CBNS ch.17

“N…no way…” whispered Crash devastated as a big heart behind him broke in half.

Then the paper responsible for Crash sorrow feel near of Pinstripe’s feet, who picked it up just to see what astonished the human bandicoot a lot.

“Please, it’s not like you haven’t see accounting for the first time” replied the factory head slightly surprised by his reaction and began to read the sheet. Not knowing that its content was truly astonishing enough that he carelessly let his cigarette fell from his mouth the moment he read the first lines.

“If you’re reading this Pinstripe, that means you finally checked that broken cabinet of your desk that never bothered to repair…you sure are stingy despite having millions earned with the factory. Anyway, the reason I wrote this was not to criticize you, but to thank you. I was deeply touched by how, in your very sarcastic manner, took me in that night in the castle. At first, I was still reluctant and a little scared about your real intentions, but you showed me how gentle you really are…”

At that moment, Pinstripe stopped reading and remembered those times he actually showed his soft side to her, and only her.

The first night was a very cold one, and the human potoroo had to work till late again signing documents. Tawna, on the other hand, was trying to sleep on a red couch in the office, but just couldn’t because of the cold. Pinstripe noticed her continuous shivering, but tried to focus on his work. However, after a couple of minutes of guiltiness, he gave up and tucked her with the red jacket of his tuxedo suit.

The next morning, Tawna was the first to awaken, and when she noticed that she had Pinstripe’s jacket in her possession after he deliberately gave it to her, she decided to repay him the same way he did for her. Of course, later that day, the factory head just pretended that nothing had happened between the two.

There was also another time in which Tawna, picky as ever, didn’t want to eat anything from the vending machines and Pinstripe wasn’t planning to take her to a fine restaurant just to please her. Work was first for him. But again, he felt that same guiltiness from before. Whether it was a strange sickness he was experiencing or Tawna’s beauty was getting the best of him, he decided to make something for her.

One day, almost at night, when Tawna returned to the office from her little walk through the factory (since she couldn’t leave and risk herself to get capture by Cortex or his henchmen) she got surprised when she noticed that Pinstripe wasn’t working there as usual. Instead, there was just a silver tray filled with many different wumpa fruit based dishes and a glass of wumpa juice. Almost like it was a dinner made for someone.

A warm smile came to Tawna’s face as she made her way to the desk in order to eat that delicious food obviously left on purpose by someone. Hours later, when Pinstripe returned, the female bandicoot thanked him for the meal, yet the human potoroo, slightly angry, stated that was his food and not hers.

However, Tawna's observation was on point. That dinner was indeed made for her after Pinstripe ordered his loyal henchmen to look for those blissful wumpa fruits and prepare them in a very elegant way. Still, he needed to keep that in secret so that she didn’t get the idea that she could order them to do what she pleases. Only he could do it.

“I know you need to keep showing your evil personality all the time so that Cortex doesn’t suspect and takes the factory away from you. But if by any chance you have a little free time, I would like to know you further and meet that elegant gentleman hidden behind that ruthless factory CEO. Think about it! And don’t worry. I’ll wait patiently for your answer”.
                                                                                      Love
                                                                                    Tawna Bandicoot

After he finished reading the paper, Pinstripe was completely speechless. All this time he believed that Tawna was faithful towards him because of the threats he made. When in reality, she didn’t want to leave his side and was even planning to form a relationship with him. He sure screwed things up when he yelled and pointed at her with his tommy gun hours ago.

Crash on the other hand was heartbroken. All this time he promised and even ventured to unimaginable dangers just to save his bandicoot girlfriend and now she was in love with someone else, and a villain in fact! He couldn’t conceive this. His sorrow was so big that he fell on his knees over the floor.

For the first time, Spyro’s face showed pity and concern for the human bandicoot. Before getting to Pinstripe, Coco had told him everything about them. How they were just ordinary bandicoots and some crazy doctor turned them into humans in order to conquer the world, and that they were planning to save this friend of theirs, who they thought was in danger; while also collecting the power crystals on the way.

The human dragon didn’t have the chance to confess his love towards a female, but he knew what it was like to feel that you probably will never get the chance to spend more time together with that important person for you. Before this dramatic situation could continue, it was abruptly interrupted by two people who stormed into the office desperately.

“Boss we have troubles! Big troubles!” exclaimed a gunslinger henchman with bruises over his face, obviously caused by our heroes. His cry called the attention of Crash, Spyro and Pinstripe

“A group of scientists just left the factory with lady Tawna and some of the brats you ordered us to kill!” exclaimed a toxicdrum thrower henchman hurt as well.

“What!” cried Pinstripe shocked.

“Coco…” whispered Crash, still sorrowful.

“Tsk” muttered Spyro between his teeth.

“We just saw them crossing the bridge! If you want, we can still catch them before they get to the castle!” said the gunslinger to his boss, who was still a little shaken by this whole situation; yet, he began to slowly stand up.

“Come on Crash! We have to rescue the others!” exclaimed the purple haired youth in order to awake his sad friend.

“Ye-Yeah…” he whispered as he stood up slowly.

“Wait” called them Pinstripe. Then the two looked at him and saw Potoroo tearing from his neck a golden chain that later threw to Crash, who almost let it fall. When the confused human bandicoot opened his hands, he saw that attached to the chain was the golden key that they needed to open the front gates of the castle.

“With that you’ll be able to enter the castle, now go!” he ordered them.

“Wait!” exclaimed Spyro before the two could leave. “Why are you helping us now?” he asked, still unsure of his true actions. Pinstripe smiled sarcastically before giving the boys his answer.

“Let’s just say that right now her safety is my top priority as well” he simply replied, which surprised Crash a lot since he was beginning to see that good side the human potoroo has.

“Heh” chuckle Spyro. “I guess love does make people change. Let’s go!” he told to the human bandicoot and left the office quickly.

“Ye-Yeah!” he replied and followed him, leaving Pinstripe and his henchmen alone in the office.

“Are you sure about this boss?” asked the gunslinger a little worried while the factory head was tidying his office.

“If the doctor finds out we helped those guys. He will kick us out of the factory for sure” added the toxicdrum thrower a little scared.

“Don’t worry” replied the human potoroo serious. “He won’t find out, I trust Crash will do the right thing when the time comes” and he took another look to the letter written by Tawna with a guilty expression.

“Right now, they’re the only ones who can saver her” he thought quite worried for her.

“Hey…Hey…yo man! Are ya’ ok?” asked Parappa to someone who was just waking up from his unconsciousness. That person was no other than Klonoa.

“Ugh…” muttered the human cat while holding his head in pain.

“Ho! You guys finally awakened!” said Gex’s joyful voice as Croc was also waking up.

“What happened?” asked the human crocodile also with a headache.

“You tell us” questioned him Rayman worried, who was kneeled besides him.

“Coco no!” cried Aku Aku quickly awaking from his unconsciousness as well. This, of course, scared Rayman and his friends a bit.

“The-the mask!” stuttered blond nervous like his friends Parappa and Hog, while Gex was just curious about it.

“Wow! A talking mask!” he exclaimed as he grabbed Aku Aku with both hands.

“He-hey! What are you doing!” cried the witch doctor while the green haired man was surveying it thoroughly.

“Hmmmm…I can’t see neither the engines nor devices that make him talk or float in the air” he stated seriously while examining it. “You guys sure are good building high level technology! This looks like it’s a real magic mask!” he told to Croc and Klonoa, who just exchanged confused looks.

“Ummm…it is a real mask, sir” said the human Croc while sweatdropping.

“What?” asked the human gecko, faking that he failed to listen what he said.

“What he said you idiot!” yelled at him Aku Aku mad and quickly flew to where the human crocodile and cat were.

“Croc, Klonoa we have to hurry! Coco was kidnapped by some odd guys dressed in white!” said the flying mask nervous. At that moment, the black haired boy swiftly remembered everything that happened before.

Those guys appeared out of nowhere and attacked them. Despite the fierce battle the two young travelers gave to them, the Lab Assistants easily put them out of combat with their electric attacks. And now that he mentioned Coco’s kidnapping, the blonde girl along with Polar, Pura and Penta also weren’t here.

“It wasn’t just Coco Aku Aku” stated Klonoa ashamed. “I think they also have Polar, Pura, Penta and a friend of theirs”.

“Oh no…” whispered the witch doctor sad. “This will make Crash worry”.

“Aku Aku! Klonoa!” yelled a known voice by the two. When both the human cat and the flying mask turned around, they saw their friends Crash and Spyro running towards them.

“Crash! Spyro!” exclaimed the black haired boy surprised and happy like his two friends-Aku Aku and Croc-after seeing both them safe and sound.
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Minutes later, after the proper introductions and explanations were made, a very large group formed by both Crash’s and Rayman’s were making their way towards Cortex’s castle. But before they could get there, they needed to cross a very old and dangerous long bridge with wooden boards missing and some frozen ones too.

As if that wasn’t perilous enough, a thick fog was blocking their view. Not only they couldn’t see exactly how far the castle was, but they also couldn’t see below to check their steps, so they needed to be extra careful.

That being said, a very distracted member of the group failed to avoid a broken board. The moment he stepped on it, the board gave in a broke into pieces.

“Wahhhh!” yelled Crash while falling. Luckily for him, Gex grabbed his hand on time.

“Got ya!” exclaimed the green haired man as he grabbed him with his right hand and the rope of the bridge with his left one. Then he quickly put him in a safe place.

“Pant…pant…pant. Thanks” thanked him the human bandicoot breathless.

“Heh” smiled the human gecko full of himself while adjusting his sunglasses. “No problem at all” he added with a heroic tone of voice as he grabbed his chin with his fingers. In front of them, the other youths stopped their march to check if the two were alright.

“Sigh…it’s a good thing Gex is around” sighed Croc relieved.

“Yeah” nodded Klonoa reassured.

However, Spyro-who was leading the group-shot an angry glare to Crash, which he didn’t notice. He knew that the human bandicoot was still gloomy by that letter, and thus he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking; delaying the group’s march.

Rayman, who was also leading them with Spyro at his side, knew that Crash hadn’t still recovered from his former girlfriend’s rejection-after the human dragon told him about the paper-. Nonetheless, the blond wasn’t as harsh as the purple haired youth and felt pity for him.

“Guys let’s take a break” he told to his companions, who quickly got surprised. “It’s getting late and the fog is getting thicker. Let’s try to rest in that place” said Rayman while pointing an old tower right besides the bridge.

“Good idea Ray old pal!” exclaimed Gex while giving him a thumbs up, which made the blond sweatdropped like Spyro, but for embarrassment. “How does that sounds, Crash?” he asked to the distracted male bandicoot, surprising him a little.

“Oh! Oh…yeah…that would be great” he replied with a faint smile.

Minutes later, we see the whole group arranging themselves within the tower. On one side, Gex was walking from one side to the other while trying to make his remote control actually work. And in the other, Spyro was getting annoyed by the human gecko constant pacing.

“Can he really materialize things with just that?” he asked to himself with a disbelieving tone.

“Spyro!” called him Klonoa. When he turned around he saw him, Croc and Hog with dry wood on their hands. “Will be enough with these?” he asked.

“Yeah, put them there” he motioned them with his head and the youths obeyed. After they piled all the woods together, the human dragon threw a fireball to create a little bonfire.

Later, we see several shadows around the bonfire that belonged to no other than some of our heroes, who were having a merry time by chatting and telling stories about their adventures and dangers they faced.

“And there I was! Ready to face the evil threat of TV Rez himself! Bigger than ever!” exclaimed Gex with both arms in the air in order to make his story more realistic and scary.

“Woooow!” gasped both Croc and Hog in awe like Rayman's rabbid. Aku Aku and Sparx on the other hand were just listening to his story calmed.

“Ha! I can beat that story in no time!” state Klonoa proudly. “Sure you haven’t seen anyone like Ghadius. He could scare that Rez guy easily!” he joked.

“Ya’ said it K!” praised him Parappa with his fist in the air.

A little far from the lively reunion, Crash was trying to quell his feelings for Tawna, but just couldn’t. It was hard for him to understand why she would prefer Pinstripe over him. Maybe he was a bad boyfriend from the start, maybe he wasn’t that attentive or the gentleman that the female bandicoot wanted from the beginning, he wondered while recalling their moments together; when they were just ordinary bandicoots and he just spent most of his time eating and napping.

He looked up and saw the starry night sky with a gloomy face, wondering what he would do or say to her when they get to the castle. Will he hug her and tell her that everything is all right and that they could finally live together forever? No, at least Crash wasn’t feeling like doing that now.

“You’re ok?” asked a concerned voice behind him that put his hand over his shoulder. This startled him a bit.

“Woah!” he exclaimed a little shaken as he turned around, only to see Rayman smiling at him.

“Rayman?” he asked a little confused. “Why aren’t you with the others?”

“I just wanted to see if you were alright, it seems that you aren’t focused at all” he replied a little worried about him. This, of course, saddened Crash more since his friend was right; he wasn’t being cautious or desirous to save his sister and his friends.

“I’m sorry…” he apologized to him.

“Hmph” muttered another voice near of them. “If you want I can punch you to snap your mind right” stated the owner of the voice.

“Spyro!” exclaimed both Crash and Rayman surprised to see him with his arms crossed and sitting at the edge of the old building.

“What are you doing there?!” asked the blond worried that he could fall.

“Someone has to keep an eye in case that those robots try to attack us” he answered.

“A-anyway!” continued Rayman nervously. “I know you’re still depressed about what happen before, but you need to react. Right now your sister and friends are in danger and they need you”.

“Rayman…” whispered Crash a little encouraged by his words. At that moment, Spyro landed stealthy besides the two.

“You’ll know what to do the moment you see her” he told him, referring to Tawna.

“Spyro…” said the human bandicoot with that slight optimistic state. They were right, for the time being he just needed to focus on getting to the castle and save his sister and friends, the rest would be solve later on.

After hearing their words, Crash couldn’t help but to leave a small tear fell from his cheek that he quickly wiped with his orange jacket; then he looked to his friends again.

“Thanks, to both of you” he answered with a little smile.

“No problem” replied Rayman smiling while Spyro only smiled back.

“Crash! Spy! Ray! What are you doing there?! Come! You’re missing the best part of the story!” yelled Gex joyful.

“Coming!” exclaimed the human bandicoot happy and he ran to where the others were.

“What about you?” asked the blond to the human dragon, who only shrugged.

“Let’s hear what that idiot has to say” he stated sarcastically as he walked to the bonfire, followed by Rayman.

Later on, the night went very smoothly for our heroes. Gex and Klonoa cheerfully discussed their adventures in order to prove that the better one was his, while Parappa was having so much fun with them that he embraced the necks of a smiling Croc and Hog. Spyro on the other hand was leaning against a wall, hearing all those stories and laughter with a little smile on his face, and Crash and Rayman were just laughing of the whole ruckus their friends were making.


After a painful situation, our heroes decided to rest a bit before continuing their dangerous travel. What challenges will await them inside Cortex's dark castle? Will they be able to save Coco and the others in time? Find it out in the next episode

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