Crash Bandicoot

Chapter 7: Bullets and Guns

During Crash and Aku Aku's trek, they were stopped yet again by the hooded figure. "You again?" the mask groaned.

"Now, that's quite rude," the figure sneered. "I thought you had learned your manners long ago. You may refer to me as Lyra from now on."

Lyra? Aku Aku wondered. Why does that name sound so familiar?

"If you believe I am here to harm you, you are mistaken," Lyra continued. "I have only come to give you a warning. Crash, that girlfriend of yours has been tortured in ways I do not dare describe. You must rescue her before Cortex does more harm to her."

"Why are you telling us this?" Aku Aku asked. "Aren't you supposed to be our enemy?"

"Yes and no. I am currently working for Cortex, but as I have stated before, he is not aware that it is all just a facade. In the end, he will be defeated and my goal will be achieved."

"And what is this 'goal' of yours, besides destroying this dimension?"

"Oh, I have my own personal goal that even my leader, my true leader, is not aware of. After I take Cortex's life...Natalie's will be next."

"Natalie? I'm not sure I know who that is."

"Good. She is more of a nuisance than anything. She is attempting to stop Cortex as well, but her efforts will be futile. Anyway, that is all I have to tell you for now. Just reach Cortex Castle before it is too late, bandicoot."

With that, Lyra disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Crash and Aku Aku were both perplexed. Who exactly was Natalie? They decided not to think too much about it as they went on their way.

After a while, Crash finally decided to ask Aku Aku if he had met Lyra before. The mask halted, causing Crash to do so as well and turn to his guardian. Aku Aku was not responding. He just remained silent, unsure of how to answer the young bandicoot's question.

Finally, he looked at Crash again and said, "I am not sure, young one. She seemed familiar, but I haven't the slightest clue as to why that would be. But enough of that. The closer we get to Cortex Castle, the closer we get to rescuing Tawna."

Crash nodded in agreement. There was no telling what had already been done to her, and Lyra wouldn't reveal many details. Whatever the case, he wanted to save his girlfriend as soon as possible, so he did the only thing he could do: he progressed further through the island, Aku Aku by his side.

Crash began to feel peculiar. He fell onto his knees as he held his head, which was in excruciating pain. He wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. On top of that, he suddenly had great difficulty moving his lips begin with. He could barely even blink. The only thing he could do was slowly turn his head so that he could look at Aku Aku. The mask's mouth was moving up and down, indicating he was saying something, but Crash could not understand him. His ears began to ring and his heart beat rapidly as his anxiety slowly built up. What was going on?

"Crash!" Aku Aku yelled. "Crash! What's wrong?"

But the bandicoot would not respond. He wasn't even looking at the mask by that point. Rather, he was looking past him. Aku Aku turned around to see what the bandicoot was staring at. An unknown individual was slowly walking toward the two. Before Aku Aku could think, he passed out. Unfortunately, the same could be said for Crash.

The figure eventually stopped in front of Crash. Smirking, he said, "Now you're all mine..."

***

Hours. Hours had passed since that poor bandicoot had been knocked out. He opened his eyes, slowly blinking until his vision became normal. He stood up and took a good look around, taking in his surroundings. He was in a building of some sort, but he did not recognize it.

"It's about time youse woke up."

Crash looked to the side, trying to find the source of the voice. Said voice came from a mutated potoroo, whom of which was wearing a pinstripe suit. The mutant was wielding a Tommy gun while staring at the bandicoot evilly.

"The name's Don Pinstripelli Potorotti," the mutant introduced, "but youse can just call me Pinstripe. I've heard a great deal about you...Crash Bandicoot."

Works for Cortex, I bet, Crash thought as he got on the offensive.

"Tawna belongs to me," Pinstripe continued. "That adorable little bandicoot doesn't care about you anymore. Youse took too long to rescue her."

Crash stared down at the floor. His girlfriend...did not care about him anymore? No, that couldn't be true. Still...oh, this was all his fault!

Noticing Crash's sunken expression as he looked back up, Pinstripe couldn't help but chuckle. The bandicoot was as gullible as they come. The idiot actually believed him?

"But that ain't important," said the potoroo. "For now...SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"

Pinstripe laughed hysterically as he began to shoot rounds at Crash, who quickly spun to the side in order to dodge the oncoming bullets. He hid behind a piece of furniture, which surprisingly worked as an effective shield.

Every now and then, Pinstripe's gun would jam up and he had to fix it. Crash eventually saw that as an opportunity. While Pinstripe was busy with his firearm, Crash spun into him, dealing a bit of damage to the potoroo.

"Youse gonna pay for that!" the mutant snarled.

One shot, and that bandicoot was toast. As that thought swam through Pinstripe's mind, another bullet was fired toward Crash, but he ducked just in time. The furious Pinstripe tried to fire his gun again, but it had become jammed once more. Noticing that, Crash spun into him again, knocking him out in the process. Several bullets were fired throughout the room, causing the power in the vicinity to go out.

Crash looked around for Aku Aku, but he did not want to stay in that room longer than he had to, so he searched elsewhere for his guardian.

Everywhere he looked, he could not seem to find the mask. Hopefully he was safe...