Episode 3: Cream of Love
Team NiGHTS and Zack just arrived back to the headquarters to take a breather for a moment. They all went into the living room and turned on the huge screen to watch television. Cream still had her box that Kunimitsu gave her and placed it on her lap. She smiled as she looked down at it.
"I can hardly wait to see what's in here!" She exclaimed. Tikal chuckled.
"Why don't you open it?" She asked her. "You can go in our bedroom and open it."
"She did say that I shouldn't open it in front of you guys, right?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. Alright, then." Cream stood up and walked to the room as she spoke. "I'll bet this gift is so special, I'll scream with delight the moment I open the lid." She closed the door behind her after that. Tikal smiled as she saw her.
"She must be really trustworthy about having a gift. Anybody agreeing to Cream that she'll scream when she opens her present, say 'aye'." Tikal commanded as she raised her hand.
"Aye!" NiGHTS and Zack repeated as they did the same.
Inside the bedroom...
Cream jumped on the giant beanbag and placed her present on her lap. She took a deep breath before she spoke.
"Okay," Cream started. "This is the moment of truth. When I open this box, I'll hope for a gift that's so stunning, it'll send me crying until I hug NiGHTS. Well, here I go..."
Those were her final words before she slowly lifted the lid of the box. It shone a bright golden light as she opened it. She quickly took out her sunglasses and placed them on. She looked back in the box and looked astonished.
"Oh, my God! It's something I've always wanted!" She exclaimed as she picked up the present from the box. "It's a giant Day gecko egg! I've always wanted a giant gecko for a pet!" She softly tapped the egg as she put an ear to it. She heard squealing from it and smiled.
"Awww! It squealed. Must be close to hatching soon. I'll ask NiGHTS. She knows more about gecko care than me, since my mom's not here." She struggled to pick up, but managed. Then, she slowly walked out of the room. Zack, Tikal, and NiGHTS noticed her and looked shocked.
"What the hell is that?" Zack asked. Cream settled the large egg down.
"It's a giant Day gecko egg. Kunimitsu must've known that I'm fascinated with geckos. Do you see how tall it is compared to me?" She asked. NiGHTS measured carefully.
"You're only 2 feet shorter than the egg itself." She replied. "That's incredible."
"That can mean only one thing," Tikal added. "When it hatches, it's gonna be big enough for her to ride on, like a horse."
"Really!" Cream asked.
"Yeah. It'll be an exciting experince for you."
"Alright!" Cream embraced Tikal. "Hopefully, you'll be right."
"I'm always right." She proudly replied.
"Hopefully, it'll hatch by the time our next mission starts, which is Croc." NiGHTS randomly said. Zack nodded.
"When it hatches, I'll gonna stand back because I haven't seen geckos before." He weakly said to his girlfriend, who patted him on the shoulder.
"I've seen geckos, Zack. They're harmless. All they feed on is plants, fruits, and vegetables." She calmly told him. He exhaled with relief.
"Thank God. So, even though it's gonna be a big size, it's still gonna feed on plants and stuff?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Then, the screen automatically made Argos appear on the screen. They're next mission was about to begin.
"Team NiGHTS, Zack, your next mission involves with Croc. Now, this mission I can tell you. Croc has been watching the ancient gems of the Gobbos for months now. There's a new boss on the loose. His name is Dark Dragon. He stole the gems from Croc while he was asleep one night and now it's up to you to find him and defeat him. Then, bring the gems back to the Gobbos, but there's an exception. Croc agreed to volunteer to help you out. So, Zack... you have to stay here and let the ladies go." He explained. Zack's jaw dropped.
"What do ya mean, I have to stay?" He asked.
"We can't allow more than two rabbits to help on this mission. Therefore, Cream will be going and that means you stay here. End of discussion." He was about to click off, but Cream stopped him.
"WAIT!" She yelled. Argos looked at her.
"What is it, Cream?" He asked. Cream held up the heavy egg.
"Kunimitsu gave me this giant Day gecko as a present before we left from the last mission." She replied. "He's big enough to be my 'horse' and I can ride him, if that's okay."
"Really? Can you prove it?"
"Sure." She placed the egg down and it started to crack the moment she stepped back three steps. It began to crack even more until the gecko's head appeared through the egg shell. He had a rounded, but pointed head with big, black eyes and a wide mouth when it's opened. Then, his tail appeared in the back. He was now an egg with a tail and a head. He squealed with delight as he was rolling around, trying to break out of his hardshell prison. Cream ran up to him to help him out. She grabbed a piece of the egg that was near his head and pulled some of it off. That gave him the opportunity to squeeze two of his feet through the small opening. That made Cream step back and let him do the rest on his own. He finally broke free of the front side and ripped the whole half apart while his back legs popped out from the back. He now had the other half of the egg shell looking like a personal diaper. When he sat, that piece broke into tiny pieces. He was completely hatched out of his egg as he looked at Cream with affection. He squealed again, which made her run back to him and hug his head softly.
"Hello, big boy." She greeted happily. "Are you ready to go on a mission with us?"
He nodded frantically, panting like a dog. She rubbed the top of his head.
"Aw. He's so cute. Can we take him, Argos? Please?" Cream asked.
Argos thought about it for a few seconds.
"Alright, your gecko can go with you, but you only have to treat him as if he was your pet. Got it?" he replied. Cream nodded.
"I will. Thanks." She replied back. NiGHTS was ready to teleport.
"Is everybody ready?" She asked. Tikal, Cream, and the gecko nodded. As they were walking towards her, Cream decided something.
"I'm gonna call you, Randy. Is that alright?" She asked him. He smiled lovingly as he licked her face. She giggled.
"I guess that's a 'yes'." She said to herself. She climbed on Randy's back and she made a perfect fit. Tikal made a few minor adjustments.
"If you're gonna ride on him like a horse, then he has to have the same equipment as a horse." She said to Cream as she pulled out a saddle pad, saddle, and the brindle to steer him with. Cream placed on the saddle pad and saddle as Tikal strapped the brindle on his face. Randy cooperated by opening his mouth when she placed the metal part in his mouth. She made sure that it was in there completely and cued him to close it slowly. He did so. Cream just strapped on the saddle and tightened the belt under his belly securely and climbed back on his back and grabbed the steering rope to the brindle. Now, he was ready.
"Okay, NiGHTS. Let's go and help Croc out." Tikal commanded as she stood still. Randy did the same, having Cream on his back. NiGHTS repeated her little spell and off they went to the Land of the Gobbos through hyperspace.
Later...
Team NiGHTS appeared in the middle of a meadow. Randy started to sniff around, which made Cream giggle.
"He's really curious." She said to herself. She held on to the brindle tight as he continued to walk around. NiGHTS and Tikal decided to follow him. He actually led them to Croc's cave, along with all the Gobbos. They were waiting for them the whole time. Cream pulled on the rope softly and Randy stopped. She got off, still holding the rope as she was walking him. Tikal and NiGHTS came in after that. They all smiled at the small little fuzzballs sitting with Croc. They were having a bonfire, roasting marshmallows.
"Welcome to the Land of the Gobbos." Croc greeted. "Dark Dragon took my ancient gemstones and now, he's nowhere to be found. I did, however, snatch this from him when I saw him at the last moment." He laid down a sack of money in front of them. NiGHTS placed a hand under her chin. "If we succeed, you can keep me and the money. If we fail, we have to be eaten by the Dark Dragon himself. Deal?"
NiGHTS finished her thinking before she finally shook on it.
"It's a done deal, Croc. Do you know where he might be hiding at this time?" She replied. Croc pointed to a dark forrest.
"He's camaflauged in the the Gloomy Forrest. We have to be very careful." He replied back. Cream got on her giant Day gecko.
"Then, let's ride!" She exclaimed as they walked into the forrest, waving goodbye to the Gobbos.
Later...
Team NiGHTS and Croc were walking into the Gloomy Forrest. So far, Dark Dragon didn't try to ambush them. They were on a good start.
"Stay close, ladies. It's easy to get lost in here." Croc reminded as they kept walking. Cream and Randy obviously wasn't listening as they went to a different direction in the fork they came across. They went to the left instead of following Croc and the others on the right. They were curious about the forrest. As they were still walking, they heard a small shuffle in the bushes and Randy stopped.
"What was that?" Cream asked her lizard. He squealed as he back up towards the bush that was shaking and was startled by what they saw. They both screamed in horror while they ran.
As for Team NiGHTS and Croc...
They were still on their path when Tikal suddenly stopped. This puzzled NiGHTS and Croc.
"Tikal, what is it?" NiGHTS asked. Tikal heard Cream's screams for help. She gasped.
"It's Cream! She's in trouble!" She exclaimed. NiGHTS turned around to tell Croc, but he was gone.
"Croc?" She asked herself. "This is serious, Tikal. C'mon." She allowed Tikal to climb on her back as she flew off into the gloomy sky.
Meanwhile...
Randy was knocked out and covered in blood as Cream stood back, looking terrified. She was breathing uncontrollably as the Dark Dragon came from the shadows.
"You're... you're..." Cream tried to speak.
"I'm the Dark Dragon!" He finished. "If you think you're getting my precious gems, think again!" He chuckled with evil in his tone as he picked up the helpless rabbit and squeezed the life out of her. She screamed at the top of her lungs as he did so.
"HA, HA! Suffer while you can, little bunny!" He yelled through her screams. Then, he felt a sudden hard tap on his shoulder and that made him release Cream, who collasped unconciously on the ground, right next to Randy.
"Who's there!" He furiously asked. Croc came from the shadows, carrying a bag of rocks.
"You leave my friend alone!" He yelled with determination as he threw another rock. A few seconds later, NiGHTS and Tikal arrived to see the action. They decided to give him a hand. Tikal ran to Cream and Randy as NiGHTS floated in mid-air, preparing to attack. Tikal was able to wake Cream up, but Randy was still unconcious. This was starting to worry Cream.
"What is if he's dead?" She cried. Tikal patted her rabbit friend on the shoulder.
"Then, we can still revive him." She replied. The Dark Dragon finally had it up to here and flamed NiGHTS, but missed completely. She had him distracted. This was Croc's chance to run over to Cream, Tikal, and Randy to check on them. He embraced Cream as he spoke.
"Are you okay, Cream?" He asked. Cream nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. They looked into their own eyes before they closed in on each other and kissed passonately on the mouth. Cream moaned as she wrapped her arms around him. Tikal smiled while Randy finally woke up from a 30 minute coma.
"Looks like Cream really has a crush on Croc. Everybody's getting crushes. NiGHTS got a crush on Zack and now, Cream has a crush on Croc. I wonder if I'm gonna be next." Tikal told Randy. He looked confused about what she was saying, but nodded anyway.
As for NiGHTS and Dark Dragon, NiGHTS was beating him down big time! He finally decided to give up and surrender before she delivered her final blow.
"STOP! Okay, okay! You win!" He pleaded. NiGHTS lowered her hands and her spirit particle disapeared. Dark Dragon pulled out the bag full of Croc's gems right before he roared with pain and then, exploded into tiny stars. Croc stopped the passionate kiss with Cream and inspected the bag. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Yep. All 90 of them are in here. Thanks, ladies!" He said to the girls. They walked up to him.
"No problem, Croc." Tikal replied. She was holding Randy by his bridle. Cream got on top of him and looked at Croc with a smile.
"You meant to kiss me, didn't you?" She asked. Croc blushed as he looked away.
"Well... yeah. I have a small crush on you." He replied as he took her hand. "Can I stay with you, Cream?"
"I don't know. NiGHTS, can he? Since you have your crush with us?"
"I guess. If he loves you that much, then yeah. He can stay." NiGHTS replied. Croc grabbed his bag and hopped on Randy behind Cream and held on to her ears.
"I have to say goodbye to my gobbo friends first." Croc reminded. Cream smiled.
"We'll be back, girls." She told NiGHTS and Tikal. They nodded in response.
"Hiya!" Cream yelled as she whipped her rein and Randy responded to this by walking towards the gobbo cave. When they arrived, Croc jumped off of him and placed the gems in front of all his little fuzzy friends.
"I've got the gems back and Dark Dragon is gone for good!" He announced. The gobbos cheered after that. "Now, I can stay with Cream."
"We're gonna miss you, Croc." They replied in unison. They all surrounded the green reptile and gave him a group hug. Cream and Randy were watching and they were in tears. After the big embrace, they released and allowed Croc to go by so he could get back on Randy. He looked back at them for a final glance at his only fuzzy friends. They all waved.
"Goodbye, Croc!" They called before Cream whipped her rein and Randy walked back into the forrest. When they arrived back, NiGHTS chanted her rhyme and they disappeared into hyperspace back to their headquarters to await their next mission.
To be continued...