(Author's Note – Hello Everybody, long time no see. I'm so sorry about staying so far away. Work and other things got in the way. My Love of Crash Bandicoot stretches as far as my memories of playing the first one on the good old PS1. When I was reading through other fanfictions of Crash, I see there wasn't many stories showing what've would happened if Cortex won, if Crash was mutated into his first in command. The story takes place between the Wrath of Cortex and Crash Twinsanity. So here's my take on it. I don't own the rights to Crash Bandicoot, it's Characters or it's settings. Those rights belong to Activision. Enjoy the Story!)

Just off the east coast of Australia, there was a whiff of spring around the Wumpa Islands. On the edge of the forest, black smoke was slowy puffing out of a small house that was housed to some….. Interesting occupants. Once upon a time, they were just normal animals, wandering around the dense scrub, minding their own business. Then one day, they were taking by the lab assistants of the mad Scientist, Doctor Neo Periwinkle Cortex, or put simply, Dr Cortex. His plan was very simple. Turn these normal, cute animals into weapons of mass destructions hell bent to assist Cortex on world domination. The mutations were a success! (Well, sort of). After the successful mutations of these ceatures, they were sent to be trained into killers. Then, the time was right, they were sent into a machine called the Evolvo-Ray, capable of turing even a cute, sweet little bunny into a evil, vicious killing machine. It was all going so well for the doctor, or so he thought. There was three animals, bandicoots, by the names of Crash Bandicoot, his little sister Coco, and his hot, sexy girlfriend Twana. Crash, being touted by the mad doctoras his leader of his mutated army, he wasn't the smartest animal in the world, but can easily make up for it with bravery and kindness. He was the first to be tested with the Evolvo-Ray. It didn't go down well, for some reason, the machine rejected Crash and begins to malfunctioned, Crash managed to escape via the window but the female bandicoots wasn't so lucky. His little sister Coco, who was smarter than Docter Cortex and Dr Brio combined, was tasked to repair the Cortex Vortex against her will, threatened to be killed, or worse, if she didn't comply. Tawna on the otherhand, was tossed into her cell, being told that she was going to be tested next. This never occurred, as Crash made his glourious return with the assist of a ancient spirit mask by the name of Aku Aku, defeating Cortex and his minions, rescuing Coco and Tawna, escaping back to the Wumpa Islands by Cortex's Air Blimp and starting a new life as free animals, that was, until about a month later, Tawna decides to run away with one of Crash's main rivals, Pinstripe Potoroo. Crash continued to be the thorn in Cortex's plans for world domination. Cortex tricked Crash into believing that external forces were out to destroy the world and the only way to stop them was by helping him collect Crystals to help contain them but he was foiled when Coco hacked into his computer and found out he was building a weapon called the Cortex Vortex that was going to turn everyone into his mindless slaves. Crash managed to stop Cortex in time and with the help of Doctor Brio, destroyed the Cortex Vortex and it plummeted down to Earth and that was the end of that, but not for long! Cortex returned to destroy the Bandicoots again but even with the assistance of Aku Aku's twin brother, Uka Uka, freed from his prison when he was locked away many years ago, having a time traveller in the name of and having a time machine, his plan was foiled again by Crash and Coco, the time twister imploded, and Cortex was turned into a baby of all things! Attempt number four for Cortex and his minions. This time, Cortex created a new superweapon, a bandicoot, Crunch. Even Uka Uka enlisted the help of the four Elementals, to help carry Cortex's plans but as usual, Crash stop him once again and free Crunch from his grasp. Now as Cortex is chased by Uka Uka in the middle of nowhere, one thought comes to his mind:

Can I win? Just for once?

…

"Hey, Earth to Coco, are you there?" Coco looks up from her laptop and see her 'adoptive' brother, waving at her, trying to get her attention. She was in her room, trying to get some peace and quiet so she can work on a new patch of code for her Reality Hub Computer System, she wasn't interested in having fun of any form today, she wanted to get this done so badly but her brother were mucking around and she couldn't focus with all the noise around. So she decided to go upstairs to her room so she can work in peace but unfortantly for her, that peace only lasted for a few minutes.

"Huh? Sorry Crunch, did you need something?"

"Have you seen Crash?" He asked. "That little fella stole my gym magazines and I can't find him anywhere." Coco rolled her eyes. Those damn boys, she thought to herself.

"Is he anywhere in the house?" She asked with bitterness in her voice, oh she was enjoying the piece until now. Crunch glanced at her nervously, he knew his sister was in a bad mood.

"Umm, no-

"Then I don't know where he is right now" She huffed out. "I've been trying to this code decrypted all damn morning, and I can't get anything done if you guys keep interupting me. Can you just leave me alone?!" Crunch looked at her shocked, he has never seen Coco lose her temper before, she was caring, kind and generous.

"You've changed, Little sis." He answered finally. "You used to be all fun, now you have become all moody, don't wanna do anything expect fix things, and you get grumpy if we tried to have fun with you, and I thought being a boy was hard." Coco gave Crunch such an angry glare. She can't believe that he thinks being a boy is hard? The glare gave Crunch that feeling that he may have tiggered something and took his cue to leave.

"Alright, I'm going." Crunch said then he turned his back and walk out the door and closing it, not before giving Coco one last look before he shut the door.

"Good." She muttered to herself. She may understand that Crunch had a tough time adjusting to life, no longer under the control of Cortex but she feels like he has too much control over them, even though he's only trying to look out for them. Sometimes she wishes life was the way it was before Cortex decided to interupt. Cortex, the very thought made her blood boil. It has been almost three years since they last seen him. She would like to think that Cortex was finally gone for good, but deep down she knew that he was out there somewhere, plotting scheming, waiting fot the right moment to strike. Coco was disturbed by noises coming out of her closet. She laid her laptop on her bed, got up and started walking over to the closet when suddenly, a bright orange thingy came flying out of the closet, giving Coco such a big fright, only to be relieved that it was only to be her big brother, Crash. Fear then turned into annoyance for the female bandicoot.

"Crash, first of all, don't do that, you scared me, and second, what are you doing hiding in my room from Crunch?" Crash gave her a funny look, how did she knew he was hiding from Crunch?

"I know, Crash. Those magazines in your right hand are a give away." Crash smiled and gave her a thumps up. " And no, I'm not helping you hide from him. You are to give those magazines back to Crunch this instant." Coco ordered him. Crash looked at her confused. She must br grumpy, he thought. Maybe I can cheer her up, Crash then gave her the funniest face he could do but this didn't seem to faze Coco.

"Crash, what are you doing?" She asked. Crash's face returned to a neutral state and just shrug his shoulders. Coco just rolled her eyes again. "Look Crash, I get it, you're bored. You want someone to hang with you but incase you fail to notice, I'm busy. I need to finish this patch of code as soon as I can, so can you please leave Crash?" She said before returning back to her bed and resuming her work but a hand was placed on her laptop. She looked up to see Crash shaking his head, as he was saying, You need to take a break, you've been working on that laptop all damn morning. But Coco just gave him a head shake of her own.

"Crash, I really need to finish this." Coco said as he snatched the laptop off him. Crash gave a determined look, No, I think you done enough work. Then he put his hand back on the Laptop. This made Coco Cross. "Crash. Let. Me. Finish. It." She growled. She tried to yank her laptop away from him but Crash just kept a firm hand on it. "Crash. Let. Go" She was really starting to get annoyed with him but Crash just shake his head. Then a tug of war ensued, Coco would pulled the computer towards her before Crash pulled it towards him, Coco pulled hard and Crash pulled harder then the unthinkable happened. With one massive pull, Crash pulled the laptop out of his sister's grasp, only to stumble and fall onto the ground and the laptop went flying out of Crash's hand and into the air. It felt like time was slowed as the laptop spun out of control and made a big thud as it hit the ground below. Coco jumped and flew over to the computer and quickly open it, relief, there was no damage at all, but the whole episode made very angry. She slowly turned towards Crash with narrow eyes, ready to explode as she approaches him. Crash started walking back, looking very nervous. He didn't mean to toss the laptop but judging by his sister's eyes, sorry wasn't gonna cut it this time.

"Crash, why must you always… BE LIKE THIS?!" She stared to scream at the top of her lungs. Crash has never heard Coco shout, it scared him. "CAN ANYTHING CLICK IN THAT STUPID HEAD OF YOURS?! I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE SO I CAN FINISH THIS BUT YOU! YOU! GAHHHHHH!" Crash cowered in fear as Coco stood over him, with the anger that Crash has never seen from her ever. "WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?! HOW DID CORTEX MESS YOU UP?! HERE'S A IDEA THAT EVEN YOUR BRAIN CAN WORK IT OUT! HOW ABOUT YOU BE THE DUMB, PATHETIC BROTHER YOU ARE AND GET OUT?!" Crash's eyes widened. His sister called him pathetic, that word stung him hard, he only wanted to looked out for her because she was always on her laptop all the time, but that wasn't good enough for her, it made him feel sad. Coco started to calm down from her outburst, feeling quite good but then it quickly dawned on her. She saw her brother looking so heartbroken. She realised what she said to him, the memories were flooding back like a tidal wave, she didn't mean to snapped at him like it.

"C-Crash, I didn't mean-." The door flew opened. It was Crunch, looking stunned, having heard the outburst from downstairs. Coco tried to speak but no words came out. He walked over to Crash, who was on the verse of crying and put an arm around him then he looks at Coco very crossed.

"How dare you." He muttered. "Come on Crash, I see that we are not wanted. Let's leave miss spoiled brat to her 'work'." Coco watched both boys exit the room, then Crunch grab the handle and slaming the door shut, leaving her all alone in her room. Coco looked down at the floor, at the very thing that started this outburst. Tears forming in her eyes, she couldn't believe she said those things to her brother. The same brother that will move heaven and earth to protect her, someone that loved her, someone that cared for her, someone that will do anything for her. Coco laid back on her bed and started to cry softly, remembering the excat same things she said to him. Pathetic…. Dumb…. Click in that stupid head of hers….. It made her cried even more, wishing she can take it all back. She stayed in the bed, crying, she couldn't stop crying, not with the one thought that contined to plague her mind.

What have I done?

…..

Coco slowly started to stir, slowly opened her eyes. She felt a little sleepy but she wasn't tired. She doesn't even remember falling asleep at all. She got out of bed and began to look around, she then look outside and immediately noticed something was off. The sky was red, which meant it was early evening but it wasn't the normal sort of sunset she was used to, it was a darkish blood red with lighting crackling in the sky. She opened her bedroom door and began to walk outside. The hallway was burnt out, things were smashed on the floor, something's wrong, she thought.

"Crash?" She called out, no answer. "Crunch?" Still no sound. She walked downstairs, avoiding the broken glass spawned across the floor. The whole living room was a complete mess. The fireplace was covered in bricks and a section of the roof was caved in. Coco looked around in shock, wht didn't she hear anything? And where was her brothers? Did they go after the person that did this? Did they know their house was destroyed? She decided to call on the one who had some clue as to what was going on.

"Aku Aku." She waited for a few seconds to see but he didn't arrived. She called him again. "Aku Aku!" Still nothing. That's weird. He always comes whenever we calls his name. Coco started to feel quite scared but she wouldn't let it get the best of her, right now she had to brave. She needed to go outside, see it for herself. When she did leave the house, the very next thing shocked her to her very core. The Wumpa Islands look like a warzone. The forests were on fire, smoke was rising from the nearby villages down below, once were vibrant now reduce to ruin. The volcanos were erupting, spraying lava and hot molten rock all over the Island. Bodies also spread across the front of the house, but she couldn't see Crash, Crunch or Aka Aku anywhere, then she looked out into the distance, something was sticking out of the ground. She moves closer to the object, the it hit her. Her eyes widened, it was a mask, and she realised who it was. She ran to the spot and started to dig furiously, pulling the broken mask out of the ground.

"Aku Aku?" She said with fear in her voice. The mask started coughing and sputtering out the dirt out of its mouth, eyes widing at the young girl.

"Coco?" Aku Aku asked. "You're alive?"

"Y-yes, of course I am." She answered. "Oh Aku Aku, what happened?" Aku Aku looked surprised.

"You don't know?" She shakes her head. "It… It was Cortex." Coco stood there Stunned.

"Cortex's back? How? Did he do all of this?"

"Yes child. I didn't see it coming. The colour of the sky started to change, I knew this was Cortex's doing. We were set upon by Cortex's lab assistants and minions." Aku Aku coughed again, finding it really hard to speak. "We-we took quick care of the assistants, then set about taking out Cortex's minions, but they keep coming, then my evil twin arrived, I attacked him, but I heard…. A scream…"

"AKU AKU! W-What's happening to you? Come on, you gotta help me here!" She was now on the verge of tears. She was scared now.

"I'm dying, my child. 'Cough, wheeze' I heard…"

"Heard what?"

"….your brother." Her eyes widened. Oh no, Crash. She quickly looked around but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I turned to him. He was quickly being overwhelmed, I had to help him but as soon I turned my back to Uka Uka, he hit me. I slammed into the ground, and he kept kn hitting me, I had use all of my power to protect myself, but I grew weak…. My energy was depleting… I wasn't strong enough to hold on. That's when I black out. When I came to, I was buried deep into the ground, I don't know what has happened to your brothers."

"Then why didn't you guys wake me up?! I was asleep, I could've help."

"Y-you d-did….. Some gothic looking girl with metal hands arrived, starting attacking the animals, you went after her….." Coco was confused, She doesn't remember any of this but Aku Aku can seem to remember this as clear as day. Then another voice boom, only this shivers down her spine.

"Ahhhh, look who's decided to wake up." It growled.

"Uku Uka…" Aku Aku muttered weakly.

"So he still lives. Tell me brother, have you had a chance to look at your precious Islands? Or does the smoke or the smell of the dead bodies give it away?"

"You… You monster! What have you done?"

"Very simple, brother. While you were asleep, me and my minions gave the Island a little bit of…. Chaos. Do you like it? I always wanted the sky to look dark, but I guess red will have to do."

"WHERE'S CRASH?!" Coco shouted, holding back the tears. The evil mask just chuckled.

"So one still alive eh?….. CORTEX!" He roared then the evil scientist came into view. He was wearing his lab coat but he was wearing a robe and a crown above his head. "YOU TOLD ME THE CHILD WAS DEAD!"

"Nina!" Cortex shouted. " You told me you killed the female bandicoot." The gothic girl came out from behind her uncle and started looking at Coco in shock.

"Uncle, I did, she was dead! I saw her!" She pleaded.

"No biggie, this can be fixed easily, though I will have to punish you later."

"Yes, Uncle."

"Where's Crash?!" Coco screamed.

"Ahh yes, your brother. My assistants happened to pick up a stray bandicoot that look just like him… Yes, I believe that was your brother."

"WHERE IS HE?!" Cortex lets out a chuckle.

"Oh Crash!" He asnwered in a high pitch, mocking Coco. "Come over here. Someone wants to see you." Crash walk to the front of the group. Coco went as white as a ghost, this couldn't be Crash. He had sharp teeth, long claws, green eyes with red pupils, spines sticking out of his back with his feet and unkempt toenails ripping through the soles of his sneakers. His skin was much darker, red fur color than his normal bright orange, his arms are also much longer, his upper arms wasn much more bulkier than normal, and his hair was less spiky. Coco slowly got up and started wondering over to him.

"Crash?" She sqeaked out.

"Hello sister." He spoke.

"What? Y-You can talk?"

"That will be thanks to the new voice box I fitted on him." Cortex interrupted. "Do you like your new and improved brother?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

"Settle down, sister." Crash answered. "Dr Cortex….. saved me."

"Of course I did, my boy." Cortex said as he patted Crash on the head. "Thanks to the brillance of my friend, Dr , and the assistance of the great, mighty Uka Uka, I was able to use the evolvo-ray to 'save' Crash from his sad, sad life that was thrusted on him. Basically, I turned him into the very thing that he was supposed to be in the firdt place, my first in command, the leader of my powerful, MUTANT ARMY!"

"CRASH! Don't listen to him!" She shouted.

"Oh but I think it's a little too late for that, little sister". Said Crash. "After Cortex saved me, he showed me what plans he had in mind for this miserable planet. I have to say, I agreed with everything he said."

"But crash-

"BUT CRASH NOTHING!" He roared, scaring the life out of Coco. "Right noe, I'm getting sick and tired of your whiny, little voice!"

"Ah, it seems to me that Crash has morphed perfectly into our way of thinking, but I'm still a little concern about him." Uka Uka spoked up.

"What's the matter, Oh great mighty Uka Uka?" Cortex asked.

"You say he's a leader he must be able to show the way. You see, for Crash to be an natural killer, he must be able to kill everyone and everything, no matter what it is, no matter who it is. To make sure that the transformation was successful, let's test him out, and I see no better test subject than that pathetic little thing that he called his sister."

"W-What?..." Coco sputtered out, fear clearing laced in her voice. 'C-Crash, You wouldn't….."

Of course, Uka Uka." Cortex spoke with an evil grin on his face. "Crash, I have your first misson….."

"Coco." Aku Aku whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "Listen to me, I going to die very soon….. Whatever you do,… Don't let them win…. But for now… Run….. Run." His eyes shur for the last time, his brown colour slowly fading. Tears were now falling from Coco's eyes.

"Aku Aku?" She murmured softly. She couldn't believe he was gone. Someone she looked up to, someone who cared for her, now was gone, and this time, he wasn't coming back.

Ah, I sense my brother is now dead." Uka Uka chuckled. "Cortex, she is defenceless. UNLEASH HIM!"

"Crash, for your first mission, you are to kill your sister!" He ordered. Crash looked and smiled at his now scared sister, shaking her head, praying that he didn't hear what she thought Cortex said.

"It'll will be my pleasure, General." Crash said as he walked closer to Coco.

"Crash…" She didn't know what to do here, she couldn't figh her own brother, he was way too strong for her. So she did the only logical thing, she turned towards the forest behind her and ran, ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She can hear Crash coming after her, she didn't looked back, she kept running.

"Come back, little Sister." Crash taunted. "I only want to…. KILL YOU!" He roared with laughter. They both went deep inside the forest. Coco didn't know where she was going but she had to keep going. Her chance to get away came when Crash tipped over an fallen tree branch, Coco quickly jumped into the bush to hide away from her brother. She held her breath as Crash ran pash the brush, not realising that she was there. Coco waited until Crash was out of view before coming out of her hiding place. She took a moment to compose herself before sitting herself down on the ground and hloding her legs up to her chest and sobbing softly. She was starting to wish this was a dream that she can wake up from but this was no dream, this was all real and right now she can do nothing about it. She cried until she can cry no more, she had atleast do something to stop this. Cortex. If she can find a way to stop him, maybe she might be able to reverse the effects of what's happened here. It was a long shot, especially without Aka Aku, being able to help her but she had no other options, she had to try. She slowly made her way to her feet but as soon as she stood, she was quickly knocked back to the ground and pinned there. Coco started crying again, he found her.

"Crash?! How did you find me?!"

"It was very simple." Crash answered. "Even though I lost you, I knew you couldn't got far. So all I did was re-traced my steps, hid myself amongst the trees, and simply waited for you to come out of hiding. I did learn from the best." He held Coco down, just hard enough to make sure she couldn't escape.

"Crash, whatever Cortex did to you, you got to fight it, you can't do it."

"Christ, you just don't get it, do you? It's too late to save me but it's never too late to bring up old wounds. Ohh, I can't forget that you called me pathetic, you made me feel useless. Well, the tide has changed, looks who's pathetic now!" The memories of the argument came flooding back to her. She wished she can take all of it back. If she wasn't so worried about the laptop, then now of this wouldn't never happened at all.

"C-Crash. I'm so sorry." Coco said through the tears. "I-I didn't mean to say that. I wasn't thinking. Please Crash, forgive me."

"It's now too late for apologizes, little sis." Crash said. "It's time for blood, I hope you have enjoyed your life on this planet, it's now time to die." His mouth slowly approaches her neck. Coco tried desperately to wiggle away but she wasn't going anyehere. She was gone.

"No. Crash, Please! Please, CRASH! NO!" Crash puts his mouth around her neck and starts to bite down hard on the flesh. He saviours the taste of the blood that came out as Coco lets out a blood curling scream.

…

"NO! STOP! IT HURTS! PLEASE!" She screamed from the top of her lungs, she was being ripped to shreds. Her eyes were shut the whole time, she was praying for it to end. She opened her eyes, she saw Crash looking straight at her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Coco quickly scooted away from him, but she hit her head on the bed as she did so. Wait? When did she get back in her bed? She quickly looked around, she was back in her room but it wasn't trashed, it was the same as she left it before she had the argument with Crash. The sky was a litlle brighter, indicating that it was the early afternoon but it was blue, Coco was very confused. One minute, she was being eaten alive. Next, she's back in the comfort of her own bedroom. She then looked at her own brothers, looking very concerned for her.

"What's going on?"

"By the looks of it, you were having a nightmare, and a bad one at that." Crunch said. "When we heard you scream, we both came up straight away."

"B-But… What I saw…."

"Whatever you saw, or heard, it wasn't real." Crunch spoke softly. Coco saw Crash come up to her, putting an arm around her. She quickly engulfed him in a hug and sobbed softly. Crash was surprised by this.

"Oh Crash." She sobbed. "I'm sorry I call you pathetic. I didn't mean to. You're the best brother in the world and no silly argument will change it." Crash was now utterly confused. He shrug his shoulders as to say, what are you talking about?

"You know, we argue that I didn't have any fun, at all?" Coco quizzed. Crash looks at Crunch confused.

"Do you remember the argument this morning?"

"What argument?" Crunch asked. "You were asleep all morning, Crash was with Aku Aku. It was all in your head…"

"Aku Aku?" Coco piped up. "Where is he?"

"He is in the front, meditating." And just as that, Coco was out of the room in a flash, sprinting out of the house and quickly found him near the forest with his eyes closed. She approach him quietly as not to disturb him.

"Hello, Coco." Aku Aku spoke with his eyes still shut. How did he know she was there. Then again, he always know. "Nice to see you get out of bed now, you were up all night working on the computer."

"I was?" Coco said.

"Of course, child. I was the one that put you to bed after you fell asleep. But something tells me, you're not here to talk about something tech wise.."

"Yes, I had the worst dream ever but it felt so real." She said, looking at the ground as she spoke. She didn't dare to think about it.

"I'll see. Well, go on child, tell me more about this dream of yours." And Coco went telling him about the dream she had, well, nightmare she did. Aku Aku listened intently, hearing every word she spoke. When she finished, it was silent.

"My, My. This is one dream. May I say, was this brought about the fear of Cortex returning?"

"Yes." Coco answered. "I know we beat him and we haven't seen him in three years but I just get the feeling that he is out there somewhere."

"I get the same feeling, child. I always fear Cortex will return and I believe he will but I don't fear it for a second."

"Do you think he'll return?" she asked. He went silent for a few minutes, pondering the quesrion in front of him.

"I believe, he'll be back one day, and when that day arrives, we'll be ready for whatever he throws at us, but for now, we should go and enjoy ourselves. Coco, do not fear the fact that Cortex will return, My advice? Enjoy the peace while we still can, take in the sights of nature." As he says that, Crash comes flying past him, heading towards the beach with a shoe in his mouth.

"There goes Crash." He said. "I'll better go and keep a eye on him." And with that, he took off, leaving Coco alone with her thought. Aku Aku was right, she shouldn't think about whenever or not Cortex will return, she should worried about having fun. Then a butterfly came into view. Coco tried to catch it but it managed to slipped. Coco wasn't going to let this little fella get away.

"I'm gonna get ya." She teased. "Come here….." The just as she was about to catch it, she was hit by a green laser and she felled straight to the ground. Coco's mind was moving but the resr of her body couldn't. Oh no, I'm paralysed." Her mind was racing then she copped the biggest shock if them all.

Sleep, my insipid angel

(Author's note: Done and done, we all know what happens next. Thank you guys for reading my first Crash Bandicoot story, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I have started work on my next Crash Bandicoot one shot but I don't know when it is coming out. Thank you guys again and as I always say, until next time, Kizzard245 out!)