CHAPTER XLVI
BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS
"Pete's such a moron," Riku said bitterly. "If he hadn't come and thrown us off, we could be looking for the Wind Butterfly instead of helping the colony…"
Riku hopped over a crack in the mud. The dried out riverbed surrounding Ant Island provided no shelter from the elements. Large cracks divided the entire surface of arid dirt into small, checkerboard sections. Deep chasms led down beneath the cracks in the mud…if they were normal sized, they could cross this in two steps…but as bugs, it took them almost an hour.
When they climbed the dirt and grass path at the other side of the riverbed, they noticed a giant human-sized hut straight ahead. It wasn't impressive, by any means…but where there was a hut, there was food…and where there was food, there surely were bugs.
"Let's check it out," Sora said as they neared the base of the hut. Beneath the stairway there was a dark brown path, leading into the biggest city Sora had seen since Traverse Town.
Soup cans served as restaurants, cereal boxes were skyscrapers, and shoe boxes were apartment buildings…it was massive, alright…Sora and his friends could hardly believe that it was made entirely from garbage…but then again, where were bugs supposed to get building materials from, anyway? A massive centipede sped past them on the street, paying no attention to the lightening bug that was lighting a red stoplight.
"Watch it!" Donald said, buzzing backwards onto the sidewalk.
"Okay guys…let's split up and find some big bugs to help us," Kairi suggested. Donald and Goofy went off toward a large cereal box hotel with a large number of mosquitoes pouring out from it. Riku and Kairi walked along the side of a massive bottle cap pool, where several beefy looking cockroaches were lounging.
Sora walked toward the center of town, to try and scope out a better view of the place. It extended all the way out to the back of the house, where Sora could faintly see a small, red and white circus tent. He was distracted by the sound of a gruff bartender throwing a mosquito out of a soup can nearby.
"Ya think yer tough? I'll show ya tough…" he said, walking away from the dejected mosquito.
"Perfect!" Sora said excitedly as he ran toward the can. "There's gotta be someone in there that can help the colony…"
Suddenly, he heard several voices start shouting from within the can…in a flash, at least two dozen various bugs poured from the entry of the can and blocked Sora from getting in.
"Hey, what's going on?" Sora asked a nearby mosquito.
"Some crazy bugs are pickin' a fight with these clowns…don't stand a chance…" he said drunkenly as he flopped to the ground.
The can shook and rattled as it broke free from its anchor to the ground. It rolled halfway down the block before it rolled back and crashed into a wall where it had been before. The throngs of bugs outside had dispersed, leaving only Sora to be brave enough to peek inside the can.
He expected to see a group of muscle-bound thugs standing up in the wreckage, but instead saw a motley crew of bugs, all looking a little worse for the wear. They stirred and gathered together in the center of the room atop the pile of overturned tables and unconscious flies: a fat green caterpillar with a massive mouth; a beautiful gypsy moth with a fantastic pattern on her wings; a strange looking praying mantis; a small but stout ladybug; a long, brown stick bug like Goofy; two tiny pillbugs that rolled up into balls; a massive blue dung beetle with a sizable horn and a tall, female black widow spider.
It looked as though they had beaten up everyone that stayed in the bar…they certainly didn't look like warrior animals, but then again, Sora didn't think he looked that impressive as a bug either. If they turned on him, he surely couldn't take them all on by himself…with Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Donald away looking for bugs elsewhere, he decided to take the smart approach and try flattery…
"Oh, great bugs!" he said, trying not to sound too fake. "The meager colony of Ant Island has been searching for a group with just your talents!"
The bugs' eyes lit up. The tall stick bug whispered to the caterpillar so Sora couldn't hear him, "a talent scout!"
"We need your help…we've been forced to prepare food for these grasshoppers…"
"Dinner theatre!" the gypsy moth said excitedly to the praying mantis.
"And we need your help in order to show 'em what were made of…" Sora concluded.
"Wow…this guy really wants to impress these grasshoppers…" the ladybug muttered to the dung beetle. "He must be hard up for entertainment…"
Behind the warrior bugs, the beefy flies that started the fight began to wake up…the warrior bugs gave each other a nervous look and took off, straight toward the door, sweeping Sora up with them as they went.
"We'll take the job! Explain the details on the way!"
Out in the center of Bug City, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy had met back up with no luck. Everyone they had talked to either wanted no part of helping a bunch of ants, or they were so weak they would have been no help even if they came with rocket launchers. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Sora darting at them with a ragtag group of bugs running after him. He wore an unmistakable smile on his face as they met up in the center of the town.
"Guys, these are my friends – Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy," he told the warriors, pointing at each of them in turn. "Guys, meet Heimlich," he said, pointing to the fat green caterpillar, "Francis," he pointed at the ladybug, "Slim," then to the stick bug, "Dim," he said, gesturing toward the big, blue dungbeetle, "Manny and Gypsy," pointing to the praying mantis and his wife the moth, "Rosie, Tuck and Roll," he finished, indicating the black widow and the two identical pillbugs.
Tuck and Roll babbled something in some strange gibberish, and Francis stepped in front of them.
"What I think they're sayin' is, pleased to meet you…now let's get on with the show!" the ladybug said, as Dim opened up his massive wings along with Gypsy, Manny and Francis. Dim clung to Heimlich, as Francis picked up Slim and Gypsy picked up Rosie. Donald and Kairi opened their wings, and Donald grabbed Goofy, Kairi grabbed Riku, and Sora was forced to sit on Dim's back with the strange pillbugs, Tuck and Roll.
"You got it, ma'am," Sora said to Francis as they took off.
"Hey, just because I'm a ladybug don't mean I'm a girl, does it!" he said, taking offense. Sora just mumbled 'oops' to himself as they flew back toward Ant Island.
