It was now early morning, with the sun out yet again. It was time to get back on track, both Tani and Crunch had finally woken "I haven't had such a comfortable sleep in so long!" Crunch said "Same here... it was starting to get rather lonely at home. I'm glad I got the opportunity to come" replied Tani, they both got up "Oh and I almost forgot, I brought along some more clothing for you! The ones you had on really worn out and ripped, heh " Tani said and giggled, "Oh yeah, thanks Tani! I'll get into those". A while later, soon after the pair had breakfast, and Crunch looked out the window. He sighed "Oh man. I have to go to the next country to get Wa-wa... I'd rather stay with you but, you know the story..." Crunch told Tani, "I'd love to come with you but... I'm still not in condition for fighting and... adventuring. Even though my leg is healed... umm yeah..." Tani told Crunch nervously, Crunch looked a bit worried "Is something wrong Tani?" "Oh nah I'm fine. Really! I just think it's best if I just go back home anyways... I don't think I'm fit for this adventure this time..." Tani told him, Crunch was still worried about Tani "Well ok... if you say so. But it was really good to see you again before I take on Crimzon... and thanks for the help" "Hey you're welcome! Of course I'd come to help, You know I can't last too long without you around..." Tani said, and both cuddled up to each other to nuzzle... Tani sighed "I think we should go right now then... humans might come to check on the cabin soon!" "Yeah you're right!" Crunch replied.

The pair went outside, Tani leaded the way back to the portal, which would take her back home to X.Treme island... Tani looked at the portal and then back at Crunch "I guess this is goodbye for now..." she said, Crunch looked at her "Yes... but don't worry, It shouldn't be too long before I finally get this over and done with... I'll be home with you again, I promise" Crunch told her, Tani sighed and gave Crunch one last hug. Crunch hugged her tightly as well, "Please take care..." "Don't worry Tani, I'll return..." both partners nuzzled again before separating, Tani went into the portal and waved to Crunch before disappearing, Crunch waved back and the portal closed before his eyes... he thought "Sigh, well it's time to move on now guys... Lo-lo. Looks like I'll need to use your power to get to this country" Lo-lo replied "Oh yes go ahead but try not to stay at a steady speed... because going too fast will use up your power, heh heh!" "Alright got that. The next country is a place just near the top of Mexico... will it take long to get there from here?" Crunch asked, Lo-lo thought for a bit "Well that should take you around four to five hours" "what? hmm well it's better than walking... well, let's get a move on!" Crunch quickly transformed into the electrically charged Storm elemental form, leapt up high and soared off in the direction the device lead him to.

He had been flying for hours, and just passed the Grand Canyon not too long ago... he was over a large deserted desert, the device indicated that Coco and Crash were not far, Crunch decided to land down to the ground. He was standing out in a desert, with only cactuses and large boulders around, he followed the device and was getting closer as he walked "Hey Crunch, where are you now?" Rok-ko asked him "Not far, soon we should have Wa-wa on our side then... it'll finally be time to put an end to all this madness." "Eww Wa-wa. Come on Crunch, us three are more than enough to take on that lady" Py-ro said, "We can't take any risks! Well I admit I don't even know how powerful Crimzon is, but I think we should rescue Wa-wa either way" replied Crunch, soon he saw a small building in the distance and also saw a small spaceship. It was Coco's spaceship. "Hey there they are!" Crunch thought, he ran towards their spaceship and soon Crash and Coco noticed "Hey Crash look, Crunch finally made it!" both the bandicoot siblings came out to greet Crunch "Sorry I took a while! But thank you both for bringing Tani along. It was really nice to catch up with a good friend..." Crunch told them "Aww you're welcome! We knew you'd be missing your 'friend' she was missing you too! But yeah, me and Crash have been trying to get inside.. but it's not going to be as easily as you think!" Coco explained, "Hmm why not? I'll just break the entrance open and I can just go in and get Wa-wa out of there" "Well the doorway seems to be very VERY thick, and the place is guarded by Crimzon Demoness's dark forces! Me and Crash had to fight off some when we arrived. Some are easy, but some are quite a challenge. They're just dark magic, so once beaten they disappear..." Coco said again, Crunch thought for a moment "Let's go and check it out anyway, I'm sure we can figure out a way in!" replied Crunch, the three bandicoots headed downstairs through the small entrance. They arrived in front of a heavily sealed door, Crunch examined it "Darn it! yeah it's a bit too tough for me to smash up. Hey wait, look there's a pipe!" Crunch pointed at a pipe that seemed to have leaded into the room through the wall, the problem was... was that it was sealed at the end of it, Crunch swiped it with his metal fist and it broke off rather easily, Coco smiled "Hey that's a good idea! Good thinking Bro! Crash, you're small enough to crawl through there... try and find some kind of switch to open this door, so Crunch can come in!" Coco asked Crash, Crash seemed a bit unsure about the idea but nodded in agreement "Ok, go on it brother! But please be careful! It might be confusing in there with many buttons, and not to mention GUARDS!" "Hey don't worry Coco, if he can save the world countless times from Cortex... this shouldn't be a problem to him!" said Crunch, Crash stood up straight and did a thumbs up "Good luck!" then Crash jumped inside the pipe and crawled as far as it took him.

Crash was now inside, he saw a way inside and fell through... he was inside a rather dark building with faint lights around, and quickly spotted some switches. He smiled and eagerly approached them. There was a red, white and blue button. He wasn't sure which one to choose, he presses the blue one... and another door to the left opened. He shrugged and went through the new door. He yet again approached more buttons, Crash scratched his head. He hoped he'll choose the right one this time, to finally let in Crunch. He then pressed the white button.... then the sound of rushing water came! Crash's ears flicked up and he started to panic "WHOA!" he saw water coming in! He looked around him and saw his only escape, another pipe up on top of some crates! He quickly climbed in and it lead him to another room. He was relieved to get away from the water, since he wasn't sure how to swim at all! He walked over to the same switches again. He noticed he hadn't pressed the red button yet, he wasn't that stupid though. He knew red buttons always meant trouble, and he was unsure of pressing it. He gulped anyway, and had to try it sooner or later, and then he finally pressed it... and it opened another door. nothing seemed to have happened besides that. Crash sighed in relief and headed for the door but then, some dark figures lashed out right for him, Crash screeched "EEK" and jumped back! There were two small dark creatures, that looked like normal bandicoots but were pure black with shining red eyes and looked more vicious, and a bigger bandicoot about the size of a wolf, and an anthro bilby like creature that looked similar. They were some of Crimzon's shadow guards, Crash got into a fighting position to defend himself! The two smaller creatures attempted to go and gnaw at his legs, Crash quickly moved back then did a power slide into them, making them disappear into thin air instantly, the larger bandicoot and the anthro growled and tried to come for Crash but Crash went forward and did a spin attack on both creatures, they were smacked down but both got up again Crash stayed focus and they lashed again, Crash double jumped up then came crashing down with a powerful body slam! Both creatures were beaten and disappeared. Crash was happy with his win, and moved on and then noticed another button. he seemed annoyed but looked closer and saw that it was a larger and green colored button this time, he looked at it and seemed wary... but decided to press it anyway. Then loud sounds of opening doors were heard from all around the place, Crash looked alert and then the floor from under his paws opened too! He gulped and then fell down!

But from outside, the news was good. The door had finally opened! the green button must have opened all entrances, Crunch smiled "Hey looks like Crash did it! Time for me to go on in..." "That's good! please be quick and not get into any troubles!" Coco said "Hey, don't worry... 'sis'. It might take me a while to convince Wa-wa to join. But I'll do it" said Crunch, he walked inside the building... when he got in, he saw many doors had been open, and even floors had their floors 'opened' as well, "Hmm if there's ground floors, then I'm sure Wa-wa would be locked up near the bottom floor" thought Crunch, he jumped down the first floor and looked around for the next, he saw another floor and headed down it too, but to only be greeted by some of Crimzon's shadow guards, "Man wonder how she made these... well I'll just clear them out of the way then!" Crunch then charged forward and slashed a few, some were destroyed instantly but some were just pushed back, they snarled viciously and ran to attack Crunch, one jumped at him and he slammed it down, and the other two tried to slash him back but then he kicked them both and soon the creatures disappeared. It was strange for Crunch to witness "Man. That is strange... oh well, moving on...". Crunch was now at the bottom of the underground building, and he saw Crash in the distance, rubbing his forehead "Oww" he said Crunch went over to Crash "Hey what happened to you, you alright?" Crunch asked, Crash shook his head quickly, then finally looked up at Crunch. He nodded and smiled slightly "well that's good then. Thanks for hitting the switch then! See this room here? I'm sure Wa-wa is kept inside... you wait out here, and I'll just go and have a 'little' chat with him, Crunch walked around the other side of the outside of the room, Crash waited around for Crunch to return.

Crunch found the door leading inside, he pressed the button to unlock it. It finally opened like a sliding door and he was let inside. Inside the room, there was small puddles of water, and it looked very well sealed... to keep Wa-wa locked in. Wa-wa was in the centre of the room. He stared at Crunch "You have some nerve dropping in without a request!" Wa-wa shouted at Crunch, Crunch was rather surprised with the rude welcoming ""Excuse me! I've come to rescue you from Crimzon's prison! Don't shout at me for doing you a good deed" Crunch shouted back in return, "Don't you raise your voice in front of a superior! DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY!" screamed Wa-wa, Crunch had a disgusted look on his face and thought to himself "This jackass! Hmm wait, I should try to stay on his 'good' side, or else I wont have a chance at getting him to join..." Crunch then sighed and did as he was told, he bent down and did twenty push-ups. And was done rather quickly, Crunch got back up onto his paws "There happy now?" "Watch your voice tone, boy! And from now on, you'll call me sir. GOT THAT, MAGGOT?" Wa-wa yelled at the bandicoot, Crunch was becoming rather agitated with Wa-wa's words, but tried to stay focus "Yes... SIR! Well... do you want me to help you escape Crimzon or what? It's important..." said Crunch, "I decide what's important and what's not, you vermin! Now, REPORT!" Wa-wa asked "Right. Well I have managed to get all three other elementals to join my side, to help take down Crimzon. If you join, our 'mission' will be complete, so what do you say? sit around here or help fight this 'war'?" Crunch asked the grumpy mask, he thought for a bit "I'm always part of the action, you disobedient maggot! THIS MEANS WAR! If Crimzon wants some discipline, she's gonna have it, the hard way! At attention, soldier!" shouted Wa-wa. Crunch stood up straight and tried his best to 'act' like a soldier, Wa-wa looked on straight ahead at Crunch and said "If you're willing to learn how to control the element of water, you will do as I say! GOT THAT?" "YES SIR" replied Crunch "GOOD!!" Wa-wa hovered from side to side thinking "First we need to get rid of that need for oxygen you have, you weakling!" He told Crunch, Crunch bared his teeth in anger but tried not to say anything in return "Wonder how that could ever work... Sheesh" he thought, but then the sound of an alarm was set off! Crunch was alert and the door he came through closed tight! And soon water started to get through the ground and slowly rise inside! Crunch was very nervous, since there was no way he could get out... Wa-wa got angry "They found us out, soldier! Who's the traitor who tipped us off?!" he shouted, Crunch got more nervous as water risen up around his ankles "It was most likely... Crimzon's guards umm... Sir!" Crunch said, he couldn't take it anymore and looked all around the room for anyway to get out! He only saw a pipe but it was far too small for the likes of Crunch, "Stand still, soldier and stop squirming!" Wa-wa screamed, Crunch finally stood still... and the water was now at his knees "You see that pipe over there??" Wa-wa asked, Crunch looked over at it "yeah..." said Crunch "We're gonna have to squeeze you inside!" Wa-wa shouted, "What! squeeze into those!?" Crunch shouted in return "Are you deaf, maggot? You heard the order! Your body isn't in good enough shape to do it, so we're gonna have to make you liquid!" Crunch seemed doubtful about the idea, water was now at his waist "But Sir... how? How can this be possible?" he asked, "Never doubt the powers of your superiors, you worm! Private Crunch, prepare to learn how to become water! Maybe thoughts will slide through your head more easily that way!" "Hmm. Ok then, try it...." replied Crunch, he seemed very doubtful... still "Now hold your breath!" commanded Wa-wa. Crunch held his breath. The water was rising faster as it got deeper... Wa-wa started to work his magic by spinning around Crunch several times... the water was now under Crunch's chin... he was still holding onto his breath as Wa-wa powered on... Crunch's body started to change blue and more transparent as it went on... the water was now way above Crunch's head, and in fact... had filled the entire room. Crunch couldn't hold his breath for much longer, Wa-wa replied "Now stop holding your breath!" Crunch heard him but was too freaked out to do it, but he quickly ran out of air and then... his body flashed and he was now in the full Water elemental form. Crunch felt strange. he looked at his hands and saw that they were almost invisible and noticed he didn't even need to breathe anymore... "Wow... I'm no breathing....." he said, "You're trying to say you can't breathe? That means it worked, soldier! You're not supposed to when you're made out of h2O! You're not as incompetent as I thought! Keep this up and you'll earn yourself a medal!" Wa-wa said and for the first time... Wa-wa actually had a smile on his face. Crunch looked back at him "Well that's good then.. err Sir!" Crunch said, "Time to learn how to go through water pipes, soldier!" "Yes.. Sir!" Crunch replied, Crunch swam over to the pipe... he saw it was really small and looked rather unsure about the plan "So, how can I do this?" he asked "You must place your hand there and try to feel the water pressure you worm! Then follow it, and it'll take you to where the pipe ends!" the mask told him, Crunch attempted to place his hand at the pipes entrance and he did feel the water pressure through it... he closed his eyes and tried to focus on how to follow it, and he did it. His whole liquid body went into the pipe like someone had turned on the tap, Wa-wa followed his path.

As for Crash, he was panicking and running around! He knew the room Crunch and Wa-wa were in had flooded. He feared Crunch would have drowned alive inside there! Crash looked around and there was no way to climb back up and yes, he had to take yet another pipe to try and escape. He crawled in, despite not wanting to... but the water was rushing up too fast! He didn't have time to out crawl it "Ahh!!" he yelped, and the water got faster and faster and had finally caught up with him! Crash was freaked by this but couldn't do anything. The water from behind him was pushing him and started to push his faster and faster! The water pressure had pushed Crash right outside of the building! he came crashing through the entrance he came in, Coco stood there and screamed "AHH!!!" and Crash landed right outside. Crash slowly got up onto his knees, and looked back at the pipe to see water bursting out. even some water coming up through the door... he was worried that Crunch had drowned "Oh Crash are you alright!" Coco asked, he nodded to her. Crash seemed worried though and Coco quickly thought "Oh no! what about Crunch! I hope he didn't drown!" said Coco, she went to stand next to her brother to wait for Crunch but soon, more water blasted from the pipe and the two siblings watched the water closely, and saw it was starting to form an unusual shape "What the..." Coco said, and soon... the form had shaped into Crunch! It was Crunch in Wa-wa's transformation. Quickly after Crunch's arrival, Wa-wa appeared "You have done in soldier! Remind me to give you that medal when we have completed our mission!" Wa-wa shouted, Coco and Crash were glad to see him "Yes you made it Crunch! And... you even got Wa-wa. AND you're made of water..." said Coco "Yeah I'm in the water form, it's quite cool! But now, we all better hurry up and get out of here... the alarm has been set off!".

All three bandicoots and the mask rushed outside into the sun, "Ok Wa-wa, thank you for giving me the opportunity to use you on my quest. Your form will really come in handy!" Crunch said "You are welcome! Now let the war begin!" "Hey hey easy there Sir, I'll need to place you inside the elemental crystal..." Crunch shun the last empty crystal at Wa-wa and he was soon sealed inside. "Sir?" Coco asked, "Uhh long story! And it looks like we're ready for the final mission then..." Crunch told both bandicoot siblings... the three bandicoots headed over to the spaceship, Coco and Crash were about to get in but then a shadow was seen over the three... they all looked to see who it was, they watched as the winged figure landed, standing on top of the buildings entrance... Crash and Coco looked shocked and surprised, Crunch glared at the figure angrily, "Crimzon Demoness..." he quietly spoke.

Chapter 27