"Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain."
                                  - George Orwell, 1984

      ------------------
      
      What kind of place is this?

      Metallic structures stretch across the crimson-red skyline, scratching against the heavens with seemingly endless points as I scan the foreign land before me. I know that I've never seen a place such as this before, but I feel an odd sense of familiarity come over me as it drives me to find more answers. Why do I feel as if there is a connection between this place and myself?

      And, more importantly, how did I end up in such a terrible place? I continue to walk through the barren metropolis, studying the eerie silence that envelopes me as my footsteps are the only thing audible in the streets. This place looks deserted, and I'm slowly beginning to think that it is...

      ... Until the stench of blood and smoke fills my nostrils and make my stomach turn. I hold my breath for a moment as a hot wind comes against my body, and I lose myself in my own thoughts until something catches my eye. Taking the piece of debris into my hands, I realize that it is my own face that is staring back at me. I furrow my brow as I allow myself to read the bold caption below it:

                                        CRASH BANDICOOT MUST DIE.
      WANTED FOR HIS CRIMES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO MASTER CORTEX, ATTEMPTED DESTRUCTION OF THE MASTER'S EMPIRE, AND THE CONVERSION OF THE MASTER'S PEOPLE. A REWARD OF 1,000,000 NEODOLLARS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE NEOTOPIAN THAT SUCCEEDS IN KILLING THIS VILLIAN.

      I don't know what kind of joke this is, but it's not funny. I recoil in horror into the shadows of the skyscrapers, and refuse to let my guard fall down. I'm a wanted criminal here, in this place that I have never heard- Wait. Neotopia? As in, an empire ran by Dr. Cortex? As in he defeated me, and actually gained control of the world?

      What the hell's going on here?

      When you were younger, you were able to keep Dr. Cortex in his rightful place...

      I leap at the sound of the voice behind me, and turn to see a ghastly figure; before thinking, I swing my fist towards it, finding that it effortlessly falls through the girl. But then I catch a glimpse of the troubled face....

      I would have rather been blind then to see that face. It was different, as if time had played a horribly sick trick to make me think she was older, but I know who I am looking at. "S-sis?"

      She nods solemnly. For a second, I don't know what to do; my mind is telling me to do a large array of things, it wants me to cry and scream, to dig my fists into something, anything, but I stand there numb, slack-jawed as I meet Coco's dull eyes. "... Coco, I don't- I mean..."

      You want to know what happened to me, don't you, big brother?

      "Yea, I wanna know everything." My eyes are stinging with tears, but they don't fall. Instead, my anger begins to brew, "You're... De-" I choke on my words as a sob comes to me.

      But again, she knows what I want to ask, Yes, I am dead. Dr. Cortex had me executed for the crimes that I had 'committed'. It's then that she takes notice of the flyer still gripped within my fist, They were the same as yours... Big brother, where have you been all of these years?

      I stop. Years? Then, as I bring my attention to the paper, my heart skips a beat. A date of issue has been printed on the bottom corner, reading a more than alarming date:

      April 12, 2020.
      ------------------

                                        Kimberly C. Presents
                                        Dawning of the End,
                                 A Crash Bandicoot Fan Fiction.