Crash Ten Sanity

Chapter 1

Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex was sound asleep for the first time ever in his own bedroom. It had been a good couple of years since he had been in this bed and the softness had not change. He heard his sister and Nina downstairs, starting to cook cookies as a late night snack. 'Just what Nina needed,' Cortex thought, with a smile, 'Her Mother.' It had been about five months since Stacy had died. Jasmine went home with Darla and Anthony after the funeral. Darla knew that she would see her Uncle Neo again one day and hopefully talk him into going back to the island.

He hadn't heard anything from Crash or anyone else for that matter since he had decided to stay. He thought, no, he knew that he was doing the right thing. No one needed him anymore. And he was black marked because of the whole Phoenix thing... Anyways, slowly but surely, the scientist fell into a deep sleep...

...

Cortex slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was on N. Sanity Isle.

"The island," he wondered, headed towards the beach that he knew so well.

That's when he saw the Bandicoots outside, all talking and laughing like there was not a care in the world. Cortex smiled softly. While it was true that he did miss his friends back on the island, he didn't want to leave London and mess up their happiness like he did when he was Phoenix. Anyways; Coco was on her laptop as per usual, until she threw it off of her lap, like it was going to do something terrible to her.

Cortex puzzled at this as Crash came over.

Crash asked, "What is it, Coco? What's the matter?"

Coco answered, freaking out, "What's the matter?! I thought you told me that the Evil Twins were eaten alive by Evil Crash!"

Crash stated, "They were."

Coco replied, showing him her laptop, "Not anymore!"

Cortex felt sick to his stomach. Victor and Moritz? Alive? No, this couldn't be right, could it? All of the sudden, the happiness of the island was turned into darkness and utter despair as Cortex saw that everyone (except for Crash for some strange reason) was turned into stone statues.

Cortex shouted, "No... No... No!"

"And we're coming for you, pops!"

Hearing that voice again sent shivers down Cortex's spine. He spun around and behind him were two oddly shaped shadows, coming towards him.

Cortex shouted, "No! Get away from me! Get away!"

With that, he started to run or tried to run. That's when Victor's shadow grabbed his left leg, forcing Cortex to trip. Cortex landed flat on his stomach, flinching in a bit of pain. He spun around as he saw that Victor and Mortiz's shadows were starting to pull him towards them. Cortex struggled, trying to get out of their grip. That's when he saw something. Crash's hand. He looked up and saw Crash standing there, looking scared.

Crash breathed, "Cortex, take my hand!"

Cortex reached out his right hand to Crash's left one. He struggled against the shadows that now held down both his feet. Suddenly, his fingertips touched Crash's which resulted this majestic light appearing out of nowhere, blinding them.

Cortex cried out, "CRASH!"

...

"Neo?!"

Cortex opened his eyes in a shot, quickly sitting up in his bed. He had been laying on his stomach, the blanket wrapped around his feet. He looked to the right side, seeing his sister.

He asked, in a cold sweat, "Nance?"

She looked worried as she stated, "Neo, for heavens sake, are you okay? You were screaming your head off!"

Cortex panted as he replied, "I just had a very bad nightmare..."

Nacey sat down on the bed next to him and responded, "Apparently and it was about Crash..."

Cortex perked up at this as he asked, "Was I screaming his name?"

Nacey answered, "Yes..." She questioned, "Neo, what is going on? Are you sure you wanna stay here for the rest of your life?"

Cortex sighed as he explained, "Nina needs her Mother and after the whole Phoenix thing, I have been feeling awful. Everything is my fault Nance... The Evil Twins, Uka-Uka, N. Tropy...the list goes on..."

Nacey pointed out, "The Phoenix thing was not your fault. Uka-Uka just used your state to get what he wanted. You away from Crash. And it worked. And it will continue to work if you stay here."

Cortex replied, "Maybe. Right now...I just...I just need to clear my head."

With that; Cortex got up, went into the bathroom, and got dressed. Nacey just sat there on his bed, feeling badly for her younger brother.

...

At a local tea shop, Cortex sat down as his waitress took his order and then headed off again. Cortex brought out his phone, staring at Crash's contact information. Did - should - he dare?

"Neo Cortex?"

Cortex looked up, closing his phone, as he saw a beautiful woman standing there. She was a medium height, rather slim, B cup size breasts, had long brown hair, big brown eyes, wearing a beautiful short sleeved turquoise dress with a light blue wrap on her shoulders, and light blue high heeled shoes.

Cortex stammered, "C - Cynthia Crest?"

Cynthia nodded, smiling as Cortex bolted up from his seat and hugged his old classmate. Cynthia returned the hug, giggling as the two old schoolmates pulled out of their embrace.

She stated, "I can't believe its you! You look terrific!"

Cortex blushed as he replied, "You do too, Cynthia. So beautiful..." Cynthia blushed as he quickly added, "Uh, I mean smart..."

Cynthia giggled, remembering how bad he was at giving girls (aside from his sisters) compliments.

She stated, "You look rather smart yourself." Cortex looked modest, smiling. She added, "I heard about your Mom. I am so sorry."

Cortex replied, rather softly, "Yeah, me too." He looked at her, rather nervously as he asked, "Would you care to join me?"

Cynthia smiled and answered, "I'd love to."

Cortex smiled as he pulled out a seat for her. It was going to be a rather interesting day.

...

Wishmaker1028: I thought I would focus a bit more on Cortex since he's the one going through turmoil for the start of this fanfiction. Plus, he is one of my favorite characters. There's a lot more to him than anyone thinks. Anyways, hope you all enjoy. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!