Here's a brief Q&A for this chapter.

Guest: Sorry, but Crunch will appear later on after this.

Disclaimer: Crash bandicoot was created by Naughty dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious visions. Please support the official releases.

With the mad scientist's hologram gone, the gang was left to their own devices as a newly recruited Yaya Panda looked around at the room for a bit, finding it better than remaining inside the cage that Pinstripe put her in, at the very least.

Then, after a few minutes of looking around, Yaya wondered what Tawna's history was with both Crash and Pinstripe. "So Tawna, sorry to ask, but what's your history with that Pinstripe guy, and why is it that you prefer him over that guy?" She proceeded to ask, gesturing to Crash.

"You know, I was wondering the same thing. What was that guy like?" Ami asked.

Tawna felt a bit reluctant to tell them about her times as Cortex's prisoner, as well as how Pinstripe became a thorn in her side due to his attempts to find love with her, despite her love for Crash.

But she feels, that it's better to tell them now, instead of later. "Let's just say that all three of us were cell mates" Tawna said, pointing to Crash and herself, while referring to Pinstripe. "And Pinstripe thought that I looked quite hot after my mutation. So he tried to make me his boyfriend. But He seemed like a jerk, and I was a nervous girl at the time due to our kidnapping by those evil scientists, one of them being Cortex, the guy who's hologram you saw minutes ago."

"Wait! You mean, that guy used to have you has his pet?!" Yaya asked surprised.

"Nah, I wouldn't say that." Tawna said, annoyed at the thought of being Cortex's pet.

"I agree. If we were his and Brio's pets, then I reckon that he'd at least treat us better than as his test subjects." Ami said, with Isabella in agreement.

"Precisely. We were more like his lab monkeys. Experimenting on us, and trying to create an army of us to rule the world with." Tawna then said.

Which made Yaya cringe at that when she was told about it. "Sheesh. Sorry I asked. And I'm hoping, and guessing that they failed?"

All while Tawna ended up smiling at that as she wrapped her right arm around Crash. "And it was all thanks to him, after all, he defeated those guys, and their minions, and destroyed their old fortress, all for me. And I thank him for that."

"Especially since we've destroyed their fortress on the island, just so neither Brio or Cortex would be able to use it anymore. Sure they might be homeless, but it serves them right for trying to rule the world. And for casting a dark taint on those beautiful islands." Aku Aku said.

"Whew." Yaya said relieved alongside Ami and Isabella. "I'd probably want him for my boyfriend too if I was in her shoes." Yaya thought.

"And ever since that day, Tawna, Crash, and I lived together in our new home on one of the islands." Coco said. "We were gonna add new stuff to our house when big brother and Tawna got teleported to this place. And I… eventually… hacked my way into teleporting to this place, just so I can hope to be of some help. Which would be before we met you all." She then said, looking like she was still hiding something.

If she was, then thankfully for her, nobody noticed yet.

"Y-you all have a home? And on an Isola? (Island?)" Isabella asked surprised.

Coco nodded while smiling. "We built it shortly after Cortex's defeat by my brother's hands." She said referring to Crash. "It's not luxurious, but it's home nonetheless."

Ami, Isabella, and Yaya was surprised at what Coco said about her home. Before they were then turning hopeful at the possibility of what they could also earn once they're free with the Bandicoot trio that they met in the last room. "Well, if it's-"

"If you're hoping that we could offer you gals a place to stay, then no problem. Let me just message m- …some people later on, and I'll make sure that by the time this adventure is over, all of you shall have a home with us on our island." Coco responded.

"After all, you're our friends, and it'd be pretty mean of us to just leave you gals alone here once this is done." Tawna also said, with Crash nodding in agreement.

As much as the other Bandicoots, (And Panda.) questioned the near slip up of Coco's, they were nonetheless smiling at them with some tears of happiness slipping out. They hoped that they would probably have a home once they get their remaining friends back, and end this journey, so to hear the Bandicoot trio that recruited them into the gang being willing to share a home with them, had them happy that they made friends with them. And also happy that they didn't kill them in their mutated forms.

So happy enough to hug all of them, with Ami hugging Tawna, Isabella hugging Crash, and Yaya hugging Coco. "Thank you guys. You're all so kind. I wish we had something to repay you all." Ami said.

"No kidding Ami. I'm glad that you're all so Gentile e generoso. (Kind and generous.)" Isabella said, kissing Crash on the nose.

"N-no problem. Just glad to help." Tawna said, cringing at the strong hug of Ami's. (And pretending that she didn't see Isabella's kiss on Crash.)

"Especially… since, none of you… deserves to be left alone. Not after this." Coco said, as Yaya's energetic hugging had her cringing too.

Once the hugging was done, they ended up planning on how to go, in collecting the Crystals and the Gems for Cortex and Brio. During their thinking though Coco felt a bit curious about Yaya. "By the way Yaya. I'm guessing that you've been turned from a Panda into what you are now? And if so, did Brio make you like this?"

"Nope! I don't even know who he is since we haven't met, so I wasn't made like this!" She said, showing that she isn't Brio's creation, nor Cortex's. "But, there was a scientist from America that traveled to my home town in China, who made me this way. She was a nice gal, and she did have a sweet tooth. She was even generous enough to share some with me!" She said smiling. "And she happened to have taught me how make plenty of those sweet tasting treats with cooking."

"And now, I think I know where she gets her energy." Tawna thought.

"As for why I was caged by that guy, it's a long story. But the small part, is that I was collecting some bamboo sticks for kendo practice, when I met those lizard guys that worked for that guy, and I was able to match them blow for blow, when 'he' shot me with a sleep dart, then boom! I'm in the cage, and I believe it was for a day until I met you guys." Yaya explained.

"Really? I'm guessing that your creator is still out there?" Coco asked.

"Mm-hmm! She's still out there, but I'm independent and I know she's okay, so I'm not looking for her right now. And I'm certain that she currently isn't looking for me since I can take care of myself." Yaya responded.

After their conversations were done, they've decided to save some time, by going into separate teams and enter the portals together.

Crash and Ami is going to Plant Food, (With Aku Aku following them.) Coco and Tawna is going to Sewer or later, and Yaya and Isabella will go to Bear down. (With Polar giving them both a ride, like with Crash and Tawna.)

After some preparation for what's ahead, (And some promises that they'll reunite, from Crash and Tawna.) they all jumped into the portals, transporting them all into different worlds.

In Plant Food, both Ami and Crash was going up another river in possibly the same part of the world in a jungle. (Or is it the longest river in the world that they're going up?) Where on occasions, Crash and Ami would be on the board that was miraculously undamaged from the fight with Pinstripe.

Which was good for both of them, as Ami noted that the current was getting a bit stronger to where she might be unable to push through the water, at least at a fast enough speed compared to the board that Crash was riding.

Which was why, as they were running on a stone path over the water, as well as climbing the little waterfall, Ami couldn't help but feel curious about how Crash got the board, so she asked Aku Aku.

"So what you're telling me, is that Cortex gave both of you the board?" Ami asked Aku Aku after he answered back, telling her that Cortex gave Crash the board.

"Correct. It seems that Cortex knew about Crash's inability to swim, so he made that. It's nice that he invented something to compensate for that." Aku Aku said.

Crash nodded fast in agreement. "Abtholudely noite!" He gibbered.

"Well that's probably one of the few things that I'm giving thanks to Cortex for." Ami said.

"And… not to be rude, but what other things are you thanking him for?" Aku Aku asked.

"For giving me this." She said as she flexed her muscles on her right arm. While also gesturing to her body, and her bust that seemed to be around Tawna's size, if not a little bigger. "And the fact that I have some strength to back it up."

Aku Aku couldn't really argue with that. She was created like that by Cortex and Brio after all.

As they went up the river, whether on some sections of land, or on his board, they came across some carnivorous plants like last time Crash met them. Only this time, there seemed to be much more of them then usual. (It could be why, the level is called Plant Food, for a reason after all.)

"Be careful Crash, Ami, they could eat you whole." Aku Aku said, referring to the Plants.

"Oh really? Gee thanks, I never would've guessed that the sharp teeth could be a tell tale clue." Ami sarcastically said.

Aku Aku felt a little annoyed and somber at the response, as he just hoped to help her. Which she appreciates, regardless of having come to that conclusion herself.

"But seriously, thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it." She then said, trying not to hurt Aku Aku's feelings. Which she didn't, as he said that she's welcome.

As they went forward, jumping on the moving stones, the hippos, while avoiding the robot piranha fishes, the aforementioned plants, and the water, as they made sure to destroy the Boxes as well as spin the plants and other enemies away. With Ami using her punches on the plants while Crash spun them away.

She felt, that she and Isabella, (And hopefully all of their friends that they hope to free.) would like to be taught how to spin like that later on, possibly when their current journey ends.

Suddenly, there was a note on the post of the dock that they walked up to which Crash noticed, so he handed Ami the note, who looked at it in curiosity.

"Hmm. It says

'Dear Crash, (Or whatever ally of his, that found this note.) I have recently discovered something that might interest you if you're still willing to help me beat that rat. (Whom by the way, yes, I'm talking about Cortex.) There is a yellow G-Gem in this part of the world that is required along with the other grey G-Gems that you collected, to power my laser. But there's a challenge that you must do, to earn it. There's a little time trial race beyond this point, where you must beat the clock that is ticking down once you're in the water, which if it reaches zero, the Gem would be gone and you must try again. If you're able to reach it, then you have got the Gem, and my g-g-gratitude. (Which for the latter, you would've gotten more of if you stop grabbing the Crystals too.) Be warned however, as you'll need to be fast to reach it, for the timer is strict.

Now make me proud C-C-Crash. Signed N. Brio.'

there's another colored Gem?!" Ami asked.

"Yes. I believe we have a few more left to gain. Just like the last colored ones that Crash and I was able to gain during our journey to rescue Tawna." Aku Aku said.

"Really? And what happened to the colored Gems that you got?"

"We used them to rescue Tawna from Cortex via Mojo teleportation, and afterwards, she ended up helping us during our fight against Cortex by riding in on a large bird." He said, answering Ami's question. "Now we have to get that colored Gem that is here."

"In that case, go for the Boxes Crash, I'll make sure to beat the speed challenge and meet you at the end of this path." Ami said.

"Are you gonna be okay Ami?" Aku Aku asked as Crash prepared to put the board in the water.

"Don't worry, I'm stronger than whatever comes my way. And I can swim. Plus, there's these." She said, pulling down some vines of the jungle that the river was going through. "I'll pull a Tarzan and get to the Gem this way. Wish me luck!" She said, swinging on the vines to some branches of the trees to continue her swinging through the jungle on some more vines, toward where the end of the river's path is. As she also made some yells for the fun of it.

Crash ended up resuming the Crate breaking, as he rode on the board as he moved through the water on the board, with Aku Aku keeping up with him, with Crash making sure that there's no stone unturned, especially when they enter a bonus area in high tree tops to make sure that all of the Boxes are broken, on their way to the end where Ami should be, hoping that she's holding the Yellow Gem.

Crash kept on using the turbo on his board to zoom through the water, while avoiding the hazards, like mines, nitro Crates, the whirlpools, and the plants that tries to eat him. The latter of which, Crash was careful not to get caught by since they'd eat him whole.

Especially with the small gap in the water that had a pair of those plants on both sides of it on the stones, (Which was shortly after Crash retrieved the Crystal by the way.) forcing Crash to run ahead on the stone path to spin the plants away so they won't try to eat him, before going back in the water on his board. Which would've forced Aku Aku to shield him, which would've wasted some of his Mojo power to save him. But he would still have some more left. He just hopes that Crash won't find even more trouble to protect him from.

Eventually, after dodging the hazards, they ended up witnessing something that they didn't expect to see.

"Hold on. What's happening there?" Aku Aku asked as Crash looked on in shock and surprise.

Ami was holding a yellow Gem, but she was also in combat with another female mutant bandicoot. Only that one was raven haired, while she was wearing a dark green tank top with purple straps, that showed her bust size to be around Ami's, her skirt was dark purple with a pair of white stripes as it trailed down to her lower thighs, she also wears dark purple Capri legging shorts under her skirt, and a pair of dark purple sneakers with white laces. Her fur was a brighter, paler shade of orange, and she also had a svelte form even though her bust was a bit bigger than Isabella's.

That one was like the other mutant Bandicoots that Crash, Coco, Aku Aku, and Tawna fought against, only this one seemed more flexible than Isabella was in her mutated form. It was like she was a ninja Bandicoot that Ami was fighting against. And Ami seemed to recognize her since she wasn't putting up too much of a fight. Instead, she was dodging and making sure not to drop the yellow Gem.

"Liz! Snap out of it! It's me! Ami!" She yelled out, trying to get through to the mutant known as Liz. But Liz didn't listen as she continued to swipe her claws at Ami's direction, landing some scratches on her arms. But she didn't drop the yellow Gem.

Crash and Aku Aku rushed to her aid, as an angered Crash ended up using his jumping spin attack on Liz after running behind her due to Ami's inadvertent distraction. Causing the helmet to end up sparking, and having Liz roar in pain. Before making a growling noise at Crash for the sneak attack that he did. But rather than fight back against them, she decided to retreat away from the Bandicoots by hopping through the trees, while declaring in an echoing voice that she'll be back in the next fight.

"Are you okay Ami?" Aku Aku asked, hoping that Ami isn't in pain from the scratches.

"I'll be fine. Just a bit spooked." Ami responded with a grunt of pain at the scratches. "Thanks for the save though. There was some times that I thought Liz was gonna kill me." She then said, giving Crash an arm wrestle handshake. Which had him relieved that she's alright.

"That Bandicoot was Liz? Is the the more flexible of your friends?" Aku Aku asked.

"Of course. She was like a ninja among us after our mutation. Even though she's supposed to be from England. And she happened to have an ego like me, only it's more towards her beauty, and not muscles. But she still keeps us together, like Bells does. I just hope that we shall be able to save her from that helmet." Ami said concerned for Liz.

"And we will make sure to do that during this journey." Aku Aku said, assuring Ami that they'll free her. Much to Ami's joy. "Right now, we have the Gem and the Crystal, so might as well go back to the warp room for the next place to go to."

They all proceeded to do that, as they got to the teleportation chamber, and got teleported back to the warp room. With Ami feeling determined to save Liz and Megumi when they meet.

Meanwhile, with Tawna and Coco, they were proceeding onwards through the sewer, spinning away the enemies, avoiding the Nitro Crates, and keeping themselves out of the shin deep water that had the electric eels inside, by standing on the floating platforms.

"It's nice to see that you have the ability to create your spiritual duplicates. Now we know that you're doing good in keeping us safe." Coco said smiling at at a hologram of Aku Aku.

"It's not a problem. I just hope that I won't end up getting drained of my strength this way before this journey ends." Aku Aku said, his voice echoing through his spirit.

As Aku Aku's spirit clone was following them both, as Aku Aku wanted to make sure that his friends would be okay. So he had a pair of spirits of himself made to follow the other Bandicoots when they split up into different courses.

And currently, Aku Aku was following Crash and Ami, while his spirits followed Coco and Tawna in Sewer or Later, and Yaya, Polar, and Isabella in Bear Down.

Tawna and Coco noticed the spirit behind them due to Aku Aku's voice, which was a relief to them that Aku Aku was making sure to keep them alive and well.

Even as they ended up coming across some workers that looked pretty familiar, as they had the square jaw, pale skin, short chestnut brown hair, and white shirts. They looked like Cortex's robot workers that used to work for Brio and Cortex, and they seem to be working only for Brio now, since they were trying to shoot fire at both Coco and Tawna, forcing them to keep their distance from the minion until he's done shooting fire.

Which he was forced to do, to relight his fire. Ending in the minion getting taken out by Coco and Tawna's spin move.

"And I thought that Crash destroyed all of these things. I didn't think that Brio would build more of them." Coco said.

"I know. Especially since they look like they're mostly Cortex's robots. Shouldn't Brio and Cortex still be at each other's throats? Or did Brio steal some of them?" Tawna asked.

Neither Bandicoot knew for sure, even though they were leaning towards the latter alongside Aku Aku. But they didn't dwell on that. As they continued onward through the sewer, taking out the familiar enemies. While avoiding the Nitro Crates, the cleaner bots, and the rolling barrels that for some reason, continues to roll left and right inside the pipe in an attempt to flatten them, which would be before they got through the room with the puddle with the electric eel.

Until eventually, they came across a yellow Gem platform that was surrounded by armored rats, and was also currently holographic, which could mean that they have yet to grab the yellow Gem to solidify the platform.

"Seriously? There's another Gem challenge?" Tawna asked, since she didn't expect that she'd be on another Gem challenge with Coco. Even though they can't do the challenge yet due to the hologram.

"You know, I think I saw a yellow Gem's empty spot near the portal that Crash and Ami took." Coco said, having noticed a spot on the warp room's wall that had a yellow color to it, prior to entering their portal.

"Really? That's good! Now We just need to wait until they have the Gem, before we can ride this Platform to the Gem challenge." Tawna said.

"Or, we could split up, and you could help break the Boxes in this area, while I wait until the Platform solidifies. It could help save some time in grabbing the Gem." Coco said, sitting down and getting on her laptop.

Tawna quickly knew that it was not a bad idea, in fact, it was a good one as she saw Coco on her laptop, looking like she could be spending some time on there. "Okay. Just be careful. I don't wanna lose my little sis." She said.

Coco smiled at that, feeling that she herself viewed Tawna as a cool big sis. (Albeit one that occasionally gets a bit naughty with her brother too. Even though she never saw them go at it in front of her.) So it was really nice for her to reciprocate that feeling, back to Coco. "I'll be careful. Thanks Tawna." She said, typing on her laptop as Tawna proceeded forward.

Where she immediately saw a new hazard, which was a spinning fan that even though it was spinning slow, it looked like it had sharp blades that could dice her if she isn't careful enough. She was a careful female though, as she dashed through the open sections of the fan, before meeting another flamethrower minion that she spun away before proceeding onwards.

Where after she went through the bonus room, she saw more of the spinning fans, only this time, they were spinning faster. "Oh crap. What'll I do to get through this pipe?" She said, face palming.

She had to think about it for a minute, when she saw some cleaner bots that was in front of the fan. That was when she quickly had an idea to use them to take a shot from the fan. So she spun them away, expecting a result that she hopes will benefit her.

Which it does, as the cleaner bot collided with one of the fan blades, causing it to break off, leaving only two fan blades left. Much to her joy.

But, she felt that she has little chance to jump through the gap that was made, while there was still two blades. So she had to shoot another minion with her spinning move to break off another fan blade.

Now she feels confident to time her jumping through the gap, and make it to the other end of the fan without losing a limb. Which she proceeded to do, before moving onwards, where she saw another electric eel room, and another fan beyond the room. It was getting annoying.

But Tawna dealt with the eel room, and then dealt with the spinning fan blades by using some more of the cleaner bots. Now she felt that she was getting closer to the exit. Now, she had to wait until Coco completes the Gem challenge, and rushes to her side, before she can leave the level.

She was just currently at the fork in the road a la the pipe that separated into two paths up ahead. One of which she felt, led to the room that had the Crystal that she was looking for. Which is the path that she chose on the left.

As she got to the chamber that held the purple Crystal though, she saw that it was guarded by a mech. Not just any mech though, as it was a mech that had an upper half that was egg shaped, while having a round window that showed someone in the cockpit, while having stumpy legs, was pink colored, had a laser Gatling gun on its right arm, and a missile launcher on the left, and the window showed that it was piloted by a familiar face.

A face that had Tawna quickly shocked and a little horrified at who it was. Being the familiar helmeted Japanese Bandicoot known as Megumi, whom piloted the bear mech when they first met Polar.

And to make matters worse, Tawna heard the door closing behind her, which means that she was trapped in the room with the Japanese Bandicoot in the mech. And despite her somber and stoic posture in the mech, Megumi seemed to be out for revenge, and determined to beat Tawna.

"I do apologize for what I'm about to do, but as long as you collect the Crystals, then I must do my duty for Brio-sama. ごめんね. (I'm sorry.)" She apologized, before starting their fight with launching missiles that launched upwards, before falling back down.

Tawna was forced to run and jump around the room to dodge the missiles, hoping that they'll have a short explosive range. Her hopes were partially answered, as they weren't large explosions. But they weren't short either. Which knocked her into some walls.

She wasn't out of the fight yet though, as she merely had to find a weakness to the mech that the Japanese Bandicoot piloted, as she fired more missiles out of the mech's left arm and shoulders. While Aku Aku's spirit floated around the mech, closely until he could find the spot to attack.

It was a daunting task for a few minutes as she kept on dodging the missiles that got shot out of the left arm, and avoided the explosions, as well as the lasers that got shot out of the right arm. Thankfully for Tawna, the missiles that didn't blow up, and got stuck to the ground provided cover for the lasers, and she had enough space to dive out of the way of the lasers to any nearby cover, since the room they were in was surprisingly open enough for her to maneuver. She just needed to use something to throw at the robot to break the mech.

Even though there was some of the lasers that ended up grazing her skin, making her cringe at the laser cuts, feeling relieved that they hadn't hit her yet.

"Please stand still! Brio-sama would be mad if I fail in beating the Bandicoots that steals more Crystals for Cortex." She said. Before she then shot out some lasers against her, trying to hit her.

Tawna ignored her seemingly polite demand as she continued to dodge and weave through the missiles and the lasers that she fired from her mech. She just needed to find a weakness to use against the mech.

"Aim for one of the missiles, it'll blow up and damage the mech that you're fighting!" Aku Aku's spirit said, coming up with an idea to use against the Japanese Bandicoot.

With Aku Aku's spirit helping her, she was able to find one in the openings that launches the missiles. She just needed to throw some projectiles at those openings, or see if the mech can shoot homing missiles, which she could use against the mech.

Which was when she realized that there was still some Wumpa fruit in her pockets that she had yet to eat later on. That was when she had an Idea to put the fruit to good use, by throwing them at the missiles to have them explode once they are about to be fired by the mech.

She just hopes she won't destroy the mech entirely, and kill the Japanese Bandicoot inside, as a result.

As soon as the mech was about to fire the missiles, Tawna pulled out one of the Wumpa fruit from her pocket, and threw it just as the missile was jumping out of the missile bay. Unfortunately, she missed and hit the laser arm that accidentally blocked the fruit as she raised it to fire, so she was forced to dodge the missile that she tried to blow up, alongside the other missiles that was also launched.

And, if that wasn't enough, there was some of them even hitting her in her abdominals, making her yelp, and grunt in pain at what she feels, was her first time getting hit directly. (Not counting the grazing cuts that she got beforehand.) Thankfully for her, Aku Aku was able to heal her wound on her belly. (Even though her pink shirt had a hole on it where the laser hit it.) But his spirit was fading a bit, looking like it was about to disappear if he keeps on healing her with his Mojo. Which would mean that she'd be vulnerable to actually getting hurt, and killed if he's gone.

"I can't miss another shot at another missile. I don't know how long I can dodge the missiles until they turn me into chunks." Tawna thought, shuddering at the thought of getting blown to bits. Not to mention how Crash, Coco, and Aku Aku would feel.

So she had to do some aiming while dodging and weaving the lasers that the mech fired at her. With Megumi, now focusing on Tawna, her dodging got difficult to where she started to grab a few more hits against her, as she shot her in the knee. Which Aku Aku ended up healing. But he was starting to fade soon thanks to spending more Mojo on healing, and he knew it.

So she had to be careful of the lasers, as she continued to barely dodge the lasers, until the mech got ready to fire the missiles from its left arm again. Which is what Tawna needed as she aimed, then she threw another one of her Wumpa fruits at the missile once she was sure she'd hit it.

She ended up hitting it on just the right mark, as the missile ended up blowing up right when the missile was out of the opening of the mech. Which send it flying backwards a bit into the wall, while destroying the left arm that shot it out. Leaving it with only the right laser arm.

But Tawna was pretty close herself, as she ended up getting pushed back by the shockwave of the explosions. Which ended up stunning her a bit as she ended up getting some shrapnel on her shoulders. Which got healed by Aku Aku's remaining Mojo, causing his spirit to fade. But he knew that Tawna might end the battle in victory soon, so he wasn't concerned when his spirit disappeared from the room.

Thankfully for Tawna, the mech wasn't too well armored, at least in the glass part of the mech, as the cockpit's glass ended up shattering, exposing the Japanese Bandicoot to Tawna. Now she had to make a dash to the Bandicoot in the mech, then yank her out of the cockpit before taking the helmet off, before she could react.

Something that she was fast enough in doing, despite having been stunned herself. But she was fast enough to barely recover her wits. plus, the japanese Bandicoot was dazed from the blast as well, so she had a little bit more time to get to her before she could get the mech back up and running again.

So Tawna got to the mech, reached into the cockpit, and pulled the Bandicoot out of the mech before she could recover and reactivate the mech.

Now she just had to get the helmet off of her, before she could probably clobber her with Karate, and get back in the mech, and start her back into square one. So she quickly got to the helmet.

When the Bandicoot came back to her senses as she had her hands on Tawna's forearms. "NO! STO-"

Too late, as Tawna was able to get the helmet off of her head regardless of the difficulty. Before seeing that she had blank eyes, and Cyan blue hair in a pair of buns on her head, before she yelled out in pain and defeat as she started to speak in Japanese, and gibberish as she ended up changing back to normal, before unconsciousness took over. (Although she looked the most normal out of all the mind controlled bandicoots that they fought against.) Now, Tawna had to wait until the Japanese Bandicoot was awake again.

Which didn't take too long before she ended up waking up with a headache. "Oooh. 頭痛がします。(I have a headache.)" The Japanese Bandicoot said as she held her head to nurse her headache.

"Are you okay miss?" Tawna asked.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." She said, using a technique to calm her headache before looking at Tawna. "Say, you remind me of my friend, but you're not Isabella-chan. Who're you?"

"I'm a friend of Isabella's. Name's Tawna. And I've freed you from Brio's control." Tawna said.

At the last part, the Japanese Bandicoot ended up jumping up excitedly before putting Tawna in her arms, twirling her around in joy. "やったー！どうもありがとうございます！(Hooray! Thank you so much!)" She yelled out excitedly.

"N-no problem. You must be Megumi, right? Ami told me your name by the way." Tawna asked.

"Ami-chan told you about me? Does that mean she's free too?!" Megumi asked excitedly.

"Yep. We freed her after Isabella. Now it's just this Liz fellow that we have left." She said.

"You mean Elizabeth-chan? Liz-chan for short? She's the last to be freed?! よかった！(Thank goodness!) I was hoping for such a day that we'd all be freed!" Megumi said happily.

"Well, you're a nice girl. So was Ami and Isabella. Although I should keep an eye on the latter when she's around Crashie. Now, come on, we're going to the exit to this place, that should be close." Tawna said, grabbing the Crystal, before leading Megumi through the pipe to the path to the right.

"なんて気持ち悪い (How disgusting.) Brio should clean up this sewer more."

"I'm with you, I'm not much of a sewer person myself. It's nice to see that I'm not the only one, alongside Isabella." Tawna said, coming up to the exit level chamber. "I just hope that Coco is coming this way as I speak."

"Coco? Is she your 友達? (Friend?)"

"Let's just say, she's like a sister to me, and she's my boyfriend's actual sister too." Tawna said, coming up to the teleportation podium, noticing the hologram of a Box that they passed, showing them a counter of how many Boxes they have yet to break. Which Tawna knew, there was a couple left, but she knew Coco has them, for now though she just had to get to the Warp room and show Ami and Isabella that Megumi is alive.

Back in the warp room, The gang was nearly gathered up, as Crash and Ami was the first to end up in the Warp room, collecting the Crystal, Box Gem, and yellow Gem. Before Yaya, Isabella, and Polar was the next to enter, having the Crystal, another Box Gem, and another clear Gem that they possibly got from a death route that Polar rode them through.

Finally, Tawna returned to the Warp room with Isabella in tow as they collected the Crystal, now they were waiting for Coco to collect the Box Gem, while Megumi ended up facing both Ami and Isabella.

"Megumi?" "Megumi-chan?!" Both Isabella and Ami asked shocked. While Megumi was also shocked, before she then got overjoyed.

"My friends! You're here, and free!" Megumi said with her arms open, expecting a hug.

Which is what she got, as Isabella and Ami ended up hugging her as they jumped around in a circle, laughing and squealing in joy, happy to see that Megumi is alive and free from Brio's control helmet. Now they all knew that only Liz is left for saving. And soon, they'll all be freed from Brio's and Cortex's control.

All while Tawna and Crash, (With arms romantically around their shoulders as they occasionally nuzzled each other.) and Polar and Yaya, were looking on smiling at the reunion of the Bandicoots that they saved and befriended on this journey. As they waited for Coco to reemerge from the Sewer or Later portal.

All while Yaya also explained to Tawna and Crash about their journey through Bear Down. Where it was like the last snowy crevice that Polar rode Crash and Tawna through, only at the end, they ended up grabbing the Gem, before they decided to hop across the rocks to a little patch of land on the water, out of curiosity.

Which is where they ended up getting mysteriously teleported to the basement room of the Warp Room like Tawna did when they first met Isabella. Where they saw that another Portal was activated, that led to the Totally Bear level.

Which was another snowy crevice that they rode Polar through. Only that one was darker than the other ones that they rode Polar through. Which made them nervous about running through the dark for the Crates since they could only see a short distance through the path. They were barely able to make it unharmed to the other end of the path after jumping, sprinting, and breaking all of the Boxes that was in their path. Until soon, they made it to the end where they got the grey Gem, which happened to be the only thing they could collect from the area.

No Crystal was there, just a Gem.

"Hmm… so it seems that the basement had a use after all. We better be on the lookout for any more secret warps that we can find." Tawna said.

"You can count on that." Yaya said, as the Bandicoot girls were done with their little circle hug.

"I'm so happy that you're free. And I'm so glad that our new friends have freed us from Brio's helmets." Megumi said. Before all of the Bandicoots gave their thanks to Tawna and Crash for their kindness.

Which they responded with "No problem."

"By the way, how did you all get free?" Megumi asked. Causing them to answer that Crash, Tawna, and Coco freed them from their mind control.

Then they proceeded to explain to Megumi of what Crash, Tawna, and Coco were doing, when they were sent to do Brio's bidding only to lose to them, which is when they got their helmets removed by them.

"So, what you're saying is that Cortex-san, is trying to collect the Crystals with your help, to stop this mysterious force, yet Brio-san wants the Gems too, so he can stop Cortex's plans from being made? So we're all collecting the Crystals and Gems for them both?" Megumi said.

"Yep. And even though we're collecting for Cortex to save this world, I have a feeling that Brio is not the bad guy of this journey. But whether Cortex is the worse of the two evils, remains to be seen. We just have to make sure that Coco is able to figure out what Cortex is planning.

As Tawna finished her sentence, the room got dark as they all expected to see Cortex's hologram appearing above them again. This time though, it was Coco's hologram that appeared in his place. And she was looking at Crash and Tawna, not seeing the Bandicoot girls since they were behind her hologram on the other side of the room.

"Crash! Tawna! Thank goodness! I just hacked into Cortex's computer, and found some detailed schematics for the improved Cortex-Vortex, and a suspicious looking space station above Earth! I'm not sure, but Cortex might be trying to-" She tried to say, only for her hologram vanish, signaling a cut signal.

"Trying to what? Coco? Damn!" Tawna said, hating the timing of the signal getting cut before Coco could tell them more.

"Sheesh! Watch your mouth please." Megumi said, caught off guard at the sudden drop of the D-bomb courtesy of Tawna.

Whom ended up blushing at that in slight shame. "Sorry." She softly said.

Then suddenly, Coco ended up emerging out of the Portal, having collected the Yellow Gem from the Sewer level. "Sorry I'm late, the Gem challenge was a bit tough but I got the Gem." She said smiling. "What did I miss?"

The last part had the Bandicoots looking at her weirdly in confusion at what they heard. "Uh, weren't you telling us about some sort of Cortex-Vortex, and Space Station through the hologram?" Ami asked.

"I did? OOH! YES! I WAS! I remembered that Cortex has a space station now! He might be inside it as we speak, and he's expecting us to have the Crystals. Plus, he has the Vortex as part of the Space Station." She responded.

"Really?! What does he plan to do with that?" Tawna asked.

"Uhh… I forgot." Coco said with an awkward giggle. Causing the Bandicoots to Face Fault in the room like last time. "But Cortex is planning to use the Crystals to power the cannon on the Space Station! And it could be nefarious." She said.

"Hmm… Maybe he's using that Space Station's Vortex as a Laser cannon like Coco said. I hope he isn't planning to blast the Earth with it." Ami said in anger and horror.

"Maybe the cannon is on the station as like a mirror? Where he's using the Crystals to absorb the force, and then he'd use the cannon on the Station to hopefully blast it somewhere else to redirect it away from Earth?" Megumi said.

"If that's the case, then how does Brio fit into this? Maybe he has his own plans for the Gems. Which could be beneficial as Coco says." Isabella asked. "Even though I also believe that he's gonna use it to destroy the station to get back at Cortex?"

That had them thinking about it for a bit. While little did they know, Coco looked pretty somber, like she felt, or knew that what Ami said was the most likely thing to happen. Even though they (Minus Coco.) also believe that Cortex's Space Station could also be used for the purpose that Megumi claimed he could be using it for. Which had them torn about who to side with on this journey.

Whether it could be Cortex, or Brio that they'll side with near the end, they don't know.

But one thing's for sure though, this journey is probably gonna get harder from here on out.

And done.

Sorry for how late this chapter was. I admit this wasn't a productive month for me. But I'll be sure to release at least one more story chapter before this month is over.

As for this chapter's ending, is Brio the bad guy? Is Cortex the Bad guy? Who knows? Even though I'm sure that many of you are saying that Cortex is the villain of this journey.

Which he could be. I don't know. (JK I definitely know. And probably so do many of you.)

Also, that girl in the shadows is going to be coming. Just not soon enough, but she is definitely going to show herself when the Bandicoots get to .

Finally one more thing.

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter,

please give constructive criticism, just don't be rude,

do not forget to read and review,

hope you all stay safe,

hope you all had a good Fourth of July,

and once again, I do not own Crash Bandicoot, it was created by Naughty dog, and is owned by Activision and Vicarious visions. Please support the official releases.

Theodore the poet signing out.