Antihero(revised)

(Fire Ant/Cutter's Colony battle sequence)

By the time Z reached the entrance with the rescuing vine, Bala was gone. In typical Z-like
fashion, he panicked. "Oh no, this is the worst! The worst!" Z's hands shot up to his head as he whined to the sky. If he'd had hair, he would have knotted it at the temples. Instead, he mashed his antennae with his fists. "When the honeymoon's over, it's really over..." he muttered pacing. He stopped long enough to yell.

"HELLLLP!!!"

Some birds scattered from the far away trees, and they were flying in the other direction. Z plopped down right where he was. "Oh, get it together!" he admonished himself with a sigh. "Who's gonna hear an insignificant dirt relocation engineer bellowing out in the boonies? I gotta go back to the colony and get help..."

Z realized just how long the journey was back as he climbed a blade of grass to look for the monolith. It was the halfway point between the forest where he was and Cutter's colony beyond it in the desert. Z sighed...again. Then he set out on foot to the colony.

* * *

The first thing Bala saw when her eyes focused were the eerie shadows being cast on the dark, musty tunnel walls by torchlight. She was being dragged by two hefty male soldiers with eyes like mad dogs and a stench that could have bored a new tunnel in her own colony. My God, where was she? Hell? Either that or her morning sickness was starting already...

Before the next morbid thought entered her head, the tunnel turned sharply to reveal a huge torchlit chamber. Bala gasped at what filled it. It was a royal throneroom of SOME sort, but looked like something from a freak show.

All around the room, the attendants, if that's what they could be called, lounged, danced, ate, and cavorted. One male ant even took the end of one of his crackling antennas and blew fire out of his mouth toward the ceiling to scattered applause and whoops of approval. Three beautiful but mean looking female ants swam and played in a large pool in the middle of the room with a crowd of young males. Bala recognized their deep red color as fire ants. She'd heard about them, and not favorably. She didn't find them any more impressive now.

"Your Highness, we have the prisoner." one of her captors announced to the largest female, the one being massaged by one of the flirtatious males. She flicked her wrist and they scattered. Her two sisters rose out of the pool and sat at the edge to watch. Bala's eyes widened momentarily as the elder Queen exited the pool. She insisted on making a show of it. With a smirk, her great orange-veined wings roared to life, scattering water droplets like daggers as she flew up. All within range wisely gave her room. Electra buzzed her wings madly just before making impact with the ground, then stared at Bala with narrowed red eyes that were like almond-shaped embers. Without removing her predatorial gaze, she addressed her attendants.

"Look alert, everyone, we are in the company of royalty." She bowed mockingly. "Welcome, Your Majesty." she purred while her subjects snickered behind her. Bala's own face was as red as Queen Electra's eyes. What a total, prize-winning BITCH! She got right down to business. It was a bluff but it would have to do.

"I don't know who you THINK you are, but MY soldiers are on their way right now to kick your sorry..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Electra cut her off. "Your measly little friends won't come within a mile of here. Besides, it's not often that visitors drop in, let alone royalty." She came closer to Bala and circled her like a vulture. "We could always use another Queen, especially one from a rival colony with...secrets."

What the hell was she talking about? Bala scrunched up her nose and said nothing.

"Are you good at keeping secrets, dear?" Electra jerked her head slightly from side to side like an inquisitive bird. Bala wanted to slap her away. "Haven't you ever wondered what happened to the father of your colony? Where he came from?" Now Bala came right out and said it.

"What are you talking about?" she glared.

Electra straightened and smirked again. She clapped her hands once. "Storytime!" she chirped, and mood music started from an assembly of players in the corner. Bala rolled her eyes. Were these guys for real???

"Once upon a time there was a handsome fire ant who was betrothed to the Queen of a faraway Fire Ant colony, but he fell for the Queen of the Brown Kingdom instead. The sad Fire Ant Queen searched high and low for him, but could not find him."

Bala got it. "My mother's dead and so is my father." she fumed. "I'm the Queen of the 'Brown Ant' colony now." she put two index fingers in the air and wiggled them to emphasize "Brown Ant". "What the hell do you want from me?" She leaned forward and clenched her fists as she had done not so long ago in General Mandible's office.

Electra's face lit up at the mention of the death of Bala's mother. "Well, well well, we've struck the jackpot!" she exclaimed, beaming. "Less work for us!" More than a few ants laughed. "This is too easy." She ordered her guards to "escort" Bala out of the chamber. "We have a special room prepared for you just for the occasion." she announced. "This is your new kingdom, Bala. With one exception...you still have to answer to ME!" Laughing, Electra returned to the waiting arms of her male harem who escorted her to her ornate pillows made from white dandelion seeds.



* * *

Z hadn't run this fast since the escape from the Fire Glass in the desert. He huffed through the first chamber of tunnels that led to Cutter's office. This time the guards welcomed him congenially, but Z was no less agitated than when he'd had to get past them before.

"Gotta...(pant-pant)...get to Cutter..."(WHEEZE) Z doubled over once, then stumbled on his way. Luck was on his side when he saw the Colonel talking to a group of workers just inside the main chamber. "Colonel Cutter, SIR!" he gasped, still clutching his chest. "Bala's in trouble! We need to round up the troops!"

The Colonel raised an eyebrow, then narrowed his eyes as the message sank in. "You're back a little early from your honeymoon, aren't you? What happened to the Queen?"

Z looked exasperated. "She fell down a hole! A big, death-trap, never-come-out-again kind of hole!" he sputtered.

"Where?" Cutter's face grew dark, and so did his voice.

"In the Forest next to the Oak Hive. We gotta go find her!"

The Colonel looked thoughtful for a moment, then his eyes flashed with an idea. "Z, I've been thinking about...moving you up in the ranks." he said to Z's suprize. "I don't think Bala just fell down a hole, I think she's got company. Calling it a death trap is an accurate assessment. I know for a fact that there's a lot of critters in that forest, and they're not exactly friendly. Looks like we got another fight on our hands...but first, I'd like to do a little negotiating..."

Z interrupted him, but Cutter didn't seem to notice. "You mean she's been kidnapped? By what?"

"That's what my recon team's got to find out." Cutter finished. "We'll send Leiutenant Speede as as ambassador to plead her release. He's the best you know." He tilted his head momentarily before continuing. Z looked totally confused. "Really it's just a cover up to distract them from the soldiers I'm sending to surround the colony. That's where YOU come in, Z." he put a hand on his shoulder. Now Z looked shocked.

"Oh no! Not again! I thought the war hero was retired to a life of unholy matrimony!" he half joked. The Colonel smiled...slightly.

"I'm depending on you Z. Bala's depending on you. You have the best job of all...you get to rescue the damsel in distress." He patted Z's cheek with comradre.

Z sank to his knees and groaned. "Do you know what you're asking me to do, Sir?" he complained with a whine. "How am I even going to FIND her, let alone rescue her?"

The Colonel was unswayed. "Recon 50 will be there to help you." he said. "And I'll tag along, too."

Z sighed as Cutter helped him to his feet. "Yes Sir." he wavered, pathetically. "All's fair in love and war they say."

Cutter smirked. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Now follow me, Private." Z shuffled after him, his head wagging.

* * *

The ground troops circled the fire ant colony in the shadows and remained hidden while R50 with Cutter in the lead approached the entrance where Bala had fallen. Delta's sensetive nose had already caught the pungent scent of fire ants long before and he cringed visibly. Colonel Cutter's own tracker's nose was assaulted by the foreign presence. It brought out the predatorial flight/fight urge in him and he had to struggle to supress it or he would rush headlong into the tunnel to let his dagger do the talking for him.

Z just stood behind a blade of grass and shook like the scared little insect he was. A soldier again! He couldn't believe it. And this time it was involuntary. What was the Colonel thinking? He'd just been lucky before. He didn't expect that to happen again. But now he wasn't just looking out for Number One. He needed to think about Bala too.

Every soldier bristled with the awareness of the enemy colony's presence. Many trembled visibly. "Steady..." growled Colonel Cutter, looking back slowly with glinting eyes. They watched him like coiled springs as he disappeared into the torchlit main tunnel.
* * *

Bala sat in the bare, dark cell with her back against the far wall. A single torch was her only light, and a wall full of weapons her only company. The door to the chamber opened and she tensed.

She was met with a shy, slow-moving ant with fire-orange eyes and so many scars she looked like a scout map. She was jumpy but determined. In her slightly trembling hands was a water bowl and some ripe fruit, which she held out hesitantly through the bars to the Queen.

"Hurry, take it!" she whispered in an airy, but husky voice. "I'm not supposed to be here, but I won't let my sisters starve you to death."

Bala was intrigued, and thankful. "Your sisters?" she said in hesitant awe. "You mean those royalty wannabes?"

"Yes." the other female confirmed, and smiled just a little. "I'm as much a prisoner as you are." Her smile dropped and she turned away.

"Wait!" Bala said, getting more amazed by the second... and disgusted. "What's your name?"

The girl turned around. "Cherry..." she almost whispered. She looked out the door nervously, then disappeared like a whisper down the tunnel. Bala slumped against the wall, shaking her head.

* * *

As predicted, the recon group was "greeted" by a two fire ant guards within seconds of entering the tunnel. Cutter wasted no time.

"We wish to speak with your Queen." he said levelly, almost gritting his teeth. Behind him, Blue, Speede and Delta stood like statues of frozen rage.

"About what?" one of the guards mocked, fingering his spear. "You come trick-or-treatin?" His buddy chuckled. Cutter was not amused.

"You have something of ours." he said calmly, feeling his blood boil. "She's kind of important to our colony, since she's the Queen and all." he shrugged in mock casualness. The guard looked them up and down with a smirk. He wasn't in a cooperative mood.

"What do I get for it?" he said more menacingly.

Cutter's eyes narrowed. Speede growled under his breath. He wanted to take this troublemaker out right now. "I was thinking along the lines of what you'll get if you DON'T." he said in a dangerously low voice.

The guard jerked his head at his partner. "We got us a problem here." he said partly to him, partly to Cutter. Before he could whistle for more guards, Cutter had gone into action and slugged him in the stomach. When the first guard crumpled with a clatter of his spear, the Colonel gave a quick signal for Delta to run in search of Bala. Meanwhile, Blue and Speede jumped on the other guard and sent him toppling over the first one.

"Well, we got past the receptionist..." Blue joked, stepping lightly over their incoherant bodies. "But now we're gonna have to go bowling."

Speede snarled and whipped his head around. "Shut up, Blue." he warned. The Colonel turned around and gave them both a warning look as they continued on. His nose was already picking up more guards down the tunnel. He held up 6 fingers to show how many. Their original plan for asking the nice way was out. They were going to have to crash this party.

Six rounds of battering and bruises later, they stumbled into the main royal chamber, where the palace was sleeping...at least some of them were. The rest were...

"...Holy Sh....!!!" Cutter quickly slapped a hand on Blue's mouth and shussed him. Speede's eyes widened, then narrowed in disgust. Cutter looked straight ahead, having sensed the Queens before they sensed him. He picked out the most powerful Queen among the three and kept his eye on her. She sensed the three brown ants as soon as they saw her, and a small smile played at her mouth in the dimly lit shadows. Her male concubine kissed her hand as a gesture of release and reluctantly drew back from her, eyeing the strangers with just as much wariness and hatred.

Queen Electra's reaction was tinged with just a little more curiosity.

"Ah, the great brown warriors have arrived! Bravo, bravo, gentlemen, a most excellent display of loyalty! I see you're most...eager to join your Queen."

"Where...is...she?" Cutter drew his words out in a low, borderline growl.

Queen Electra rose gracefully from her bed like a feline, and padded toward Cutter slowly. Her red eyes seemed to swim toward him in slow motion, mesmerizing him. "Oh, I can take you to her." she purred, gesturing toward the center of the room. Speede and Blue followed, ready to spring. The court visibly drew back at the sight of Speede's towering, menacing form. Even Electra's eyes flickered with momentary fear, but she quickly recovered. "On one condition." she continued, circling the Colonel like a prize hunk of meat. "You agree to serve my colony." Speede growled, but Cutter held up his hand to silence him. Blue guffawed into his hand, and Speede slapped his talons over his face. Cutter's eyes closed momentarily, fighting the ambivalence the Queen created in both his body and mind. She wasn't the Queen for nothing.

He decided to play it cool. "I have to admit I'm impressed." he said in his casual tone. "The work you must have put into this colony, it's amazing. And you're easy on the eyes yourself, Your Majesty. But, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to decline your offer. I'm not into that kind of...service."

Electra smirked, her antennas crackling with electricity. It was a signal to another fire ant who pulled a lever under a secret compartment near the throne. "Very well." she said calmly. Too calmly. Before the three could react, a trap door opened under them and they fell through. Their wings roared to life before impact with the ground several feet below. Above them, they could hear Electra's insane laughter along with the rest of the royal host.

* * *

Delta had wandered the tunnels for seemingly hours trying to find Queen Bala. Her trail had crossed all the ranges from hot to cold and vice versa. He knew time was running out, and so were his options. This place gave him the creeps. It was musty, damp and cold, and not just physically. There was something in the air that wasn't quite right...

Then before he realized what was happening, a stacilite fell from the tunnel ceiling and bonked him on the head. Delta saw stars and dropped out cold.


Cutter, Blue and Speede picked themselves off the ground in a cursing, grumbling display. It was pitch black and they couldn't see a thing.There were also enough cobwebs to make several mini-trampolines out of. "Where the hell are we?" Speede snarled helplessly, slashing at the sticky, annoying webs.

Blue rolled his eyes in the dark. "Shall I consult my handy Fire Ant underground trail map guide?" he said sarcastically. Speede took a swing at him, but missed. Blue hopped out of the way, snickering.

Cutter was not amused. "Men! We've got to find our way out of here. Stop messing around and start digging!" All of them wished they had some of the workers here now. Speede found a weak part of the ground about twenty feet away and tore into it with his talons. The other two followed the sound of his frantic digging and helped him. Soon the ground fell through...and so did they.

They were sliding down a rough, but slippery chute of some kind. They emerged in a lower, torchlit tunnel system that radiated out in several directions. But the torches weren't the only thing lighting the dim, musty tunnels. A lone female fire ant crossed the entrance to their tunnel in front of them, her head down and her feet shuffling as though she didn't care if she got where she was going. The three males exchanged puzzled, then determined looks, and gave chase, Speede leading the way. The female started in terror and her wings buzzed to life. They stopped her near the entrance to the prison cells where Speede promptly threw her against the wall. Cherry had never seen anything so frightening in her life as this monsterous ant. Who was he? WHAT was he?

"Where are you going, FIRE ANT?" he demanded, a little too pleased with his show of dominance. Cherry was scared, but her determination to survive was stronger.

"GET OFF ME!!!" she shrieked, and drew a dagger. Speede grabbed her wrist and it clattered to the ground.

"I'm going to ask you one more time..."

"STOP!!!" came another female voice from inside the cell out of their site. They all whipped around. It had been Queen Bala who had spoken...or rather, bellowed. "I order you to STOP, Lieutenant!" Speede's eyes widened in suprize, but he snarled as he released Cherry. Colonel Cutter and Private Blue stared at her in amazement and suspicion. Cherry stared back. They looked like a gang of cats about to pounce, complete with warning looks on both sides. "Dammit LET ME OUT OF HERE!" demanded Bala to anyone who would listen. Speede retreated into the chamber, staring down Cherry as long as she was in his field of vision. Cherry slumped against the wall, shaking, her eyes wide. Cutter and Blue flanked her to prevent escape, but they drew no weapons and said nothing. Cherry hid her head in her lap, wondering how she could get out of this. Speede slashed through the well-made, but not well enough cell and escorted Bala out.

"I hate to say this, but...I missed you guys." she said with a wry smile. Cutter bowed slightly.
"Just doing our job, Your Majesty. Now what should we do with THIS one?" he tilted his head at the slumped Cherry, who lifted her head to glare at him. "I'd like to keep her as a prisoner of war. My men are outside right now waiting for my signal to storm this sorry colony." Cherry stood up now and shook with rage, clenching her fists. Her antennas were crackling like mad and they all jumped back.

"LEAVE...ME...ALONE!!!" she screamed and slashed the Colonel's face with her own small talons before flying off before they could stop her. Cutter's eyes burned with a Speede-like rage as he swiped the blood off his face. Speede roared and started to take off after the flying ant, but Cutter stopped him reluctantly. Blue just stared down the tunnel with his mouth open and his big brown eyes glittering in the semi dark. Nobody had ever smacked the Colonel and gotten away with it...enemy or otherwise! What a woman!

"Cutter, listen to me!" Bala said in her lecturing voice, hoping she sounded stern enough. Like them, she was scared out of her wits but refused to let it get to her. "She's NOT like the others! She's a slave here. She even gave me food and water because the rest of them wanted me to rot in jail. You're not to kill her, and that's an order! ALL of you!"

Cutter's eye twitched and he had the urge to clack his antennas, but he controlled it. "Yes, Your Majesty." he said in a low voice, bowing. "Now I think Delta needs our help getting out of here."

"Lead on, Hero." Bala said.

* * *

Cherry had decided to evacuate the colony...for good. Now she had enemies on both sides, and they were both in the same place. She knew her colony wouldn't last much longer now anyway, and felt both grateful and sad. This had been her home, meager though it was. She would have kept flying until she was miles outside the main entrance if she hadn't seen the unconscious brown ant lying in the cave. She stopped in her tracks, rather her wings did. She recognized him as one of the group who had come in here to rescue their Queen. He'd been knocked out cold by a stacalite. At first, she smirked. Why should she help him? He was one of them! But then something told her that if she did, they'd be less likely to hunt her down. Besides, he was awfully cute! Cherry reached into her pack and drew out a small cup for water, then dipped into a nearby underground spring. Then she got some aeromatic herbs in a small pouch and held them under his nose. She held her hand under his head and coaxed him awake. Delta came to groggily, putting his hand on his forehead and saying, "Where am I?" Cherry put the cup to his lips to drink.

"You're in my colony. Part of my ceiling fell on your head." she said somewhat sheepishly. She helped him sit up. His eyes finally focused on hers and he drew back in shock.

"Fire ant!" he sputtered, and his wings buzzed madly.

Cherry panicked, and took flight again, somewhat reluctantly. She knew his friends weren't far behind. She wondered if this Delta would lie and blame the injury on her, saying he'd helped himself. But she'd worry about that later. Now she just had to get out of here. She could have sworn there was a family resemblance to him and that bastard Colonel Cutter. All the more reason to leave.

As if on cue, as soon as Cherry was out of sight, the others rushed in to find the injured Delta. He looked traumatized, but was struggling to hold himself together. The sight of his Queen and teammates helped considerably.

"Delta! You're ok, man!" Blue flew over to hug his friend. Cutter went to help him up.

"Can you walk?" he asked in an uncharachteristically concerned voice.

"Yes." Delta confirmed. "Still a little dizzy though."

"Queen Bala, permission to send Seargent Delta to the infirmary?"

"Granted." Bala didn't hesitate. "The only problem is, how do we get out of here?"

Then they heard the buzzing of wings, and followed it. Speede slung Delta over his shoulder. He, Cutter and Delta all recognized the fire ant's scent. Cherry then knew she was being chased, and flew faster. She was unconsciously leading them out of the tunnel. When they emerged into the fresh night air, a squadron of aviators immediately took flight to capture Cherry, but Cutter ordered them to retreat. Instead, Cutter went after her himself, ignoring Bala's yelling. They fought in midair while the other soldiers watched in astonishment. The Queen said he couldn't kill her, but she didn't say he couldn't teach her a lesson in manners. Cherry slashed, kicked, hit, wrestled and even bit him to no avail. The Colonel was stronger and managed to tie her wings and her hands before dragging her down to a nearby juniper root and tie her whole body to it. Her eyes flashed and she spit curses until Bala intervened.

"That's enough, Colonel! We've got bigger fish to fry." Cutter raised an eyebrow, then picked up a spear. By this time the fire ant colony was aware of their presence and troops by the thousands came charging out. Cutter gave the signal with an almost primal scream to attack, and with a roar like ocean waves during a hurricane, they countercharged. This was better than the battle with the termites, and they were more evenly matched. Speede plowed into a whole group of burly fire ant ground troops like a snowblower and tore them to pieces with his spear/sword hybrid.

"We've got to get you outta here!" Cutter yelled above the din as he swooped up Queen Bala to fly her back to the colony. But they had only gotten a few feet up when a fire ant aviator barrelled into them so hard that Cutter dropped Bala. Meanwhile, Cherry had worked up so much electricity with her antennae that she had burned through the vines that held her. This Queen Bala was her last hope for freedom, and she had been the only one who had showed her any kindness. Ignoring the chaos, Cherry made a beeline for the Queen before she was trampled to death. Cutter looked on in horror and swooped down to fight his way through to both of them to reclaim the Queen from the grasp of this crazy fire ant. But Cherry had already carried Bala to safety in a nearby meadow to start healing her. It was the same one where her old boyfriend Runner was buried. As she tended Bala's wounds, she told her about him.

"His own people killed him." she said. "And in a way, they've killed me, too."

Bala was deeply moved by her story, and by the mystery that surrounded this fire ant. "Why did they keep you locked up down there?" she asked, feeling a little stronger as the herbal treatment started to sink in.

Cherry sighed. "It's time I told you the truth about what I am." she looked concerned, even slightly embarassed. "I'm a Queen. Theoretically." She looked away because she felt tears forming. "My sisters have always hated me, and the rest of the colony thinks I'm a joke. They made me a worker to get me out of their way. I never fit in there. I don't fit in anywhere. Once this is over, I'm moving on. I'm not going back to my colony. There's nothing there for me."

Bala looked at her with sympathy, then with a sudden determination. "But there IS something here for you...us. Don't listen to Cutter, he's a pompous moron. If you help us fight, I'll make sure you get a place in our colony."

Cherry listened in shock, not knowing what to think. "But how will it make any difference? I won't be welcome there, either."

"I'll MAKE them welcome you." Bala said strongly, standing up.

Cherry stood and stared, not knowing what to say. Before she could thank her, Cutter buzzed in and landed between Bala and Cherry. "Bala, tell your new 'friend' goodbye. I'm taking you home. This is no place for a queen." He gave Cherry a dubious once over, then swooped Bala up once again into the air. Cherry looked after them for a long moment, then turned around to walk toward the battlefield. She stopped at her secret grove to don her thorn studded anklets, a helmet with even deadlier barbs, and her specially made poisoned tipped rose thorn spear. She rushed forward, leaving the old Cherry behind in the meadow.

She caught Electra trying to slip out the back entrance to the colony. A long awaited snarl escaped Cherry's lips as she confronted her elder sister, afraid no more. "Where do you think you're going, Your Highness?" she said sarcastically.

Electra glared back, then rushed toward Cherry until she stood an antenna's width away from the younger Queen, but Cherry blocked her. "Since when do you give me orders, little brat? Out of my way!" She tried to push Cherry back, but she dug into Electra's shoulders with her claws. Electra's wings buzzed into motion and Cherry hung on. They flew up above the battlefield, struggling in midair. Some of the soldiers on both sides ceased fighting to witness the display. "I'm not your slave anymore!" Cherry yelled. Electra's antennae whipped forward and clashed with Cherry's own, both of them crackling like a transformer going beserk. "I'm reclaiming my birthright!"
Down below them, the land stretched out for more than a mile in a bizarre patchwork quilt of green and red. The other two queens had already been killed, and only Electra and Cherry remained. There were many wounded on Cutter's colony's side, but there were a lot more killed on the fire ant side. It seemed their victory was in sight.

Meanwhile, Z, who had stayed wisely out of the way till now, stood at the top of a hill lined with boulders. He too watched in dumb fascination and horror as the two Queens struggled fighting. "Who the hell is that?" he said to himself.

Cherry and Electra were locked in their own Armageddon. Electra kept trying to twist her body to sting Cherry with her poisoned tail but the younger Queen kicked at her tail with her ankle barbs. By this time the two opposing sides had all but almost ceased fighting. One Colonel Nightowl loyal to Queen Electra was the only official still living to witness the arial fight and now he swooped up to her rescue. In a last ditch effort to finish off Electra, Cherry butted her head with her thorned helmet, knocking her unconscious before dropping to the ground, where she died instantly. Cherry looked on in shock before she remembered that Nightowl was rushing her. Now her battle switched to ground level, and they clashed spears.

"You need an attitude adjustment my dear, and I'm dying to be the one to give it to you!" Nightowl said with menace.

"Your lover is dead, Nightowl. And you'll soon join her!" Cherry yelled, blocking him.

Above them, Z saw a new menace approaching. It was bigger than the glass that shot fire in the desert, long and silver, and it was heading their way. "Everybody run!" he shouted to Cutter's troops. "Something's coming!" He yelled so loud that he upset the rocks on the slope and started an avalanche. The Big Metal Thing sailed over to the entrance to the fire ant colony and shot something inside. A huge cloud the size of a dust storm rose up and started billowing toward them. The remaining survivors ran for their ant lives, and some were buried under the rubble caused by the avalanche. Cherry and Nightowl were nowhere to be seen. Z stood above the dustbowl for a few frightened seconds, then ran away himself. He'd had enough. He'd be in therapy for the rest of his life over this one.

Cherry and Nightowl stood at the edge of the forest, still fighting. Most of the poison had died down, but some still drifted in like thin fog. The combination of that and the exhaustion of battle was weakening them both.

"You let the General try to rape me, you sonuvabitch!" Cherry spat at him as she swung her spear at his leg. Nightowl jumped back and knocked her over with the blunt end of his own spear, then pointed it at her, a triumphant smile on his face. He looked at her almost playfully.

"You know, that would be a most...delightful way to kill you, Cherry." he said, twisting the point end of the spear just enough to skim her throat. "I've been waiting for this moment all your pathetic life."
Just then, something hit the Colonel from behind and he fell forward with a whine. Cherry's eyes widened to see Colonel Cutter emerge from the shadows and pull the knife out of Nightowl's back. It had pierced clear through to his black heart, and Cutter winced at the knife as he cleaned it up on the grass beside him. Cherry clutched her spear, waiting for him to make a move. Why had he helped her?

"You're coming with me." he ordered, clutching her arm. "This is no safe place for a Queen."

"What???" Cherry stopped struggling and stared at him incredulously.

"Orders are orders." was all he said, but she thought she saw an almost mischievious glint in his eye as he escorted her up in the air. Cherry's own wings started and she kept pace with him, but he still held onto her arm. Cutter was silent now and she didn't want to encourage any conversation. When they arrived at his colony, she was taken not to a prison cell, but simple quarters to rest.

The next day, Bala came to visit her. Cherry was relieved to see her. She couldn't help but notice that her tail seemed a little bigger than before.

"Your Majesty. " Cherry stood up and bowed her head.

Bala smirked, but good naturedly. "Don't bother with the formalities. Just call me Bala. At least, unless we're in the presence of King Cutter and his court." They shared a laugh. Bala held her abdomen momentarily, wincing. "Ugh, being pregnant sucks." Cherry looked at her in amazement.

"Seriously, I came to talk about your place here. I know this must be a little strange for you. But you need some pointers on how to handle everybody. You're not gonna be Miss Popular for awhile, and with some ants probably never. But nobody from another colony has helped us before and I think you deserve a chance."

Cherry had been thinking over the past events and shook her head as though it was finally sinking in. "I killed my own sister." she said quietly.

"I saw what they did to you." Bala said. "It was time to move on. Something like that happened here, too, but it was the other way around. Our General betrayed our whole colony."

Cherry looked aghast, and a chill ran through her. "What was he, a psycho?" Bala nodded

"And then some. Cutter's a good ant, but he's a bit of a workaholic, and as you saw, VERY loyal to this colony. That's what I want to talk about now. I want you to get plenty of rest because he's going to test you tomorrow.He's a tough old ant. But he's thinking about letting you in the military. I played to his ego and told him it would be the perfect way to make up for the war." Bala rolled her eyes. "But he says you've got the right stuff and if you can play his game, you're in."

Cherry looked dubious, and more than a little scared. "What would that game be?" she asked, quivering slightly.

Bala shrugged. "Who knows? I'm the Queen, but that dosen't mean the Colonel tells me everything. Don't worry, his bark is worse than his bite. But he's a real showoff. I think Speede gets it from him." she winked. Cherry giggled, nervously. "Just play it cool, and stay above him. That's what he wants."

"I get it, I get it." Cherry said softly, nodding. The barest of smiles traced her face, a plan already forming in her mind. "I'll kick his butt, Your Highness." she said innocently. Bala threw her head back and laughed, and so did Cherry.

"You got him beat already." Bala said playfully. "I know you'll make it. I have faith in you."

Cherry tilted her head. "So do I." she said as much to herself as the Queen.