Episode 3: Welcome to Bugaria
WARNING: The following episode contains element from games and shows including Bug Fables, Hollow Knight, Transformers Beast wars, Shovel Knight, Spyro the dragon, and Crash Bandicoot. I urge you to watch/play these before reading this fanfiction as it's more fun when your experience isn't ruined by me.
The Knight wandered through the town, gazing at the colourful buildings that surrounded them, meanwhile various bugs were staring at them, a fearful look in their eyes. The Knight simply ignored them and continued walking down the path towards the large ant hill at the centre of the town. Seeing a mysterious bug approaching the archway that leads to the castle, an ant guard shouted "Hold it! Just who do you think you are?" The Knight ignored them as well, walking right by them and through the gate. "Hey! Get back here!" the ant shouted, to no avail. She contemplated going after them, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. As they crossed the bridge, the two ant guards situated next to the gate approached the Knight with their spears drawn, pointing it at the unfamiliar bug.
"Stop right there. Who are you and how did you get here?" said the first guard. The Knight stared at them, unable to speak back.
"Does it speak? Can it even hear us?" whispered the second guard to the first.
"No clue. Let's just get it away from here before it causes any trouble". Of course, the Knight could hear the pair whispering about them about as clearly as any other bug would. As the guards turned back to the Knight, ready to awkwardly shove them away from the castle gates, the Knight leaped over the pair and bolted straight towards the castle entrance.
"What?! How did it do that!?" cried the second guard.
"There's no time to ask questions. Quickly, after it!". Seeing that the doors to the palace were closed, the Knight used the shadow cloak to phase through them and onto the other side, leaving the guards that were chasing them behind.
Exiting on the other side of the doors, the Knight continued their way to the throne room, zipping past the ant guards within the palace. The ants rushed to shut the doors to the throne room. Just as the doors closed, a black streak passed by them, phasing through the door and onto the other side. As they stood up, the Knight looked to the end of the long hallway that was the ant queens throne room.
Opposite the Knight stood a tall ant dressed in purple clothing and wearing a white mask covering her face. On her back above rested 2 curved blue swords. To her right was an ant who was armoured from head to toe in white armour with the same emblem on the chest plate that the Knight had seen on the banners hanging from the gate. Her helmet was a thick white dome with a darkened visor which covered her face from view. She wielded a large shield which had a spike directly in the middle. Behind the armoured ant was a small group of ant guards.
Queen Elizant the 2nd and Zaryant
The Mother of all ants and her loyal bodyguard.
"Intruder! Explain yourself! Why do you seek to disturb the ant kingdoms peace?" said Elizant, her voice echoing throughout the hall. The Knight began walking closer towards the queen who began resting her hands on her swords. Zaryant held up her shield readying for an attack. "You seem to be a Knight of some sort, and your blade appears mighty. If you wish to fight me, my ants and I will not hesitate to strike you down" Elizant said, drawing her blades. The Knight stopped walking and unsheathed their nail from their back. Zaryant adopted a battle stance, all the while Elizant stood still, waiting for the Knight to strike at the pair. As the Knight stared coldly into the eyes of the queen, they dropped their nail onto the floor. The clanging of the nail hitting the floor echoed out across the hall.
"My queen. The creature appears to be… surrendering?" said Zaryant, slowly lowering her shield. The doors behind the Knight swung open and multiple of ant guards poured into the hall following the lieutenant of the guards and a mantis in armour, wielding a large slab of blue material shaped like a sword.
Maki
Royal blade to the queen.
"Stand down creature! We've got you surrounded!" barked the lieutenant as she raised her spear.
"My queen, are you hurt? I came here as fast as I could," said Maki.
"We're fine Maki. And lower your blades my ants, this knight means no harm"
"B-but my queen? That 'knight' uses a strange kind of magic. The only other person we know who that could do magic is Leif" argued the Lieutenant, "They could be a danger to everyone in this kingdom!"
"Maybe the queen is right" said Maki as he sheathed his blade on his back, "This Knight didn't hurt anyone on their way here. Perhaps it has come to us for help?"
"If that's the case, then why couldn't it have told us. It seems like an intelligent creature. Why won't it speak?"
"I don't believe it can, my lieutenant. Perhaps that is why it came this chamber, where I stand" the queen said stowing away her blades, "There is no need for violence now. Return the soldiers to their posts lieutenant. Maki, Zaryant, and I will discuss matters with this Knight". The lieutenant began barking orders to the guards as they exited the room. Elizant turned towards the Knight, saying "I'm afraid we may not be unable to understand you Knight. However, if it is help you are looking for, I shall assign three of my most trusted royal blades to keep you safe"
"Team Snakemouth? How would they be able to help this Knight?" asked Zaryant.
"They are accustomed to unusual tasks my bodyguard. Whatever, this Knights problem is, I'm sure Team Snakemouth can help them" said Elizant, "Follow me Knight, I shall take you to them. You too Zaryant"
"What about me my queen?" asked Maki
"If the Knight is in danger of something, then I need you to scout around the perimeter of the ant kingdom. Report back to me if you find anything"
"Will do my Queen" said Maki, bowing before walking out of the hall.
"Let us go Knight, we have much to do" said the queen exiting the hall. The Knight picked up their nail and followed along with Zaryant, who was keeping an eye on them.
Within a small red house in the town square, a team of explorers spend their day relaxing and talking to each other. However, their day is about to be interrupted by a Knight in need of help.
Team Snakemouth
A bee, beetle, moth and… a plant?
"Hey guys? I think we're missing some berries" said Vi the bee, as she meticulously fiddled with the blue and pink berries littering the highest bunk of the team's bunk bed.
"We put it into our savings account at the bank while we were out walking Chompy" said Leif the moth as he stroked the pink baby chomper sleeping on his lap.
"Stop giving our berries to the bank Leif. I don't like giving them our teams hard-earned money" she replied.
"Didn't you get excited at the thought of increased interest in our account?"
"No! That never happened!" she said quietly stuffing away the team's platinum bank pass.
"Now, before you start arguing, I have a request to make" said Kabbu the beetle, "Professor Neolith asked me to escort him to the forsaken lands to analyse those strange objects we saw. Since we're not busy I thought we could help. Who wants to come with me?"
"I could join you Kabbs! I've got nothin' better to do. What about you Leif?"
"Sorry, we can't. Hawke is coming home from the lab to visit our family today and we want to be there to share some stories"
"Wait, Hawke is Muse's husband? How didn't I know this?
"We figured it out ages ago. You should be more perceptive Vi"
"Alright, I guess it's just you and me Vi, just like old times" said Kabbu, standing up and grabbing the teams item bag.
"Oh yeah, we asked you about what Maki had said, and you still haven't told us. How did you join the explorer's association?"
"Well, you see, it started with-" Before Kabbu could finish his sentence, there came a knock on the door.
"I've got it!" said Vi hopping off her bed to open the door. As she opened the door, she was greeted by the mask of the Knight. She was startled by the cold, gaping eyes of the mask, and let out a cry before pulling out her beemerang and throwing it at the masked creature. The beemerang hit the Knight's mask, making a loud cracking sound as they fell over onto the ground.
"What did you do Vi!" cried Kabbu, quickly jumping up off the floor.
"Well excuse me, it's not like it didn't look like a monster! It had black holes for eyes! I had to do something!" she replied catching her beemerang.
"You didn't even fully open the door! Hold on, I'll go help that poor person you hit in the face" said Kabbu, walking towards the door and opening it fully. Standing next to the downed Knight was Elizant who was making sure that the Knight wasn't dead, along with Zaryant. "M-My queen! What are you doing here? And who did Vi just hit?"
"The queen?" said Leif.
"Let's move this conversation inside. I believe this Knight might need to rest for a bit after sustaining such a heavy blow" she replied, staring directly at Vi.
"What?!" asked Vi.
The Knight lied on the soft dirt motionless, with a crack splitting down the middle of their mask.
As they lost consciousness, they heard Leif say, "It does have black holes for eyes. You've been forgiven Vi".
As the Knight regained consciousness, they could hear someone talking. "My Queen, are you sure this stranger is trustworthy? It may be trying to trick us"
"Well, Kabbu I think you could ask them yourself; it appears they've woken up" said Leif who had noticed the Knight awaking, "Oh wait, you didn't hear that comment about your eyes did you?" The Knight reached on their back for their nail but noticed it had disappeared. They turned their head on their side to find their nail lying down flat. They sat up, picked up the nail, and hopped off the bed they were lying on.
"Hm? They're getting up and walking around like nothing happened to them" commented Vi, "What's with this guy?" When they heard Vi speak, the Knight turned towards her and rushed at her with their nail drawn.
"Hold it Knight!" said the ant queen, drawing one of her blades and putting it between the Knight and Vi, "This bee attacked you on accident, she's already apologized". The Knight sheathed the nail on their back and turned away from Vi.
"Yeah! No need to hold a sword to my throat!" she said, crossing her arms, "Oh, and you might wanna patch up that crack in your shell… mask… helmet… Whatever that thing is". The Knight stopped for a second, before healing themselves, confusing everyone in the room. Leif walked up to the Knight and said, "Is that healing magic? That's strange, we don't sense anything remotely magical about you"
"That's something I forgot to mention before. The Knight displayed magical abilities when they evaded my guards" said the queen, "I believed you and the Knight had something in common Leif, which is why I thought they would be safer in your hands, although Vi may have made me change my mind"
"It's okay your highness. We'll make sure no harm comes to our friend here, despite what some would have you believe" said Kabbu patting the Knight on the back, lurching them forward.
Vi sighed and said, "You're never going to let go of that one, are you guys?"
"No way" said Leif as he patted chompy on the head who had run up to his leg, "This is way too funny".
"I'm sorry Team Snakemouth, but I have to go. This Knights arrival may be the precursor to something much larger, and we may have to be prepared for it. Thank you for your help"
"It's no problem Elizant" Leif said as she walked out the door.
"So… no desert adventure then Kabbu?" asked Vi, sighing.
A while later, Team Snakemouth and their new companion walked across the outskirts of Bugaria. "So why are we out here? You just left the house without saying anything" said Vi. The Knight stopped for a second to look around, but then increased their pace, ending up further in front of Team Snakemouth than before.
"Knight, I think it would be wise for us to stay put in the Kingdom" said Kabbu as he tried catching up to them. Kabbu stopped in place in front of the team when he spotted a large metallic arm lying on the ground. Metalheads arm. "Is this why we're here?" he asked, "this arm looks like it belonged to a machine". The Knight walked over to the arm and stood in place.
"What is this?" Leif asked the Knight who didn't answer, instead looking around. Specter Knight said he would still be here, but he was nowhere in sight. Leif noticed the Knight looking around and asked, "What's wrong Knight?"
"Hey guys! Look over here!" shouted Vi, "I think there was a fight here! There's a bunch of guys here lying on the ground!" Leif and the Knight walked over to the pile of bodies and weapons. Vi asked, "Do you think they're still alive?"
As he observed the unfamiliar looking carcasses, Leif said "Probably not. Is that a scythe?" He picked up the scythe and begun swinging it around, almost hitting Vi with it.
"Oi! Be careful with that thing will ya'. You almost cut my antennae off!"
"Sorry" said Leif, "It's surprisingly light for something this big. It doesn't smell too nice though. We think we prefer ice magic." Leif dropped the Scythe on the ground and walked away while the Knight stared at the weapon.
Kabbu was inspecting Metalheads arm when a gaping portal opened beneath it, swallowing the arm whole. Kabbu stood back, shocked by the sudden appearance of a portal. But as he called his friends over, the portal closed. The Knight dropped Specter Knights scythe
"I-it's gone" he said looking at the empty space in front of him. "Was that a…" but before he could finish, a portal swirled into existence in front of them. Out of the portal crawled a fire ant with blue pincers and eyes as black as a void
"Is that an ant?! It looks huge!" shouted Vi.
"Who are you creature? What is it that you want?" asked Kabbu.
"I have no time to talk to you. I'm here for them" he said, lifting up one of his legs and pointing it at the Knight, "our Queen demands it!"
Vi lifted her beemerang and shouted, "Well too bad! This Knight is going nowhere! Especially not with some weird ant like you!"
"Hold on Vi! Perhaps we could come to a peaceful solution…"
"I won't take no for an answer, bee! Once I destroy you, we will use your kingdom as a new colony! Feel the Queens fury!" cried the ant, "Inferno, Terrorize!"
Inferno
Devoted member of the Predacon alliance
The fire ant, now known as Inferno, began transforming. Their body contorted and shifted to form a robot which stood over Team Snakemouth. The face of the ant shifted to his chest and his abdomen opened to become a rocket, able to propel him through the skies. Red and cyan plates of metal covered his body. His face was terrifying, with a mouth that opened to reveal rows of sharp metal teeth. Inferno towered over the team, grinning as he looked down on them, his red eyes glowing as bright as fire.
"Not to state the obvious, but we might be in trouble" said Leif, forming ice from in the palm of his hand. Inferno pulled a gun from his back. He held up the gun to the sky and activated its flamethrower, waving it around in the air.
Inferno cackled maniacally as the flames flew, shouting, "Death to the enemy colony!"
"Fire? I thought only the wasp king could control fire!" said Vi, "It doesn't matter. You're going down!" Vi flung her beemerang into Inferno's face. Inferno stumbled back from the impact. The Knight dashed towards him, ready to attack, but the robot regained his footing in time to swipe the Knight away. He aimed his blaster at Leif and Kabbu and fired multiple fire balls towards them. Leif spread his wings and arms, causing a blue sphere to form around the duo. The flame bolts bounced off the spherical shield. Leif launched a counterattack in the form of multiple icicles. Frost began forming around the impact's areas of Inferno's metal hide, but this did nothing to faze him. The Knight had returned to the fight, forming its cloak into pale wings, and flying up to their enemy. Now in front of the robot, the Knight struck at Inferno's chest with a powerful slash, scratching the paint on Inferno's chest piece.
"Infernal insects!" cried Inferno before grabbed the Knight out of the air and pointing his gun at them.
"Vi! Fly me up to the Knight!" Kabbu ordered.
"I'm on it!" she replied, swooping down to grab a hold of Kabbu's hands. Vi lifted him up and flung Kabbu into the air. Kabbu dove towards Inferno's arm, directly hitting the joint linking his forearm to his body and cutting it off with his horn. As Inferno's arm fell off, his hand lost its grip, and the Knight was freed. Kabbu down into the soil and dug back around to where his team was situated. "Yeah! Nice work Kabbu!" cheered Vi, flying above the battlefield. Inferno was shouting in pain, clutching his now dismembered arm which was shooting off sparks of electricity.
"Pests! Nothing but worthless pests!" he yelled.
"The joints that connect his limbs! That's where he's weakest!" said Kabbu to Leif and the Knight as he surfaced from underground, "We could probably debilitate him if we go for-"
Vi cut Kabbu off, shouting from above, "Hey guys! I think we might have a bigger problem. There's more of those swirling things!" It was the portals. Vi could see hundreds of them coming into existence all across the plains. Out of the portals came hundreds of beasts, each of them varying in their appearance. "And I think it may be Inferno's backup!" she said, flying back down to the rest of the team.
"You!" shouted Leif, "What's going on! What is all this?!"
Inferno began to cackle. "My master has arrived, and our conquest shall begin!" declared Inferno.
"Conquest!?" cried team snakemouth in unison. The Knight looked around as the beasts swarmed over the cliff.
"The Queen's army will decimate all who stand in their way! You cannot escape pitiful insects!"
"I beg to differ Inferno" came a voice from behind him. As Inferno turned to look, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his legs. Inferno fell to the ground in front of Team Snakemouth, revealing to giant gashes in the back of his legs. Standing next to him was Specter Knight, with his scythe in hand. "Knight. It's time for us to leave this world"
"What kind of creature are you?" asked Kabbu, confused by Specter Knights ghoulish appearance
"Ask your questions later. Right now, we all have to escape this world if we want to survive this onslaught" he said, walking towards the group.
"But what about Bugaria? We can't just leave our people behind" argued Leif, stepping in front team.
"I'm sorry, there's no time to explain. Just come with me"
"But the kingdom-"
"Your world will not survive this. I'm sorry" said Specter Knight, turning away and walking towards one of the portals sitting on top of a hill. "Quickly, this way".
"There's no way I'm leaving the kingdom behind! I'm staying!" said Vi defiantly.
"If what this person says is true, then there may be nothing we can do to stop this" said Kabbu, "we may have to follow him". The Knight pushed past team snakemouth and up the hill towards the portal.
"Kabbu may be right Vi" said Leif, "As much as we don't want to abandon Bugaria, we fear that we don't have much of a choice". As Team Snakemouth argued, the Knight began walking towards the portal. Seeing the Knight leaving, Vi said "Hey! Wait up" and followed them. Kabbu and Leif did the same.
Just as they were about to walk through the portal, Leif turned around, thinking to himself We're sorry Elizant, we truly are. But we will be back. We promise. Leif watched as the beasts coming from the portals made their way to the ant kingdom, before eventually stepping through the portal behind his team members. Following Specter Knight through the mysterious portal, Team Snakemouth left behind their world and stepped into something far bigger than any of them could have possibly imagined.
On the other side of the portal, the group emerged on top of a large cliff overlooking a new world. They observed the strange new world around them. It was a grassy area. The terrain was blockish, with hills all around the area. Strangely shaped palm trees decorated the landscape, as well as multiple sunflowers.
"What kind of place is this?" asked Vi, staring around at the natural beauty of this foreign land.
"This is Green Hill Zone. Another world" said Specter Knight, who appeared behind the group. The group turned around to see Specter Knight, along with a couple of unfamiliar faces alongside him.
"Who are these guys" said Spyro, walking in front of Specter Knight to get a better look at the bugs, "They kinda remind me of Sparx"
"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Vi, stepping in front of Spyro.
"Yes, I suppose introductions are in order," said Specter Knight. "I am Specter Knight. My companions here are Spyro the dragon and Crash Bandicoot" he said, pointing at each of them respectively. Crash waved at Team Snakemouth.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. But how do you know our team name?" asked Kabbu.
A mysterious voice came from behind Specter Knight, saying "That would be because of me". Behind Specter Knight was a floating blue cloak. Inhabiting the cloak was a cloud of mist. "My name is Ulysses. It's safe to say that I'm honoured to meet you for the first time Kabbu".
Authors note: Talk about a long hiatus huh? I finally released the third chapter of the crossover chronicles! Sorry if this chapter is a bit inconsistent at times. I was making this over the course of a whole year due to losing the motivation to continue this story so many times. But I promise, chapter 4 will come out soon, with other stories coming out in between the chapters. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review.