Trouble at N. Sanity Isle

Trouble at N. Sanity Isle is the second cutscene in Crash Bandicoot: The Shattered Crystalis. It is the beginning of the game's main events and details the initial actions of Project C. This also marks the first scene in the game where Crash Bandicoot, Coco Bandicoot, Aku Aku and Crunch Bandicoot are major characters.

This cutscene plays immediately after The Opening Stages of the Plan. The cutscene following it has yet to unveiled.

After viewing or skipping this cutscene, the player gains access to control over the bandicoots and must head to N. Sanity Beach to advance farther along in the game.

Details
Fast forward three years later, December 22nd. We'll take a look at N. Sanity Island, the home of Team Bandicoot and a popular tourist attraction over the past three years. A small town opened up right by the Bandicoots' house with many things you would expect from an Australian suburb. The weather was the coldest it had been in a really long time during Winter season; temperature was at an all-time low (somewhere in the low, single digit positive celcius) and the ground had some snow. With the help of some recent townspeople, Coco built seperate houses for herself and Crunch due to Crash being so destructive with their main home.

Crash was sleeping in his house to the surprise of nobody. His house is typically where the three bandicoots and Aku Aku put up the Christmas tree and other decorations, mainly because his was the largest. Crunch just finished up his shopping and was using the time between now and the 25th on some well deserved rest... which translates to weight lifting for him. Coco was off in the town nearby doing some last minute Christmas shopping with Aku Aku and Pura keeping her company. Aku Aku stayed in the back while Coco went home to do her Holiday season tasks.

Aku Aku noticed a small space station slowing becoming expansive over the last three years. None of the bandicoot 'children' seemed to notice it, although Crunch did mention he saw some 'gray star, it looked like an N, but it's hard to tell' a year back. This year, though, it was a bit more prevalant in the sky than ever before.

A bit afterward, he had heard a roar inside his head, then witnessed memories of his last encounter with Crystalis. It was near the end of his life as a witch doctor and a battle he had a very difficult time winning. He wasn't exactly sure why this space station reminded him of the demonic creature, but it was something that made him feel a bit... uneasy. He decided to let the bandicoots have a good night's sleep, though, so it was a normal night otherwise.

The next day was a bit different. Crash, of all people, was the first one awake that morning. Aku Aku knew that was rarely, if ever, a good sign. He tends to forget December 23rd is Christmas Eve Eve and not Christmas Eve, or even that it is Christmas altogether considering he usually wears boxing gloves on the 23rd, but this time Crash was wearing his standard brown fingerless gloves. Turns out Crash noticed the space station as well and could very barely see a small, purple light from it. He was making a few weird gestures that Aku Aku was trying to get information from... Crash noticed a few odd things about a few recent visitors. Some were wearing more concealing coats than normal and usually had monochromatic, white eyes. It was something that disturbed him greatly and seemed overly familiar. They were hanging around some of his favorite spots, like the jungle. They came and went, usually in high numbers, and they always appeared to be looking for something...

A bit later, there was a bit of chaos in the back of the jungle right behind the houses of the bandicoots. Crunch headed outside onto the beach to see what Crash & Aku Aku were up to, while Coco went behind the neigherborhood and noticed a few weird things. Her latest project, a revamped version of the VR Hub System, was there. It was called the VR Exploration System, a machine that would be able to warp to anywhere in the world freely; Coco was mainly developing it to explore the rest of the team's world and see sights they had never seen before. A few of the goons Crash saw were there and tried to hijack the machine. "Lab assistants... knew it was too good to be true," she muttered to herself before dashing up and taking them out with kung fu. Turns out there were a lot of these guys, but they didn't pose a threat.

After Coco was finished, she noticed 'Crash' from a back view right at the end of the machine. She tried calling for her big brother, but didn't get a response.

"Crash! Is that you? I haven't got much time. Reinforcements are going to be showing up any minute now..."

Turns out 'Crash' did notice her that time... except it wasn't 'Crash' in the first place. It turned around and revealed a different face. Something... unnatural, bionic, Engine-esque about it. Coco stated that this Crash, obviously isn't 'Crash' before getting blasted with a beam from the bionic Crash's palm. She was left right at the back of her house, lying on the ground and dizzied. Then the bionic Crash flew away.

Back on the beach there were indeed reinforcements, tons of them, although nothing Crunch's genetically enhanced strength and Crash's gigantic amount of experience fighting these things couldn't handle. Later came in a small plane with more reinforcements, although this was one appeared to be piloted by 'Coco'. Crash was the only one who really noticed that, though. The rest of the army was destroyed in no time... and that was a valuable task, as one of them had a piece of the Master Crystal on hand. Crunch grabbed it and the three went inside Crash's house.

At a table inside, Aku Aku asked Crash & Crunch one simple thing... "The Master Crystal... a very powerful force, indeed. That's all for now."

"That's IT?! What gives, Aku? Yes, a powerful, important force, yadda yadda yadda. More than that," Crunch answered in frustration.

"The problem is that Coco isn't here! That's what!"

"... oh, yeah. Well, she's Crash's sister. It isn't exactly my problem... most of the time. You know, I'm a nice guy!"

So the three looked through Coco's house and couldn't find anything. Crash of all people is the one who finally finds her after noticing that the door in the back feels a lot heavier than normal. Crash opens the door and notices that Coco is (... still, after about half an hour) dizzy, but gravity gets her mind back on track when Coco's head is smashed against the wooden floor.

That got her to wake up, although she isn't exactly in the most pleasant mood after being blasted by some strange version of Crash. So then the group of now-four went back into Crash's house to discuss the crystal and why the island was infested with lab assistants.

"As I was saying, the Master Crystal... it's a very powerful force, one of the strongest possible. It's by far the most powerful of all the Crystals, having identical power to almost all of the rest combined. Many creatures have tried to abuse the power it gives in the past, but only one had been successful... a great monster. It was called Crystalis. It fueled on the negative energy of the crystal to become a monster of incomprehensible proportion. His basic power... it was all called for by this shiny purple crystal. When combined with the full collection of Power Crystals, there was almost limitless power. Stopping it proved to be a daunting task. When the guardian spirits and I tamed the beast, it was near the end of my first life and was an incredibly difficult battle indeed... it was banished afterward, and the source of its power, the Master Crystal and the Power Crystals, were each taken away, except for a few small parts of the Master. If it ever obtains the rest of the Master Crystal, it should be able to enter our world and wreak havoc once again. And with the remaining of the Power Crystals...

I believe someone, somewhere... has awoken the sleeping giant, and it was for a disastrous purpose. Lab assistants... how could a scientist have gotten to Crystalis's realm, and how could it have been awoken yet again?"

That was what Aku Aku had to say about the Crystals' full potential. Coco brought up a theory on how this creature may have awakened... "The lab assistants... well, they are some of Cortex's most loyal minions. I'm more curious about Cortex would've gotten out of Crash's brain, let alone get into a realm with an abomination like that. Regardless, this certainly explains a few things about why those guys would be here..."

After a brief pause, Aku Aku remembered Coco's new invention and wanted to find out more about it. So the four headed outside Coco's house so she could explain a few things about the VR Exploration System.

"Ah, yes. My prized posession. The VR Exploration System... a gadget I've been working on for years now. It should be capable of transport to any location in space once it is finished. Wumpa Island, N. Hattan, it'll get the job done. The problem... is that I haven't been able to get a good power source for it. I know one of you guys gave me a Crystal a while ago and I can't seem to find it anywhere... not here, not in the house, not in the jungle nearby..."

Then Crunch wanted to explain what might have happened to it. "Oh yeah, that crystal... I saw one of those assistants running around with one, I managed to take 'em out before he could've gone any further. Guy came from somwhere around here. After I got 'em, it fell out of his hands; waaaaaaay into the sky. Where it is now... who knows, really?"

Coco was understandably very frustrated... although that's pretty normal for her, considering the two she had to deal with. "... Fantastic... it's lost... look. We NEED to find that Crystal. I've got a plan for how we can stop this creature, and that Crystal is mandatory for it. I'll be back, I need to think about some things..."

So Coco went back inside her house. A bit afterward Crunch went back inside of his. Crash wasn't really paying much attention to any of what just went on, so he was still... just there. Feel asleep. Conviently, he woke up a bit after the other two bandicoots left. Aku Aku was still there to speak with him, so he made a little suggestion.

"... that Crystal should still be on the island.... I haven't really dealt with anything like this before. Crash, I'd like you to do us all a favor and cheer up your little sister. It's... just the right thing to do at this point."

Aku Aku turned around and noticed Crash already gone. Interesting what gets people motivated, huh?

So Crash went back into Coco's house, went up the stairs and knocked on the door to her room. She was laying on her bed with her back facing the ceilng and was still really aggravated over what had happened earlier that day between the knockout, this new beast, the lost crystal and other things. Crash went up to her bed and tapped on it, which did get Coco's attention.

"Great, more problems... oh, it's just you Crash. I haven't gotten to talk to you much today... or see you much, either. What's the deal with you, bro?"

He made some gestures pertaining to running, jumping and a few other things. It took a while for Coco to get what Crash was trying to say, though. She figured it had something to do with traveling around the island, although when Crash made his hands form a crystal she finally got it.

"You're going to go find that crystal?", she asked, which Crash shook his head up and down in confirmation.

Crash successfully cheered Coco up and earned a hug. The two sometimes had rough spots, but that's a trait all siblings share and they did stand up for each other. Crash is good at finding crystals if the past few years or so told Coco anything... although he needs to get better at finding laptop batteries. Crash ran out of Coco's house and headed straight into the beach and eventually right by the jungle. He figured if there is one place the precious gem may be located at, it'd be where it all began.