Chapter five- Finding a Cure
By the time Breena touched down in Crash's front yard, dawn had already begun to lighten the sky. This would have filled Crash with a sense of resentment, considering he missed his prime sleeping hours, but it didn't. Knowing Isabella was ill and given the possibility it might be fatal was enough to keep Crash from dozing off. When they arrived, Coco was already rushing toward them with an expression of anxiety upon her face. Moments before, she had been sitting on the front landing with Ailyn in her lap. Now the small kid was rushing along beside Coco, her eyes big and curious as they gazed up at Crash. While Breena returned to her human state, Coco gripped Crash by the shoulders.
"Crash, what the heck is going on here?"
Crash heaved a sigh.
"A whole lot of 'nothing good', sis. It's Isabella."
Coco narrowed her eyes, confused.
"Isabella? What's wrong with her?"
Before Crash could reply, a bright golden light blossomed from the centre of the yard. It grew larger and larger, twinkling like bits of stardust. Ailyn stepped behind Coco, gripping her leg as she peeked at the strange sight. Crash couldn't look away. When the light reached its brightest point, it faded away completely. In the place of the light, Aku hovered over Isabella's inert body. Coco gasped, and pressed her hand to her mouth. Silence rested over the group for a moment, when suddenly Ailyn started forward.
"Mommy?"
Her voice was soft, and she increased her pace. However, Coco quickly caught up to her and scooped her up into her arms. She gave her a tight squeeze.
"No, sweety. That's not your mom. But now that Crash is back I think it's time you went back to your mom and dad's."
Coco stepped past Crash, looking at him as she moved by.
"I'm going to take her home. I'll be right back."
Crash could read the subtext. Coco would be gone a couple of minutes, and when she got back she would want a whole explanation of what was going on. Little did she know, Crash had no idea what was happening either. As Coco disappeared down the path, Crash and Breena joined forces again to lift and carry the long-legged bandicootess into the house. They laid her out on Crash's couch. During the entire ordeal, she hadn't even made a sign of awakening. Crash was beginning to get very nervous. His eyes continued to dart to her stomach, making sure it was still rising and falling. Aku gracefully settled himself overhead, and closed his eyes.
"I am going to attempt to discover what manner of unbalance is affecting her." Aku explained to his two onlookers. "I suggest you rest yourselves. This will take a few moments."
Aku abruptly fell into some kind of trance, and Crash suspected he'd be out for the morning. Knowing that there was nothing else he could personally do to help, he kicked back on his chair and heaved a deep breath. Breena continued standing erect with her arms crossed at her chest. Crash glanced at her, and flashed a hesitant smile.
"You know, you can take a seat on the other chair over there if you want."
Breena glanced to the place he pointed. She tilted her head quizzically.
"This is a strange dwelling you live in. Why is it that you live like humans, when you were altered from animals?"
Crash considered this, and then shrugged.
"Couldn't really say. Considering the dupe who evolved us wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I've found it's easier not to think about it. But I figure we got a good injection of regular 21st century tastes. I do love my Playstation."
Breena didn't even dignify his lighthearted chatter with a smile. She gazed about the room, as though she was repulsed by everything she saw. Crash found himself feeling rather uncomfortable as the morning wore on. Soon, Breena shook her silver hair and turned on her heel. In the light, Crash saw that her hair was filled with small grey feathers as well. She strode toward the door.
"I am not fond of unventilated spaces. I shall wait outside. I trust you will alert me if there is any news."
Crash felt his ear give a twitch, and then he answered with a sloppy wave.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."
Crash wasn't sure if he should be insulted by her comment or not. Wasn't unventilated just another word for stuffy? He decided not to dwell on it, and leaned back on his chair. Before he had a chance to even attempt at taking a small rest, he heard Coco burst in from behind him.
"Alright Crash, you've got some explaining to do."
"Ah yes, that's right." Crash sighed without mustering up the energy to sound excited. He tilted his head backward, and received an upside-down view of both Coco and Crunch. "Oh, and you brought the muscle-head, too? How splendid."
"Quit the chatter rodent." Crunch uttered irritably. It appeared from his disheveled appearance that he'd been woken up, which was strange considering he usually got up at the crack of dawn. Crunch was even grouchier then Crash when he didn't get his sleep. "I came because Coco was worried. Can you clear this thing up for us, or are you going to keep spouting nonsense?"
"Spouting nonsense is more fun." Crash complained with a sigh, and then shook his head. "Alright, I'll give you the 411. Isabella was found unconscious on N. Tensity Island, where a nice falcon lady took her in and cared for her. Then she came and got me, and then I got Aku. Now, well, here we are."
Coco and Crunch both stared at him for a minute, and then Coco sagged forward in irritation.
"You are terrible at explaining things."
"I could've jazzed it up. Added a man-eating plant for effect. I'm sure that would've made it more exciting."
Coco gave Crash a scary look that illustrated her intent to strangle him. He'd seen that look many times before, and nothing good ever came from it. Crunch seemed to catch it as well, because he placed a hand on her shoulder in effort to calm her down.
"I have a feeling Crash is just as ignorant of the details as we are." He shot Crash an annoyed glance. "Could you get serious for a minute? What can we can do to help?"
Crash could have told them the truth. He could have said Isabella was dying. However, saying it seemed to make it real. He refused to believe it was true. He wouldn't confirm anything until Aku was finished his examination. He heaved a shrug and lay back in his chair.
"Take a seat and wait. That's all there is to do right now. Or you could go into the kitchen and fry up some Wamba fritters. I'm starving."
Neither Coco nor Crunch took him up on his offer, and instead found places to wait in the living room. Coco sat herself down on the floor, and Crunch leaned himself on the back of the chair Crash was currently occupying. They waited in silence for much of the time, interrupted only by sporadic rumbles of Crash's stomach. However, despite how hungry he was getting, he didn't feel comfortable leaving. He watched Isabella, lying still upon the couch. Her expression was grave, even in sleep, and Crash absently wondered what she was dreaming about. Although the wait time seemed to stretch on for hours, it took Aku close to a half hour to complete his initial examination. When he was done, he abruptly opened his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. Crash was on his feet before he realized it.
"So, what's the word?" He asked, keeping the hesitation out of his voice.
Crash knew before Aku could draw breath to speak. By the look on the old mask's face, he didn't have good news.
"Come outside, and I shall explain."
Crash, Coco and Crunch followed behind as Aku exited through the open door and headed toward the short rock wall that surrounded the yard. As they walked, Crash caught sight of a silver bird preening on the roof. As soon as the little black eyes caught sight of movement, the falcon flew to the ground and gracefully transformed into Breena. She didn't even pause as she joined their group. Crash was almost amused by the befuddled look Crunch gave the newcomer, but he didn't have the energy to make a crack about it. He turned to Aku with his arms crossed.
"Alright, what's wrong with her?"
Aku shook his head sadly.
"It's as we feared. Her body is infected with a strange disease, nothing like I've ever seen before. She has been harboring it for a long while, though I cannot say precisely how long. Although her body is trying to heal itself, the sickness continues to gain strength from a very powerful source."
"So is this sickness fatal?" Coco asked in a quiet voice.
Aku nodded solemnly.
"It is. If a cure cannot be found within a few days, I fear she will suffer a very painful death."
Crash felt his insides churn as a feeling of dread overcame him. However, he was determined not to give into it. He couldn't believe there was nothing that could be done. He flipped his hand, feinting boredom.
"Yeah, yeah, something bad will happen if we can't find a cure. It's a little morbid to be thinking about the worst case scenario when we haven't even tried to find one. So, do you know what will get rid of this illness, Aku?"
Aku took a moment to consider, and then replied.
"It appears that Isabella's disease was not of natural cause, but was in fact implanted within her. It actually demonstrates a remarkable similarity to your former condition, Crunch."
Crunch wrinkled his brow as he thought about this information.
"But Cortex was the one who pumped me full of those mind-altering triggers. Who would have intentionally infected Isabella with a virus? It doesn't make sense."
"Not at the moment, no." Aku said, still deep in thought. "However, I believe there are details we do not yet know. Crash, has Isabella ever confided in you that she was created by Cortex?"
Crash shook his head.
"No. She said that she lost her memory. But I don't think she would've told me even if she hadn't."
Aku considered this.
"It is probable that her memory loss was due to the onset of the disease. It is taking a great toll, and probably was devastating enough when it first began that it would have heavily affected her memory. One thing is certain, she could not have contracted this sickness naturally. It was injected into her."
Crash was beginning to get impatient. If Isabella was going to die within days, than they needed every minute they could get to find the cure.
"So, what do we do about it?" Crash demanded, a little more roughly than he intended.
Aku sensed Crash's apprehension, and quickly got to the point.
"It seems that this disease is thriving off energy from dark power crystals. That is what is giving the virus its power. Therefore the only cure for this particular dark energy is by an injection of the same compound."
At first, Crash felt a rise of enthusiasm. He knew about power crystals, it was only a few years ago when he had collected them in one of his previous world-rescuing ventures. He grinned.
"Alright, no problem. We'll get you a power crystal, you make a cure, and that's that. If we get moving now, this whole ugly business will be over before lunchtime."
Despite his positive attitude, both Coco and Aku looked extremely downcast. Crash fixed them both with an irritated stare.
"What?"
"Crash…" Coco started slowly. "Don't you remember what happened to those power crystals?"
Crash thought about it. He remembered that he'd taken them to Cortex's space station, used the crystals' power to blast Cortex's weapons to charred scrap, then he found himself on N. Brio's ship… Crash felt his spirit crumble as soon as the memory hit him. N. Brio had harnessed the power crystals to destroy Cortex's space station. They were gone. This time, Crash couldn't mask his disappointment. He sagged forward, bowing his head in exhaustion. How could they ever create a cure, if the only ingredient of that cure had been blown to kingdom come long ago? Crash couldn't focus on the heavy silence that commenced. He sat down on the stone wall, all his strength robbed in a few short seconds. No one seemed to be willing to break the silence, so Crash supposed they'd be stuck in that state for a while.
Suddenly, Coco gave a small chirp.
"Wait a second. I think I have an idea." She turned on her heel and tore off toward her laboratory. "Come with me!"
Crash gazed up and exchanged a glance with Crunch. Crunch offered a quizzical shrug, and then the two of them started off after Coco. Breena and Aku followed closely behind. When Crash entered her lab, she was already typing rapidly upon her large computer. She wasn't even looking at the keys as she scanned through the flood of information upon the screen. Even as she accomplished this feat, she began to explain.
"The energy of the power crystals was used up, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was destroyed completely. The crystals are created from a substance of magical origin, so that means they should have the ability to be recharged. After you used the crystal's power, Crash, did the crystals need time to recover?"
Crash's head was spinning already, but he managed an answer.
"Yeah. Like a recoil or something."
"So, since the crystals are pure energy they cannot be destroyed." Coco continued her rapid finger movements, leaning closer to the screen. "If we pinpoint the general area where the crystals might have fallen to earth, we can theoretically trace the remains of the crystals and still be able to recover them."
Although Crash hardly followed a word of what Coco said, he knew that she wouldn't be so excited about something that she wasn't convinced might be possible. Crash felt himself growing more confident the more enthusiastic Coco became. Crunch, skeptical, leaned on the back of Coco's seat and stared into the screen.
"So how do you expect to find these crystal pieces?"
"All I need to do is search the government data banks and see if there are any high energy spots being monitored. It's such a large source of energy that someone would have picked up a high density reading by now."
Crash could feel his heart pounding. He hoped it was that simple. Although the difficulty of attempting to retrieve the shattered bits of crystal after they fell from the atmosphere was a little intimidating, if they knew the location it could be done. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Breena and Aku had retreated outside probably to complete the discussion they started in private. Crunch had taken to a scrap of machinery, and began fiddling with his metal arm. Crash leaned against the far wall, lifting his head to glance at Coco every once and a while. As the minutes ticked by, her face became less and less animated. Crash could feel his stomach beginning to wrench. A few moments later, Coco slumped back in her seat. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was staring at the monitor as though she was expecting something else to appear. She shook her head slowly.
"Nothing."
Crash felt his spirit sink. He'd never felt so useless before. In the past there was always something he could do. Not this time. Crash slowly slid to the ground, and placed his chin on his knees.
"Thanks for trying, sis."
Coco leaned forward in her chair, pressing her hands together tightly.
"I'm so sorry Crash."
Crash gave a weak little nod, and heaved a heavy sigh. After a moment of silence, Coco demonstrated a new determination. She pursed her lips, straightened her back and got back onto her computer.
"I'm going to keep looking. They can't have disappeared completely. I just need to keep looking."
Crash didn't want Coco going over everything again just because she felt guilty. If Coco had looked, Crash was quite sure it was thorough enough. Before he had a chance to tell her this, however, Aku suddenly burst back into the room. He appeared quite flustered.
"Crash, come with me quickly."
Without hesitating, Crash hopped up and followed.
She felt…cold. She felt as though she was yet to be born, completely enclosed within something hard and unfeeling. There was nothing inside her except confusion, and it continued to grow as she became more aware of her surroundings. She became conscious of her breathing, and the fact that it was not she who controlled it. The oxygen came to her through a mask that surrounded her nose and mouth. On each exhale, small bubbles drifted from the mask.
When she felt prepared, she very slowly opened her eyes. She was surrounded in some kind of green liquid. Her body was floating in the water, tightly secured by bands around her wrists and ankles. She immediately experienced an overwhelming panic. She could hardly see through the thick glass surrounding her. All she could discern were vague shapes and shadows. She knew she needed to get out. She was in the grip of terror, so much so that she wanted to scream. She thrashed against the cords containing her. When the panic failed to assist her, her emotions suddenly shifted to untamable rage. She felt a strong desire to cause destruction. She needed to escape. Everything depended on it.
Crash tried to wake Isabella, but so far was unsuccessful. Aku had alerted him because Isabella had been showing signs of an increased stress level. That was apparent as soon as Crash entered the room. Her face was flushed, and she tossed and turned as though she was attempting to escape from something. She omitted little moans every now and again, obviously distressed. And she was still asleep. Crash dropped to her side next to the couch, and gently gripped her shoulders. He gave her a little shake.
"Isabella?"
She didn't wake up. She was swinging her head back and forth, her indiscernible chatter becoming more and more hostile. Crash felt panic well up inside him, and shook her again.
"Isabella, wake up!"
As if to answer his call her eyes snapped open. But, strangely, they didn't belong to her. She was glaring at him with an expression of hatred. She bore her teeth.
"Get away from me!"
Her fist shot out from beneath her blankets, and caught Crash across the cheek. Crash lost his balance and fell back upon his behind, staring up at her with utter confusion. Her face was contorted in a mask of complete loathing. Crash had seen her angry before, he'd never seen anything as powerful as what he saw now. However, it didn't last long. Isabella couldn't keep up the high emotion level, and soon her eyes fell closed and she pitched forward. Crash shot back up and gripped her before she folded over, and carefully replaced her onto her back. For a minute, all he could do was look at her with shock. His cheek was throbbing from where she hit him, but he ignored it. Without turning to face Aku or Breena, he spoke.
"What the heck was that?"
"It appears as though a memory has returned." Breena said quietly. "Not an ideal one, evidently."
"No kidding." Crash couldn't understand how she could have unleashed such rage being so ill. However, he was glad to see that she had returned to a normal sleep. He turned to face the pair behind him. "Will she remember this stuff when she wakes up?"
"It is difficult to say." Aku said wistfully. "Her mind has been affected by whatever it was Cortex did to her. At the moment, it's impossible to judge which of her memories will create a lasting impression."
All the details were beginning to give Crash a headache. He was getting a little tired of it. He rubbed the back of his head with a deep sigh. He hated to see Isabella suffering so much, but at the moment there was nothing he could do about it. He sat back on his rear, gripping his legs and resting his chin on his knees. He sat there in silence for a few minutes, but the silence was soon interrupted. Crunch stepped into the room.
"Hey Crash, I think you'd better come and have a look at this."
Crash glared at the big oaf.
"I'm getting a little tired of all this running around."
Crunch shrugged, a coy smile on his face.
"Fine. If you're good with sitting here and watching her get sicker, then go for it. Meanwhile, I'll be back with Coco, figuring out how to gather up the crystal shards she found."
With that, Crunch turned on his heel and departed. Crash stared at his retreating form for a few stunned moments, and then scrambled to his feet and dashed after him.