After a few hours, the ritual was underway, and Aku Aku generated a portal.
"This portal will show us where are the four. We won't be able to cross and bring them back, but we will be able to see and talk to them, to guide them."
Coco nodded nervously, and Crash was unusually grim.
The portal started to show an image.
"There!" exclaimed Coco. "I can see them! They..."
She brutally ended her phrase in a horrified shout.
And there was reason for it: Polar, Pura, T and Penta were surrounded by the Cortex Commandos.
Who heard her scream and turned around.
And saw a strange bubble floating in the air, with their sworn enemies inside.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed half of them.
"Oh great, them..." muttered the other half.
"GET AWAY FROM THEM!!" yelled Coco.
"Or what?" spat Dingodile.
"Or big bro and I will make you pay!"
"Yeah, well the time you get to South America, we'll be far!" sneered the hybrid.
"Don't you... Wait... What do you mean, South America?!"
An uneasy silence followed.
"We're stuck there because of N. Gin," began Pinstripe Potoroo.
"What are you doing, babbling like that?!" exclaimed Koala Kong.
"Look, we're in deep shit right now, I see a chance to have a bit of help, I'm not gonna spit on it!" barked the mafioso wannabe.
The others grumbled but conceded.
"As I was saying, the kind doctor desperately wanted to try and save old Cortex from wherever you sent him. But after all these failures, he had no fund anymore. So he gets the great idea to sell all eight of us to guarimpeiros who wanted some cheap slaves!"
Crash, through surprised gestures, asked what he meant by "eight" since they were seven.
"Yeah, meet Rilla Roo, N. Gin's attempt to give us reinforcements before deciding to sell us. Couldn't do better with the lack of funds, had to steal from a zoo, pretty much shoddy attempt, if you ask me, he should stick to machines."
The gorilla and kangaroo hybrid cringed sadly at the impoilte comment.
"So, they bring us to one of their mining posts in South America, we get pissed, counterattack, they go "screw this, I'm outta here", we're raiding the post for food and other stuff like that, and we find these critters. Apparently, they thought they'd sell good on the black market."
Again a silence.
"And there we are," ended Pinstripe. "We're stuck in another continent, in the middle of wilderness, and with these loads. So here what I propose. Help us get out of this mess, and we'll protect them and bring them back safely. What do you think?"
The shaman and the bandicoots talked between them.
"All right," said Aku Aku. "Do you have an idea of your precise position?"
"Uh, I found a map," volunteered Rilla Roo. "Just of the immediate zone, but better than nothing..."
Aku Aku examined the map, then a modern, new one from his side of the portal.
"Good, I know this region, I traveled there long ago, studying arcanas of voodoo and shamanism. I remember there was a travel portal position in the region. I can feel it is still here. If you can reach it, we'll be able to bring you back to the Islands."
"Great!"
"But what will you do after? Go back to N. Gin?"
"He threw us under the bus, after what we did for him and Cortex! Fuck him!" spat angrily more than one Commando.
"Then what?"
"Beyond kicking his ass? Don't know, don't care! Right now, we're just focusing on survival!"
Aku Aku conceded the point.
"So, it's far?" asked Komodo Joe.
"Er... I'd say seven days of travel," answered Coco.
"WHAT?!"
"Yes, it's all math."
"Show your map!" demanded the Commandos.
Coco obeyed.
"Look, that's your position now. And here's the travel portal, at the town of Muros. There's roughly 200 kilometers to cross. At a good rate, you can make 30 kilometers a day."
"Bah, easy," smirked Tiny Tiger.
"Yeah, you say that 'cause you've got good legs," muttered Komodo Moe.
"And how do you suggest to do it safely?!" protested Ripper Roo, who was in academician mode at the moment. "We've found some stocks of food in the post, but not enough for seven days!"
"Have you found money?"
"Yes, and not a little."
"Good, there should be two towns on the way. You'll be able to buy supplies and sleep in beds."
"I highly doubt humans will just deal with us without making a fuss, and that was a huge euphemism."
"I can cast illusions to make you pass as humans," replied Aku Aku.
For the third time, a silence.
"Looks like that's the best course of action," sighed Pinstripe. "All right, let's go."
And following their unexpected guides, they began walking.
"Hey, one last thing," suddenly said Dingodile.
"What?"
The hybrid unslung his flamethrower and pointed it at Penta, who froze in fear.
"Just so we're clear: If we lack food, they're fair game, you get that?" he snarled sadistically. "Roasted penguin, that sounds pretty neat."
"If you lay one finger on them, you're dead!" exclaimed furiously Coco, supported by Crash's death glare.
"DINGODILE!!" barked furiously Pinstripe.
"Sheesh, can't even take a joke," muttered the pyromaniac with a tone that screamed that it wasn't a joke.
But he holstered back his flamethrower and began the long walk with the others.

Art by  caseyljones
Original here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/29313561/
Dingodile, Coco and Penta © Naughty Dog