Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped

Chapter 16: Battle in Space

After a few more crystals had been collected, N. Gin's face appeared on the monitor as he said, "So...you want to go a few rounds? When this is over, we'll see who's obsolete!"

Before Crash could step through the portal, his sister pulled him back. "I'll go," she said, initiating the others to gasp in unison.

"Are you sure?" Isabella, who seemed the most distressed, asked.

Coco nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll be back before you know it."

As the female bandicoot proceeded toward the battle, Pura couldn't help but whine. Polar noticed such and nuzzled the other animal to comfort him, but it didn't help. Neither of them could deny that they felt equally as worried about the bandicoot's safety.

***

Coco was piloting a pink spaceship, while N. Gin was piloting a seemingly upgraded version of his mech. The scientist shouted, "Prepare to be pulverized, bandicoot!"

"That's what you think!" Coco retorted.

N. Gin proceeded to launch missiles at the bandicoot from the flaps of mech's shoulders, but that only made the machine vulnerable. Coco managed to shoot the flaps, but they constantly closed before opening again. That continued until Coco was able to destroy tnem completely, preventing the launch of any more missiles.

N. Gin resorted to firing a barrage of red energy lasers, which came from laser guns on both hands of the mech. There was also a yellow circular core on its stomach, which Coco had to focus on as well. Her ship took a considerable amount of damage, but she managed to destroy the guns and core in time.

She cheered and gave herself a congratulatory pat on the back. What she had failed to realize was the fact that N. Gin was giving her a menacing glare. Her eyes widened in horror, but she soon calmed down once Pura arrived, piloting his own ship. Coco was more confused than anything, but she didn't think much of it as she assumed that her pet was just that intelligent.

N. Gin proceeded to launch numerous balls of energy from laser cannons that were located on either side of his new and improved mech. It also seemed to have an even larger cannon underneath that launched bombs straight at Coco, but she managed to destroy them before they could hit her ship. A barrage of missiles rained down from four missile launchers, but Coco was not able to destroy those and instead had to focus on dodging them. Noticing that the missile launchers had been left open, presumably by mistake, she shot them one by one until they were destroyed.

The mech exploded in a flurry of debris. As a result, N. Gin was launched out of it and began floating through the depths of space. "N-Not...again..." he wheezed before passing out.

"That was awesome!" Coco said. "Thanks for the help, Pura!"

She and her pet returned to the Warp Room once the portal appeared. The bandicoot was looking forward to telling her friends what had transpired. Once she did, Ami said, "That's...pretty cool."

"I know, right?"

Crash smiled at that. He was glad to know that his sister was enjoying herself, even in the most trying of circumstances. His expression soon faded, as Cortex and Uka Uka's faces were seen on the monitor.

"It's funny how history repeats itself," Cortex grumbled. "Yet again, N. Gin has failed to defeat you."

"For this, we must destroy you!" Uka Uka bellowed.

Cortex shook his head and continued his speech. "Oh, my aching head. I'm not feeling myself these days. So the end is in sight. Gather another five crystals and you will have foiled my plan. Or will you?" With a smirk, he and his master vanished.

Crash wanted to ask his sister where his next destination was, but he knew there was no time. He stepped on the next button and proceeded to jump into the portal, prepared for whatever awaited his arrival on the other side.