Chapter 4 – Behind Denial

A/N: Hey everyone, this chapter was a little hard for me to write, but I hope you enjoy it.

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After washing up from the mud, Crash was finally given the yo-yo. "Here, Crash," Coco said as she handed it to him. "Do you remember this?" she asked hopefully.

Crash held the yo-yo in his hand and examined it for a minute carefully. He then looked up at them and shook his head.

Coco frowned, but refused to give up. "Why don't you try playing with it?"

Crash shrugged and took a step back from her. He couldn't help feeling a little awkward with the two watching him expectantly like this. Still, he hesitantly began playing with the yo-yo.

For a while nothing happened and Crash was starting to think nothing would, but then the yo-yo came flying back towards him and he jerked to the side to avoid getting hit in the face by it again.

Again?

Blinking, Crash stared at the yo-yo dangling from his finger in puzzlement.

"Remember anything now?" Aku-Aku asked.

"I...I think so," Crash murmured.

Coco couldn't help it. She squealed in delight and threw her arms around him. "Yes! We're actually making progress!" She muttered with a grin.

Crash's smile fell a little at that. While he appreciated their help, he was still skeptical about the stories they told him. After all, they have yet to show him any real evidence that all those things actually happened. He kept that thought to himself though.

"Do you want to continue?" The mask asked and Crash let out a yawn, shaking his head.

"Nap," he said tiredly.

Something's never change I guess. Coco thought and giggled. "Sure Crash. You had a rough day after all."

Crash gave her a nod and then walked over to the couch. He laid down and was out like a light in a matter of seconds.

"Let's leave him to rest." Aku-Aku said and the two left the room quietly. "So, what are going to do now?" He asked as they stood in the hallway.

"We're going to keep looking more stuff to show Crash."

Aku-Aku frowned. "I don't wish to discourage you, but Crash and I spent most of our time outdoors protecting the islands. He only came back here to rest so I don't think we'll find much that he's familiar with."

"But this is what worked best so we have to keep doing it," She stated. "Besides, it's the only thing we could do to jog up his memory right now since we told him everything we have about him."

"Yes…of course," Aku-Aku murmured, averting his gaze away.

Coco blinked and glanced at him in confusion. "Aku-Aku, you did tell Crash everything that happened while he was living in the islands….right?"

Aku-Aku grimaced. "Well, not quite. I mean….I may have left some things out-"

"What!? Why did you do that?" Coco exclaimed in shock, enraged by the fact that he kept something as important as that from them.

The mask flinched guiltily and looked down at the ground. "Look, I didn't mean to hide things from you two. I only left some incidents out because I felt they were too….unpleasant for him." He tried to reason.

"It doesn't matter. You still should have told him about them!" Coco insisted.

Aku-Aku couldn't help the frustration in his voice. "But why? What would be the point of him remembering something if it's going to only hurt him?" He argued. "Don't you think he'll be better off if he didn't remember those terrible things? He might be even happier!"

True, but that's not your only reason. A voice at the back of his mind said and Aku-Aku instantly blocked it out.

Coco looked conflicted and opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by a loud cry. It took them a moment to realize it came from the living room.

"Crash!"

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Crash opened his eyes to see he was in a dark room of some kind. He couldn't see anyone no matter how hard he squinted.

"H-hello?" He called out as he stepped forward cautiously, looking around the darkness. It was then he spotted something in the dark. It looked like a….cage. It was smashed and some of the bars were twisted.

He frowned in confusion and walked passed it. As he went further, he saw more cages scattered around the room. They were all in a similar state; broken and damaged.

It unsettled the bandicoot greatly. He quickened his pace, feeling his uneasiness growing with every second.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

There was a beam of light up ahead, finally. Crash felt relieved momentarily and hurried over towards it, but was surprised at what he saw. It seemed to be some kind of table.

Crash gulped, feeling his heart beating faster. He stood stiff as a board, hands shaking slightly. What's…what's wrong with him? Why seeing that thing made him feel so scared, so vulnerable?

He took a step back, feeling all of his senses screaming at him to leave, to turn and run away as far away as he can. It was then he noticed something else. Someone seemed to be lying on the-

A rumbling sound caused Crash to turn around and he froze up when he saw the room was getting darker and darker to the point where he can't even see the cages anymore. He found himself looking around fearfully.

Something then in the shadows moved. There were more than one, circling around him. He screamed as they latched onto him.

Crash struggled and thrashed, but nothing worked. It spread over his body and grew over his mouth. He couldn't move, couldn't escape, couldn't-

"Crash, wake up!"

Crash's eyes snapped and he shot up, looking around frantically. His heart was hammering violently in his chest and his breathing was shaky.

"Are you okay?" Coco asked, looking at him with Aku-Aku in concern.

"I…I'm fine," He said, averting his gaze from them.

"What were you dreaming about, Crash? You sounded really scared." She asked, but he quickly shook his head. He didn't want to talk about that nightmare or even think about it.

He hopped off the couch and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Aku-Aku called out.

"Bathroom," was his answer before disappearing down the hallway.

Aku-Aku stared at the doorway and frowned. "Coco, I'm worried about Crash. I feel that something is bothering him and he's not telling us."

Coco raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "Why? It's only a bad dream."

"Because this happened before,"

"What?" Coco muttered, confused.

"During his first night on the island, I heard Crash screaming in his sleep and woke him up. I tried to get him to tell me what he saw in his dream, but he refused just like what he did just now." He explained grimly. "Not to mention he always has this…..look on his face when he wakes up from those nightmares and I just….I'm really worried about him."

Coco frowned and stared at the hallway, her chest growing heavy with worry.

Meanwhile, Crash was standing in front of the sink, trying to calm his nerves down. He splashed his face a few times and then shook the water off himself. "It…..it was just a dream," he murmured to himself reassuringly, staring at his reflection. He then sighed and walked away.

He tried to ignore the tingling feeling around his wrists.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. While Crash is struggling to regain his memories, a part of him is actually trying to suppress them. He is afraid of remembering what happened to him, but he doesn't realize that.

Anyway, please review!