A Twinsane Wedding
Chapter 23 Food For Thought Part 1
With his hoverboard and book tucked securely under each arm, Cortex leisurely headed up to his room. He needed a moment to try and decompress. Cortex knew his stressful day would be over soon enough, he only wished it would come quicker. Upon entering, (as exhausted and as hungry as he was) Cortex leaned his board up against his closet, and heaved a long sigh of releif as he did, happy to be back in his little sanctuary bedroom. He flung the book forward and then himself, flopping face first onto his bed. A groan of irritation soon left his mouth and escaped into the pillow, being muffled before Cortex flipped over onto his back, resolving to breath through his nose.
The scientist then took a few relaxing deep breaths. In through the nose and out through the mouth. In and out. While he placed one hand over his heart, feeling it's rhythmic pumping. It was slightly faster than normal but it was understandable given his circumstances. As much as Cortex tried to calm down, his current state was now an emotional wreck. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he turned around to face the cubbyhole and tugged the tarp away, revealing the love shrine for the obvious object of his affection. A shaky breath left his mouth as he looked upon the portraits. Cortex was almost trembling in fear.
"Crash, you've got me conflicted and tapping into feelings I didn't think I even possessed. Why do you have to be so nice and caring, especially tword me?" The man asked himself as he settled back onto the mattress. He grabbed his pillow and repositioned it behind his head as he took in the shrine. "Why do you love me? What could you possibly see in me after how I've treated you and why do I love you?" Cortex carefully grasped the book in one hand and read the title over in his head once again. 'Is It Hate, Love or Something Much Deeper?' Cortex mentally prepared himself for what he thought would come next as he brought his other hand up and opened the book up to the table of contents.
Ever since leaving the therapist's office, Neo promised himself that he'd start on some of it.
Since Cortex was now home safe and sound now and with Nina keeping tabs on his mother, he could do just that. Just so he could proceed to (hopefully) make a good start into his new, non evil, villian free life. And without being overwhelmed with countless thoughts.
Being a person who took things in order, Neo pinched the top right corner of the page and begun to turn it, but not before familiarizing himself with the page before it. 'Introduction.' Which was a short monolog of the books origins; telling why it was written and the authors intentions, curiosity of Dr. Jacobson himself. Even though Cortex was starving and could feel his stomach staring to eat itself, he ignored it and instead, flipped to the next page and read it's title printed in bold, italicized letters. "What Is Love?" Ok, don't think I need to read this page I'm very familiar with this topic." He concluded. However, his conscience had different opinions to state.
"Are you though, cause I always thought hatred was the only thing you'd ever felt for that orange rat who's foiled your plans time after time again? Remember dude, it was the sole emotion you had inside before your team up with the enemy!" His devil self reminded, giving a firm nod. "Hero's and villains don't get along, have you forgotten that? The very thing that makes you and those meddlesome bandicoots mortal enemies?" The angel soon stepped (or rather...flew in) and interrupted him mid sentence. "But now, now thanks to Crash, you've gone soft and I..."
"Hey, give the guy a break, Cortex here is slowly adjusting to feeling his own feelings and he's never experienced anything like it before. Gotta take it slow." The little angel patted Cortex on the back, then flew over to the scientists opposite shoulder where the devil resided and spoke with a provoked tone to him, "So for now you back off, I got this!" With a mighty push, he shoved the devil off. "Man he can be annoying sometimes." Angel Cortex brushed off his robe and gently looked the scientist in the eyes. "He's either trying to rush someone or slowly pull them down to his level. You just need to ease into this situation, as you know already. No need to get yourself worked up over all this now." He tried to sound as reassuring as possible, "Maybe you can figure this out after the family therapy session, but for right now, just get yourself together." He encouraged. "Focus on you and it seems you need your relationship with your mother mended much more than befriending Crash at the moment but he'll always be there." There was an extended pause. "I'll leave you to sort some of this out."
Neo's brain was already running at thousand miles a minute since this morning, there was no need to be in a rush to start changing his life for the better as soon as possible. Cortex's mouth curved into a smile as his angel self vanished, his body relaxing as he took some more deep calming breaths to tame his wild nerves once again and, as he did, even more new thoughts and memories from his youth had come into play. Emotions erasing everything as Cortex started reflecting back on all that had happened earlier during his outing with Nina.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the disappointment of a son who fractured our family."
"I oughta fry you right now."
Even the bad memories and past events were still lingering about, they were unforgettable reminders of a cruel upbringing.
"Crybaby Cortex!"
"Leave me alone you freak!"
Cortex wanted to run. He wanted to put an end to the neglect and abuse from his mother. He wanted to wash away the trauma that had stuck with him since day one. He desperately wanted erase the academy humiliation and torment from two decades ago, but he didn't want to leave Nina at the moment, (given his situation) he needed her for emotional support. Getting her away from Madame Amberly's was step one, Neo didn't want his dear niece to endure a similar fate as him but he had no knowledge of what the girl must have suffered during her time there and throughout the early stages of her life. She didn't seem to be in any sort of emotional distress from what he could tell.
As Cortex trained his focus back onto what he was doing and pushed the thoughts away, the smile on his face dissolved, breathing beginning to rapidly increase once more, and eyes widening as he retreated back to the table of contents so he could see what awaited him within the depths of this book. Neo mentally took in each chapters topic one at a time.
"Is It Hate or Love?"
"Unrequited Love"
"Platonic Love"
"Toxic Relationships"
"O.L.D. (Obsessive Love Disorder)"
"Lovesickness"
Dr. Jacobson really did know everything about love given that it was his field of expertise. All these years, Cortex had never known there was more than one type, then again, he hadn't really given any thought to actually falling in love with anyone. Let alone Crash, that was the last thing on earth he expected. Love was one of those words not typically in his (or any villians) vocabulary for that matter, but there was a first time for everything he supposed. 'I didn't even realize I had a heart before Crash. I've even neglected Nina until just recently after the tenth dimension. I can't live without either of them. Him and my wonderful niece are the ones keeping me together.' While Cortex usually didn't value anyone, he was starting to acknowledge Nina and Crash more and more ever since the "temporary partnership." His memories flashed him all the way back to when he "modified" Nina. Her kind hearted nature twords fuzzy, innocent animals that made her squeal in delight back in her youth, and Neo's aggravation was his only retaliation to those warm, fuzzy feelings she possessed.
He could feel his chest tighten, and there was an abnormal sensation growing in his stomach. Guilt was panging his body or maybe that was lack of food throughout most of the day. Cortex felt his tummy rumble again but he pressed on, now turning his mind back onto the page to absorb it's words in order to process them. "I was self absorbed and only thought about what I wanted, not what she wanted. Hm...I probably get that from my mother." It occured to Neo that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Shrugging, the scientist shook it off before remembering yesterday when his colleagues questioned his reasoning for carry a photographic image of his so called "worst enemy." "Maybe it comes from my own greed and obsession over world domination, or a possible obsession over Crash, but it can't be that last one, right?" All these thoughts were starting to overwhelm him once more.
Soon Cortex flipped to the page entitled, "Is It Hate or Love?" read aloud to himself, which was more of a loud whisper in case anyone was lurking about. "Is It Hate or Love?". He repeated once more. Carefully stroking his beard, his mind thought long and hard and Cortex asked himself that over and over. The words decorating the page told the differences between them: Hate: An intense dislike for someone or something. Love: feeling a deep affection for someone or something. Shortly after he was suddenly hit both hard and fast with a reality check: they were polar opposites of one another, easily comparable to the devil and angel. They were Yin and Yang, they kept balance. They coexisted. Looking up, Cortex's now remorseful eyes met the smiling, cross-eyed photographic face of Crash. As emerald green eyes stared back, unblinking, the therapist's words from the first therapy visit (that went less than swimmingly) echoed in his mind.
"Perhaps you've never really hated Crash at all, maybe the real reason you only say those negative things about him is because you're scared to admit to him how you really feel."
And the devil, after flying back up, gave him a dash of reality by yelling. "Dude, wake up and face the truth!" Before smacking him across the face. Hard. It caused an old memory to resurface from deep within his temporal lobe. Something that had been forgotten for the longest time.
"Dear diary, I seem to be developing a connection with the subject."
"Oh my gosh, I do love you. I think I always have." Gasping, Neo fell backward and rolled off the bed, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Similar to the therapy session only hours ago when he tried to dodge Erics questions. He hoped once more that nothing broke. Quickly looking around, he jumped back to his feet, praying that nobody detected anything. The scientist didn't utter a word for a minute in order to listen for footsteps or shouting from downstairs due to his actions. But he was met with silence. He had once again caught a break and Cortex figured he was good...for now at least.
Soon, that would all change, once he sat down to a hearty meal, the scientist being completly oblivious to what his minions had been doing all day. He hadn't given that much thought about it however. That was what the team had hoped for too, keep things low key and hidden from their master. But that wouldn't last long. Once dinner was presented...that's when the "fun" would start.
Nina followed Natalie to her room, carrying out her instructions from her uncle and while she might've been delighted that her newfound family member was now taking up residence with her and her realative, Nina also knew she had to keep her senses on high alert. Neo was in a very delicate spot and any one action could unravel it at any time. He was like fragile stained glass window pane: one little pebble was all it took. 'Keep your uncle close, he needs you now more than ever.' The girl told herself as she took in a breath to calm her nerves that were overly excited. Nina had to play it cool around her great aunt.
As Natalie hoisted her suitcase up onto the bed and unzipped it, she peered over her shoulder and saw the younger Cortex with a big smile on her face, her eyes bearing curiosity. Natalie couldn't help but flash her a small smile, her uptight personality dissolving away, though some still remained along with her neglect. She knew it would take some time to learn to be a parent again, but Natalie assumed she would be up to the challenge of looking after Nina, "You're enjoying my company aren't you Nina?"
"Very much. It'll be great getting to know you and what you did back in the circus days. Although... Uncle Neo seems to be a bit scared of you." The girl admitted, rubbing at the back of her neck. The niece of Cortex was torn; on one hand she wanted to get acquainted with her new realative but at the same time, the worry and concern for Neo was trying to outweigh it. Nina then headed over and took a seat on the edge of her bed. Nina knew what she had to do; she had to keep defending him. The girl's own traumatic memory of her hands literally being severed filled her with dread but there was no point in trying to make a difference in that now. What was done had been done; many moons ago. Now she would do anything to protect him.
Natalie had already figured out her sons skittish nature due to her presence so far. "You don't say, what was your first clue that he was scared of me?" She sounded somewhat concerned. 'I think he got the skittish nature from his father. Nate always was a worry wart.'
Awkwardly, Nina rubbed her shoulder while her feet dangled freely over the bedside. Now there were plenty of examples that she could give but she didn't want to cause any more trouble for Neo. "Well for starters, you slapped him, and you called him a "disappointment of a son", your exact words not mine." Nina knew her uncle had failed so many times in his life, and he'd been bullied for being a genius sure, but he was no disappointment, at least not in her eyes. Nina only assumed that he was just misunderstood and that none one took him seriously. "He's trying to turn his life around for the better, I mean you gotta give him credit for that. But, thanks to you and other situations both past and present, he's currently riding an emotional roller-coaster." Nina tried her hardest to put a positive spin on this conversation but was finding it increasingly hard to do. Curiosity of the tension.
Natalie wasn't big when it came to being an observer, she was in her own little world, probaby due to the aftermath of the accident that had wiped out the family circus act. Without her husband and the rest of them, she needed something to do. She tacked the old family photo up onto the wall, sighing as she did it. Not a day could go by that Natalie didn't think about the fam. Finally, she responded and broke the silence as she pulled her hair out from the ponytail and let it dangle freely by her shoulders, "Hm, it appears you care very much about Neo."
"I do, he replaced my real hands with robot ones but that doesn't stop me from loving and caring about him. He said that you never felt that way about him but I do. I'd better go check on him." As Nina turned on her heels to go check up on her uncle, she looked back at Natalie over her shoulder. "I also feel that therapy will do you two some good." Nina stated, her buck teeth poking out from the top of her smile, causing her aunt's eyes to grow wide at that hopeful response.
"You seem totally confident that this will work." With a loud groan, Natalie finally went along with the girls wishes for her and her son. "I guess I'll give it a try." The response was unexpected but the girl was happy things were beginning to shift. Probably for the better.
"Yay! That's the anwser I was expecting to get." Soon Nina walked off to follow through on her task, leaving Natalie to get settled, a feeling of positivity and joy about tomorrow overcoming Nina. The happy spin she had hoped for seemed to work. Not long after she had left the room, Natalie grabbed a spare apron from her suitcase she had packed and headed downstairs. It had the initials NC embroidered on it in golden threads. She'd figure she'd start on the process of becoming a parent again. It would be hard but all she could really do at this point in time would be to make an attempt. Or try to anyway. A good first impression was key after all. Natalie didn't want to give people the benefit of the doubt.
After thinking of what she could do to initiate that task, she settled on something simple: making food for Nina and everyone else who wasn't Neo. The earlier memory of their stilted reunion didn't seem to phase her as much as her son. 'Of all the kids who could've survived the explosion, why did it have to be you?' Natalie thought to herself, hands clentching into fists as she made her way to the kitchen.
With her posture straight and head held back nice and high, Natalie entered the lounge, passing by her sons henchman as she did. A few remarks from the small group soon came forward. Which was actually more like muttering as they uttered things under their breath. She couldn't hear what was said but the woman stopped in her tracks anyway when a comprehensible question was directed twords her.
"So you're staying with us?" Brio asked, tilting his head. His anwser was a nod, one that meant yes. "This should be interesting." He was uncertain saying that. The chemist sucked in air through his teeth, his concern overtaking his curiosity twords the person before him. "This should be interesting." He repeated once more.
The woman flicked her gaze twords N Gin and Tropy whose eyebrows were cocked. Opening her mouth, Natalie spoke. She wasn't one for lying. "I could say the same about you guys. The interesting part I mean." In the short while and minimal interactions between them already, Natalie wasn't warming up to them. Uka Uka steeled himself from growling at her due to that almost maligan remark . Neo was right, his mother was a cold hearted woman. The three members of the N Team stood there in silence, they had no comeback for her statement and as everyone remained motionless, Natalie's feet moved her in the direction of her destination. "I'll be taking over on the chores and the cooking from now on, the one thing I know is it's mainly a woman's job." She did peer over her shoulder breifly to ask, " You just leave everything to me. Have you guys eaten?" She didn't like seeing people hungry.
The group before her said nothing until the cyborg scientist spoke up, "Nope, we've been awaiting the masters return all day that our appitites sort of steeled themselves." N Gin said, catching her up to speed. Soon everyone's tummy rumbled, they were starting to feel the hunger taking over. "Cook away Mrs. C. I already made your sons dinner earlier that, beleive it or not, actually started off as lunch and I don't wanna do anymore." N Gin pretended to whine about that last part but he nudged Brio in the shoulder and followed it up with a wink.
Brio soon caught on to what he was getting at. N Gins cooking was somewhat edible but it would be nice to have a decent meal for once. Why not take advantage of this opportunity while it was standing in front of them? "Yes we could all use a break from serving Neo. Most of his other minions are currently stationed elsewhere, haven't seen them since the Cortex Commandos dispatched and it gets lonely with just us and the master. We need a break from his yelling and whining and also N Gin's cooking."
"Yeah..hey!" The cyborg snapped.
N Brio ignored that and continued,"So, you go do your thing and call us when our meals are ready."
"You got it, any requests?" Natalie inquired, pulling a notepad and pen from her pocket. This was just like Moulin Cortex, except here, she was an army of one without her staff of workers.
"Surprise us. We'll see what you're capable of." Tropy had his suspicions about the woman before them. Could she really be related to Neo? Perhaps it would take a demonstration of the skills she possessed in order to convince the N Team.
As Natalie nodded and strolled off, Brio held his hand up for a high five at N Gin. "Nice job. Getting someone else to cook our meals now and getting you off that task? I could get used to this." The chemist plopped back down on the couch and cupped his hands behind his head. N Gin, being as carefree as he was, followed Brio's league moments after, siitting on the opposite side of the sofa.
Things were starting to look up for the N Team.
A knock on his bedroom door pulled Cortex's focus off the book. "Come in." He found himself saying after a few moments of silence to finish up the paragraph he was on. Since opening the book, Neo had quickly been given a crash course in a new emotion he had just recently started to take notice of. He sat the book off to the side as Nina entered the room. The girls eyes widened and her smile remained on her face. There was her uncle, laying back and not stressing himself out over his many current situations. "Oh, it's just you. Can't beleive I'm about to ask this but I take it you're getting acquainted with my mother?" He asked.
Nina smile grew bigger. Words couldn't begin to describe her joy and she somehow managed to give an answer to him, "I am, she's wonderful and I'll be very interested in getting to know her but no matter what happens, you're my number one priority. You always will be." She spread her arms for a hug and motioned him over. Cortex, without the slightest hint of hesitation, got up from his bed and moved forward into her arms. A quiet chuckle escaped his lips as Nina squeezed him around his shoulders.
"Thank you for putting me above her. If it were the other way around, I'd seriously have to question your loyalty to me." He nuzzled her shoulder before his own comment to Dr. Jacobson popped into his mind.
'I do want to be a better person and turn my life around'. Neo had said that sentence with total confidence, no point in attempting to chicken out now. "And I know I can't undo the painstaking memory of replacing your hands and sending you to Madame Amberly's to be like me but I'm greatful you're helping me through this situation now. Without you, I wouldn't know what to do." Sympathy was panging him from the inside out.
"You're forgiven, I can't stay mad at you. And the way I see it, if it hadn't been for me and Coco getting in touch with that therapist, you'd still be trying and failing to destroy Crash, wouldn't you?" Nina's comeback was totally accurate.
"Yes" His anwser was so quiet, it was almost a whisper. He hated to admit such things but he figured this was the price that came with wanting to change yourself. Laying back, Cortex realized something as soon as his head made contact with the pillow. Immediately, his body shot back up like one after a defibrillator shock and stared at Nina in complete bewilderment, "Hold up..."
Very swiftly, she stepped backwards out of both shock and concern, "What?" Was it something Nina said?
Cupping a hand to his ear, he asked,"Do I need my ears checked or did you say earlier that my mother was wonderful?" Cortex again, felt like he was being betrayed. He felt like his world was slowly degrading into nothing.
Nina's eyes wandered around the room as an uncertain response. Very carefully, as if she was trying to balance an object on top a tower that was on the verge of falling, the goth girl calmed her breathing, relaxed her shoulders and gave a quick and simple answer of "Yes." Just like the anwser Neo had given only moments ago.
"What planet are you living on? You're probably the only person who believes that. Again, just keep me away from her until tomorrow rolls around." His eyes were laced with fear over more abuse from his mother. 'I'll actually be greatful when tomorrow comes.'
Looking him in the eyes, she simply said, "You got it."
A/N
There is gonna be a part 2 to this chapter as well. This first part is just getting long and I want to break it up. For now:
This chapter is waaaaayyyy overdue. Boy did I procrastinate.
Yeah. *coughs* 5 month hiatus again folks.
Main issue was I got sidetracked by lots of scenarios that I haven't had much time to write. Been really tired lately, the constant crashing of wi-fi a while back really agitated the hell out of me. Thirdy darn you Minecraft for sucking me into your giant world of blocks. Been prepping Christmas gifts and in general, I just needed a break from this tale, I'm still gonna finish it, just saying. ^^
Breaks are good. Nice call.
So, the scheme is being set in motion! How embarrassing and fun this is gonna be. *smirks*
I *scoffs* For you maybe, not necessarily for me. Why do you like tormenting me?
I don't know and I also don't know how regular my updates are gonna be now. Twinsane Oneshots has been on a hatius since last year. XD Again, a little thing called life happened plus I've been playing the new Crash on the Run mobile game. It's kind of addicting.
Yeah, starts out as addicting at first but eventually you'll burn out on it. And I hope therapy with mother goes smoothly. But I doubt it.
Yeah, you're right but we can all hope for the best. Ok, reviews...no reviews? Alright, makes it easy. Hopefully by the time this is updated again, the new Crash console game for his 25th anniversary will be announced. XD Until next time keep smiling!
