Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 1: Because of Love

"A Friendship Across Lifetimes": Commissioned for by 8-Bit-Britt

HE woke up on a beach after drifting ashore. He looked up, shook some of the sand clinging to his wet fur, and gazed at the sun rise above the horizon. For the first time in his life, he was free, and for the first time didn't know what to do. To his left lay the reason why he escaped, the love he had never said a word to.

He now wondered several things about himself: how old was he, why does he look the way he does, what was his purpose beside the one given to him, and most importantly, what was he supposed to do now? On his neck lay a brown collar with a white box attached to it which somewhat covered a scar on his neck. His broken, slow, and high pitched voice was a result of a defect in his "creation". His broken speech made it very difficult to express his opinions or feelings; a barrier to those closest to him. Most of what could be considered communication from himself consisted of grunts and gestures, which made him an introvert. His thoughts were kept to himself and he rarely ever spoke with or without the thing on his neck. His former purpose in life was to be a general of an army of various mutated animals. This role was assigned to him by his creator, Dr. Neo Cortex. A machine called the Evolve-O Ray transformed his body from a frail quadruped marsupial and reform it into the image of his creator. Afterwards, a separate machine denoted as the Cortex Vortex shaped his mind from its primitive condition to a more developed and intelligent adaptation, closely modeled after the mind of his molder.

There were two "bandicoots" that were held in captivity among a large variety of animals and were mutated upon by Cortex, Subject C1 was the first and a female named Subject C2 was the second. The female's sole purpose was to be a breeding partner to Subject C1 so that further capturing and mutations to subsequent "bandicoots" would not be necessary. However, it was "her" that caused "him" to betray Cortex and become Cortex's nemeses; his love for her was greater than his loyalty to his father. Like any good parents, Cortex and his assistant Nitrous Brio taught C1 how to walk, how to read and how to write. As far as C1's dictation was concerned, that problem was solved by a Speech Assistance Device that he wore as a collar, which received signals from an microchip surgically implanted onto his frontal lobe, which transmits instructions from the apparatus to the SAD on his neck to produce speech for him. Cortex then proceeded to teach his general of the art of war. He became acquainted with several of the other mutated creatures housed within Cortex's fortress ranging from robust koala's, bulging Tiger's, hybrids of several animals, along with some of the rejected experiments yet to be euthanized. It wasn't until C1 saw the other bandicoot for the first time that the influence of his creators began to crack.

All of what C1 knew was what he was taught, but seeing C2 changed this, he felt love for the first time, though at the time he didn't know what this strange feeling was or how to approach it. Their time together never exceeded quick glances or eye contact, but the impression she left on him was so salient in his mind that it dominated his thoughts. One day, C1 overhead Cortex giving one of his lab assistants the go ahead to administer a lethal injection to Subject C2 since "the operation was a failure." Without hesitation, C1 broke stride with N Brio and sprinted toward Cortex and an assistant in a bright lab coat. Before Cortex could understand what C1 was doing, C1 vaulted past him and proceeded to the lower floor. Cortex then ordered all within the area to apprehend Subject C1 immediately. He considered stopping and surrendering, but continued towards C2's holding cell, determined to reach her. When he arrived, he saw that she was strapped down on an operating table with surgical equipment spread around. He unstrapped her from the table and helped her to her feet. C2 had just awakened from sedation and was a little groggy. C1 continued to drag her forward towards the hallway and locate an exit. Cortex appeared at the staircase to the left still not sure what his general was doing. "Subject C1!" Cortex exclaimed to his loyal minion across the hallway, "Stop where you are!" C1 had never contemplated disobeying an order from Cortex before. He hesitated upon hearing Cortex's demand, but proceeded to run in the opposite direction, determined to prevent C2's execution.

"C1, what are you doing?" C2 mumbled, still coming to from the surgery she had earlier. Focusing on finding the fastest path to the ground floor while avoiding capture, C1 ignored her question, instead noticing a window to their right. This didn't really matter until several henchmen appeared at the end of the hall he and C2 was hurrying through. C2 then shrieked and collapsed to the floor. She was stunned by Cortex via his sidearm pistol, but C1 didn't know this at the time. Anger suddenly consumed him at the thought of losing this girl he barely knew. However, it was still important that he vacate Cortex's castle before he suffered the same fate as C2. He noticed that she was still breathing, and decided that they both needed to get as far away from here as possible.

"C1, do not move" Cortex said. C1 slowly picked up C2 and held her in his arms. It was at this point that Cortex finally realized what C1 was doing. "Listen, put down Subject C2 and stand your ground. If you value her life, you will listen to me." Doubt was creeping into C1's mind, he froze and Cortex and his henchman began to approach C1 and C2 from both directions. Suddenly, C1 turned around and kicked through the glass window behind him. He looked down and saw only a rough and turbulent ocean plus a vicious thunderstorm. He turned around and saw Cortex's pistol aimed at him.

C1 did not have any malice feelings towards Cortex, although Cortex certainly loathed him. After their escape from Cortex's castle, C1 and C2 were perused by Cortex and his forces. The archipelago that was N Sanity Island contained three islands, one inhabited by a group of local tribesman, one abandoned by whomever lived there previously and littered with the ruins of what was a great civilization, and the third similar to the second, yet now houses Cortex's base of operations. C1 and C2 tried to hide on the first island. They gave each other names and tried to live peacefully without drawing attention from the locals or being spotted by Cortex. C2 named C1 "Crash" because of the way he broke through a nine story high window and jumped out with her still in his arms. Because Crash didn't speak, and did not like using his SAD, He came up with C2's name much later. He named his love after the local's word for the color blond.

But for right now, Crash enjoyed Tawana's company on their beach together. And eventually, Crash would find his purpose. It just took several lifetimes to find it.