Nightfall - Chapter 6
Aku Aku looked up to the stars. He had witnessed the deaths of so many, of heros and warriors, of villains and foes, of friends and relatives. Immortality, once given to him as a gift, more and more turned out to be a curse he couldn't escape from. In nights like these he tended to contemplate his destiny. He had spent his entire life fighting evil and defending good, but when darkness fell upon him he wondered if this eternal war could ever be settled once and for all.
He continued staring at the sky, but suddenly he sensed somebody behind his back; he whirled round, only to see a black shadow disappearing in the nearby jungle. Aku gasped, but instead of permitting the shock to overwhelm his emotions he slowly moved forwards the edge of the jungle, painstakingly scanning the area, yet without success. The darkness of the thicket swallowed everything, giving neiter a clue of the creature's presence nor of its possible escape route.
Coming to the conclusion that he had been tricked by his overstrung and tired mind Aku Aku turned his back on the mysterious world that lay behind the jungle edge and hovered forwards the world he belonged to, his home, the cosy cottage where his protégés were fast asleep ...
A pair of green eyes observed each of the mask's movements through a gap in the foliage. Cowering motionless in the shade of a shrub Coco waited patiently for Aku to float back into the house. As soon as he had entered the hut the young bandicoot leapt to her feet and rushed deeper into the undergrowth. Dressed completely in black her silhouette fused with the omnipresent darkness, only her blond hair that fell in soft curls over her shoulders was glistening in the pale moonlight.
The route she had taken was still fresh in her mind, nevertheless she was relieved when the clearing appeared in front of her. Leaving the darkness behind Coco moved on towards the peaceful pond until she reached her brother's grave. The sight of the tombstone sent shivers down her spine and erased every single word from her tongue, but she knew that this was most likely the last chance to say good-bye to Crash. Kneeling beside the simple stone she paused for a moment before she subsequently put a small bunch of flowers onto the gravestone. She quickly stood up again and turned round, ready to take on the long way that awaited her.
Once again she had not the slightest problem with finding the right path. The jungle had left some marks on her body, scratches and soft bruises, but nothing that seriously bothered her. What bothered her instead was the question she had not been able to answer yet: how was she supposed to enter Cortex' stronghold?
Hiding behind a tall tree Coco observed the situation, sighing in frustration. A dangerous silence surrounded the castle that seemed to pierce the black sky; Coco shivered at the mere thought of entering this dreadful building.
Her hand glided into a side-pocket of her trousers and took out a small item, her electronic notebook. It contained copies of every important file on her laptop, but was considerably smaller and therefore more practically. Coco opened some blueprints of the stronghold and checked them for possible weak spots.
All in all there were three ways to invade the castle: the main entrance, the hidden door Crunch had discovered and a hatchway on the roof.
Coco switched off the notebook and fastened it on her belt. She held a strong aversion against the way through the main door, and the door she and Crunch had used for their flight had certainly been repaired by now.
Coco looked up to the roof of the castle. She realized that the windows, some of them dark, some illuminated, were furnished with trelliswork, so she could try and use the bars to scale the roof. Climbing up all the way to the top would bring her to the edge of her powers, but as she had already figured out, there was no other way.
She took a deep breath, gathered all her bravery and whiped every disturbing concern away from her mind. And then she dashed out of the safe forest, hurried over the illuminated clearing where she would be easy to spot and finally stepped into the shadow of the castle. Just as her hand reached for the lowest bar her sensitive ears picked up a soft, barely audible sound, a soft humming.
Electricity! The windows were secured with high voltage.
Immediately she pulled her hand away from the bar, knowing that one single touch would be enough to send her into unconsciousness.
But things got even worse when she heard laughter and footsteps. At least two persons were somewhere near, most likely some of Cortex' minions on a patrol. And they came closer with every second that passed by.
"Oh no ... please", Coco whimpered, desperately scanning the area for a hideout. She was sure that she had only a few seconds left until the minions would round the corner; not enough time to run back into the jungle.
Somewhere under the panic that controlled her thinking a crazy idea grew, a risky and dangerous plan that would most likely fail, but it was all Coco had. Closing her eyes she prepared herself for transforming her idea from thought into reality, hoping with all her heart that the plan would work ...
"Hey, look at this, mate!" Dingodile pointed at something in the darkness.
Tiny scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Tiny do not see anything ..." he confessed while the hybrid approached whatever his eyes had just spotted.
Dingodile narrowed his eyes. It took some time until he realized who was lying in front of him.
"Well well, if it ain't Coco Bandicoot", he smirked. She looked quite different than the last time he had seen her; instead of the usual jeans and t-shirt she wore large black pants and a tight black top and her hair, always tied together to a ponytail, now fell in open curls over her shoulders. She seemed to be unconscious. Dingodile kneeled down beside her and checked her pulse.
"She's still alive. I wonder what -" His glance met the bars, their buzzing answered his unspoken question.
Dingodile laughed to himself and shook his head. "So you're supposed to be a smart one? Sorry, can't agree to that, sheila ..." He picked up the light girl, changed his direction and moved back to the main entrance where they had just come from.
"Go and inform the doc about her presence", he instructed his companion. "I'll take her to the dungeon ... once more."
While he did so Dingodile pondered the question why the bandicoot had returned to the castle all alone and without any weapons. She truly had made herself an easy prey.
He reached his destination, the dark dungeon of the castle. Pushing the door open by using his tail he put the captive girl down in the middle of a cell, then turned his back on her and left the room.
"Hope you'll stay a bit longer this time", he sneered, but when he turned round to close the door his grin froze.
The cell was empty.
Confusion spread out on the hybrid's face. "What the ..." He asked, stepping back into the middle of the cell.
He noticed the movement behind his back too late; Coco had already left her position by the door where she had waited for her enemy to re-enter the cell and shut the door right in Dingodile's face.
He jumped at the door with an angry yell and threw his body against the wood. The door didn't move, and Dingodile slowly realized that now he was the captivated one.
Growling and yelling in pure rage he hammered his heavy fists against the wood. "Oh, you'll be so sorry for that, sheila", he snarled, "just wait till I get my hands on you ..."