Acculturation

[Dave Strider]

Crash stared, wide-eyed, at the scene before them. Those marines just took out at least half the balcony. Crash watched as small bits of stone fell far into the streets below, disappearing from sight before they reached the bottom, then ending in a puff of smoke. The delayed crack shook the orange creature's very bones, and within a single moment Crash was up against the wall. He wasn't going to take any chances with these guys. Stuart was right, they needed to get the heck out of there, now. Aku Aku shared the bandicoot's expression.

"Yes, there isn't any time to waste, I do not want to wait around to see what those weapons do to us." The floating mask was obviously nervous, worry evident in his voice. "We need to-"

PEW!

A single red shot pierced the air and hit the wall behind them. Just moments after, the smell of burnt feathers filled the air, and everyone could see the spoke exuding from his singed feathers, the colors orange and yellow now hideous with the red and green beside them. With a straight face, he slowly lowered to the floor.

"As I was saying, we need ta get down to the bottom floor. We can try to go back the way we came and get out of this mess."