Experiment Bandicoot
Chapter 14:
Change
Year X, Day X
If I had known this would be our last adventure, I'd have gone out with a big bang, but as usual, it was another time of fighting and insults. Crash and his little band of furries versus my army of mutant animals. As usual, it was the same deal as always. Good guys always win while we villains retreat and recover. Of course, there really wasn't a place to runaway from. The current fight took place in Castle Cortex, so we were, more or less, trapped in our own home. That didn't bother me or my crew; we just fought to the best of our ability. Our respective Mask Gods battling each other. It was…well…normal.
"You know, holding still might help while I try to kill you." I calmly spoke to Crash, laser gun in one hand, bomb on another.
"That's hardly a challenge, Corky." Crash shrugged. "Corky" has been a long favorite nickname to Crash and his crew lately, "The whole purpose in this battle is to not die…or get severely hurt." I shot towards him and he quickly dodged it. He came closer to me and quickly swiped my laser gun, breaking it into pieces with his paw. He just stared at me, looking smug, tongue sticking out as a sign of insult, giving a confident look while I gave a look of shock.
"Sorry I broke your fave toy." Crash laughed. Good God, he was laughing, as far as he was concerned, this was just a game, "But ya know, you gotta outgrow these things someday."
"Oh, I most definitely HATE it when teenagers get so cocky." I grumbled, backing away from Crash, "Don't you ever respect your elder which you haven't done for the past two years?" I immediately took out my back up laser gun, which was a much bigger weapon, nearly the size of my body. I finally got a good look at what I wanted to see on Crash's face: shock.
"Whoa, that's one HELL of a gun." Crash gasped, then he grew smug again, "Maybe you did outgrow that stupid toy after all." I immediately shot him, Crash dodging, but just by a hair.
"Crash, little less smart talk, a little more fighting!" Came the shrill voice of his kid sister, busying herself with wrestling Dingodile's flamethrower gun away from her.
"Well, we all need a good lightenin' up, mate." came Tawna, who's gotten much stronger then when I last saw her. She kicked away Komodo Moe who landed on Joe, "Besides, we all had a rough day."
"Tiny SMASH! Tiny CRASH! Tiny CLASH!" came that oh-so-idiotic walking front door.
"Yea, Tiny, we get it, you can rhyme!" Crunch cried as he started to wrestle with him.
"See, I told you, he never shuts up with the damn puns when it comes to my name." Crash shrugged.
"Dr. Cortex, we're losing AGAIN!" Gin shouted from nearby. He was busy lying on the ground, trying to push Brio away who seem to want to tear his head out. That traitor!
"I KNOW, GIN! I'm not BLIND!" I retorted. Soon, the heroes had gotten us ganged up…again
"This would be a really great for a secret weapon or secret plan, Cortex." Pinstripe mumbled, "…You DO have a secret plan or secret weapon, doncha?"
"Not at the moment." I whimpered.
"Why am I not surprised?" Pinstripe mumbled.
"Looks like the tables are turned! WAHOO!" Coco cheered. I remembered being annoyed with her optimistic, cheerleader voice.
I wasn't quite sure what they were going to do to us. Especially Crash. He wouldn't kill me, now would he? Although even I had my doubts. We slowly drifted apart and if Crash had killing me in mind, I suddenly didn't felt so surprised. Before they could come any further, both our Mask Gods started to act funny. Mostly the fact that they were glowing and screaming for a good 10 seconds. All of us stared in horror and shock before the two finally calmed down.
"Aku! You okay!" Crunch cried.
"What's wrong?" Crash gave his most stern voice ever.
"Uka Uka, what has happen?" I gasped, twiddling with my fingers in a nervous manner, hoping he wouldn't do anything rational.
Neither Aku or Uka spoke. The brothers merely starred at each other as if their pet goldfish died and one of them was responsible for letting it. The two briefly stared at us and flew off to the heavens. Meanwhile, all of us; the good and bad guys, just stared at the sky, wondering what the flaming hell just happen.
"………Umm…Maybe we should call it a night?" I quickly suggested. Crash stared at me like I was crazy, then half closed his eyes and sighed.
"Yea, whatever." And the heroes departed back home, leaving us alone in peace for the time being.
"So…Movie night, anyone?" Koala Kong suggested, "I got Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
Year 18, Day 33
"So, Uka Uka and Aku Aku just left, just like that!" Coco was talking to Tobias, her boyfriend for about 3 years now. Once childhood friends, they began dating at the tender age of 11. Being the overprotective brother I can be, I kept a very close eye on both of them.
"No hanky panky!" I shouted every time Tobias (a dingo, in case you wanted to know) came over to visit. He had a very boy band-ish look with the slightly messy brown hair, violet rectangular shaped sunglasses, an olive hoodie, and loose khakis with dirty sneakers. I half expected him to come with a microphone and a tattoo every time he came.
"Well, this is turning out to be something really…interesting." Tobias smiled. He had a great personality. Very calm, very gentle. You could explain anything to him and he would never judge you harshly. Despite him being 15 as of this writing, he was insanely mature with decent morals. In fact, the only thing I did hate about him was that he was keen on my little sister, but that's just mostly my fault for being an overly obsessive overprotective brother.
The two were hardly apart. Tobias has come along in some of our adventures, but he mostly stuck being a helper to Ms. Roo's orphanage and being Coco's boyfriend. When he came over today, I manage to bake them some cookies, except the circular shape that usually took cookies were now distorted. I was being too overprotective to care what shape they were in. I then stood a fair distant away (they were in the living room, I was inside the kitchen, sitting on a chair, using the counter as my table) as the two spoke, pretending I was paying the bills.
"I just wish I could have gone on your adventures, Coco." Tobias smiled, "I hardly go anywhere when it comes to that. Everytime I do, Cortex always points at me and calls me "Bishonen Kid."
Coco giggled.
"I don't even know what that means." Tobias shrugged, "Okay! I'm going to make it clear! From now on, I'm going to come on adventures more frequently." A plate dropped when I heard that. My overprotective big brother sensors were off the chart. Coco, however, hugged him, glad he'd come more often on our adventures.
"Crash, take it easy." Tawna giggled, "They're still young. Leave them be." I mumbled as I fetched a broom.
"Crash, be careful." Coco gasped. I mumbled again.
I swear that poor girl was obsessed with him. If he wasn't busy wooing her, she was making scrapbooks of them together, listening to the remix tapes he made for her, and reading all the e-mails, letters, and text messages he sent. I was glad at this point that we didn't get a phone; she'd waste up the bill on that, too. Teenage girls. Tawna thought it was terribly cute.
"I think we really should double date with them." She would always say. I was mentally disturbed by that image. In my mind, I had half a mind to strangle Tobias into the shape of my distorted cookies. I think I'm being a bit obsessive in protecting Coco. She IS growing up.
Year X, Day X
It was an unbelievable two months before Uka returned and I assumed Aku returned to Crash. During our two months of Mask God disappearance, my crew and Crash's posse have kept to ourselves. It's as if we were depending on the Mask Gods on when and where to battle. I guess we were both worried and confused on what happened. It was already a full month when my crew wanted to split and move on with their lives. Neither side seemed to be bothering each other. I told them to calm down and shut up, telling them Uka would return. A month and a half passed when Tiny manage to get the mail and dumped the whole thing on top of my eggs and sausages.
"TINY! I told you to stop doing that!" I cried, "Don't you ever remember!"
"Not really." Tiny shrugged.
"Insufferable mutant." I grumbled. I started to look through the mail. Lots of worthless junk and spam I had no need for. I merely tossed them over the floor. Ripper Roo usually picked them up and take them to his room. When I asked him why, he merely said, "Hobby." I was afraid to ask any further.
"Anything interesting, Cortex?" Koala Kong replied as he slowly lowered the morning newspaper Tiny also fetched (so it was a bit shredded), then he turned his attention back to the comics, "OOH! Family circus! I love these!"
"Family circus? That lame-ass comic?" Pinstripe groaned, "Its one strip, one giant circle of them doing…well, unfunny crap. Now Garfield is where it is. That cat takes shit from no one, my kinda guy!"
"Would you two shut up?" I cried, "Who cares about comic strips? They're just comic strips! Why can't you all grow up?" Silence.
"Besides, everybody knows the Peanuts are the best comic strips ever." I slowly added as I continued to toss out the junk mail. Just when I thought these would be useless crap as it was most of the time, I manage to stumble upon a letter written for "Matsuki Ichigoya" from "Hanako Ichigoya". I almost choked on my tea.
"Oh, my God." I whispered.
"What? "Gin asked. Then everyone else joined.
"What? What? What? What!"
"SHUT UP!" I cried, and then I stared at the envelope, light blue with a nice stamp of the current Japanese emperor, "…It's from my sister."
"YOu hAVe A sIStEr?" Moe asked, looking dumbfounded, which wasn't much different then what he normally expresses. I quickly opened the letter and started to read it.
"Awww, TINY no can read it! It all in gibberish!" Tiny cried.
"You can't even read basic English." I muttered, "Now go away, you're blocking my light."
"OOh! OoH!" Moe cried out as he starred at the letter, "Is It iN ChInESe? I knOw It's ChINEse! it's defIniTEly ChINEse! Or MAybE sOMe sOrt oF ASIaN lANguAGe, liKe…ChInESe?"
"It's Japanese, you twits!" I cried, "You ALL know I'm Japanese! So it makes it pretty damn obvious my sister is Japanese!"
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, your sister could be adopted or maybe your mom or dad was Chinese or…" I glared at Pinstripe who made that theory. He immediately became quiet and I continued to read. I was lucky, nobody in this castle could read Japanese. After I had finished, I was in shock.
"Oh. My God." I whispered.
"What? What? What? What?"
"SHUT UP!" I cried, "Good GOD! I must've been HORRIBLY drunk when I made you all!" They all stared at me wondering what the deal is with the letter and not on how horribly pissed I was.
"It's a letter from my sister…she's…coming over." They all stared at me like they were confused.
"…Today…." Again with the staring.
"…Here…in this castle…" Stare.
"…….Right now…" Stare.
"….Period." Then they all raised a commotion. I just wanted to kill myself right now at this time.
Year X, Day X
The letter was pretty basic and simple (translated in English by moi):
"Dearest Older Brother,
Many years have passed since we have last seen each other. I have thought
of you many times and of our past memories together. It has been too long.
We are no longer children now and are adults. I think it is time I have to come
and visit you. I wish to show you a surprise, a sort of present for you for being
A kind and caring brother. I wish you would have come to Japan. My father made
me head of his company. Mother is also doing well. I hope you have heard of that
incident that happened in Japan. A being known as "Neo Cortex" once took over Japan
and ruined the entire world. We would have died if it wasn't for that "Crash"
person. We are doing fine and that "Cortex" person has disappeared. I have heard you
owned a castle below Australia. I will be coming over soon with my surprise.
I wish to see you soon, my brother."
-Hanako
She didn't know I was Neo Cortex. She wasn't aware at all. That was one problem that was fixed, but unfortunately it filled me with bitter sadness that I would have to lie to the only family member besides Crash that I actually gave a damn about. I wanted all the mutated henchmen to leave incase they would scare her, but they wished to stay. I gave in and told everyone to call me, "Mr. Ichigoya." Tiny and Moe had the most difficult time saying it and Ripper enjoyed saying it too much. It was now always, "ICHIGOYA! ICHIGOYA!" every time he saw me.
"Shame you have to lie to your sister like that, Cortex." Gin shook his head.
"Oh, shut up." I mumbled, "It's for her own good. No reason why I should involve my sister in the affairs of Neo Cortex. It'll only lead to disaster."
She came late at night and everyone was just thrilled to meet her. When she and I met, well…we practically cried in each other's arms as we hugged and shouted cries of "I miss you!" in Japanese. Everyone just stared. She was no longer that young girl I knew, but as much as she was in her late 30's, she still looked youthful. Her hair was tied in a bun, but her violet eyes and warm smile still stayed. She was obviously taller (as well as taller then me), too. Although she was still only a small 5'3 in height, which was normal for Asian women, really. We Asian men aren't that tall either. When she came in, she wore a brown coat that Pinstripe immediately helped her out with. Underneath it was a white turtleneck sweater and a knee length black skirt.
"My friends, this is my little sister (And NO recurring short jokes about me compare to my sister), Hanako, Hanako, my friends." I introduced.
"Oh, you have unique friends." She spoke in the best English she could, "So, these are "Anthros". I love animals."
"Come, come, sit." I gestured as I grabbed her hand and took her to the nearest couch.
"Oh, but I must show you surprise. Present." She motioned.
"You can show it to me later, right now, let's chat and tell me what you've been up to." I motioned.
"Oh, but I must show it now." She insisted.
"Well, alright, if you must." I cleared my throat, "It couldn't be anything remotely interesting as yo-" I immediately stopped when I saw what my so-called present was: A girl.
"This is my daughter, Minako." She smiled, "Her English name is Nina." Everyone stared. I was mostly in shock. SHE was my present! I had a niece?
"Whoa, Corte-I mean, Mr. Ichigoya, you have a niece." Pinstripe gasped.
"I have a niece." I repeated, "I have a niece." She was rather…unique in appearance. A black school girl uniform with matching shoes and white socks, a seriously huge over bite, black hair, and most interestingly, pale skin. She was a fitting definitional of "goth".
"Nina, this is your Uncle Matsuki."
"…Hi." She mumbled slowly and quietly.
"…Hello." I sheepishly waved.
Year 18, Day 42
Coco cheered as she received another letter from Tobias. She hungrily read it, finished it, and squealed like she won tickets to her favorite singer.
"Why the hell do you two even send letters at each other when the orphanage is a short 15 minute walk!" I scoffed, "Ya know, trees are dying because you're doing something completely pointless." Coco stuck her tongue out at me.
"Hey, I'm worried about him!" Coco scoffed back, "He's my boyfriend!"
"It's pointless." I repeated as I rolled my eyes and continued trying to finish a Zelda game on my Game Boy.
"Playing video games is pointless." Coco retorted back, "Yea, I admit playing some games are fun, but I don't make a hobby of playing it for a gazillion hours!"
"Shut up." I mumbled.
"Don't you ever get dizzy looking at the screen?"
"No." With that said, I did start to feel dizzy. It was when Coco left to go back to her room that I fainted again.
Year X, Day X
The two months were nearly up when Hanako and Nina still stayed. She and Nina were used to the other's company. They, in return, treated her with respect, like she was their mother. Then again, the apple wasn't far from the tree: She entertained Tiny and Moe with children's story of Japanese folklores, did the chores and dishes (even after I insisted that she was a guest and that she should rest), wiped Ripper Roo's face when he got food all over, and then some. It shocked me even more to find Gin falling head over heels for her.
"Your sister…she's the greatest." Gin sighed.
"What th-Back off! She's my sister!" I cried like the overprotective brother I was.
Hanako and I have chatted for quite some time over the weeks. My sister was head of my father's company. She married a man our parents forced her on and had Nina. Her husband unfortunately divorced out of difficulty (it was a sort of arranged marriage and they had little in common), so he left. Hanako, in secret from her parent's knowledge also practices as a Shaman for a Shinto temple. Hanako always had a fascination for that sort of thing since she was little and she always told me she felt connected to the spirits, like they were telling her something.
Her daughter, Nina grew up as best as she could, but from what Hanako was telling me, she was having trouble.
"She is a good girl with some high morals, but she is having difficulty in school." Hanako sighed, "Her head is always up in the clouds. A reason I have brought her to you is because you are very smart. I was wondering if she can stay with you until her school grades are better."
"Me? You…you want me to spend time with my niece?" I gasped. If I kept her, she'll know of my entire "Neo Cortex" thing.
"Please, she is only 14." Hanako begged, "She is still young and must be nurtured with education and other members of the family." My sister stared at me in the eyes and I sighed.
"But we haven't met for years, how do you know I'm still the same reliable brother I am now?" I asked.
"You certainly made quite a nice living for one thing, dear brother." Hanako gently smiled, "The spirits have told me Nina is best with you. I trust them and I trust you, older brother."
I never truly believed in ghosts and spirits, but with seeing Uka Uka hovering over me over the years I've known him, it was hard to decline her offer, besides, it was my sister! I didn't give her a proper answer, instead, I said and I quote; "Give me time to think, will ya?"
Nina was a strange and unique girl. Her pale skin came in the same form of skin disease that caused me to have yellow skin. I guess it runs in the family. I also learned Nina was a clever individual, as evident this one time when I caught her snooping in my room.
"Nina! What are you doing here! "I cried, "You know better then to sneak up on someone's room, let alone your own uncle!"
"I got curious…you feel rather...suspicious." Nina muttered, "So I did some snooping…found your little secret."
"……What little secret?" I gulped. She held up some files I had of plans of World domination.
"Never realized my own uncle was the nefarious "Neo Cortex." She grinned, "Ain't that a kick in the pants?"
"You're not going to tell your mother, now are you?" I asked.
"I don't think I really have to." She shrugged, coming close to me. She was a rather small height for her age (only a small 4'11), but she was still taller then me and in doing so, stared down at me, "My mother can speak with spirits, they never stirred her wrong…she probably already knows."
"Cock and Bull." I muttered, "Look, she must not know I am "Neo Cortex." I do not want her involved! I care for her too much to. In fact, I'm beginning to have doubts on watching over you. Your mother entrusted me with you to educate you better and lead a good life."
"Mm-hmm." Nina spoke in an uninterested matter as she flipped through the plans I had. I quickly took the files from her.
"This is a great concern! Your mother is not evil and neither should you be!" I cried.
"I don't believe in that crap." Nina yawned.
"Don't believe in what?" I gasped.
"Evil." Nina muttered, "Just words. There's no good or evil, I don't really think they exist, really. Maybe I've been influenced by mom too much. Dad always thought I was some weirdo…one of the reasons why he left us."
"This isn't some things you Goths ponder about, is it?"
"It's not just us Goths, dear Uncle." Nina sighed, obviously offended, "Even the head football player in school sits down to think of life and our purpose in the world. They have their beliefs, I have mines."
Her little speech made me change my mind. She obviously didn't care for my world dominations nor did she probably cared if Crash tried to stop it. I decided to keep her. I felt the need to learn something by watching her…
X Year, X Day
We took her to the airport. As Hanako started to leave, exchanges of good-byes and presents were plentiful. Gin practically begged her to stay and gave her his e-mail address and phone number. I proceeded to smack him. She merely smiled a little and said her final farewell to Nina.
"Be good to your uncle and above all, trust in your heart." Hanako softly spoke, then she turned to me and spoke in a near whisper so only I could hear, "My dear brother, be careful. Watch out for someone of your past coming back to haunt you and the one you love more then you do me." She smiled warmly and left. As her airplane flew away in minutes, I sat on a chair and pondered Hanako's words.
"Impossible." I muttered, "I never told her about Crash."
"She's a Shaman, she knows a lot more then she lets on, Cortex." Tropy's voice rang inside my head. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard his voice and notice how close he was to me.
Once we reached back home, we were even more shocked to see Uka Uka waiting for us.
"Uka Uka! Where were you?" I gasped, "Are you okay?"
"Yes…I must tell you all something, come…sit." He was unusually soft spoken, but we all sat. The floating mask eyed Nina.
"Oh, my niece." I weakly smiled, "Nina…umm…Uka Uka."
"Yo." She calmly spoke as though she's seen floating masks before.
"What do you wish to chat about, O fiery one?" Gin asked, obviously poking a little fun with the name he created for him.
"The Apocalypse."
To Be Continued…
………………
Author's Notes (IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ TO THOSE CURIOUS OF MY ABSENCE):
1.) I best explain this first. First off, I apologize for the EXTREME lateness of this story. Unfortunately, my computer and the internet decided they wanted to screw with me long enough to piss me off by not working (2 WHOLE MONTHS!), so I couldn't be online for a freakishly long time.
I notice some were quite upset that I left without saying anything, but I couldn't really find another computer to tell why I wasn't here. Yea, you're upset, but I can't help it. I'm no comp expert, so the next thing I don't do anything for a long time, it's my computer's fault. PLEASE try to contain yourself until I return the next time my computer does something stupid.
2.) Second, if you guys haven't noticed, I have reedited ALL the previous "Experiment Bandicoot" chapters, fixing grammar errors, adding new scenes, and changing some minor things around. So things such as different speeches for characters (like Tawna having an Australian accent for one), among others. It's not a necessary read as I didn't change much that would alter anything story wise, but if you must, then go ahead.
3.) Thirdly, I better explain this one before I receive more angry comments. Namely, why I didn't do Crash Twinsanity adaptation in here. Not doing adaptations of racings and party games was pretty reasonable, and GBA ones I didn't do since I currently don't own any sort of handheld. The reason CT was left is mainly because this story has been in works since before Twinsanity's time. I didn't feel the need to change it around to fit it in. It'll only be such a hassle, nothing to mention some of CT's storyline don't fit well with mines, but it's the first reason mostly of why CT is not adapted. But the one thing I decided to use from Twinsanity is the introduction of Nina. While Twinsanity has hinted near the end (THIS IS A BIG SPOILER) on Cortex's true relationship with Nina as her being his possible daughter, she just reminds being a niece here. I mainly did it simply because Crash, being Cortex's son, already has enough siblings as it is, a dead brother and an adopted sister. Not to mention this is a spotlight on Cortex and Crash and their odd father/son relationship. The others are merely more or less obstacles and challenges they pass throughout their lives.
Oh, and for those who don't remember, Tobias has appeared before in the story. Check in earlier chapters.
