*DAY 3*

The Commandos woke up in a concerto of groans. None of them slept well after the events of the previous day.
And the Bandicoots didn't sleep much better.
After a quick breakfast, they took back the road again.
It wasn't pleasant. They hadn't fully recovered of yesterday's fight, especially Moe for obvious reasons, and thus felt weak and hurting. The result was that they walked slowly.
In addition, everyone was lost in grim thoughts, conscious of how close they were to disaster and tragedy, and no one spoke.
It was thus in the grimmest of moods that the Commandos and the four little ones, accompanied of the Bandicoots, spent the whole day crossing the last miles before reaching the first town stop in their odyssey.
It was close to sunset that finally, they saw Sinta, said town, a recurrent crossroads for the region.
At this sight, for the first time since yesterday, the eight uplifted smiled. The idea of a big, fat meal, a hot shower, and more importantly, a real bed, was good for their moods.
"All right, I cast the illusions," said Aku Aku before chanting something.
The Commandos felt a strange shiver.
"There. Now, you all look like humans in other people's eyes. And the four little ones look like more ordinary animals. Alas, we have to break the portal, we can't hide it. The little ones will give us a signal to reactivate it once you leave town, I taught them that. I trust you to respect your part of our deal."
"Yeah yeah."
That did not reassure Coco.
But there was no other choice.
Thus, the portal closed.
It was a bit warily that the group approached the guards keeping watch at the town's doors.
But the illusions did work, and the guards, after a few questions, let them through.
Once on the other side of the doors, they heaved with relief.
They then went at the first inn they found and paid in advance for two nights. They wanted to spend a whole day resting before going back on the road, and had more than enough money to afford it.
They then went to the town's doctor to make a final checkup on Moe, and on everyone else by the way.
The doctor did a great job, and when they came out of his office, Moe was definitely on track to fully recover of the ordeal.
The others were all superbly patched on too.
But it took time, and night was here now.
They thus went back to the inn, ate good dinner, and all went and collapse in their beds...

*DAY 4*

They didn't wake up before midday.
They felt a bit groggy, but a good shower, and a just as good brunch, put them back on top shape.
They spent the first half of the afternoon buying supplies for the next leg of the journey.
Once said supplies were stocked in their room...

"Okay, what do we do now?"
"I think we have still one or two hours before nightfall."
"We can all go each our separate way, take a walk, do shopping, and meet back at the inn."
Everyone agreed and was happy with the idea of some me time.
"I hope there is a decent library here, I'd like a better map than that rag we have," said Ripper.
"Me, it's an armory I hope they've got, I nedd ammo for my gun," commented Pinstripe.
"And me, fuel for my flamethrower," added Dingodile.
"Moe and I, we're going to look for some cutlery shop or a thing like that. There must be something to at least sell machetes here," said Joe.
"And some grinding stones, with luck. God knows our swords need a good sharpening," added Moe.
"Tiny just wanna walk."
"And me, I need some me time," grumbled Kong.
"Me too, but I'm afraid of going alone," mumbled Rilla.
"Come with me, then," said simply Pinstripe.
"Er, I just thought of something: who will deal with the critters?"
They drew straws to choose who would take what animal.
Thus it was decided that Tiny would take care of Pura, Kong of Polar, the Komodo Bros of Baby-T...
And Dingodile of Penta.
"Fucking great, thanks a lot, mates," snarled the hybrid.
The others rolled their eyes and went their ways.
He then turned to the penguin.
"Listen, you. You stay close to me, you don't piss me off, and everything will be fine. But if you screw around, I roast you, deal or no deal. Get it?"
Poor Penta nodded, lamenting in silence the cruelty of fate...

"So, a library..." muttered Ripper. "I'll ask people. Excuse me, I'm looking for a library."
"Where you come from, you?" barked one of the men he adressed, a whole bunch of jerks.
"Drop dead!"
"But I..." stammered the kangaroo mutant.
"Fuck you, weirdo!"
"All right, all right, I'll manage by myself!"
"Yeah, drop dead!"
"Assholes," muttered Ripper. "I hope not all inhabitants here are like that!"

"Glad to have some time for myself," grumbled Kong to Polar. "I was getting sick of being 24/7 with them, especially Tiny. What the hell he's doing to me? Fucking exhibitionist, making me..."
A commotion in front of him interrupted him.
Intrigued, he gave a look to a panel.
ARM WRESTLING TOURNAMENT!!
An arm wrestling tournament?
The koala smirked.
Now that's my thing!

"Okay, I'm ready for a siege," smiled Pinstripe as he weighed his recently bought bag full of ammo.
"Me, I wonder where the others are," said Rilla. "I hope they're not falling in some cut-throat trap..."
"Oh, don't worry, they're too tough for that and... Hey, what does she want to us, her?"
For a woman was getting close to them.
"I made a good fire," she said in a sultry voice.
"Yeah, I see that," replied the potoroo.
"You're preparing a barbecue?" asked Rilla.
"Don't you want to get warm with me? Next to my fire?" asked the woman, still in this sultry voice, as she got frisky with them.
Rilla yelped panickedly.
"What the hell?!" barked Pinstripe. "Back off, you vamp!"
She didn't insist and scrammed.
"Are you kidding me, we were just trying to walk peacefully! Come on, let's get outta here!"

The Komodos Bros, happy of having bought two machetes and a grinding stone, were walking with T.
"Hey, what's that?" asked Moe.
"Looks like a sort of magic spectacle," replied Joe.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the final act!" bellowed the showman. "Under your flabbergasted eyes, this pig will disappear!"
"How can someone so ugly do magic?" snarked Moe.
"And making a pig disappear? Hello, useless!" snarked Joe.
"Are you gonna shut up?!" barked an audience member.
"Oh, back off, man, we weren't talking to you!"
"Less noise, dammit!" yelled another one.
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Now, look closely!" exclaimed the showman.
"That's what we're doing."
"Klatun, Verun, Verun!"
And the pig "disappeared" under the applauses.
"Lame," commented simultaneously the Komodo bros.

Tiny, in his innocent walk with Pura, didn't see he was getting in the seedy part of Sinta.
Two big, beefy, bulky men accosted him.
"Hey, big guy. Your big muscles look tense."
"Wanna unwind them with one of us?"
"Or both of us?"
Tiny, in spite of his not-brightness, understood what they meant and blushed violently.
"Er... Tiny got someone at inn!" he lied to get away.
Which he did.

"Okay, so the fuel is... WHAT?!"
Dingodile barked the last word at Penta, who was pulling his tail.
And was now pointing at a refrigerator where were on display delicious looking ice creams.
"No," spat the hybrid.
The penguin whined and looked very sad.
"I SAID NO!!" roared Dingodile. "DON'T FUCKING INSIST!!"
Penta, scared, didn't insist.
Dingodile paid for the fuel, and went back to the inn, the penguin following him.
But in front of the inn...
"Ah great, I forgot my flamethrower at the shop!" snarled Dingodile. "Stay on that bench, I'll get it!"
And he left.
Penta obeyed.
He wanted to weep. Prisoner in this strange land, with that monster who had nothing but sadistic hatred for him...
The ice creams attracted to him because it reminded him of Coco, of Crash...
And that bully refused him that little comfort...
Said bully was back, by the way.
And was offering him an ice cream.
Penta stared in astonishment.
"Don't think I changed my mind," grumbled Dingodile. "I wanted one, and that con jackass was selling them by twos only, and I don't wanna waste."
Penta hurriedly took the ice cream and started eating him, happiness filling him with the delicious taste.
Dingodile sat down on the bench and began licking his own ice cream.
Penta looked at Dingodile.
Dingodile looked away.
Penta wondered. These ice creams were not sold by twos, he was sure of it.
And he realized that the "I forgot my flamethrower" was a lie. Said flamethrower was next to the bench from then.
But then...
Did this mean he went back just to buy an ice cream to Penta, and bought the other one to have an excuse behind which to hide?
There was no other explanation.
Penta had a little smile. Maybe the hybrid wasn't so bad after all...
Dingodile, him, was trying to convince himself of his lies, to deny that, when he saw the little pest's sadness, he suddenly felt guilty (something he never felt before), that it was why he went back and bought that ice cream, that the smile the penguin had now made it worth it...
What's wrong with me?!

They just ended the ice creams when they saw the others come.
Kong was in an extremely good mood. He had won the arm wrestling tournament and a good cash prize, and felt very pumped and proud.
The Komodo Bros were still snarking about the show.
Pinstripe and Rilla talked of their little encounter with amusement, prompting Tiny to do the same.
Laughter ensued, but Tiny looked at Kong, and blushed furiously as he thought that he'd like him to "unwind his muscles". He shook his head, wondering from where that thought came from.
Ripper grumbled about the stupidity of the natives, but had found a library and bought a map.
Dingodile said nothing of the ice cream case, and Penta decided to not bring it up.
All twelve went back to the inn to enjoy one last night of fun and rest before the morning forced them back on the road...

Art by  caseyljones
Original here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/30182169/
Dingodile and Penta © Naughty Dog