A/N: So I had this weird but really cute dream about Bug Fables last night, where Deadlander Omega was somehow shrunk and it turned out that she was actually a (highly mutated) human kid that just wanted to play. I liked this idea so much (thanks brain) that I decided to write it out in fic form. Don't expect too much cohesive backstory for how exactly Omega was shrunken or why Team Snakemouth went back to the Deadlands; I tried but honestly I just want to get to the cute stuff. Please enjoy!
Things had been extremely prosperous for Bugaria ever since Team Snakemouth had defeated The Wasp King and The Everlasting Sapling was destroyed. All the kingdoms were getting along for the most part, and everything was safe. This would usually be considered a good thing, and it would if it wasn't so boring!
"Ugh!" Vi groaned for the umpteenth time that day, wiggling around restlessly. "I am so bored!"
Kabbu sighs, also for the umpteenth time that day. he didn't want to admit it, as he was meant to be the mature one, but he was also quite restless. He had enjoyed the adventures that he'd been on with his friends, and now that things had slowed down, well it felt a bit strange for him.
Leif didn't look up from his book. He too had enjoyed the adventures, but he was now relatively contented. Relatively. Oh who was he kidding; he was also quite bored.
The trio sat together in their house for a few more minutes; they were all bored, but at least they were all bored together. "Wait! Wait! I just had an idea!" Vi suddenly yelled, making her two older friends jump in surprise. Her wings were trembling with excitement at the amazing idea she had had.
"What is it, Vi?" Kabbu asks. When Vi gets this fired up, it usually means something dangerous, but he couldn't deny he was curious as to what his bee friend had in mind.
Whatever he thought it was, it certainly wasn't what she said. "Let's go explore the Deadlands!"
Silence. Kabbu and Leif stared at the bee, with equal expressions of befuddlement. "What?" "Oh, come on!" She all but whined. "We beat up The Wasp KING! We can easily handle all of the Deadlanders if we needed to. Besides, you can't tell me you're not curious of what else might be there that we missed last time we were there."
Why am I not surprised Vi is suggesting something like this? Kabbu thought exasperatedly. "Vi, this isn't something to take lightly. The Deadlands are dangerous."
"We thought you were afraid of Deadlanders." Leif added.
"Oh, those guys? No way! I'll kick those guys' butts... and you can help if you want."
The team was slightly surprised that they were able to venture through Rubber Prison with little to no fuss, though they honestly shouldn't have been seeing as they were everyone's hero now. "We still don't know why we agreed to this," Leif muttered as the trio made their way.
"Neither do I." Added Kabbu. "I suppose that the boredom has made us all go mad."
"Or it's because I'm awesome!" Vi chirped, she'd been extremely cheerful since the others had agreed to set out, to the point where it was boarder-line obnoxious. But also not because seeing the young bee acting so youthful and carefree was pretty indeering. But, was it really worth actively looking for trouble like this? Apparently, because neither Kabbu nor Leif could think of any other logical explanation. Well, besides the boredom, but that wasn't really logical or rational, was it?
"Hey, Leif?" Vi's voice brought the two other bugs out of their thoughts. "What was that weird potion thing you put into the bag?"
"It's a shrinking solution that Hawk gave us when we were last visiting him," the moth explained. "He created it in his spare time during a slow day. He requested that we test it when we got the chance since he now does not have the time."
"that's quite odd," Kabbu thought aloud.
"Yeah." Added Vi. "I didn't think potions were Hawk's thing."
"It isn't a potion." The moth corrected, somewhat annoyed. "It is a scientific solution."
"Eh, same thing." Vi dismissed. "Hey look, we're almost to the Deadlands! New treasures and adventures, here we come!"
Oh boy, thought the others.
It turns out, Kabbu was absolutely right about the Deadlands. Even though Team Snakemouth had indeed defeated The Wasp King, it didn't make The Giant's Lair any less ominous than it had been before. Fortunately there was no sign of the glowing eyes of Deadlander Omega, but the beetle was positive that wouldn't last for long.
"We shouldn't have done this," Leif fretted, wrapping his wings tighter around himself.
"I agree." Kabbu stated, doing the same as he took the lead.
"Oh, come on, guys! Don't wimp out on me now!" Even though Vi was doing her utmost to sound brave and confident, her other team members could clearly hear the quiver in her voice.
Unfortunately, Kabbu wasn't looking where he was going well enough and crashed right into the wall. "OUCH!" He exclaimed, loudly.
Eyes, countless numbers of glowing eyes, began blinking open all around them. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! Kabbu what have you done?"
"It must have been asleep, and we woke it up!" Leif shouted over Vi's screams of terror as the light from one of Deadlander Omega's eyes fell right on them. A skeletal hand descended, carrying Deadlander Gamma in its palm. But there was still time; they could still escape if they were fast.
"RUN!" Kabbu yelled, and his friends didn't need to be told twice. They tore out of there, so quickly that they didn't notice that their bag wasn't shut properly, so distracted they were with thinking about their frankly unwise journey while they were packing. And that made all the difference.
No sooner than they'd all taken about ten steps they heard a small sparkling sound like breaking of glass, and Vi (who had the misfortune of being last in line) gazed over her shoulder. With horror, she realized that the giant's huge hand was mere inches away from grabbing her, but that wasn't all. The shrinking solution (or potion or scientific whatever) ,or what was left with it had clone out of the party's inventory bag and was now little more than a pile of broken glass and a puddle, the latter of which seemed to be absorbing into the creature's bones somehow.
The effect was immediate. Right before the bee's eyes the hand began to shrink, followed by the arm, and then (presumably) the rest of the Deadlander. This theory was confirmed when she saw the eyes in the distance becoming smaller, and a lot less distant. Kabbu and Leif had stopped now too, and were watching in shocked amazement as the giant became less and less so by the second. When it finally stopped, the thing was now no bigger than any of them!
and what a sight it was to behold. It (of course) had multiple bony arms and hands as well as eyes, but they could now see that those features were attached to a skeletal body and head respectively. It's whole body was thin including the pair of bony legs and feet that were now visible, but it was covered first by a tattered bluish piece of fabric, and a veil of extremely long tangled black hair that reached all the way down to its knees.
The Deadlander seemed to be just as frozen as they were, seemingly just as unsure of what just happened than they were. But that didn't last for long.
"Hey! It's the same size as us now, awesome!" Vi examined, saying the obvious. Most of Deadlander Omega's eyes now focused on her, for the exception of two that remained on Kabbu and Leif. It cocked its head to the side, an oddly… intelligent gesture. "Now we can beat it up like all the others! Let's gooooo!"
Kabbu expected many things to happen when Vi threw her beemerang at full force at the Deadlander. What it did, however, was not one of them. It let out a surprisingly high pitched and bug-like cry of pain (and fear?) and took off running, black hair whipping and trailing behind.
"After it!" The bee cries, seemingly unphased, why was she unphased? And she began to buzz after the retreating Omega. Kabul and Leif didn't know what to make of this situation at all, but what they did know was that they didn't want Vi to face the creature alone, giant or not. So they went after her.
