Voices in My Head
I panted hard, finally snapping out of my reverie. I saw that everyone was looking at me with worry as the sweat poured down my face.
"Ford, are you okay?" Pete asked me.
I nodded slowly and answered, "Yes, yes. I'm okay."
"You don't seem like it..." John pointed out.
I sighed as Crash picked up on my anxiety.
"Alright, that's enough you two." He instructed.
I turned to Cortex and asked, "How are you at surgery?"
Cortex raised an eyebrow as he responded, "You do realize that I am an evil doctor, correct?"
"Evil or not, you have to help me!" I shouted, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
Cortex protested, "Whoa, hey, stop!"
"Help you with what though?" Pete questioned.
I took a deep breath as I explained everything to them. They seemed skeptical about the whole thing, which I did not blame them. But it was Cortex's reaction that surprised me the most. He put his right hand over his flame symbol on his shirt, as if he was ashamed of it. John picked up at this as he looked curious. Pete picked up on it too, worried than curious. Crash didn't pick up on it, which wasn't surprising. That's when Cortex spoke.
He questioned, "This...Bill Cipher...did he have blue flames that came out of his left hand when he made a deal with you?"
I was surprised by this. I had not mentioned which hand Bill used to shake my hand with at all.
"H-how did you know that...?" I asked as he ripped off the flame symbol on his shirt, making a large hole where it once was.
That's when I saw something awful. He had stitches on his chest, it was in the shape of his heart. Feeling sick to my stomach, I put a hand over my mouth. John and Pete both gagged while Crash's expression was unreadable. Cortex looked specifically at me, our eyes locking.
He explained, "Eight years ago, my assistants and I had made landfall here on N. Sanity Isle. We came to start our evil army to take over the world. One night, we created Crash and that started to change me, into a better person..."
His voice trailed off as he was starting to sound sad. Crash, at this point, had his back turned. I couldn't believe my ears.
John asked, "Wait a doggone minute here, you two were friends?"
Crash answered, sounding like he was fuming, "We were."
Pete questioned, "What happened to you two?"
I added, also curious, "Yes, what changed?"
"He did!" Crash shouted, furious, pointing at Cortex.
Cortex was hugging himself at this point as he admitted, "It's true. After Nathan went mad, made Nicholas turn against me, and had Render and the others become more powerful than I intended... Pinstripe shot me and I was at death's doorstep. We all had been hearing voices that we would be more powerful if we let this ancient evil mask free. My boss, Uka-Uka."
He took a pause as he looked up at the sky. It was mid afternoon with blue skies and sunshine. It was a peaceful, perfect day. But that's when I saw that there were clouds in the horizon.
John broke the silence and asked, "So then what?"
Cortex told him, "Well, I was given an offer from Uka-Uka to be rid of my pain to set him free. I did so three years later but by that time, Crash and I were enemies. What Uka-Uka never knew before the deal was that I had already sold my soul to another."
That made everyone perk up, including Crash. Pete was about to ask something but Crash beat him to it.
"Are you saying that's why you betrayed him so quick in the time twister? Cause your soul belonged to someone else?!" Crash hollered, the tears evident in his eyes.
Cortex merely nodded as Pete added, "And he probably sold it to that Bill character."
The mad scientist replied, "He told me that if I did, I would be the most feared villain on the islands and that Uka-Uka would not even kill me if I did fail him. Mainly because my heart would be in his possession. So if I did die by Uka-Uka, I would be reborn regardless. But the deal was off if I was killed by something or someone else."
I asked, "And that was deal? To have your heart in his possession and to do his whim?! For what?! To live?!"
Cortex seemed hurt as his eyes looked darted straight at Crash. Crash's eyes widen in complete and utter horror.
"Wait, you asked for my life in exchange for yours?!" Crash asked, shocked.
"Of course I did, I thought you were dead!" Cortex pointed out, putting on a gray t-shirt that he had on him.
John stated, "that is a legitimate reason..."
"So then this whole thing between you two is for nothing?" Pete asked, curious.
I nodded sadly and answered, "Certainly seems that way, Pete."
"Man that blows." Pete replied honestly.
Crash stared at Cortex as the man scientist briefly looked down at the ground. There was an uneasy silence. The wind blew lightly, as if it was pushing the silence further. That's when I looked out to the sea. I saw an iceberg floating in the middle of it, with what looked to be a building. I pointed to it.
"What's out there?" I asked, trying to break the silence.
Crash looked up and answered, "That's Cortex's new lair, possibly."
Cortex nodded as he stated, "Yeah, that's Iceberg Lair."
"Can we do my surgery there?" I asked him, looking at him.
Cortex looked at me and told me, "Is the Pope Catholic?"
"Take that as a yes," John joked.
"Aw man, I was gonna say that," Pete pouted.
I laughed at that as we boarded the boat to head out to Iceberg Lair. I closed my eyes briefly, falling asleep.
"Ford..." I heard a voice softly cry out.
I opened my eyes, realizing I was in my own Mindscape. It was in a park, with the leaves changing colors for the fall. Oh great, Bill could be here. But what, that voice I heard was a woman's...right?
"Who's there? Friend or foe?" I asked, worried as I brought out the gun Timmy gave me.
A bright light caught my attention, shining on my left side. I turned and saw a woman standing there. Wow...she was a sight to behold. She was an inch shorter than me, had long curly red hair, freckles on her face, brown eyes, had C cup breasts, a curvy body, wearing a white lab coat, a beautiful long red flowing dress that went all the way down to her knees, she was also wearing a purple butterfly necklace on a silver chain, white stockings, and white flat dress shoes.
"Do not worry, I am a friend." She reassured me, smiling at me with a beautifully white smile.
I put my gun down, blushing a bit as I asked, "A-are you Butterfly?"
"Don't call me that!" She hissed, threateningly. I put my hands up, backing away from her when she caught my arm quickly. She gently pulled me towards her, my blush on full throttle. "Bill used to call me that."
"You know him too?" I asked, curiously.
"What can I say, that triangle demon got around," she answered, with a shrug.
"But what did he do to you?" I questioned.
"That will be explained once you finally get to my dimension," she promised.
I nodded as her eyes suddenly turned blue. I jumped away from her, getting away quickly. That's when she spoke with a male voice.
"Sorry Butterfly," the voice stated, as she smirked evilly. "But I finally found you!"
"N-no!" She yelped, jumping a mile high.
She had jumped far enough to reveal a boy standing where she once was. He was 15 years old, had straight hair, had the constellation of the Big Dipper on his forehead, blue eyes, wearing a long sleeved light blue shirt, with black pants, accompanied with a belt, and a blue cape with the symbol of a five point star on the back. His amulet was glowing a blue color and was in the form of a bolo tie. Butterfly, or whatever her name was, she was down on the round.
I looked up at him and asked, "W-who are you?"
He answered, "My name is Dipper Gleeful. And I am here to capture you, Butterfly."
"Still hate that nickname," she stated, getting up on her feet.
She took off the white lab coat, her right hand now glowing a white color. I gasped as Dipper's glowed blue, like the girls I saw earlier. This was bad.
"Since my sister, Mabel, had to leave the Mindscape after torturing Will, you figured to sneak in and warn Ford here?" Dipper asked her, sneering as he went over to her.
She admitted, shrugging, "Wasn't my best plan but it was a plan."
Dipper chuckled evilly as he stated, "Hate to tell you this, Butterfly, but it was Bill's idea so that we can trap you here in the Mindscape."
"Why is Cipher afraid of her?" I asked, trying to get some kind of answers.
Butterfly explained, "He isn't really afraid of me but the ideas I have to send him back to his home dimension and keep him there until the end of time."
Dipper replied, "Listen here. I happen to have Will under my control. He fears me. So does Bill. But I will never let you at him. He is our plaything."
She rolled her eyes as she responded, "Oh please, I ain't scared of you, Dipper. Or do you prefer Mason?"
Mason? As soon as Dipper heard that name, he stopped cold in his tracks. Butterfly was smirking up a storm as Dipper looked beyond furious. I tried to get away from them but felt something around my legs as I tripped. I looked and there was the girl (Mabel wasn't it?) with Will. Oh shit... Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!
Wishmaker1028: Oh man, I am evil! Cliffhanger! Oh before I forget, here are the pairings in Crash Bandicoot:
Crash/OC (Cristaen)
Cortex/OC (Cynthia)
Also Ford/Butterfly pairing but it is mostly one-sided, basically Ford crushing on Butterfly.
Reverse Dipper/Reverse Pacifica too but that's later.
Gothgirl01: Oh man, you are evil! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!