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Pain.
The word seemed to appear in her head, as she tried to describe the sensations she felt. This was called pain. Pain was a word. It’s definition – in this context – was the physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury. The feeling was not foreign to her, but the fact having a word to describe it was. In fact, the very concept of language felt...familiar and unfamiliar at the same time to her. She shifted through her memories, trying to come up with another instance before this one of when she used ‘language.’ Nothing came to her head, only fleeting images of...something. Something before that raced around her head in incomprehensible shadows. If she tried to focus on the images they pirouetted away, out of her mind.
Her world was dark and silent, the only ‘sound’ being the voice in her head, explaining things that seemed second nature yet completely unnatural to her mind.
And the pain...oh god the pain. Her body felt like it had been ripped apart and then rearranged the wrong way. Muscles and bones and organs seemed to shift around in her body. Everything from her face down to her littlest toe screamed out at the strain of their forceful movement. But the worst pain of all was her head. Or to be more specific, inside it. Some...thing that was inside her head. Where the voice was coming from.
Brain. The voice informed her. The thing was called a brain. And it hurt.
It pounded and pulsated against her skull, against the back of her eyes, like it was growing too big and was going to burst through in moments. Meanwhile, it was racing, information that the poor girl could barely process effectively. Words and their definitions, concepts she had never heard of and yet felt so intensely familiar. And most of all, questions. Most notably:
Where was she?
What was happening to her?
Who was she?
She couldn’t remember any of it. Surely, she should at least know the answer to the last question.
But she didn’t.
It was like she was just born, flailing in the darkness. That was impossible! She was alive before! She wasn’t just born! No newborn had such complex thoughts, right? The voice in her head assured her of that, which only made her more confused.
The muffled thumps against her ear drums started to clear...very slowly. There was a pattern to them. An oddly recognizable pattern. Certain sounds seemed to mimic the voice in her head, like an auditory version of it.
Fighting through her discomfort and aching, she tried to reboot her ears and...listen. Yes. That was the word. Listen. Soon the sounds became more and more decipherable. They were words, but as sounds. The voice was quick to explain what this was called:
Speech.
“...was a success, Master! Subject Two’s vitals are well within acceptable bounds, and the mutagen is taking hold quite...he he hah...nicely…” Said one...voice. Yes. That was the right word. They were hardly different from the voice in her head, filling her brain to bursting with info. The only difference was they were outside her head, not inside it. And of course the ‘sound’. This voice was different from the one inside her head, it was more...staccato in its timbre. Erratic in its nature and pattern. Breathless in places.
Subject Two? What was subject two? Her inner voice informed her that the context implied ‘Subject Two’ was a ‘who’ not a ‘what’. What was a who? She was a who. But she didn’t know who she was. There wasn’t a word for ‘who’ coming to her head.
Person.
That is what the who was. That is what she was. A person. A being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, and consciousness. It took her a minute to understand what these other words meant, but she soon realized that she checked all those boxes. She could reason just fine. As for morality, she felt like what was happening to her was wrong. And consciousness? She was aware she existed. And then she became conscious of just who she was:
She was Subject Two.
Another voice chimed in, this one...smug? It actually mimicked the one in her head fairly well, with it’s unsettling smoothness and somewhat effeminate nature. Subject Two wasn’t sure which voice was outside or inside her head. “Excellent, excellent!” The voice made a sound that...sounded like it was breathing very fast and quick, like panting but louder.
Laughter. An explosive vocal sound used to indicate humor or delight.
Was...was her pain humorous? Two didn’t understand… Pain wasn’t a good thing, she had figured that out quite quickly.
For the first time she started to feel her throat, it felt like it was on fire, like she was choking. She instinctively coughed and groaned, verbalizing her pain. Bright lights began to pierce the darkness that filled her vision, until all she could see was an indecipherable mishmash of colors. But with time, and a few blinks, the images became more clear. Colors stopped running together and sat in their proper spots, producing a more understandable image.
And the image was of something quite unsettling. A person with sunken eyes and reddish eyelids. A large head with some symbol unfamiliar to Two in the middle. Hair coming down his chin and out the sides of his titanic cranium. He stood over Two with a devilish smile, his chilling gaze frightening the newly reborn girl. Upon his body was...some sort of fabric. White, with black along his arms and then bright yellow at his hands.
Clothes.
“Welcome to your new, evolved life, Subject Two. Don’t worry, it’s only a temporary name until I can decide on a...properly evil one for you.” The man gestured flippantly. “And I am your lord and master...your creator...Doctor Neo Cortex! Evil Genius!” He then bellowed out in triumph.
Evil? What was evil? It didn’t sound good, but Two’s inner voice didn’t seem to say anything about it. She deduced that it wasn’t good, and it was very wrong, if it involved her being strapped down like she seemed to be.
Cortex turned his head back down to Two, a psychotic, excited smile plastered on his wicked face. Though, that evil visage faded into a disgusted sneer as his gaze got further down her form. “Ugh...eww!” He exclaimed, turning away and covering his eyes. “If only I could figure out how to make clothes that change with you. I would see far less mutant genitals.” The scientist’s free hand appeared out from behind him, producing...a strange device with a few dials and a large button. His thumb depressed the button, making a few mechanical arms appear from somewhere outside her vision, clutching a t-shirt and a pair of overalls.
Another flick of a switch and another button press, and Two’s limbs felt less...heavy. Not that she could take advantage of it, and not just because her body was still so numb and unresponsive. The mechanical arms suddenly shifted her limp body around, thrusting the shirt over her head and her legs through the overalls. Two could feel the straps come up around her body...snapping into place. She felt her feet being slid into something else. Shoes. Yeah that was the word.
When the arms vanished out of her vision, Two contemplated the sensation of wearing clothes for seemingly the first time ever. It felt...strangely wrong yet also right at the same time. Two parts of her brain debated on the merits of wearing clothes until her attention was brought back to the present moment, her limbs suddenly becoming heavy once more, something hard and cold clasped around her wrists and ankles that she didn’t notice before.
Cortex looked back, an evil smile returning. “Aaah...that’s better.” He said, reaching a hand over to adjust the overalls a little. “Get used to wearing clothes. I’m running a mutant army, not a nudist colony. And these will have to do until I can finally decide on the uniform colors.” The madman was about to say more, before that first voice chimed in.
“Wait?! What is that o-o-on her!? Those are my overalls!” The voice cried angrily. Neo sighed and rolled his eyes. “Mother – ne he hah – made them for me!”
“Oh hush, Brio!” Barked Cortex, looking up from Two with a sneer. “It’s only a temporary measure to keep this place from looking like some sort of nude beach for mutants. I haven’t decided on a uniform for my army just yet. You’ll get them back, I’ll even pay for the dry cleaning and de-furring!” The first voice seemed to growl and grumble, but said nothing more.
The doctor rolled his eyes again, before looking back down at Two. “Sorry about that...now...where were we...Ah yes. You, my dear Bandicoot, have a great future ahead of you. One full of CONQUEST and GLORY. As my GENERAL.” He bellowed theatrically, finishing off his statement with a boisterous, maniacal laugh. “The previous candidate – your brother by the way – was...well. A failure. And he left you here all alone. Poor Subject Two.” One gloved hand came to pat Two on the head, which...she honestly liked just a little. On some instinctual level. “But don’t worry my dear, you have me!”
“D-Dr Cortex! Something is going on!” Called that first voice, what did Neo refer to it as? Brio?
Cortex’s head shot up, eyes wide with fear. “W-What?! You just said her vitals were sound!”
“They are, master! B-But...take a look at the graph of her brain waves...her intelligence is – nehe ha ha – g-g-growing exponentially! The mutagen appears to streamlining her frontal a-hahahand her parietal lobes!” A few heavy, clomping steps, and a new figure stood over her, the one Two assumed was called Brio. He was a tall man with a prominent underbite, a large bald head with bolts on either side, and wearing a green lab coat. He thrust a device over Two’s prone form to Neo, who took and studied it fervently.
“Amazing! Astronomical even!” His gloved hand flicked along the device, shifting the data around. “My word, you have a 164 IQ, Subject. That’s genius level intellect. Not as high as mine, of course, but up there!”
“There i-i-is a problem though, sir. I d-do not believe that the – he-hah-hah ” Brio twitched erratically as he laughed, before he became more calm again. “V-Vortex would be effective against such p-profound intellect.”
Neo stroked his beard a bit, casting a glance over to Two and then back to the data. “Hmm...you may be right, Brio.” He handed back the device, rubbing his large temples with both hands. “Ugh...problems upon problems...why must there always be problems?” The scientist lamented. “This was the whole reason we chose an adolescent bandicoot as our next subject.”
“R-R-Right Dr. Cortex, her still developing brain would have been perfect for – ne ha ha ha – the V-Vortex’s influence.”
Two still didn’t know what this ‘Vortex’ was, but for some reason, she felt glad she wouldn’t be ‘influenced’ by it.
“But it seems it was perfect territory for the mutagen.” Neo leaned back, still stroking his chin in deep thought. “...But...I believe we can work with this…” He said, cracking a sinister smile. “We’ll just have to change plans a little.”
“How so, Master?” Suddenly two more voices spoke in unison, one natural and the other...unnatural. Two’s ears twitched as she picked up the hobbling steps coming closer...and soon her vision was filled with the grotesque face of something she wasn’t even sure was human, one giant red eye and something...violent looking sticking out of his head. Half his face glitted in the light with a metallic sheen, while the other side of his face was adorned with bright red, almost fiery hair. “We certainly can’t expect her to be evil…”
“Yes yes, I’m well aware N. Gin. But this problem could be a nice opportunity. We could send her to school.”
Neo’s two henchmen shot him a look of confusion, and so did Two...as much as she could muster. She wanted to ask what school was, but her mouth and throat weren’t responding. Did...she not have a voice, or was this just a product of...whatever happened to her?
“Evil school, to be exact. There she’ll learn the basics of being evil, just like we three did so long ago.” Neo tented his fingers, grin widening. “She could be better, eviler than even her brother could have been!”
There was that word again, Brother. What was a brother? Two couldn’t figure it out.
Neo’s visage became a little more relaxed, somehow even showing some semblance of affection. “And ontop of that, give dear Nina a friend and lackey for her days at school.” He looked down at Two with an excited smile. “Oh she’d love you, I just know it!” He told her, patting her chest in elation.
Brio seemed to be about to object, but N. Gin chimed in, both of those voices meshing together to form his words. “Excellent idea, master! Excellent! An evil scientist is nothing without a loyal henchman!” Brio shot N. Gin a glare.
“Exactly, I know. I know. I’m a genius.”
“B-B-But Dr. Cortex...you realize she is biologically around twelve years old. It will be years before she graduates!” Brio warned, as he and Cortex shift out of Two’s line of sight. She tried to shift her head to see where they were going, but her body still felt so numb. Her muscles had no strength in them. So instead, she simply listened to them. While N. Gin incessantly poked her in the face.
“Yes yes yes, I know. But that will give us time to shore up the numbers of my army, research and develop new, unstoppable weaponry and technology! And most of all, get rid of that damned Crash!” There was a pause. “N.GIN!”
The strange half metal man yelped and turned away. “Y-Yes master?”
“Quit poking the bandicoot.”
There was a pause, N Gin looked over his shoulder at Two, then back to wherever his master was. “...That’s a bandicoot? Doesn’t look like a bandicoot…” Finally, the odd man hobbled out of her vision as well, leaving the poor girl to just stare up at what was above her.
Which...she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. It was...violent. Descending from the ceiling, covered in glowing wires and panels. Two’s brows furrowed as she eyed it...somehow it made...sense to her. The throbbing in her head worsened, making her moan as another wave of information washed over her thoughts. Wires, electricity, complicated math and chemistry. Her inner voice feverishly spewed forth all this information, as if in response to what she was seeing. The more she looked, the more information seemed to be spawned in her head. Finally she just closed her eyes to try and stop the onslaught.
A sudden slam made her eyes shoot back open, and she managed to shift her head toward the noise for the first time. “Doctor Cortex! Sir! He’s here!” Breathlessly exclaimed a tall, lanky human with big, thick goggles and a tight fitting labcoat, as well as a short, non-descript haircut.
“What?! How did he get past the traps, past the mutants?!” Neo demanded, furrowing his brow at his underlings.
“H-He just did, sir! He’s coming this way!” The assistant explained, placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
“Damn it! Quickly, get Subject Two out of here, he must NOT be allowed to rescue her!” Cortex bellowed, pointing to more underlings out of Two’s vision. “A-And cover her eyes! I don’t want her to see his face and get ideas!”
More tall individuals in lab coats started to crowd around Two, one of them clutching a sleep mask. Two struggled to get away, but found that all she managed to do was scrape at her ankles and wrists with the metal clamps.
Suddenly there was a flurry of motion bursting past the door, running over the lab assistant messenger and knocking the three scientists onto their rears. The assistants crowding around her suddenly turned towards the noise. A tornado of orange and blue spun around the room, out of Two’s vision. She could hear things smash, break, and explode, peppered by maniac giggling and high pitched, high speed gibberish that she couldn’t quite understand.
“NO! STOP HIM!” Neo bellowed out, as strange bolts of light started to shoot around the room. Two was even more confused than she was a few moments ago, as she did her best to follow the flurry around the room.
It moved so fast, so light...but she could make out the figure. It was...a bandicoot. A strangely familiar one, actually. A word popped into her head the moment she saw him.
Brother. That was her brother.
She had no idea what bandicoots were supposed to look like, but she could tell he was quite awkward looking, with a large head, an almost non-existent neck, shorts and strapped shoes. He had bright orange fur and a slicked forward mane on his head, with emerald green eyes and large white teeth that seemed to be permanently in a playful yet spastic grin.
Hovering around him was...a board? No, it had a face painted on it. A mask! Yes...a floating mask. Did masks usually float? She didn’t think so, but to be honest today was weird enough, they might as well.
Assistants tried to surround him, but with a furious spin of his body, he shot them across the room and into the walls and other machines dotted around the cavernous lab. Neo Cortex shot beams of light at him that he deftly, almost tauntingly dodged.
“Stand STILL and just let me kill you, Crash!” The genius bellowed, still firing, before this ‘Crash’ suddenly slammed a drop kick into him, sending him careening into his two underlings and out the room.
The mask spoke with a mature, faintly accented voice, floating over towards where Two was, staring down at her with his wooden visage etched with a look of concern. “Quickly Crash, we have to release her and get her out of here!”
Her brother appeared in her vision, peering down at her with a look of curiousity, before looking back up at the floating mask. He babbled incoherently a moment, only half of which did Two even begin to understand. He seemed to shift into the pockets of his shorts, before pulling out a hammer, smacking it against the clamps around Two’s limbs. One by one, they were freed.
“Don’t be afraid child. We are here to help!” The mask spoke reassuringly, and it made a calmness eat away at the fear inside Two’s heart.
Finally, she found the ability to speak, as if a clamp had been opened up on her neck as well. “W-Wha?”
There was an explosion, and she turned her head to look, eyeing a large mechanized suit blasting into the room, N. Gin sitting squarely in a cockpit on its chest.
“WHOA!” Crash clearly said, his ears erect and alert as he eyed the suit.
N. Gin’s voice bellowed out. “You leave the kitty right where she is, Crash!”
“I just told you, she’s a BANDICOOT!” Cortex exclaimed.
“Whatever. DIE!” N. Gin lifted up one of the suit’s arms, a gun attached, and opened fire. Loud sounds rung in Two’s ears, and she instinctively moved her hands up to cover them. Fiery bolts shot towards them, but the mask moved forward, and an ethereal shield appeared between him and the suit. Explosions from whatever the suit was firing peppering its magical surface.
“Oh no...Come on Crash! We have to go!” The Mask exclaimed. Crash nodded fervently, and tossed the hammer behind his back. Quickly, he tossed Two’s aching form onto his shoulder.
CLANG. A sharp pain shot out of Two’s already aching head. She had hit something, and hit it hard.
An apologetic “Uh oh” from her brother was the last thing she heard before her world went dark...
“Child...Child, wake up. You are safe now.” Those were the first words that Two heard as she came to. Her eyes fluttered open, and there she was, staring at the two hovering over her. The Mask and Crash, with the starry night sky filling the backdrop behind them.
Her head throbbed, and she brought her hand up to try and calm the pulsating pain in her skull. She groaned softly. “W-Wha…where...where am I?”
“Someplace safe. I am Aku Aku. Protector of these islands, and this is Crash, who I understand is your brother.” Aku Aku shifted his face towards the bandicoot, who babbled a greeting and an excited wave. “We rescued you from the clutches of the evil Dr. Cortex, so that you may live a life of freedom and purpose outside of his word domination schemes.”
Two felt weak, like she hadn’t eaten or drank in forever. Her stomach even growled to remind her to fill it.
“Ah...erm. Crash! Get your sister something to eat, she must be starved!” Aku said, before Crash babbled and left her side.
Two found the strength to sit up, finding herself on a beach, near a ramshackle building that was as much a glorified tent with a dirty couch than anything else. And a fridge that...seemed out of place. Was it even plugged in to anything? Crash seemed to be rooting around in it fervently, tossing out half eaten, spoiled food – mostly some strange fruits – behind him haphazardly.
“What did he call you, child?” Aku asked her, floating back into her gaze.
“Call...me? S-Subject...Two.” She answered quietly, rubbing her head.
Aku frowned. “Hmm...of course. He didn’t name you like he did Crash. But I suppose this is a good opportunity! You can choose your own name, completely distance yourself from the evil man that created what you are now.”
“W-What...am I now?” Two asked, peering down at her hands. “What was I...before?”
“It...doesn’t matter at the moment. First we must decide...who are you?”
Crash suddenly returned, carrying a plate with a package that read ‘Cocoa Butter’ on it. Aku Aku groaned in exasperation. “No, Crash! I said something to eat, something more than a stick of Cocoa butter!”
Crash began to babble an argument to the floating father figure, before Two reached out and snatched the morsel from him. The two stopped their squabble cold as the hungry young girl gobbled it down with reckless abandon, fueled by the ancient need to survive.
She gobbled up the whole thing...and savored every morsel. It was...in a word...delicious! Creamy texture, and sweet. Quite filling. She absolutely adored it. “...I like butter…”
Aku eyed her nervously. “...Please don’t tell me you’re going to name yourself Butter.” Crash excitedly nodded his head, giving a thumbs up to his younger sibling.
“N-No!” The idea had crossed her mind...but...Butter sounded dumb. She eyed the ripped up package on the empty plate, ripped so that only the letters ‘Coco’ were intact.
Hit by a wave of inspiration, Two spoke. “Coco. I’m going to call myself...Coco.” She nodded affirmatively. Yes. She liked that name. It fit her, as far as she could tell.
Aku Aku smiled warmly, which made Coco smile back. “Ah...that suits you much better. Welcome to the family, Coco.”
“Welcome!” Crash babbled out, as he suddenly threw his arms around his sister and hugged her nice and tight, which forced a happy giggle out of her throat.
A new word came into Coco’s head, one that made her heart swell with joy at the very thought of what she felt.
Love.