Crash Bandicoot: Welcome to Amphibia
Ch. 2: A Frond in Need
At the Bandicoot House, Crash is practicing his dance moves until he is interrupted by Coco who was holding the blue crystal that Crash grabbed.
Coco told him, "Crash, I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that I couldn't decipher the ancient language, but the good news is I'll be able to slowly translate it if we find more crystals. You know what that means, it's time to head back to that frog world!" Crash and Coco head to the warp room. Once they are there, Coco said while looking at the doorway Crash first went into, "This is where you went to that swamp, right? Crash hummed "Mmm-hmm." at her to tell her that she is correct. "This is the portal we came out of when we left, the same one that goes to the house that the frog family lives in. I bet that girl with the one shoe would be happy to see us again. What was her name again? Anne, that's it! Let's head in and meet her again." Crash and Coco went into the portal to the Planter Family home.
At the Planters' basement. Anne is having a flashback involved back at her hometown. During it, She was in a thrift store looking at a mysterious box on a shelf.
"Alright, Anne. You can do this." She said.
She then looked at the shop owner and saw that she was fast asleep, so she took the box without a second thought. Outside the store were Anne's best friends, Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu. They told Anne that she should steal the box for herself since it was her 13th birthday. Sasha was the one specially to tell Anne to take it as shown by her giving two thumbs up to Anne. She then stuffed the box in her bag and headed outside to meet them. That night, Anne and her friends are at the park with the box. Anne opened it and a bright flash engulfed them. The flashback ended with Anne waking up and screaming in the basement.
"Guys, guys, guys. You won't believe the craziest dream I just had. I was trapped in a world of frog people and met these anthropomorphic bandic–" Anne opened her eyes and saw that it wasn't a dream as she saw the Planter family looking at her which caused her to stop talking. Hop Pop croaked afterwards. "Oh, yeah, right."
"Hey, Anne. Did you sleep well last night?" Sprig asked her.
"Careful, boy! It could be hungry." Hop Pop said, keeping Sprig back.
"For your guts and bones!" Polly said while hopping in her bucket while holding a rolling pin.
"Dude, relax. I'm not gonna eat something that clearly doesn't bathe." Anne said, pointing at Hop Pop who is shown to be dirty.
He then eats one of the flies surrounding him and said, "Fair point."
"See? Told ya it was harmless!" Sprig told them.
"Hmph, for now." Hop Pop said while taking Polly, but she jumped out of her bucket while still holding the rolling pin,
"Just give me an excuse to use Old Doris here." She said. She then hopped back upstairs.
"I think the little one wants to kill me." Anne said.
"Yep, she sure does!" Sprig said.
A warp portal then spawns from above them. From it, Coco came out and landed near Anne and Sprig.
"Hey, it you, the blonde bandicoot!" Anne said who is nice to see Coco again.
"It's Coco and it's good to see both of you, too." Coco said.
"But wait, where's your brother?" Anne asked.
Before Coco can answer, Crash shows up next, but he ends up accidentally body slamming Sprig.
"I think you just got your answer, Anne." Sprig said while in pain.
Crash got up off the ground and helped Sprig get back up as an apology.
"So, why have you both come back here?" Anne said.
Crash was about to show them the blue crystal until Coco stopped him and said, "Oh, we're just here to check up on you."
"Makes sense." Sprig looked at Anne. "She must be super excited to be trapped in another world. I'm pretty jealous about that." Sprig leaned but doing so he ended up falling down on the floor which caused Anne to chuckle.
Anne said to him, "It's not all that. I miss my home, my stuff, my parents, and especially…" She grabbed the photo she placed on a pipe. "…my friends." She then hands it to Sprig to see. He saw the picture that shows Anne and her friends with BFFS! spelled on the bottom. Sprig then shows it to Crash and Coco. While Crash feels a bit sad that Anne lost her friends, Coco was a bit skeptical about this as she looked at Sasha in the photo. "Without them I feel kinda lost. You know?"
Sprig was feeling a bit concerned after hearing what Anne said. After thinking for a bit he said, "Well then why not me and these two be your friends in the meantime?" Sprig points to Crash and Coco who both looked astonished.
"You three?" Anne said to him.
"Yeah!" Sprig said.
Coco quickly said, "Hold on, you can't just think we can be friends right out of the gate! Neither of you didn't even asked us!"
"Come on, you two! It will be fun!" Sprig said to them.
Coco looked at Crash who just shrugged at her. She then looked at Anne and said, "Alright, we'll play along and be friends. So, what do you do with them?"
Anne said to him, "Everything! Marathoning dumb tv shows, drinking boba until we vomited, dance offs, sleep overs, hanging out at the beach."
Sprig snapped his fingers and said, "We got a lake! Would going there make you feel less homesick?"
Before Anne could say something, she looked at her photo again and squinted to look closely at it. She put it down for a second to look at Sprig who was getting amped up. She looked at her photo again then saw Crash who was playing with his yo-yo, but got entangled in the string while Coco was using her cell phone.
She looked at her photo one more time then looked at Sprig again who said while doing a pose, "It's gonna be great!"
She giggled and said to him," I like your moxie, frog child. As for you two," Anne looked at Crash and Coco. Crash freed him from the yo-yo strings by spinning. "Both of you are pretty entertaining. Let's do it!"
Coco said to them, "Hey you two! I need to tell Crash something important. You two get ready while we head outside. Come on, Crash." Crash scratched his head at what her little sister said. "Just come on!" She grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him outside. Once they are outside, Coco starts talking to him about Anne. "Crash, I don't think we should tell them about the crystals now." Coco said with Crash wondering why not tell them. "The reason is after seeing that photo, I'm really skeptical about her friends. The smug one in the center of it gives me a bad vibe. What if she is actually a rebel or a troublemaker? The pink frog probably doesn't know about that after seeing that photo. Also their grandfather is pretty suspicious about her, so something must be up with her. Until we know more about them, we should not tell her about the crystals, ok, Crash?" Coco said with Crash slightly doubting her little sister, but nodded yes anyway.
Anne and Sprig came out of the house ready to head to the lake. Anne is wearing swimming attire with and brought a towel with her.
"What took you two so long?" Coco asked.
"Oh, Hop Pop locked us in, so we had to steal the key from him." Sprig said.
"Sure." Coco quickly realized what Sprig had just said and told them, "...wait, what?! But why?"
Anne told her, "Listen, dude. When you have your bestie by your side anything is possible. Whatever you want, a real friend would help you get it."
"So, you're saying that stealing is right if you have a best friend with you?" Coco said.
"Yes, I mean no, I mean, let's just go!" Anne said, quickly changing the subject. She quickly grabbed Sprig's hand and headed off to the lake.
Coco looked at her before following with Crash joining in. Once caught up they see Anne and Sprig having a selfie with Anne's phone.
"I gotta say this friend business is amazing!" Sprig said to her.
Coco said from behind them, "Why are you saying that? Don't you have other friends other than Anne?"
"Uh…" Sprig remembers the time when he played a crude prank on some frog kids using a creature's skeleton. "…kids around here don't really get me."
"Hey, I do!" Anne said with her punching Sprig's elbow. "And believe me, they are missing out. Come on!"
"Is punching part of friendship?" Sprig said holding on to his elbow Anne punched.
"Absolutely!" Anne said, dashing off with the other following.
The four finally made it to the lake.
"We made it!"
"Whoa, it's beautiful…and full of crates?" Anne said, question the crates floating above the lake. Some of the crates have a question mark on them.
"Those weren't here last week." Sprig said. He also questions the crates being there.
"Oh, I know what they're here. Me and Crash smash into crates like those all the time. If you break them all something will happen, but I won't tell you right now." Coco said to them. "Now. before you two head off swimming, Crash can't swim, at least not without the proper gear which we don't have so don't expect for him to go near that lake."
Anne looked at Sprig who just shrugged. "You ready, dude?" Both screamed until they stopped when they saw a sign that said, "Don't swim." in quick fashion.
"This was not here last week either." Sprig said, looking at the sign.
Anne looked at the lake and not seeing any danger whatsoever. "Hmm, I know what exactly is going on here. Some jerk to keep this beautiful lake all to themselves. Well, forget that."
"I don't know, Anne. whoever wrote this wrote it in a hurry." Sprig said, putting his hand on the sign and looking at it more closely.
"Or maybe they have bad handwriting." Anne said, dropping her backpack.
"This isn't a good idea, Anne! Just forget about the lake and let's get out of here!" Coco told her.
"Come on, don't either of you be a buzzkill!" Anne said as she put her toe in the water. "Oh, that's nice." Coco quickly got in front of Anne and pushed her back from the lake. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Keeping you from making a huge mistake!" Coco said while looking at her directly.
Sprig then used his tongue to grab Anne's arm and said, "Yeah, something just isn't right about this. Let's just head back home!" Crash used his yo-yo to grab Anne's other arm to keep her from going near the lake.
"Ugh, I thought you three are trying to be my friends." Anne said to them.
"I am!" Sprig said muffled due to his tongue being out.
"And so are we!" Coco said while she stopped pushing and walked back towards Crash and Sprig.
"Well, this is what friends do, remember? They help each other get the things they want." Anne removes Sprig's tongue off her arm. Crash untied the yo-yo off of Anne's arms by moving it around. Coco started tapping her foot while looking down, getting increasingly annoyed by what Anne thinks friendship is. "Listen, you three, if a friend likes a pencil case, you get it to them. If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if your friend wants to steal some crazy music box from a thrift store, even if you really don't want to, you do it ok? Because if you don't, they might not be your friend anymore."
Coco stopped tapping and looked at Anne with a stern look, "Oh, let me guess. Is it because one of your friends told you that? Maybe it was the girl in the middle of that photo you showed us."
Anne turned to look at Coco and said with concern, "Sasha? Well, yeah, but…"
Coco interrupted her with, "Just as I thought. Anyone who tells someone to steal something is ok is someone I definitely don't classify as a friend."
"You can't be serious about what you're saying right now!" Anne said.
"Open your eyes, Anne!" Coco said, raising her voice. "She's just using and manipulating you for her own personal gain and using your friendship to solidify that, threatening to ditch you if you don't do what she says!"
Anne tries to get Coco to see Sasha as a true friend by saying to her, "It's not like that! I've known her since we were kids and she has been great friends with me and Marcy. She would never take advantage of me."
"Really? Name one time she didn't try to control you." Coco said while crossing her arms.
Anne was getting tired of this, so she said, "You're really starting to irate me! Sprig, tell her that what I'm saying is what friends do."
Sprig didn't say anything. He just walks off.
"See, he knows that this is…." Coco stopped talking when she heard Sprig running back. He then cartwheels and dives into the lake. Crash looked sad while Coco slapped her hand on her head after seeing what he did.
Anne smiled and said, "Oh, yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" She then looked at Coco who was looking at her angrily. "Now do you believe me?"
"No, I don't." Coco said. "Look, you can take the easy way and be easily taken advantage of, but if you choose that path, Crash and I aren't going to follow you anymore."
"So that's your final decision on the matter as well as your brother's?" Anne said.
"Hmm-mmm." Coco said while Crash nodded yes at Anne.
"Fine, I don't need you two orange fuzzballs to be my friends anyway!" She then turned to the lake and shouted while running, "Cannonball!" She dived in and joined Sprig and started to have fun with him.
"I can't believe that girl! What a waste of time!" Coco said while bringing out her laptop. "Let's just focus on finding the crystal." Crash got the crystal out of his pocket and gives it to her sister. She brought up a crystal finder she made and used it to scan the crystal for any nearby. "According to this, the crystal should be in….the lake?"
Crash and Coco looked at the lake in confusion. While looking, they see Anne is taking a picture of Sprig. When she looked at her phone she noticed something big in the background. She dropped her phone and saw that what was in the background was a giant sea serpent.
"I was blinking wasn't I?" Sprig said with the sea serpent blinking.
It then rose up to look more menacingly, causing Anne to drop her phone in the pond. They both scream as the serpent roared at them. They then swam away with the serpent following them.
"Not again!" Coco said while looking at the serpent chasing Anne and Sprig. "Those two may be nothing but trouble, but we can't let them be eaten by that snake." Coco then typed on her computer which called a portal. "Let's head back home quickly! We need some of our equipment to help them out." Crash and Coco went into the portal back home. As it closes, Anne and Sprig are still swimming away from the serpent. Sprig, due to him being a frog, is able to swim faster, but Anne does not have much luck out swimming as fast as him.
"Stupid non-webbed human hands!" Anne said as she turned to see the serpent nearing her.
Sprig looks back and sees Anne falling behind. He then shouted her name, "Anne!"
Before the serpent strikes, a portal appeared above it and Coco came out now riding her jet ski. It hit the serpent on its head and fell in the water near Anne.
"Hop on, Anne!" Coco said to her. She quickly got on her jet ski.
"You're still saving me despite what I said to you and your brother earlier?" Anne said.
Coco told her, "Just because I don't like your attitude doesn't mean I'm gonna let you become a snake's lunch! Now, hang on!" She drove forward away from the serpent while breaking five of the ten crates around the lake.
Crash came out next from the portal riding his jetboard. He grabbed Sprig and put him on it then followed the girls while smashing the remaining crates in front of them.
As they caught up, Sprig said while looking back at the serpent, "Well, that explains the sign."
Anne said, "Sprig, forget about me! I'm just slowing you all down! Just board and jet ski out of here! This is my fault anyway. I should have listened to you and Coco."
Friend punch! Sprig said, hoping to reach Anne and punching her in the face. He then got back on Crash's jetboard. "Never! I'm not gonna let my first real friend get eaten! We're all in this together."
"Yeah, you may be a big pain, but you're still a good person worth saving. Right, Crash?" Coco said with Crash giving a thumbs up.
The serpent blocks their path by using its body and roars at them all.
"Do any of you have a plan?" Anne asked them all.
"I have one." Sprig said as he jumped on Crash's head. "Now stand up, orange guy!" Crash stood up. "When I count to three, duck!"
"Are you crazy? You'll get swallowed whole!" Anne said.
"Just trust me!" Sprig said with Anne nodding. "All right, one…two…" The serpent lunged forward with its mouth open "…three!" Sprig hopped with Crash ducked.
While Sprig was getting something out of his pocket, He was eaten whole by the serpent. Coco looked at his brother with her eyes wide open with Crash just pointing telling her that he just did what Sprig asked him to do.
"Sprig! Vengeance!" Anne said as she jumped off Coco's jet ski and grabbed a stick.
As the serpent gulped, Anne got on its back and started beating at it with the stick.
"Unbelievable, she's N'sane trying to fight that snake all by herself!" Coco said.
The serpent shocked until Anne lost her grip and fell off and landed in the lake. The serpent was about to eat her until it started to feel something fiery in his stomach. Smoke and a bit of fire came out of its mouth then it started blasting fire from its mouth and releasing Sprig and something else shiny. Sprig screamed until he was saved by Anne. The shiny object was grabbed by Coco who saw that it was another blue crystal. After grabbing it, she notices something shiny in the lake near her. She placed her hand in the lake and grabbed something. She moved her arm up from the lake and saw that it was Anne's phone as well as a gem on top of it.
"You're alive!" Anne said. She looks at the serpent who is in pain and still breathing fire. " What did you do in there?"
As the serpent sank back into the lake to cool off, Sprig showed Anne one of Hop Pop's peppers to her.
"A pepper, really?" Coco said, driving near them.
Sprig said to her "Not just any pepper, it's Hop Pop's Pain Peppers! So hot they'll make you wish you were dead."
"You little genius, you." Anne said.
"That was pretty smart and idiotic at the same time." Coco said.
"Well, it worked! That snake just couldn't take the heat." Sprig said. Both him and Anne laughed afterwards
"By the way, Anne, you dropped this in the lake." Coco said, giving Anne her phone.
"My phone! Thanks a million, dude. I don't know what I would do if I lost this." Anne said, getting her phone.
"It is a good thing that this glowed earlier or I would have never found it." Coco said, showing the gem.
"Is that a gem?" Anne asked.
Coco said, "Yep, this is what happens when either me or Crash breaks all the crates in an area. As for you, jumping on that snake to save him…" Coco points to Sprig. "That was the craziest thing I saw in a while, about as much as my brother does during his adventures. That was a compliment if you didn't already know." Anne blushed a bit after hearing this. "Now, let's head back to dry land before that reptile comes back for seconds."
After Coco finished talking, the serpent roars again as it recovers from the fire the pepper gave it and is ready to eat them again.
"Run!" Anne said as she swims away.
"I think you mean swim for the both of you!" Coco said riding on her jetski with Crash following on his jetboard.
"Death approaches!" Sprig said, following them.
Back at the Planter home during evening hours, Hop Pop is in his study sleeping with his eyes open, but he woke up not long afterwards.
"I'm up, I'm awake!" Hop Pop said. He searches in the pocket of his jacket and notices that the key is missing. "The key, it's gone! Oh, no, did they get out?" Hop Pop checked the front window. "Is the town rioting? Are they dead? Has Anne eaten the kids, THE WHOLE TOWN?!" As he was about to check outside, he saw that the door was still locked so he went to the basement and saw Anne and Sprig playing a board game. Coco was just using her computer while her big brother was sleeping…again.
"Come on, mama needs a new pair of shoes." Anne said, juggling the dice in her hands. "But, seriously though, I do need new shoes."
Hop Pop walked between the board games and said to Anne and Sprig, "So, you guys have been here all day, huh?"
"Yeah, dude! I'm on a winning streak!" Anne said to him.
"I owe her my first born child!" Sprig said.
Anne looked at Crash and Coco, "The siblings over there came back to check up on us."
"It was too long when we got her that my brother slept again." Coco said.
"Also, this dropped on the floor." Anne showed the key to Hop Pop who got it and put it back in his pocket.
"Dang shallow pockets, well you get what you paid for." Hop Pop said as he went back to his study.
Polly dropped down with the cooking pin she called Old Doris and shouted, "Ah-ha!"
"Sup, Polly?" Anne said, looking back at Polly.
"You're not gonna eat us are you? You know even gonna try? Or even take a nibble on those two." Polly said pointing at Crash and Coco. "Disappointing." She hopped back upstairs with Anne and Sprig closing the basement door behind her. They both sighed afterwards.
"Hey, sorry that I got us killed earlier." Anne said to Sprig.
"Are you kidding? That was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me! Sprig shouted with a ton of vim and vigor. "I never felt so alive! My heart was beating faster than a dragonfly on a sugar rush! In fact…I'm feeling a little sleepy…" Sprig falls but Anne catches him. He was super tired after all that excitement. Anne put him on her sleeping bag so that he can rest. She then looked at her picture of her friends again then Sprig who was snoring and croaking. She then smiles.
"Anne?" Coco said with her nudging Crash which caused him to wake up. "I also want to apologize. Despite your way you think about friendship, I shouldn't have judged your friends by how they look in your photo."
"It's alright, dude. Most people think Sash can be devious just by looking at her." Anne said to her.
"When we meet her face to face, I'll see if she is a good friend or not. Well, it's time for us to go now." Coco said with her opening a portal using her computer.
"OK, see you two later." Anne said with Crash and Coco jumping in the portal back to N. Sanity Island. Anne looked at her photo of her friends one last time. "Sasha, Marcy, I hope you guys are ok, because I am."
Back at the Bandicoot House, Coco showed the second crystal to Crash and Aku Aku.
"I can't believe an animal ate another crystal again. Let's hope this is the last one that happens." Coco analyzed the two crystals and some of the ancient direct on her laptop is readable.
"So, what does it say, Coco?" Aku Aku said.
"I was only able to get a few words readable now." Coco said. It says, "Heart, Calamity, and Olms." I wonder what all of that means. Oh well, we still need to find more crystals to solve more of this puzzle." The two crystals sparked and it created a small portal in front of them. "What the? I didn't do that!"
What came out was a black cat which stared at them all.
"A cat?" Aku Aku said question why a feline came out of the portal.
"I'm not just any cat, floating mask." The cat said which caused all three of them to be surprised. "You can call me a guardian."
"A guardian. What guardian?" Coco said to the cat.
It said to her, "Sorry, I can tell you everything right now. But what I can say is that I'm here to tell you more about those crystals you have been collecting recently.
"If you're telling the truth, what is the reason for them anyway and why are they blue?" Aku Aku said. "The crystals we collect are usually purple."
The guardian said to them, "The reason that they are the color they are is that it corresponds to an certain virtue. Any blue crystals are called The Crystal of Heart. They are also two other crystals that have different characteristics stored inside them. They are also the key in powering certain gems that are attached to an artifact created 1000 years ago. It's that same artifact that Anne used to head to Amphibia."
"Gems, you mean like this one?" Coco said while showing the gem she just got earlier.
"No, the gems I'm talking about are smaller than the one you're holding." The guardian said to her.
"I don't know what is so special about these gems you're talking about." Aku Aku said.
The guardian said, "Well, they are special, because I created them! And that the artifact needs to be charged as it needed for Anne to get back home. When she used it, the power of the gems were drained and their power was scattered throughout Amphibia in the shape of crystals. That's all I have to say for now. Time to take my leave. We will meet again." The guardian turned to the portal it came from but looked back at the bandicoots and said, "Oh, and don't tell Anne or her friends about me, ok? I want to keep my presence a secret to them, especially Anne." It then heads into the portal.
"Crash, remember what Anne said back in the lake? She said she stole a crazy music box from a thrift store back home. What if that box is the artifact?" Coco said with Crash thinking about the question she just asked. "If so, we don't know if she even still has it. At least we know what these crystals are for, so let's keep collecting them to help Anne get back home!" Crash spinning in agreement to what her sister said.
In Los Angeles, California… A portal opened with the guardian hopping out of it..
"Thank you for letting me use your body! I will be needing it in the future." The guardian's spirit popped out of the cat and flew off. The cat then meows while looking around. She then saw two humans heading towards her. It was Anne's parents.
"Domino, there you are! Don't wander off like that!" Mrs. Boonchuy said.
"Come on, let's take you back home!" Mr. Boonchuy said with them heading back to their house.
Meanwhile in Cortex's Space station…
"Cortex, how is your progress in locating the box?" Uka Uka said to him.
Very little. Cortex said. I have found a faint signal somewhere in that world, but it is very encrypted. I need some time to get it. We should be focusing on the guardian. I thought you knew him since he can help us find the warriors .
"I do know the guardian, but I have no idea where he lives! You are starting to drive my patience, Cortex!" Uka Uka said angrily.
Cortex said while being a bit worried. "Um, I do have other news. I found out that the box has gems attached to it and needs to be powered for it to work. Not only that, but they are connected to crystals that are showing up around that world and are needed to power the gems."
"Then, go get those crystals! I must have that box!" Uka Uka shouted.
"Yes, Uka Uka! I already sent a couple of my minions in that world to find as many as they can and told them not to tell anyone where they came from." Cortex said.
Meanwhile back in Amphibia at a stormy tower, A toad general named Grime was talking to a prisoner.
"Take a look at this please, Sasha." He then showed Anne's missing shoe. "It was found far from her in the south forest. Now we know that you've been lying to us. Now that we know that there are more of you." Lighting strikes showing Sasha who was ticked off." Still remaining silent on the matter? Maybe your new cellmate can be more cooperative." Grime points to a dark corner of the cell. A loud roar was heard afterwards.
In the heart of Amphibia is a city called Newtopia where the wisest newts live. Newtopia had a giant castle where the giant newt king Andrias resides. He was in the throne room reading the newspaper until he heard some happy giggling from the halls.
"Come on Lady Olivia! There's a whole castle for me to explore!" The voice said. It is shown to be Marcy who is wearing a leg cast after falling from a flight of stairs. Olivia was following and showing her the castle. Andrais took off his glasses, surprised to see a human in his throne room.
"King Andrias, I present to you the creature known as Marcy Wu." Olivia said.
"So you're the king of Newtopia?" Marcy said as she walked closer to Andrias. "Olivia said you were big and geez, she wasn't kidding! You're gigantic! Do you mind if I call you 'Drais?"
Andrais said to her gloomily, while looking at his glasses, "Only one person ever called me that."
"Oh, gotcha! Too personal! Boundaries, Marcy." She said. "You know, I bet I can fit in your pocket."
"What?" Lady Olivia said with an echo and was nervous.
Andrias was confused at what Marcy said, but headed inside his robe's pocket.
"Knew it!" Marcy said. "Oh, I just thought of something!" She put a pin of a character of her favorite game, Vagabonia Chronicles on his robe. "A little gift for the king of Newtopia. I hope you like it". She looked at Andrias while looking cute.
Lady Olivia was sweating up a storm and was scared at how Andrias was going to react to that, but after looking at Marcy he started to laugh. His laughter caused Marcy to wobble around in his pocket.
He picked up Marcy and said, "Indeed I do, Little Master Marcy."
"Master? I'm a master?! O-M-G! Anne and Sasha will never believe this!" Marcy said. "Whoa!" She walked and fell off but Andrias caught her before she hurt herself. "Speaking of my friends, have you seen them? I need to make sure they're ok."
"We haven't. But we are looking. In the meantime, you'll be our honored guest here." He placed Marcy near Olivia and gave her back her crutch. "Lady Oliva will show you to your quarters."
"This way, Master Marcy." Olivia said.
"Okey doke. Bye, King Andrias." Marcy said as she limped out of the throne room.
Outside the castle, Someone looking outside thought through the windows to hear Marcy and Andrias' conversation. The creature then laughed maniacally and hopped away on top of the roof of the castle. He stopped to see Olivia on a balcony.
"Before we continue heading to your quarters, let me show you someone worth seeing, Master Marcy." Oliva said with Marcy heading out the balcony and seeing the great scenery outside Newtopia.
"Wha?! Holy Moly, it's beautiful!" Marcy said to her.
Olivia started talking about the land outside Newtopia, "Once, I stood on this very same balcony with my mother and had…"
Marcy interrupted saying, "Whoa, is that a seagull that also looks like a bug?"
Olivia continues after Marcy is done with her abrupt talk, "…almost the same reaction. I'm a descendant of a long line of newts who made a sacred vow to care for this land. The trees, the plants, the animals…" Three bugs with deer-like qualities appeared along with a giant mole who dugged up from the bottom of a tree. "…all are under our care."
Marcy said to her, "Lady Oliva, you newts took care of me when I landed here, fixed me up…" Marcy looked at her leg cast for a second then turned to hold Oliva's hands. "…care for me, I promised to do my best and look after this place as well." Her eyes grew bigger and with stars as she finished her sentence.
"We'll be counting on you, Master Marcy." Oliva said. They looked at the landscape again.
The creature on the roof laughed once more and started hopping out of there.
Back in the throne room, Andrais started fondly looking at the pin given to him until an evil eye appeared on his crown and was surrounded in darkness. Then, 14 eyes from a mysterious being appeared near him to talk about recent events. Before it could, a spark was shown and Cortex's face and Uka Uka appeared as holograms. They have not yet been seen by Andrias.
"There! I managed to get in. Cortex said while looking around. He sees Andrias about to talk to the entity. Who is that and what is that thing he's talking to?
The entity whispered to Andrias in a disoriented, unnatural, dialogue.
"Kill her? Now? But we don't know where the box is!" Andrias said to it which caused its eyes to open widely as it glared at him monstrously. "Yes, it is true that the Olm prophecy makes keeping her alive risky, but my lord, she's just a child, perhaps all of this is overblown." The entity glares again and speaks to Andrias, but is interrupted by Uka Uka who went over to shout at them on who should have the rights to keep the box.
"Unacceptable! That power will only belong to me, The Great Uka Uka!" He shouted which caught the attention of Andrais and the entity.
"Yours? Don't be foolish!" Andrais said, not worried about Uka Uka. "That box is our legacy and birthright! It rightfully belongs to us!"
"You will have no hope of getting it. We will not let you or those troublesome bandicoots get in our way! It will be ours along with the crystals!" Cortex said.
"After 1000 years of hardship, this is not going to happen. You two are nothing but a speck of dust waiting to get swept!" Andrais said with the entity glaring at both Cortex and Uka Uka.
Cortex said to them, "Well, I've seen others try again after failure, but I'm surprised about your struggle. I don't know who either of you are but know this, if you don't back off…"
Uka Uka moved in front of Cortex and attached himself to his face. He then continued where Cortex left off.
"Arrgh, I will inclift another 1000 years of suffering on you and your entire universe!" Cortex and Uka Uka disappeared from the room.
"Looks like we're not the only ones looking for the box, my lord." Andrais said with the entity speaking to him about the crystals. "The crystals that scientist just said? Hmm." Andrias looked at the prophecy above him written in an ancient dialect. "Throughout my studies of the ancient writing, it appears that there is a ritual that allows these chosen heroes to give up their abilities and their responsibility that comes with them, but it requires crystals than each contain a certain kind on energy to gain access to temples that do these rituals." As he continued talking, the entity's eyes moved below him. "Why not befriend this "Marcy", lure her friends here, and allow these "bandicoots" to collect the crystals? We will siphon their powers away, neutralize the prophecy…"
"…and restore legacy, and be rid of that scientist and that mask, all in one fell swoop." A menacing voice said with his hand on Andrais' shoulder.
He looked back and saw someone familiar to him.
"Father?" Andrais said as he looked at his father, King Aldrich who is sporting 13 eyes from the entity.
"Well done, Andrias." Aldrich said. He was taken by robotic tentacles that appeared out of nowhere and dragged him into the darkness while he chuckles evilly.
As the entity's eye on Andrias' crown closed and room went back to normal, Andrias took one more look at the pin given to him by Marcy.