At morning, the twelve left Rella.
Again, the critters gave the signal.
Again, Aku Aku reopened the portal and dispelled the illusions.
Again, Crash and Coco fussed on the little ones, while Aku Aku and the Commandos checked the map.
"All right, it's in this direction."
"Be strong," said Aku Aku. "Only three more days, and you will be at Muros."
"Let's go!"
And they took the road, in a good mood.

Many hours later, as night got close, the good mood was completely dead.
For the group was completely lost in the jungle.
"You're starting to break my balls!" barked Pinstripe.
"You already said that one hour ago," replied Kong.
"So what?!"
"So you can't say we're starting."
"True," added Tiny.
"Oh come on! You're not gonna play with words on top of that!"
"For once that these two get clever..." sighed Ripper.
"Yeah, for once! And what a surprise, it's to piss me off!" snarled Pinstripe.
"Hey, it's you who's saying bullshit!" protested Kong.
"You can't say something start if..." began Tiny.
"Ah, can it!"
"You know..." began Moe.
"Oh you, you understood nothing, so don't bother opening your mouth!" spat rudely the potoroo.
"HEY!!" exclaimed a vexed Moe.
"What the hell makes you say he understood nothing?!" snarled Joe.
"Are you done already?! You're the Cortex Commandos or the Morons Coalition?!"
"Maybe we'd be done already if we weren't lost!" exclaimed a Rilla on the verge of snapping. "We shouldn't have taken left at the last crossroad!"
"Duh! And whose idea was that, huh?" spat Pinstripe.
"YOURS!" barked at unison the others.
A silence.
"Really?" stammered awkwardly Pinstripe.
"And at the previous crossroad, it was the same!"
"But, uh..."
"And the one before!"
"Someone has to take decisions!" defended Pinstripe.
"Yeah, but not systematically wrong ones!" grumbled Kong.
"Maybe if mister Ripper Roo didn't shred the map to bits..."
"I got in full crazy mode!" protested Ripper. "It's not my fault!"
"Yeah, but still, it means it's not my fault if we're lost," argued Pinstripe.
"YOU're the one who's taking the lead!" pointed out Rilla.
"But... But..."
"You and your shit skills!" spat Tiny.
"YOU KNOW WHAT THEY TELL YOU, MY SKILLS?!" roared Pinstripe.
"They're telling us that we're lost," snarked Joe.
Moe sniggered.
"ENOUGH!! MY FOOT UP YOUR ASS, IT WON'T BE LOST!!"
And the Commandos kept arguing, their mood in an extremely bad place.
As for why Aku Aku and the Bandicoots didn't do anything to calm them down...
They couldn't.
Because the portal had suddenly closed all by itself a few hours ago, as the Commandos began getting lost.
It didn't help their mood.

"Why is the portal not working anymore?!" yelped Coco.
They had tried the ritual again multiple times, in vain.
"I don't know, child!" protested Aku Aku. "It's like something is blocking it! But nothing can do that! Except... No, it's impossible, they're sealed and too distant... Or..."
Aku Aku took quickly an old piece of paper, an antique, crude map whith four points indicated on it, and compared it to the last position of the Commandos on the normal map.
And as he compared, his expression grew more horrified.
"No... No. No! NO!!"
"Aku Aku?" asked worriedly Coco.
Crash was visibly worried, never had the old mask seemed so terrified.
"HOW COULD I FORGET?! IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT!!"
"Aku Aku, what's going on?!"
"Children, prepare! We must take the portal to Muros and try and join the Commandos as fast as possible!"
"What?!"
"HURRY!! Before it's too late! Maybe it's already too late..."

"Hey, Dingodile, what do you think of all that?" asked Pinstripe.
"Yeah, we're not hearing you a lot," commented Rilla.
Dingodile didn't answer straight away.
He was perplexed by Penta's behavior.
Since they left Rella, the penguin kept playing a strange game.
He had taken a matchbox, and kept mimicking actions.
Like playing blind, and then lighting up a match and "seeing".
Or shivering, then lighting up a match and looking much more at ease.
What is he doing?
"Oi, Dingodile!"
"Huh? Oh, I don't care," replied absently the hybrid.
"What?!"
"You're not concerned if we're gonna die here, devoured by tigers?!"
That brought back Dingodile to reality.
"Er, yes, I am!"
"There's no tiger in South America," protested Ripper. "They..."
"Give us a break with your science!" barked Kong.
"Yeah, well, you could participate, that'd be nice!" grumbled Joe.
"Er..."
Penta suddenly pulled at the hybrid's tail.
"What?"
The penguin pointed at something, visible even above the trees.
"Hey, you're right! Look, mates, the critter found a temple! We could go to its summit and have a better look at the zone!"
"Tiny see it while ago."
"WHAT?! Why you didn't say so?!"
"You not ask."
Everyone groaned exasperatedly.
And went towards the temple.

"666 steps..." moaned Pinstripe as he and the others reached the summit of the temple. "My kneecaps are now in my heels..."
"LOOK!!" exclaimed Moe. "I CAN SEE MUROS!!"
Joyful exclamations followed these wonderful words, and the vision of the town, at the horizon.
Ripper quickly rigged a compass so that, instead of pointing north, it'd point towards Muros.
In the middle of the exclamations, Dingodile noticed that Penta got inside the temple.
"Hey, get back here!" he exclaimed as he got after him.
It was dark inside, and the hybrid reflexively ignited his flamethrower's pre-ignition line.
He grimaced at the little flame.
And saw Penta point at it.
"What?!" exclaimed Dingodile, exasperated. "What the hell do you want to tell me, dammit?!"
He yelped as he walked in a cold puddle.
Penta lighted up one more match and passed it over the hybrid's feet to help it dry.
Dingodile looked at it, at the dry warmth that repelled the wet cold.
He looked at the light made by the flamethrower.
And he finally understood what Penta was trying to say.
A silence stretched, as Penta gave a shy smile to the hybrid, who didn't know how to react...

You thought you could deny me, Aku Aku?
You thought you could keep me locked forever?
You thought wrong.
Luck smiled on me today.
I will finally be free, and you cannot stop me!
Come to me, my host!

Something shook the temple.
And the ground broke under Dingodile's and Penta's feet.
The hybrid instinctively grabbed and threw the penguin out, to safety.
But he didn't have the time do get there himself.
The floor collapsed, and he fell through it.
"DINGODILE!!" screamed in horror the Commandos as they saw their comrade disappear in the darkness of the temple.
The fall was long and dark, and the hybrid had the time for a few last thoughts.
The understanding of what Penta was trying to say.
The things about himself it opened his eyes to.
The realization of what his future could have been.
The sadness that it would never come to be.
Then a violent pain filled his body.
And oblivion took his soul...

Art by  caseyljones
Dingodile © Naughty Dog