A/N
Ok, so this chapter, first off, there's an Amazing World of Gumball quote from the episode The Wish in here. ;) Second, oh boy getting it done was the opposite of a Christmas miracle. XD My fingers refused to write this whole thing again after what had happened. I accidently deleted the first version of this chapter and had to completely redo it from scratch. Which totally sucked. Darn Fanfiction app!
Oh sure, blame the phone app. This is karma, this is what you get for typing this at 5 in the morning! You hit the wrong button!
Yeah thank you Cortex! Ok enjoy! XD
A Twinsane Wedding
Chapter 12 Set A Course: Behind Enemy Lines
After having uncovered the truth, the N Team (excluding Cortex) was taking it easy at the moment. Of course, it wasn't exactly the relaxation type of taking it easy when there was work to be done. The three of them knew that once Dr. Cortex returned, they would have to plaster their unusually happy grin back onto their faces in order not to raise any suspicion. The less that Cortex knew what they were up to, the better.
Down in his lab basement, N Brio (who was grumbling silently to himself) had begun work on the truth serum. Very carefully, the chemist mixed various colored components together. Since it was the first time Brio had attempted a potion like this, he was using a step by step guide from a book that he owned. Sadly, he never managed to acheive that Mixology degree he'd set his sights on long ago. Brio was still however a little bit on edge about N Tropy's comment on weather or not he could provide the serum of truth that they needed to aid them in their little quest. How dare he have doubts? A dark look overcame him as he remembered that. "Oh, I'll show them..." He tightened his grip on the beaker he was holding. "I'll show them all what I'm capable of creating."
Uka Uka was floating around the castle, clearly still in shock after hearing Brio's theory about Cortex and his arch nemesis. He never thought that in a million years something like this would happen. "I cannot beleive that lying little...ah! Now I really ask myself, why did I help Nina and Coco to bring him back?! Why?!" Uka Uka then stormed back and forth about the main parlor.
In N Gin's room, N Tropy looked up from polishing his weapon, and glanced over at the mentally insane scientist who was inserting the flashdrive containing the file from Cortex's computer into the back of his own computer. "So are all those songs from that playlist centered around love?" He wondered.
"That's what Brio said. Some of them already specify that they are, due to their title, but I'm gonna double check just to be sure." N Gin opened the desk drawer and pulled out a set of headphones that had been shoved in there some time ago. "The more we know, the better." Scrolling down using the mouse, he skipped over and instead he gazed upon all the songs that didn't have the actual word love, or even words related to love in their title. The list was cut right in half, the playlist narrowed down to: Hold Me Now, End Of The Road, Everybody Hurts, Don't Speak, How Do I Live, Rolling In the Deep, Nothing Compares 2 U, Stay, Truly Madly Deeply, All That She Wants, and Fade Into You. Hitting the play button, he sat back and let technology do the work for him.
Tropy scratched his chin as N Gin started his analysis, "Twenty one songs, but eleven of them don't have the actual word love in their title, but can almost guarantee you right now that they've got something to do with love as well."
"Judging by what you're telling me, and from what I'm currently hearing, you're right on point. Hun, never noticed that until now. Probably cause we were in a rush His colleague sat his tuning fork down for a breif moment as he picked up the pro/con list and unfolded it. The sound of rustling paper caught N Gin's attention in a snap. "What's that?" He wondered as he swiveled around in his chair to give N Tropy his full attention. N Gin uncovered one ear, but still continued to listen to the songs.
"A pro and con list I found when we were snooping through Cortex's stuff. It's a whole list revolving around Crash." Tropy cleared his throat and stared to read it aloud: "Pro: Sweet as can be. Con: Not evil. Alright, so those two statements right off the bat are true. And I think we can both agree that Cortex never wanted Crash evil to begin with." The rest of the list went as followed:
2. Always has that happy toothy grin/Smile almost never changes
3. Comes out victorious all the time/Rushes into things blindly and head on
"This list perfectly sums up Crash." N Tropy observed. Since Crash was his own creation, Cortex knew everything about him. Which also included his sleeping habits.
"You've got that right." A long scilence followed that remark, a thought entering N Gin's brain as he removed the headphones completely, "Hey do you remember Cortex saying something about Coco wanting to hit him for impersonating her?"
Tropy had to take a minute to recall that, "I do remember hearing that, she must have been pretty mad. Wait, what are you thinking of N Gin?" Normally the master of time was never the slightest bit curious as to anything that the cyborg thought of, but now he kind of was.
"Well, alright, just think about this for a moment; what if Brio's little serum you asked him to make...what if it doesn't fall through and work?" Stopping his thought right there, N Gin sat back and let Tropy try and piece together the plan.
"Hm. Ok, if the truth serum doesn't go according to plan..." Thinking long and hard about this, he gasped and snapped his finger in realization to what N Gin was talking about. "Then we could use Coco to our advantage, and then Cortex would have to tell us the truth!" N Tropy liked where this was going. Part of N Gin's brain still had some functioning cells in it after all. Tropy couldn't help but smile. First the upgraded spybots, and now a good idea that didn't involve missiles, "You're smarter than you let on sometimes N Gin. Finally you've managed to come up with something that doesn't fall under the categories of mechs and missles." He then called to his boss. "Uka Uka!"
After hearing his name being called (which also pulled him out of his tirade), the mask floated into the room, "Yes N Tropy, drum up a plan to eliminate Crash yet?"
"Not exactly, this is more along the lines of ringing the truth out of Cortex if the serum is a complete dud." Tropy explained. "N Gin?" He gestured the shorter man over to him.
N Gin shoved the headphones back into their drawer, and turned around again. He cleared his throat, and explained the plan of action, "Well, great Uka Uka, do you remember when Dr. Cortex told us that Coco wanted hit him?" The mask nodded. "Well, I was just telling Tropy here that if the truth serum doesn't succeed, then we could use Crash's sister in order to get the truth out of him about him and Crash."
"Woah, woah, are you suggesting that we use Coco...as a pawn?" Uka Uka had a hunch that if he replaced Cortex with N Tropy, he would be seeing entirly different results, but the mask never imagined a good plan would come from N Gin. The witch doctor liked where this was going: using Coco to their advantage in this metaphorical game of chess they were playing. "I love it you guys! Now I'm really glad Cortex quit! Guys, put conquering the islands as number two on our to do list, you and N Gin have got a new mission."
"Thank you for agreeing with my plan oh great Uka Uka." N Gin praised, clicking his heels together.
"See guys, if you want something done right, you listen the person who only has half a brain, I mean a good idea can come from there sometimes." Uka Uka knew that wasn't the saying, but he figured that N Gin would enjoy his moment in the sun. Tropy and N Gin straightened themselves up and gave a salute to their boss. "Alright, I'm gonna go see how Brio's coming along with that serum, while you guys pay a little visit to the Bandicoot residance. But nobody say one word to Cortex if he gets back here before we do. Keep this on the down low."
Uka Uka and Tropy glanced at each other and nodded and then to N Gin who was starting to hum some of the songs off of the playlist, a smile beginning to form on his face. "N Gin!" They both snapped.
Of all the people who could be a wrench in their plan, N Gin was by far the only one who could let something slip out from his lips.
He shuffled his feet before looking down in embarrassment. He had to remember that this was a serious matter. N Tropy grabbed him by the collar, and started dragging him out the door to where their enemies lived, while Uka Uka headed down to see how Brio was managing. "I'm sorry master!" The cyborg shouted as Tropy closed the door behind them.
Cortex and Nina had started the ride back to the shelter. On the way there, Cortex had to admit, he was glad that Nina and Coco (mainly Coco) had pointed him tword Dr. Jacobson. 'I cannot beleive that I'm actually going to turn my life around and try to be a better person. But how am I going to befriend Crash, the very bandicoot I've tried numerous times to eliminate? Maybe there's something in the book that could help.' Just then, he remembered the first time he was walking down the hall to the therapists office, and what he had been thinking of. 'Nina and Coco are going to be in so much trouble when I'm through with them.' Cortex didn't know how she would react if he told her...
Then again he had been honest with her so far, so why not now? Why did Dr. Jacobson have to be a good therapist?
"Nina?"
"Yes?"
"Nina, do you remember me groaning as I took Eric's card from Coco?"
The girl nodded, "Yes, and when I heard that, I got the sense that you weren't too thrilled about starting therapy. What's up?"
Her uncle thought very carefully as to how he was going to say this, for Cortex didn't want to frighten Nina, "Well, you see...the truth is; the first time we were with Dr. Jacobson and heading tword his office, I actually was thinking about wanting to punish you for siding with Coco, and naturally I was trying to sum up one while in therapy." Cortex admitted.
Nina gasped a little, "Um, what kind of punishment were you thinking of?" She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. There was a look of panic in her eyes.
"I was thinking of sending you Madem Amberly's but..." Cortex could feel the rest of her body shaking behind him as she held onto her uncle. He could only sense fear, he knew that that answer was not the one she was hoping for. He felt uneasy soon after admitting that, "Well, I'm not going to do that. I need you here by my side, the only family love I get is from you, I'm not sure mother ever felt that way about me." An idea soon worked it's way into his brain, before a smirk worked it's way onto his face. "Come on Nina, let's go pay a little visit to Moulin Cortex, and then maybe get you unenrolled from Madem Amberly's." Turning his hoverboard around in midair, Nina and Cortex set off back tword the mountains.
'Unenrolled at Madem Amberly's? Aww, he does care about me, and I really don't want to go back there.' The goth girl breathed in a sigh of relief. 'I'm never going to leave him.' This was one of the nicest things that Neo had ever done for her. "You did say that you needed me by your side." A squeal of pure happiness escaped her mouth, and Nina hugged him from behind. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She nuzzled against Cortex, for she couldn't have been more greatful. "And also, what's that book Eric gave you?" The girl tried to sneek a little peek at the title, but being shorter than him and despite trying to stand on her tip toes, Nina just couldn't see. Her curiosity had started to build up.
Cortex gulped as he gripped the spine of Dr. Jacobsons book tighter, his teeth beginning to clench. "It's Eric's self published book; Is It Hate, Love, Or Something Much Deeper? Um, Nina I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to judge me on it. Alright?" He knew he could trust his neice one hundred percent.
"Alright, what do you wanna tell me?" Nina could only imagine it was something else to do with their family.
"First off, you didn't happen to hear anything from when you were waiting outside the office for me did you?"
Nina thumbed her chin with one finger, "No, not that I recall, the only thing I heard was you calling for me."
This was perfect, Cortex could slowly ease into this new situation to break it down piece by piece for his caring neice. "Well you see Nina, the therapist had a little theory after what I told him about me and Crash in my nightmare. Dr. Jacobson thinks that..well..." The words and his breath caught in his throat. Cortex's mind was trying to tell his mouth not to say anything and let his love for Crash slip out. It was like the devil was trying to keep his feelings inside.
"You know what I'll say." The angel whispered in his ear. "Be honest."
"Don't you say it! Don't you dare say it! Feelings on a guy are like elbows on a fish. It's just not meant to be, do you understand?! Sit on and swallow your feelings until you die, then bury them with you!" The devil hissed, the evil side of his conscience practically had venom in his voice.
"If you don't wanna tell me, that's fine." Given everything that had already happened in therapy, Nina thought he would tell her when he was ready. "Because of what you told me earlier about our family being a bunch of clowns..."
Cortex cut her off as they approached the mountains and his lab. He landed his hoverboard and then quickly spun around, to look Nina right in the eyes, "No, I want to, I mean you have a right to know. Eric already knows, he had his suspicions, and he didn't tell you when you came back into the room." The scientist took a deep breath and opened his mouth as his devil self facepalmed himself in the forehead. "He thinks that...that..." His little angel slapped him on the back of the head to force him to finish that thought. "He thinks that I'm in love with Crash!" Cortex immediatly clamped one free hand over his mouth after blurting out the truth. Adrenaline then surged through the scientist and he felt like he had just ran a marathon.
"You may as well just dig a hole a.k.a your own grave, curl up in it and die cause there's no taking that sentence back now. You've made your bed, now you gotta lie in it." The devil rubbed his hands and pointed his pitchfork upward right underneath Cortex's chin, causing him to gulp with fear. "How dare you?!"
The niece of Dr. Cortex had to repeat what she had just heard over again in her head. Nina thought she would have to clean out her ears and hear that again. Did Neo really just say that out loud or was she hearing things? The only thing that her mouth was capable of saying was, "What?" Cause Nina was at a loss for words.
"You heard me, Dr. Jacobson thinks that I'm in love with Crash." Her uncles stomachache returned in a flash after he repeated his statement. He thought he was going to throw up. Cortex wasn't used to feeling his own feelings. This was all new territory for him.
The goth girls eyes widened, Nina then folded one arm over her chest, tapped her chin with one finger and cautiously asked, "Well, judging by your nightmare and the fact you thought you were hugging him when we first teleported to the 10th dimension...are you?"
Cortex felt heat rush to his face, his cheeks starting to turn a pale shade of red, "Well, I...I guess I am." Cortex reached his free hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know why I'm feeling this way about him. Maybe it's because of when the twins came here, I turned to him for help, and then that caused us to team up. After that incident with them and when we destroyed their deathbot, I think I started to realize that maybe I should've thanked Crash instead of trying to eliminate him. I do have some faith in him. I seek comfort from him, I carry a photo of him with me everywhere I go. Both my brain and my heart, and I didn't think I even had one of those, are totally confused. So now you know, but just don't tell anyone. Alright?" The devil just hung his head while his angel self clasped his hands together and smiled.
"Alright, I won't tell. And since this is a lot to take in, I'll process and try to ponder all this while we're at the club where your mother works and also at the academy."
Cortex snapped back into reality after that sentence. "Right, I totally forgot about that." He pointed dramatically tword the sky and shouted, "Let's go. Back to my airship and then to see mother!" The two Cortex's packed it up and headed tword the summit of the mountain.
It was time to set a course back to Moulin Cortex. Neo could only imagine how Natalie would react when she saw them. He knew that she would probably be thrilled with Nina, now Neo himself after what he had done to their family years ago?
That was a whole different story...
Coco threw the ball one last time and after Pura brought it back, she sat down on the single concrete step that led back into the house. Pura knew that their happy game of fetch had come to an end. As for the rest of the family, knowing that Coco was good: Crash currently was down by the beach napping under a plam tree, Aku Aku was inside, floating in front of the fireplace relaxing with a little meditation, and Crunch was doing the daily chores.
"That was fun. I'm sorry if I've worried everybody, especially you." Coco said. Picking up the ball in her mouth, the tiger laid down on her back in front of Coco and stretched out. "Aww, want me to rub your tummy?" Pura's tail wagged back and forth, much like a dogs when they got excited. The female bandicoot happily rubbed the cub on her tummy, making Pura release a content and satisfied purr. 'I'm glad you and everyone else are concerned about me.' Coco thought. 'I mean the breakfast from Crunch, the concern from Pura and our family pets, Crash trying to cheer me up in the only way he knows how.' She reached her hand up and felt the flower in her hair. 'They're both good big brothers, I'm glad I have two.'
Coco almost jumped out of her skin when Pura hopped up and started to growl. Looking in front of her, she saw N Tropy in the distance along with N Gin who was still being dragged by the collar of his coat. He slapped the time masters hand off of him as the two got closer to the Bandicoots house, "I can walk myself thank you very much!" N Gin said, feeling sightly aggravated by the fact that he had to be drug out of the castle by force.
Hopping up in an instant, Coco got herself into a defensive position, ready to karate chop N Gin right in the neck, since she knew he didn't have a weapon. "What are you guys doing here?!" She snarled.
N Tropy cleared his throat and raised his hand, "Relax Coco, we're not here looking for trouble. We're here to tell you something." He explained.
"Hee, hee, hee, it's true, we come here speaking the truth. It's about Cortex and Crash. We need your help in ringing the truth out of Cortex, cause we discovered something shocking about him." N Gin added on.
"Yeah, turns out that Cortex doesn't exactly hate Crash."
Coco still kept her arms out in front of her, with her hands clenched together as fists, ready to strike both N Team members down if they tried anything. She was skilled in every form of karate and martial arts. Her time in the Cortex Vortex with all the fighting movies Brio had her watch one decade ago had taught her that she had to be ready for anything at any time in case she needed to quickly defend herself.
"What are you saying?! Of course Cortex hates Crash, why do you think me and Nina sent them to start therapy?!"
"Well, we heard that you want to kill him." Tropy stated. "And we know that he dressed up like you. In which I think we're all still creeped out by that, but what we uncovered is he's actually obsessed over Crash." Coco couldn't beleive what these two were telling her. Did they really speak the truth, or was this all a trick?
N Gin brought out the flashdrive, "Contained on this drive is a top secret playlist created by Cortex himself, but it's not what you'd expect from him." The cyborg carefully looked at the brainiac bandicoot. "What's on here and what we discovered kind of have to be seen and listened to in order to be beleived." He held it out in front of him, persuading Coco to take it.
Very carefully, she took it in her hand before she raised an eyebrow and announced her suspicions, "Are you two really telling the truth or is this all just a trick and part of yet another diabolical plan to destroy our precious island home?" Coco was less gullible than Crash was.
"No trick, no lie, we're telling you the solid truth here. When it comes to honesty, I'm one hundred percent truthful, I don't tolerate lying, and after observing what just occurred, neither do you." N Tropy could sense that Coco was a bandicoot who wanted honesty as well as the truth. "If you come see what we've told you about, then you can help us to get the truth out of Cortex. How about it?"
Coco took a minute to think about that. "Well, I don't know."
"Afterward, you could take your revenge on Cortex for impersonating you and tricking Crash?"
That caught the female bandicoots attention in a snap. "Let's go." Coco took a minute and frantically looked around her to make sure her brothers and Aku Aku weren't in sight anywhere. To her releif, they weren't.
Coco, N Tropy, and N Gin then made a break for the castle.
A/N
Alright Cortex, you've stolen my intro and my outro, anything else?
I *gulps* No ma'am, I think I'll just help you commentate from now on.
That's more like it. Also in the Neon Circus Grand Prix I knew there would be something related to Cortex's backstory! I was right. *looks around then clears throat* Sorry. So the N Team and Coco, how's that for a twist?
Really, you do love twists don't you? *looks over* Hi reviewers. *gives a wave*
FlautaRara: Crash certainly had an appetite. XD Yeah, as I was writing the last chapter, I felt sympathy for Coco. So glad she's going to go with Crash and Cortex next time. And I most certainly do not want you to faint before I marry Cortex and Crash. Not stopping until they say I do! :P
LilPanther: Thanks. I intend to keep going until this story's done! I haven't completed a full story since 2014 I think? But that story bit the dust years ago. I'm still trying to improve. And I'm really enjoying your story as well. If you need a Beta Reader PM me and we'll set something up. :)
Anon: Therapy is really going to benafit Coco. Fingers crossed there isn't a scene between her and Cortex. ;)
Karol2019: Thanks for your comment. I'm not stopping this story! If you are needing a Beta Reader for help on your stories also, shoot me a PM and we'll arrange something. :)
Me and Nina going back to the Acdemy of Evil? Oh no. I'm also starting to think you should have used the Mission Impossible title for this chapter instead.
...Oh my god! *facepalms* Ok stop it right here, until next time keep smiling! And Happy New Year! I also think this was my favorite chapter to write, next to the Mission Impossible 2 parter.
