Crash Bandicoot: Welcome to Amphibia
Ch. 7: Snail Driving
In the roads of Wartwood, a few frogs were riding on giant snails minding their own business. Suddenly, a portal opened and two karts driven by Crash and Coco came out of it. They landed on the road and swerved out of the way of the giant snails. The frogs riding them had their mouths wide open as they saw Crash and Coco's karts.
"Sorry about that!" Coco said to the snail drivers as they drove off. She starts talking to her brother, "Barring the entrance, my work with our karts is doing as great as I thought it would. Wartwood should be a good place to test them out."
Coco accelerated her kart towards a log. She used it as a ramp and flew up then hit the ground and back on the road. "You know, maybe I should ask Yaya if she wants to join us next time. You know her and her love for speed." She said.
Both of them keep driving though the road until they reach a nearby farm. When they saw Anne and the Planters they stopped their kart nearby.
"Hey, look who's here!" Sprig said with him pointing to Crash and Coco who were getting out of their karts.
"They actually brought their karts here." Anne said as she looked at their karts. "You two must be racing with them around Wartwood."
"Hmm-mmm, and they're doing great so far." Coco said. "So, why are you three standing around here?
"I'm gonna let Anne ride Bessie, but she has to read this book first." Hop Pop said as he looked at the big book that shows Bessie's history.
"Speaking of which, I've been wondering, who is Bessie anyway?" Coco asked. Hop Pop just pointed behind them which made both of them look back to see a giant purple snail with an orange shell which has a saddle and a pouch to carry stuff with. "I'm guessing you're Bessie." Bessie purred at Coco to tell her yes.
"As for why she needs to read this book…" Hop Pop said as he showed them the book." Before anyone can touch a snail's reins, you gotta know them. Feel their heartbeat next to yours and become one."
Anne interrupted him to get his attention, "Hop Pop, it's just a vehicle. We have a family car back home. It's no biggie." Hop Pop took the book near her and she said, "Oof!" when it hit her.
"Don't care." Hop Pop said to her. "You can't drive Bessie unless you read this cover to cover and that's final."
"Are there pictures?" Anne said, hoping for something worth looking at in the giant book.
"There are diagrams." Hop Pop said with glee.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Anne shouted with her voice echoing.
"Don't be so dramatic, Anne. It's just a book…with a ton of pages…that you need to read in order to ride a giant snail." Coco said with Anne looking at her with annoyance. "Yeah, I'm not helping your cause out, aren't I?"
"You think?" Anne said to her.
Hop Pop said to Anne, "Now if you'll excuse me…" He grabbed Polly who was playing in the mud. "…Polly due for a wash."
"No, no. Wait, no! I'll just get dirty again! You can't stop me! I learned this from watching you, Anne!" Polly said as she doesn't want to get clean. Both of them head inside the Planter's house.
"Ugh, I'll be old before I finish reading this thing." Anne said.
Sprig, who is lying on the ground looking at a fly rather than eating it, said, "Yeah, page five is the farthest I got. Too much description, not enough plot."
Anne sighs. "This is ridiculous!" She said. She heads to Bessie and puts the book in her saddle's pouch. She then jumped on her saddle. "I don't need history. I need experience."
"There aren't any shortcuts in riding in a car, Anne." Coco said, but she quickly looked at Bessie and said, "Or a snail in your case."
"Said the bandicoot who can ride a kart without any strings attached." Anne said to Coco. She place hand on her chin. "Hey." She looked at Sprig. "What do you say we take a harmless test drive and prove to Hop Pop there were fast learners?"
Sprig was about to join but thought about it for a second and said, "Do you get the feeling that this is one of those decisions we'll look back on and say, "Ooh-boy, we probably shouldn't have done that?"
"We'll get swamp slushies while we're out." Anne said in a singsong voice.
Sprig quickly got on Bessie's saddle and said, "No regrets!"
"That's what I like to hear." Anne said. She turned her attention to Crash and Coco. "How about you two? Wanna join us?"
"Not this time, Anne." Coco said to her. "I could stop you, but I know you'll both are still going to do this no matter what I say. Also, those swamp slushies you said sound disgusting, so see ya later!" Both Crash and Coco got back on their karts and rode off.
"Look like it's just you, me and Bessie, bud." Anne said to Sprig. "Hyah!" Anne whips Bessie's reins which cause her to quickly move out of the farm and into the road.
As they drive though the roads, Coco sees that her brother was thinking about Anne and Sprig breaking Hop Pop rules again. "I'm worried too, Crash, but I doubt they'll do any damage. They are riding a snail after all."
They slowed down when they saw a giant ladybug slowly walking the trail. They drive past it and see that Mrs. Croaker is riding it.
"Oh, Hi there, Mrs. Croaker." Coco said as she saw her.
"Hello, dearies." Mrs. Croaker said. Her spider barked at them. Crash was wondering what he was barking at them for. "Archie is just saying hi to you both. Are you both taking a joyride as well?"
"Something like that." Coco said.
Just then, a giant dust cloud in the distance appeared from behind them.
"Huh? What in tarnation?" Mrs. Croaker said as she saw the dust cloud from her rear view mirror.
Crash and Coco looked back and saw the dust cloud as it got closer to them. Before they could react, the cloud is shown to be Bessie with Anne and Sprig riding her. She rides past them all at super speed which causes them to spin out of control.
"Oh, boy!" Coco said as she continued spinning.
While Mrs. Croaker managed to stop spinning, Crash and Coco's karts keep on spinning as they bump into each other like bumper in a pinball table. Coco's kart tipped over on it's side while Crash's flew out of his kart and hit a tree. A few branches hit Crash's head with a big one falling on him which knocked him unconscious for a while.
"Ouch…" Coco said as she got back up. Crash was seeing flying crates around him after getting him by that branch, but he recovered quickly. "What was that all about?"
They looked forward to seeing Bessie moving quickly through the road. Coco and Crash were completely surprised to see Bessie moving so fast.
"Out of the way, slowpokes!" Sprig said to Mrs. Croaker, Crash and Coco as he taunts by patting his bottom.
"Hooligans! Ruffians! Swamp suckers!" Mrs. Croaker shouted with Archie barking at them.
Crash and Coco looked at Mrs. Croaker as she shouted those words then looked forward again as Bessie went further and further away from them.
Some time later, Crash and Coco were riding their karts on the road again.
"I still can't believe Bessie is able to move around so quickly! She would be an instant racing star with that speed." Coco said with Crash surprised as well. "At least she didn't do any damage to our karts."
As they continue to ride, Coco hears familiar hopping and grunts in front of them.
"Crash! Coco! Over here, over here!" Sprig said.
"Sprig! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Anne?" Coco asked him.
"That's why I'm here!" Sprig told them. "We had some snail trouble when we went off road! Bessie is hiding in her shell and won't come out."
"And you left Anne all alone in the woods by herself?" Coco said with her being concerned after hearing that.
"It's fine. Bessie is still with her." Sprig said to her. "I just need to head home to get Hop Pop. It's the right thing to do, even if we'll get an earful." He said. "So can either of you get me a lift back home?"
"No can do. Our karts are a one seater, so there's no room for you." Coco said.
"Oh. Do you have any other ideas?" Sprig said.
"I sure do." She said. "Crash, you stay with Sprig and try to get him back to his house to get Hop Pop. I'll head into the woods and find Anne and Bessie." Crash nodded yes at her plan. "Ok, Sprig where did you leave Anne at?" Sprig pointed to the direction where Anne and Bessie is. "I'll be back soon." Coco rode on her kart in the woods to find them.
After she left, Sprig saw someone else coming up the path.
"Hey, stop please! I need a ride!" Sprig said. "Oh, thank you so much for stopping. I, uh…" Sprig realized quickly that the frog who stopped was the same one he taunted at earlier, Mrs. Croaker.
"Bless my socks! If it isn't Sprig Planter!" She said with Archie barking.
Sprig chuckled. "Yep. Hey, sorry about earlier. Got a little carried away."
"Oh, pishposh. Sadie Croaker never holds a grudge, honey." Mrs Croaker said.
"Well, that's lucky." Sprig said, thinking he's off the hook. "Will you give me a lift back home? I would ask Crash but his kart is a one seater."
"Oh, absolutely." She said.
"Thanks Mrs. Croaker." He said with him getting on the seat.
"Ah, my pleasure, honey." She said. "Well, go on and get comfy. Watch out for ol' Archie, though. His venom can cause paralysis." Archie shook around round while panting. You can see his venom on his tongue.
Sprig said to Crash, "Hey, we're about to get going. Be sure to keep up." Crash got ready as he got both hands on the driving wheel.
Mrs. Croaker said. "Now, hold on to your eyebrows cause her we go!" She whipped the ladybug with its reins with Sprig cheering.
Crash floored it and his kart move quickly. He then looked back and see that Mrs. Croaker ladybug is barely moving. Surprised, he hit the brakes and continue looking to see that Sprig is quickly knew they are going anywhere fast.
"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Sprig shouted.
Coco continued her search for Anne and Bessie.
"These woods feel like they go on forever. If Anne went this far, I hope she has something to entertain herself." She said.
Anne was doing something to pass the time, and that's reading Bessie history book while eating leaves.
As Anne reads, Hop Pop's voice is narrating through the words, "And it was at that moment I realized Bessie was no ordinary snail, but a kind, clear soul who would help others at the drop of a hat." The scene shifts to a black and white cutscene of Bessie being the prize at a bid. "I raised my bid to four hundred copper pieces, winning the auction, and in the process, saving Bessie from the nefarious Jim Snapes."
Snapes is shown screaming angrily at his loss.
"Yes! In your face, Snapes!" Anne said as she pointed at the word Snapes in the book. "Man, this is actually pretty good." She stuffs more leaves in her mouth. "I also need to stop eating leaves." She said with her mouth full.
Back at the road, Crash is tapping his fingers on his kart as he keeps waiting on Sprig as Mrs. Croaker's ladybug is still moving at a snail's pace. He knew he could head to the Planter's house on his own, but his efforts will be for naught since neither Hop Pop nor Polly will be able to understand him without Coco. Sprig is getting really antsy, really fast as this ride is taking forever.
"Come on, come on!" Sprig said while pulling on his hat.
"You know what will make this ride go a lot quicker?" Mrs. Croaker said.
"What? Anything. What?" Sprig said quickly.
"A song." She said. "Ohhhhhhhhh, Ninety-nine jugs of juice on the wall, Ninety-nine jugs of juice, Take one down, pass it around…" As she sung, her voice started slowly distorting as Sprig started to lose his sanity.
Another flashback is shown as Hop Pop and Bessie in a snowstorm. Hop Pop is covered in rags to keep warm. Hop Pop voice once again narrates the events, "The snow swirled around us, and I knew we were doomed. I could feel the strength leaving my body bit by bit. The sweet embrace of eternity crept closer and closer. Until suddenly I heard a sound pulling me back. Bessie, Bessie was singing!" Bessie is seen singing from behind Hop Pop.
With the flashback over, Anne is shown to be crying and sobbing after reading that tale.
"You go girl! You noble, noble creature." Anne said while crying and hugging Bessie's shell. "Man this is me up." She sniffled. "Now let's see. Where was I?"
Before Anne can continue reading, she hears the sound of an engine. The sound gets louder and louder as it gets closer to her. It was shown to be made by the pink kart that Coco was driving.
"There you two are!" Coco said as she landed near Anne and Bessie's shell.
"Coco! I was expecting Sprig with Hop Pop, but this is good too." Anne said.
As she got out of her kart, Coco noticed that Anne was holding Bessie's book. "What a minute, are you actually reading Bessie's history book?" She asked her.
"Well, I had nothing better to do to pass the time." Anne said. "And from what I read, there are some real emotional facts about Bessie."
"Maybe it can tell you something that can help get Beesie moving again or why she hid in her shell in the first place." Coco said.
"Let me check." Anne said. She looked at the book and started searching. "Aw, here it is. She read aloud, "The reason Bessie had hidden in her shell was now very clear to me. A predator was close. And not just any predator. A natural enemy of snails." Below the sentence was the word "Beware" written in red. Some rustling from the bushes was heard from in front of them.
Coco looked behind her and said, "What was that?"
"Uh, hello?" Anne said.
"Anne, does the book have anything about this predator?" Coco said.
"Hold on, give me a sec." She said as she turned through the pages until she found something. "Oh, there we go."
Coco looked at the book and saw what the predator was. "It's a hedgehog." She said.
"Aw, it's actually pretty cute." Anne said.
Coco looked in front of her and saw the monstrous hedgehog with one big blue eye growling in front of them.
"Anne, I think that the word you're looking for here is feral." Coco said, who is slightly terrified.
"No, dude. What I meant is…" Anne moved the book down and immediately stopped talking when she saw the hedgehog. It snarled at her while she screamed. She looked around and saw that the small bushes were actually hedgehogs disguising themselves. They slowly move closer to Anne, Bessie, and Coco as they are about to attack their prey.
"Not good, we're surrounded." Coco said as she looked around to see all the hedgehogs surrounding them.
Anne screamed and got on Bessie's saddle with four out of the five hedgehogs trying to bite her. When one got close Anne kicked it to keep it away for her and Bessie.
Coco sees that the blue hedgehog was eyeing her kart. It is about to bite one of its tires to see if it tastes good.
"That's my kart, not your lunch! Stay away from it!" Coco shouted while running to stop the hedgehog. The hedgehog focused its attention on her by snarling at her.
"Come on, come on." Anne said as she quickly turned and pages for a way out of this mess. "Yes! When Bessie senses danger, you gotta sit on her shell and yell at the top of your lungs, "Bessie, things are getting messy!"
This causes Bessie to come out of hiding of her shell and quickly speeds away from the hedgehogs.
Coco spins attack the blue hedgehog out of the way of her kart and she gets back on.
"Wait up, you two!" Coco said as she followed Bessie.
Anne and Bessie make a hard turn with Coco following and the wild pack of hedgehogs in pursuit of them.
"Eat our dust, hedgehogs!" Anne shouted back at them.
The blue hedgehog responded by shooting its quills at her, but it missed by hitting the saddle.
They jumped up using a log as a ramp to gain a bit of air before falling down like a stone and landing on the ground and continuing racing away. Coco actually flew farther so she had her legs out of her kart while she was in the air. The hedgehog jumped then landed with them chasing them again.
"They just won't quit!" Coco said as she looked back at the hedgehogs. The blue one tried to bite her but she turned out of the way which staggered it a second before it got its footing and continued its pursuit.
Anne opened the book and read aloud, "If you still haven't escaped, give Bessie some berries from the secret compartment in the front of her shell." She tapped her shell twice and it opened showing her organs. "Oh this is gross." She said. She gets the bag from her compartment, opens it and gets a handful of berries.
"Let's do this thing, Bessie!" Anne said with Bessie purring and opening her mouth. Anne put the berries in her mouth and she ate them. This turns her snail slime into a sticky substance which got all but one of the hedgehogs which causes them to slide out of control.
"You're not getting out of this that easy!" Coco said with her grabbing a red breaker out of her kart. She tossed it at the blue hedgehog, it broke and caused it to run into the sticky snail slime while creating a storm cloud above it. Bessie turned again with Coco tuning too while four of the wild hedgehogs crashed in the trees, the blue one that was hit by the beaker slides and hit the others. The storm cloud above its head dissipates.
"Hit the slow lane, buddy!" Coco said to the blue hedgehog.
"Way to go, Bessie!" Anne said. She then hugs her. "You're the queen of the road." Bessie purrs at Anne.
"Ahem!" Coco said to Anne which got both her and Bessie's attention. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"Oh, and thanks for saving us back there." Coco. Anne said
"You're welcome, Anne." Coco said. "If Bessie is the queen of the road, you can call me the princess of the raceway." Coco said.
"Alright, let's go home." Anne said with Bessie moving and Coco tagging along in her kart.
Back on the road, Mrs. Croaker's ladybug has finally reached Crash who is sleeping in his kart waiting.
Mrs. Croaker was finishing the song, "Take one down, pass it around, no more jugs of juice on the wall."
Sprig, who is cowering and has Archie on his hat, sighs and said, "Glad that's finally over."
"One more time!" Mrs Croaker shouted.
Sprig ended up covering his face with Archie and started screaming.
Anne's voice was heard and said to Sprig, "Hey, kid need a lift?" Bessie purrs as they drove beside Mrs. Croaker's ladybug.
"Anne!" Sprig said while hugging Anne. "Thank goodness."
Coco drives near to where her big brother is and sees him sleeping. She sighs then grabs his hand and starts to shake him to try to get him to wake up.
"Crash, Crash, Crash!" Coco said as she shook him. Crash woke up and saw Coco who let go of his hand and put her own hand on her hip and said to him sarcastically. "Nice job helping Sprig back to Wartwood."
Crash looks behind and sees Anne is here with Bessie and Sprig. He looked at her sister again and just shrugged at her. Coco just nodded left and right at his brother's reaction.
"Ok, bye, Mrs. Croaker. Thank you." Sprig said to her.
"Bye darling. Next time, try to keep that road rage in check." Mr. Croaker said. She whipped her ladybug which put it in full throttle. She and Archie cheered as they zoomed though the path at super speed. Anne and Sprig were surprised when they saw this.
"Pretty sure I just got played." Sprig said.
Anne said, "That woman is everything I want to be."
"She's everything my best friend wants to be too." Coco said. While Anne and Sprig have no idea what she meant by that, what Coco was talking about is her friend, Yaya Panda, who has an obsession with high speeds.
Later at night, Anne, Sprig, and Bessie finally made it back to the Planter's house, with Crash and Coco who were in their respective karts. Anne, and Sprig were tired after a long day.
"We made it!" Sprig said. He looked through the house's window in front of him. "And it looks like Hop Pop's still washing Polly."
A crash was heard as Polly hopped away as she still doesn't want to be clean.
"You'll never take me alive!" She said as she hopped away.
"Dang it, Polly! You're getting filth everywhere!" Hop Pop said. Another crash was heard.
"Well, since we saved you from being on the dinner menu…again, it's time for us to head back home." Coco said as she got her computer from her kart.
As he got near the door, Sprig looked back and said to Anne, "Hey, you coming?"
As Anne got off of Bessie's saddle, she said while putting her hand on Bessie's pouch which holds her history book, "I think I'm gonna spend a little more time with Ol' Bessie here."
"Suit yourself." Sprig said. He went inside the house and closed the door.
Anne got out Bessie's book from her pouch.
"So, you're planning to read the rest, huh?" Coco said to Anne while the portal to N. Sanity Island opens from behind them.
"You got that right, dude. After coming this far, there is no way I'm gonna stop now!" She said.
"Well, good luck with that. Tell us how it goes." Coco said. She and Crash race their karts into the portal with it closing up once they went inside.
Anne gets back on Bessie's saddle and continues reading her history book while Bessie starts to eat some grass.
"Now where were we?" Anne said as she opened the book to find where she left off.
The next day, Crash and Coco were playing video games together. They were interrupted by Coco's laptop sounding the alarm when Anne calls her.
"Crash, pause the game." Coco said with Crash doing what her sister asked. She opens her laptop to be surprised by Hop Pop answering. He was in bed and looked surprised.
"Hop Pop? What are you doing with Anne's phone?" She asked.
Hop Pop said, "Anne asked me to call you for her since she's too tired to do it herself. Just look at her." He turned the phone to show Anne, sitting on a chair with her eyes red and bloodshot. From the look of her face, she didn't get any sleep at all.
"Did you actually read the whole book front to back last night?!" Coco said who couldn't believe her own eyes. Crash was surprised as well.
"Yep, I read the whole thing in one night." Anne said.
"I find it impressive! Kinda scary, but impressive!" Hop Pop said to them.
Anne quickly sat on the chair behind her. "You were right all along about Bessie. She's not just a vehicle, she's a noble, beautiful creature." She said to Hop Pop.
"And now that she's read this…" Hop Pop showed the history book. "…all she needs is experience."
"Maybe she can race with us next time to help you out with Bessie." Coco said with Crash interested in the idea. "We're planning to try out some power-ups next time we go racing."
Which ones? Hop Pop asked, worrying about the safety of Anne and Bessie.
"Oh, just beakers, bowling bombs, tracking missiles, and warp orbs." She said to him. "Don't worry, we're gonna be using shields for protection."
Anne's eyes widened up as she heard everything they said about the items Coco described. She started chuckling creeply which shifts into a crazy evil laugh. She got up and while not even looking hit a wall then opened the door and left Hop Pop's room all while continuing doing her evil laugh.
"I don't feel safe." Hop Pop said.
"Ditto." Coco said with Crash just looking creeped out after hearing Anne's laugh.