. Now that that's done, let's prepare to welcome our 'guests.'"

He opened a portal to a certain coliseum. As Tiny jumped in, more gears turned in Cortex's head.

If we're traveling through time, might as well make good use of it.

Chapter Text

As Crash read the dimensional travel book, he began to realize that going to other worlds was more complicated and varied than he expected. The methods of travel ranged from building a machine requiring coordinates to a katana named Yamato that can open portals with a slice in the air. He then saw something that looked simpler: scissors that could create portals by snipping the air. All the user had to do was know where someone was and then use them to go there. There was one problem, they were mainly made in Dimension 30 where a year there was thirty seconds in other realms. The forger, a red haired woman in an orange dress, was also stated to only give dimensional scissors to people who proved themselves trustworthy and responsible. And that could take years.

Flipping the pages, Crash caught sight of another idea. There was a device that looked like a helmet called the Dimensionator. It ran on voice commands and was powered by either a phase Quartz or a shard from the Surinox Comet. When reading the history of it, he was in awe. Apparently a race of space cats used it to save their galaxy from a race of slimy centipede-esque aliens who would leech the resources out of any planet in sight. The names of the races did sound odd to him though.

"Lombax? Cragmite? Strange things to call them" he said to himself.

When reading what a Dimensionator needed, Crash's heart sank. The materials weren't present on Earth and he highly doubted he could find phase Quartz either. As for the Surinox Shard, that could take years to find the comet and break off a piece. Moving on to natural portals that could be found anywhere, Crash wondered who made this book. It had to be someone who experienced a lot of inter-dimensional travel. Maybe the author also wrote a book about aether and the abilities people could do with it. He needed it to truly succeed in his promise.

I will help you Spyro. I'm getting closer.

The next chapter was people who could open portals on their own. The first two people shown were a man and a woman wearing matching beige outfits. "Huh? They look normal. How can they have this ability?" Crash spoke aloud. He was about to read what their names were when another voice startled him.

"Big brother! We're back!"

With his sister and guardian back, Crash closed the book, planning to read more when he had the time. He got up to see a big smile on Coco's face. "I take it you had fun?"

She pulled out her phone to show pictures. "It was incredible! I rode a tiger cub on the Great Wall of China! I never thought exploring the world would be this exciting!"

Crash scrolled through the pictures to see his sister in a very fancy outfit and lots of workers building the landmark. He would have looked at more but the sound of Aku-Aku clearing his throat made him look up.

"There are two more crystals left to get here. Hopefully their power will help us access the rest of the Time Twister." He led the two back to the first five buttons and hovered over buttons four and five. The fourth portal was titled Bone Yard and took place at the time of dinosaurs and the fifth portal, Makin Waves, was in the time of pirates.

Seeing there were two portals left gave Crash an idea. "Since we need to find the crystals and gems as quickly as possible, can we split up and take on certain time periods?"

The idea made Aku-Aku freeze. "I don't think that would be a good idea. It's already risky enough traveling through time but for both of you to be in two different time periods? Who knows what dangers could happen?"

"Cortex and Uka-Uka are already sending many lab assistants to different time periods" Coco pointed out. "And we learned there are powerless crystals and gems we can get to ensure the timeline stays stable. We both have phones with messaging so we can stay in touch. I don't want to split up either but if time is on the line, we have to take risks."

With all the information given, Aku couldn't argue much. The villains were covering more ground faster by splitting up and doing this one at a time wasn't going to do a lot for him. Even so, boundaries had to be set. "Remain focused on the task at hand and make sure the crystals and gems are properly replaced."

Filled with excitement, each bandicoot picked a portal to handle. Crash chose the prehistoric portal while Coco took on the pirates. Aku-Aku decided to go with Crash, seeing how he tended to get distracted with sightseeing easier. As capable as these two were, they were still only three years old. Anything could go wrong if they weren't careful.

***

Arriving in the late Cretaceous period, Crash quickly noticed how different he looked from the last wardrobe change. His skin was completely green, he had horns on his head and nose, and the only thing he was wearing was a brown loincloth. Aku got a good look at it and tried to hold back a laugh. "Guess the Time Twister tried to make you look like a triceratops."

Looking at his hands, Crash raised an eyebrow. "Good thing I like the color green. How far back do you think we are in time?"

"I would say 68 million years ago" the mask suggested. "Which means lots of predators that eat meat."

After jumping from a small height, growling could be heard behind the heroes. "Uh, please tell me that came from a small dinosaur" Crash was about to book it as he slowly turned around. Coming towards him was a giant triceratops with hunger in his eyes. The bandicoot would have screamed but truth be told, he had accepted being chased by dangerous things.

It wasn't that hard to outrun the herbivore anyway. Just lava pools to avoid and barriers to jump over. Pterodactyls were also present but they barely posed a threat. Since the triceratops destroyed the crates, Crash didn't have to worry about missing them. Gems appeared when all the boxes were broken but the rules never said who had to break them. Before long, the heroes were far enough away that the chaser gave up and went back to the woods.

"Quite odd that dinosaur chased us" Aku-Aku said. "Considering that species doesn't eat meat."

Wanting to avoid questioning history, Crash continued on when he saw a very familiar obstacle. Three TNT crates were in the way. Dynamite wasn't invented yet so that meant Cortex sent them here. Crash set them off and picked up some Wumpa to eat. It was a good thing he never got sick of it as he highly doubted there was other food to eat throughout this adventure. He suddenly stopped as he saw something move in the water.

It looked too big to be a fish and Crash thought he spotted a human nose poking out from seaweed. The lab assistants here must be wearing camouflage to not only blend in but to catch their targets off guard. When he wasn't looking, Crash spun him away.

"You think Uka-Uka's becoming proactive in stopping us?" he whispered.

"He will stop at nothing to achieve his sinister goals" Aku-Aku answered. "Despite his power, he tends to rely on others to do his work. Surprising since he wouldn't care if crowds ran screaming from him. He relishes in fear and hatred."

Passing a transparent red gem platform, Crash wanted to know more about the mask brothers. "Why does your brother hate humans so much?"

"Due to watching over the islanders for thousands of years, my brother has seen them make the same mistakes again and again and never seeming to learn" Aku explained. "He would tend to travel the world to find better places to watch over only to find even more terrible people. The sight of slavery, war, violence, petty social classes, and-" he was about to mention something else but realized Crash was too young to know this so he said, "men and women being betrayed by those they trust made Uka believe that humanity can never rise above selfish desires. So he worked to find a way to rule over them all, saying they don't deserve to be their own masters."

Crash wasn't fazed by this. He remembered reading books in the castle on how horrible humans were. Cortex had hoped that by seeing the evil of humanity, he and his sister would want to fight them. It was true he hated how badly people treated one another for petty reasons but in his heart, he knew there were good people. One book he read was on how people who were killed never had hatred in their hearts to those who tortured them. He couldn't remember a lot of names but he did see the word 'martyr' a lot. Their actions inspired more people to follow in their footsteps. This inspired him to be kind to others too, and have hope that those who hurt others would turn from their ways.

The sight of another lab assistant brought him out of his thoughts. He watched the android crawl out of the water and towards a purple light. Both heroes knew what this meant.

"I'm getting close to the power source" the man spoke into his communicator. "I might have nearly gotten eaten by a T Rex but it's gonna be worth it!"

Excellent mate a gruff voice said. Once you find both gems, I'll summon the portal back.

The crystal was in plain sight, glistening in the lava light. "All mine..." the lab assistant outstretched his hands when he suddenly face planted into the ground when someone jumped on his back.

"Sorry but it's for a good cause!" Crash cried out. He took the replacement stones and used the crystal in place of the glittering one. He then spun the crates present before hearing a familiar roar.

"*sigh* Of course he'd come back."

Even with three nitro in the way, the rest of the path was easy. Due to running for his life, Crash couldn't text Coco how he was doing. "I hope Coco's alright. I highly doubt pirates are gonna help her out."

"I have faith in her" Aku said. "She's probably finished by now."

***

With T1 and Cortex gone, M1 had to pick up their slack. He was working with the lab assistants in the last two time periods with crystals in that section. Switching to the 1670s, he used a portable screen to call up a female lab assistant wearing a pirate tortuga on a jet ski. "All set to go Sheila?"

"Yeah. But my name's Eden. You really think people aren't going to be weirded out when they see me drive by on this? Jet skis weren't invented yet in this period."

"Blame it on Cortex. He claims it's faster than a row boat" M1 replied. "He's already stressed about that mask going off and wants those beauties found as fast as possible. With any luck, those drongos won't think twice."

The woman was still unsure but nodded. "Okay. I'll see you back-" she was cut off when the sound of a portal opened up and yelped when someone fell on top of her, knocking her into the water,

"Crikey! What's happened?!" M1 looked concerned as a blond girl sat up.

"Ugh...sorry about that" he heard her say. Getting a better look, he saw the girl was dressed in pirate garb. She wore a purple bandana with a skull and crossbones on it, a white button down shirt, a purple vest, a purple scarf around her waist, black pants, dark purple gloves and boots with gold trimming, boots, and a pirate medallion necklace. What stuck out to him was the furry face.

"You! You're one of those ankle-biters!"

The girl got anxious and punched the jet ski's screen, cutting off communication. M1 let out a gulp as he realized that crystal and gem were as good as gone. He didn't have much faith in the prehistoric crystal either. He had a chance to prove he can be loyal and keep his rational soul but it was falling apart.

"I am so dead."

***

Coco took some deep breaths after punching the communicator's screen. That mutant wasn't like anything she saw before. He looked like a dingo but had scales like a crocodile. It made him look ferocious. It certainly startled her even more after landing on a lab assistant. At least finding the replacement crystal and gem wasn't an issue as they were already on board. All that was left was driving this thing safely enough to not fall in the water or run into anything deadly.

"It's kind of like the jet board" she said to herself. "These handles must be the brakes so the pedal here..."

Pressing it, the jet ski flew off across the water making Coco hang on tightly. The waves didn't help with staying calm as it felt she could fall off at any moment. Even so, she had control since it was like the boat and blimp from the first adventure. The bumpiness was also like riding the tiger. It didn't take long for her to get a better grasp on the controls.

Crates were in the water so she drove through those. There were also ramps to fly off of to get boxes in the air. Those moments brought a sense of exhilaration in the child.

"Whee! I gotta make one of these when this is over!"

The presence of bombs floating and pirate ships firing on both sides made Coco stay focused. Pirates rowing and aggressive seagulls were also in the way. Once those were avoided, the crystal was found. "Wow. That was fast" Coco swapped the two crystals and drove on. Since there were barely any obstacles, the rest of the way was zipped by. There were barely any people so there wasn't a big risk to causing a panic at the sight of something from the future flying by.

As she entered the home stretch, Coco looked ahead to the island where she took note of the structure. "Wait...does that look like Cortex?" There was no mistaking the giant N and eyes below it. This made her both angry and worried. Cortex was messing with time, possibly ruining historical landmarks. Not only did it showcase his ego, it could cause paradoxes. She had to let her brother and Aku-Aku know. With the gems switched, Coco returned to the present in her normal clothes.

"Guys! You're not gonna believe what I..." she trailed off as she saw the two looking at a book with wide eyes. It seemed they found the truth too.

"Our enemies are messing with time by plastering their faces all over?" Crash said.

He showed her what he and Aku were looking at. It was a collection of art masterpieces from Mona Lisa to The Birth of Venus looking more...tacky than normal. The sight of it made Coco clench her fists.

"I wanted to see the world for so long and now it's being ruined!!" she shouted. "Does he have any idea how much damage this will cause to the time stream?!"

Worry was present in Aku's eyes. "All the more reason to stop him and my brother. We must find a way to deactivate the barriers to the next area."

Something caught Crash's eye back at the medieval area. Walking over, he saw one big button in place of the five smaller ones. "Over here! I found something!"

His family rushed over to see. When pressing the button, a portal opened to Ancient Rome. "It must be Cortex's doing" Aku-Aku guessed. "Perhaps by facing him, we'll gain access to the next Time Twister section."

"I'll go" Crash got ready to jump in. "Judging by the background, it looks like a gladiator fight."

He and Aku were about to enter when Coco took her brother's hand. Facing her, she had anger in her eyes. "If you see Cortex, punch him hard for me."

Crash gave a nod, feeling nervous at this demeanor. A nerve must have been touched to make her this mad.

He also swore he saw her emerald green irises turn black for a moment.

***

The heroes arrived to the sound of cheers. All around, spectators eyed the two of them. Crash was in Roman gladiator attire with a white tunic, gold chest armor, a headband, sandals, a bronze shoulder guard, and leg armor. The attention felt nice as he smiled and waved. He quickly stopped when he turned and saw who was sitting where the Roman Emperor would be seated.

"Ah, our next victim. Oops I mean gladiator."

Aku gave a stern glare. "Cortex! We figured you would do something like this. The opportunity to alter history was just too great for you!"

"How did you even win these people over?" Crash shouted.

"It's simple" Cortex gestured to Tiny chained to two pillars as part of the show. "T1's ferocity and strength won over these simple minded Romans and saw I was a perfect trainer. No solider stood a chance against him. The republic was so impressed they're giving me the royal treatment! If only this dress wasn't restraining."

"It's a tunic. Men wore them during these times" the mask corrected.

Rolling his eyes, Cortex snapped his fingers which made Tiny break out of the chains and eye Crash. The bandicoot's pupils shrank in fear. He knew how strong this tiger was. He didn't even know if his skills were enough. But he didn't have a choice. Tiny had already grabbed a trident and started to chase him around the arena.

If there was an advantage Crash had, he was very fast. Tiny quickly struggled to keep up as he jumped after him. He slammed his trident on the ground, panting to catch his breath. This led to an opening Crash used to spin him as hard as possible. It hurt his fist but it did hurt the thylacine.

The crowd started to boo making Cortex angry. He threw another trident to Tiny. "Come on! Get those crystals and gems!"

Adrenaline pumped Tiny's veins as he tried to pounce Crash again. He swung his trident around to try and impale him but missed. "*pant pant* Target too fast. Others slower."

Another opening was present when he slammed the new trident. Crash spun him hard, hitting the helmet in the process. "Ow!" he shook his hand to ease the pain.

"You okay?" Aku-Aku asked with concern.

"I'm fine" the bandicoot held his hand as the gates started to open. He was confused at first but then Cortex yelled...

"RELEASE THE LIONS!!!"

"Uh, what's a lion?"

Aku-Aku's eyes widened as roars were heard. "Those!"

Lions ran out to the arena to try and eat Crash. His fear was replaced with determination as he dodged the giant cats. With everything he faced so far, lions weren't going to stop him now. Tiny fought off the lions too and used the distraction to attack his prey. As Crash focused on avoiding the last few lions, Tiny tackled him to cheers of the crowd.

"Crash!" Aku-Aku shouted.

"Yes!" Cortex smiled. When Tiny faced him, he held his fist out and gave a thumbs down. With that, Tiny lunged his arms at his target but Crash caught his fists. The two struggled to try and gain the upper hand. "Give up! Tiny squish puny bandicoot!"

Pushing back, Crash felt something grow in him. He knew what this feeling was. It was a risk, but his life was on the line. He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. His facial markings appeared and his eyes were completely green with no pupils.

Tiny was thrown off at the sight even as he kept his strength up. "AH! Creepy!" He tried to let go but the child's grip was so strong, it was cutting off circulation and possibly crushing the bones in his hands.

Gripping the tiger's fists, Crash pushed him forward and started to spin around. The force picked up Tiny as he got faster and faster. The crowd was in shock at the sight and Cortex's jaw dropped.

"No. It cannot be!"

Crash then tossed Tiny to Cortex with so much force, they burst through the coliseum's walls. Faint screams from them were heard as Crash stared at the crowd. They were silent, and then there was a roar of applause and cheers. The bandicoot gave small waves as his eyes and face returned to normal. He held his head and felt faint.

Aku floated to him. "Child! Are you okay? Whatever this power is it seems to take a lot out of you."

He groaned a little, "Beter than the last few times."

"Huh?"

Making eye contact, Crash spoke. "I usually feel too weak to move afterwards. I still feel dizzy and have a small headache now but...I feel fine otherwise."

He then spotted a device on the ground. It looked similar to the Time Twister. "I think we found the key to professing forward."

As the portal back appeared, Aku-Aku started to ponder on what he saw. Clearly this ability Crash had wasn't as simple as "powers at a price." He seemed to be adapting to it. But he still had concerns. He then remembered Coco having similar attributes with the facial markings and her eyes being another color at certain moments. What was this power? Did she have it too? When did this start? Does it have to do with this aether?

With every adventure, I have more questions on those two.

Chapter Text

Cortex held his side as he and Tiny limped out of the portal. Upon arriving, they were met with Uka-Uka's scowling face. "What a surprise. Your strongest fighter couldn't best one scrawny bandicoot."

"Tiny got close" the tiger said. "But..."

"THERE YOU ARE!" he was cut off by Tropy's yelling. He marched up to Cortex. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

The scientist looked up, "What are you talking about?"

In tranquil fury, Tropy pulled up a screen showing historical landmarks with Cortex's face on them. There were also lab assistants dressed as non-normal civilians with genies, two-headed giants, wizards, and Egyptians with flame throwers. "You're disrupting the time stream!! You're adding more risk to getting the crystals and gems! The people in those time periods are panicking at the sight of these abnormal creatures and changes to culture! That isn't even getting into flame throwers in Ancient Egypt! They aren't supposed to exist until the start of the twentieth century!"

"I had to do something!" Cortex argued. "C1 and C2 are already making quick work getting the crystals before us so we need more firepower!"

"And Ancient Rome..." Tropy glared at him.

Uka floated above Cortex, "That one I approved of. Although I'm beginning to regret it due to the results."

Tiny wistfully looked at his hands. They throbbed with intense pain. He could barely bend his fingers. "What's wrong with him?" the master of time asked.

"It was from the fight" Cortex explained. "He had C1 in his grasp but the bandicoot managed to push him back and spin so fast he picked him up and launched him at me sending us flying! T1 said he tried to let go but the grip was stronger than his. He told me his eyes turned green and marks appeared on his face before he fought back."

Tropy scoffed, "That rodent? Having magical powers? You really believe this idiot? It was probably that rainbow mask fighting his own battles."

"It's not lunacy! I saw it myself last year! Aku-Aku wasn't with him as he chased me back to the Vortex! Sure it was hard to see with goggles over his eyes but I saw a green glow" Cortex went on.

Before Tropy could fire back, Uka-Uka faced him. "I will handle this. Make sure the time stream hasn't collapsed and our present is still the same." Once the three were alone, the mask turned to Cortex. "Normally I would agree with Tropy on this but I have heard legends of people with power greater than my brother and I."

The scientist was stunned, "You have?!"

"It has been over a thousand years since I last heard of it but as I watched the fight from the monitors, I did see a glimpse of that animal's abilities. Maybe your claims of those bandicoots being more than meets the eye are valid. As we keep searching for crystals and gems, we'll keep an eye on them, see how we can find a way around this."

They started to head to the communication panel to send a message when Tiny whimpered again. "Hands hurt."

"Oh" Cortex pondered for a moment. "Go find N. Gin and he can help you with this. He did say he had experience with medical attention. Maybe there's a resting area in this Time Twister too."

The thylacine walked off, leaving the big bads alone to send a message to their foes.

***

"I can't believe that mask is giving him a chance to explain this! He's a fool! Short-sighted! How can the world be ours if all of space time is being tainted prematurely?!" Tropy ranted to himself.

He marched to the elevator and pushed a button. "*sigh* Maybe some tea could soothe my nerves before fixing the damage."

Arriving at the break room, he walked to the food storage only for his jaw to drop as some of the food was being warped away. A message on the screen said, Sending to top floor.

With a twitchy eye, Tropy had a feeling who was responsible.

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

***

Upon arriving back at the hub area, Crash was met by a bear hug from his sister. "I'm so glad you're okay! From Tiny almost killing you to you getting those markings again..."

That confused him, "How do you know that?"

Coco led the two to the main screen. "I found out how to see different periods of time. I've been reading on the Time Twister's instruction manual and it showed how to see someone who's gone back in time. There's also a setting that lets us see how stable the time stream is." She pressed a few buttons to show a smooth line. "Even with Cortex's tamperings" she said that with a growl, "The present is still stable and our existence isn't in jeopardy. Yet."

"That is good to hear" Aku-Aku smiled.

Crash then noticed a sandwich and chips on the panel. "And those...?"

"Oh, there's also a button that sends food up here from a break room" Coco drank a bottle of water. "I was getting hungry and since we can't explore the Time Twister alone and there's a way to call for food..."

A plate of drumsticks and carrots with apple juice then warped in. Hearing his stomach growl, Crash scarfed the food. Aku watched on, glad these children were getting a variety of something to eat. The screen then started to glitch making the heroes take notice.

"WHY?! WHY MUST YOU CONTINUE TO BE A THORN IN MY SIDE?!"

Crash and Coco yelped and stumbled back. The sight of a dark mask yelling at them surprised them and filled them with fear. Aku-Aku flew in front of them to protect them as his brother then flew aside, showing Cortex holding his head.

"Who? What? Where was I? Oh...right. T1 was a good fellow. He hated everyone and everything. But a good heart nonetheless."

"Good heart?! He almost killed Crash!" Aku retorted.

Cortex folded his arms, "Well at least he doesn't steal food from us like your kids did."

The comment made Crash shrink a little. It was true, hungry or not he did take something that wasn't his. He then heard his mask reply with, "They can only handle eating the same thing for so long. And they're working to save all of time and space! While you plaster your image in history, confusing generations and risking existence!"

"Wow, something we can agree on. That's a first" Uka said.

With a sigh, Cortex finished up. "I don't have time for this. You might have gotten five crystals but the rest are far more difficult. They'll be ours in no time. But if you still think you have a chance, at least be more reasonable with my minions next time."

The screen turned off leaving the heroes alone. "Are you two okay?" Aku asked.

"Shaken but fine" Coco nodded. Her brother was the same.

They finished up eating and then headed to the second Time Twister area. The first two portals there were titled Gee Wiz and Hang'Em High. "So, which one will you take?" Aku-Aku faced the siblings.

"I want to see the medieval era" Coco volunteered.

"Sounds good. That means I can experience Arabia" Crash cracked his knuckles.

Before jumping in, Aku floated to Crash. "Child, you might be getting used to this power but we still don't know much about it. Unless it's an emergency, do not use it."

Crash nodded, "Yeah, I'm still weary on it myself. I think I accidentally broke Tiny's hands with it. I don't want to severely hurt anyone."

With the reassurance, the heroes jumped in. Aku-Aku went with Coco this time, wanting to see if she had this mysterious power too. She did have those markings on her face that would appear like her brother. If so, he would be there to guide her.

***

Arriving at castle's fields, Coco was in awe at the setting. The sun began to set, casting a warm glow. She took out her phone for pictures only to see it was still on selfie mode. This allowed her to see her new outfit for this time period.

She wore a Renaissance royal blue dress. It had an embroidered ribbon belt, decorated exquisite sequin, a princess-cut bodice, and printed gold flowers at the neckline. The train of her dress was at her calves so it wouldn't be hard to walk in it. Her shoes had become low brown boots, allowing her to walk without discomfort. Her hair was out of its ponytail again and a circlet crown with a magenta gemstone in the center was on her head.

"Very regal" Coco heard Aku-Aku mention.

"Thanks. And easier to move around in than the last dress." She took pictures of herself and the environment as she and her mask explored the area. They came across crates to break and frogs that started hopping after them. This confused Coco, "Um, why are they following us?"

It took a moment for Aku to connect the dots. "Did you ever read The Frog Prince?"

"Nooo?"

"In that story, a princess kissed the frog and he became a prince. The original version had her smack him into a wall which also turned him into a human but I think these frogs are expecting the former."

Hearing this, Coco picked up her trains as she picked up the pace. She might look older but she was only three! She also couldn't spin them away as they were a part of this time period and doing so could cause ripples. But a way around it came in the form of a lab assistant wizard casting spells to try and stop her.

"Halt!" he shouted. "None shall pass!"

He used his staff to fire spells but the heroes dodged them and they hit the frogs instead, turning them human. With them distracted with joy of the spell being broken, Coco and Aku-Aku continued on.

The path wasn't that challenging aside from making sure the animals weren't attacked. So as she smashed the crates, Coco decided to ask Aku about something. "So Cortex was being possessed by Uka-Uka sometimes. Can masks even do that?"

"Masks are capable" the mask confirmed it. "But it takes a lot of concentration and meditation. Doing so also requires a lot of energy. Whether it is the mask attaching to a person or astral projecting, possession is a skill few masks can master."

"So can you do that?" Coco questioned.

"I can but it is better that I don't." The heroes spun away a lab assistant knight and wizard before Aku continued. "Controlling another person's body violates privacy and free will. The person must give a mask permission first before being possessed. Even with that, I do not want to make you or your brother uncomfortable by using your bodies to attack evil."

The rest of the way was rather quiet. Coco took more pictures, feeling concerned the crystal and gem weren't seen yet. Were they already found? There were still some crates present so the gem was at least not collected. As for the crystal, she came across two knight assistants in the process of replacing the crystals.

"Hurry! It's only a matter of time before one of them shows up!" one said.

The other pulled out the normal crystal. "Don't worry Andy. We have weapons to defend ourselves. And we have nitro crates blocking the exit and nitro detonator in case those rodents outsmart us."

Overhearing them, Coco could feel someone was approaching her. She turned around and a wizard assistant raised his staff, planning to fire. With only a second to dodge, she grabbed Aku and ducked under the balls of light. It flew over them and found two other targets.

"Gah! What did I just do?!" the wizard exclaimed. He pulled out a spell book, allowing the heroes to escape. They came across two frogs with swords on the ground with the glowing crystal floating in place. Coco grabbed the crystal and ran to the exit, well aware the wizard would chase her down. The exit was in plain sight but another knight assistant was in the way. Not only that, but a wall of nitro crates were in front of the portal and nitro detonator.

"Ha Ha!" the knight boasted. "You're trapped! You have no choice but to give the crystal to me!"

Taking in the situation, Coco walked up to him, and spun him into the nitro wall. The path now clear, she hit the detonator to get the gem and replace it with the powerless one left on the ground.

"Either the lab assistants are getting cocky or they're still learning to best us" Aku said.

"Yeah, let's head back" Coco walked to the portal. "Crash must be waiting for us."

***

It was hot when Crash landed in Ancient Arabia. It didn't help that his outfit was adding more heat. He wore a sleeveless red vest, a white shirt and pants, a green belt, and a purple hat. He had landed in an alleyway and the way up seemed to involve bouncing on the rugs left out to dry.

Once Crash made his way up, he saw a lab assistant dressed as a swordsman. He swung his sword when going down one way and put it away when heading back. That gave Crash the chance to spin him when he wasn't looking. Making his way across the rooftops, he saw another lab assistant dressed as something odd.

The man was dressed in white and sitting on a flying carpet. I thought Cortex was going for realism Crash thought. Not wanting to experience any powers this assistant had, he spun him away and came across a familiar sight.

"Been a long time" the bandicoot stretched his arms and grabbed onto the monkey bars. It seemed easy enough with only crates to smash. Until he saw there were scorpions crawling around. The section wasn't long as he was back to running and avoiding monkeys carrying jars and genie assistants. One of the jars had the replacement crystal and gem so the bandicoot took those. It was a good thing Crash was on the rooftops since people would have seen him on the ground. He wanted to avoid causing too many ripples if any residents saw him.

There was another monkey bar section which meant more scorpions to spin away. Crash wasn't big on most bugs. Didn't help that the ones he came across were deadly and wanted to hurt him. Just past a scorpion was what he was looking for. Letting one hand go to switch the crystals, Crash felt his other arm strain a little. It didn't take long though and he was back to climbing.

When he got to the ground, there were a lot of obstacles to spin or avoid. They were all sent by the enemy so there wouldn't be a risk for the butterfly effect here. Since he was alone, Crash took some time to think. This power I seem to have is getting interesting. It's so much more than marks on my face and glowing eyes. When it first started I would feel exhausted afterwards. But with each use, the pain is less and less heavy. I also seem to remember what I do when I tap into it. I couldn't remember what happened when the Vortex malfunctioned but the fight with the Komodo Bros, seeing in the dark, chasing after Cortex, and now fighting Tiny...does my body get used to it? What if I lose myself? Is it dangerous to keep using it? Why do I even have these powers? Seeing how the Skylands have history on aether with having light and dark versions, they could have more information. If only there was a fast way to reach them. Natural portals are my best bet now but where can I even find a close one? Would it even lead to Dimension 11?

He stopped when he was almost cut by a swordsman. Waiting for him to turn, he attacked him. As Crash bounced along, he spotted a yellow gem in the distance. There was no way he could reach it from here so there must be a secret way to reach that area. Nothing too new to handle. The end showed itself with a nitro detonator and a steel ! crate. Spinning those revealed the last two crates allowing Crash to switch the clear gems. The path was easy, but no doubt it would only get harder from here. He and his family would have to stay one jump ahead to overcome future adversity.

Maybe along the way, he could learn more on this aether power. Learn how to tap into it at any time.

Chapter Text

Crash had arrived back at the Time Twister first so he placed his crystal and gem in a pile with the others. Not the best way to keep them secure but it was the best the heroes could do. His sister and Aku-Aku came back next.

"So, how was Arabia?" Coco asked.

"Hot" Crash wiped his brow. "I might like warm weather but I have my limits. What about you?"

"Got chased by frogs thinking I could break their spell."

With the time stream still steady, the heroes looked to see which two crystals to get next. The remaining three portals led to the fifties, Ancient Egypt, and the Great Wall of China's construction at night. The first portal looked like a motorcycle race and the second displayed the Sphynx with a very different face from before.

Aku-Aku noticed the glare in Coco's eyes as she saw Tomb Time. "You'll take this area?"

"Yes. Hopefully getting rid of the lab assistants will fix it." She then jumped in without warning leaving her brother to choose his next target.

"Man, I don't like what Cortex's been doing either but she's taking it really hard" Crash pointed out.

The mask floated next to him. "It is hard to see something you love be ruined. So which time period do you want to take?"

Crash looked back and forth between the two. "Uh...I wanna see China but I haven't seen what the fifties are like."

"Are you sure? You haven't driven any vehicles" Aku said. "If Coco's first attempts at driving are to be taken into account, I don't know if you'll learn as fast."

That was true. The closest things Crash had to driving was a jet pack, a jet board, and the fish thing. But the fate of time was on the line. He and his sister did tend to be fast learners. "That's a chance I have to take."

He and Aku-Aku jumped into Hog Ride, ready to tackle this task.

***

It was quite lucky Crash landed on a running motorcycle upon arriving. He was also wearing a black leather jacket and shades. Seemed to fit in with the other racers in cars. Looking around, he saw signs of the scientists' faces on them. He tried not to groan with how they impacted this time period too.

A woman in a red dress with polka dots walked in front of the racers. She was a normal human. "All right everyone. The rules are simple. Get to the finish line to get a crystal. It's first come first serve. As for the crates, breaking them will give you a bonus. The police will make sure no one does anything dirty."

Crash did his best to hide his animal features. No doubt the lady would panic if she saw him. He then looked down at the bike. With the race about to start, he didn't have a lot of time to learn how to drive a motorcycle.

"Okay uh..." He gripped on the handlebars as he tried to balance. "Whoa!" Getting steady again, he spotted the pedals and saw the handlebars had levers. The right side seemed to be the breaks since by pressing the pedal and pulling the lever, he didn't move. There was a lever on the left handlebar that when pulled, seemed to change gears.

"Did you find how to make it go?" Aku-Aku whispered in his jacket.

"Working on it" Crash looked at the right handlebar again and grabbed it. The woman then held up a cloth which meant time was running out.

"On your mark...get set..."

The right handlebar seemed to have another function that made the engine rev. The sound made Crash put the pieces together. Taking his foot off the right pedal, he gripped on what seemed to be the accelerator.

"Go!"

The cars drove off as Crash pulled on the throttle. Without warning, the motorcycle flew across the road. He already passed two cars and broke three crates. Seems he was doing fine...except he was panicking.

"AHHHHHH! I can't control it!"

"Stay calm. It'll help stop the swerving" Aku gave his advice, hoping it would help. He wouldn't say it but he was terrified too.

Crash tried taking deep breaths as he shifted his weight to turn. He managed to pass another racer, getting in fourth place. Even with the situation, he was doing okay.

Then came a ramp with a crate at the top.

Gulping at the risk, the bandicoot had no choice but to drive up it so all the boxes could be broken. No way he was missing a gem. He flew off the ramp, and managed to land safely and drive on. The police cars were easy to dodge and it wasn't long before he was catching up to the final two racers.

"Better?" Aku-Aku spoke.

"Still terrified" Crash tried to focus. This was nothing like the jet board or jet pack. Balancing wasn't hard but having to turn and avoid hitting other vehicles brought a new level of stress. Not to mention there was only one chance to get each crate. Getting in second, it seemed all the crates were smashed. All that was left was to win.

The last racer was a lab assistant and had the pedal to the metal, the finish line in sight. Taking a glance in the rear view mirror, he saw a motorcycle swerving all over the road. It wasn't hard to realize who it was.

"No! I'm so close!"

He turned to block Crash from getting through, deliberately hitting the brakes to throw him off. This brought more panic in the bandicoot as he didn't know what to do. A police car was approaching which gave him an idea. He turned to head to the police car and the lab assistant did the same, somehow not noticing until it was too late.

"GAAAAHHH!"

The cars collided as Crash barely squeezed past. He drove over the final ramp to cross a pit as the crystal and gem needed was taken. "Yes! We made it!" he cheered only to notice he wasn't stopping.

"Crash! Stop! We're going too fast!" Aku yelled.

"I'm getting to it!" Crash slammed on the brakes with the right pedal and lever. It did work, but not in a pleasant way.

***

Cortex and Uka-Uka could only watch from the screens as the lab assistant in the fifties got arrested for colliding with a police officer. What they saw was a shock. C1 was clinging on for dear life and had no idea how to drive yet he still won! C2 was also making quick work of getting the ninth crystal. At least she didn't have a way to get the gems there yet.

"I must admit" Tropy spoke over them. "The fact that rodent can win a race without trying is peculiar. But that still doesn't convince me those two can defeat evil forces."

"I did see more motorcycle races" N. Gin jumped in. "And they looked more dangerous! Maybe then he'll become road kill!"

"It's not enough!" Uka growled. "These lab assistants are too slow! Are you sure using them is the best solution?!"

Tropy watched another screen of a lab assistant being chased by dinosaurs in another prehistoric area. "You raise a good point. And with the recent changes to the time stream, I suppose having us go out won't cause too much of a ripple effect. I can't do too much however. I need to make sure the Time Twister stays stable."

As this went on, Cortex spotted M1 looking over the Ancient China at night. There was worry on his face. Wasn't hard to guess what was on his mind. An idea then sprung in his head.

He walked over to M1 and tapped his shoulder. "Oh Dr. Cortex!" M1 jumped up. "I am working to make sure the beauties are found! I swear!"

"I know. And you have been doing a great job" the scientist smiled. "It's clear you really are loyal to me."

M1 perked up, "Really?"

"Oh yes. In fact, I'm considering the fact that the Vortex won't be needed when we get back. There's just one more thing I need you to do to ensure I don't change my mind again."

The mutant had a feeling he knew what the task was. "Boss, consider it done."

***

The smell of sand wafted the air as Coco arrived. It didn't feel muggy which was good for her outfit that came with traveling. She was wearing a sleeveless white dress with a gold trim, a light blue cape, a gold belt, gold fabric in front of her chest to hold up the dress, gold arm bands, black sandals, and a gold headband. Once again her hair was loose and she seemed to wear mascara in the style of Egyptians.

"Very fitting. It feels so free." Coco took a selfie before looking up at the building she had to enter. She scowled at the sight of her old creator's head before the hissing of a snake brought her back.

"Eek!" she ran past it. During her time in the ancient temples, snakes had been her main obstacle. She knew there are harmless snakes but the ones she came across were cobras. Inside the hallways, there crates in the way and hieroglyphics on the walls. She smiled and took pictures of them at first before seeing one with Cortex. "Ugh! Can't go five steps without seeing his face!"

Things weren't much better when some floors were coated with black oil. Like the ice, it was slippery. Didn't help that the sandals had poor traction. Aku-Aku did teach her and Crash how to stay balanced on ice since the Master Crystal Incident but her brother picked it up faster than she did. She had to work hard enough to stay on her feet and move forward without slipping. The oil sections didn't last long and Coco came across another door with a button on the ground to press.

The next room was more spacious. Shen signs were all across the pillars. On the main path were tiles with red scarabs and green letters. The scarab tiles fell when stepped on so Coco walked on the green letters. A moving platform then came by with a strange shape on it. It looked like a cross but with a circle on top. It wasn't the first time she saw this. There were carvings of them on the walls too. Are they a part of this time period? Were they added by the enemy? She didn't ponder on it for long as a ball of dirt suddenly hit her dress.

"Hey! Who threw that?!" she shouted.

A monkey came out of one of the four jars and laughed at her. Her temper was already low with the constant Cortex tamperings and this wasn't helping. Her vision darkening, she tackled the monkey and broke the jars. Purple markings flashed for a second before seeing the fearful look in the monkey's eyes. The sight made Coco step back as her eyes returned to normal. "What did I just do?" She watched the monkey run away screeching in fear as guilt formed in her stomach. Her anger hurt someone, sure he was rude but he didn't deserve this much.

With the tampered landmarks, Coco wondered if this was a strategy to make her and Crash angry enough and lose focus on getting the crystals and gems. If she was like this now, who knows what her anger would do if not kept in check? "Okay...just stay calm" she told herself. "Once everything's found, we can use the crystals and gems to fix everything. Don't let him get to you."

Feeling better, she came across a lab assistant pulling a lever to make barriers fall from the ceiling. Coco slid across the oil floor to quickly spin him before he could pull the lever again. There was the fake crystal but this time, there were two fake gems. Wouldn't be the first time a path had more than one gem. But there wasn't a sign of a gem path or a death route platform so that meant...

Coming across a fork in the road, Coco saw to the left a painting of a purple gem. There was also a large gap too big for a single jump. Due to not having the purple gem yet, it was clear she would need to backtrack. This would make things risky as the heroes worked to interact with the past as little as possible to avoid huge ripples. But they had been careful so far. Right now, the focus was on the crystals.

There were more ground buttons that made platforms appear from the wall allowing the bandicoot to make it across big gaps. Then she found spotlights as the left wall had lots of holes in them. A fly flew across and when it was in the spotlight, darts flew to the other side impaling it. There was a certain height they were at so they were high enough that Coco could crawl under. It still was difficult as she could just barely feel the darts go across her head.

"Geez, Egyptians don't mess around."

Just past two more lab assistants, one with a flame thrower which threw her off as they hadn't been invented yet, was the ninth power crystal. Switching them, Coco saw the exit up ahead. She dodged another snake and activated the switch to make the floating platforms move. When she got to the outside, there was a transparent crate showing how many boxes were broken. Which meant she missed some.

"Must be on the other path. We'll get there when we get there" she sighed.

She jumped through the portal to return to the present. Her brother wasn't back yet so she looked at the main screen to check up on him. He had just crossed the finish line and got that crystal and gem which made her smile. But it turned to worry as Aku-Aku spoke up.

Crash! Stop! We're going too fast!

I'm getting to it!

She watched Crash slam on the brakes which launched him off the motorcycle as the portal appeared. As she heard it form on the Twister, Coco turned around and ran up to it to see her brother fly out of the portal, colliding into her.

"Ugh...it hurts" Crash rubbed his head before seeing what he ran into. "Coco! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine" she helped him up. "What about you? I got to see some of your driving and looked scared."

He rubbed his arm, "I was. How are you able to drive vehicles so easily?"

"Practice" she answered. "It didn't help with lacking experience on our first adventure however. I do doubt that'll be the only time racing will be involved so the next time we come across one, I can help you."

"Thanks" he smiled. He was about to enter the tenth portal but winced.

"Child, I don't think you should handle this" Aku floated to him. "You went through a lot and your injuries need to heal."

Crash wanted to debate with how fast his injuries would heal sometimes but he had a point. He was shaken and since the last area for this section could be animal riding, he wasn't in the mood for another ride. "Alright. You think you can get the last crystal from this section Coco? I should be better when you get back."

"Of course. I'll be right back."

She jumped in as the men walked to the center. Crash ate some Wumpa to regain strength as he looked at the Dimensional Travel book again. The crystals were being collected a lot faster than last time alongside gems. At this rate, they should be done in the next two hours.

Chapter Text

It was a little colder as Coco returned to the Great Wall's construction at Midnight Run. She was wearing her hanfu dress again and she looked around to see flags of Chinese words on them. The tiger cub wasn't present at first which confused her but then she heard workers yelling in Chinese.

Coco turned around to see the cub running towards her away from soldiers. They were holding nets and whips so it wasn't hard to guess what they were trying to do. As the tiger approached Coco, she mewled with sadness. The sight made it clear what she had to do.

"Don't worry. I won't let them harm you."

She jumped on the tiger's back and the two ran off with the soldiers in hot pursuit. Getting a good look around, Coco saw a mix of lab assistants in disguise and actual workers and soldiers. Along with a flag with Cortex on it. She would have groaned but there were more important things to handle. Also, she would have to expect this for the rest of the adventure.

Picking up speed, the cub managed to run through barrels without slowing down. More Chinese dragons flew across the wall to provide obstacles to escape. There were also the crates that were destroyed either by the tiger or the soldiers trampling them.

Taking a look behind her, Coco saw that the soldiers were still close behind. No matter how many ramps they bounced off of, pits they jumped over, or dragons they weaved through, the girls couldn't lose them. Not to mention, the crystal hadn't been spotted yet.

Please still be there the bandicoot thought.

The dragons did have more up their move set, changing what height they were at as they flew by. This made some soldiers trip over but more just followed. In fact, some workers put down their supplies and joined them. Coco could hear their shouting getting closer. "Can you run faster?" she asked the cub.

There was only a shake of the head as she kept running. They needed an idea fast. And it came in the form of spotting two familiar looking men holding buckets.

"Almost there..." one headed to the end of the road. "There! That's where the portal back is!"

"Alright" his friend pulled out the crystal and gem he collected not long ago. "No sign of those brats. All that's left now is to find a way over."

They thought on a way to do so when they heard a stampede. "What is that?" They turned to see someone riding a tiger heading towards them with a fierce glint in her eyes.

"AH! Nonono! Stay away!" the men started to panic as they recognized the rider.

With no time to react, they were pounced on as Coco grabbed the crystal and gem. The tiger then jumped across the gap leaving the soldiers to deal with two lab assistants. One worker then pointed at them.

(In Chinese) Wait...that's them! I saw them steal those priceless gemstones! They're thieves!

While unable to understand, the lackeys could read the residents' faces clearly. "Oh no."

Coco saw the sight, breathing a sigh of relief that something else took the heat off. The portal then appeared so she started off when she felt something tug her dress.

"Huh?" she saw the cub pulling with her mouth with a sad face. It made her realize that if this animal stayed, she could be in more danger. Who's to say the soldiers weren't going to stop hunting her? But...if she took the tiger, it could cause a ripple in the time stream. She then remembered those mysterious people who said they were giving this animal a better life. Is this what they meant? With how friendly this tiger cub is, the choice was obvious.

"Okay, you can come."

The cub happily jumped in Coco's arms and licked her face affectionately. The moment was short lived as she spotted the soldiers getting ready to fire arrows at them. "Okay! I think we've stayed too long!" She ran to the portal and made it through just as the arrows hit the pavement.

Tumbling back to the Time Twister, Coco saw her brother and Aku-Aku watching the screen. They turned around to see her, "Child, you made it! With the soldiers chasing after you..."

"I'm okay" Coco noticed Crash looked a lot better and not as shaken. His eyes then widened as he saw what was behind her.

"Uh...I think you were followed."

Aku-Aku spotted the tiger cub too. "Oh no! Okay...don't panic. We can still fix this. Open the portal where she came from and-"

"Actually...I brought her here" Coco knelt to her level.

Both men stared at her. "WHAT?!"

"I had to! She was being hunted by people who wanted to harm her! I couldn't leave her behind to die!" Coco walked up to the screen and pushed buttons to see the time stream. While he didn't get a good look, Crash thought he saw his sister's eyes turn magenta for a second. "It was risky and I know we can't interfere with the past in a big way. But letting an innocent creature go through suffering...I just can't."

Crash's face fell. He knew what it was like to live in hardship at the castle. As the cub nuzzled his leg, he gave her a pet. "Hi" he said.

As the time stream came up, it showed that things were still stable. Apparently, taking a tiger out of the Qin dynasty didn't really have an impact since tigers weren't even supposed to be on the Great Wall. It was still finished on time with the only difference being Cortex on the flags and banners.

"Well, it is a relief that things didn't change and our present is the same" Aku pointed out. "Even so, we can't mess with the past too much Coco. Same with you Crash. Our enemies are tempting things enough with their tamperings. The tiger cub can stay, but you have to promise me you won't do this again."

The siblings nodded slowly. "We promise."

Hearing pages turn, the three saw that the cub was looking through a history book about Russia. Particularly on the Romanov family. What stunned the heroes was she seemed to actually be reading it.

Coco sat next to her, "You understand it?"

The tiger meowed to say yes. This got the mask's attention. As far as he knew, only Polar could understand English and written words. "Hmm, does this tiger have a name?"

"No, not yet."

While this went on, Crash walked back to the second warp area to see a single big button like before. Pressing it, the portal showed an icy area filled with woolly mammoths and saber-tooth tigers. "Guys! The way to unlock the next area arrived!"

"I'm coming" Aku floated to him. "The ice ages are dangerous. No thanks to a certain group of masks."

"What kind of group?" Crash asked.

"That's a story for another time."

With the two warped away, Coco joined her tiger in reading by picking up on two books she had left off. They were the Time Twister's manual and a book called Fun with Singularities and Other Cataclysmic Events. The latter was both fun to read and very helpful in case the Time Twister did face problems. With time on the line, anything could happen.

The cub then placed her head on Coco's lap. Feeling the purr, an idea for a name came to her.

"I think I'll name you Pura."

***

"Brr...can't believe I got sent to woop woop."

M1 shivered and used his flame thrower to stay warm. When he was told he wouldn't have to go through the Vortex if he got the crystals and gems collected so far, he was all for it. Until he saw when he was being sent to. Tropy explained that after the Rome incident, they had to be sent to less populated and civilized places to decrease the risk of paradoxes. Not like there weren't enough already with Cortex plastering his face everywhere.

Right now, M1 was in a cave full of colorful icicles. He was in awe at the sight, how the icicles shimmered in the light. He never got to see things like this. Hopefully if he was allowed to explore the world, he could see more amazing things. Right now, ensuring his rational soul's safety was his main priority.

*grumble grumble*

Make that his second priority.

"Ugh, crikey I'm starved!" Due to it being some time since his last meal, M1 was famished. He looked around for something to eat when his eyes fell on an emperor penguin. Licking his lips, M1 readied his flame thrower when he heard a portal appear.

"Huh?" He saw a bandicoot and a colorful mask pop out of it. Quite strange none of them were dressed for this time period. Getting serious, he gripped his weapon. "G'day mates. M1's the name."

Due to this being Crash's first time meeting the mutant Coco told him about, he was intrigued. A fusion between a dingo and a crocodile. It certainly made him look threatening. "Well, I'm Crash. Not C1 like the doctors have told you."

To his surprise, the mutant lowered his weapon. "Believe me, I'm not fond of what those guys call me and other animals. Along with giving me hard yakka with the promise of thinkin for myself. I'm not in the mood for a rumble so give me the goods and shove off!"

Crash figured he was talking about the crystals and gems. So he got in a fighting stance, "No. I'm not letting anyone take them."

"Especially not my brother" Aku-Aku added.

"In that case..." M1 got his flame thrower ready. "Break out the buttah! I'm gonna make toast!"

He blasted his flame thrower at the ceiling to make blue, green, and purple icicles fall around him as a shield. He then fired shots over the walls to have them land on Crash. The bandicoot ran in circles to avoid them, stunned his opponent was a good shot. When the fireballs stopped, he peeked through the icicles to see M1 was about to fire at full blast through his barrier.

"Uh oh."

Crash barely managed to avoid the blast as icicle shards flew around. M1 kept firing which made Crash see he had a clear way to attack. So he ran up and spun him on his stomach. The tank started to beep loudly which sounded like a self-destruct activation so the heroes ran to the walls as there was an explosion covering M1 with soot.

"Ugh, you're galah!" M1 shook himself off. "You coulda blown us all up! Well two can play at that game."

A new icicle barrier formed and M1 shot more fireballs. These were much faster and didn't always go in a full circle. Crash hoped he would accidentally destroy his barrier again but it seemed his enemy learned from his mistake as he didn't do so.

"Any ideas on how to get through?!" Aku yelled over the noise.

"I don't know!" Crash tried to think. The icicles were too high for a single jump. But maybe...no! It was too risky! He hadn't relearned it yet. But with the threat of being burnt to a crisp, it was his best bet.

Taking a deep breath, Crash ran to the icicles and jumped. As he reached the height of that jump, he mustered his strength and forced himself upward. Before he knew it, he felt he had launched off an invisible platform as he jumped higher. He now had enough height to jump over the blue icicles and land in between the barriers.

"Crikey!" M1's eyes popped out. "How'd ya do that?!"

"Heat of the moment" Crash answered as he did the same thing two more times. He spun M1 and used his relearned double jump to get to safety as the tank exploded again.

M1 was far from happy as he got up. "Now you've gone and done it. Them crystals and gems are mine!"

He fired two fireballs at once instead of one and these were even faster. Aku-Aku used some of his powers to keep them back but they kept coming. While dodging, Crash tried a different tactic.

"You don't have to do this! If you don't like the doctors, then leave!"

"I can't!" M1 shouted. "There's no place for me out there! Serving Cortex is the only way I can experience the world! I don't know how you ankle-biters managed to thrive in freedom but I doubt I'll be as lucky as you! Cortex even promised not to use the Vortex on me if I succeeded in my mission!"

That made Crash stop for a second. M1 wasn't under the scientist's control? He's fighting to keep his freedom to choose? Hearing this made him feel sympathy. He nearly got his own intellect and free will taken away and was never given a chance to give his opinion on the world. He tried to talk again but nearly got blasted. Ducking under a burst of flame, he felt snow form in his fingers. Sympathy or not he had to defend himself. And he decided to use what he learned when it snowed on N. Sanity Island.

Seeing his flamethrower was almost out of fuel, M1 slowed down and waited for the right moment. "Come out. Where are ya?" His target then double jumped to throw a snowball at his face.

"Gah! Can't see!" He tried to wipe the snow off, distracting him enough for Crash to double jump his way over. With one final spin and explosion, M1 was knocked out cold.

"Clever thinking child!" Aku cheered. "And you finally know how to double jump again."

As Crash picked up the key to the next Time Twister area, he looked at the mutant again. If what he said was true, he was going to deal with much worse when this was over. No. He couldn't let M1 suffer because of him.

"Aku? Is there anywhere on Earth he can live safely?"

The mask would have had trouble thinking of an answer but he remembered seeing on the screen that Cortex's impact on the fifties led to many diners that welcomed evolved animals along with a hidden city in New Orleans where anthropomorphic animals could live freely.

"There is. Guess our enemies messing with time is helping us in a way."

Using his teleportation powers, he warped M1 to the location he spotted. "I have heard a saying that a little nice makes naughty think twice. I don't know if it will apply here but at least this creation will be safe."

"Yeah, kinda wish we found a name for him though" Crash said as the portal back appeared.

***

M1 woke up to the feeling of humidity. Sitting up, he saw what seemed to be a swamp. As he walked around, he spotted to his surprise more animals like him walking around waving at him.

"Am I dreaming?" he held his head. He could feel pain in his side so it wasn't. Where did these animals come from? Were they escaped creations of Cortex? But then how did they get out here? As far as he knew, there weren't any swamps in Australia.

His stomach growled again, reminding him of his hunger. M1 then sniffed something, "Wait...is that...roadkill pie? Slug and centipede gumbo?! Brazed bat tacos and guanamole?!"

Now running, he followed the scent to what seemed to be an empty three wall diner. His eyes popped with excitement. It was vacant so that meant he could make a name for himself here. Spotting himself in the swampy water, his animal features gave him an idea.

"Yeah...Dingodile!"

Chapter Text

"Can you explain why you're making these...things again?"

Cortex turned to N. Gin as he finished creating his newest experiment. They were fish but they looked more like bandicoots as they flopped around and spun.

"It's part of finding the crystals and gems" he explained. "I used some of C1's DNA to modify these prehistoric creatures. Seeing how he and C2 have been finding crystals and gems with ease, whatever abilities he has the same will apply for these fish. It may include that glowing green power that shows up when he's about to lose." He then sent the fish back to when they came as Tropy and Uka-Uka showed up.

"Have you checked on your mutant lately?" the mask demanded.

The reminder made Cortex face palm. "Ugh I knew there was something I forgot!" He ran to the screens to see M1 fighting C1 in an ice cave. His mutant seemed to have the upper hand but then C1 double jumped over the icicle barriers and was able to beat him. What made the scientist shrink even more was seeing Aku-Aku use his powers to teleport M1 away to who knows where.

"I'll give that rodent this" Uka-Uka said. "He was reasonable by not leaving M1 to freeze to death. But now we lost two henchmen and our enemies have almost half the crystals!"

"Which is why we need to change our format" Tropy grabbed his tuning fork. "It's clear these lab assistants are either too slow or not strong enough to fight back. It's a huge risk, but with how messed up the timeline is now, going out ourselves won't be much different."

As he said this, Nitro was getting excited. "Are we going to travel through time?"

"You will do so" Tropy went on. "I still need to watch the Time Twister. And I do not trust Cortex going out by himself without getting distracted."

Cortex scowled at the comment. Sure he plastered his face on a few historic landmarks. But they were going to take over the world anyway! Why not prepare the time stream?

Tropy then dumped a pile of history books in Gin's arms. "I managed to salvage these books from the library before it was ransacked. Read up on all of them to have a decent understanding on when you're going. The Time Twister provides the appropriate wardrobe but you still have to blend in the best you can. It will still be challenging with" he paused to point at the missile "that."

Nitro stumbled off, trying to balance the books as Uka floated to Tropy. "As prepared as you are, I still expect success. From what we've seen of those rodents, it may come to a point where I should get involved. I didn't wait thousands of years to be free only for my plans to be stopped by my brother and two failed experiments!"

"Believe me" Tropy walked to the communication screen. "I'm just as determined to stop them as you are."

***

It took a few minutes but the smartphones dinged making Coco smile. "There. This should help us out."

A portal back opened up which meant the next key was collected. Coco grabbed the phones as she saw her brother shivering and eating a Wumpa. Regardless, he was happy.

"Got the next k-k-key" Crash got out. "And I know how to double jump again. Just muster your strength to jump again when at the top."

"I'll try it out myself. Oh and here." Coco handed his smartphone back. "I made a modification to our phones to let us see the time stream and how stable it is. It can show different paths based on when we are and the decisions we make. This will allow us to choose the path that has the least amount of risk to the present day."

Sure enough, there was an app that displayed the time stream. Right now, it was a soothing blue with the present still the same. "Well done Coco" Aku-Aku smiled. "This will help relieve some stress with time travel. With the third area open, we can try it out for ourselves."

The three were about to head off when the main screen flickered. It then showed a blue man with orange armor with clocks on it. "Well. Haven't we gotten far for a pair of hairy marsupials."

Crash walked up to the screen. "Who are you?"

"I am Dr. Nefarious Tropy. Master of time and creator of the very Time Twister you see standing before you" he answered with a scowl. "Not surprised you haven't heard of me, with how simple your minds could get."

"Excuse me?!" Coco glared at him, faint purple shapes forming on her face.

Tropy didn't notice as he kept going, "Uka-Uka and Dr. Cortex have sent me to end this little charade so you won't be leaving my area with the crystals! Not like you'll get far anyway as I've taken more measures to ensure success. I figured I should have shown up sooner, seeing how incompetent those other animals were. But even perfect villains can slip up. It helps to see it's better to get things done yourself. If you don't heed this, I'll put an end to your quest. I swear it!"

The screen turned off at this. Neither of the bandicoots liked that man. He had an air of smugness and arrogance. Like he was the one in charge of everything. Had he seen them in action? Crash actually wanted to spin him into a pulp but it would have to wait until the next five crystals were found.

When choosing which two crystals to get first, the options were prehistoric times, underwater, Arabia at night, another bike race (that Crash gulped at), and medieval times during a storm. Not in the mood for a race, a thunderstorm, or going back to a humid area, Crash chose Deep Trouble.

"Sound fair" Coco agreed. "I do want to see prehistoric times myself" she opened the portal to Dino Might! "Aku-Aku, who do you want to go with for this session?"

Aku looked at both portals. He didn't want to get chased by dinosaurs again but he also wasn't a fan of being underwater. Not to mention Crash had been doing fine by himself, not needing much help with swimming. "I will go with you" he told Coco. "Will you be okay Crash?"

"I'll be okay" Crash went back to get the diving gear and jumped into the underwater portal. His sister and mask followed suit with the prehistoric area.

***

Upon arriving, Coco was met with the sound of dinosaur roars and the smell of nature. She took some pictures with her phone and turned it around for selfie mode only to jump at the sight.

"AH! What happened to me?!"

Aku-Aku lightly chuckled. "It's certainly more feral than your brother's outfit for this time period."

Calming down, Coco took a better look at herself with her camera phone. She was wearing a sleeveless light brown dress with bronze ankle bands, a belt with a pouch, and wrist bands, one of them wrapped around her entire hand. Her skin was different colors with purple hands and feet with claws, a blueish-green face, lime green hair, and magenta spikes down the back of her head to her waist. She looked more like a dinosaur than a bandicoot.

"Strange choice of colors" she murmured. Coco then saw a crate high on a pillar of metal cubes. Too high for a single jump. Remembering what her brother said, she gathered her strength to jump, then jump again when at the height of it. It worked and she was able to reach the crate. "Finally! I missed this so much!"

"Alright child, let's keep moving" Aku floated ahead of her only to stop at another sight. Coco met up with him to see a fish that looked like Crash flopping around and spinning. It tried to swim in the shallow water but was unsuccessful. Due to never seeing fish like that in prehistoric books, Coco had a good idea on where this fish came from.

She sighed, "I'm not even surprised anymore. The sooner this is over, the sooner his influence will disappear."

Spinning the fish away, she continued through the forest, avoiding lava pits, geyser bursts, and more mutated fish. Smashing the crates, Coco spotted a transparent yellow gem platform. Aku told her how the previous dinosaur area had one that was red while Coco explained seeing a path in Egypt needing a purple gem. Looks like the pain of backtracking was upon them once again.

The two then came across a giant dinosaur egg. As they got closer, it started to hatch. It then broke open, revealing a small, green baby T-Rex. It looked around and his eyes landed on Coco. She felt nervous as he came up and nuzzled his head in her stomach,

"Oh no. He's imprinted on you" Aku-Aku's eyes widened.

"Hey...I'm not a dinosaur" Coco backed up but the T-Rex followed. As flattered as she was, she couldn't bring him back. A tiger was one thing but this was another. Still, he could help find the crystal and gem. She then yelped as the baby got under her making her ride on his back. He seemed to know where to go as he went for the crates and avoided the nitro without prodding. Then he pounced on something that was squirming.

Looking down, Coco saw a lab assistant dressed as a swamp monster. He tried to get up and saw what had run him over. "AHHHH! More dinosaurs! Don't eat me! Here! Take my copy crystal and gems!" He tossed them at the heroes and ran off screaming.

"Well...that was something" the mask got out.

Coco picked up the crystal and gems. "Guess there's a second gem to get here too." The three kept going, avoiding lava and geysers before reaching the end of the water path. The heroes were about to head off when the dinosaur tried to follow. "Sorry but you can't come" Coco told him.

The dinosaur just kept following her, having a sad puppy dog face. Coco looked at her phone to see the time stream was getting wavy with the decision to bring him along. She sighed, "I know you want to come. But this is your home. I don't even know if you'll survive in the present day. I can't stay either as I'm not from here. So please, stop following us."

A roar was then heard making the T-Rex look up. The sound of the roar sounded like other T-Rexes. This gave Coco an idea. "There! If you can follow that, you can find your family! They'll help keep you safe."

It seemed to work as the dinosaur nodded, transfixed by the girl's magenta irises. He gave her a nuzzle and made noises in her ear before running off. Aku-Aku watched the whole thing. "Quite stunning that he understood you."

"Yeah. The same can be said vice-versa."

This confused the mask, "What?"

"Before he left, he told me there are more boxes on another path" Coco told him. "So it looks like we'll only get the crystal for this visit. I don't know how I can understand him either."

Deciding to focus on that later, the heroes found the eleventh crystal and started to look for the exit. They landed on a lower ledge as growling was heard from behind them. With how the path ahead looked, Coco was fully aware on what was coming. It might have been years, but you never forget your first chase.

Sure enough, a triceratops chased after her. There might have been streams of water to speed her up but there were still geysers, lava, and pterodactyls to avoid.

"Starting to think I should have taken the diving crystal!" Coco yelled.

"We will get you swimming lessons soon" Aku-Aku reassured her. "I'm also certain Crash is having as much difficulty as you are."

***

Crash used the robo-fish to remove obstacles and free crates from seaweed. Quite lucky one was at the start. Even when he had to lose it, swimming wasn't much trouble. It helped he was a fast learner.

Taking pictures everywhere, Crash wondered if there were any cities underwater. It did make up most of the planet so was it possible there were other worlds beneath the waves? The ocean fascinated him just as much as dry land. With all this knowledge, he didn't know if he would be able to see everything.

He then spotted something new. Two whirlpool machines that sucked two blowfish into their vortexes. Crash thought it only applied to small fish but then it sucked in a shark. Yikes. Looks like another thing to worry about. He timed how long the whirlpools ran before swimming past them. As he dived deeper, he began to worry that the replacement crystal and gem wasn't found yet. A shark then chased after him and nearly ate him if it weren't for his instincts.

Crash used his strength to keep the shark's open mouth away. He then spotted something down its throat. Something...shiny. He kneed the fish in the stomach making it vomit up a crystal and two gems. One clear and one red. A lab assistant also scrambled out, using a harpoon gun to shoot the shark. He then swam off for the surface, leaving the stones behind.

Huh. Glad I managed to save him. And his loss is my gain. Crash took the replacements and quickly found the crystal buried in the sand. All that was left was to destroy the rest of the crates and find the exit. Would have been easy if he didn't come across two different paths.

Oh great. Another split path?! And underwater too?! Just when I thought backtracking was strenuous enough! One path had Wumpa so Crash took that one, seeing how they usually lead to something good. Sure enough, after going through tubes there was a robo-fish and more crates. The amount of whirlpools made it hard to drive past with the timing so that was a con. Things got worse when there was a steel ! crate and a transparent box with the number of crates left to smash.

Seeing this made Crash grip the handles so hard it left imprints of his fingers. He was already stressed being underwater and having so much to avoid. But he wasn't going to let backtracking keep him from protecting the world. If he could survive so far, he can make it through an underwater maze.

It took ten minutes but Crash made it back to the fork in the path. Having the robo-fish did decrease the risk of getting hurt. Taking the other path, the bandicoot detonated TNT crates to clear the way and dove deeper. This way was even harder as he was on his own without extra help. Nitro floated everywhere and whirlpools were present. There were even three close together. Right past them though was the nitro detonator and two gems. One red and one clear.

Finally! No wonder there were two paths! Colored gems always provide more of a challenge. Guess they aren't found by secrets this time though. As he held the red one, he realized this would allow him to get the other gem from Bone Yard. Not to mention, this red gem was like the other one from the Master Crystal Incident. Strong in power but not as strong as the red gem from his first adventure. He shook his head. He would deal with those rainbow rocks after the adventure.

Returning back, he saw Coco and Aku-Aku were already present. They were feeding Pura some meat and a bowl of water. "I'm back!" he announced.

"That's great and...whoa. Are you alright?" Coco noticed exhaustion in her brother's eyes.

"So...much...diving" he said. "I found a colored gem though so I can get the gem I missed from the first prehistoric portal."

He started off but Aku stopped him. "Easy. As much as I want to stop my brother you need to recover. We have about half the crystals already and we're making good time. Get something to eat and when you're ready, we'll keep going. Coco needed a break too after being chased by a triceratops."

"How do you handle being chased?" she asked.

Crash laughed a little, "The same way you handle driving, lots of practice."

The two sat down and ate while reading the books they were looking through. One on the Time Twister, the other on dimensional travel. No doubt those books could come into play in the future.

Chapter Text

Upon arriving at Bone Yard once again, the first thing Crash noticed was a floating yellow clock. He thought he was seeing things but Aku-Aku noticed it too.

"That is odd. Was this sent by the doctors too?"

Crash touched the clock and a message appeared. Race to the end of this area as fast as possible to earn a relic. There are three tiers from easiest to hardest: sapphire, gold, and platinum. Would you like to attempt? Select yes or no.

He was about to choose yes but remembered why he was here. "Let's get the other gem first. Then we can do this."

"I do not know" Aku-Aku seemed unsure. "Relics are believed to be myths even among the wisest masks. With stories on how they cause so much pain and suffering. People bend over backwards to get the fastest times to say they're the best. I do not even know if they can help us."

"That can be true. But there were signs at the jet board areas that say a gem can be earned if we reach the end quickly enough. Maybe the same applies here but on a different scale" Crash debated.

"Could be. But first, let's get the gem."

The two went on the path like last time. Which included being chased and avoiding lab assistants in the waters. It didn't take long to find the red gem platform. Crash got on and he was taken to another section. When he arrived, it didn't take long to see this was going to be another chase. He rolled his eyes, the gem routes must be getting easier if he would be doing things he had gotten used to.

Sure enough, there was a triceratops running after him with lava pits to avoid. Even with this confidence, Crash didn't slow down. One wrong move could lead to disaster. And it came when he saw one lava pit that was wider than normal so he had to double jump.

"Whoa! Now I'm really glad I relearned this!"

There were more big lava pits, pterodactyls, and geysers present. The latter two were even close together so Crash had to slow down to ensure the geyser wasn't blowing when he made it there. The grass wasn't doing much favors, slowing him down and having him spin a lot which took up some energy.

"This certainly is a lot for a chase!" Aku yelled.

"I'm never underestimating gem routes!" Crash replied.

The bandicoot's reflexes were truly put to the test as so much appeared so fast. Despite the chaos, his mind did wander to the relic clock. Was there one for every area? When did they show up? The crystal wasn't present so is that what makes the clock appear? No doubt the relics could mean something. He had to earn as many as possible. The ones with the bike could wait though until he had better controls.

The gem was finally in sight so Crash grabbed it and put the replacement in its place. Good thing the lab assistant from the first visit had two of them. When the heroes returned to the present, Crash did his little dance to celebrate getting another gem. He thought of doing that every time a gem was found but it would be a little much.

Since Coco wasn't back yet, Crash looked at the portals. "So do you want to see if we can get some relics?"

Looking at the app to see a stable time line, Aku floated to the buttons. "There doesn't seem to be a real threat with this decision so... I suppose. As long as we are quick."

Wanting a break from dinosaurs, the two went back to medieval times to start their relic craze.

***

It was night time in Arabia when Coco jumped out of the portal. The air was humid but not unbearably hot. Her outfit certainly helped. This time, she was wearing a white, long-sleeved dress with a gold trim in the middle, blue pants underneath, a veil that wrapped around her chest and was on her head with mahogany red on the sides, and flats.

With how big the veil was, Coco wanted to take it off but it was customary for women to wear coverings in this time period. Still, this would make it hard to see. But she started off, suddenly stopping when someone threw items out the window and it caught fire.

"Hey!" she yelled. "What was that?!"

The people peeked out the windows and Coco caught a glimpse of familiar glasses. These had to be lab assistants. They began to throw explosives at her which made her run for the other side, destroying crates. Coco climbed up the building by bouncing on rugs and hitching a ride on rising flying carpets. With the portal titled High Time, it made sense this was in the air.

There was a lack of Cortex's impact here this time so Coco happily took pictures from the buildings to the palace in the distance. She still had to deal with monkeys carrying jars, genies, swordsmen, and people throwing explosives to the streets below. Then came the monkey bars.

A pain in the arms was already felt as Coco saw them. Even so, she made her way across, avoiding scorpions. The genie lab assistant present was knocked out and replacement gems and a crystal were found. One of the gems being purple.

"Wow. Didn't take long to find the gem needed to backtrack."

As she kept going, Coco found the crystal on a floating carpet. There were a lot of them here which made her think. Where did they come from? When the carpet came close, she jumped on which made the carpet try to throw her off.

"GAH!" She gripped the fabric to avoid plummeting to the streets. In the scuffle, she spotted a chip in the carpet with an N on it. This made her realize these were made by Cortex. Guess he did impact Arabia after all. Coco grabbed the chip and tried to yank it out hoping that doing so would make the carpet stop. "Come on!" she pulled but it wouldn't budge. Her irises flashed magenta before a bolt of lightning came out of her fingers and hit the chip. The carpet then settled down to her relief.

"Again?" Coco looked at her fingers. This was the second time something like this happened. Whenever she was getting stressed with technology, a zap could be heard and the technology would work for her. Holding onto the carpet, she saw that she now had control over it. Being able to fly up, down, forward, and back.

"This...can come in handy" gears turned in her head. When she got to the other side, she rolled up the carpet and held onto it. As spacious as her pockets were, the entrance wasn't large enough for the carpet to fit.

After a few steps and more broken crates, Coco spotted a skull platform. No doubt it was where the purple gem was. So she got on and it led her to a crate less path. There were so many obstacles to avoid. She was tempted to use the flying carpet but doing so could risk the time stream as witnesses would notice. Things became complicated when she got to the end where the purple gem floated but there wasn't a platform or portal present.

Then a missile flew right past her and blew up a market stand.

Turning around, the bandicoot came face to face with N. Gin riding a carpet of his own with weaponry sticking out of it. Like her, he was dressed up to blend in, wearing a black turban to cover his missile, red and gold robes, a black cape with flames, and a gold chest plate. His cobra staff also doubled as a bazooka.

"Well well well. If it isn't my protégé C2. Been a long time" Nitro said. "I was worried about being unable to find the crystal and gems here but it seems Cortex was right. Just wait for you to show up then take the glory!"

Coco snarled at him, "One, my name is Coco! Two, if you think you're getting this crystal and the gems, you're sadly mistaken! Aren't you even concerned with civilians seeing you with something like that?!"

"Says the furry girl taking a tiger cub from Ancient China" Gin shot back.

The comment made Coco wince. But she wasn't going to let this deter her. "Pura's life was in danger! Tigers weren't even supposed to be on the Great Wall! My brother and I work to ensure the least amount of ripple effects!"

N. Gin rolled his eyes as he lined up another shot, "Hand over the crystals and gems bandicoot. Before I blow you out of the sky."

Due to having no other options, Coco gripped the carpet, unfurled it, and jumped off the building. She took control of the tassels to make it fly away. Nitro chased after her, firing projectiles nonstop. Driving a flying carpet took some getting used to, being floaty with lots of air time.

It didn't take long for fires to start from the explosions. Coco went under and over obstacles to try and lose him but no luck. He was right behind her. With how high they were and the amount of buildings, an idea formed.

"Stay still! Why won't you stop?!" the scientist yelled.

A smirk was forming, "Okay, I'll stop!"

Coco pulled hard on the carpet to suddenly stop which made Gin fly past her without warning and right into the building up ahead.

"OOF!"

He face planted against the wall and fell about five feet into a cart full of hay. With the danger gone, Coco looked for a safe place to land on the main path. She folded up the carpet and continued on foot. "Man, time travel gets real messy real fast." She checked her phone to see the line was wavy but the present was still the same.

"Be extra careful. Can't be further to the exit."

***

The main Time Twister hub was a sight for sore eyes. When Coco got back, she placed the carpet away to study later and took a drink from her water bottle. She then spotted Crash passed out in a pile of books.

"Big brother?" Coco sat next to him. "Are you okay?" She then noticed five strange objects lying next to him. They looked like those cross hieroglyphics she saw in Egypt. They were all platinum colored rather than blue though.

"We've been through a lot" Aku-Aku spoke up. "After Crash got the gem he did the relic challenges in Toad Village, Under Pressure, Bone Yard, Hang'Em High, and Deep Trouble. He believes getting them will help us but the challenge quickly put pressure on him."

Hearing this made Coco curious. "Relic challenge?"

"To get a relic, you have to get to the end of a path as fast as possible. Some crates changed, having numbers that froze the clock when broken" the mask went on. "I was weary myself but when we got five relics, a small elevator appeared in the center revealing five hidden portals that have more gems to find. I have no doubt that Tropy is responsible for this task. Making sure we are unable to get all the gems."

With the information of portals locked behind relics, Coco became intrigued. The villains were actually stepping up their game, putting roadblocks to make sure the heroes wouldn't get far.

Speak of the devil...

The screen turned on again revealing an angered Tropy. "So you pesky sewer rats aren't going to back off eh?"

Crash woke up at that moment. "Huh? Wha? Did we save the day already?"

"No and you never will accident!" the man scowled. "I don't know how you managed to discover my relics and unlock one of my portals already but this is as far as you will go! If you keep gathering crystals and gems, it won't be long before you see what I can really do!"

As he cut communication, Coco turned to her brother. "Do you feel okay enough to head back out? Aku told me what happened."

He stretched his back and arms. "Yeah...I think I'll do the third medieval area next. That time period tends to be the easiest. What about you?"

"Well with the confirmation that relics are necessary for victory, I'll get some myself while getting the gems from Egypt." Coco showed the purple gem, "Once we get ten we can check out the hidden sixth area of the Time Twister's portals."

She started off when Aku-Aku joined her. "I will come. I did see you nearly get caught by N. Gin. The fact he forced you to use a carpet, risking more ripples...not to mention seeing you gaining control of one of Cortex's carpets. I'm worried about you two getting hurt more than ever."

Touched, the girl nodded. "Thank you. I could use some extra help. You'll be okay Crash?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."

Both groups then head off, unaware what was going on below their feet.

***

"UGH! I can't believe you we unable to catch a little girl!" Tropy yelled at Nitro.

"Hey it's hard to shoot and drive a flying carpet at the same time!" he explained. "And she outsmarted me! In all the lessons I gave her, she was always a fast learner, maybe surpassing me!"

"THOSE RODENTS ARE THREE! None of them have seen objects like this! They shouldn't catch on this quickly!" Tropy rubbed his eyes, "I'm tempted to go end this myself but I can't leave the Time Twister unattended. Just try to get the crystal and gem from the second race. The male one barely succeeded in the last one so this will be a certain win."

N. Gin walked off to meet with the others. With how fast the bandicoots were getting crystals and gems and now relics, he was sure they would be furious too. But as he found Cortex watching the screens, both he and Uka-Uka were calm.

"Oh, Gin. You're back."

Seeing the ease made Nitro nervous. "You...aren't angry? But-"

"Our enemies are finding the crystals and gems before us?" Uka interrupted. "I would be furious but Cortex actually has a good point."

Facing his assistant, Cortex explained. "This isn't anything new. No matter what, C1 and C2 will get the crystals and gems. Their skills are unlike any other. Not to mention their methods of preserving time are appreciated even with my...additions. And with the relics now being a priority, it won't be long before everything is found."

"But the enemy will win!" Gin debated. "How is this good?!"

"Because" Uka-Uka floated close. "Once my brother and his pets get all the crystals and gems. All we have to do, IS TAKE EVERYTHING FROM THEM! My power is greater than my brother's as I don't hold back. Defeating our foes will be effortless!"

Cortex returned to the screens to watch his former generals continue on. You poor fools. You claim to be free, but you're still achieving what I want and following orders from someone else.

Chapter Text

Since Aku-Aku never got to see Ancient Egypt, he was in awe at the sight of the pyramids. Sure the unwelcome additions ruined the moment but everything else really caught his eye. Not to mention some of the costumes were pleasing to look at.

"I can see why you and Crash want to take pictures of everything" he told Coco.

"Yeah. There's so many things we haven't seen before! Not to mention all the books we found can help prepare us for when we meet other humans."

The mask seemed uneasy at that remark. "I do want you two to experience more but...the majority of humanity isn't..."

"I already know. You told us" Coco reminded him. "The rest of the world hasn't seen anything like us. They probably don't even know about Cortex's plans in the last two years! But when the time does come, I want to be ready. It's only a matter of time before more humans know about us."

At the fork in the road, Coco went right first as there were some boxes she wanted to get. She was back after a minute and the two went left where the picture of a purple gem was. The wall lifted up revealing more boxes and a lot of traps. Seeing it worried Aku. He didn't underestimate the siblings' abilities but this seemed a bit much.

"Wait!" He flew in front of the girl. "Perhaps it's best if I give you some of my power to get through this."

"Are you saying you want to possess me?" Coco asked.

"I am asking for permission" the mask said. "For a short time I can grant invincibility to the person I attach myself to. I have already done this with Crash during the second dinosaur chase and for some time trials. He gave me permission and it worked out. You will have control over your body, you'll just have some of my power in your veins. I just don't want you to get hurt on this gem route. The last one I went on was rather intense."

The sight of spotlight darts and oil did make Coco consider. She needed her energy to get the relics. "Okay. As long as I have control."

With that, Aku-Aku placed himself on her face and shouted something unintelligible. Before long, Coco bolted down the hall, destroying crates with a single touch and deflecting hazardous obstacles. The oil was still something to remember as the bandicoot slipped across the floor at high speeds. An obstacle she hadn't seen before were spears that shot out from the floor. She weaved through them when they were at the top.

"The end is up ahead!" Aku shouted. "Good thing too as I'm almost out of power!"

A gem was floating past the slamming walls along with steel ! crates. Just as Coco grabbed it, Aku-Aku removed himself from her face. "Whew! You okay child? Having a mask's power can be overwhelming."

"I'm fine" she placed the first fake gem where the real one was. "I can't believe masks have that much power in them. How come you don't use it more often?"

"I am not one for using my abilities constantly" the mask explained as they returned to the normal path. There were some boxes that had to be reached by backtracking. "Powers can be abused really easily depending on what kind and how much you have. Not to mention using them for too long can be physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. My brother would use his powers constantly claiming doing so will ensure dominance over others. He would say I was too weak just because I don't use them as often. That is because I know the cost of overuse. These kind of abilities have a risk of consuming you. It's why I'm worried about this green power Crash has. Along with those marks that appear on your faces. It's nothing like what masks have and the crystals and gems seem to emit a similar vibe."

The farthest the crates went was to the end of the spotlight darts. Once there, Coco went forward to get the last of the crates. "I figured you would watch what you do. People have been known to go mad with power. Just look at Cortex" she grimaced at another carving of him. "As for what's been going on with me and my brother, we do know its name at least and it seems to happen when we're in danger. Based on what we saw when Crash fought Tiny. But we can't get more information with what we have. The best we have is finding a way to Skylands since the people there seem to have answers."

All the crates were broken so the box gem was in sight. Coco sent a text message to Crash to update her progress. Back at the Time Twister, she headed to the first area to see which relic to get first.

"You do know we need Pura for two of these right?" Aku said.

"Yeah. Since we have to get to the end as fast as possible, we shouldn't run into problems." She called Pura over and the cub ran to her. Seeing the portal to China made her inch back.

"It's okay" Coco petted her. "It's an in and out. We only have to do this twice. Once this is done, I'll get you a treat."

Pure nuzzled her hand and mewled. Taking it as a yes, the three jumped in to start the next set of relics.

***

If there was one kind of weather Crash didn't like, it was rain.

He would get really wet really fast due to his fur absorbing it. Sure he did go swimming but he chose to get wet. Not to mention the rain reminded him of the dangerous climb up Cortex's castle. It was one of the hardest things he ever did. Didn't help that it made him sneeze too.

So you could imagine the excitement he had when arriving back in medieval times to see a thunderstorm was going on. Not to mention his costume to blend in wasn't exactly waterproof. Crash was ready to run to the exit as fast as he could when he saw something odd.

There was a giant swinging two cooked birds. What stood out to him was the creature had two heads. He mindlessly swung the food and didn't seem to notice the bandicoot. Due to his size, he was able to block the way.

"Ooookay" Crash just stared. "So much for blending in."

He used a double jump to bounce on the giant's head, knocking him down. Hearing his stomach growl, Crash grabbed one of the sticks to eat the meat. It tasted warm and moist, like they were freshly taken off a fire.

Aside from more giants, Double Header was about the same as the other two medieval areas. Frogs, goats, wizards, lab assistants swinging swords, and boxes. One tricky part was getting a crate in between two TNT crates without detonating them. After knocking over another giant, Crash found he had the fake crystal and gem so he took those.

Despite the rain, Crash did take some pictures of the fields he was in. He found it odd that there weren't any people who lived this period wandering around. Probably for the best as they would panic and send knights if they saw the two headed monsters. It would make preserving the time stream even more difficult.

After going across another bridge and spinning a wizard, Crash heard his phone ding. He looked to see his sister sent him a text message. "Wow, fast reception in the 1200s" he uttered. He read what she sent.

Got the gems from Egypt. Starting on the relic runs. Any suggestions on which ones I should do?

Walking along he sent back, Good luck with those. Getting a fast time is harder than it seems. As for ones not to do, don't do the motorcycle one. We still don't know how to drive one. As for me, I'm still looking for the crystal. I should be back soon.

Crash sent the message just as he was about to walk into a pit. "Whoa!" he felt himself get flown back. Taken aback, he decided to put his phone away. "Guess texting while walking is a bad idea. Hope that's as far as it'll go."

There were large gaps of water to wade through which only added to the drenched animal. But his spirits were lifted when he found the crystal as a bridge decoration. He pulled it out with little effort and put the replacement in before spotting the end. Two more giants were in the way but they were barely a match. Once the gem was found, Crash jumped into the portal back to the Time Twister.

He sighed and shook out his fur to get rid of some water. "It seems I have to deal with rain every adventure." At the center, he placed the new stones down as Coco, Aku-Aku, and Pura jumped out of Midnight Run with a platinum relic.

"Hey! How's it-"

"No time!" Coco tossed the relic to the floor. "I'm already on a rush to get these relics!" She was already at the portal for the jet ski waiting for Aku to join her.

Crash was at a loss for words. "Uhh..."

"Adrenaline junkie" the mask said. "Riding a running tiger cub brought a sense of exhilaration. She's just as energetic as you when you started."

"Trust me. If she is like I was when I started, it's not gonna last" Crash wrung out his socks the best he could and ate a Wumpa. "When are we going to check the sixth set of portals?"

"Either when there aren't any more relics to get right now or until Coco passes out" Aku-Aku guessed. "Are you going to try and get the fifteenth crystal?"

The thought of riding a motorcycle alone made Crash gulp. "No. I'll wait until after that."

He watched his sister and guardian head off as he picked up the dimensional travel book again. Pure was fast asleep from running so much so it was quiet. Until the screen flickered with a new message. Crash figured it was Tropy but it was Cortex and that dark mask again.

"Well you've crashed a few parties before but we never expected you to make it this far" the scientist spoke. He observed the area, "Where are your sister and that goody-two-shoes mask?"

Crash clenched a fist at what he called Aku-Aku. "They're not here right now. They're getting more relics to put an end to your plans. Once they're back, we're getting the next crystal."

Cortex folded his arms, "Not likely. Nitro's currently searching for it as we speak. Not to mention your sorry excuse for driving but it'll be entertaining to see you try. Once the others return tell them this. If you don't turn back..."

Uka-Uka placed himself on Cortex's face. "I will inflict a thousand years of suffering on you and the entire universe!" Communication went dead after that.

While Crash had only seen Uka-Uka a few times now, he could tell he meant business. From what Aku-Aku told about him so far, he could easily use his powers to decimate all of them. Right now he relied on his lackeys to get the job done but once they're gone, no doubt he'll handle things himself.

He had to be ready. The crystals and gems can't be given to him. The ones he found last time and now had a pulse similar to the rainbow gems from his first adventure. Granting power unlike any other. It was even similar to what he felt when his life was in danger or when he was feeling a strong emotion. Who knows what that mask would do if he had them in his possession?

All the more reason to figure out what this power was and how to control it.

Chapter Text

"Ughhh. My legs feel like jelly" Coco groaned.

"Yeah, running nonstop will do that to you" Crash handed her a water bottle and Wumpa.

It had been five minutes since the heroes got all the relics they could right now. There were thirteen in total with the only ones left being the motorcycle areas, one that still had the crystal. Right now, Coco was trying to regain her strength and breath. Once she felt ready, the group would investigate the sixth warp room.

"You both should learn to pace yourselves" Aku-Aku spoke. "There are times where you tend to go without resting and come close to passing out."

Crash faced him, "We know. We're trying to remember but you want to make sure Uka-Uka doesn't get the crystals and gems. You said time is of the essence and we can't get distracted."

"I know but I also forget that you two are only children. You have limits. A few minutes to recollect won't cause much harm." Seeing that Coco didn't look as exhausted, Aku headed to the elevator. "Now let's see this hidden area."

There wasn't a lot of room to stand so both bandicoots squeezed tight to fit. They descended to a room where it looked like a factory. Behind the glass panels were lab assistant robots being made and warped away to different time periods. Some went to areas familiar to Crash while others went to times that were different. One portal was the Oregon Trail and another looked like a European city where lots of glass windows were being broken at night.

"So this is where all these guys came from" Coco stared at the sight. "With how similar the men and women look, you'd think the people who live in those periods would get suspicious."

"Indeed" Aku agreed as he spotted Crash picking up a pipe and eying the controls. "No Crash. We're not decimating this place."

"What?" he dropped the pipe. "But doing this will make it harder for Cortex to collect the crystals and gems."

"These lab assistants are how we get the replacements" Coco told him. "Not to mention we don't know if this is connected to the Time Twister's controls. I don't want to risk having this place cave in during the adventure. Once we get everything, then we can shut this place down."

The offer sounded good enough. "Okay. So which portals are we doing?" Crash asked.

There were only two portals unlocked. There weren't crystals but there were gems. One was Hang'em High but in a different part of that area and the other was a jet ski ride during a sunset. The latter had no pirate ships so it wasn't a surprise on which one Coco wanted to do.

"You okay going back to Arabia big brother?"

"Sure, I could use sunny weather" Crash got ready to jump in as Aku-Aku joined him.

Both of them set off, hoping for an easier time.

***

The second Crash and Aku arrived, they saw a swordsman across from them. Right after spinning him, there was a row of floating nitro crates to bounce over. It wasn't hard to piece together that this was a death route. As Crash bounced on the rugs, he remembered seeing a yellow gem the last time he was here. Is this path...

"I think we're getting another colored gem."

"Already?" the mask said. "Feels like we just got the purple one!"

Riding a short distance on a flying carpet, Crash's irises shrunk when he saw rows of nitro ahead. Each set higher than the last. Good thing there were rugs to bounce on and a double jump for reassurance. Other than that, this death route was a cakewalk. It didn't even seem long as Crash spotted the exit up ahead past the yellow gem. He grabbed it, rode a small platform to the main path, and returned to the main hub.

"Wow. That was fast" he walked to the center.

"Coco isn't back yet. Any ideas on what to do?" Aku-Aku questioned.

Looking at the third warp area and remembering his sister having a hard time with Dino Might!, Crash had a suggestion. "I think I'll get the gems from the second prehistoric area."

"Are you sure?" Aku got concerned. "That one has a lot of backtracking with crates on both paths. Not to mention the triceratops that chases after you."

Crash kept walking forward. "All the more reason I want to do this. You saw how exhausted Coco was when she got some relics. She might even be out of breath when she comes back from Ski Crazed. Besides, I don't just want to read history books when evil's afoot."

The mask relented, "Alright. You have done backtracking before and didn't mind it too much. But I highly doubt a jet ski ride with no pirates will make Coco tired."

***

It was certainly beautiful when Coco set off on the jet ski. The warm, golden glow of the setting sun cast the island ahead in an almost haunting beauty. With no one around, the time stream wasn't at risk. Seemed strange she was wearing her pirate costume when she was alone but she didn't mind.

Coco stopped every once in a while to take pictures. "Ah, I really needed this. A nice easy path where the only obstacles are crates. There aren't even any bombs! So much for challenge."

As she flew off ramps, the mountain on the island started to shake. Without warning, it erupted, sending balls of lava to the ocean. Particularly on the path Coco was on. It landed in front of her, sending a huge wave that nearly threw her off.

"GAH!" she pulled on the brake handle. It wasn't long before more started raining down, making the waves much less smooth. This made it harder to get the crates and aim for the ramps. Not only because of the waves but because of the magma balls that showered the area.

"Of course it isn't easy. It's never easy!" Coco shouted. Still, she gripped the throttle and sped along, weaving in and out of the shower. Things were getting risky as some lava rocks landed right next to her or right behind her. Then the volcano erupted again, much louder than the first time. It wasn't long before the lava started falling faster with bigger balls. The nitro crates were detonated but that was the least of Coco's problems.

With how some crates were spread out, it made things more risky. Some were even hidden behind ramps so Coco had to turn around to get them. The magma rocks were hailing at this time, covering the island and the ocean surrounding it. The air was becoming too dangerous to breath making the child cough violently. It was also getting hard to see.

"Can't...stop. Exit...must be...close" Coco coughed out as she squinted. Her rage, worry, and determination made her grip the handlebars as her irises turned magenta. She had no trouble seeing anymore and her coughing stopped. Even with the violent waves she didn't get thrown off. The rest of the crates were destroyed making the gem appear.

Before leaving for this portal, Coco had picked up a replacement gem from the factory to use for this. Her brother did the same too when he left. She switched the gems and jumped through the exit portal just as a giant lava rock landed in its place.

Upon returning to the main floor, Coco noticed she was alone. Huh, thought Crash and Aku would be back by now. Where are they? And...why do I...feel...

Her irises were emerald green once again as she felt herself fall to the floor.

***

Holding the replacement gems found when his sister came though here, Crash looked at the yellow gem path. There was certainly a lot going on like the main path. He thought it was complicated enough going past the platform to get some boxes and then going back. But now there were lava pools to jump over, fish that looked like him (Aku-Aku replied with "don't ask"), and geysers. Since he went forward slowly, there weren't any problems.

The crates were easy to smash. Some were TNT and reinforced crates but it wasn't a hassle. Until the two came across a TNT crate in between reinforced crates. "Any ideas?" Crash asked his mask.

"Well we can't jump on it. But that doesn't mean it can't be touched at all."

Seeing what he meant, Crash touched the dynamite with his hand which started the countdown. Once it exploded, he took care of the other crates. He kept going forward as he came across a familiar setup. Another chase segment.

"Feel ready?" Aku-Aku asked him.

"I've been expecting chases since the first time it happened" Crash answered.

The obstacles were the same, geysers, lava, dinosaurs, nitro. It all became white noise. Even so, Crash was focused. He had gotten better with chases due to going through so many. It helped he was a fast runner. As he spun the nitro detonator and got a gem, he briefly turned around to see the triceratops was still chasing him.

"You'd think he'd learn" he uttered.

"Crash! Watch where you're going!!" Aku shouted.

"Huh?" he turned back around to see he was about to run into a pterodactyl. "AHH!" He tried to turn but he was too late. He ran head first into the beast as it grabbed him and carried him off. He squirmed and struggled but it wouldn't let him go. Aku-Aku tried to pull him out but couldn't do so. The situation seemed hopeless but then the dinosaur let go, sending Crash plummeting to a set of platforms where there was Wumpa and a baby T Rex.

The sight threw both heroes off. "What? Is this another secret path?" the mask got out.

As the baby nuzzled Crash, he smiled. "I think so. Just when I thought there weren't secrets that went against common sense." He silently scolded himself for not paying attention, even if it did lead to something good. Right now, he had to find a way back to the main path. "Hey little guy" he talked to the dinosaur. "I don't know if you can understand me but do you happen to know the way back to where the crystal was?"

There wasn't a response, but rather the T Rex getting under Crash and having him ride him through the platform maze. The creature had also hit a time trial clock to the bandicoot's confusion but he was fast and there were no crates to worry about. Before long, they got to the end where a yellow gem platform and gem was.

"Wait, so there's three gems here? That's a new record" Crash collected a platinum relic. He checked his phone for the time stream and saw that this was actually a different area called Eggipus Rex.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Tropy hid these from us to impede our progress" Aku floated above the platform. "Come on Crash, let's head back."

The child hugged his steed before seeing him stomp off. A part of him wanted to bring him along but he couldn't. This was his home. "Coming."

***

"So, how's N. Gin doing with those traps?" Tropy looked over the screens.

Cortex and Uka-Uka watched as Nitro dug pits and hid explosives behind signs and cacti. "He wanted to go all out with machinery but I managed to convince him to not go overboard" Uka said. "As much as I want those rodents blown to kingdom come, I want the timeline to stay stable long enough for us to take it over."

His gaze drifting to prehistoric times, Cortex stated to sweat. "Uhh Tropy? Remember when you said you hid two portals containing a gem inside two paths?"

"Yesssss?" Tropy began to clench his fists.

He shoved Cortex out of the way to see Crash being taken by a pterodactyl and landing in the thirty-first area. Both the gem and relic were collected as he and his colorful mask returned to Dino Might!

Holding back a scream, Tropy stomped off. Uka-Uka sensed fury inside the man. "Looks like your former generals are finding secrets without even trying" he told Cortex.

"Just one of the reasons why they shouldn't be underestimated" Cortex nodded. "But your power will be enough to stop them. And I'm not just saying that because I experienced it myself."

The dark mask cast the room in a lightless shadow. "No mortal can match the Great Uka-Uka! Only my brother stands a chance and he barely fights at all! Even so, it would be best to know of your creations to prepare for anything."

"With pleasure" the scientist started at the beginning, recounting their battles and the moments of those marks appearing. He had a chance to prove himself and achieve something he deeply desired. No way he was going to let his former generals get in the way now.

***

Crash's hands were full as he came back, holding three gems and a relic. "Quite a haul this time."

"Place them down and we'll get ready for-" Aku-Aku began before seeing someone passed out in the center as Pura licked her face. "Coco!" He floated to her to see that she must have fainted. Crash joined him with a look of worry.

"Is she okay?"

"I think so. Something must have happened during the jet ski. Get her a Wumpa. They tend to be what helps us when this happens!"

The bandicoot did so and placed it under Coco's nose. She moaned as she began to wake up. "Ugh. Eight more hours..."

"It's us child" Aku backed up. "What happened?"

Pausing between bites, Coco explained. "Turns out the 'peaceful jet ski ride' was set during a volcanic eruption. It was getting hard to see and breathe when I felt something grow. Then everything went black. I did get the gem but I don't know what happened after getting it."

The information made gears turn in Crash's head. This sounded like when he escaped the Vortex and woke up on the beach. Passing out, vaguely remembering, along with the occasional eye color change did Coco also have...?

"Just eat and catch your breath. We'll need it for the next crystal" the mask told her.

Both siblings sat together as they knew what was in store. They didn't want to but it had to be done. After a minute, the two exchanged what they went through.

"So there are secrets to hidden paths that can only be found by a lack of common sense again? Why am I not surprised?" Coco spat out a pit.

"Any thing can happen on these adventures" Crash looked through a book on the fifties. "Are you going to be okay riding with me to help me learn how to drive?"

"I'll be fine. You made sure I wouldn't backtrack in prehistoric times so it's the least I can do."

They then took turns reading the book. While it didn't have motorcycle handling instructions, it was needed to understand the period. One can only hope the villains didn't mess with it that much other than gaudy signs.

Chapter Text

It was night time when the bandicoot siblings entered Road Crash. Both were wearing clothes to fit in with Coco wearing a dress that was white at the top and black for the bottom. She also wore black high-heel shoes and sunglasses.

"Why wear these if it's dark?" she took them off and put them away.

"Best to keep them on" Crash told her. "Helps to blend in. So any tips on driving this?"

The race was going to start in a few minutes so there wasn't much time. Coco looked over the motorcycle as she wrapped her arms around her brother's waist. This wasn't like what she drove before but some aspects looked similar. "You do know how to accelerate and brake right? You just need to not slam on them. Be gentle. It also helps to not panic."

"Okay" Crash gently gripped the handles. "What about avoiding obstacles?"

Seeing the other eight racers show up, two being lab assistants, an idea came to Coco. "Well when you look at it, it's kind of like animal riding. You move forward fast, dodge obstacles, go through crates. The difference here is you're the one controlling how fast to go rather than the animal being given orders."

Hearing this made Crash think. This was like riding an animal. Instead of the animal being unpredictable, he was the one in control and had to do things himself. Feeling sure of himself, he had his hand on the throttle as the woman raised a flag.

"On your mark...get set...go!"

The racers drove off with Crash slowly pulling the throttle and gradually getting faster. He steered to a crate and easily passed two drivers all while staying calm.

"So far so good. I'm not panicking like last time."

"I'll keep an eye out for crates" Coco yelled above the motorcycle engine. "It should make things easier."

The teamwork did wonders as the motorcycle weaved past pits and police cars and turned without going straight into the sand banks. Even the ramp jump for one box didn't bring pressure.

"Hey, I'm getting better at this. And this is only my second attempt!" Crash smiled.

"I'm happy to give help. The lack of any real danger is another plus" Coco responded. Just as she said that, a cactus on the side of the road suddenly blew up.

"GAH! What was that?!" Crash swerved a little.

More explosions were set off in pits and behind a swerving road sign. The concrete and sand that flew around made it hard for Crash to see. Which meant Coco panic at the sight of what they were about to run into.

"Proximity alert!"

There was no time for Crash to react when he drove through two barriers on the road along with a crate. Some sand got in his eyes so he tried to get it out all while Coco tried to keep him on the road. Both were so distracted they didn't notice an odd sign until it was too late. It was run over just as Crash managed to regain his sight.

"Alright...this just got harder" he growled in frustration. No doubt this was another of the doctors' attempts to stop him. Taking advantage of this lack of driving. He wasn't going to prove them right at all.

His facial markings flashing, Crash pulled on the accelerator and sped into fifth place. More explosions were set off, throwing the other racers of their guard. The surprise and debris flying around made them drive off road or run into billboards. This worried the bandicoot. What if one of them drove into a pit? He would have checked his phone to see the risk it had to the time stream but he was distracted enough with what was going on.

One ramp jump was right over a large pit of dynamite that went off just as Crash flew over it. He landed on four crates and continued on. The moment felt like a set piece if Crash wasn't worried about his life. Sure the crates were broken but the top two drivers were still ahead. They had to be lab assistants if they were this unfazed at everything.

The turns were getting sharper as Crash caught up with one. Both went over the ramp with the motorcycle hitting the bumper. "Hey! Learn to drive rodent!" the lackey shouted.

"That's what I'm doing!" Crash yelled.

He flew past two police cars as the driver ended up grazing the one on the left, making him get pulled over. With one racer left, the bandicoot put the pedal to the metal, confidence growing. He remembered the animal riding and applied it to this. It helped remove some stress, some as more explosives were set off.

The other lab assistant looked behind him to see who was coming. "You're still alive?! Gin said his explosives were impossible for animals to avoid!"

"It's helped me be more focused!" Crash shouted. "Can't say the same for you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Up ahead!"

Turning around, the lab assistant saw he was heading straight for a pit filled with missiles, TNT crates, and nitro crates. He couldn't turn in time and plunged into it. Crash had the motorcycle at full speed and just barely drove past before everything went off, turning the road behind him into rubble.

Crossing the finish line, Crash slowly pulled on the brakes to gently stop. He then looked past where the explosion was to see the other racers had stopped and ran out of their cars screaming in terror. He counted six so that meant the people of this period were at least alive. He breathed a sigh of relief as a crystal and gem were given. The portal back sucked him in, returning him to Aku-Aku.

"You're okay! I saw what happened! I was so worried!"

While shaken, Crash smiled. "Good thing I wasn't traumatized by that. There's probably going to be two more of these. Coco's tips did help decrease some panic." His eyes then widened when he realized that during the race, his waist wasn't being held onto. "Wait...where's Coco?! Did she fall off?! Did she get left behind?!"

He bolted to the main screen and pressed buttons randomly when Aku-Aku stopped him. "Child! Calm down. You don't know what these buttons do! We'll get her back. Let's just see how stable the time stream is after all that."

Both looked over the panel when the screen flickered again. An enraged Tropy showed up with a visible vein popping. "UGH!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU VERMIN! How did you manage to find BOTH of my hidden portals?!?!"

"Hidden portals?" Crash asked.

"I had them crafted to the nth degree! Hidden in plain sight to be overlooked! But you somehow uncovered them! Now that ditzy blond is jet skiing for the other secret gem!"

Crash then remembered driving over a sign that had a strange shape on it. It looked like a head but not a human's. After that was done, he couldn't feel Coco holding onto him anymore. That meant...

The comment of his sister being dumb then made his blood boil. "My sister is brilliant! She even found a way to get the time stream on the screen to be on our phones!"

"You little sewer rats are way too stupid to understand what you're getting yourselves into!" Tropy fired back. "Only I know how to handle the Time Twister! The only reason I haven't put an end to your short-sighted quest myself is because I've needed to tend to it to make sure it doesn't collapse! But after what you've done to interfere with the Great Uka-Uka, this time you've done it!"

He hung up leaving the heroes alone. Fists clenching, Crash marched to the third warp area to see a single button. Aku got worried at this demeanor. There wasn't a happy and joyful look in his eyes. There was anger with black irises.

"Are you alright?" he questioned.

"As much as I want to believe there are good people, I highly doubt Tropy is one" was the answer. "He's smug, arrogant, insults others without bothering to know them, and treats us like a waste of time!"

The mask flew in front of him before the portal was activated. "Crash, I understand your anger but remember. Uka-Uka takes advantage of conflict and will try to turn people against each other. Get in their heads to make them less focused. Tropy might have even said that to get you riled up and unfocused. Along with those powers showing up, this mental state could make things worse."

These words made Crash ease up. His guardian was right. What he was feeling right now was making him aggressive and reckless. He also didn't have control over this aether yet. The last two times he got angry led to Pinstripe getting thrown through walls and Cortex being spun into the depths of space. So he took deep breaths, returning the emerald green in his eyes.

"Okay. You're right. I can't just burst in. This is like the other fights. In and out."

Aku-Aku gave a fond smile as the portal opened up. Both jumped inside to fight. Three seconds later, another one opened up as Coco jumped out.

"Wow! Who would've thought running over a sign led to a secret area?! And one with no clear path!" she held the gem close. "I gotta tell..." she trailed off as she realized she was alone.

"Uh, guys?"

***

"I'm surprised you're going out there" Uka-Uka said as he watched Tropy grab his tuning fork.

"Those rodents have defied me long enough! It's only a matter of time before they ruin everything!" he ranted.

Cortex watched on, "I don't think that's a good idea. I faced C1 myself twice and I still have bruises from the fights!"

"Oh please!" the man sneered at him. "One of those was barely a fight! And unlike you, I have time powers and have never lost a fight! Your general has never seen me in combat so this won't take too long."

He warped away leaving the two villains alone. Cortex picked up a book Tropy kept at the main controls and started reading it. Nitro came in at that moment, "Okay so T1's been sent back to home base as his attempts to get crystals and gems in the future led to him getting injured more. He might be strong but not the most agile to avoid lasers." He then saw his master reading, "What are you doing?"

"Tropy went out to try and stop C1. With an emphasis on try" Cortex replied. "I know he's gonna fail. And since Tropy's in charge of everything, when he gets taken out, this whole place will fall apart without proper care. So I'm preparing to pick up the slack."

Uka had a look of doubt, "Do you even know how to handle this machinery?"

"I saw him work some things here. I'm pretty sure it's not that hard."

***

When Crash and Aku-Aku arrived, they thought they would be in a different time period. Instead, they were in what looked like a part of the Time Twister with pistons and a huge clock in the center. Someone then warped in to fix the hands on the clock. He turned around and smacked the clock away.

"Now you're on my time you little skunk!" Tropy yelled. "GIVE ME THE CRYSTALS!"

He slammed his tuning fork on the ground, sending a shockwave. Crash had to admit, he was thrown off when he saw Tropy use his fork to fire projectiles and send lasers across the floor. The closest person who had this kind of ability was Brio with his potions or Gin with the lasers in his suit. Even so, he jumped over them with ease.

The fifteen squares in front of him then changed into platforms to get to the other side. Seeing that Tropy was weakened, Crash took his chance. He jumped across and spun him.

"Gah! You think it's this easy? Well this isn't a typical fight!" Tropy used his fork to warp them to a different location. Crash wasn't sure where they were but Aku knew.

"Is this...Ancient China?"

"I have enough time power to send us across time periods" Tropy proclaimed from the pagoda across. "Make things less predictable for you and to keep the odds in my favor!" He fired his attacks again, lasting longer than last time.

Crash dodged them but some of the attacks hit the buildings. This was getting bad. The time stream was at risk here. He had to end this before things got out of hand.

There were ten squares this time on the platform and they formed into a bridge across. Riskier to travel but Crash made it across and spun the man again. The scenery changed to Arabia next, the fighters on two rooftops very far from each other. At first it went like the last two times, but then Tropy threw him off.

"Going to be hard to get to me without platforms!" He slammed his fork to remove the eight squares. While he was still tired, he knew his foe couldn't get across.

"Any ideas?" Crash turned to Aku-Aku.

"No. I can't use my power to make you fly. I haven't learned that yet."

With not much time, Crash tried to think. He managed to learn new abilities when on the ropes. The distance wasn't too far. A double jump would be possible but he would still miss. There was also the slide and spin, the latter very helpful for swimming. That was when an idea came to him.

Backing up, Crash ran to the end of the roof and slid, double jumped, and spun. A part of him expected to fall but instead, he glided through the air. Tropy looked up and his eyes popped out of his head.

"WHAT?! But how?!" He didn't have time to attack as Crash spun him off the roof, breaking the tuning fork in two. The key to the fourth portal area was dropped so Crash picked it up.

His mask joined him, "You'd think I would be used to your impulsive decisions by now. But you find new ways to make me panic."

"Yeah, it's always die or fly for us. But this new ability can come in handy" Crash commented as the portal back appeared.

***

Upon returning, the two saw Coco come up to them. "I'm so glad you're alright! I saw the fight and how you bested Tropy! How did you even..."

"I'll explain but first, what happened to you? Tropy said you were in a hidden area" Crash took her hands, a sense of relief to see his sister safe.

The three went to the center as Coco told them everything. "Well, it happened when you ran over that odd sign. I got sucked into a portal when that happened and I ended up on a jet ski where the sun was setting. I panicked at first, thinking it was going to be like last time but the volcano wasn't erupting. Seeing the boxes, I figured this was a way to hide a gem and with nitro blocking the exit portal, it was clear what I had to do. Unlike the last two times, everything was open and restricted to around the island. It was kind of creepy with a lack of living obstacles but it didn't take long before all the boxes were broken and I got back."

She was cut off by another message. The screen changed to show Uka-Uka's face. "You insignificant morons!! By defeating N. Tropy, you have placed us all in great risk!!" He flew aside to show Cortex coughing and looking scared.

"C1, C2, Aku-Aku. You must understand that this Time Twister is very delicate!"

"Says the guy who messed with time to make his presence known everywhere?" Coco snarked.

Wincing, the scientist continued, "Tropy made sure that things would be stable even with that! He's the only one who can keep this thing going! I tried and it was almost close to his expertise."

"I thought something blew up in your face when you tested the controls" N. Gin's voice was heard.

"Not now!" Cortex fired back. "What I'm saying is that without Doctor N. Tropy's constant care and control, who knows what the Time Twister will do?!"

Without warning, the screen glitched out and things began to shake. "Eek! Guess our enemies are right!" Crash clung to Aku while Pura yowled in shock.

"Hang on!" Coco reached the controls and pressed some buttons. She took some crystals, relics, and gems and placed them next to the panel. Before long, everything settled down and was stable.

The mask was stunned, "My word. How did you know that would work?"

"I've been reading the Time Twister's manual. And while you were gone, I discovered the crystals, gems, and relics have properties that can stabilize the facility." Coco checked the state of everything, "It won't last long though so we have a stricter time limit to get everything. If we can get more crystals, gems, and relics, they can be used to keep the Time Twister going long enough to stop the enemy."

With the large pile of collectibles, it seemed like a good plan. "Are you still going to go out to get the crystals?" Crash wondered.

"Yes but it won't be as often" the child put another relic close. "I'll need to keep track of the main controls every few minutes. Enough talk, let's keep moving."

"One more thing" Crash had her move aside. "There's a new ability that can help us out."

Chapter Text

When looking over the fourth warp area, it was certainly more varied than the others. Two crystals here were in Egypt, two were to be found by vehicles in WWI and the pirates, and one was in the future. A blue gem was spotted in Tomb Wader so that one had to be found first to decrease the amount of backtracking. Crash chose to do Future Frenzy as he wanted to see a new time period and was not in the mood to get his socks wet seeing that water was a part of the path. So the task went to Coco, dumping her inside a pyramid. She had brought the magic carpet along in case the path to get the blue gem didn't have a way back.

She had made modifications to it. Having it fit in her pockets and make the rider invisible so residents wouldn't notice. Seemed that wouldn't be a risk here as the only creatures present were animals, bugs, and lab assistants. But better safe than sorry.

With a wall in the way, Coco looked around to see a wheel on the floor. "Strange way to open" she muttered as she spun it. The wall raised showing a pool of water rising and receding. The lower walls were covered in mildew and two boxes floated in the water. As the water receded, Coco ran across, spinning the boxes and going up stairs. At the top was a new kind of enemy.

"Yikes" she grimaced at a lab assistant mummy hopping around in a sarcophagus decorated with spikes. He was slow so going around him wasn't hard. The next pool of water was much larger. It was clear Coco couldn't go across in one go. There was a pile of steel crates past TNT crates so as the water rose, she stood on that to get air. She still got wet as the water stuck to her clothes but she was wearing sandals so her feet didn't feel uncomfortable.

"With how much we come across water we have to find a way to utilize it" Coco talked to herself. She used the learned death tornado spin to glide past another spiked mummy and make it to the other side. There was another lab assistant holding a shield but she just used a slide to stop him. The replacement crystal and gems were attached to the shield so those were taken.

If there was a good thing about the water pools, there weren't too many crates floating in the water. This would allow more time to make it across and time when the water would rise and fall. The enemies were more of a challenge than this area's gimmick. Before long, Coco spotted a skull platform so she got on that and rode it to another path.

There were water pools and they were covered with nitro and enemies. Coco cracked her knuckles and made her way across. She stood on floating platforms or steel crates when the water rose. Despite getting wet, she didn't really mind. She tended to like water more than her brother as the ocean surrounding the beach was full of mystery. Sure she couldn't swim well but she and Crash were fast learners. He picked up swimming in the diving levels like it was nothing. The jet board and jet ski allowed more freedom on the waves. Water was a fascinating element and from what Coco learned about it while at the castle, can be very powerful.

The next section required fast timing as a wall needed to be raised right when the water began to recede. Coco weaved through the nitro to get past it and stood on the steel crates. It took another round of moving and waiting before making it through. At the end was a blue gem on a sarcophagus and no way back to the main path.

"No surprise a blue gem is in an area like this" Coco walked to the coffin and gently pulled the gem out to avoid vandalizing it too much. She then put the copy in its place. "Sorry but someone worse is after this" she told whoever rested inside. With the colored gem safe, Coco pulled out the carpet and unfurled it.

"Alright. Back the way I came."

She pulled on the tassels and the carpet rose up, flying off. It was tempting to use it to bypass the obstacles but it would put more risk on the time stream. Besides, Coco enjoyed these challenges. It helped make her and Crash stronger.

It didn't take long to find the crystal as it was at the other end of another pool. The rest of the way went swimmingly. It was a little tedious waiting for the water to go down but it did teach patience.

"I wonder if crystals were in Ancient Japan when samurai and ninja were present" Coco wondered. "Or in a Native American settlement. Or the French Revolution." Her eyes widened, "Actually, maybe not the French Revolution or other times of war. WWI's enough. Wouldn't hurt to have more time period variety though."

She finally reached the end where the other gem waited. Her entire outfit and fur were soaked. Annoyed, yes. Satisfied with completing the path, also yes.

***

The second Crash and Aku-Aku arrived in the future, they were met with noise, bright lights, and cars flying around. Crash was quick to take pictures of everything, his eyes filled with stars. He had never been in a city, much less a huge one. So you can imagine how hard it was for Aku-Aku to get Crash's attention.

"We have to get going! We can see more while getting the crystal!"

"Coming!" Crash took a quick look at himself though. He seemed to be wearing something similar to what he wore at the coliseum. Except it covered his whole body, was a dark blue, had a hard outer feel, and felt a little heavy. His head was uncovered but he was wearing goggles. Using his phone, he saw his chest had a green star on it. Quite a disguise for the future.

Back in the sixth warp area, the heroes had pressed all five buttons to see when the portals led. Three were still locked but one was titled Future Frenzy. There weren't colored gems to get so that meant the hidden path would have boxes to break. Which also meant getting both gems wouldn't be possible. Even so, Crash destroyed the crates to get Wumpa to eat.

The obstacles weren't different from before. They were like the robots and lasers from his last adventure. There were moving floors that either went forwards or backwards. Crash tripped once but kept going. As he rode on a platform to the next part, he spotted signs with Cortex's name on them along with his other henchmen.

"If this is the future, does that mean Cortex will eventually win?" he questioned.

"I think this is the result of his influence in the past" Aku answered. "Once we defeat him, the future should change for the better."

Continuing on, Crash had another question. "What kind of powers do masks have? I know there's possession, protection, and teleportation based on you and your brother. But what else can masks do?"

"Masks have a lot of abilities. Some come easier to others" Aku-Aku explained. "We can shoot lasers, cause explosions, open portals to other worlds, and fly. Those are abilities any mask can learn when given enough training. As for others, they tend to be restricted to one mask. While you were in Skylands, I told Coco about different kinds of masks when we went through the lost city. Some control the elements, others the weather. There are also good and bad masks. I also mentioned Quetzel to you."

"The sewer mask?"

"Yes" Aku felt a gag coming on. "As centuries went by, more and more masks have accomplished their tasks and have moved on. Fewer people turned into masks as they didn't have unfinished business to take care of. As far as I know, only ten are left including me and Uka-Uka."

As Crash rode up an elevator he asked, "Who are the other eight?"

Before the mask could answer, he saw a lab assistant in a saucer getting closer to the crystal. While he wanted to answer the question there was still a villain to stop. "I can answer another time. Right now, the crystal is in danger."

The two followed him as he activated lasers in front of the crystal. He replaced it with a fake and headed off. "You're too slow! Good luck catching me as I get the gems!"

Crash ducked under the lasers while on a moving floor going forwards. He then pounced on the man as he started to fly off.

"Get off of me! It's mine!"

"No it's not!"

The two were so focused on each other the saucer was flying all over the place. It flew into traffic causing cars to swerve away and almost hit buildings. It then flew through signs with Cortex's face on them. Aku did his best to use his powers to keep the saucer from crashing but worry started to grow.

Gripping on the crystal, Crash was stunned that this assistant had a strong grip. Tug of war wasn't cutting it. He needed a new idea. His mind then flashed back to wrestling the Master Crystal away from Cortex. Is it possible to...

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He thought warm thoughts hoping it would do the trick. The crystal started glowing brighter and the lab assistant started to feel pain.

"OW! It's burning!"

The second his hands let go, Crash spun him off the saucer. The crystal stopped glowing as did the bandicoot's face. The saucer was driven back to the main path close to the exit. All the way, Aku-Aku was shocked.

"How did you do that?"

"I just focused on the crystal's power and it caused it to heat up" Crash picked up the copy gems too for next time. "It's how I got the Master Crystal from Cortex. They tend to react to me when I need help."

The exit portal opened and Crash jumped in. Aku-Aku floated in place for a moment. This wasn't the first time a crystal burned someone's hands? Not to mention Crash didn't look exhausted when those marks appeared. He really was adapting to this inner power. But he still didn't know how to make it activate. Not to mention Coco was having traces of this aether too. Was she even aware of what was going on with her?

He finally followed Crash back. His mind trying to remember the stories he heard of people with these powers. If anything had answers, it was the tales long forgotten by all but a fair few.

***

"How's Tropy doing?" Uka-Uka demanded.

Cortex looked at the blue man passed out while being hooked to a clock. "Still unconscious."

The Time Twister started to shake again making him run to the cameras. He saw his enemies place more crystals, gems, and relics near the screen and the shaking stopped.

"At least C2's keeping things stable for a little longer. Giving us more time." Cortex then heard a lab assistant come out of a portal from the future.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

"Yes."

Uka came up to him, "You actually got a crystal?! You did something right for once?!"

The lab assistant winced, "Well...no. My partner did get it but it was taken by C1. I was actually tasked to get this."

He showed blueprints of a giant space mech with machine guns, missiles, plasma bombs, and rockets. The dark mask slowly got angry, "You...were sent...for schematics?! How is that supposed to help us?!"

"It's for Gin" Cortex was quick to try and calm him down. "He's been working on an upgrade since his last fight with C1. The machines in the future are top class, made of the finest raritanium and completely immune to everything except weapons from that time period. When C1 goes to face Nitro after getting twenty crystals and who know how many gems, he'll get smushed! That is if the lack of oxygen on the moon doesn't get him first."

N. Gin then came in. "Ooh! You got the goodies!" He took the blueprints, "It's even more advanced than the 1910's and my expertise! Finally, a challenge for my skills!"

He ran off to start building as Uka-Uka looked less mad. "Those rodents do lack a spaceship to fight. Unless they use their powers to breathe in space like you told me about, we should achieve victory."

"Yes. And even if they somehow find a way to stop that, we'll just wait until they have everything collected for us" Cortex rubbed his hands evilly.

As they gloated on this plan, neither villain noticed a tiger cub sneak in and out with space ship weapon schematics in her mouth.

Chapter Text

With how insane the future was, Crash needed a breather from running and dodging and fighting. So he was reading the dimensional travel book again while making sure the Time Twister was functioning enough with the crystals, gems, and relics present. Coco and Aku-Aku were currently in the Pirates era again with Tell No Tales so it was just him. Pura wasn't present but he figured she would turn up soon.

He hoped the book would have a straightforward way for getting to other worlds but the options were either confusing or would take too long. He groaned in frustration with each one. How could he get to Skylands if he couldn't find a quick and easy way to do so?! The pages then landed on pools of water.

"Alright, let's see what this one has" Crash read through the paragraphs and was glad this one was simple. It seemed there were portals under lakes, pools, or even fountains seen at shopping malls. They led to a pocket dimension called Proteus where everything is made of pixels and there was no oxygen. Inside Proteus were many pools of water that led to different locations, planets, and dimensions. It was endless despite saying it was an island.

"Okay...we're getting somewhere. There's lakes and pools of water on N. Sanity Island so one could have a portal" Crash uttered. "Oxygen shouldn't be a problem but finding the portal to where I need to go inside the pocket dimension might be another issue."

The screen then signaled another message was coming. Crash sighed and put the book down. He was getting a little annoyed at the villains taunting him and his family every few crystals. Might as well get this over with. This time, Nitro was facing the camera. He seemed to have oil smudges on his face and Crash could faintly hear whirring.

"So, C1, we meet again."

The filtered voice still sounded unnerving to Crash. Back at the castle, Coco would tell him how her tests were sometimes run by him and how he taught her mechanics and engineering. He didn't get to interact with the man much with the biggest encounter being the fight last year. Which made him all the more mysterious to him.

"What's going on back there?" Crash tried to look past Gin with no success. "I can hear something being built."

"Oh you hear the melodious sounds of your executioner!" Gin started getting giddy. "Uka-Uka and Dr. Cortex want me to teach you a lesson. So I'm making a few modifications to my mechanics after what happened in our last encounter. You might have survived that explosive race but you won't make it through this!"

That comment on the race out the pieces together for Crash. "I'm not surprised you had something to do with that. Aside from Ripper Roo, you're very unstable when it comes to explosives."

"Ah yes, R1" N. Gin cut him off. "He was brilliant in demolitons. He even seemed to have an IQ as high as C2's. If only he stopped delving into lunacy and blowing up the master's hard work! He had no sense of sanity when he was with us!"

"Riiiight. He's the only insane one."

Nitro failed to catch the meaning of that comment. "Regardless, I will get twenty crystals this time. Along with shiny gems! So back off or be deleted!"

Once the screen turned off, Crash turned his head to the portal areas. Since the others weren't back yet and the time machine was still stable for another few minutes, might as well continue to contribute. He didn't feel like getting the other Egypt crystal now and there was no way he was flying a plane in WW1. The motorcycle brought enough stress and he just got the hang of that.

Wait.

There's still the two relics from the races. By getting them, the next locked portal will be open to get more gems! It's gonna be hard but I'm getting better at driving.

So Crash activated the portal for the first race and jumped inside. Right as he did so, Pura returned on an elevator with blueprints in her mouth. She placed it at the screen then laid down for a nap.

***

"Machine guns...plasma bombs...missiles...this thing has it all!" Nitro's eyes grew wider as his creation was coming together. Not only would it have more firepower than his last outing but if all the weapons on it got destroyed, it could join with another suit with even heavier weaponry in an even more powerful phase.

There was one risk though. As far as he knew, the bandicoots lacked a spaceship and likely wouldn't survive in the vacuum of space. Sure there were those powers Cortex and Uka-Uka would mention but the times they actually showed up were random. It was possible he wouldn't get to use everything his suit had to offer. Conflicting as while Gin wanted to get the crystals and gems, he wanted to show off his creation to his enemies and didn't want an easy fight.

"Um sir?" a female lab assistant came up to him.

"Yes Vicki?" N. Gin turned to her.

"I can't find the schematics for the gunfighter ship and its attachment" she told him. "It was here a moment ago but now it's gone. I don't know what to tell Cortex since that mask could blow me to bits."

Part of that could be true as Uka really did have a short fuse. But those two were staying calm and holding onto their end plan of waiting for the enemy to get everything and then taking the crystals and gems. Those extra blueprints weren't even necessary. Gin just thought that he would give his friend a chance to join him in combat with a spaceship of his own. It was more agile and nimble, able to avoid enemy fire. Then he remembered the last time Cortex fought in outer space and figured this was for the best.

"Don't worry" he finally said. "The boss knows what he's doing and those schematics aren't required. Just focus on the current job. It looks almost done."

"Yes sir."

***

"So this is the time of pirates?" Aku-Aku looked around at the endless ocean.

"Yep" Coco drove the jet ski along the water to smash crates. "It almost looks like home if it weren't for the pirates present."

Unlike the last two jet ski ventures, it was sunny and the sky was blue. No volcanoes to worry about this time. But that didn't make things easier. The ships fired bombs from both sides, bombs were in the water, sharks swam around, and there were pirates roaming around on boats or swinging anchors. Or more like lab assistants dressed as pirates to avoid suspicion from the real ones.

The path was much more wide and explorative too. Having different routes around islands so Coco had to turn around some times to see if she missed any boxes. Some of the waves were bigger too, adding air time when driven over. There were also lots of ramps to fly over, one had to be done by turning around and going over it.

"You've really gotten the hang of that jet ski" Aku spoke to bring something to the silence.

"Yeah. When you're driving for your life during eruptions, it makes everything else a breeze." Coco revved over another row of bombs before talking again. "Do you think it's possible we can teleport this thing home? I'm sure Crash would want to give it a try."

"Possibly" the mask did his best to nod. "It seems to have been made by Cortex with how jet skis didn't exist in this time period. I also see you want to add it to your collection of traversal options?"

Coco understood what he meant. She had been creating and collecting methods of transportation for leaving the islands when the time had come. So far there was the jet board, jet pack, and a little starship fighter. The last one was made from the blimp when it was torn apart and the motor boat that was crashed into the factory from the first adventure. It took lots of trial and error (and explosions) but she finally got it working thanks to parts from Brio's laser. A part of her sensed she would need it for this so Coco had a setting for it to show up if she needed it. Right now, the focus was getting this area's crystal and gem.

Just off the main path was a small roundabout with a pirate ship and crates surrounding it. As Coco was dealing with those, a lab assistant in a row boat moved closer to her and tried to use his oar to bonk her on the head.

"Hey!" she swerved away.

"I'm not letting you get in the way missy!" the man shouted. "That's my booty I'm searching for!" He swung his oar again but this time Coco grabbed it with her hands. The two were then locked in a tug of war.

The struggle was making hard to balance but an idea came to Coco. Positioning the oar, she lunged it forward making the other end hit the assistant in the gut causing him to fall out of the boat.

"Clever thinking" Aku spotted the replacement stones and used his power to take them.

The two got back on track and finally found the crystal just past another man swinging an anchor. It wasn't much longer until the last of the crates were broken and the gem appeared. Once they got back, the heroes dragged the jet ski along to teleport back to the house. Or more suitably, in the lake close to the house.

"And that's that" Coco dusted her hands. She then noticed the two were alone. "Wait, where's Crash?"

Another portal then opened as Crash jumped out panting hard and holding two platinum relics. "Finally. That took forever" he trudged to the control panel and dumped the relics close. It took him a moment to notice that the others were back. "Oh hey. You're back."

Aku-Aku saw the white knuckles and could smell some gasoline. "You went to get the relics from the motorcycle races?!"

The harsh tone of voice made Crash jump back. "I know it was dangerous" he quickly said. "But it had to be done eventually. The relics are the only way to unlock the portals in the sixth section. I'm slowly getting better at driving and I'm careful when doing so."

"Did you remember to text us before doing so?" the mask questioned.

That made him face palm. Of course there was something he forgot to do. "No. It didn't cross my mind. I'm sorry."

Seeing the child's ears droop with shame made Aku ease up. It was true those relics needed to be gathered to continue forward. But for Crash to head out alone on something he didn't have a strong grasp on? He could have gotten seriously hurt by driving as fast as possible for a lowest time. And he wasn't there to ensure his safety.

"Look child" Aku-Aku finally said. "I'm glad we accomplished more but you have to tell us when you're going. It's the same when Coco went to get those books from the Time Twister's library. Not knowing where or when you are frightens me. Not only with my brother's lackeys but actual people from those periods hunting you down. I can't lose either of you, and not just because you're the only hope for stopping Uka-Uka."

It was then Coco noticed something at the panel. It was a blue piece of paper. No, it was blueprints. She grabbed and unfurled them to see schematics for a spaceship fighter along with a powerful attachment. Her eyes widened as this would really give her ship lots of firepower. Where did this come from? It couldn't just appear randomly. She then saw teeth marks on them which gave a good idea on who brought them here.

Paying attention to Aku again, he was finishing up. "Please don't forget to stay in contact. You might be capable fighters but you're still children just experiencing a larger world for the first time."

Both bandicoots nodded, "Yes."

After Crash carefully hugged his mask, he headed to the fourth portal area. "We can do the next crystal together. You doing the one with planes Coco?"

"I will" she used her phone to summon her ship. "Just need to watch over the time machine and look over this before doing so." She displayed what she found, "I have a feeling this was found for a reason."

"Very well just be careful" Aku told her.

By herself, Coco laid the schematics out as Pura joined her. The cub seemed interested too, particularly with the attachment. "Good thing I picked today to bring my tools with me" Coco pulled them out as her ship arrived. "With N. Gin still active, there's no doubt this will involve a battle between mechanical wits."

Chapter Text

Due to this being Crash's first time in Ancient Egypt, it took some time for him to take in his surroundings. The first thing was his outfit. He was wearing a short skirt that Aku-Aku said was a shendyt. He also wore a neck collar and bracelets that wrapped around most of his forearm with sandals on his feet. The bracelets were decorated with emeralds. Getting a closer look on his phone's camera, Crash noticed he was wearing black kohl eyeliner and green eyeshadow.

"Quite...an odd choice of fashion" he got out. "Why am I wearing makeup?"

"Well the Egyptians believed it would protect them from Ra and Horus, two Egyptian guardians" Aku-Aku explained. "They don't really exist but they were a part of their culture and what they believed in. It's also said people wore cosmetics believing they have healing powers."

Crash rolled his eyes at that. How could looking pretty heal injuries? He then decided to gaze at the carvings inside the pyramid. They were like what Coco showed him on her phone. A mix of real hieroglyphics and vandalism from Cortex. Some had a big black dog on them which didn't seem like it came from the enemy. Four crates were then noticed at the end of the hall.

"Hey!" Crash ran down to spin into them. "Trying to hide crates to ensure the gem can't be found. They really have been getting crafty."

Not even far forward and there was a roadblock. There were two paths to take. The sewers came back to Crash as he wondered which way to go. "Any ideas?"

"With how some of these split paths are, it might be best to split up" Aku suggested. "These seem like meet back up paths. So I'll go left to check it out while you go right. If there's crates on the left path, I'll do my best to destroy those."

"Alright. I'll be careful" Crash promised as the two split up. The bandicoot went down the right path to see a sarcophagus hopping towards him. He just avoided it as it stumbled into a pit. No doubt it was sent by Cortex as mummies couldn't come back to life. The next obstacle was spears being shot from the ground. Crash was told about those from Tomb Time's gem route. Just needed to avoid getting impaled then go through when the spears are out.

It didn't take long for him to reach an open room as Aku-Aku flew over. "So there weren't any boxes. Looks like we made the right choice."

The two continued on, riding on relic platforms and spinning another sarcophagus. That one had the powerless stones inside so those were taken. One set of spotlight darts, oil floor, and slamming walls later, Crash saw a blue gem platform as he tore through three sets of six crates.

"Got the carpet?" his mask asked.

"Yep. In my pockets" he patted it. Coco had given him a rundown on how to drive it so he was pretty sure he could handle it. Once he got the gem on that path, he would use the carpet to come back. So Crash hopped on the platform and came face to face with oily floors.

Glad he had gotten good on slippery surfaces, Crash skated and slid through, picking up momentum to jump over pits and slide past spotlight darts. There were also jar monkeys that would throw dirt but when they saw Crash, they panicked and ran off to his confusion.

That's odd but they're not trying to stop me he thought.

There was a scary moment when the walls blocked the way and Crash was going too fast. He managed to stop right at the ledge and backed up as the walls receded. He jumped across and spun a cobra before replacing the first gem. He then unfurled the carpet and sat on it.

"You...do remember how to make it go right?" Aku questioned with worry in his voice.

"Yeah" Crash grabbed the tassels and yanked them up only for the carpet to rocket up to the ceiling. His screams were heard all throughout the pyramid.

Aku-Aku quickly chased after him back the way they came, hoping the time stream wouldn't be messed up from this. Invisible or not, he could still run over unsuspecting civilians inside.

***

"Did you find it? Please tell us you found it."

Cortex and Uka-Uka were on a video call with a female lab assistant dressed like a priestess. "I found where the crystal is but I don't have the replacements with me yet. My partner was supposed to meet me with them by now" she told them.

"Forget him!" Uka-Uka shouted. "Get the crystal and gem and get back here before-"

He was cut off by screaming in the background that got louder. Something then ran over the lab assistant and grabbed the power crystal leaving behind the copy. It was a blur but Cortex clearly recognized who the screams belonged to and just hung up.

The scientist then turned on his communicator. "Gin, is your suit ready?"

Just finished up master!

"Good, I'm warping you to where you'll fight C1." Cortex pressed some more buttons and watched the screen to see Nitro driving his contraption through the portal. Uka just watched on with a scowl. As much as he had faith in the plan to take everything once all the crystals and gems were found, seeing his henchmen fail only made him doubtful. There had to be a way to shake his brother's confidence to ensure he had a chance.

Then he remembered Cortex telling how that mask would look after his creations, giving him an idea.

***

"Pull back on the tassels to rein it in!" Aku-Aku shouted.

"Right!" Crash pulled back and did his best to be gentle, not wanting a repeat of the first motorcycle experience. The carpet slowed down until it hovered next to a stack of crates. "Whew. Driving's one thing but flying...not my style." He could still feel those times bumping into walls with the jet pack.

The exit didn't take that long to find. It was past five jars of monkeys and an oily floor. With the second gem in hand, the heroes returned to the Time Twister. Meeting them was a blond bandicoot who looked tired and frustrated.

"Are...you okay?" Crash asked with concern.

Coco let out a breath and pulled out a crystal and gem. "I managed to get the crystal which involved shooting down blimps with Cortex's mug on them in WWI. Thing is, the pilots were relentless and it didn't help that I had to disguise my gender as only Russian women were known for piloting war planes during the 1910s."

Hard not to believe her on that. Crash remembered reading books on how women mainly worked as messengers, radio operators, and other non-combat positions. Some did join the navy but it took decades for women to earn more rights. There was another thing that worried him. "And piloting the plane itself?"

"Oh that wasn't an issue" she reassured him. "It was easy to pick up quickly. Good thing too as not knowing how to pilot would have made things worse. I did see on the screen you had issues with the carpet. Do you need more help with that?"

"I might, but not now. With five more crystals, we have another fight ahead of us" Crash pressed the big button to see the portal led to the moon.

With the fight being against N. Gin, it's no surprise he would want to show off this mechanics. This brought an issue with the heroes.

"I doubt that carpet's going to help us" Aku was the first to speak. "You fought Cortex in space before Crash. Do you think you can do that again?"

"I don't know. It involved those powers and I don't know how to make them activate freely" Crash looked at his hands. "It seems to only show up when I'm in danger or when I feel a strong emotion. Not to mention I could run out of power during the fight as how long it lasts is unpredictable."

The sound of a spaceship fighter brought the men out of their thoughts. They turned to see Coco in a pink spaceship slowly moving to the portal. "I'll handle this. The fighter's ready to go. I have been hoping to teach my old mentor a lesson."

She drove into the portal with a small attachment flying close behind. Aku-Aku couldn't see it but the pilot looked a little...furry and orange.

It got too quiet on the time machine so the mask said, "Care to see what the third locked portal has in store?"

Crash jumped on the elevator without a second thought.

***

The first thing Coco saw when arriving was a giant, black mech loaded with weapons. It certainly looked impressive. She could also see Nitro piloting it himself. He seemed to look shocked, like he was expecting someone else.

"You?! Where's C1? And how did you get a spaceship?"

"Crash is sitting this one out. As for this, I've been busy" Coco used her speakers to talk. "Guess you want revenge after what happened in Arabia?"

Gin got his weapons ready. "Now I know where those blueprints went. And now you want to go a few rounds. When this is over, we'll see who's obsolete! Prepare to be pulverized kitty!"

The girl face palmed that he still thought she was a cat. But she had more pressing matters to deal with. Like the barrage of missiles coming at her. During the fight, Coco studied the mech to see how to take it out. It seemed whenever an attack was fired, the device that fired it would be vulnerable. Those were the machine gun arms, shoulder rockets, and the center of the chest.

With the time right, she fired at the open weapon launchers. Gin was quick to notice and did his best to open and close them as fast as possible. After the last fight, he knew what made his creations explode. It took a few minutes but all weapons but the chest were shot off.

"Quite a fast learner. I'm both proud and frustrated" Nitro said.

Coco would have snarked back but her eyes were on the final target. She fired at it and it blew off. "Yes!"

She waited for the whole thing to explode but instead, N. Gin just flew up to another contraption. It had even more missile launchers along with plasma bombs. A second phase?! she thought.

"Surprised? Of course you are!" Nitro shouted. "Your firepower doesn't stand a chance against this!"

Something then latched onto the spaceship fighter. Coco looked in the rear view mirror to see an attachment being driven by Pura. A part of her was stunned that a little tiger cub knew how to pilot such a thing and the other part was relieved. Her weaponry was given a boost so now she stood a chance.

The man's jaw dropped, "Hey! No fair! That's two against one!"

"Sorry" Coco grinned as she fired at the upgraded ship. Missiles and bombs flew all over the place. Good thing this was in space far from planets or things would have gotten messy.

It was fascinating that Pura was capable of handling such technology. Coco would have chalked it up to drinking Brio's potions but the cub came from the past. How has she been able to do this? With how tigers weren't supposed to be on the Great Wall, it was clear that Pura had to come from somewhere else. Those people that freed her, they were mysterious too. Did they know about this?

"Eep!" she swerved away from a detonating gold disk. "Eyes on the prize" she reminded herself.

The plasma bombs had been shot off along with the disk launcher. All that was left were the missiles. Nitro tried opening and closing the four of them at different intervals, hoping it would throw his enemy off. It just made him lose two of them faster. "This is far from over" he cried out. "Uka-Uka and Dr. Cortex have plans for when I lose! Even if you beat me, they'll come out on top! That isn't even getting into the Time Twister getting more unstable. It'll collapse when you least expect it!"

Coco just blew off the third launcher and had her eyes on the last one. "Not likely."

She blasted off the final target causing a chain reaction in Nitro's mech. It exploded into pieces sending him flying.

"AAARGH! NOT AGAIN!"

The fight over, the child dusted her hands. She used the ship's claw to grab the final key for the fifth warp area along with blueprints for another weapon. Upon looking at it, ideas formed in her mind.

Crash is gonna love this.

***a few minutes ago***

"I regret this decision."

It was a shock that there was a motorcycle race behind one of the locked portals. Not much of an issue as Crash had done those enough that he knew how to drive well enough to win and stay alive. The thing is, it was dark, there were barely any lights on the streets, and the six racers were UFOs. The motorcycle did have lights but it wasn't enough to see the whole road.

"I'll try to provide some light" Aku-Aku flew in front of Crash and his body let out a golden light. The starting light turned green and Crash drove off, hitting the time trial clock unknowingly.

It wasn't too bad at first. The crates were easy to see quickly enough when approaching and the first UFO was passed by. Then a police car was driving towards the bandicoot.

"AH!" Crash swerved away in time. He highly doubted that would be the only that that would happen. He drove over a boost pad that allowed him to pass the next racer before driving off a ramp to catch a box. The next saucer was far ahead so Crash needed another boost pad to catch up. If only there weren't crates in the air he had to get. Landing ended the boost.

"Doing okay?" Aku asked.

"The crates are getting harder to reach" Crash managed to turn enough to break some while passing another racer. As he got close to the second to last one, it suddenly stopped making the lights fall off the vehicle.

Now in darkness, Crash was panicking. He couldn't see the road even with Aku-Aku's light. Not to mention he was boosting. Something then came to him. The last time he was in complete darkness. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. When he opened them, everything was green and his face was warm.

With a better view, there was no issue in speeding past the last two saucers and getting the rest of the crates. Aku certainly noticed this change as Crash was silent and had a determined look with completely green eyes. Bandicoots were nocturnal and could see in the dark but this was something else. He decided not to question it, well aware what this was.

After going over more ramps and boost pads, the finish line was in sight. Two gems and a platinum relic were grabbed as the motorcycle slowed to a stop. Crash's eyes were normal again as he and Aku-Aku were warped away.

Back at the main floor, the two saw Coco working on something. "Coco, what is that?" Aku questioned.

"Oh this?" she turned around holding what looked like a gun. "It's from blueprints that flew out of Nitro's ship when it got blown to bits. It's supposed to be a typical bazooka but I made modifications for it to fire Wumpa fruit instead. Considering that lots of them just float in the air. As for the last key..." she pulled it out and used it to deactivate the final barrier. "I got your text saying you were checking out the third unlocked hidden portal. How'd that go?"

"Hard" Crash replied. "It was in the dark and I raced against aliens."

"Racing against aliens? Sounds absurd" his sister raised an eyebrow.

The screen then flickered and the heroes knew what this meant. Sure enough, Cortex was staring them down with Uka-Uka behind him.

"It's kind of funny how history repeats itself" he started. "Yet again, N. Gin has failed to defeat you and get twenty crystals."

"Those who fail history are doomed to repeat it" Aku told him.

Uka-Uka then plastered himself on Cortex. "For this we must destroy you!!"

Frightened at the sudden change, Crash grabbed the bazooka and fired a fruit at the screen. Due to it being on safety mode, it splatted against the screen and slid down. Cortex had regained control and was holding his head.

"Ugh, my aching head. I'm not feeling myself these days." He grimaced at the fruit juice on the screen but kept going. "So the end is in sight. Travel to the fifth warp area, gather the final five crystals and however many gems are left, and again you will have foiled our plans. Or will you?"

Standing in silence, Crash pondered on that last sentence. "What did he mean by that?"

"My guess is he'll try to take everything from us" Coco placed the newest crystals, gems, and relics to the control panel. "As confident as I am that we can pummel him, we should be prepared for anything."

"Indeed" Aku-Aku became somber. "Remember, it is not only Dr. Cortex we will battle. Beware of Uka-Uka my children. He is a far more dangerous threat than anyone could have ever imagined."

As they made plans for the final five crystals, Coco took a quick glance at the cataclysmic events book to make sure the Time Twister was still stable.

One page she flipped past without glancing at showed a sociopathic monster made of nothing but purple polygons.

Chapter Text

When it came to tackling the final five crystals, the plan was the same as the last warp area. The one with the last colored gem present needed to be tackled first so Coco went into Flaming Passion to take care of that. Seeing that gem platforms showed up when vehicles weren't needed, Crash chose to get the crystal in the final motorcycle race located at Orange Asphalt. He was already on a racing high and wanted to get this over with.

The Time Twister was starting to become more unstable so someone needed to stay behind to add more crystals and gems to ensure stability. Aku-Aku chose to do so, having faith in the siblings to head out on their own. After what they accomplished so far, he didn't feel as worried.

With Crash, the setting looked more welcoming that last time. The sun was setting, casting a warm, golden glow. It reminded him more of home. The race began and the nine racers drove off. Crash made sure to keep an eye out for explosives, not wanting a repeat of Road Crash. Other than that, he felt at ease and sure of himself.

He might have done this a few times but he was getting the hang of driving. Yes driving in a race with your life on the line wasn't the way to go but there wasn't any other choice. By applying this to animal riding, it became a little easier.

I wonder if we could bring this back Crash thought as he drove through crates. It might not work on the beach but modifications could be made. Maybe it could work as a hover bike. Not to mention these races are kind of fun once you know what's going on. I hope this will happen more often. Hopefully with a more suitable vehicle as motorcycles aren't the most trusting to race in.

The police cars weren't coming at him this time but them driving back and forth on the road wasn't as helpful. Regardless, Crash was already in third place. One thing that kept bugging him despite learning so much was turning sharply. It slowed him down and it brought the risk of falling off the bike. It was better to slow down when dealing with them.

The lab assistant drivers didn't try to throw the bandicoot off this time. Seemed they learned their lesson after what happened in the first two races and just wanted to stay alive and avoid getting arrested. All the more easier to get first place. If anything, the boxes were harder to get as one had to be reached by jumping over a pit. The final part of the race had ramp after ramp to drive over which made Crash grip the handlebars. The seat could have been softer too.

Crossing the finish line, the crystal and gem were waiting. Despite all the trouble, these races did end on a high note he thought as a portal sucked him back.

***

It was a good thing a portal was summoned when his suit exploded. N. Gin doubted he would have lasted long in the depths of space. If this kept happening, he would have to bring an O2 mask.

That didn't change the fact that everything was hurting. His sides ached and his head was throbbing. How his missile didn't detonate was one of nature's mysteries. He looked over to see Tropy still recovering from his fight. This made Nitro more concerned about Cortex and Uka-Uka going off to fight. Sure the latter had powers but so did C1 and C2's mask. And with the fight planned to take place near the Time Twister's core, disaster could befall everyone.

Cortex then came in. "Oh good, you're conscious. We're gonna need someone to look after everything when I go to get the crystals and gems."

As he got up, Gin voiced his concerns. "Are you sure you want to have the fight in the core of this facility? It's unstable enough already. As much as I enjoy destruction, it's better if we're not in the explosions."

"I studied the area and the metal here is unbreakable. The core below is completely safe" the scientist said. "Not even Uka-Uka's power can break through. A good thing as he wants to unleash all he has on our enemies."

It was then N. Gin didn't notice the dark mask. "Uh, where is Uka-Uka anyway?"

"Up top on the main floor" Cortex answered. "Hoping to give us an advantage mentally."

***

The residents in Arabia were all fired up when Coco arrived. People and lab assistants in disguise were chucking things out their windows, causing fires everywhere. Swordsmen were also walking around. It seemed like a minefield out there.

Or it would have been if Coco didn't use the fruit bazooka to get rid of the lab assistants when the natives weren't looking.

"What has gotten into these people?" she spoke to herself. "Are they scared of what's been going on and trying to resolve it themselves?" The time stream on her phone showed more waves. "I really hope things will be restored when this is over."

During the window barrage, a copy crystal, copy clear gem, and copy green gem were thrown out. Coco picked them up as the lab assistant who threw them realized his mistake. "Wait! I didn't mean to throw those out! Come back!" he yelled but she was already gone.

Just in time as the crystal was found not long after. Flying carpets and the death tornado spin allowed Coco to cross the large gap between buildings. She had her carpet just in case. Before long, she saw the skull platform that would take her to the final colored gem.

It started with an assistant chucking swords. Followed by gliding over fires caused by junk thrown from windows. The latter seemed to be the bigger threat as they were more prevalent. Coco was really lucky her costume was flame proof as she could feel the flames even when gliding over them.

There was one more swordsman throwing swords before finding the green gem. Another skull platform was present too. "Huh. Now they decide to have a way back to the main path" Coco commented as she switched the gems and got on.

The last stretch of the main path had some nitro crates in the air. Specifically over where the fires were lit. Glad to have another use for the bazooka, Coco fired at those. Really hope this could be used for challenging ways she thought. She then made it to the end where the clear gem was.

"Hope Aku's doing alright on his own. He rarely goes off without one of us."

***

There really wasn't much to do on the Time Twister. With his telekinesis, Aku-Aku was able to place more crystals, gems, and relics to the console. He also read through some of the books that were being read. It was annoying to keep seeing Cortex's face pop up in times of history so he would switch to the dimension book that Crash would read.

It had been years since he traveled to another dimension. He wasn't even sure he could do so on his own anymore. The bookmarked page of Proteus caught his attention so he read about that. The other options he saw in previous chapters would have also helped, if the resources were available. But there was a confused glint in his eye.

"Strange" Aku uttered. "For a book about inter-dimensional travel, it's missing something from my world. Where are they?"

"Where are who?" a deep voice interrupted.

Aku-Aku quickly turned around to see Uka-Uka floating behind him. "Hello my feeble brother."

The colorful mask stood guard, "What are you doing here?!"

"What? Can't be bothered to spend time with your younger twin after locking him away for thousands of years?" Uka mocked. "I just came to talk."

Eyeing the fifth set of portals, Aku sought to make this quick before either bandicoot came back. "If you want the crystals and gems it's a lost cause. They are too powerful to be in the possession of someone black hearted."

"This isn't about the crystals, it's about those bandicoot children."

The air became colder at that sentence. Uka-Uka kept going, "It's clear those two are more than meets the eye. This is...what? Their third adventure? Yet they've been more successful than any other person who's fought against one of my past pawns. You must be so proud to have competent soldiers carry out your work."

If Aku-Aku had hands, he would have clenched them into fists. "Crash and Coco are not soldiers. They are children. They choose to help me. I do not wish for them to deal with all of this but no one else knows what's going on. They are all I have."

"Tomato tom-ah-to" Uka rolled his eyes. "You found them on N. Sanity Beach when they escaped Cortex and had them fight to restore the islands' beauty. You worked alongside C1 when searching for the Slave Crystals. And now you're having them travel through time. All without considering the outside world for help?"

"The people on the mainlands would panic at the sight of us!" Aku struggled to regain control. "They wouldn't even believe me! How do you even know about what we've been through?!"

"Cortex was more than happy to tell about the story of your lives. He also mentioned something about this power that tends to appear in C1 when fighting or in danger. I wouldn't be surprised if you lended some of your power in him like how I would do to my pawns."

Anger was coursing through Aku-Aku's boards. Despite knowing his brother was doing this to distract him for their inevitable fight for the crystals, it was getting to him. "It's not my power! I'm having trouble understanding this aether that Crash possesses. I just started using my powers to avoid obstacles here and getting the relics! And unlike you, I ask for permission before having my children experience my abilities!"

Holding back a chuckle, Uka decided to wrap things up. "So you say you care about those two. And you believe them to be heroes despite being created for evil. Does it count for heroism if they do something because you told them to? Are they even really free from taking orders? Did you ever wonder what they want rather than what the world wants?"

There wasn't a response from the elder brother. The dark mask then floated off, "Nice catching up with you. Glad to see we do have some things in common when it comes to achieving goals."

Not longer after he left, Crash and Coco returned with the fruits of their labor. "We're back. For the final warp area it doesn't seem too challenging but it's only a matter...of..." Crash started but trailed off at the somber look on Aku's face.

"Are you okay?"

He didn't know what to say. He didn't want the two to get worried that his brother tried to weaken his resolve. But he also couldn't lie. So he just sighed, "I learned my brother is willing to go through more personal matters to stop us. No surprise since we're closer to getting everything."

Coco came up to him, "It'll be okay. We have each other. The fight's gonna be three against two anyway. So what's next?"

"Can we do the relics?" Crash suggested. "I want to get Future Frenzy's gems and that portal just needs three more."

Aku-Aku gave a small nod, "That sounds like a good idea."

"Great. Bye Bye Blimps isn't on my radar at all so I'll start with Ski Crazed." Coco headed down the elevator while Crash headed to Sphynxinator. Believed to be alone once more, the colorful mask glanced at a napping Pura and then at himself on the reflective screen.

"I wish it didn't have to be like this" he whispered. "I sensed something extraordinary in these children when we met but I never thought it would lead to this. For all the good that is brought to the world, pressure is put on people so young. It doesn't look like it now but it's only a matter of time. I might be a strong protector of good but I'm a terrible father. I'm sorry Tawna. Your children deserve better."

As he quietly cried, he was unaware that Crash overheard what he said thanks to his enhanced hearing. He felt the need to console his guardian but decided to leave him be for now. Once this was over, then all three could talk.

It's not your fault. There are just some things out of your control. I for one don't blame you for this.

Chapter Text

To say getting more relics to unlock the fourth hidden portal was tricky was an understatement. Sphynixinator in particular was a real pain with timing the slamming walls and how slow some moving platforms were. But in the end, seven relics were collected. Four from the fourth warp area, two from the fifth, and one from the hidden. Now with twenty-four relics, the portal to a secret path in Future Frenzy was open. Getting one more relic for the last portal would be dealt with later.

Since Crash had experienced the first future path, he chose to do it while Coco would get the crystal in Gone Tomorrow. Aku-Aku chose to watch over the Time Twister again, hiding tremors in his voice. Upon landing, Coco was in awe at the future city. Crash had told her that Cortex's influence was here too (big shock) and he was wearing strange armor with a star on it. She was wearing it herself. It looked like her brother's except the star was magenta instead of green.

With all the technology and advancements, it took a lot of willpower for Coco to focus. Fortunately, that came in the form of a giant robot firing missiles at her. It fired three before turning around to reload, revealing a giant target on the back.

"Wow. Not even being subtle."

She used the fruit bazooka to destroy it then continued on. The bazooka was being used a lot here, whether it was to disassemble robots, make getting crates easier when near obstacles, or reaching steel ! crates out in the distance to make more boxes appear. One however, was still transparent, meaning it's trigger was further in. Which meant more backtracking.

After riding a platform to a building, Coco started to scale it. The second missile robot had the replacements inside which was good as the crystal was present right when the platform stopped. Things were becoming a little challenging with lasers and robots being on moving floors that went the wrong way, messing up timing. Across a steel bridge stood crates and a TNT crate. While tempted to set it off, something in the child made her reconsider. So she jumped over it and continued on.

"Quite uneventful" she uttered. "Must be the calm before the storm. The lab assistants aren't even trying to attack me." Coco then came across a green gem platform. "Maybe the trigger crate is on this path." She got on and it escorted her to a path filled with moving floors, lasers, robots, and crates.

Wanting to get this over with, Coco would use her death tornado spin to glide past some obstacles. The Time Twister could come undone any second so the last few crystals and gems needed to be found. She didn't like rushing in dangerous locations but what other choice did she have?

The alternate path wasn't long thankfully and the gem was switched out. Spinning the ! crate near the return platform, Coco got on and was taken to an earlier part of the course. "Huh, guess the gems are taking pity on me" she smiled. With all the crates now popped in, she smashed those and went back down the road she was on. The obstacles being gone made things even more uneventful.

As she gazed into the city, Coco wondered if she and Crash would ever get to interact with other humans. No doubt it would be challenging as people do panic at things out of the ordinary. But from the glimpse of that news article she saw last year, her mother and two of Cortex's old soldiers seemed to earn humanity's respect just fine. Apparently K1 went by Koala Kong now and was content with Pinstripe to run casinos. The memory of Tawna came back to her too. She and Crash missed her a lot, and it hurt more that they had no idea what happened to her. The one lead they had was gone.

Wait something went off in her head. We're at a time machine that can allow us to see any time period! Sure we can't travel to a more recent time as it would really risk the time stream but we can at least see what happened to Mom! Once we learn what happened, we can form a plan to find her!

The excitement filled her up as she passed the green platform and faced the obstacles again. On the home stretch, Coco made her way to the end, getting the second gem and warping back to carry out this idea.

***

The death route of Future Frenzy was really something. Moving floors that could only be reached by double jumping, crates everywhere, nitro sitting or floating in mid-air, lasers, and lab assistants in saucers circling around crates. Crash had his hands full getting through it.

"Man! I wouldn't be surprised in the lab assistants couldn't get some of these due to how hard this is" he panted. With one gem found, he got on a platform that took him to the middle of the first path he was on. "Huh? Shouldn't it bring me to the start?" He groaned at having to go back, knowing how annoying going backwards could get due to the obstacles. But he couldn't let something trivial like that stop him. The end was so close.

As he spun crates and enemies, Crash couldn't help but remember what he saw before going relic hunting. Aku-Aku felt that he was pushing him and his sister too much as the only ones who could stop Cortex. It wasn't his fault though. The villains were the ones who started this whole mess. They made the plans that had to be foiled. Not to mention there wasn't anyone else who knew what was going on. True, some parts were a pain but Crash wanted to help. Since escaping, he and Coco got to experience so much of the world. It was full of life and wonder. It was only the islands now but one day, they could see the continents and once available, other dimensions.

Regardless of the bad things that happened on Earth and what people did in the past, the world had to be kept safe. There were innocent people who needed help, even if they didn't know what was happening. If he and his family didn't stop Cortex and his mask, who would? Better an unsung hero than no hero at all.

Time did fly by as these thoughts swirled in his head as before long, Crash was at the end with the box gem appearing. "That makes..." he used his fingers to count, "thirty-nine gems. I'm gonna guess that there's forty-four in total with what's left to do." He jumped in the portal back to see Coco typing at the control panel for something. Looking at the screen, a video of people asking three animals questions was playing.

"What is this?" he asked.

Aku floated to him, "Coco wanted to use the Time Twister to see what happened to Tawna. While we can't travel there, we can know how she vanished and where she could be."

"Quiet" Coco told him. "It's at the point I read from the article."

The video had a woman with a blond updo and white skin wearing a red dress approach Tawna. It's nice to talk with you face to face. I'm Tiffany she said. Her smile then turned to confusion, I heard you have a son and daughter. Are they here too?

No Tawna answered. They're at home. I didn't want to risk having them get lost in a city like this. They're still young and they love to explore.

Tiffany seemed disappointed but nodded. Makes sense. I have a few questions that require your expertise. Would you follow me so we can discuss it privately? It won't be long.

Tawna seemed unsure. Something was off about this. Why would a woman want to speak with her privately? But the constant sounds of reporters, Pinstripe's flaunting, and cameras were getting too much so she could use some quiet.

Okay. But it has to be quick. I need to get back home.

The heroes watched as the two walked away from the crowd. Tiffany had slowed down to walk behind Tawna and was pulling something out from her dress pocket. Far enough away from everyone else, the human's skin was turning purple when the screen suddenly started to flicker and the time machine shook.

"Oh no!" the bandicoots grabbed more crystals and relics to restore stability. It worked but the screen stopped playing the video. Coco typed on the keyboards to play it but no matter what she did, she couldn't reach it.

"What?! It was working fine before!" she kept trying, tears welling up. Eventually, she slumped down crying. Crash sat next to her, hugging her tight as he cried too. The marks on his face flashing gray.

"I miss her too. We are getting closer. We will find her" he consoled her.

Wiping her eyes, Coco nodded. "Thanks. With how unstable this place is getting, it wouldn't be a good idea to keep using it to solve other problems."

"Indeed" Aku-Aku checked the final two portals where crystals were. One was in WWI during a cloudy day and the other was at Egypt in the night. "You two ready?"

Seeing the portals, the female felt on edge. "I...think I'll look after the Time Twister for a bit. After the last WWI piloting, I'm not in the mood. I'll see if I can get one more relic to unlock the last hidden portal."

Crash started to nod but then something went off in his head. If Coco wasn't going to go pilot a plane...

"Wait...so I'm going to have to drive a plane?! I just finally learned how to drive a motorcycle without feeling on edge!"

"Oh right" his sister realized that fact. "Well, maybe I can still help with that." She took out her phone and two sets of ear buds she created a few months ago. "You remember how to use FaceTime and make your phone hover?"

"Yes?"

"Good. Cause with the time we have, our ability to learn fast needs to come in clutch."

Chapter Text

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!" Cortex dragged a bag containing five platinum relics while holding his side. "With how relics are given to the fastest time, we just had to get them first and ensure our enemies can't use them to unlock the portals!"

"Would have been better if you did figure it out earlier" Uka-Uka leered at him. "That way we could have gotten the ones in less strenuous paths rather than the ones involving airplane flying, avoiding lasers, waves tipping over the jet ski, and stumbling in the dark! It's going to take me at least fifteen minutes to regain power lost from healing your injuries. Also, won't this contradict our goal to wait until everything's found before taking the crystals and gems?"

Sitting down, Cortex looked at a screen showing his WW1 planes being shot down by a plane swerving around in the sky. Wasn't hard to guess who the pilot was. "True, but I have noticed that when five crystals are gathered, a portal that leads to one of our henchmen appears. It would have been nice to get the final crystal back in Egypt but I'd rather give those bandicoots hope before yanking everything away from them! And besides, the area with racing planes is a minefield to complete without expertise in aerial combat. Once I completely recover, I'll get the gems so we'll at least have some firepower in the final fight."

While weary, Uka-Uka did desire to crush the spirits of his foes. He already made his brother unfocused with that little talk they had earlier. But those rodents were still going strong. There must be a way to weaken their resolve too.

***

Saying piloting a plane was like walking a tightrope over an active volcano while blindfolded was about accurate. Crash was glad that the plane had a wheel and pedals so driving wasn't an issue. What was an issue was the barrage of planes firing at him and the constant noise all around the sky.

"You're doing great big brother!" Coco spoke through the phone. Aku-Aku was using some of his power to allow her to see what was going on. "Good thing some broken crates restore the plane's hull. There's just one more big plane to take out and the crystal's ours."

Patting the gem that was recently collected, Crash drove the plane to where his final target was. Kind of odd how he was fighting in a war considering he was originally planned to be a general. What was the point of war anyway? All it did was bring death and misery, and a lot of financial ruin. He read how this war caused some countries to go into a Great Depression and the country that suffered the most ended up causing another worldwide war that involved hunting down certain groups of people.

The impact of bullets made Crash snap back to the present. "Yikes! They're firing at me again!"

Aku wasn't the best at aerial skills but he tried his best. "Do a barrel roll!"

He did so a few times and it allowed him to shoot down the lab assistants. Despite feeling queasy, Crash managed to get close to the final big plane. He fired at the two propellers on either side of the wings and the engines burst into flames. As the plane fell out of the sky, a crystal shot into the air and landed in the cockpit seat.

"There we go" Crash hugged it close as the portal back appeared. As his feet touched solid ground, the exhaustion of the dogfight began to catch up to him. But he couldn't stop now. There was one crystal and relic left and only a few more gems.

"Guys!" Coco ran up to the men. "There's a problem!"

"Huh?" her brother groggily looked at her.

She took him to the screen and showed Cortex and his mask running through Gone Tomorrow a few minutes ago getting a platinum relic. "Cortex must have finally gotten smart and decided to get the rest of the relics to keep us from unlocking the final locked portal. His times are even faster than ours! It's impossible to beat them!"

"We do have twenty-four relics child" Aku-Aku hoped to calm her down. "With the crystals and gems collected we can use them to try and unlock it ourselves. They have helped keep the Time Twister steady."

"Maybe..." Coco paced the floor as Pura woke up from a nap. She ran up to the heroes, knocking over a tower of books in the process. As they fell, a small device in between the first two sets of portals was displayed in plain sight.

"Hey look!" Crash walked to the strange device, seeing it was a teleporter. It warped him to what seemed to be another part of the Time Twister. There was only one button present. When pressed, it showed the future city during the day titled Future Tense.

His family had followed him. "My word" Aku-Aku stared. "I can't believe we missed this!"

"And this area's relic is still up for grabs!" Coco pointed out. "And there's gems too! Let's get them before Cortex discovers it!"

"You two can go" Crash headed back. "I'm still shook up from the dogfight."

"Fair enough. We will need strength to get the final crystal located in a dark pyramid" the mask gave a gentle smile before following Coco through the portal.

***

It didn't take long for the two to be glad they didn't find this portal until very late into the adventure. Some platforms were so far apart that the double jump and glide were necessary to get through. The bazooka was even used to reach crates and triggers just out of reach. The slot crates were even used more creatively to add to the intensity. Coco figured this was going to be hard to get both gems as the start had a pile of crates behind her.

"Looks like we got an actual challenge that tests our skills!" she dodged a set of moving lasers turning on and off at certain intervals.

The further they went along, the more worried Aku-Aku became. This wasn't anything like the previous paths. This one actually had multiple branching routes that led to dead ends and more crates. They were short thankfully but very challenging. One even led to a death route. Robots even fired missiles at the two as they climbed up the building. As much as he had faith in the siblings' abilities, one wrong move would lead to disaster.

The death route itself was full of stress. Crates in dangerous positions, lasers going off at different times, robots that continuously fired missiles, and so much more. All of this made the mask think back to what his brother said. How he would use two kids to do his work in keeping the world safe. Seeing Coco jump across four sets of TNT crates surrounded by normal boxes to get over a pit made him more self-conscious.

As Coco used the bazooka to get the crates before gliding along the fans, Aku tried to talk to her. "Coco...how are you feeling about all this?"

"Well I feel some pressure with everything going on at once" she switched the gem at the end with one she got when destroying a robot. "Would have been nice if the final relic wasn't obtained in a final test of skill. But it's nice to have all these abilities put to the test. Have us get creative with getting through. And we're close to restoring the time stream to normal, removing all the unnecessary additions." She scowled at the memory of seeing Cortex's face on the blimps.

Aku-Aku however was feeling faint (a surprise for him) as he realized the relic was going to bring more pressure. With everything here, rushing was almost a death sentence. "Will you feel okay enough to do the relic trial?"

Back on the main path, Coco timed the spiked robots and saucer assistants. "It depends if Crash feels ready or not. I'm feeling the aftermath of running as fast as possible myself but I haven't had as much issue with time trials. I've studied the layout, the obstacles, and the timing. And it's only one more relic. If it means stopping your brother from destroying the world, it has to be done."

She stomped reinforced crates to reach another hidden area. After that, it wasn't long before the home stretch was in sight. The spinning platforms reminded her of when she and Crash climbed up the waterfall in their first adventure. "I just don't want you and your brother to push yourselves so much" Aku finally said. "One day I hope more people will know about what's been going on and want to help so you won't have to carry this burden alone. You're more than heroes to me."

Reaching the end and getting the other gem, Coco hugged her mask. "It has been hard and we'd be happy to accept more help. But you've helped keep us safe the last three years. We wouldn't have even learned about the world or experienced it if it wasn't for you. One day, we will get to live our lives in peace."

Getting a glimpse of magenta irises, Aku felt touched. Of all the people who helped carry out his work, none were as open or willing as these bandicoot children. They were even concerned for him. The fact they were young had a factor with how innocent they could be.

He let out a soft sigh. With the adventure almost over, he had to do something special for them. As a thank you for what they've done so far.

***

"Guess even with getting involved our enemies still find ways to stay ahead of us!"

Uka-Uka and Cortex were watching as their foes discovered a portal that even they didn't know about. Tropy must have kept it a secret from them just in case his relic plan was foiled. Now its relic was getting collected so all the gems would soon be theirs.

"Didn't hurt to try" Cortex uttered. "Besides, we still have the fight at the center of this facility. Not to mention the doubts planted in your brother's spirit. Gin just needs to keep this place running long enough for us to fulfill our plans."

"He better. How's he doing with learning the mechanics of the Time Twister anyway?"

An explosion could be heard in the next room along with coughing. The dark mask sighed, "I'll be right back."

Alone once more, the scientist turned some dials to use the time machine to see into the future. Dealing with the goody goody mask was one thing but his former generals were another story. They were still determined to stop him. If only they knew the cruelty humanity displayed and why he believed they deserved to be enslaved. Clearly those history books weren't enough as that was in the past.

So he went with a different approach. Using time for the next step in planting doubt. Not to mention you can't claim to be heroes if you haven't seen what the rest of the world has to offer.

Chapter Text

With the final locked portal being a race with planes, it wasn't hard to decide who would be tackling what. Coco jumped into Rings of Power while Crash and Aku-Aku went to get the final crystal in Bug Lite. It started outside at night with cobras slithering around. An alligator would jump out of pits too as the heroes got closer to the inside.

Upon entering the pyramid, it was pitch black. Crash wasn't surprised as at least one area had to have a blackout in each adventure. Fireflies were also expected to lead the way. Truth be told, it was a little creepy walking in the dark where decomposing mummies were resting. Not to mention the traps and pits present. The amount of light was bright enough that Crash didn't need to use his night vision abilities this time. Still, he wanted to save on time so any groups of crates he saw, he belly-flopped on them.

When the two got outside, there was a blue gem platform. With how this was the last path with a crystal, this was the "final test of skills when all colored gems were found" path.

"Good thing I decided to bring the carpet" Crash patted his costume's pocket.

"Just make sure to be careful" Aku-Aku reminded him. "From what I've seen of your driving, flooring it is not the way to go."

Memories of the first motorcycle race and Sphynxinator came into the bandicoot's head. "Point taken." He got on the platform and it took him back inside where all the lights were on. As he went up the stairs, Crash had to dodge a bunch of darts by running past the spotlights. He also did some slide jumps to make it across pits.

The next platform was the green gem and it took him to rising spears surrounded by nitro crates. Less nerve-wracking but that was fixed with the purple gem platform. Not only were there moving platforms, falling red platforms, and rising spears. The timing of the moving ones were hard to nail since there was the risk of getting impaled. Then there was the yellow gem platform and it's route.

"Just hopping mummies in spiked sacrophaguses?" Crash just stared.

"I was expecting oil coated floors with enemies" Aku felt underwhelmed too.

The red gem platform took them back outside where the gem was. Once the rocks were swapped, Crash got on the carpet. It was much less hectic as he knew what to do this time. While flying back, he felt nervous about what was going to happen when they returned. Sure he fought villains before but this time, there was a mask of great dark power who had no issues incinerating his foes.

Aku-Aku read his expression, "Do not worry child. I will handle my brother while you and Coco take out Cortex. I match in his skill and while I hold back, I'm still formidable."

This made another question appear. "Do masks often fight each other?"

"It's preferred that we don't" the mask said. "With how much power masks have, it could cause devastation to innocent lives. However, some have found loopholes that will allow masks to battle. Whether it's protecting a life or granting powers to someone and having them fight...for...you."

With how he slowed down with the last sentence, Crash could tell what he was feeling. This had to be addressed before the fight. "Look, these adventures can be hard at times but my sister and I want to help. I don't feel used. There's only so much you can handle alone."

The carpet arrived back where they left off. Total darkness with nitro crates aplenty. Due to the time limit on light, Aku floated to his companion. "Do you feel okay using some of my power to make it through this portion?"

He nodded and with an unintelligible sound, Aku-Aku placed himself on Crash's face and he bolted. Nitro, cobras, and mummies were no match. Crates became dusted, even the reinforced ones. Two fireflies were even being used at once with how fast they were going. Once it was not as dangerous, the mask, came off to let Crash breathe.

"Are you okay?"

"On a rush but yeah." The further in they went, the more nervous Crash got. The crystal hadn't been spotted yet. Was it already found? With how dark the place was, you'd think a bright purple glow would be easy to spot. But there were just more lab assistant mummies and spotlight darts. It wasn't until he went past slamming walls that he finally found it at the exit of the pyramid.

After dealing with the final stretch of mooks and animals, the nitro detonator was set off and the gem appeared. "And that's twenty-five! Again!" Crash felt elated. He felt so happy he did his dance to celebrate. It was done once in awhile as he didn't want it to get old.

"Did you finally come up with a name for that?" Aku-Aku asked.

Crash tried to think of one when he remembered those words his mask would say when granting power. It tended to sound like "Woopbaga!" but it also sounded like "Ooda Booga!" That was when he had an idea.

"The Ooda Booga Boogie."

***

Rings of Power was certainly a unique location. The time period was vague and instead of shooting planes down, Coco had to fly through thirty rings and win a race against three lab assistants. There were also normal crates and nitro crates being held up by balloons so there was still something to shoot.

Since she didn't have to hide her gender, Coco had a fun time. Doing a barrel roll when passing through rings granted a speed boost which made it more exciting. Destroying crates was an issue at first but she found a balance of racing and shooting. Who knew racing was this much fun? she thought. With the other flyers far behind, winning was a cinch.

The last two gems were being carried up to the center and were placed at the control panel. "Alright" Coco dusted her hands. "That should last long enough to deal with Cortex and hopefully restore time. The guys should be back soon."

Hearing the screen distort, she let out a sigh. Figures Cortex would make contact now that everything's been collected. Might as well let him toot his horn before making him eat his words. When he appeared, she expected him to be scowling but instead, he was laughing.

"Hahahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *sigh* I'm sorry. This is the part where I'm supposed to be angry. Full of rage. Incensed beyond belief. Once again you and your brother have outsmarted and out-spun my best henchmen. Uka-Uka and I should be rather upset. Shouldn't we?"

There was twitchiness in the left eye so Coco could tell how he was really feeling. "Nope. I know you're furious. Kudos to hiding it though. You'd think after three attempts to take over the world you'd get the message. We'll always find a way to beat you."

Cortex's obviously fake grin slipped. "Don't hold your breath C2. You think that getting everything before us will stop our plans? We'll just take the crystals and gems once we've beaten you. We've been watching your progress. How you use your skills, how fast you pick up driving vehicles, and that green power C1 has. Your mask must be getting desperate if he's injecting his powers into his pawns. Why bother listening to him and going through all this trouble?"

Fists clenched, Coco placed them on the panel. "We are not pawns. Aku-Aku cares about us. He doesn't use our bodies like puppets. Unlike your mask. And like I'm going to tell you what this power my brother has is. You'll just use it against us. And we help Aku-Aku because we're family. Something you can't even understand."

"I don't understand family?!" the fake smile was gone. "I know about family! I might not remember my early years but I can clearly recall being pushed around and forced to perform in circus acts against my will! Parents only view you as an extension of their legacy! Uncaring about your interests and are only concerned for their reputation! I thought things would get better once I left on my own but the rest of humanity is even worse! I showed you and C1 the history of humanity and the sins they made! How can you fight for them after everything they've done?!"

"Oh I know what humans did" the girl's blood was getting warmer. "But it doesn't account for everyone! People do learn from mistakes. Unlike you who keeps trying to enslave humanity! You don't even treat your own assistants or creations with kindness! The only times you do were for ensuring loyalty! It's no wonder it was easy for Crash to think you've turned a new leaf last year! I highly doubt you're a human at all with a lack of empathy or remorse!"

Crash and Aku-Aku returned at that point. "Okay let's get this crystal and gems to the center and-" the bandicoot grabbed his mask and shushed him. Pointing ahead, the two became silent.

"What could you possibly know about humans and having empathy?" Cortex folded his arms. "The past is one thing but I saw the future with this time machine and they'll only get worse! Planes purposefully being driven into buildings out of spite, harassments in working offices that deny an employee's rights, video game platformers being snubbed at award shows! You say you protect humanity but you haven't seen the rest of the world or interacted with people at all! You're more concerned about being free and keeping your goody-goody mask happy. You're not real heroes at all! You're too close-minded and stubborn to see the big picture! Humanity's never going to get better! If anything, Uka-Uka's the better mask to listen to. He's seen enough of the world to know what it's like. The fact you're fighting to keep this future going, I might have succeeded in making you evil and uncaring after all."

That did it.

A purple triangle, square, circle, and x appeared on Coco's forehead, cheeks, and chin. Small electric sparks formed around her fingertips as her fists were at her sides. Her eyes were closed and she was growling. Watching from a distance, Crash was getting scared as he clung to Aku-Aku. He didn't know what this was but he sensed danger. Even Pura noticed and ducked behind the books.

Her eyes opened again to glare at Cortex. But instead of looking normal, both eyes were completely black.

"SHUT IT! I can't deal with one more condescending remark from you! You are right that I can be stubborn and tend to look down on others! And it's true that Crash and I haven't seen or interacted with people on the mainlands! But that's no excuse to cover up that you're still planning to force the world into submission and that you chose to work for a mask with no goodness in him at all!"

Cortex's expression changed from smugness to complete terror. The look in her eyes was full of hatred and her voice sounded menacing. It sounded like her but there was an echo, like other voices were overlapping. It even looked like she was going to lunge through the screen and choke the life out of him. He tried to say something in an attempt to calm her down but she kept going.

"What are you even gonna gain from this?! Your mask has no concern for you at all! Did you think you would get to rule the world with him?! I bet that's it since that's the one thing that makes your life worth living! Considering no one in the world cares about you at all and those who work with you only do it out of fear! I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't anyone in your past who loved you at all with how you are now!"

The last sentence actually made Cortex start to tear up. It wasn't noticeable and he was more terrified than sad. He finally found some words hoping it would fix this. "N-N-Now now C2. Let's not do anything regretful. We say and do things we don't mean when angry. This place is still unstable. Just calm down so we won't get sucked into a time vortex to who knows when."

Bringing her fists together, Coco just snarled. "For the last time. MY NAME! IS! COCO!"

She slammed her fists onto the control panel, sending a huge shockwave across the Time Twister. Communication got cut off, the screen was completely shattered, and the panel exploded. Aku-Aku formed a shield around Crash as debris started to fall from the portal chambers. Cracks formed all over and the force of the explosion made Coco fly back to the third portal chamber, heavily impacting a pillar. Pura yowled in fear as she ran up to Crash, nuzzling his leg.

"Whoa! It's okay" he did his best to comfort her. With the Time Twister no longer shaking, he and Aku ran up to Coco. Her face was normal but she was completely unconscious. Not even waving a Wumpa woke her up.

With what he saw and heard, Crash was visibly shaken. "What...was...that?"

"I don't know" the mask was just as frightened as he was. "The two of you have gotten angry before but this never happened. I figured Coco would have these aether powers too but this?!" He looked around at the damaged state. "Now I'm really worried about what these powers are capable of!"

"The only thing I can get from this is that this was dark aether" Crash carried his sister to the center. "I don't know much on it but Spyro told me that there's light and dark versions. Based on experience, bright colors could be light while the color black is dark."

Aku-Aku then remembered when Crash threw Pinstripe through the walls of his factory. The bandicoot's eyes were black and he was angry. Anger must have been what triggered dark aether. He would have pondered on it more but with the time machine almost in shambles, there really was no more time to waste.

"We'll talk about it when we're back home. Right now, we must make sure my brother doesn't take advantage of this and takes the crystals and gems." He floated to the single button where its portal would warp them to the final fight. "Hurry Crash!"

"Coming!" Resting Coco against the books, Crash gave her hand a squeeze. Seeing what she did fueled his desire to know about aether even more. It was clear it's powerful and dangerous. He had to know how to use it so it wouldn't cause damage. He had to know what these markings meant.

He went off to face his creator, hoping the time machine would stay stable a little longer.

***

With the lab assistants bailing, Uka-Uka had to rely on the two conscious scientists to succeed. Tropy was slowly regaining consciousness but not enough to fight. Nitro seemed to get a decent amount of the controls and Cortex was working to weaken C2's resolve. Seemed to be working smoothly enough.

Then the whole facility began to shake as a shockwave went through everything and things began to fall apart. The dark mask used his power to protect the core until the shaking stopped. With everything stable, he went to find the cause.

"Cortex! What's going on?!"

He had planned to give a rant but stopped at the sight of the communicator. The screens were destroyed, purple sparks flew out, and Cortex looked completely shell-shocked. The man was hyperventilating and his eyes were wide open.

It was clear something big happened while he was gone. Uka came up to him, "What...happened?"

"C2...tried to...discourage...claim...no hero...black eyes..." Cortex squeaked out.

Sighing, Uka-Uka gave him a paper bag. "Try to calm down and hurry. My brother is on his way to face us!"

A few breathing sessions later, Cortex looked a little more normal. "Okay. I tried to crush C2's spirit on humanity's nature with news of the future. I called her out on how she and C1 haven't interacted with mainland people yet she claims they care. Before long...her eyes turned black and...facial markings appeared. But instead of being different colors, they were all purple and she became more violent. She slammed her fists into the control panel and the force sent out an EMP that's put the Time Twister in more risk! I did see that she's knocked out but I'm terrified of facing C1 now!"

If he had hands, Uka-Uka would have smacked him to try and get Cortex to pull himself together. But it would only make him even more unfocused to fight so he attempted a pep talk. "So we have two bandicoots with these powers. Power or not they're still young and inexperienced. Don't worry about facing the male if it happens. I've been looking to face a worthy opponent to see who's might is greater. Use your frustrations, drive it out. If we succeed, we won't just get the crystals, we can gain a power even greater than that!"

He flew off to where the fight would be as he sensed his brother's arrival. Cortex followed a little slower. C2's words continued to ring in his head. He didn't blame her for what she said. She was right about some things and for the others, she didn't know everything. One topic in particular on why he even chose to help Uka-Uka. The dark mask did threaten him a lot and if it weren't for his offer, Cortex would have left him imprisoned. But there really was a reason...different than what his former generals believed.

I will succeed Natayla. Just hang on.

Chapter Text

Crash and Aku-Aku arrived at what appeared to be the center of the Time Twister itself. The room wasn't very big with only a panel on one side of the room. The floor appeared to have a hatch but what got their attention was the mad scientist and his mask flying in. The former on a repaired scooter.

"So it's come to this. Brother against brother. Master against creation" Cortex sneered at the two. "We don't have to fight you know. We all know this place is gonna collapse at any moment. Why not just hand over the crystals and gems and with their power, Uka-Uka can ensure stability."

"Him? Keeping things stable?" Aku-Aku had a dead panned expression. "I highly doubt that."

His brother only growled and placed himself on Cortex's face. "Grrrrr. Enough with the formalities!! C1! For the last time! Give the crystals and gems to me!"

Detaching, he flew straight at Crash but was pushed back by his brother. The two were then caught in a beam war. "You're fighting me?!" Uka-Uka questioned. "I thought you told me long ago we shouldn't fight!"

"I'm not fighting you" Aku's eyebrows narrowed. "I'm protecting Crash from you!"

With their masks fighting, the human and bandicoot were left to battle each other. A shield surrounded Cortex so Crash couldn't just spin him. Laser blasts were fired and they were all red. This was an issue as only green laser blasts could be deflected. How was Crash going to attack? Didn't make it easier that he had to constantly play jump rope with the mask brothers.

Eventually, Cortex dropped mines hoping that would work but in doing so, he accidentally deactivated his shield. "Oh no!" Cortex worked to get it back up but it was too late. Crash took this chance and knocked him off the scooter. This made the floor hatch open and a sucking noise was heard. An idea popped in the child's head. He spun Cortex constantly until he was knocked into the hole.

"Come on! You had a chance to get up!" Uka-Uka yelled before descending to retrieve him. He placed Cortex on the scooter and the shield was back up. "Alright rodent. You got that far but anyone can jump over low attacks."

The masks were now scuffling so fast they spun around like a tornado. Strong winds formed making it hard for the others to keep their footing. Cortex started firing faster, trying hard to not accidentally shoot Uka-Uka. Crash was having a harder time as the tornado's path was unpredictable and laser blasts were everywhere.

"Not much of a chatter? Don't you have anything to say?" Cortex got ready to drop more mines.

"Nope. Hard to have a conversation in the middle of a fight!" Crash dived out of the masks' way.

This time the shield remained active when the mines were laid. But Crash just carefully picked one up and threw it at the scooter, hitting the shield generator and making it short out again. The force was enough to knock Cortex off and before long, he was spun into the hole again.

Uka-Uka was getting tired using his power to not only fight but to get Cortex back in. So the two shared a subtle nod as both masks then rammed into each other to make a small explosion.

"Quite odd you're not using your stronger moves" Aku-Aku pointed out.

"As much as I want to, it could damage this time machine more. I want to be the one to decimate you not a mechanization of science!" Uka shouted.

Cortex on the other side was running out of ideas to try and shoot his foe so he slowed down. "You know C1, it's quite fascinating that you and your sister have managed to best me almost three times now. No doubt your mask had a part in it."

Oh great. He must have also heard that little talk Crash thought. "Technically yes. He did provide us with information and we could have just said no. But we chose to help him. He doesn't want this for us! Hard as it is, we're happy to help him and bring good to the world."

The scientist just laughed, "You brought good? Tell me this, how do you think I found the Master Crystal in the first place?"

"During your invasion of the islands?"

"No. When you knocked me off my scooter during our blimp battle and I fell into the cave where it was!" Cortex grinned. "In a way, you helped me rebuild the Cortex Vortex into a space station."

Crash almost froze for a bit. There was no way an action for good would lead to bad things. Aku saw the look on his face, "Don't listen to him! He's distracting you!"

Avoiding another explosion, the bandicoot spoke. "Well it got destroyed anyway! Thanks to Brio's laser and the gems Coco and I collected."

"Yes yes that did happen" Cortex spun his gun around. "But something did come that benefitted me. A piece of the debris ended up freeing Uka-Uka from his prison! That means, you're the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place!"

Those words made Crash's eyes widen. "What? That's not...it had to be a one in a thousand..."

Uka-Uka took a moment to take in the internal crisis his enemy was having. "Looks like your soldier is getting cold feet."

"Child no! He's getting to you!"

"You see C1? No matter how hard you try, you and your sister will end up doing something that helps the side of evil." Cortex got his gun ready. "You were created for evil. Even if you weren't, you're still taking orders from someone else. Like someone affected by the Vortex. So much for real freedom."

Crash felt he lost his voice. He tried to think of something to counter but couldn't. He didn't even see the scientist fire his gun. It wasn't aimed at him, but the target wasn't much better.

"AAAGGGHH!"

Aku-Aku was stunned and couldn't move. Crash was really frozen at this point, unable to see if he was okay. "Wow. You really do have the guts to play dirty!" Uka complimented.

Cortex then used his gun to levitate the colorful mask. "Not so mighty without your powers. Let's see how you handle your brother's abilities now."

Lots of things were forming in Crash's head. Sadness, anger, guilt, fear. But one thing stood out above the others. A desire to protect. There was no way he was losing the only parental figure he had. They loved each other. They cared about each other. After all the times Aku-Aku protected him and Coco, now was the time to return the favor.

Eyes were closed for a second before becoming completely green. The four facial markings appeared in the four different colors of green, blue, pink, and red. Crash's fists even had a green aura engulfing them. It didn't take long for the villains to notice.

"It worked! Pushing him hard would make those powers appear! Now to prove who's might is truly greater!" Uka-Uka fired his laser eyes at Crash but he just held his hand out, absorbing it. The dark mask then tried firing plasma bombs but they immediately dissipated when caught. A few different powers later, the bandicoot was still standing.

"That's it! I'M DONE PLAYING NICE!" Uka charged at Crash only to get punched in the face. He impacted the panel with so much force it short circuited.

Cortex shrieked at the sight of cracks forming on his master. He was told how strong and durable masks were and couldn't be hurt by typical means. The fact that one punch did this?! Facing his old creation, he tried to find words. "O-Okay C1. We all know how dangerous powers can be. Especially those we don't understand. So just calm down and maybe we can talk?"

Crash only glared at him, "My actions might have given you a chance to strike back, but you were the one who carried out these plans in the first place. You could have said no. You could have found another way to live a better life. But you still refuse to accept grace. There may still be hope for you but right now, it's hard to see. And if you think I'm just gonna stand here while you hurt my father in an attempt to use my gift for your desires, you've got a another thing coming!"

That voice. It had the same echo and overlap like his sister. But rather than being feral and full of rage, it was calm and firm. Didn't change the fact that Cortex was scared out of his mind. He didn't have time to run as Crash ran up, threw him in the air, jumped up, and slammed him into the ground. The force sent the man through the floor and onto the Time Twister's core itself. Uka-Uka had managed to recover some energy to float and headed down and saw to his horror, the core completely destroyed. Seconds later, a giant wormhole opened up, sucking everything in.

"No! It cannot be! Not a prisoner of time again! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

With the time machine coming apart, Crash knew he didn't have any time left. He swiftly picked up Aku-Aku and began to run out. He found himself in another room as Tropy got sucked into the wormhole. N. Gin was knocked out but was able to be saved as Crash picked him up. On the top floor, he used his powers to open a portal back to N. Sanity Beach and began throwing the crystals, gems, relics, and people in. Pura ran through without a second thought so a still unconscious Coco was the last one.

As Crash carried her, he looked at the books being sucked away. The dimensional book was one of the last ones. He wanted to get it but the risk of falling in the wormhole was too great. So he ran through the portal as the Time Twister was swallowed whole.

Nitro had been placed on the other side of the island, away from the house for obvious reasons. It took a few minutes but all the collectibles were brought in the house along with his family. By that point, Crash's eyes and face were normal as he felt faint. He might have used aether before but for that long and with the new ability he just did...he succumbed to sweet sleep.

***

"Ugh...what happened?"

Gin slowly got up as he found himself on a beach. Last thing he remembered was keeping the Time Twister steady enough. He heard fighting from the battle and then everything started to shake. After that...nothing.

"Dr. Cortex? Uka-Uka?" Looking around, he noticed he was the only one present. With what just occurred, it was clear the time machine was destroyed. That would mean his bosses where possibly stuck anywhen in time. He did read that a wormhole was growing beneath the core, only being held back by tending to it.

Dusting himself off, N. Gin set off for his next task: finding and bringing back the others.

***

The first thing Coco felt as she woke up was warmth. Her eyes looked around to see three of the rainbow rocks glowing next to her. Not far from her was her brother also waking up with the other three gems by his side.

Pura then came up to her and nuzzled her face affectionately. "Easy" Coco laughed as she got up. Polar was doing the same to Crash, licking his face.

"Children! Thank goodness you're awake." Aku-Aku floated in.

Seeing they were inside the house, questions were forming in her head. "What happened? How did we get here? Is the Time Twister...?"

Aku rolled a coconut to her to help get strength back. They weren't as common as Wumpa but not impossible to find. He remembered how much she liked them on the first adventure so he made sure to have some lying around. "The Time Twister machine could not hold itself together. We were lucky to escape" he explained.

"Yeah. After you destroyed the screen's control panel, there was a greater risk to the facility" Crash gathered the rainbow rocks. "I had to use my own powers to defeat Cortex and Uka-Uka and get us back."

The first sentence confused Coco. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, when we returned from getting the last crystal, your eyes turned black and the markings on your face were purple" her brother went on. "You and Cortex were arguing on whether or not we were real heroes if we didn't interact with the rest of mankind. When you were in that form, you became more violent with an altered voice. You punched the panel and it sent out a shockwave, knocking you out cold."

"Wait...I did that?" Coco tried to think but nothing came up.

"You don't remember?"

She shook her head, "The last thing I can remember is returning from the plane race with two gems and answering the screen. But after that...nothing."

Aku-Aku was quiet for a moment. Due to Coco not using aether as often as her brother, it would make sense that she couldn't recall some things. But this was dark aether. Who knows what other side effects it could have? He then thought back to getting glimpses of Crash beating his brother and helping them escape.

"I am surprised you had a good control of those powers even with Cortex trying to throw you off. The fact you managed to damage my brother and get us back here safely..."

"It wasn't easy" Crash put the rainbow rocks away as he sat back down. Coco had moved to rest against Pura and Polar was between the two. "I felt a lot of emotions seeing those two plan to attack you and I wanted to protect you. It must have been what allowed me to have that much control and have it last a long time. I didn't even know it could be used to open portals. But that took a lot out of me so doing that again isn't a good idea. What's worse is we lost the book that's full of inter-dimensional knowledge."

The mask just smiled, "We got lots of information from it and we do know there's portals in pools of water. We can start searching in a few days. Right now, I want you to rest. The world's safe once more."

Seeing the somber look, Crash knew this was the time to bring up what he overheard. "It is hard to look after us. Doesn't help that our old creator keeps coming back. But you're not a terrible father. We've learned so much from you and you keep us safe. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."

Aku could have sworn he felt tears form in his eyes. He floated close for the siblings to hug him. "Thank you children. I will do my best to keep watching over you. One day the world will be safe from my brother and we will find Tawna."

"What do you think even happened to him and Cortex anyway?" Coco asked.

***

"AAAAGGGHHH! RRAAAGGH!" Uka-Uka screamed in pain as two babies were pulling his head and beard in tug-of-war. The one pulling his head had blue skin and a bonnet. The other had a lowercase n, a beard, and a bib. He would have used his powers but what that bandicoot did to him, it made him slightly weaker.

"Give me the mask!" baby Cortex whined. "With it I shall take over the world! Come on!"

I swear brother. Once I find a way out of this time prison, you will pay!!

***

Looking outside to see snow falling (a first for Australia in late October) Aku-Aku smiled. "It is difficult to say what has happened to our enemies. But I doubt we will see them for a long time."

Watching the fire, Crash occasionally glanced at his sister eating her coconut. This adventure really was something. Not only did the villains try to test their resolve, but these aether abilities were growing. He was gaining more control and Coco was tapping into them for the first time. No doubt their enemies would try and obtain it, see how they were able to harness it. He had to be ready when that happened.

And the first step to doing so was finding answers in Skylands.

Chapter Text

Crash gasped as he woke up suddenly. He looked around the dark room and breathed a sigh of relief. Oh. It was a dream.

Nightmares weren't common but they did come every once in awhile. A price to pay for facing dangerous situations when saving the world. Most involved being chased by something. Since it was still dark out, he was about to fall asleep when he heard footsteps. Curious, Crash opened his door to see Coco getting something to drink.

She then got on her laptop and was looking something up. She was so focused she didn't notice her brother approach her until he tapped her shoulder.

"AH!" Coco punched his gut out of reflex. Getting a better look, her eyes widened. "Crash! I'm sorry! I was startled."

"It's fine. Probably wasn't the wisest idea anyway." He sat next to her, "What are you doing?"

"Just want to make sure the time stream's back to normal" Coco looked up some websites. "With the books gone this is the best we have. And thankfully, things are restored. No more Cortex vandalism."

She showed Crash pictures of landmarks and paintings back to their former glory. He then spotted a painting that really stood out. "I don't think they're completely back to normal."

"Huh?" Coco looked to where he was pointing. He was right. In medieval tapestries, there were two humans wearing outfits that matched what she and Crash wore. Paintings of the Great Wall's construction showed a blond haired woman in a hanfu dress. Finally, hieroglyphics displayed a man in green eyeshadow running through the pyramids. It was the bandicoot siblings alright, but looking like humans instead of animals.

"Guess we made our mark in history. At least it's altered to not cause confusion" Crash commented.

A light knock on the door was heard making the two jump. "What? Who could be here at this hour?" Coco went over to answer to find nobody. On the ground were three books and a small device. Unsure what they were, she brought them inside. "There wasn't anyone but I found these."

Crash took one of the books and his jaw dropped when he saw the book was Dimensional Travel for Dummies. "It's the book I've been reading. But how?"

The second book was just a plain red one. Upon opening it however, there were pages filled with knowledge on aether, cures to restore light aether, and what people could do with it. One section made Coco shove it to her brother.

"Look! You said you've been wanting to find something to save your friend right? This could be it."

He looked at the potion ingredients and the results were said to be very effective. Fire viper venom being a key element for success. "This can work but...we still don't know how to get to Skylands."

Picking up the small device, Coco pressed the button and it displayed a huge map of what seemed to be an island. It had trees, hills, some buildings, and lots of lakes and ponds. Some of the bodies of water were labeled already, telling the location and dimension. One was labeled N. Sanity Island, Dimension 46.

The aesthetics of pixels looked familiar to Crash. "Wait...this looks like Proteus from the book I've read. There is a portal not far from here. We can check it out tomorrow."

With the device turned off, the two then glanced at the third book. It was white with a weird paw print on it. It also came with a pen and a sticky note. It said This is like sending messages. By writing in this book, the words will appear in another book similar to this one. The owner of that book has already sent you instructions and explanations.

As anxious as they were to know, both children were too tired. Not to mention Aku-Aku had to know about this. Still, the question of where this stuff came from and who brought them here was on their minds as they went back to sleep.

***

Not far from the house stood two humans shrouded in the night. "Not bad for his second mission" a male voice said. "Most are too confused or overwhelmed to handle pocket dimensions."

"A close call too" a woman added. "His eyes are everywhere. The two didn't have much time to deliver to those three."

After a moment of silence, the woman faced her partner. "Do you believe the children can find Dimension 11 and bring the cure to his friends in time? Today's the day where he'll be outed and become even more corrupted."

The man looked at the home and gave a smile. "Of all the versions of those two we have seen, no one's more committed to fulfill a promise than those bearers."