They ran, panting, into a meeting room. Krayonder's pained yell echoed down into the room, making Taz sick to her stomach. She wasn't usually worried if other people died, but Krayonder had been one of the first people she'd met from the Academy, and she couldn't help but feel guilty at how she always treated him. Now he could be dying, and she was helpless.
"Krayonder!" Up yelled, looking back. "No!"
"No!" Taz yelled, annoyed at him fo stopping. "Let's go! Those cucharachas can't be far behind!"
February stopped and turned to Bug. "So, you thought I was too stupid, huh? Too stupid to figure out you're a bug?" Her voice got small and slightly disgusted at the end. Taz sat there, trying to motion them onwards. If they stuck around too long, they were going to die.
"But you didn't figure it out and I told you twice!" Bug exclaimed. Taz was about ready to leave without the idiotas if they didn't hurry up.
"Don't talk to me, Bug!" February yelled. "I've had enough of your lies!"
She turned away crying, straight into Up's open arms. "Aw, come here. Let it out. Let it out." He turned to Bug and muttered, "Look what you did!"
Bug shook his head frantically. "No, no, Up. I never meant for anyone to get hurt! Up, you've gotta believe me!"
"I-I," Up stammered before turning away. "I don't know what means anything anymore!"
"Vivir de los muertos! He can't be trusted!" Taz shouted, jabbing a thumb at Bug over her shoulder. "And niether can jou." That time she pointed to Up. Ignoring the hurt-looking Commander, she turned away. "Specs, go find Tootsie! Reverse the core overload!"
Specs saluted her and ran off. A loud noise, almost like a cackle filled the air. A very bug-like cackle.
"They're coming!" February yelled. Taz didn't have time for her ex-roommate to be panicking.
"Dammit!" Taz cursed. "Give me this." She yanked Up's Zapper from his hands. "Do jou know how to use one of these?" she asked February, handing it to her.
"Uh, I think so, I've used a blow-dryer before," February informed her.
For a second, Taz was unsure how to respond. "Uh, OK. If something attack jou, jou pretend jou are trying to blow-dry its hair. Now, go lock jourself in jour room!"
"OK, got it!" she replied, running out of the room. Taz was left with Bug and Up. She turned to leave, exiting the way they'd come in.
Up saw the way she was going. "Wait, Taz! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go mislead those damn bugs and buy us some time."
"Taz," he said, "that sounds awfully dangerous."
Taz looked deep into his eyes. "I know, Up. But, an old friend taught me once what it's like to laugh in the face of danger. So, jou two idiotas, stay out of my way!" By the end she was yelling and running out of the room.
She down the hallways they had come through. All the while, she was screaming profanities in English and Spanish, trying to attract the bugs' attentions. She ignored all of the fears that were coursing through her.
"Come and get me jou stupid bugs! Siguame, siguame! Follow the leader!" she shouted. Her screams to follow her were cut off by a sharp, stabbing pain in her lower back. She let out a small cry of pain. "What the-?" Again she was stabbed, and the pain worsened. She fell to the ground, moaning from the pain, but her suffering wasn't yet finished. A third pain stabbed right between her shoulderblades. She could feel the giant mosquitoes quickly draining her blood, depleting her energy.
She fell into blackness, but was startled back awake when the pain receded from her back. She lifted her head groggily, and when her vision cleared, a horrible sight met her eyes. It was Up, all three mosquitoes with their pointy noses jabbed deep into his flesh. "You damn bugs," he muttered before collapsing onto the ground.
"No!" Taz said, holding out a hand, but remaining completely helpless. She was still weak, and she couldn't get all three bugs out before Up was completely drained. "Damn jou!" she shouted at Up's body, which she just couldn't accept as dead. "Damn jou, jou damn fool! Damn jou and jour big, damn heart." She dropped her head into her knees, crying. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.
She heard a cough and looked up. "You bugs want blood?" She was amazed to see Up slowly rising off of the floor. "Then take it!" He pulled a bug out and jabbed it right back in. "Take. It. All!" he yelled. He stood up completely. Taz watched in awe as, one by one, the three bugs exploded, splashing some extremely gory inards around the room that she decided not to dwell on.
Taz stood as Up strapped his uniform back together. "Up, how, how did jou-"
"Make them violently explode?" he finished for her. She nodded. "I raised my heartbeat, using my breathing exercises. Their puny bodies must not have been able to handle all of my blood! Bug was right! I just need to learn how to kill with my heart! I killed them all, Taz! I killed them all! I'm still a killer! Oh, I'm still a killer!" He raised his arms up, yelling it to the world.
"That's great!" Taz shouted, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly. She had thought she'd lost him, yet here he was, her Up, her Comandante.
"Oh, Taz!" he shouted, returning the embrace.
When they finally separated, Taz held his shoulders. "So, Up, I used to think that I was the proof that jou didn't need the balls to be tough," she said. She knew all that he'd lost in his injury, and now knew also that it didn't make a difference. "Now I know, jou! Jou are the proof, that jou don't need a tiny skin cell of the testicle to be one tough son of a bitch!"
"Thanks, Taz! Now come on. Let's go help out the rest of the crew." Taz went to head out, but he interrupted her. "Quick, hop on my back. I can run faster than the two of us combined." Ignoring the contradiction, Taz grabbed his hands and let him toss her onto his back. Screaming, he charged out, Taz piggy-backing along.
They ran along the ship, listening for signs of battle. A couple minutes later, they heard a roar escaping from a room as they passed.
They ran in to see a sad, heroic scene. February stood inside, talking through the glass to Bug, who held the giant scorpion at spearpoint up against the outer airlock doors. As they had entered, Taz had heard him tell her to open the outer airlock doors, which would yank him out into space, where he would die.
"Why did you lie to me, Bug?" February yelled, seeming upset and confused and unsure of herself.
"February," Bug said. "At first I just wanted to help you escape from that hatchery, but I knew I loved you the second I laid eyes on you in that mucus sack. I thought I'd never see you again, so when Pincer here gave me the chance, not just to be with you, but to be one of you? Oh, I took it. But, I didn't think, because, uh, well, being a Starship Ranger has been the only thing I've wanted more than anything my whole life. So, I lied.
"But, I know the truth now about what I am. I'm not a Starship Ranger. I'm a bug. But, we've got a saying on Bug World, huh. The needs of the many bugs outway the needs of the few bugs. Or the one bug. I never really understood that until now."
"Bug," Up interjected. "You may be a damn bug, but you are the finest Starship Ranger that I have ever seen. It's been an honor to be your comander, Bug." He saluted him, Taz following suit.
"Thanks, Up," Bug said, returning the salute. His voice sounded shaky and scared. "It's been a ride. February, I want you to know that even though I lied about being a bug, I meant everything else. You are the most beautiful, the funniest, and the smartest girl I have ever met." The scorpion growled, clearly preparing to attack. "Do it now."
February and Bug stared at each other for a moment. "Good-bye, Bug," she said, pressing the button to open the doors.
For the first time in three years, Taz openly cried. She allowed tears to stream down her face, even though there was someone else in the room other than Up. She went up to February and wrapped her arms around her.
February seemed to distraught to notice Taz's act of kindness. She just leaned down and sobbed into the small girl's shoulder. Taz rubbed her back and locked eyes with Up. She could imagine February's pain. She had felt it herself two years before, when Up had been sliced in half, and again, just before, when the bugs had seemingly taken him down.
Taz knew that pain better than anyone, as she had to live it over and over again. Her father's death. Her mother and brother's deaths. The many times Up had nearly died. Yes. Taz was an expert on the pain of loss.
