Without You, There's No Need

Chapter 11

Cortex pulled out his plasma blaster, a bit confused on how he had it. Pushing that quickly aside, he shot Sandy several times. Pete quickly got to his feet, firing a Shock Wave. That gave everyone a chance to run for the car as they started to drive out of there. Cortex and Pete quickly got in as the car fled. Sandy didn't go chasing after it, knowing that they were going to the island anyhow.

"We will finish everything there," Sandy said, mostly to herself. "Then we shall see if the Light is really as powerful as we thought!"

With that, she fled to N. Sanity Isle, hoping that her sister was not awake yet.

...

-Flashback: 'Crash Ten Sanity'-

Crash was helping John as Cortex came in. Pete ran over to him.

He greeted, "Hey Cortex!" That's when he saw Cortex's puzzled look as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Cortex answered, "Not really. There's a question for Aku-Aku I suddenly have."

Aku-Aku perked up at this and questioned, "What is it?"

Cortex took a deep breath and asked, "Does 'The Light' mean anything to you?"

Aku-Aku paled as he hissed, "Who told you?"

Cortex stated, "I don't know but what I do know is that I had an awfully weird dream before I came back here of a majestic light coming from the heavens above when I touched Crash's hand."

Aku-Aku whispered, "So you don't know."

Crash perked up as he asked, "Don't know about what?"

John questioned, "Yeah, what's going on?"

Pete stated, "Something big, that's for sure."

Coco asked, "Can you explain, Aku-Aku?"

Aku-Aku sighed as he explained, "Many years ago, the Ancients had learned of my brother and I fighting each other. It was causing a lot of trouble around these beautiful islands. Even for the budding kingdom that was on them. My influence had a strong hold against the people, the king, and the two princesses. My brother's influence had a strong hold against the queen and her subjects. A civil war broke out among the kingdom. The king had to send his youngest daughter to America, all alone, so she would not suffer the same fate as him or his oldest daughter.

"The king, King Sinbad, had magical island powers and had created us to have balance of good and evil in his kingdom. However, our powers were too influencing. Especially my brothers, influencing Queen Camille the way he did. She even made a magical staff that got people to join her and Uka-Uka's side. When King Sinbad sent Princess Fialda to America, he quickly hid Princess Annabelle or Princess Belle as everyone called her, in the deepest jungles of Wumpa Island. He then returned to his kingdom to try and save it."

N. Gin interrupted, "What does this have to do with The Light in question?"

Aku-Aku answered, "I'm getting to that, N. Gin. You see, King Sinbad had two choices. Either wait for the greatest knight in all of the kingdom, Lord Dusty, to finish his magical sword X-Caliber to stop Queen Camille or cast a spell that would bring forth the most magical and powerful weapon. He chose his second option. However, before he could try and find two people he could trust with the power - he was captured by the subjects that followed the queen and was banished. The queen never realized that the spell had been cast but since it wasn't fully complete, the spell lingered over the island.

"Eventually, Lord Dusty had made his sword, defeating and imprisoning Camille inside of her own staff, which was lost. Over time, the people left or died here that wasn't in the royal family line. The royal family was the only family with magic, keeping them immortal. Princess Belle is the only one here and only God knows where she is."

Cortex interrupted this time and asked, "So wait a minute, are you saying that this light is the same thing from all of those years ago?"

Aku-Aku answered, "Yes. Created by King Sinbad to reset my brother and I."

Crash questioned, "Reset?"

Aku-Aku explained, "In other words, we would return back to our former states of feathers and bones."

Coral gasped, "That can't happen!"

Aku-Aku replied, "I'm afraid it must. Without the Light to reset my brother and I, you will never be free of this place."

Cortex realized, "That's why I kept dreaming about the island..."

Aku-Aku responded, "Yes. It was to bring you back since you and Crash are the ones that hold the keys."

Crash questioned, "Okay, wait a minute. We had nothing to do with those events so long ago. How did King Sinbad decide who was going to get the power if he was caught?"

Aku-Aku explained, "It wasn't him that decided. He was captured before he could, as I said. However, the Ancients of the island, were the ones to decide. A creature of unbelievable heart and strength. And a man with a troubling past shall be the ones to control The Light. With that prophecy in place, all my brother and I did was waited for the day that this would happen. The Ancients saw a man that had survived the outbreak of the kingdom and gone to England. A man named Joseph. He eventually started a family with the surname...of Cortex."

Cortex perked up at this as he breathed, "Joseph...that was my great grandfather."

Aku-Aku replied, "Yes and the Ancients decided that YOU would be one to get the one key that was needed."

-End of Flashback-

...

Cortex's eyes flew open as he panted. Apparently, during the chase, he had passed out. Kenai was looking over him, looking quite worried.

"Dad?" He asked, "What's going on?"

"Oh son," Cortex answered, panting. "I know what Uka-Uka meant when he said island reset..."

"So you know what happened," Kenai questioned, sounding hopeful.

"Not the full details but I've got a general idea," Cortex replied, shrugging.

"Why aren't you excited like I am," Kenai asked, hyper. "This is huge! My dad is in some sort of big time thing and we get to have fun for once in our lives!"

Cortex stood up as he answered, "Kenai! The island and everything you are about to see there should be taken VERY seriously. This is a matter of life and death!"

Kenai looked puzzled and asked, "Then how come you got involved? You are the most safest person I know!"

"Believe me, son," Cortex responded, looking at his own two hands. "Things aren't always as they seem..."

"Is that why you were Phoenix?" He asked, now looking worried.

Cortex overstepped his 'cool' parent bounds as he hugged his son and answered, "I can't explain that or anything else quite yet but I can promise you, I still love you and our family."

The minute he said that, the minute he felt Kenai hugging back. Cortex felt relieved. 'So hugs are cool again,' he thought, with a slight chuckle. 'At least his rebellious stage wasn't that threatening to the world...' As the memories of his haunted past came back, the tighter his hug got. 'Unlike mine.'

...

Wishmaker1028: Almost at the island guys and we are getting close to the end of the story. Or are we? Guess you are gonna have to wait and see! Anyways guys, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!