Crash Bandicoot: Welcome to Amphibia
Ch. 5: The Domino Conundrum
Crash and Coco are in their kitchen making something special.
"Ok, Crash, put it in the oven. This pizza will definitely cheer those four up." Coco said. "You remember not to put pineapple on it? I don't want Anne to go ballistic again." Crash nodded that he didn't put any pineapple on the pizza. "Good, now let's…" A call was heard from Coco's computer. It was so loud that Polar and Pura woke up from their sleep.
"Oh no, it's Anne." Coco said. She quickly headed outside so Anne wouldn't see the surprise. Once she was outside, she answered the call and Anne appeared on her monitor.
"Hi there, Coco. Been a while since we last talked." Anne said.
"Same here." She said. "So what have you been up to with the Planters?"
Anne said. "A thief was stealing HP's "prizing winning" corn. He even shouted the perfect sitcom catchphrase!"
"Really? What did he say?" Coco asked.
Before Anne could tell her, Sprig barges inside and heads to Hop Pop to tell him something important.
"Hop Pop, we got a problem! Bessie just ran out of the barn!" Sprig said.
"SAY WHAT?!" Hop Pop shouted.
"Hahaha, that's the one." Anne said as she laughed.
"Still must be painful to make little sense all the time." Hop Pop said to Anne. "Now…" Hop Pop gets Polly by grabbing her bucket. "Come on, Polly! We got to find Bessie!"
As they leave, Polly shouted, "Wait, I want to talk to her!"
"Who's Bessie?" Coco asked.
"I don't know, dude." Anne said to her. "Anyway, me and Hop Hop were looking out when I started to get tired, so I decided to drink something for a little boost. Then when I got my Blam Berry Blitz and showed it, Hop Pop thought it wouldn't keep me up and brought out his Gourd Tea to prove that it was strong enough to keep anyone awake."
"So, you two drink each other's drinks to prove a point, am I right?" Coco said.
"Yes, and while it was funny for a second, it was a bad move later as we started to hallucinate." Anne said. "Hop Pop head was a tea kettle while he said my hair was rainbow colored. It turns out that our body chemistry we're so different that we were having crazing reactions to each others' beaverge."
Coco was surprised by that sudden burst of brilliance coming from Anne's voice. "That's properly the smartest thing I ever hear you say." She said.
"I know right?!" Anne said. "After that, we started to argue again until we saw the corn thief. As we went closer, our hallucinations saw it as some sort of corn demon that breathe green flames. Thinking that it's real, we decided to fight it using magic, but since it had no effect on it we used power-ups."
"Power-ups?" Coco said with her eyebrow raised.
Anne explained what she meant, "Well, it was more like a sickle and a pitchfork. We chased him back to the house and tossed our "power-ups" at him which dodged and he started to apologize with a familiar voice."
"Let me guess who it was, the thief was Sprig, was it?' Coco said, as she knows how that pink frog acts.
"Yep, he was trying to patch up my and Hop Pop's relationship, but you can see how it went out of hand." Anne said.
"Isn't it obvious?" Coco said. "He better learn his lesson in this."
"I'm sure he's gonna remember this for a long time." Anne said. "So where are you busy inside or…"
"It's nothing!" Coco said quickly as she tried to change the subject. "I, um, was just going to show Polar and Pura what Amphibia looks like."
"Your pets?" Anne said. "That's a good idea. Maybe you can show them to us when you're done."
"Sure, Anne. See ya later." Coco said. She turned off her computer once she finished speaking with Anne.
A loud explosion was heard from inside the bandicoot house. Coco heads inside to see what is going on. She sees that Crash had blown up the pizza.
"Crash! I wasn't even gone for long. How did you blow up the pizza so fast?" Coco said with Crash just laughing nervously. She sighed and continued talking. "Oh well, we'll fix this later. Right now, let's just take our pets to see Amphibia." She whistles which called Polar and Pura to them.
"All right, you two. We're going to take you both to see what Amphibia looks like." She said to them both. Before they left, Coco remembers that someone is absent. "Have either of you seen Baby T? I figured he wanted to come as well." Polar and Pura move their head toward where Baby T usually is. Coco looks at sees that he is sleeping. "We better not wake him. He can come some other time. Now then, let's head to Amphibia!" They all went out the door and headed to the warp room.
As a portal opened in Wartwood woods, Crash, Coco, Polar, and Pura came out of it.
"Well, here it is, you two, Amphibia. Full of dense forests, humid air, and killer dragonflies." Coco said as she moved her hand around the area then in the air where the dragonflies carried the same frog around.
"I'm still waiting to get rescued, anyone." He said as the dragonflies carried him.
"Since we're not that far from Wartwood, we should go to the town. It should be this way." Coco said. Before they went, Polar started to bark which got everyone's attention. They looked back to see who he was looking at and saw that there was a caterpillar behind them. It had black, white spots on its back, and had a cat face. It meowed at them all.
"What kind of caterpillar is that?" Coco said with Crash wondering what caterpillar it is. "With it having a cat face it looks like a cat-a-pillar to me. Come to think of it, it looks like Anne's cat, Domino. Let me take a picture of it." Coco brought out her phone and took a picture of the caterpillar. The caterpillar blankly stares and meows at Polar and Pura who just looked at it, not knowing if it's a threat or not. Crash looked at her sister wanting to know what they should do with it.
She responded with this, "Well, we can't leave it here. This place is full of predators and she won't stand a chance with any of them. Since it looks similar to Anne's cat, maybe we should take it to her?"
As they thought about it, Polar saw something in the sky which had him hide behind Crash. Crash looked up to where Polar was looking and started to get a terrified look in his face.
"What wrong, Crash?" Coco said. Her big brother pointed upward showing that three giant wasps were heading in their direction. "Oh great. Like we really have time for this." She said as they don't want those wasps in their way.
Somewhere not far from here, Anne and Sprig are playing baseball around some mud pits. Sprig was getting a gourd ready to toss while Anne was using a scythe as a baseball bat.
"Hey, batter, batter, batter." Anne said as she held the scythe as a baseball bat.
Sprig finally took the gourd up the pitching mound and threw the gourd forward. Anne swung to hit the gourd but missed it and the scythe flew from her hands
"Ah, whiffed it." She said as she looked at the busted gourd, but suddenly, she remembered about the scythe she accidentally threw heading for him, so she gasped and said, "Sprig!"
"Huh?" Sprig said as he looked forward. He saw the scythe heading for him so he quickly ducked. He managed to avoid getting hit, but his hat wasn't so lucky. The scythe flew through the buses and hit something to stop its flying trip. Due to the scythe, Sprig's hat was sliced in half, revealing that the pink frog has orange hair.
"Wanna go again?" Sprig said, unfazed about the scythe nearly sliced his head off.
"Yeah-ah!" Anne said, but she quickly said afterwards, "Wait, you have hair?"" They head to the woods to get the scythe back. As they were walking, Anne said to Sprig, "Hey, sorry about your hat."
"It's no biggie. I always keep a spare with me if something happens to it." Sprig said.
"Oh, there it is!" Anne said as she saw the scythe basking in light. As she grabs the scythe's handle, she hears faint screaming not that far from where she is.
Sprig starts to say, "Hey you found…" But was cut off by Anne shushing him.
"Do you hear something?" She said with her and Sprig listening closely. They can hear those faint screams again only this time they know who they belong to. This caused Anne to gasp in fear.
"Those are Crash and Coco's voices! They must be in trouble!" Anne said to him.
They both ran out of the forest and gasped when they saw the three giant wasps trying to sting Crash and Coco around some mud puddles. Crash was carrying Polar while Pura was near Coco who was holding the caterpillar. The caterpillar meows as the wasps try to sting Coco.
"Oh my gosh! We got to help them!" Anne said as she rushed in to help.
"Right behind ya." Sprig said as he brought out his slingshot.
"Crash, Coco, we're here to save you two!" Anne said as she ran to their direction.
Coco looked to see Anne heading for them, but she ended up tripping and dropping the caterpillar. It fell in a mud puddle with its face slightly obscured. The wasp turned their attention to the caterpillar and started to sting around the puddle while it meows.
"Don't worry about us!" Coco said as Pura helped her get back on her feet. "Save the caterpillar." She pointed to the puddle where the caterpillar landed.
Anne turned her attention to the caterpillar and headed to the puddle. She then pulled the caterpillar out of it.
"Gotcha!" Anne said only for the wasp's stingers to hit the ground near her. "Oop, gotta go!" She crawled away from the wasps.
The wasps fly up only for one of them to get tackled by Crash who is riding Polar. The right wasp was tackled by Coco who is riding Pura.
"That payback for trying to sting us!" Coco said to the wasps.
Afterwards, all three were hit by rocks sent by Sprig using his slingshot.
"Take that, buzz brains!" Sprig said as he's shooting rocks at them. "Go sting someone your own size!"
Anne ran back into the forest with Crash and Polar following.
"Quit it with your gloating and let's get out of here!" Coco said to Sprig while she and Pura dash in the direction Anne is going.
"Sprig out! Peace!" He said as he jumped backwards towards the forest.
Anne made it back to where the scythe is, gasping for air as she is out of breath.
"You're safe now little fella." Anne said. Once she got a good look at the caterpillar, she squealed happily.
"What's wrong? Did you get stung in the arm?" Sprig said as he stood on the scythe's handle. He then grabbed the scythe. "We'll have to amputate!" He was about to swing the scythe at Anne's arm only to get stopped by Coco who grabbed it from him. Pura was behind her along with Crash, who is now holding Polar.
"You're acting like a lunatic, Sprig!" Coco said, scolding him. "Don't think slicing a limb is the only answer. If she's stung, her arm just swollen. We just need to ease the swelling with an ice pack or something similar."
"No, you two." Anne said to both Sprig and Coco. "This caterpillar looks exactly like my cat Domino from back home." Anne said. She brought out her phone and showed her cat Domino then showed the caterpillar who is similar to her, minus a nose, paws and tail. The caterpillar meowed at them all.
"That's the reason why I told you to save it, I mean her." Coco said. "You told us you love your cat, so I thought this cat-a-pillar could make for a nice temporary replacement for you."
"Well, you thought right, dude. She makes a great replacement. Let's take her home with us!" Anne said.
"Eh, I don't know, Anne. Sprig said. "That's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."
"Give her a chance to raise her, Sprig." Coco said to him with Crash nodded at Sprig as he agreed with her sister. "Our pets were wild when we found them and since then they have been great pets and loyal to us."
Anne said to Sprig, "Similar to their pets, my cat back home was also a stray before I adopted her. All it takes is love and patience and…love."
"You said love twice." Sprig said. Anne moved the caterpillar near Sprig who licked his face. Its cuteness finally convinced him, so he said, "Sold!"
"It's settled." Anne said. She takes the scythe from Coco and turns it around to knight the caterpillar. "I hereby dub thee Domino 2." She turned the scythe back around.
"How original." Coco said, sarcastically. "But, I think D-2 likes the name you gave her."
"D-2, is that supposed to be a nickname?" Anne asked.
"Yep. I got it from when you called Hop Pop, HP." She said.
"Nice." Anne said. She looked at Domino 2 again. "Come on, girl. Let's go home." Anne, Sprig, Crash, Coco, Polar, and Pura walked a bit but stopped when they saw Domino 2 not following them, instead she tipped herself over.
"Uh, is it broken?" Sprig said as wanted to know what going on with Domino 2.
"She probably doesn't know you well enough, Anne." Coco said.
"Hold up, I got an idea." Anne said as she gave Sprig the scythe. She got her backpack off of her back and opened it. She reached inside and got out a toy mouse. "This works on Domino 1 without fail." She starts to rattle the toy which gets Domino 2's attention. As she looked at the toy, her pupil grew wide. She got up and started to crawl towards them. "That's it girl. You can do it. Come on." She walked forward while looking at Domino 2 who continued to follow her.
"I want it." Sprig said as he started to get entranced by the toy too. "Give it to me." He kept looking at the toy while walking.
"While we're walking back, you have to tell us how you two were able to have a polar bear and a tiger for a pet." Anne said to Coco.
"Sure, I'll tell you both the whole story of how we met." Coco said as she and Pura walked alongside Anne and the entranced Sprig with Domino 2 continued to crawl as she followed them.
Before Crash and Polar could follow them, a rustle was heard from the trees as a large figure flew quickly through them. Both Crash and Polar looked up as they thought he saw something.
"Crash, stop lagging behind!" Anne said. Crash jumps up and he sees the others are still going on without him, so he quickly catches up with Polar following from behind.
Above the trees, a moth-like creature was looking at them all. It has the same cat face as Domino 2. The moth eyelids winked sideways as it looked at them. When it sees Sprig, its tongue comes out of its mouth as it sees the perfect appetizer, however instead of attacking them, it flies off as it is going to tell another of its kind about a potential feast they are about to have.
Cut to the Planter house where the group is near the front door.
"Okay, I'll head in and convince Hop Pop about keeping Domino 2." Anne said to them all.
"And how are you going to pull that off?" Coco said to her.
"By using the Boonchuy charm on him. You all stay here and watch over her for me." She said as she opened the door and entered the house though the front entrance.
"Pssh, Boonchuy charm. What's she gonna do, beg to keep her?" Coco said to Pura who just meows as he doesn't get it.
"Um, Coco?" Sprig said.
"Yes, Sprig? What is it now?" Coco asked.
"We're having a little problem over here." He said as he showed Domino 2 nibbling his leg. Polar just barks a bit at this while Crash is wondering how they're gonna remove Domino 2 from Sprig's leg.
Inside, Hop is chopping up some kind of bug.
"Hey, Hop Pop, old buddy, old pal." Anne said to him as he walked into the kitchen.
Knowing Anne was about to ask something, he said, "What do you want, Anne?"
"Oh, nothin'. I was just thinking, doesn't this house feel empty to you?" She asked.
Hop Pop turns around to see an absurd amount of dirty dishes. Anne was supposed to clean them since she's still stuck on dish duty. "Not especially." He said.
"Wouldn't it be nice to have a sweet, fuzzy, loving critter around?" Anne said to him.
"A pet?!" Hop Pop said as he slightly freaked out hearing that word.
"Great idea, Hop Pop." Anne said.
"No pets!" He said with him pointing the knife at Anne. "Everytime we get one, Sprig and Polly swear they're gonna take care of it. Like this one spider we had, Charlie Bigbottom. I mean, sure they were there for all the cuddlin' and the snugglin', but who gets stuck doin' with all the work? Good ol' Hop Pop that's who! I swear to Frog, whoever brings a fuzzy critter into this house will be on dung duty for a month! And before you ask, this rule goes for anyone, including our orange guests!" He stops looking at Anne and just continues chopping the bug as he starts to trail off. "I told Charlie Bigbottom to stay out of the…" Hop Pop voice faded as Anne came out of the front door and closed it.
"Ok, time for Plan B. We're gonna have to sneak our pets inside." Anne said.
"Anne, look at what D-2 is doing to Sprig's leg." Coco said as Sprig showed Domino 2 biting his leg.
"Should we be concerned about this?" He said to her.
"That is called play biting." Anne said to him. "Isn't it cute?"
"Yeah, kinda seems like she's tasting me." Sprig said as Domino 2 starts to lick his leg. He then tries to get Domino 2 off his leg.
"That's ridiculous. Trust me, I know cats." She said.
"I know them too, and Pura never did anything like that when I raised him." Coco said.
"Hey, if Anne says she knows cats, then she knows." Sprig said. He hopped with Domino 2 still on his leg near Anne who got her off his leg.
"Shhh." Crash said to Polar and Pura.
"We mustn't let Hop Pop see either of you." Coco said with Polar and Pura shaking their heads yes to her.
As Sprig opens the front door, He sees that Hop Pop is still talking about Charlie Bigbottom. "…and how many times did I tell Charlie Bigbottom not to go up the chimney? And that little spider looked at me with those big green eyes like he understood me, but two minutes later, where do I find him, up the chimney!"
With Hop Pop distracted, Sprig opens the door while waving a signal to Anne that this is their chance. Anne started to head inside holding Domino 2 with Crash and Coco coming in next with their pets following them. However, before they can reach the basement, Domino 2 makes a loud sneeze which causes Polar and Pura to yelp. Anne gasps at Domino while Crash and Coco gasp at their pets after they make those noises.
"What's that?" Hop Pop said as he quickly turned to the den and saw nothing other than Sprig and Crash.
"Uh, hey, Hop Pop. What the worst thing Charlie Bigbottom ever did since we're talking about Charlie Bigbottom?" Sprig said with Crash pretending that he wanted to know more.
"Heh, how can I even choose?" Hop Pop said. As he was about to talk about the troublemaking spider, Anne was hiding behind the sofa, covering Domino 2's mouth so she wouldn't sneeze again. Coco was outside near the door with Polar and Pura. "Jumping out in front of Bessie and overturning the wagon, getting tarantula hair everywhere, then there was the time she put a hole in the roof." Hop Pop turned to look up at the roof which gives Anne and Coco the opportunity they need to head to the basement. First, Anne crawled to the basement door on the ground and opened it, next, Coco, Polar, and Pura came back inside and went into the basement first.
"Huh?" Crash said as he looked up.
"Where that happen again?" Sprig said, as he pretends he doesn't see the hole
"Are you both blind?" Hop Pop said. "The big hole right there."
"I don't see it." Sprig said with Crash just shrugging.
Hop Pop said while slightly stuttering, "R-right there!"
Anne went down to the basement and closed the door, chuckling knowing she managed to keep Domino 2 away from Hop Pop's eyes. As she goes down, she sees Coco comforting Polar and Pura.
"That was a close call. D-2 nearly got us caught, Anne!" Coco said.
"Hey, it's no big deal, especially if you're raising a cutie pie like this!" Anne said as she snuggled Domino 2. She puts her on her bed. Domino 2 meowed at Coco who just waved at her.
Sprig came down and said. "Took a while to lose Hop Pop, but we managed to keep him ranting about Charlie Bigbottom." Crash came down next but ended up tripping down the stairs and falling down on the floor. He quickly got back up.
"Great job, dude! Now all that is left is to keep an eye on my precious baby angel while she's adjusting. Isn't that right, Domino 2?" Anne said.
She takes out the mouse toy and places it above Domino 2. She started to play with it, but then she looked at Sprig which caused her pupil to fill her eyes and some drool came out of her mouth. Sprig chuckles slightly only for Domino to shoot a webby thread from her mouth. It hit Sprig in the face which caused him to shout followed by then muffled screaming.
"That's just how she said I love you." She said. She then kisses Domino 2's face.
"Yeah, while you're busy keeping her in check, we're heading back home." Coco said as she used her computer and opened a portal back home. "We'll be back tomorrow to see how D-2 is living with you." She, Crash and their pets went inside with the portal closing behind them.
The next day, while Crash is sleeping, Coco just finished making another pizza to replace the one Crash blew up.
"Finally finished!" Coco said. "You better not blow up this one, Crash!"Crash just mumbled as he try to go back to sleep.
Coco got out her phone and looked at the picture of Domino 2 she took.
"While I want Anne to take care of D-2, I'm still wondering why she was biting Sprig's leg like she wanted to eat him." Coco said to Pura who just looked at the picture. She decided to check up on Anne, so she uses her computer which opens a screen where Anne is seen in the basement.
"Oh, hi there, Coco. You're here to check up on Domino 2, right?." Anne said.
"Mmm-hmm. So, how is she…" Coco stops talking when she takes a good look at the basement. There are webs everywhere along with claw marks all over the place. "This place is wreak! What happened? It's just been one day!"
"Oh that. Domino 2 had a bit of a rough first night indoors." Anne said.
"Just a rough night? You have claw marks on the right side of your face!" Coco said as she see the claw marks on Anne's face.
"Well, there were some other problems with Domino 2." Anne said. She pressed a button on her phone and showed some pictures. One of them showed Domino 2 above the ceiling about to eat Polly, another showing Domino 2 bringing dead bugs on Anne's bed. "Sprig said that she also ate one of Hop Pop's sandwiches while I was making a house for her."
"She's quite a handful, isn't she?" Coco said.
"You got that right!" Sprig said as he joined the conversation. "Hope there isn't a Domino 3."
"But it was all worth it in the end…" Anne said as she moved aside to show Domino 2 sleeping on her bed. She used her own webby thread for a bed sheet. "…especially when you get to watch your adorable little boo take a nap."
"I gotta admit, she's pretty darn cute." Sprig said.
"Ok, you're right about that." Coco said to Sprig. "She definitely is adorable sleeping like that."
"Welcome, you three to the church of cute." Anne said as she placed her hand on Sprig's chest.
"Is this a cult thing?" Sprig asked. His stomach growls afterwards.
"Whoa. Looks like Domino 2 isn't the only thing purring." Anne said. She looked at her phone again. "See ya, you guys! Me and Sprig are going to get some grub."
"Ooh, I love grubs!" Sprig said. Anne hangs up the phone and she and Sprig head to the kitchen to get something to eat.
"Crash, wake up!" Coco said, which got him to wake up. "I just talked Anne, and while D-2 seems fine, we should head over to see her one last time."
Crash nodded as he and Coco got on their pets and rode to the warp room.
Back at the Planter's house, Anne and Sprig are in the kitchen, gorging on food. Hop Pop came in the kitchen and was surprised at seeing them eating so much.
"Whoa, whoa there! Hungry much?" Hop Pop said to them both.
"We've been running around all day. We're starving." Sprig said with his mouth full. He placed more food into his mouth.
"Runnin' around? Doing what?" Hop Pop asked.
Anne and Sprig gulp their food down.
"Oh nothing." Anne said.
"I mean, who can say really?" Sprig said.
A portal opened in the Planter's basement with Coco and Pura coming out of it first. Crash came out next, but he fell on the floor when Polar accidently bumped into him. The fall made a loud thud that was heard from the kitchen.
"What was that?" Hop Pop said.
Anne guessed by saying, "Mmm, basement ghost?"
Hop Pop didn't believe it, so he said, "Don't be ridiculous! Basement ghosts don't sound anything like that."
"Then maybe it's just Crash and Coco visiting us." Sprig said to him
"Could be them." Hop Pop said. "Gonna check the basement to see if it is them." He headed to the basement. Knowing that their secret will be found out, they quickly head to the basement as well
After nodding at Crash for falling down, Coco sees Domino 2 who is still sleeping on Anne's bed.
"Still sleeping, huh?" Coco said. The silk web covering Domino 2's body started to cover her head until it was completely covered into a cocoon. "Looks like she's about to grow up." She took out her phone and took a picture of the cocoon.
Both Crash and Coco hear footsteps as someone is coming to the basement.
"Someone's coming." Coco quickly heads to Polar and Pura. "Hide somewhere, you two!" Polar and Pura hid behind the crates near the window.
The basement door opened and Hop Pop, Sprig, and Anne came downstairs.
"Oh, Sprig is right about that shaking being just you two." Hop Pop said. So, why are you both here?
"Well, you see…" Before Coco could think of an excuse, Anne sees the silk cocoon on her bed.
"What the heck is that?" Anne said as she looked at the cocoon. "And where Domino 2, my baby precious? Is she in that thing?" She pointed to the cocoon.
Crash and Coco waved their hand crazily at Anne to tell her not to blow their secret. While they try to get her attention, Polar and Pura see something from the window that looks like a big cat's head. It looked at them both and smiled at them. This caused Polar to bark loudly and Pura to meow loudly which caught the attention of their owners.
"Polar, Pura, what's wrong?" Coco said with her putting her hands to cover her mouth as she accidentally called out their pets
Hop Pop sensed something was going on with Anne, Sprig, Crash and Coco, something that they didn't want him to know, so he said, "Wait. "Baby precious"? Polar? Pura? Those are pet names, for a pet!" He turns around to talk to Coco. "Did any of you sneak a pet in here?"
Coco knows that Hop Pop is getting close in figuring out that they did bring pets in the house, so she tries to rouse suspicion away from them, "What? Don't be ridiculous, Hop Pop! You think that we would disobey your orders like that? We would never do that! Right, Sprig?"
"Yeah, what she said." Sprig said. Hop Pop glared at him which caused Sprig sweat until he finally spilled the beans. "Ok, we did!"
Polar and Pura finally came out of hiding and headed towards Crash and Coco.
"Well, it looks like the jig is up." Coco said. She looked at Polar and Pura and saw that both of them were terrified of something. "What's wrong, you two?" She said to Polar and Pura who just hid near their owners.
"What did I tell you about pets?" Hop Pop said, turning his attention to Sprig while Anne looked at the silk cocoon.
"Uh, I'm sorry. It's just that the caterpillar looked just like Anne's pet from back home." Sprig said.
"And as for you two…" Hop looked at Crash and Coco who were with their pets. "…we're both of you in league with them?"
Coco saw and said, "Yes, we were. She was in danger, so we asked Anne to take care of her. But you gotta understand. She was a small caterpillar that was almost…"
"Wait, did you say caterpillar? What did it look like when you found her?" Hop Pop said as he started to worry.
Coco was surprised by Hop Pop's question, but she ended up answering him. "Well, she had a cute cat face and was black with white spots on her back.
"A black caterpillar with white spots? Do you have any idea what you all did?!" Hop Pop said to them all.
"Ok, I'm sensing something is wrong." Sprig said.
"That's a Coastal Kill-a-pillar!" Hop Pop said, explaining Domino 2's species. "They're deadly amphibivores, and they only get white spots right before they're about to grow up into deadly moths!"
"What the what? You're saying that Domino 2 is a frog eater?" Coco said as gobsmacked at what she heard Hop Pop said.
"Yes! That's also the reason no one in Wartwood raised them!" Hop Pop shouted.
"Not good. If she's a natural predator to amphibians, then that means…" Coco was cut short by a large banging upstairs.
"What was that?" Anne said.
"Whatever it is, it is coming from upstairs!" Sprig said.
Everyone heads upstairs with the exception of Polar and Pura who see the cocoon is starting to shake as it gets close to hatching. As they make it up stairs, they all see that the banging is coming from the front door. It was then smashed open leaving a hole. Coming though were two big moth-like creatures with cat faces and six paws were the ones who bang though the door. One of them was orange while the other was purple. Both of them roared at them all which caused them to scream.
"They look like…Domino 2!" Anne said.
"Those two are the mature version of the Coastal Kill-a-pillar called the Coastal Kill-a-moth!" Hop Pop said.
"They must be ones that scared Polar and Pura." Coco said.
"Shh, these monsters respond to sound." Hop Pop said. "Let's back away slowly and quietly."
All of them went back a few steps as they tried to head to the kitchen but stopped by Polly who barged in from upstairs.
"Hey, fam! What's happening in here?" Polly said loudly.
Polly's loud voice caused a reaction to come to the Kill-a-moths. Both of them roared at her which caused Polly to scream. Both Kill-a-moths create a gale of wind by flapping their wings. The wind was so powerful it caused Anne to drop the toy mouse she was holding. It fell down to the basement.
"Run, kids, run!" Hop Pop said with Sprig and him running to the kitchen while Polly hopped there.
"I don't want to die in an living room!" Sprig said.
The Kill-a-moths try to follow until they are stopped by Anne who got in their way.
"I won't let you two eat them! Now get out of our house, now!" Anne said as she spread her arms to try to block their path.
The purple Kill-a-moth pushed her aside, so that both can continue pursuing the Planters, Crash and Coco head over to where Anne was after she was out of the way.
"Well, that didn't work." Coco said.
"You're right about that. At this rate, they're going to eat them, and I can't do anything to stop them." Anne said.
"We'll find a way, now let's go help our friends!" Coco said to her. Anne, Crash, and Coco head to the kitchen to stop the Kill-a-moths.
While all of this was happening, Polar and Pura were still in the basement seeing the cocoon about to hatch, not knowing that the toy mouse that was dropped by Anne fell in front of them. The cocoon burst opened with a green slime spilling around Anne's bed. The figure that was in the cocoon flew up quickly then imminently head down to the ground show that it is Domino 2, who is now a white Kill-a-moth, as it smiled, it eyes blinked sideways, then roared at Polar and Pura which got them so scared that they couldn't move, after she was done roaring, she see the mouse toy in front of them, As she look closer at it, many flashbacks played in her head of her time with Anne, such as her eating one of Anne's magazines and the many times they snuggled together. Once she starts to remember, she looks at Polar and Pura and meows at them friendly. This surprised them both, but they were happy Domino 2 isn't a carnivorous beast. Domino 2 looks around and starts to be sad when she doesn't see Anne. Polar barks at him that she and the Planters are in trouble and that their owners are trying to help them. Domino 2 decided that she is going to head over to save her with Polar and Pura tagging along. In the kitchen, Crash, Coco, and Anne see the Kill-a-moths tossing the Planters like a yarn ball while passing them around.
"I want to get off the ride now!" Polly said.
"They're playing with her prey." Coco said to Anne.
"And they're going to bite their heads off once they're done toying with them." Anne said.
Crash points to tell them that they stop playing around with the Planters.
"And it looks like it's about to be sooner rather than later!" Coco said.
The orange Kill-a-moth places the Planters on the floor then both of them open her mouth super wide and their long horned tongues with green saliva covering it. Before they could bite their heads off, a gust of wind appeared which stopped them. It came from Domino 2 who appeared in the kitchen along with Polar and Pura.
"Domino 2, is that you?" Anne said as she looked at her.
"It is her, but the question is does she still know you?" Coco said. Domino 2 looked at Anne and headed for her, but instead of attacking her, she licked her face and then snuggled her. "Looks like she answered that question." She said with Crash breathing a sigh of relief.
Domino 2 releases the toy mouse from her mouth and places it near Anne. Seeing this brings tears to her eyes.
"Aw, you never forgot about me, Domino 2." Anne said while slightly crying.
"Nice to see you two together, now how about helping us?!" Polly said with her shouting those last five words as the Kill-a-moth opened their mouths again as they were going to try to eat them again.
Domino 2 saw the other Kill-a-moths and roared at them both which caused them to stop and put the Planters near Anne. Crash is surprised and wants to know how Domino 2 managed to stop them.
"No way." Anne said. "Guys, I know how Domino 2 stops them! She must be the alpha moth."
"And you know this because?" Polly said to Anne, question her.
"Because Marcy told me about it." She said.
"Yeah, of course another you said that." Polly said, sarcastically.
"Now that they're all tamed, what are we supposed to do with all of them?" Coco said.
"They can't stay here, Anne. You oughta know it by now." Hop Pop said to her.
"I know, HP." Anne said. "Wartwood would be an all you can eat buffet for her and her new friends. You have to leave, girl. Come on."
Anne had Domino 2 follow her with the other Kill-a-moths, the Planters, Crash, Coco, Polar following as well. All of them went to a cliff that led to the woods. She placed the mouse toy on the ground. "Keep this as a way of never forgetting me." Domino 2 grabs it in her mouth and places it in her brown fur. She then looked sad as she knew she had to leave so that the other Kill-a-moth won't eat the planters, but she will miss Anne so she snuggled up to her one last time. She looked at Polar and Pura and meowed happily at them as she became friends with them. Both are finally getting used to her in her moth form so they bark and meow back.
"Before you leave, do you mind if I take one last picture of you?" Coco said to Domino 2. Domino 2 meows happily to say yes to her. She bring out her phone a took a picture of Domino 2 in her moth form. "Thanks, and so long, D-2."
After saying her goodbyes, Domino 2 and the other Kill-a-moths flew off from the cliff and away from Wartwood.
"Sayonara, Domino 2." Anne said.
Coco sees Anne shedding tears again so she said, "Are you ok, Anne?"
"I'm fine. I just have something in my eye." Anne said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
As they head back inside though the big hole, they see that the two rogue Kill-a-moths made a mess during their short stay as webs are everywhere and their wind gusts cause some furniture to move around.
"Aw, look at this place." Anne said.
"And look who is cleaning up after the pet. Hop Pop, that's who!" Hop Pop said to Sprig and Polly.
Anne sighs and says to the Planters, "I'm so sorry you guys. I have no right to put you all in danger, no matter how much I miss my cat. I hope you understand."
"Understand? Understand?!" Hop Pop said as he walked near Anne. He then quickly starts to cry. "I miss Charlie Bigbottom with all my heart and soul!" He began bawling, leaving a puddle of tears on the floor. He hugged Anne while crying who just patted him on the head.
"Uh, can we please fix the giant hole in the house?!" Polly said, killing the tension.
"Just let him have this moment, Polly." Coco said with Crash just scratching his head.
The next morning, Anne is cleaning up the mess made by Domino 2 when it was a larva. Sprig, Crash, Coco, and their pets came down the steps. Hop Pop actually allowed Polar and Pura around the house, for about thirty minutes.
"Nice for Hop Pop to allow our pets to be inside the house, so long as they don't cause a mess." Coco said. "It is a shame about you having to give up Domino 2, Anne."
Anne sighs, "Well, this goes to show you, you can't take some wild animal you found in the woods, have it live in your basement and think everything's going to be okay."
"I don't know. Sometimes it works out." Sprig said.
Anne looked at her stuff near her bed as Sprig was talking about her.
"Ohhh! You're talking about me right?" Anne said wanting to make sure.
"I'm sure she won't forget about you. And who knows? Maybe you two will meet with each other again someday." Coco said with Anne smiling after what she said.
"Hey, um, made you a little something." Sprig said as he showed his hand made Domino 2 doll. "I used Domino 2's hair balls as the fur. Here you go." He hands the doll to Anne. She just stared at the doll. "You hate it don't ya? It's too ugly isn't it? You know what, give it back to me…"
"I LOVE IT!" Anne said as she quickly hugged and comforted the doll.
Polar barked and happily headed near Anne.
"Whoa, what up with your pet?" Anne said as she put the doll on her bed.
"Polar must have taken a liking to you Anne." Coco said. "He's not a cat like Domino, but he's a great companion. He's also great to ride around, but you're a little too big for him.
Anne pets Polar on his head. "Awww, your face is so fluffy. And you're just as cuddly as Domino. I mean you're no replacement, but you're cute in your own right" Polar bark at Anne as she petted him.
"Anne, Sprig, there's something me and Crash want to show you, but let's head upstairs to the living room. You should also tell Polly and Hop Pop. They need to know about this too. Me and Crash are going to head home, but we'll be back in a flash.
Ok, we'll see you both there. Anne said. She and Sprig head back upstairs to tell Polly and Hop Pop while Crash and Coco head back home through the portal Coco created.
A few minutes later, all of them are waiting in the living room.
"So, what do you think those two call us for?" Hop Pop said to Anne.
"Who knows, HP." Anne tells him.
"Don't call me HP." He said as he doesn't like the nickname Anne gave him.
"Maybe, they are going to say they can play the fiddle." Sprig said as he got out his fiddle and started to play a bit. "I could use some backup for a duet I've been thinking of doing."
"Don't get your hopes up, Sprig." Polly said to him.
Crash and Coco appeared as she came out of a portal and appeared near Anne and the Planters.
"Hi, you guys." Coco said to them. "I know you're all wondering why we brought you here. Well, both of us started to feel guilty of you all losing the potluck, so we decided to make you something to apologize for all of you going into that shame cage." She moved aside and Crash showed a pizza box. He opened by showing a pizza with pepperoni and wumpa fruit on it. "You did tell us you wanted to share a pizza with the Planters, Anne, so here is your chance to make that promise. And before you ask, this pizza is 100% pineapple free."
Anne was astounded at what Crash and Coco did for them. The Planters were surprised as well that their bandicoot friends decided to do this to cheer them up from their loss at the potluck.
"Oh, you two shouldn't have." Anne said. She then hugs both Crash and Coco. "Thanks for this, you two!"
"Do you know what this means, Polly?" Sprig as he started to get excited.
"Pizza dreams are back?" Polly said.
"You know it!" Sprig said. They both shouted happily afterwards.
"Come on, Hop Pop! I know you want to try it." Anne said as he nudged him to try the pizza.
Hop Pop sighs and said, "Fine, but only to convince you that this isn't a big deal."
Crash placed the pizza on the table as Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop started to have the pizza together. Coco took a picture of Anne and the Planters eating and enjoying the pizza.
"Now, this is a keeper!" Coco said.