The two stared at each other for a moment, before Crimzon stretched out her wings and flew right out of the temples room, Crunch immediately transformed into his Lo-lo form and flew after the Demoness, Crash and Coco stood there to witness them fly off "Come on Crash! I'll watch this from outside!" said Coco, she and her brother both climbed outside, to get a better view...

Both Crunch and Crimzon flew up again into the skies, they soon stopped and were floating... and staring at one another "This is it Crimzon, you don't stand a chance now..." "Silence! I still haven't shown my true power, so don't you dare underestimate me!" screamed Crimzon back at Crunch, he just glared back and didn't show much anger. He had only one plan of attack to make it possible to use all elementals to finish her off, "RAGH!" she screamed, she flew straight for Crunch and attempted to slash him, Crunch did the same and they both clashed into each other... they both had taken a hit but did minor damage to each other, Crimzon quickly turned and blasted a dark laser straight for Crunch, he dodged it quickly and attempted a shock blast straight for Crimzon, she too also avoided the attack but then Crunch flew up and slashed at her wing! "Argh you scum!" she screamed, her wing was damaged and he noticed something strange about it... it wasn't real. It looked like some sort of virtual realistic part, joined to her body. He grinned deviously and decided to try attacking at her wings, Crimzon was slightly slower than usual with her flight, she tried firing a dark ball of darkness for Crunch, it exploded right in front of him and soon... the whole surroundings were blacked out.

Crunch was left floating in midair, he couldn't see where Crimzon was, until she flew from behind and smashed Crunch down, he quickly fell to the ground and high speed and smashed a hole right through the temples ground, he got back up and was relatively calm of the situation due to being in his Lo-lo form, he quickly leaped from the hole and flew straight for Crimzon again, he did his fly with the wind attack and a strong gust of wind simply blew past Crimzon and she was soon struck again at the wing! She yelled and fell to the ground, Crunch followed and tried a blast of electricity for her other wing, she was stricken by the power and fell on to her back. She quickly jumped back up to stand and stare straight back at the male bandicoot. She looked furious. Crunch noticed that one of her wings was sparking, and that it was turning transparent. The other wing was doing the same, Crunch just looked forward and said "looks like you're not going to be able to fly anymore ehh?" "Shut up! I can so!" she hissed back, she tried to fly by it was too difficult, Crunch didn't bother to fly after her though and gave her a blast of thunder instead, it hit her pair of wings and she fell down to the ground. Crunch changed back to his mortal form and watched her from a distance. She stood back up and shortly, her wings faded away as if they weren't part of her body, Crunch stood there in a fighting stance... ready for Crimzon's next move, "Grr... you're quite smart to figure out my wings weren't part of me, but I'm not over yet!" she told him, "Why not stop with the chit chat and show me what else you've got in store for me then!" Crunch replied, Crimzon snarled and held out both her hands and extended her claws, she dashed for Crunch and he sidestepped.. he saw lots of rocks around and thought it would be a good idea to use the Earth element next, to save his Lo-lo power. "Hey Rok-ko, I'll be using you next..." Crunch said in mind, "Oh that's so cool! GO KICK BUTT!" the earth mask yelled, Crunch jumped high and came down to punch into the ground, a large rugged rock raised and blocked Crimzon in her paths, she hissed and jumped up and blasted black magic down for Crunch, he got hit by the energy and fell to his side, Crimzon jumped down off the rocks and tried to slash him yet again, he rolled himself over to avoid the claws and quickly got back up on to his paws.

The two chased each other trying to take a hit, Crunch made more boulders rise from the earth and one of Crimzon's attacks were blocked again! Making her frustrated "That's it!" she screamed, she placed both her hands together and closed her eyes and the surroundings went black again! Crunch was bothered with the repeated attack but knew she'd try to attack from behind, he quickly turned and leaped just before the black electricity stuck him in the back with Crimzon lashing out after it, she was bothered! Crunch knew he had to think of something to take her down, he climbed up rocks as the darkness still blackened the area but begun to fade, he wanted to try one of the best earth powers. he leapt right out and held both fists together, and came crashing down to the ground, this caused the whole area to shake violently... Crimzon couldn't stand up and began to lose her balance "Why you little...!" she cried, and a huge crack through the ground began to show from where Crunch had hit the earth. It was creating a large earthquake, Crimzon slipped and fell down the large crack in the earth, she tried holding onto the edges until Crunch ran for her and pounced... taking her down deep beneath the earths crust, but Crunch fell with her. Crash and Coco watched from a distance in horror "Oh no! I hope this isnt a end of Crunch!" gasped Coco, Crash and her sister just watched from a distance... and looked at the hole through the ground.

The two aggressive bandicoots both fell through the depths of the earth, Crimzon kicked Crunch countless times to make him release, they were both separated and soon landed down onto flat earth. The area was also lit by small pools of lava, the two looked on at each other... waiting for the next move. Crunch noticed the lava and thought "Py-ro... it's your turn now...!" "Heh go and show your flames of fury, my friend...!" Crunch immediately changed into this firy Py-ro form. He was now more aggressive and stronger, Crimzon was no fool. She knew she couldn't take this much longer "I'm still far from over.... so don't get your hopes up anytime soon!" she told Crunch, he just looked back with his vicious expression showing his teeth "CUT IT OUT! I'll burn you to shreds!" he shouted and charged straight for Crimzon, she was smashed right out of the way. Crunch stood there staring at the demon. He still looked on at her and wanted to finish off the dark spirit as soon as possible, "DIE!!!" he roared, and threw a blaze of fire straight for Crimzon, Crimzon tried moving to the right but was still partially hit by the scorching hot flames. She was fed up, "Oh that's it!" she screamed, Crunch just carried on keeping a steady watch on her "You're so going.. DOWN!" He roared, and was about to try burning her down to ashes, but Crimzon did something different this time... she fell to her knees, and black magic energy started to surround her body, Crunch decided to watch closely to prepare for her next attack, she started to snarl and she whole body had turned pure black. Almost unseen in the depths of the earth, besides the glow of lava around. Crunch knew he had to think fast, the fire elemental did mess with his head but he tried to attack her as she appeared to be getting larger with the black magic, he launched in and tried to blast several fire balls at her but they did nothing... her dark shadowy figure got larger, and soon the black magic had faded from around her body.

She stood there, standing on all fours. She appeared to look like a quad burgundy bandicoot, but far bigger, darker, and more demonic. She stood there, with her claws and fangs exposed. Crunch was rather shocked with the transformation, but didn't show fear. He just wanted to defeat her. "You fool, I'm now in my true form! YOU SHOULD HAVE JOINED MY SIDE!!" she roared, and ran straight for Crunch and quickly swiped him out of the way with her large front paws and long claws, "RAGH!" he growled as he was tossed to the side. He got up off the ground, and attempted to fire a blast of lava for Crimzon's huge demonic body... it hit her on her side, but did little damage "Hah! You think those weak fire attacks will beat me?! THINK AGAIN" she quickly ran for Crunch on all fours, and pinned him down to the ground! dark flame-like magic came from her mouth and hit Crunch in the face, he growled viciously and tried his best to get free, but the beast was immensely strong. Crunch tried to burn up his body and soon flames surrounded him, causing Crimzon to feel the pain of the heat, "Grr why you!" She hissed, and struggled to hold him down, Crunch used both his legs to kick the large creature off him.. Crimzon was lifted off and her paws retracted from holding down Crunch's flaming body. Crunch quickly moved back and hopped back onto his feet. The two then looked on at each other with fury in their eyes. They both wanted to tear each other down, Crunch took the first move and ran for the beast with both his hands ready to launch an attack, Crimzon stood up on her hind limbs and clapped her two front paws together... and the cave fell into complete darkness. Crunch carried on charging for the target but had stricken nothing. Crunch soon felt he was in danger, and was completely right... a pair of jaws flashed from the darkness on Crunch's right and he was struck! The black surroundings soon faded back to the normal rocky and volcanic view and the monster had it's jaws crunched down on the right side of Crunch's flaming body, "ARGH" he roared in pain, thankfully since both he and she were using magic forms there would be no cuts or blood, but it still hurt Crunch a lot on the inside and he tried to released the strong jaws as the sharp teeth irritated him immensely... "YOU'RE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" the furious male bandicoot yelled, he tried with all his might to free himself... Crimzon tossed her head around many times and even smashed Crunch's body down on the ground several times. Crunch was in serious trouble and almost lost his focus of the fire elemental and switched back! But then his fury raised even more from being tossed around like prey, he burned up his body as high as he could... Crimzon was starting to feel the intense heat but didn't let go just yet, Crunch tried to twist around and he used his claws to cling onto the beasts muzzle, he tried to sink them in as far as he could until Crimzon just couldn't handle the heat and pain anymore. She screeched and let Crunch free, he feel from the grasp of her jaws and hit the rocky floor. Crimzon stood back and hissed at the loss of her opponent "You're lucky to get free from your death!" She growled at the firy bandicoot. Crunch stood back up, but he was hurt. Starting to feel weakened from all the hits he had taken. "I'm not done with you yet! You will be stopped, I wont die until my enemies are gone from this planet... ESPECIALLY CORTEX!" shouted Crunch in return, Crimzon gave a dangerous glare back and asked "Cortex..? hmm the name is familiar for some reason...! BUT WHO CARES! YOU'RE THE ONE I'M TRYING TO RID OF FOR NOW!" she came charging for Crunch and slashed him right out of the way before he could even move, he got up off the ground and struggled to stand up right. He knew he couldn't beat Crimzon in this form no more. He had barely done any damage to her, he had to think quick "OH WHY WONT YOU JUST DIE ALREADY!" screamed the beast again, she blasted a blaze of shadowy flames at Crunch, he tried to jump back and he had just missed the worst of the powerful attack. But he was getting more and more tired as he went on. He decided to use the element has hadn't used so far in the fight... the Water Elemental.

"Wa-wa... this is your turn, but I honestly don't know how I can use water to defeat her..." Crunch told Wa-wa through his mind, "Don't give up now soldier! You shall come up with a solution to this war, NOW GET BACK OUT TO THE BATTLE FIELD!" Wa-wa harshly yelled at the bandicoot. Crunch was soon noticed by Crimzon that he was back in his mortal form, she gave a vicious smile "So you're going to give up now by letting me kill off your natural form!" she said, Crunch just carried on staring towards her "I still have one chance to finish you off...!" "Oh stop wasting my time! Those elementals are nothing anymore anyway! MY DARKNESS SHALL TAKE ALL FIVE OF YOU DOWN!!!" she ran for Crunch on all four of her paws, until Crunch transformed into the Water Elemental form right before her eyes, he stood there in his transparent, watery form but was too late to avoid the beasts strike, pitch black energy came from her clawed front paws and she attempted to swipe it across Crunch's body... the magic and claws slashed over Crunch's watery chest, Crimzon was spooked that the sight of her paw going through the watery body, it also caused no pain to Crunch... though he was simply tossed again yet again. Crunch landed on his knees. He may have not been hurt but he was getting more and more tired as he went on, Crunch attempted to stand up straight but was rather wobbly doing so. He knew his water attacks wouldn't harm her but he thought about when he was inside the Water Chamber... he wanted to attempt to drown her. The underground cave wasn't so big, so it could fill up with water but the lava may cause some problems... but Crunch had no other choice. "You change into that form to escape pain!? You're a bloody COWARD!" roared the beast, Crunch soon attempted to flood the place... water quickly came from around his elemental form, "You shouldn't underestimate the power of the elementals...!" he told her, she scowled back "I may not be able to hurt you in that form... but you can't hurt me neither! So you're just wasting time, FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL MALE!" she cursed, but Crunch stood there doing nothing but release more and more h2O.... soon the water had reached the lava pools and caused steam to fill the room of the underground cave, "What the hell are you doing!" she yelled at Crunch, he wouldn't reply. water kept rising faster and faster... it was up to Crunch's waist "Grrr! This is so STUPID of you! Water can't harm me!!!" she told him over and over, until she thought... "No... wait... he's trying to drown me inside!!!" Crimzon was furious, she knew she couldn't breathe underwater, even being a supernatural being. She stood there unsure of what to do, "YOU BETTER STOP THIS NOW!" She roared and ran for Crunch, she knocked him over and he feel to his side, only to get back up onto his feet. The water had risen more and more, but the lava pools had caused the water to be rather hot. Crunch attempted to release ice to avoid being harmed by the boiling waters, Crimzon was starting to panic ferociously as the water was now over her back, "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" She screamed, Crunch was now hidden under the water and was invisible to Crimzon's eye. She doggie paddled around in the water and could not escape this death. The escape was far too small for her large beastly size to fit through, she panicked more and more as the water raised....

Both Crash and Coco watched from a distance outside, they saw steam rising through the cracks of the earth that Crimzon and Crunch had both fallen down into, "Oh my god! I hope Crunch is alright!" said Coco, both her and her big brother were worried... they awaited more to see the outcome of the fight.

From underground... the whole cave was now full with water. Crimzon tried for her dear life to breathe through the small gap to breathe, Crunch noticed and swam over to the large beast and pulled her down deeper in the water, Crimzon kicked about and and went berserk... Crunch was now starting to feel the heat though, the lava was causing the water underground to boil! He wasn't able to handle the intense heat, but held onto Crimzon's back leg to make sure she doesn't get anymore air, Crimzon was starting to feel the pain from the boiling water as well. Both bandicoots were. Crunch almost lost focus of the Water elemental several times and almost switched to his natural form "NO! I can't give up yet, no matter how much it hurts!" Crunch said in his mind, he was struggling but didn't give in to the pain anytime soon "You can do it soldier! DON'T LET HER WIN THIS WAR!" Wa-wa shouted "This is really bad! Even I can feel the heat!" Rok-ko complained "As the fire element, it doesn't effect me but Crunch, seriously... you're going to die if you don't hurry up and get out!" shouted Py-ro, Crunch still held onto the beast but Crimzon had now lost her breath and breathed in water, she coughed and coughed, Crunch noticed and let go... but he was unable to move.

From outside... the whole area started to shake, both Crash and Coco watched in fear, and saw that the ground was about to burst "Hold on Crash! Something's going to happen!" both Crash and Coco held on tight to the temples walls to avoid loosing their grip and falling on the ground. Soon more and more steam busted through the crack, and it expanded more until.... A blast of water erupted into the sky like a geyser. The bandicoot siblings watched with amazement, the hot steaming water carried on erupting for a while and started to slow down, two figures soon emerged from the ground through the erupting water. The soaked bodies hit the ground. Crash and Coco watched with shock to see whom they were. It was obviously Crunch and Crimzon. Both bandicoots jumped down from the temples walls to aid their foster brother "Crunch Crunch! Are you ok!?" Coco yelled, both Crash and Coco ran up to Crunch. He was back in his mortal form, he started to cough multiple times, "I'm... I'm alright..." he replied, he soon opened his eyes and got back on his paws and panted from the tiresome battle. Both Crash and Coco were delighted to see that he was able to stand up, "But I wont be alright until I know Crimzon is gone...." Crunch looked over towards Crimzon... who had changed back to her original form. She simply looked up at three bandicoots from a distance, Crunch walked over towards her... "So you still don't want to give up!?" he asked her, but she didn't reply. She was too exhausted to even move another part of her body. She just gave Crunch an evil glare, nothing more. Crash and Coco watched from a distance "So... Crunch. Are you going to destroy the evil spirit now?" Coco asked, "Well I have no other choice. This was my goal... to destroy the Demoness." Crunch just simply looked down, he then raised his left arm and made ragged rocks from beneath her rise, she was struck and was flung into midair for a moment, and fell back down. Soon she started to spark, and get distorted like a digital image loosing it's focus. Crunch stared suspiciously, and next raised both arms and smashed them together... a hydro blast of water struck Crimzon causing her to be pushed several metres from Crunch, he then looked at her and focused his fire, she was set into flames and didn't say a thing. Still. Her body was starting to become more transparent and spark. She was merely a dark spirit and digital information. Crunch was rather disturbed with how this demon could handle all these powers and soon... finished her off with a strong surge of electricity. She finally screamed "NOOOOO!!!" and the longer she did, the more distraught her voice got, and she soon fell back onto the ground... and turned completely black, similar to a pile of ash. Crunch fell to his knees and breathed heavily from being exhausted.

"I... I finally did it." He said, as he watched the dark pile in a distance. Both Crash and Coco jumped around with joy "Yay you did it! You did it!" Coco said with joy, both Crash and Coco came over to Crunch to congratulate him, Crunch turned around slowly. He also noticed another mask come from the sky, it was Aku aku. Crunch looked up at the feathered wooden mask "Well done Crunch. You have destroyed the dark spirit... with the help of the four elementals. You truly are one of a kind..." Aku told him, "Thanks Aku aku. Though right now I'm extremely tired... I just want to go back home and relax....!" Crunch said, while still on his knees. Coco looked over at the dark pile of 'ashes' and her eyes widened "AHH SHE'S STILL ALIVE!" she screamed in terror, Crash's ears pointed up and was alert, Crunch frowned and couldn't believe what Coco had said... he turned to see a figure stand up from the black debris. Crunch was extremely nervous, he stood up straight... despite his pains, and walked over to see whom it was. The figure stood up straight. She looked similar to Crimzon, but had lighter fur, different outfit and a far more gentle appearance. She looked up at Crunch and was slightly frightened "Who... who are you....? What... what am I doing here....?" she asked nervously, Coco and Crash watched from a distance in confusion "What the...?" Coco thought, Crunch carried on looking down at the bandicoot girl. "What are you talking about?! You're Crimzon! Don't try and fool us again!" he growled, the girl got frightened and lowered herself folding down her ears, "No Crunch, I think that's someone else!" yelled Coco from a distance, "Just look at her, see looks like a burgundy bandicoot just like you!" Crunch thought for a bit and stared at the frightened female bandicoot, but then he noticed something around her neck... she wore a necklace, with had a small power crystal on it. His eyes widened

"...No...no way.....!" he spoke, he was frozen. Wasn't sure what to say next. He looked again just to be sure, but was almost too shocked to even say a thing "Is... is your name... Cr... Crystal?" he stuttered, she looked up at Crunch with her own light green eyes that were the same as his. "...yes....why...." she replied nervously, but then she too looked closely at Crunch and was so surprised. He too was too surprised to say much "You're my brother Crunch!!!" Crystal said with joy, she stood up straight to hug her muscular brother. "I thought I'd never see you again! You've grown so much since then...!" she said, Crunch was frozen with shock, "I... I always thought you were gone forever! But Tani always said you were probably out there somewhere... I'm so glad she was right!" Crunch decided to hug his sister in return. They barely spent much time together as kids, but Crunch was glad to see that his sister wasn't dead... like Cortex told him ten years ago. Crash and Coco were surprised, Aku aku just floated there and smiled. He headed over to Crunch "I see the spirit had taken control of her body to use for battle... I bet you are happy to be reunited with your sister again" he told Crunch "Yeah of course, Tani would be glad to see you as well Crystal.... man it's been so many years since I last saw you.... it feels strange to have you back after destroying the demon within your body..." "Yeah that... surprises me. I can't believe a spirit did this to me... I guess you'd have to explain more to me about this... demon later? I am truly lost!" said Crystal, "It's alright. It's good to have you back, that's what counts... and hey, I want you to meet some heroes who helped me on this journey..." Crunch and Crystal walked over to Crash and Coco, "He's Crash and she's Coco... they've been like younger siblings to me, and have been very helpful. And were also the ones who helped me escape Cortex's wrath... So Crash, Coco... this is my real sister, Crystal..." "Hey it's... nice to meet you Crystal! Hard to believe your were being controlled by the Demoness though. You look like a nice person!" said Coco, both her and Crash shook hands with Crystal "It's nice to meet you guys as well. I've heard about how famous you two are, since kids talk about you guys all the time at the Academy!" Crystal told them "Really? We're that popular?" Coco said, and she blushed along with Crash. Crunch and Crystal smirked at the sight, "Well it looks like you're fitting in just fine! Let's go back home... Tani would be happy to see you again, and you could decide if you want to live with us again or not... It's up to you" Crunch asked Crystal "Oh I'd love to! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to get out of that wretched school... but I will miss Nina though, she's a good friend of mine all these years..." "It's all up to you sis... But it's good to know you're not dead, like Cortex told me..." said Crunch, it was now starting to get cloudy... they decided they should go back to the comfort of home, "Hey I think we should go back home now... both you and Crystal look so tired and worn out!" Coco said, Crunch and Crystal looked at each other "Yeah, you got that right Coco. My body is aching all over, but knowing my sisters alive keeps me going though..." "Same here Crunch... even though I don't know you that well right now, I feel safe around you and your friends" said Crystal.

The four bandicoots and Aku aku walked back through the jungle to the ship, Crunch thought in his mind "Thank you... thank you all, Rok-ko, Wa-wa, Py-ro and Lo-lo. I don't know how I can repay you all for this. Helping me destroy the Demoness, and find out that my sister is still alive... it really means a lot to me" "heh you're very welcome Crunch. You sure have shown how powerful we are in the right hands!" said Lo-lo "Yeah I've never been so excited in my life! Not many can use us you know... and you managed to us all of us without much problem!" complimented Rok-ko "Thanks for flattering me guys. But really, you guys are cool. Not evil jerk masks that want to destroy the planet, like how Aku aku describes you all" "heh I guess we sometimes get a bit destructive but yes, you are right" replied Py-ro, "I just wonder what will happen next with you guys...? Well, I'll just have to wait and see then. Let's be glad the Demoness is over and done with.".

Chapter 32