I forgot to add it when I was describing Tiana in chapter 2, but she maraca-shaped bumps on her tires. Just thought you should know that, but on with the story!
Chapter 6 - Tunnel of Loathe
Once they made it down the mountain trail, the sun was already way passed its peak in the sky, and Crusher, Pickle, and Tiana were beginning to trek into the dense jungle.
"Ooh, bananas! I LOVE bananas!" Pickle cheered when he spotted a bunch of bananas growing up in a tall banana tree, but even when he stood on his back tippy-tires, he still couldn't reach them.
"Un Segundo, Pickle, let me help you," Tiana chuckled when she noticed Pickle's struggle, and when stood on her back tires, she was able to three bananas, one for all three of them.
"Thanks, Tiana," Pickle happily thanked when she gave him a banana, and he wasted no time in peeling and eating.
"You're welcome," Tiana stated with a nod, and then she turned towards Crusher with a banana, "here, Crusher."
"No, thank you. I'm not hungry," Crusher replied dryly while pushing the fruit away, but then he seemed to jinx himself when his stomach suddenly let out a loud growl, meaning only one thing.
"Esta bien, if you don't want it, I'll just split it with Pickle," Tiana informed slowly with a smirk.
"No, no, no!" Crusher snapped with shock, and then blushed, "I-I'll take banana…please?"
Tiana didn't even say another word, as she smiled sweetly and gave him the fruit, and like Pickle, he hastily peeled and ate.
"Now, that we've all had a snack, let's continue," Tiana announced while continuing through the jungle, and unlike the boys, she took her time to eat her banana.
"Question, Tiana," Crusher quickly said as he sped up to her side, Pickle joining her other side.
"Fire away," Tiana replied before taking a bite of the fruit.
"How do you know Blaze?"
"Oh, yeah! What's your story with Blaze, Tiana?" Pickle asked with excitement.
"Well, Blaze and I actually go pretty far back; his mom and my mom were pretty good friends, and when we had just started to drive, they set up many play dates for us. We've been very close ever since."
"Aww, that's so cute!" Pickle sighed in awe.
"How close?" Crusher questioned with suspicion.
"Oh, u-uh, well…just friends…very good friend," Tiana stammered in reply, and the boys swore they saw a light blush on her fender, but she suddenly cleared her throat, "and now that he's getting married, I couldn't be more happy for him!"
"Right, that…you're still going ta that?" Crusher sighed sadly.
"Of course. I have to since Blaze invited me, so it's only polite that I do," Tiana quickly replied, "aren't you going?"
"Not really."
"Well, you either are, or you aren't. So, which is it?"
"I'm not, ok?!" Crusher snapped and suddenly revved his engine angrily and sped off a few yards forward, leaving Pickle and Tiana behind in the dust with confusion.
"Oh querido, was it something I said?" Tiana asked in shame.
"No, it's not your fault…Rain, Blaze's fiancé—Crusher still has feelings for her," Pickle whispered sadly.
"Really?" Tiana quietly gasped in surprise.
"Yeah. Poor guy tried his hardest to win her heart, but it just wasn't meant to be."
"Wow, I had no idea."
"Don't worry about it, he'll get over it at some point. Just try not ta bring it up again."
Later that night, when the trio was much deeper into the jungle, Crusher was quietly lingering far behind Tiana and Pickle, and Tiana just couldn't shake the thought of Crusher's remaining feelings for Rain…mostly because she knows how that feels.
So, the strawberry pink monster truck slowly backed up to join Crusher's side, but even when he noticed her, he didn't look at her, instead just continued to stare at the ground.
"Hi," Tiana softly piped up.
"Hi," Crusher muttered.
"Um…you seem a bit bummed out. Is everything alright?"
"Why do you care? I'm just your escort to Axle City, nothing more."
"No, Crusher, that's not true. You're my friend too," Tiana protested while driving in front of Crusher and stopping him in his tracks.
"Well, what if I don't want you as a friend?" Crusher hissed and drove around her.
…
"I know how it feels!" Tiana called while not bothering to follow Crusher.
"How what feels?!" the said large blue truck called back in a huff.
"How it feels to love someone, but they don't love you back!"
Crusher immediately screeched to a halt, and his eyes popped wide as he turned back to look at Tiana in shock.
"What?" was all Crusher could say.
"You still have feelings for Rain, even though she doesn't feel the same way about you, and what's worse is that she's marrying your rival. I get it, it's not fair…I've kinda gone through the same thing," Tiana sadly explained while driving closer to Crusher.
"What do you mean? How could you know how that feels?" Crusher questioned with a sneer, but Tiana didn't answer at first, as she could only stare at the ground in embarrassment.
…
"H-hey…is everything ok over here?" Pickle asked, breaking the long and awkward silence.
"Everything's fine," Tiana informed with a sigh, making Crusher scoff and turn away to continue on.
"Crusher, wait!" Pickle called after the larger truck and sped after him, "what happened?"
"Nothing," Crusher hissed.
"It certainly doesn't sound like nothing," Pickle mumbled under his breath, fearing Operation: Match Maker may be failing gravely.
"I said it was NOTHING!" Crusher snapped when he could still hear Pickle, and he banged his front left tire against the trunk of a giant jungle tree in frustration.
But in the process, he shook the tree hard enough to knock a baby monkey truck from his nest high up in the tree, and it toppled all the way down from branch to branch, until it landed in a bush near by to break its fall.
"Oh, no! You hit the tree so hard, you knocked a baby monkey from its nest!" Pickle exclaimed with fear.
"Whoops…" Crusher whimpered, genuinely fearing if the poor baby animal was hurt or not because of him.
"Is it ok?!" Tiana asked with concern as she sped up to the boys, and the three of them watched the bush quietly from a safe distance. Until finally, the bush rustled a bit, and the baby monkey truck popped its little head out, but it squeaked and quivered with fear when it saw the others.
"Look!" Pickle shouted while pointing a tire up into the same tree, and there was another larger monkey truck trying to climb down to get her baby, but she was scared of the others too.
"That must be its mom, but she looks so scared," Tiana informed softly, but then she glared at Crusher, "see, Crusher? This is why you should be nicer to nature!"
And Tiana was actually able to make Crusher feel pretty guilty with himself, and he couldn't stand the terrified look in the baby monkey's eyes anymore, so he knew what he had to do.
Slowly and quietly, the large and dark blue truck approached the bush while holding one wheel out to the baby monkey. But when he got too close, the baby animal retreated back into the bush to hide.
"No, no, no, it's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you," Crusher gently reassured, continuing to hold his tire out. And slowly but surely, the baby monkey truck got used to him, and it hopped out of the bush and into Crusher's grasp.
He then stood on his back tires and raised the baby monkey up to its mother, and she quickly grabbed it from Crusher and pulled it close.
"I'm really sorry I knocked your baby out of the nest…I hope you can forgive me," Crusher called up to the monkeys in shame, but the baby monkey suddenly squeaked something to its mom, making her smile down at Crusher in realization.
She then climbed down while her baby held onto her back, and the mom hopped onto Crusher's hood to give him a little thank you kiss. Soon after, she jumped back up into the tree and back up into her nest with her baby, as the little monkey waved goodbye to Crusher.
And after the mother monkey truck gave Crusher the thank you kiss, he finally got back down on all four wheels, and he smiled and blushed at how nice it felt to help to monkeys.
"See? THAT'S why you should be nicer to nature," Tiana softly repeated, as she and Pickle have been watching with amazement at Crusher's kind act the whole time.
"Y'know…it feels kinda nice to be nice," Crusher stated with realization, and his blush grew darker, but then he frowned when he remembered something else, "hey, Tiana…I'm really sorry for getting all huffy at you back there…I don't know what came over me."
"Eso esta bien. It's alright, Crusher," Tiana gently reassured with a smile, "c'mon, let's keep going."
With that, the three trucks continued on through the jungle in the night, as the full moon was their only light source, but it proved to be quite bright enough.
But eventually, the trip went downhill when they approached a large, watery grotto that lead into a tall and rocky mountain.
"Ay, no. We may have a problem," Tiana pointed out with fear.
"Why? What's wrong?" Crusher questioned with concern.
"Going up a mountain at night is too dangerous, especially with mountain lions," Tiana informed, and as if to prove her point, the loud yowl of a mountain lion suddenly rang through the air.
"Mountain lions?" Crusher whimpered as his axles quivered.
"Si, so our only solution is to go through that grotto, but…" Tiana went on while pointing a tire down the dark grotto, but she paused when she saw the deep river leading into it.
"But what?" Pickle asked out of curiosity.
"I…I-I…the water, it…" was all Tiana could say, but Crusher soon figured it out.
"You're afraid of the water?" Tiana simply nodded her head.
"That's ok! We can help you," Pickle reassured with a smile.
"You can? How?" Tiana asked with surprise.
"Crusher can build us a boat, then we can safely float down the river, and we'll show ya there's NOTHING to be afraid of. Right, Crusher?"
"Of course," crusher replied with a smirk, and the light blue paint designs on his sides suddenly started to glow brightly, as the metal containers on his sides opened.
"Wait, you can build a boat?" Tiana asked Crusher while looking at him in amazement.
"I sure can. Watch!" With that, various-sized bits of metal, nuts, bolts and etc. flew out of the metal containers, and no sooner that they banded together had they formed a large and metal canoe, complete with a pair of metal oars, big enough for all three of them, and it plopped down into the water with a splash.
"Wow, that's amazing, Crusher! I didn't know you could do that!" Tiana cheered like a giddy child.
"Well, thank you. I take pride in my creations," Crusher said while getting cocky, and then he and Pickle jumped into the canoe, Pickle riding in the back and grabbing the oars to steer, and crusher sitting in the middle, leaving room in the front for Tiana.
"Aren't you coming?" Pickle called while grabbing the oars.
"W-wha…already…but the water-," Tiana stuttered in fear, until Crusher cut her off.
"Is NOT gonna hurt you, I promise! Now, c'mon!" Crusher called impatiently, and Tiana reluctantly made her way onto the boat, rocking it a bit too much when she nearly tripped and fell in if it were for Crusher grabbing her in time.
"Ok…I'm in," Tiana informed shakily, and Pickle nodded started rowing, slowly accelerating the boat down the river and the dark grotto. And when it soon became pitch black, Pickle momentarily stopped rowing to grab out his large emergency flashlight, and he turned it on and set it down facing up in front of him, providing enough light to see the cave walls.
"Why are you so afraid of the water, anyway?" Crusher soon asked out of curiosity.
"Well…I guess I shouldn't say I'm 'afraid' of it…I-I just don't know how to swim. I was never taught," Tiana replied with embarrassment.
"Ooh, Crusher can teach you! He's an EXCELLENT teacher!" Pickle happily pointed out, but Crusher suddenly froze and blushed with embarrassment.
"Really?" Tiana questioned.
"Yeah! He used to be a swimming instructor at a camp for little trucks once!"
"Aww, that sounds adorable!"
"I-I don't think so…" Crusher stuttered as his blush grew darker, and then he turned and glared at Pickle, "why did you tell her that?!"
"It's true. Besides, she liked it, didn't she?" Pickle whispered back, making Crusher's eyes pop wide with realization.
"Just be quiet," the said large truck grumbled, but Pickle still smiled knowing it worked.
"Chicos, I think a see a light down there," Tiana piped up while pointing a tire down the tunnel, and Crusher and Pickle leaned out a bit to realize that she was right; a rainbow glow was emitting from a cave down the river, and it only raised the trucks' curiosity to find out what was creating the glow.
Pickle started to row faster to get to the light quicker, and soon, when the boat finally entered the larger cave, the sight before them was absolutely amazing. Nearly every inch of the cave walls were dotted with crystals, each a different color of the rainbow, and they all sparkled brightly with radiance.
"Oh mis cielos…it's beautiful," Tiana sighed in awe, and the boys could only nod in agreement…but then she frowned and inhaled when she remembered something, and then she spoke up, "Crusher."
The said truck reluctantly looked away from the beautiful crystals, and looked at Tiana in curiosity, but Pickle himself still continued to admire the scenery.
"Earlier, you asked about…how I would know how you feel in your case with still having feelings for Rain," Tiana began sadly and closed her eyes to prepare for the worst, "I still love someone too."
"But…?" Crusher urged.
"He's getting married." With that very statement, Crusher's eyes went wide and his jaw gaped when he realized what Tiana was talking about.
"You like Blaze…THAT way?"
"Yes…but I wish I didn't…what can I do? He's my best friend," Tiana whispered, hoping Pickle wouldn't hear, and tears began to prick at her eyes.
"Be there for him?" Crusher awkwardly suggested, and then he sighed, "it's all I can do for Rain."
"Maybe…maybe we're being selfish," Tiana pointed out.
"What?" Crusher questioned with surprise.
"Our friends are making one of the biggest the decisions in their lives, but here we are, wanting them for ourselves. True love is the most wonderful feeling in the whole world, but it's not that easy to come by. Don't you get it, Crusher? We need to stop trying to make ourselves alone happy when everyone else deserves to be happy too."
As Crusher stared deeply into Tiana's shamrock green eyes, he slowly realized she may as well be correct…but he didn't want to admit that out loud.
"How will we do that?" Crusher questioned in disbelief, "it's like you said, love hard ta find."
"Simple. We just need to be with the ones we love and that love us."
"And who would that be?" Crusher immediately regretted asking that question when he realized how close their faces were, and both of them immediately blushed and looked away.
"Do…you have anyone in mind?" Tiana asked awkwardly.
"I-I…n-no…I've ever needed love before, and I won't need love now" Crusher lied, turning away from Tiana, but once again immediately regretting his words to her.
"Oh…I see…then neither do I," Tiana declared with a scowl, and turned in the opposite direction. But as soon as she turned, she saw something else down the tunnel…but it was no glorious sight.
"Ay, no," Tiana whimpered, just barely catching Crusher's attention, but when he saw what she was scared about, he did a double-take.
"Pickle, start rowing back!" Crusher demanded.
"Why?" the said green truck asked and stopped rowing.
"WATERFALL!" Tiana and Crusher screamed.
DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN!
Cliffhangers, we all despise them, but every story calls for them! Though, we wish they didn't 'cause no one likes the lingering suspense. I, myself, REALLY despise them too, so I know how you guys feel...kinda...not really. I already know what's gonna happen;P
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!