A Twinsane Wedding
Chapter 3 Coco vs Cortex vs Conflict
Coco was keeping a close eye on Cortex as the group headed back to the boat. As the boatsman welcomed them and they hopped aboard, chills ran through him again. Cortex felt Coco's glare burning a hole in the back of his head, clearly she was uneasy. As he turned around to face her, a lump formed in his throat and he found it hard to swallow. "Um, you ok Coco?" He asked nervously.
"Don't start with me Cortex." The female bandicoot grabbed the scientist by the neck of his lab coat and pulled him close to her face, "Look at my face, do I look ok?!" She seethed.
"Um, no." Cortex quivered under her gaze. "You're still mad at me aren't you?"
"Yes, you zapped me and then impersonated me! That's just wrong!"
"Well, I needed Crash to follow me to the bay."
"So you could finish him off! Why I outta beat you up right now!" Coco curled her hand into a fist and pulled her arm back, ready to sock him right in the face.
Aku Aku floated above them, "Guys, please, does violence ever solve anything?"
Coco looked tword her brother and Nina who gave a look of compassion for Cortex. She then locked eyes again with the scientist who started to have tears in his. He practically started begging for his life. "Please, don't hurt me! I've already suffered enough pain today and throughout my entire life! Look, I'm sorry, for what I did and I know you have every right to be mad at me, but think about it, there is a very short list of people who care about me and your brother is on that list! Do you really want to complicate things for him as well as my niece?!" There was a long pause as the female bandicoot thought long and hard to Cortex's plead.
She sighed and let him go. "Fine, I won't beat you up for my brothers sake and cause of what Aku Aku said, but I'm still keeping my eye on you." As soon as he was free (after getting the 'I'm watching you' gesture), Cortex dashed over behind Nina and Crash. He trembled with fright. Soon he felt two hands on his shoulders, one from Crash and the other from Nina.
"There, there it's alright." Nina reassured, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Crash did the same. Coco just rolled her eyes when she saw that. She didn't think Cortex deserved any pity from Crash.
The group decided to say nothing for the rest of the ride back. When they came back to in N. Sanity Island, Cortex gestured for Nina and Coco to go before him and Crash. Nina hopped down onto the dock first, but Coco stayed put. Crash decided to go ahead.
Dr. Cortex motioned for Coco to go since it was "ladies first", but Crash's sister shoved the scientist forward, causing him to lose his footing and fall over the bow of the boat. He landed face first into the sand. The impact also jarred the spear wound on his lower abdomen making his side feel as if it was on fire.
Cortex lifted his head up and spat up a huge mouthful of sand, "And the pain continues, but you know I deserved that." Nina helped him to his feet, and brushed him off. "Thank you, boy I can not catch a break today." He looked tword Crash who gave a warm smile, but looked away as soon as he did. The bandicoot then walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. Cortex gazed up at him and gave him a blank, emotionless stare like he was lost in thought about something. He couldn't bring himself to speak either.
"Well, this is where we divide for now." Aku Aku replied.
"Right, Cortex, Nina we must be off back to our castle...um temporary shelter. Sorry, the castle's still being repaired." Even though he had helped the group to take down Victor and Moritz and the fact that he had been bested by Crash Bandicoot before that occurred, Uka Uka was still holding onto his one goal of wanting to rule the world. Eliminating the Evil Twins was just part of it, that orange marsupial was next, "But, mark my words bandicoots, the world will be ours one day!"
"I really thought we could work together from now on?" His brother asked.
Uka Uka scoffed, "Sorry, but you guys are good, while me, Cortex and the rest of our team are evil, that's just the way it is. Conflict, good versus evil."
"Woah, woah, wait I thought you were still peeved at Cortex? He did fail you so many times already. So why are you giving him another chance?" Coco wondered as her brother let Cortex go.
"Because, he wants to prove that he can come up an 'Earth shattering' plan for world domination. Personally, I've got my hopes in N Brio and N Tropy instead. Those two have more brain power together than what Cortex has in his entire head."
'Oh, burned.' Nina thought. 'Someone get the fire extinguisher.' She covered her mouth to muffle a chuckle. Luckily her uncle didn't notice her doing that.
"Yeah... hey!" Cortex spat. "How dare you?! If anything, I'm probably the smartest, next to N Tropy. I mean, N. Gin is just a plain old lunatic. And beleive me, if you had a live missile impailed into your head and then it was rewired into a metal plate to be a life support system, wouldn't you be a little on edge too?"
"Right...well see ya! Don't want to know anymore!" Coco zipped off back tword the cave that connected Totem Hokum to the outer part of N. Sanity Island where their house resided. She was ready to get as far away from them as possible. While Crash on the other hand waved a goodbye to Dr. Cortex, who cringed just looking at him, before heading back twords the shelter with his niece and Uka Uka. Crash smiled and sprinted after his sister. Cortex stopped midway and turned back around to watch him disappear into the tunnel.
'He was nice enough to comfort me, and he saved my life, even if he did almost get me killed.' The man tried to remember what it was he hated about his nemisis, but he couldn't bring the list to mind. 'I'm the villian and he's the hero. After being defeated by him for so long, I don't think I could bear the thought of destroying him. Could I? No, Uka Uka would fire me for not wanting to eliminate him.' Cortex swallowed heavily.
In a poof of smoke, two smaller versions of himself appeared on his shoulders: one donned a white robe and a golden halo, he had wings on his back and was clutching a harp in his hands. The other one was clothed all in red with horns on his head, a spiked tail, and holding a pitchfork in his grasp.
The angel and devil of internal conflict. One with a smile, the other with a wicked grin.
"Hello doctor." The devil version of him gazed at him and smirked. "Can we chat a minute?"
Cortex looked back and forth from the angel to the devil, he wasn't so sure about this. "Um...ok. What do you want to say?"
"Well, it's just that you seem a little conflicted about things." The angel started off.
"Yeah, when you were pressed right up against Crash seeking comfort from him, you pulled out your ray gun, and then you don't blast him?! Are you nuts?!" The devil raised his pitchfork, ready to stab him in the eyes. Cortex flinched at that.
He looked back and forth between the two, "It seems that you're torn in two, on one hand you want him out of your life, but on another note, when the two of you are together and you get yourself into trouble, you seek solace from him. Right? Be honest, just think of this like therapy."
The scientist knew that the angel was spot on, he knew that there was no hiding or lying when the angel and devil got involved in someone's life. "Alright, I am torn, I mean I always thought that the old saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend was nothing but a pile of nonsense, now I'm starting to realize that it might be true."
"I agree, it is a pile of nonsense and I..." The devil was cut off when the angel flew in front of him, swatting him in the face, he choked on the others feather wings. "That was uncalled for!" He shouted, spitting up feathers.
"Shush! Don't listen to him, listen to me. Cortex, stop listening to your head. Listen your heart and you can't go wrong. Alright?"
After thinking it all through, Dr. Cortex nodded at the angel and flicked the devil off of his shoulder. "I will be back!" He shouted.
"You're right. I should stop focusing on the negatives and zone in on the positives. Thank you for the talk. I feel better." With a nod, the mini versions of him disappeared. "Crash really isn't so bad, sure he's goofy, but he does have a slight brain in his head. Let's just see if I feel any different tomorrow." With a smile on his face, Cortex sprinted to catch up with Nina and Uka Uka.
A/N
Hey-o! Thanks for coming back. Boy, I am cranking out these chapters! Loving it! :D And as I told you guys in chapter 2, I said I was sensing conflicting feelings, and I was right! Ok, reply to the reviewers.
Anon: I agree, Nina is good to her uncle, it's nice to have people who care enough to take care of you. Thanks for all your support throughout the story so far. I'll try to make the next therapy session longer.
FlautaRara: Thanks, glad you're interested in this tale. And yeah, I think Coco is gonna be the most concerned because she doesn't trust Cortex one bit. Especially with her brother. XD
Cortex? *crickets chirp*Hello?
What's wrong?
Hey Nina, I lost your uncle Cortex, he seemed a little upset in the last chapter, and now I can't find him.
Hm...probably with Crash?
Maybe, *snaps fingers and summons a magnifying glass and a Sherlock Holmes hat* ok we're gonna go figure out Cortex's whereabouts. And as for the last part of this chapter, that is how you make a freaking awesome cliffhanger. Plus, I knew eventually I'd be adding in the old angel and devil on the shoulders bit. Alright, me and Nina are off!
Que Elementary song from Phineas and Ferb
Right?! Thank you! Until next time, keep smiling!
And I just realized that it's been exactly one month ago today that this story was published. Woo!
