A/N I don't own A Bug's Life or its characters; they are owned by Disney and Pixar. What I DO own are my OC, Kimberly, and any other characters that weren't in the movie.
Guest: Thanks :)
Mysterygirl145: Hey, stranger XD I feel the ants would be afraid and wary of every grasshopper, and would automatically assume they were in cahoots with Hopper.
I dunno. I think it might be influenced by some artwork of him on DeviantART, and the fact that he's a cool character. I also just seem to gravitate towards villains more than protagonists.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The grasshoppers shoved their feet through the ground into the chamber, creating large holes in the ceiling. The ants screamed in fright as the green grasshoppers jumped in, laughing. They began chasing the ants around the chamber, either running or hopping. A fat brown grasshopper stuck his head through a hole, laughing, "Boo!" He leapt down through the hole into the chamber. Holding up all four of his hands in what he probably thought was threatening, he sneered, "Where's the food?"
Kimberly never knew how the grasshoppers didn't see her. She, a yellowish grasshopper, stuck out like a sore thumb amongst blue ants. Perhaps it was because the grasshoppers were intent on terrifying the ants as much as they could. Some hopped around the council members, bringing the small group of ants into a tight ball. Three other grasshoppers were kicking around some ants, including Flik, as though they were playing with balls. The ants crawled away from the grasshoppers, eyes wide in fright.
SLAM!
All of the ants and grasshoppers froze at the last sound. Another brown grasshopper had jumped down into the chamber through one of the holes in the ceiling, landing in front of the three kneeling ants. Unlike the previous brown grasshopper though, this one was tall and thin; he was taller than all of the other grasshoppers, and was thinner than the previous brown grasshopper, though he certainly wasn't sickly thin. As he leaned down to glare at the ants, Flik whimpered, "H-Hopper!"
Kimberly, who was standing still among the ant crowd, gasped softly. Dot curled into her mother's chest in fright, and Atta leaned back, looking equally terrified.
As Hopper stood up straight, all four arms behind his back, Kimberly could see his face. As Dot had said months ago, he had a long scar down across his right, blind eye. His good eye was a rich brown. He began walking around the chamber, stepping over the ants on the ground first. The ants gave him a wide berth as he walked by. As he passed by, Kimberly's hazel eyes followed him in both terror and fascination. Despite being an obviously feared and hated insect, she couldn't help but think this grasshopper to be quite handsome and attractive, though she later mentally slapped herself from thinking this.
Finally, Hopper stopped his trek around the chamber. He stood still, facing the wall. "So, where is it?" He asked in a low voice. When no one, grasshopper nor ant, answered, he turned around, shouting with a glare, "Where's my food?!"
His voice echoed around the chamber, and all insects remained silent. "I-Isn't it up there?" Atta finally asked timidly.
"What?!" Hopper snapped, approaching her.
Atta didn't seem to notice, as she was looking down as she spoke, "The food was up there, sitting on a leaf-"
"Excuse me!"
Atta finally noticed the tall grasshopper in front of her. "Are you saying it's not up there?"
Hopper stared at Atta, asking sarcastically, "Are you saying I'm stupid? Do I look stupid to you? Let's just think about this for a second, shall we? Let's just think logically about this. If it was up there, would I be coming down here, to your level, looking for it?!" As he spoke, his voice rose in volume, and he thrust his face closer to Atta until their noses nearly hit each other.
As Atta shook in fear, Hopper asked, in a lower voice, "Why am I even talking to you? You're not the queen." The tips of his antennae danced on her face, sniffing her as she cringed. "You don't smell like the queen."
"Sh-she's learning to take over for me, Hopper." Phyllis spoke up in a slight stammer.
"Oh, I see, under new management." Hopper nodded with a smile. It was soon replaced with a sneer. "So, it's your fault."
"No! It wasn't me!" Atta protested. She began to point Flik out, but was interrupted.
"Uh-uh-uh! First rule of leadership: everything is your fault."
Kimberly began to scowl. Even though she and Atta weren't very good friends, she still didn't like the way Hopper was talking down to the princess. Her attraction to the grasshopper was waning. "It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess," He said. "One of those circle-of-life things. Let me tell you how it works: the sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food-"
"And the birds eat the grasshoppers!" The fat grasshopper spoke up in a jolly voice, which sounded out of place in such a gang. "Like the one that nearly at you, you remember?" He prattled on, unaware of the other grasshopper's glare.
Kimberly raised an eyebrow, wondering why Hopper would let such a grasshopper—evidently named Molt, as that was what Hopper snarled when the grasshopper continued to talk—live, as he seemed to not tolerate foolishness. She and the other ants watched as Hopper grabbed Molt's antennae, ignoring the latter's pained cries, and shove him against a wall. She couldn't hear what Hopper was saying, but he sounded angry. At some point, he wound up a fist until Molt yelled, "Remember Ma!"
This made Hopper turn around and punch another grasshopper instead. He stood there, panting, and looked up at the ants. His glare turned into a patronizing expression. "Hey, I'm a compassionate insect." He said, spreading his bottom hands out and placing his top hands on his chest. "There's still a few months until the rains come, so you can all just try again."
"But Hopper, since it's almost the rainy season, we need this time to gather food for ourselves." Phyllis spoke up, seeming to be the only ant brave enough to talk to the grasshopper leader without appearing frightened.
"Listen, if you ants can't keep your end of the bargain, then I can't guarantee your safety." Hopper said. "And there are insects out there who'd take advantage of you. Someone could get hurt." He snapped his fingers.
Kimberly narrowed her eyes in confusion at a snarling sound. What's that sou-oh my goodness, what is that?!
A thin, light-green grasshopper was held back by two other grasshoppers by a sort of strong vine tied around his neck. He was the one making the snarling growls. When he saw with Dot, his growls grew louder. The princess gasped and made a run for it, only to run into Hopper's hand. He held her in his top hands so they were at eye-level. "What's the matter? You scared of grasshoppers?" He asked, holding her out to the growling grasshopper.
Kimberly's eyes widened in horror and anger. Why, that brute! This is the last straw!
"You don't like Thumper?" Hopper continued, holding Dot just out of the thin grasshopper's reach. Dot leaned back, whimpering loudly in fright.
"Leave her alone!" Flik shouted, running out of the crowd into a patch of sunlight streaming in from one of the holes in the ceiling. Another voice had shouted the same thing as well. Kimberly had leapt over a few ants to stand near Flik.
Hopper pulled Dot back away from the now-quiet grasshopper and raised an eyebrow at the two insects. While Flik's eyes widened in terror, and his knees began to shake, Kimberly stood still with a scowl on her face. She may have thought the one-eyed grasshopper to be attractive at one point, but as soon as he began talking down to Atta and threatening to feed Dot to the thin grasshopper, that thought had all but vanished. All she saw now was a brute and a bully.
Hopper smiled crookedly, his eye turning to the yellowish female grasshopper. "Well, look what we have here, boys," He said to his green grasshoppers. "A grasshopper amongst ants; and a female, at that."
The grasshoppers had chuckled when Hopper pointed out Kimberly seemed to be living with the ants. When he mentioned that she was a female, their chuckles and grins grew.
"What's a fine-looking grasshopper like you doing with these ants?" Hopper asked, approaching her and Flik. The ant backed away a step, but Kimberly stood still, though she swallowed nervously. She had seen when he hit another grasshopper in anger and brushed it off as though it were nothing. She continued to scowl at Hopper, trying to mask her small fear.
"Not much of a talker, hm? Maybe I can change that." He grinned charmingly, reaching out with a free top hand to cup her cheek.
SMACK! All of the ants and grasshoppers gasped in shock and surprise. It had happened so fast, they scarcely believed it happened. Kimberly stood where she was, with her top arm across her chest, still scowling. Hopper's face was turned to the side, and he had a mildly-surprised expression.
She had slapped him.
He turned back to her, his surprised expression gone and replaced with a glare. "You'll regret doing that." He said in a low, threatening voice. He couldn't look down at her because they were the same size, and she was standing up straight.
"I don't think I will." Kimberly finally answered in the same low tone. Her knees barely begun to shake, but she tried to stay still. She couldn't believe she had slapped him until she did it.
"Who are you? What's your name?"
"Put. Her. Down! That's my name!"
"Kimberly! No!" Flik whispered sharply, tugging one of her arms. She ignored him though.
"Ah, so it's 'Kimberly,' eh?" Hopper asked, having heard the ant. "Quite a lovely name." He turned to Flik, evidently remembering that he had also shouted. He held Dot by the head and held her out to him. "You want her? Well, go ahead. Take her."
Both Flik and Kimberly stood still, the former looking the ground, and the latter still glaring. "No? Then get back in line, both of you!"
Flik backed up and was swallowed by the crowd of ants. Kimberly simply stepped out of the light. "It seems to me that you ants are forgetting your place." Hopper said, finally letting Dot drop to the ground. She ran back to her mother. "So, let's double the order of food."
All of the ants gasped. It was bad enough they had to gather more food, when the island barely had enough for both parties of insects. But double? That was impossible.
Ignoring Atta's stammers of protest, Hopper spoke on, plucking a piece of molted skin from Molt, "We'll be back when the last leaf falls." He let the skin flutter to the ground like a leaf.
The ants all subconsciously looked up at the tree through the holes in the ceiling. The leaves were all green, but how long would they stay green and on the tree?
Hopper looked back at Kimberly with a charming smile. "I'll see you this autumn, Kimberly." He said, touching her cheek again.
This time, Kimberly spit on him. The ants and grasshoppers gasped again, though this time Hopper simply wiped the brown liquid from his cheek, smirking in an amused manner. "I like a feisty female." He chuckled, stepping back in a patch of sunlight. He nodded at the ants, "You ants have a nice summer. Let's ride!"
At the last two words, the grasshoppers laughed and hooted. Their wings began to move, making a loud buzzing sound. Hopper crouched down as his wings too began to blur, and jumped out of the hole in the ceiling. The other grasshoppers followed suit; Molt crashed into the ceiling, shook his head, and followed the others out.
The laughs and buzzing sound soon disappeared, leaving a nerve-wrecking silence. The ants turned to look at Flik and Kimberly. Flik was grinning nervously, and Kimberly now had a worried expression.
Oh no.
A/N I think Hopper's entrance is one of the best villain entrances. There's his gang, wreaking havoc, kicking everyone around. Then he jumps in, and everything freezes. Plus, there's the fact that there's a loud "boom" of music when he lands that punctuates it further.
Even though Kimberly knows Hopper's a nasty insect to the ants, she, a female in her prime, she can't help but fall for him...temporarily. She's the kind of girl who falls for someone based on personality as well as appearance.
You might have read a chunk of this chapter on my DA page; more specifically, from when Flik and Kimberly yell "Leave her alone!" to when Kimmy tells Hopper to put Dot down, though I might have tweaked some details.
I hope I wrote Hopper well, as this is the first time I've written him. The preview on DA didn't really count, I think. I have a feeling he and the gang haven't seen a female for a while, so he's bound to put the charm on. Too bad for him, Kimberly's not fooled or fallen (anymore)