-Chapter XXII- Dirty Little Secret
-Bandicoot Sanctuary, Wumpa Island
-26 First Seed
-8:15 A.M.
-Nicholas
"Oh...shit." I heard Saria mutter.
The Spike of different colour that I assumed was the king stood up on his high throne atop Crash's house and stared at me with a snarl of pure hatred, and howled to the sky, resounding through the cool, morning air. I unsheathed my sword, and braced myself. The king sent out a group of Spikes after us, and I charged. The first I encountered, just as the others did, stood over me, and began to bring down his claws on me, but I quickly parried with my sword, something he obviously wasn't expecting. He staggered, and I swung my sword, effectively slashing his chest with a long, shallow wound. He began to fall over, and I kicked him to the ground. He quickly shot up, and was about to attempt at striking me again, but I rolled under his leap and spun around, hitting him again on his back.
Already my sword was coated with a thin layer of crimson blood. I struck his back again, and he fell down, at last unconscious. I stood over him, triumphant. When I turned around to face the king again, I was about to be tackled by another Spike, coming at me with his spiny arm, but quickly jumped out of the way, causing him to become stuck in the dirt where I was just about a second before. I sprinted to the king, and struck him with my sword. He growled in anger, and swiped at my chest, creating a deep slash. I clutched it with my free right hand, and swung my sword again. He stepped back, and lunged at me. I rolled under him, and spun around again with another land on his back.
He roared in anger, grabbed me, and threw me into one of the houses. I winced in pain and opened my eyes to see the albino Spike charge after me again. I quickly got back up and jumped to the side, causing the Spike to smash his head into the wall. He recoiled and, in a daze, swung furiously with his massive claws blindly. He nearly got me, but I quickly ducked just in time, and when he swung again, I grabbed onto his arm and swung off of it to kick his head. He stumbled backwards to the door, and I leaped into the air, swung on a hammock, and kicked him again, throwing him out of the house and back out.
He quickly got back up, grabbed me out of the house, and threw me onto the ground before jumping on top of Crash's house. He roared, and a group of Spikes went after me. The first to charge after me was shot by an arrow to the chest, and a second to the head. I looked to the tree where the second house was built to see Saria.
I smiled and slashed at another Spike, wounding his leg. After a minute or two of protecting myself, the Spikes and I at a stalemate of silently watching each other, awaiting for the others to make a move, I noticed Crash climbing up his house to where the King Spike stood. Within a blink of an eye, Sonic came barreling towards the kingdom, and Crash spun his arms around and knocked the king from his post. He crashed down to the ground before me, and I examined him in horror as realization came to me of what I was expected of next.
"Nick! Kill it!" Saria called.
I looked around, seeing Crash, Sonic, Rayman and Saria all awaiting the king's death. "I..." I stuttered to myself. I felt almost sick, and a strange feeling came over me.
"Nick! Do it!" called out Sonic. I raised my sword reluctantly as the creature moaned, and held it over my head with both hands. I closed my eyes, and lowered my sword. I opened my eyes again to see the creature still alive before me, my sword hovering over his head. He growled angrily as he got back up, the Earth shaking as he thrust his hands into the ground to get back to his feet. I backed away as he stood over me and my knees buckled, unwilling to end the life of a living creature.
The King Spike bared his teeth, took a deep breath, and roared at me in rage, he opened his mouth wide open to strike me again, and as he came after me, an arrow pierced his throat, sticking out of his mouth, and blood splattered across my face. He fell to my feet, no longer breathing.
"Nick!" I jumped when Saria called my name in anger.
I felt as though I were in a daze, unable to control my thoughts or actions. My hands shook, my blood felt like ice... "I..." I stammered again. "I don't...
"What happened?" Rayman asked as he came back from a group of his own Spikes that he had to deal with. After Saria had killed the king, the others retreated immediately. "Is the king dead?"
"Nick, are you all right?" Sonic asked.
My breathing became increasingly heavier, and I felt lightheaded. My lips quivered as I felt nauseous and increasingly more feverish. "I don't..." I continued to say beneath my breath.
"You're lucky you weren't killed!" Saria yelled. A moment of silence followed, and everything seemed to dim. "Nick?" I heard Saria ask in a horrifically distorted voice. "Nick!" the distorted voice called again, and this was the last thing I remember before blacking out.
"Nick..." I heard a familiar voice call. "Nick." I watched in confusion as I found myself stranded in a world of black. "Are you all right?" I looked to the one talking to me.
It was Max.
"M...Max?" I asked uneasily.
He smiled. "You've done quite well so far. Don't lose it."
"What do you mean?" I asked. I wordlessly stared at me, forcing me to contemplate just what he could mean. I looked to the ground, thinking of what he could mean. The only thing that came to mind was that I may or may not make some sort of mistake that could doom their lives, but I had no clue at all of just what specifically. You could be Revolutionary appeared in my thoughts, and when I looked up to ask him what that meant and why it seemed to keep coming back, but he was already gone, leaving me alone yet again. "Max?" I looked around for him, but with fruitless efforts. "Max!" I called out into the empty abyss. "Max!"
"Nick?" I heard in the distance.
It was a feminine voice that I heard, "Saria?" I asked.
"Nick! Nick!"
A bucket of cold water was my wake-up call. I shot up, spluttering water in my mouth and rubbing any in my eyes. I coughed a few times, and looked around. We were back at the shores of Nsanity Isle. "What happened?"
"You fainted at Wumpa Island." Rayman explained.
"And we brought you back here." Crash added.
I looked at him in confusion. "Why aren't you with Coco and Crunch?"
He shrugged, "I thought I would be able to come with you guys."
"Can he?" Rayman asked excitedly, "he's the only one other than you that can actually understand me when I talk normally!" he added.
Uh...sure." I said, my mind not exactly in order. I was glad, however, for him to join us, but I still focused mainly on what just happened in my mind not seconds ago. Is Max somehow alive?
"Awesome!" Rayman jumped up in excitement.
"I take it he asked whether or not Crash can join us." Sonic said with a smile. I nodded, getting back up. "I could tell, those two have been talking nonstop, leaving Saria and I completely lost."
"Where is Saria, anyway?" I asked.
Sonic pointed without a word further down the beach to where I saw Saria sitting, looking out into the open ocean. I nodded in thanks to Sonic, and walked silently to Saria. "Are you all right?" she asked when I was behind her.
"Yeah..." I said quietly, almost ashamed, "thank you, Saria. For saving my life."
She let her head drop onto her knees. "What happened?" she asked with her forehead resting on her knees. "Did you have some sort of mental attack? Or..."
I shook my head, joining her by her side and sat down. "No, I just...couldn't bring myself to killing another living creature. All I've had to deal with is just...robots, and now with a living, breathing...creature before me, I..." I trailed off. "I just-"
"Is that what happened to me?"
I looked at her, "what?"
"The reason you let me live, was it simply because you feared to kill me?"
"No, er, well, sort of, but I told you, I...felt something, like we were connected. You were different, I couldn't seem to even hurt you. Er, except for your..."
"Head injury, I understand, but what I mean is..." she trailed off, looked at me, and shook her head. "Nevermind." she said, getting up and walking away. I found myself alone...yet again.