Word had spread to everyone on the island, and a celebration was quickly thrown together in less than two hours. They wanted to welcome the warriors as soon as they could, and to inform them of what exactly they needed to achieve while staying here. At the quad just outside the castle was where the party took place, with Flik, the warriors, the queen and Princess Atta sitting at a table together watching the village's band play an upbeat song. Everyone was gathering around, but leaving enough space for the 'special presentation' they heard about.
But while everyone else was focused on the music, and the immense relief of having a set of warriors to fight for them, Princess Atta was still fixating on how odd this whole situation was. Something just didn't sit right with her about it. Maybe it was the fact that Flik had found them so quickly, or that these warriors didn't appear to be skilled in the act of battle. Or maybe it was because it was Flik who had found them.
Her gaze remained on the optimistic man, who was patting his hands on the table with the same rhythm as the music. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes over and over. After years of being the recipient of his wacky shenanigans, his quirky demeanor had grown tiresome to her.
Her mother took notice to her attitude, and while being a bit confused, she decided to give some assurance. After all, Atta wasn't used to all this excited commotion from her people and was likely still in shock by all of this. "Dear, just relax." She told the princess, "Be proud of yourself! Your instincts were correct, you were right to trust this boy."
Atta gave an awkward chuckle in response, not knowing what she was supposed to say to that. She most certainly did not trust Flik, he never gave her any reason to. He was given plenty of chances, yet he screwed up every time. But this could cost her her reputation and the safety of their whole kingdom. If this was another elaborate plan of his, she was not going to let him get away with it.
Once the band concluded their song, everyone applauded them, which signaled them to step away and allow the actual presentation to begin. The queen raised her arms as she spoke loud and clear, "And to make our official welcome complete..Mr. Soil!"
The council member stepped out from the crowd, wearing a velvet hat with a feather attached. "Yes, your majesty!"
"He is our resident thespian." The queen explained to the warriors, "And I believe he has put together a quick show in your honor."
"Yes, with the help of these school children, of course." Mr. Soil said, which signaled for the group of kids to step forward as well—including Princess Dot. They appeared to be holding a large sheet of rolled up paper, which presumably would be apart of the presentation.
"Oh, how adorable!" Gypsy cooed at the children, "They are so cute."
One of the students stood in the front, lowering her head and shuffling her feet against the concrete. She was obviously timid and anxious about being the one to speak, but she wasn't given much of a choice when it came to rehearsal. She cleared her throat before awkwardly beginning, "The South Tunnel Elementary School second grade class would like to present you with this."
The students unrolled the paper as she went on, "A mural we have drawn of you all fighting the clan of grasshoppers."
The group's smiles of delight and amusement all dropped into looks of shock. The mural the children painted was in fact depicting a battle between them and the clan members, only it was extremely detailed and gruesome. "Oh wow, look at all the lovely colors.." Rosie said, in attempts to show some appreciation, "..of the blood."
"We drew one of you dying, our teacher told us it would be more dramatic." Dot said, pointing to the drawing of Heimlich, who was sliced into two pieces.
A couple of them gasped and turned to look at Heimlich, who's face was drained of all color.
While the kids folded the mural back up, Mr. Soil dramatically stepped back into view holding a harp. He strummed the strings a few times as he started the show. "I tell you a tale of heroes so bold! Who vanquished our Grasshopper enemies of old!"
As he moved back to the sidelines, there were only three of the school children standing in the center, one being shielded by a leaf-shaped prop. They fell over onto their back, which signaled another one to point, "Look! The last leaf has fallen!"
In came several other kids, wearing poorly sewn together costumes. "We are the Grasshoppers! Where is our food?!" They asked in unison.
The third child in the middle, who appeared to be irritated by all of this, exaggerated his line, "Who shall come to save us poor ants?"
From the other side arrived another group, wearing fake armor and helmets. "We are the warriors, here to defend you!"
The play went on for a while, but its disturbingly violent theme made it feel like it lasted hours. It was a wonder why Mr. Soil, the teacher, or even the parents of these children even allowed them to take part in this. The death scenes were overly dramatic and dragged out for longer than needed, and the descriptions of blood and gore were a surprising quantity. Needless to say, the visitors were horrified. They clearly weren't prepared for what they had gotten themselves into.
And the show soon finished with the final actor announcing, "Die! Die! Die!" before dropping to the ground. But instead of being distraught or angry at the production, everyone in the crowd clapped and cheered, while the visitors felt like fainting.
"Thank you!" Mr. Soil said while the kids stood back up, taking a bow. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
The group all looked at each other, already agreeing this wasn't worth it. They needed to tell Flik somehow about the misunderstanding, and then they would leave. But the dilemma was who was going to tell him.
"Alright, honey. 'Tis your turn to say a few words." The queen said to her daughter, who had almost forgotten she had to give a small speech. Even after speaking publicly almost her whole life, Atta still wasn't used to it.
She cleared her throat and stood up from her seat, unsure on how she would even get anyone's attention. They were all still clapping and speaking amongst themselves. Still, she had to try.
Flik noticed her about to speak, and remembered that he had something that might help. He leaned down and reached into his bag, which was just an unorganized mess of sketches and tools. But eventually he found it and quickly rushed to her side.
"Well, first of all, I am sure we are all very, very grateful to have—" She began, unknowingly taking an object into her hands that immediately projected her voice, "—the warriors..."
She stopped and stared at the object, ignoring the laughs of amusement from the crowd. It appeared to be made of wood, painted green, and shaped like a cone. She gave Flik a confused look, but he just seemed eager and excited for her to use it, and gestured for her to continue while he stepped away. "Um, thank you.." She said before continuing her speech, "So first off, I would like to thank the warriors for helping us in our fight against the Grasshoppers."
Allowing quick applause from everyone, Atta dreaded what she had to say next. But it had to be said, proper credit must be given. "Second of all, I would like to thank..Flik," She said, instinctively cringing when she saw him waving. "For his forthright—"
Before she could even finish her sentence, the cone-shaped amplifier was snatched from her hand and her speech was uninterrupted, by none other than Flik himself. "Thank you, your highness." He said, walking around the table so he could be better noticed. Atta scoffed and crossed her arms, The audacity of this man.
"Well, I would just like to start off by saying that I cannot take all the credit for this. After all, it was you, Princess Atta," He said, turning the attention back to her. "You believed in me and sent me on my quest! This could not have happened if it were not for you."
Atta dropped her arms to her sides and gave an awkward grin to the throng, wishing he hadn't said that. Now if this really was a plan of his that backfired, the blame would be entirely on her.
After several moments of arguing, the warriors had forced Rosie to talk to Flik. She wasn't sure how to do it, but as she was pushed towards him, she decided to do it quickly and quietly, hopefully without disrupting the speeches. She approached him as he went on,
"Now I know that I have made many mistakes in the past. I do hope that this will make up for what I've caused, especially concerning the deal with the Grasshoppers."
Rosie didn't even look at the people in the crowd while tapping his shoulder. "Flik, I must speak with you." She said in a silent tone.
"Not now, Rosie." He said to her, then continued speaking through his invention. "Now I truly believe that these people are the answer to our—"
He wasn't able to continue since Rosie grew frustrated and decided to tell him anyway, whispering in his ear. Flik barely even processed her words at first, since he was still caught up in the attention and gratitude he was receiving.
After she finished, Flik shook his head, "No, we do not do street performances here." He turned away to continue his speech, only to immediately register what just happened. He slowly shifted his gaze over to the visitors, who were all nodding to let him know they were serious.
Wait, you mean..? He mouthed, his eyes widening with fear. Putting the pieces together, he realized that up until this presentation, everyone had been incredibly vague about what they were hired for. And that whole scene at the bar must've just been an act.
He didn't bring home warriors, he hired performers.
Flik's entire body went pale and stiff, but he didn't spend too much time coming to grips with his mistake, since he didn't want to come off as suspicious. So now he had to come up with an excuse to leave the scene. "Uh, your highness!" He said, jumping over the table in a haste. He grabbed Atta's hand to shake it, "See, uh, the warriors have called a secret meeting! Yes! To uh..plan their battle strategies. And they would really like to get started as soon as possible so I think we shall just..dismiss ourselves for now."
Atta held her wrist after he let go, since he was shaking her hand rougher than needed. "Oh, well..should I attend, too?" She asked.
"No!" Flik was quick to say, laughing nervously. "Uh, no, not right now. 'Tis strictly classified..warrior business. Yes, very top secret. We'll be going now!"
He power-walked away from her, following the group and helping them make their way past the confused throng. "Sorry I must take the warriors away so soon!" He apologized to everybody, "But they have much to get done, in..battling and all. So uh, everyone just enjoy the party!"
While the abrupt change of plans was odd to the kingdom, no one was planning on questioning it. Perhaps their visitors needed some air and wanted to get away from all the praise. They were in a new environment after all, maybe they would take time adjusting to the atmosphere. However, these types of assumptions of what was happening didn't stop Princess Dot from getting curious enough to push her way through the crowd and follow them from a distance.
The older princess was curious, too. Well, more like suspicious. She didn't know how, but she could just sense there was a damn good reason why they were suddenly calling for a "secret meeting".
Flik led the visitors far away from the rest of the kingdom, closest to the more closed-off area of the island. Once they were near the shore, they finally decided to discuss the situation at hand. "Street performers?!" Flik asked, "How could you be street performers?!"
The group was immediately infuriated by his questioning. "Excuse me?" Francis pointed at him, "You did not mention once that we would be fighting and killing a clan! You are the one who fooled us!"
"Are you joking?! I said I needed your help, that my kingdom was in trouble! What did you think I meant by that?!"
"That your kingdom needed our help putting on a show for the Grasshoppers." Slim answered, crossing his arms.
Flik ran his hand through his hair, barely processing the frustration he was feeling. How could he have been so foolish to not explain what he meant by 'trouble'? But then again, he was not entirely to blame. The group didn't mention once that they were performers. "This— this is madness! No, I will tell you what this is. This, my friends, is false advertisement!"
Manny gasped, once again pointing the finger back at the ant man. "How dare you!" He said, offended by his claim. "You, sir, are the charlatan in this scenario, touting your ways as a talent scout, preying upon the hungry souls of helpless artistes!"
He and the rest of the group turned away from him, storming away in anger. "Good day to you, sir!"
Flik had to take a second to process what was happening, but it didn't help that the twins, Tuck and Roll, had both managed to smack him across the face—even though it didn't hurt and barely fazed him. But seeing them beginning to walk away made him realize that even though they weren't the people he thought they were, he still needed them. They were his only hope in saving his kingdom—and his dignity.
"Wait! Wait! Do not leave!" He said, hurriedly running down the steps and onto the sand to get in front of the group, desperately trying not to let them get anywhere near their boat. "Please, just give me some time, I shall come up with a plan."
"Why?" Heimlich asked, "Just tell your kingdom the truth."
The truth. Oh, if this wasn't a dire situation, Flik would've laughed at that. Instead, he grabbed the caterpillar man by his shoulders and violently shook him in desperation. "They cannot know the truth, are you mad?! The truth is very, very bad!" He turned to the others, "If I tell them the truth, I will be granted with this mistake for as long as I live! Even my descendants will walk through the streets and everyone will point at them and say, 'Oh look! There goes the spawn of Flik, the fool that doomed us all'!"
After realizing how dramatically he emphasized his point, he realized it was useless. They were still angry with him, and there would be no convincing them to stay. Why would they? He was a stranger who lied to them, they had no reason to stay and help him through this.
Flik sighed and rested his hand on Dim's shoulder. "Alright, if you wish to leave, then so be it. But before you do," He began to lie down on the sand, pulling Dim's ankle so his foot would be right above his own head. "If you would just end my life right here and now, that would be great."
Dim looked at the others utterly confused, but the rest of them didn't have a clue what he was doing either.
"Because when they found out, I am as good as dead." He said, burying his face in the sand.
"Flik!"
He gasped and pulled his head back up, recognizing that voice anywhere. "Oh, shit." He whispered, quickly standing up and brushing the sand off of his face and clothes. Without even thinking about telling the group what to do, Flik ran back up the steps and over in the direction of the voice who was calling for him.
"Flik! I need to speak to you!" The princess said as she was walking down the path of the village. "I really do think I should be apart of this meeting!"
Luckily before she could get any closer to the beach, Flik was able to meet her halfway, grinning awkwardly. "Princess Atta! What a pleasant surprise!" He said, still trying to subtly wipe off the sand grains off of his sleeves. From the look on her face, he could tell Atta wasn't too pleased with him, and he could feel his stomach knotting up at the thought of having to lie to her.
"Flik, what is going on?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the man. "I would like to speak with these 'warriors', as you claim."
"Uh, you can't!" He quickly denied, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "I mean, they are in a meeting right now and they really should not be disturbed..now. Uh, right guys?"
He turned around towards the shore, but his eyes and mouth popped open when he saw them beginning to board their boat. He knew if there was any chance at stopping them, he had to do it now.
Turning back to the princess, he held up his finger, beginning to back away. "Uh, please excuse me for just a moment." He said before making a run for it towards the steps.
Atta had seen and heard enough from him. She had all the information she needed to know that there was something going on, and she needed to expose it as soon as possible. "I knew it." She scoffed, shaking her head as she walked away. "I should have never sent him away to find those fools in the first place. He's done more damage now than he would have done before." She thought out loud.
From behind one of the nearest trees, Dot poked her head out and watched her angered sister walk back through the village. She hummed in thought before running over towards the top of the steps, seeing Flik desperately trying to board the warriors' boat while they had already set sail.
"What? Why are they leaving?" The young princess whispered, taking a couple steps down.
Flik had clung onto the edge of the ship for dear life, as the second he managed to catch up to them, they already began to sail away. The performers weren't sure how to stop him, since they couldn't just toss him into the water. Even if he was being annoyingly persistent, that was too cruel for them to do.
"Please! You cannot go!" He cried, pushing himself up. "I'm desperate!"
"Really? We could not tell!" Slim said satirically.
Flik ignored his comment and fell onto the wood, hurriedly standing up on his feet. "Please, you came all this way! You cannot turn away now!"
"You just cannot read the room, can you?" Francis shook his head, then pointed at Manny, "Steer somewhere we can drop him off."
Princess Dot walked down onto the shore, watching the ship move further out into the ocean. If the warriors were leaving so soon, then something must've been wrong. She knew it was probably dangerous to try to follow them, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Attempting to use her wing to fly out to the ocean didn't work, obviously.
But then in the corner of her eye, Dot took notice to a smaller rowboat that she recognized as the one Flik had built for his adventure. It was sitting by the edge of the shore, and even though there was only one ore, that was enough for the princess to consider it as an option.
She hopped into the boat after pushing it out into the water, but she knew immediately that controlling where she went would be difficult. Only having one ore and no knowledge on how to row didn't help, and neither did the waves that sent her unbalanced in her seat a couple times. But she was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was happening with the warriors.
The older princess finally made it back to her mother and the council, who were occupied with their own conversations, probably about their plan to help the warriors. However, they ceased their discussions when seeing Atta tap the queen's shoulder. "Mother, Flik is up to something."
After spotting another island nearby (well, it was more just a small piece of land), Manny began to steer the ship in its direction. It seemed convenient that it was fairly close to the kingdom, but whatever could get Flik off their boat faster was good enough for them.
But Flik was not ready to give up. He hastily ran towards the wheel and attempted to steer it in the opposite direction. Having no actual ship experience, he was quite unsuccessful, and he was having to fight Manny for control.
"Let go!" The older man ordered, trying to pry the wheel away from him.
"No! You do not understand!" Flik strained, refusing to back down. "My kingdom needs you!"
The two constantly shifted the steering wheel left and right, making its path unevenly zigzagged. Slim, Francis, and Rosie tried to pull Flik away, but to no avail. He was surprisingly strong for someone who looked like he hadn't eaten in a week.
Eventually the fight for control sent the ship unsteadily crashing at the edge of the small land. While that was the performers' initial plan, they were not happy with how it happened. And now there could be damage to their boat that they didn't want to deal with at the moment.
The whole group fell due to the harsh impact, but no one was hurt. However, everyone was angry at Flik, and he didn't blame them. "You should learn when to just give it up." Rosie scolded him as she stood up, brushing dirt off of her dress. The rest of them got back up as well and climbed down from the boat, checking for any signs of cracks in the wood.
Flik followed them closely, now feeling guilty about his actions. "I'm sorry, alright? But you have to understand what is at stake here! If I let you leave, then my kingdom has to spend eternity in oppression! We cannot keep serving the grasshopper clan, we don't have the resources!"
"Oh please, do not act like you're concerned for the well-being of your kingdom." Gypsy shook her head at him.
Francis kneeled down in front of the boat to observe its appearance. Thankfully, he didn't see a single scratch, which was surprising considering how hard the crash was. "Yeah, you only want us to put up an act to save your own skin." He rolled his eyes.
Flik was about to deny their accusations, but he noticed something odd in his peripheral vision. He turned his head towards a certain direction, surprised to see this piece of land wasn't completely vacant. There were a few trees on the other side, accompanied by an unusually large cave. Just outside of its entrance laid a huge, red feather.
That's peculiar, what sort of creature would have a feather of that— That thought of his was quickly interrupted upon realizing the answer. There was only one creature that would have feathers that big, that would need a cave of that size and a whole island to itself. And he did not want to stick around to be it's lunch.
"Uh, guys, we need to return to the kingdom now." He said with sudden urgency, slowly backing away.
"For the last time, Flik, we are not going to put on an act for you." Francis said frustratedly, standing back up on his feet. "You will just have to find real warriors to help you—"
"No, I mean we need to leave! Look!"
Everyone turned their attention to where Flik pointed, which revealed the cave and feather. The performers were all able to figure it out faster than he did, as they gasped immediately upon seeing it.
"Get back to the ship, now!" Slim gestured.
Just as they began to run back towards their boat, they stopped in their tracks as they felt the ground below them tremble, as if something extremely heavy had just landed. The group slowly and nervously turned around, and their worst fear had been proven correct.
A tall, gigantic creature distinguished by red and orange feathers and blacked-out eyes was staring down at them, it's head tilting curiously. It had the beak of a bird and the horns of a dragon, and no one dared to look at its claws. Never in their lives had they seen it up close before, only in their nightmares.
"It's an avem!"