Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Descent
Chapter 2: The Shadows Casted...
I traversed this dark and creepy passageway, brushing aside some cobwebs that were in the way. It felt a little claustrophobic going through it like the passage was going to suddenly close in and make me as flat as that piece of paper.
Thankfully, I didn't have to spend any longer here when the walls began spreading outwards slightly and I came across a door disguised as a wall. Opening it to reveal a new room.
My thoughts were still on that memory and what it was all about, not remembering enough to have any proper context behind them. Why can't I remember anything else before I woke up on the floor?
With me being the only living thing around here, I doubt the answers will come out of thin air.
The room was a little dusty, indicating that it hasn't been used for some time and I could see some cobwebs about as well. Judging from all the stuff and nick-nacks scattered around in here, it seems to be a room used for dumping things out of sight and out of mind. That made getting out of the room a little annoying but I soon got out of it.
The hallway here looked a little like the one I started out in, albeit with better lighting which made navigation somewhat easier to do. The hallway has a one way path as the other led to a dead end and I obviously opted to go for the former.
I then spotted a door to my right along the way. The curiosity in me made myself go to the door and open it up before walking on in. There's nothing too interesting to write about this room except that there's a chair, a rug, a wooden desk, a wax-candle held inside a glass jar and a piece of written paper on the top surface of the desk which I promptly grabbed.
'Subject #208 Diary Entry: 19/01/1996. I've observed the subject's behaviour for a while since the beginning of January and the tests I have put him through so far, he's been passing each one of them with flying colours. While I'm keeping note of his progress, I have noticed the male bandicoot's attraction towards Subject #209…'
Subject #209, who is this other subject? I kept reading the letter in hopes to learn more about this other subject.
'...The female eastern-barred bandicoot subject seems to like him as well based on her interactions with him and the way she speaks to him. This is rather interesting since bandicoots are known to be solitary creatures by nature and both the males and females only ever come together to mate with each other much like any other members of the marsupial Peramelidae family because of how they're conceived…'
So Subject #209 is a bandicoot just like me and I apparently have a liking for her? Why am I struggling to remember her then?
'...Perhaps if his attraction are more based on human emotions than animalistic instincts, then I'll have to look into this one more and examine how exactly the two bandicoots behave around each other. If they're attracted to each other the way humans are attracted to each other, then it could open up new scientific possibilities such as the process of reproduction and among other things. A fascinating development indeed. Signed, Dr Cortex.'
The moment I set the paper down, a memory suddenly came to me…
I find myself in a caged cell the size of a small office after what seems like my third, fourth or perhaps fifth test, kept here whenever Dr Cortex didn't need me for his trials. Escorted to the cell by these strange brown haired skinny-looking men in white lab attires with round glasses and pointy noses compared to the squat features of Dr Cortex and all looking identical to one another.
Are all these men twins or from a family of similar-looking men that Dr Cortex hired for the job? I was so preoccupied with the thought that I failed to notice these men coming into the room where my cell is in with someone new until I heard one of them letting out a grunt as someone stood on his foot.
When I turned my attention to what was going on, I saw a bunch of those funny-looking assistants huddled around someone that I couldn't see too well as they headed towards my direction.
The men would put someone into a cage cell right next to mine and close it before locking up the being inside it. They then proceed to leave the room afterwards with only the new cellmate left to give me any company.
I went to check on the other person that sat on the floor of the cell, wondering if they're okay. When I laid eyes on the new person, I felt my breathing stop with my heart rate going up and everything around me going out of focus as I stared at such a beautiful sight...
Since I was created, I've grown accustomed to the sight of my creators Dr Cortex and Dr Brio and their assistants. Funny looking hairless creatures that look different from me. Becoming used to their serious expressions they'd have whenever I meet them after the tests including one where they examine my liking for a particular fruit over everything else.
Yet the appearance of this person is something new to me, something unlike anything else I've been seeing so far in my life. A feeling of familiarity, a sensation I hadn't experienced before… And a type of vibe that's different from what I get with my creators.
Looking at this person, I can spot gold hair, a pair of green eyes, a pinkish red top, a pair of blue jean shorts similar to mine but are in a hip-cut length, a pair of sneakers and an orange fur coat like mine. This other being is a bandicoot just like me.
Additionally, this other bandicoot appears to have physical and facial features not found on anyone else I've met up to this point. This one is more on the feminine side than the rest of them… She's a female bandicoot.
And she's the most beautiful person I have ever seen. She then takes notice of me with those lovely sparkling green eyes of hers'.
"Another bandicoot just like me…" These were the first words she ever uttered to me and her voice is unlike any other in this place, soft and gentle is what I can describe her voice as. "At least I won't be in here all by myself."
I nodded in agreement. I didn't mind being on my own before but with her here, I don't mind the company either.
"You another one of Dr Cortex's creations?" She asks me, regarding me with a thoughtful gaze. Since she mentioned Dr Cortex, I replied with another nod as a reply.
"That makes the two of us then." The female bandicoot said. She then proceeded to get up to her feet and there I saw that she stood taller than me, tall enough that I'm more or less at eye level with her chest and I had to look up just to see her face again.
"Any idea on where we are?" She asks again. Grabbing hold of the metal bars and leaning over a bit, seemingly to make it easier on herself to be at eye level with me since she easily towers over me with her amazonian stature.
"Erm… I think we're in a castle and somewhere on an island…" I hear myself reply to her, surprising me as I didn't think I could communicate verbally. "Where are we exactly though, I'm not really sure…"
"I see…" The other bandicoot nodded. "We're in the same boat together."
"Boat? Like the thing that floats on water?"
"It's what I heard from that other person named Br… Br…"
"Brio?" I see her nodding to that.
"That's him. He said something about being on the same boat as Cortex or somewhere along the likes of that. Must be how they got here."
"Maybe…" I shrugged. "All I know is that they've been putting me through these trials for a few days now since they made me."
"What sort of trials?"
"Stuff like jumping on crates, breaking the crates and the works. I'm not sure what the trials are about but I know I get rewarded with Wumpas for every successful runs I do."
"Wumpas?"
"They're orange fruits with purple juices in them that apparently only grow around this side of the world."
"They taste any good?"
"Compared to the other foods they gave me, I find myself gravitating towards the Wumpas the most and Dr Cortex must have noticed it because it's what I get for treats now."
"Huh. Must be delicious then." The female bandicoot mused.
I find myself staring at her, taking in the beauty she possesses. Of course, she'd take notice of the stare and clears her throat to snap me back into reality.
"Oh, s-sorry…" I said to her in apology as I scratched the back of my head. "It's just that you're different from everyone else I've met including my creators so far and I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the colour of eyes or the colour of your hair that's different compared to everyone else around here..."
I then quickly clarified as though I might have said something to offend my cellmate and stammered out the words. "B-But it's the good kind of different, the kind of different that makes you unique and special. B-Being different is good, you know?"
The other bandicoot let off a giggle and gave me a warm, pleasant smile which indicated that I was probably being dramatic here. "Why thank you for the compliment there and the first person who's actually said something nice to me since I got off that table."
"You're welcome." I smiled back at her.
"Besides…" She clicks her tongue after she has thought of something. "I think I find you cute-looking myself~"
Suddenly, my face started feeling warm from that with my cheeks blushing a red colour and finding my rubbing what I'd think would be the bandicoot equivalent of an earlobe based on the way Brio would rub on of his own ears. "O-Oh geez, you think so?"
"Compared to everything else here, you're like the most lively person around." She said with a nod. "Those assistants that brought me in don't seem as alive as we are."
"Maybe they got off the wrong side of the bed this morning and were drinking coffee to make sure they can't get that excited on the job?" I casually said. "Guess they're not allowed to clown around on the job unless Dr Cortex is running a circus and not a laboratory."
When the female bandicoot heard what I said, she suddenly burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing she's heard all day and her laugh seems to have such an infectious effect on me as I began laughing as well. We both laughed together for a good few minutes until eventually our laughter died down and we regained our breaths moments later.
She looked at me as she wiped a tear off her left eye with a smile. "I think you're probably the nicest one round here compared to the other people I've met so far."
"Including our creators?"
"Of the people I've met… Dr Cortex seems like someone who hates fun, Dr Brio looks like someone who's got a few screws loose, those assistants of theirs have as much personality as these brickwalls here…" The blonde female bandicoot listed off. "And you appear to be someone who likes to have a good time."
"And you're someone who's got a lot of smarts up there in your head along with your beauty." I said before I could stop myself. Mentally groaning at myself for coming out with that despite the honesty behind it.
"O-Oh…" I see her brushing back a strand of her beautiful hair as she spoke and looking to one side, seemingly a bit bashful at my comment since she wasn't making eye contact with me there and her cheeks took on a reddish colour. "T-Thank you…"
I nodded and then looked down at the floors, awkwardness overtaking me here.
"Oh!" The female bandicoot then said, realising something as I looked back up to her. "I don't think we were properly introduced..."
Clearing her throat as she looks at me with a smiling expression. "Hello there, what's your name? My name is Tawna and you are?..."
The memory suddenly ended before I could learn what my name is but now I remember another face in addition to Dr Cortex and Dr N. Brio. She was definitely different from those two and I tried to think what it was…
Then the word angelic came to mind… Angelic is the apt word to describe what this Tawna one resembles. She was beautiful, nice and all around seems to be a pleasant person to be around with. I wonder where is she now and how would she handle this one in my shoes?
Whatever's the case, I find myself feeling more calm on the inside now that I remember who this Tawna person is. Wasn't feeling as nervous or scared as before.
With nothing else to find in this room nor anything else that's interesting to me, I walked on out and headed down the one-way hall which took me to a new door. I opened it and went through it to enter a new hallway with more lit torches hung up on the walls.
I walked down the halls, followed alongside the torches on the walls and none were usable to me. As soon as I came across a door on my right, I was startled and freaked out when it suddenly flew open with a cold gust of wind which put out the light of the torches in the hallway.
While thankfully nothing else came out of that door, my heart raced from the scare before it quickly calmed down and felt the chill of the cold moist air through the skin under my orange coat. I hesitantly took a peek inside and found only a room with old wooden shelves, a set of stairs leading down to them, a crack up on the ceiling where the rainwater from outside drips into a puddle seen at the very center.
I continued on down the still dark halls that then led to a left turn, bringing me to a door off to my left. There lies a bunch of chairs lying scattered all over the floors, a few shelves, a window behind a desk which provided some form of light to this otherwise dark room and what looks like a gold-coloured metal item with a glass-center laying on the floor.
I decided to pick up the item and examine it up-close, curious as to what this thing does. There were these circular things sticking out the sides and when I went to twist one of them, the room started to illuminate with the amber light which started appearing inside the glass.
With light in the room, I was able to make my way over to a door to my right and go into a nondescript room featuring more wooden shelving units filled with books where there was a door leading to a room set off to the left. I proceed to go through the door and into another room.
This room has one book shelf set off to my left, a desk ahead of me and a door to my right. Am I going to be heading through a lot of doors here in this castle? That's what I thought.
Once I went through the door to my right, I found myself in a red carpeted hall with other doors present and lit candles up on the walls. I kept the item I had found on me as I pondered over which direction I should go in. All while thinking about her.
Now that I remember her, it makes me question what exactly happened that brought me to where I ended up then and why I can't seem to remember anything before that until I locate those notes which seems to help unlock these forgotten memories. If reading more of those notes helps me regain whatever lost memories I may have, then I should keep an eye out for more notes like the ones I've found.
I tried the other doors in the hall but couldn't get them opened and they were all locked including the one on the other end of the hall. There was also a locked door somewhere in the middle section on the left side wall which didn't seem to be as good in condition as the other locked doors that I noticed.
With this side of the hall being a dead end, I headed up in the other direction and continued on that way. A few minutes later, I came to a left turn that led me to another hallway with more candle lights and doors to my left but this one included three window views providing additional light sources off to my right.
I went over to one of the windows and tried to see what was out there but they were blue-tinted, making it difficult to see what's out there on this island and get a sense of where I am in this mysterious castle.
'I hope she's okay…' I thought to myself, wondering where she is and if she's safe somewhere. The thought of not knowing what had happened to her or the fact I could barely remember my past left me with an anxious feeling in my orange chest.
Seven of the eleven doors to my left were locked while four weren't locked and I checked out the first two but there wasn't anything of interest in the rooms they're attached to except for a little sculpture of Dr Cortex's head and wall flags depicting a golden N emblem on them which I'm certain I had seen somewhere before but where exactly?
I proceeded to check out the third door and I was greeted by a reflection of myself on the mirror upon opening the door. The mirror display was what caught my attention the most and I stepped closer over to it.
The reflection depicted an orange furry creature that used to be an ordinary eastern-barred bandicoot with a more humanoid shape featuring arms and legs that of my creators. I see that I have brown hair done in a spiky style, have green eyes, brown fingerless gloves, blue shorts and a pair of sneakers.
I also noticed that I don't appear to have much of a neck myself or if I do, it's hard to tell because of the wideness of the area between my head and body not found on others including Tawna. I wasn't sure how to feel about it right now.
I'd then head to the last door on this side of the hall and step into a cosy looking room with a couch, a floor rug, a table with two chairs at it, a wall-mounted picture of a boat and a wooden cabinet set off to the left side of the room. It was less sparse compared to the other rooms and it has a candle light over at the center of the wooden table.
On the table aside from the candle, there's a fruit bowl featuring berries on it and a written sheet of paper. That made me go on over to the table and take a seat while I read the note.
'Subject #208 Diary Entry: 31/05/1996. The bandicoot subject has been doing splendidly in the last five months since I had subjected him to the bipedaliztion process and proving himself to be a far better investment than those wombats that kept leaving an ugly mess each time one of them would bang their heads on something during the tests…'
Wombats? Was he using them for those tests before I came along?
'The more he kept exceeding my expectations, I noticed I found myself developing a fondness for the bandicoot. Almost like a paternal type of fondness where I'm the parent watching their child achieving success with whatever challenges are placed in front of them… Indeed, I had found myself feeling a bit anxious watching him do yesterday's test and something I hadn't felt with any of the other subjects before…'
Was I something special to my creator? I kept on reading the note.
'It's like he's the son I've been wanting for a long time and I'm like a father to him but why? Perhaps if he continues to pass his tests, I'll know the answer myself and perhaps I will even christen him with a name worthy of the Cortex lineage. Signed, Dr Cortex.'
I sat back in my chair, processing the information I've just read. So I was more than just an ordinary subject? I'm like a son to my creator Dr Cortex and he must be the father I presumably don't have with my own. Are we close like I seem to be with Tawna?
With that in mind, I lifted one of the berries off the glass fruit bowl to have a bite to eat where it revealed something shiny underneath. I moved aside the other berries to find a gold key hidden in the fruit bowl and I promptly pocketed the key.
Getting up from the chair, I flicked a few of the berries into my mouth to eat and grabbed the lantern set next to me. Although when I got up, I had this feeling as though I was being watched by a pair of eyes but when I turned around, there weren't any there.
I exited the room and stepped out into the hallway, intending to go left to go to that door for which I presume the key is to be used for. I looked to the three windows casting a nice bluish light into this hall accompanied by the amber glow of the lit wall candles.
Then suddenly, the candle lights all went out at once and half of the hall was shrouded in darkness followed by the sounds of approaching footsteps coming from around that corner I came through. The hairs on my back stood and remained where I was until I saw a figure edging towards the blue light of the first window.
I hesitantly pointed my lantern light in that direction when it came out of the darkness and into the blue light, shining a light towards it. What the lantern light revealed was something disfigured with discoloured skin on the face and tattered white clothes like it was trying to impersonate a living being. What I saw immediately sent my heartbeats racing and fear shooting right up to my spine.
I immediately ran the other way, scared and afraid of it. That thing then started giving chase and letting off an unsettling groan that echoed through the hall while going after me. I was outrunning it but the panic was very much there and I just wanted to get away from it.
Up ahead, I sighted a locked door and I raced straight over to it. I hurriedly took out that gold key from that fruit bowl and my feelings of terror made me drop it for a moment before I quickly picked it up again. I glanced back to see that other figure which had then reached the third window slowly getting closer and closer towards me.
Seeing that, I frantically started trying to unlock the door with the key in my hand and trying to unlock it fast enough while I could hear the groans getting nearer to me. The closer it was getting, the more I wanted to be out of here.
I'm scared beyond my wits right now... Please door, open for me!
Author's Note: That flashback with Tawna is sort of how I imagine both her and Crash meeting each other for the first time following their transformation into more humanoid bandicoots would sort of go.
Will our protagonist unlock that door in time before it gets him? Tune in next time for the next instalment of Crash Bandicoot: The Dark Descent… I'll see you all another time...
