Crash Bandicoot: New Life

(This is the sequel to Heroes of Universes: Crash Bandicoot. So if you want to understand the story, be sure to read HOU first.)

Summary: Two years have passed since the Evil Twins adventure, and since Maverick and Reala have left and Crash and his friends have made a new life for themselves. When things seem to be going right for them, a new threat rises and they need to work together to bring this threat down. Rated for mentions of abuse and violence and Christian themes

Pairings: Crash/Alicia, Cortex/Tawna, Maverick/Coco and Reala/Nina

Chapter 1: Fun Day

It was a bright sunny morning on the familiar shore of N. Sanity Island, and on the ocean, a water bike zoomed past being driven by Coco Bandicoot. She looked back to see her older brother, Crash Bandicoot and his girlfriend, Alicia Bandicoot having fun on their jet skis.

"You two are doing great back there. Hold on; I'm turning the speed up on this thing!" Coco called, and she started to make the water bike go faster. Crash then looked over at Alicia who was doing a surprisingly good job at holding to her jet skis.

"Hold on, Alicia; we're picking up the speed!" Crash called. Alicia nodded, and held on tight to Crash as they started to head faster. Relaxing on the lawn chairs and watching them have fun were Dr Neo Cortex and his young niece, Nina. Cortex looked over at Nina, who had fallen asleep on her lawn chair.

"How are you doing, Nina?" Cortex asked. Nina sat up and looked up at her uncle with a bright smile.

"I was just having a rest, Uncle. It would have been longer if you didn't interrupt." Nina responded. Cortex just smiled and shook his head happily, and he lay back down on his lawn chair.

It had been two years since the Evil Twins adventure, and that was also how long Cortex and Nina had been living with the bandicoots. Cortex never forgot the significance of that time, because two years ago was the day he realised he belonged on the good side, Crash's side. He looked to notice Coco zoom past, with Crash and Alicia behind her.

"Hey, Cortex!" Crash called, and happily waved to Cortex. Cortex smiled and waved back to Crash. Cortex also remembered two special friends who were also a large help in helping him realise which side he belonged to; those two were Maverick and Reala. They helped Crash and Cortex sort out their differences and thanks to them, Cortex was not only on the good side and living with the Bandicoots along with Nina, but he and Crash were also now close friends.

Flashback: 2 years ago...

Cortex looked at Maverick just as he and Reala were about to leave and head back to their world. Maverick had just said something about Crash and Alicia, so now he was up to Cortex.

"Cortex, what can I say about you that hasn't already been said?" Maverick said. Cortex smiled; he could tell that Maverick was having trouble to say something, so Cortex decided to say something instead.

"You and Reala were a lot of wonderful help throughout all of this. I could never thank you enough for having so much patience with someone like me." Cortex explained, smiling all the while.

"Well, it wasn't easy, but we were able to get through it. It probably won't be easy adapting to being on the good side, but you just try your hardest at it, okay, Cortex?" Maverick asked. Cortex nodded and the next words he said he knew he would never regret saying.

"I will do my best. I promise." Cortex responded. Maverick smiled at this; he knew Cortex would certainly make the right decision.

Cortex could still remember those simple, but convincing words he said those two years ago; they ran loud and clear through his ears. 'I will do my best. I promise.' Cortex smiled; he had been keeping true to that promise he made two years ago, and he wasn't planning on breaking it anytime soon. Just then, Coco, Crash and Alicia skidded up to the shore and came over to see Cortex and Nina.

"Hey, guys. Are you having a good time over there?" Crash asked. "Yes. Are you all having fun?" Cortex asked in response. Crash happily nodded; he could tell Cortex was right about that. Alicia was thinking of something they could do, and then she smiled.

"We're going to go parasailing. Would you and Nina like to join us, Cortex?" Alicia asked. Cortex happily nodded at this, and looked over at Nina to see what she would say. Fortunately for him, Nina had heard this and she happily nodded in agreement. Soon, the team were in Coco's boat with life vests down, while Nina was in the parasail ready to go.

"Are you secure, Nina?" Cortex asked, looking back to make sure. "I'm ready, Uncle!" Nina responded, giving a thumb up. Knowing that they were ready, Alicia turned to Crash who was at the controls of the boat.

"We're ready, Crash! Step on it!" Alicia smiled. With this, Crash pressed his foot down on the pedal and the boat started to head off. But then, Cortex looked back to notice Nina wasn't there.

"Where did Nina go?" he asked. Coco looked back with him to notice that Nina was accidently left behind. "There she is." Coco responded, pointing to Nina who was floating on the surface of the ocean.

"Don't worry, Nina! We'll come back for you!" Cortex called. Crash started to reverse the boat to go back for Nina, but Alicia quickly noticed something.

"Crash, be careful. Nina's right behind the boat!" Alicia warned. Unfortunately, Crash couldn't see Nina, so he didn't know that she was behind the boat. Nina however noticed that the boat was coming towards her and she immediately dove underwater.

"Where did Nina go?" Cortex asked, looking down over the boat in worry. There was silence for a few seconds before Nina resurfaced. Cortex smiled in relief and pulled Nina back into the boat. "There you are, Nina. I was getting a bit worried." Cortex said. Nina then looked over at Crash, annoyed.

"Watch where you're reversing that boat! You nearly ran into me!" Nina shouted. Crash started to look worried seeing Nina so upset, but Alicia fortunately held Nina back.

"Calm down, Nina. Crash mustn't have seen you, so he didn't know when to stop. Right, Crash?" Alicia asked. Crash immediately nodded; he knew that was true. Soon back at the shore, it was Cortex's turn at the parasailing.

"Ready, Cortex?" Crash asked. "Ready!" Cortex responded. With this, Crash started up the boat, but Alicia went to check on Cortex and noticed something.

"Crash, I think Cortex is a bit too low. You might to bring the parasail a bit higher." Alicia said. Crash looked to see what she was talking about and noticed that Cortex was submerged underwater.

"Higher!" Cortex called, his voice sounding gurgled because he was underwater. With this, Crash brought the parasail up until Cortex was out of the water and high in the air. "How's that, Cortex?" Crash called, as the others looked up to notice Cortex in the air.

"That's much better!" Cortex called down in response. He then looked around to find that he could see the N. Sanity Isles from where he was, and smiled; it was a wonderful sight. He now felt really happy that Crash made the decision for he and Nina to come live with them; it was certainly the right choice on Crash's part. But, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Alicia call up to him.

"Cortex, you might want to hold on. The rope's coming loose!" Alicia called. Cortex looked down to see that sure enough, the rope has loosened during his parasailing, and suddenly it snapped leaving Cortex drifting through the sky.

"Help!" Cortex cried, knowing this wasn't good. The others could tell, since they were watching this on. "Come on, we better hurry and help Cortex." Crash said. With this, he turned the boat around and headed back to the shore, and the team jumped out to find Cortex.

Meanwhile, Cortex found himself floating though the jungle when suddenly the parasail got caught in one of the trees. During this time, the others had arrived looking for him. "Cortex, where did you go?" Crash asked. Alicia looked up to see Cortex hanging from one of the trees and smiled.

"There he is." Alicia said. The others looked up to see him hanging there and started trying not to laugh. Cortex crossed his arms, annoyed. At this, Crash smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, Cortex. I'll get you down." Crash said. He climbed up the tree and untied the parasail, causing Cortex to land on the ground. "Is that better?" Crash asked, as he slid down the tree to help Cortex up.

"Yes, it is. Thanks, Crash." Cortex responded. Crash happily smiled at this, and Cortex couldn't help but smile back. It always felt better for them since they were now friends; it just felt like this was how they were meant to be. That night, Cortex looked to notice Crash and Alicia sitting on the roof of the house together.

"Isn't the night sky wonderful, Alicia?" Crash asked. "Yeah, it is. I always enjoyed seeing an amazing sight like this." Alicia responded. She happily leaned against Crash, to which he brightly smiled. The two looked each other in the eyes and happily kissed. Cortex smiled as he watched the two bandicoots on.

'Ever since we got back from the Evil Twins adventure, Crash and Alicia have been spending a lot of time together. I can't blame them, though; it is wonderful to spend time with the one you care about the most.' Cortex thought. It had been clear to him since the start that Crash and Alicia would be together; they knew each other the best out of anyone, and they had always been fighting alongside each other. As well as that, it was also clear that Crash and Alicia had always secretly liked each other, but they were never able to tell each other that.

"Do you think it might be time to come inside now, you two? It is getting late." Cortex said. Crash and Alicia looked down at him, annoyed; they didn't call for him to interrupt them.

"Do you mind, Cortex?" Crash asked. Cortex then looked down; he figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to interrupt them during that time. "I'll be waiting inside when you're ready." Cortex said, and headed back inside. After he was gone, Crash and Alicia both looked at each other with bright smiles.

"Cortex wasn't able to not interrupt us, was he?" Crash asked. Alicia shook her head and then she happily directed her attention to Crash, who was brightly smiling at her.

"You know, Crash, I never realised that you felt the same way that I felt for you. But after everything we went through, I could tell that you always liked me. I was just never able to tell you, though." Alicia explained. Crash nodded; he felt that same way as well.

"I wasn't able to tell you either, Alicia. But I knew how I felt from the start; it just took me everything we went through to realise it." Crash said. Alicia smiled, and the two happily kissed again; it felt so wonderful for them since the first time.

Flashback: 2 years ago...

As Crash watched Cortex introduce Nina to Coco and Crunch, Alicia came over to him. "Crash?" she asked. Crash turned around to see her and smiled.

"Yes, Alicia?" he asked. Alicia looked down remaining silent for a few seconds before she punched Crash on the arm, much to his alarm.

"That's for all the danger you've had to put me through!" Alicia said. Crash rubbed his arm off, having not seen that coming.

"Well, that was uncalled for." Crash commented. Alicia then smiled, shaking her head, and she came over and kissed Crash, much to his amazement. After she let go, Crash was left staring in amazement at her.

"And that's for making it through it all safely." Alicia added. Crash gently touched his lips, amazed by what he had just experienced. "I didn't see that coming, either...but I enjoyed it!" Crash smiled.

Alicia happily smiled at him, but then Crash came over and happily kissed her. Alicia stared in surprise for a few moments, but then she smiled just enjoying herself.

Crash and Alicia continued to smile at each other until Crash jumped off the roof. "We better head back inside now." Crash said. Alicia nodded in agreement, and jumped down after him, and the two both headed back inside the house. It seemed things were certainly going right for the team now.