Many thanks to those of you who are faithfully following, favoriting, and reviewing even though I have not been faithfully updating. You guys are stellar and I love you more than words can express. To Sam Fraser (the anon who asked about the concept art that inspired this story), I unfortunately cannot find it online but will at some point take a picture of the page it's on in the ABL art book I own and upload it somewhere so you can see it. I'm kind of holding off on that for now because I don't want to ruin the ending ;)

Anyway, I recently read back over this story and was appalled at the quality of writing in some areas. T_T Hopefully this chapter will make up for it because I'm pretty pumped about it and y'all deserve only the best. I'm thinking there will be threeish more chapters after this, so be on the lookout for the next one in the near future (aka not half a year from now, which has been the trend thus far...) Please continue letting me know your thoughts because I absolutely love hearing them!

Peace out, Blueberry Scouts~

-fbw

She was staring up at the sole of a foot larger than her head. For a heartbeat it was suspended in mid-air, frozen in time like everything else in that moment. Atta could feel tension radiating from the hundreds of insects around them as they waited to see if Hopper would really do it. After all, the next best thing to squishing the Queen would be squishing the princess next in line.

His heel grazed her nose and for a second she was sure this was it – this was how it would end for her and Flik. Then he lowered his leg back down and planted his foot on the ground, toe tapping the dirt with irritation. Atta swallowed audibly and steadied herself as best she could, then mustered up every droplet of courage within her to fix Hopper with a deadly scowl.

You have to go through me to get to him.

Everyone around them breathed a unanimous sigh of relief. Even some members of Hopper's gang appeared glad that he hadn't gone through with it, especially his flaky brother. Atta could see him clutching his heart beside the grasshopper holding Dot. Although she didn't appear to be in immediate danger like Flik, all Atta wanted to do was fly over there and pry her little sister from the bastard's arms. That would be her next priority.

"Well . . ." Hopper sneered, yanking her attention back to the matter at hand. The venom in his eyes betrayed the grin on his face as he took a step forward, forcing her to take one back. "Princess."

Atta dug her fingers into her palms and gritted her teeth behind her lips, braced for whatever came next. Heat from the flames behind Hopper seemed to singe her skin. The grasshopper's good eye glinted as he raised his foot again.

"Uh, Hopper, I – I hate to interrupt but . . ."

Hopper turned at the sound of Molt's stammer and Atta watched as his expression went from annoyance to amazement. Throughout the course of Flik's speech, the ants had slowly changed from a trembling mass of blue and gray into a colony unified in the hidden strength of which he had spoken. They were many, but they were also one. Flik's words had ignited a spark within each of them that was engulfing their hearts like the fire was consuming the bird—their bird, the bird they had spent months building alongside pretend warriors who had turned out to be the truest fighters Atta had ever known. The bugs' hard work may have been burning to the ground, but their spirits were being refined by the flames.

Smugness bloomed in the princess's chest as Hopper scrambled to recover from his shock, resuming his military stance. "You ants stay back!" he ordered, thrusting a finger at them for emphasis.

The colony's response made Atta's eyes well with tears of pride. Rather than obey Hopper's command, every single member of the crowd—harvester, council member, queen, child, and circus bug alike—linked arms and took a step forward. Atta watched as row upon row of her beloved subjects and friends moved forward in a wave of defiance, a direct challenge to the authority they had obeyed for too long.

Now it was the grasshoppers' turn to take a step, only for them it was backwards. Fear was written all over their faces as they backed away from the angry mass that threatened to burst like water from a dam at any moment. Atta heard Molt mutter something about a bad idea as he stumbled over his own two feet in his haste to get away. She recalled the day the gang had invaded Ant Island in the spring, breaking into the anthill and wreaking havoc among its terrified inhabitants. At one point Hopper had sat her down in front of her colony and talked to her like a condescending professor reviewing a basic lesson with his naïve student.

It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess. One of those "Circle of Life" kinda things. Now let me tell you how things are supposed to work. The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food . . .

Atta had never felt less like a queen than she had in that moment. But as she looked out over the sea of narrowed eyes and joined elbows, an army awaiting the signal from their leader, she didn't feel like a queen or even a princess.

She felt like a warrior.

Atta was at eye level with Hopper before she even realized her feet had left the ground. He blinked up at her incredulously, the sudden turn of events rendering him speechless. She decided to fill in the silence.

"You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order. The ants pick the food, the ants keep the food, and the grasshoppers . . ."

Here she flew forward so their noses were almost pressed together, relishing the flicker of fear in the bully's eyes as she uttered her final word.

". . . Leave."

And with that the dam broke. Hundreds upon hundreds of ants charged forward, arms raised and mouths open in an enraged battle cry. Within seconds over half of Hopper's gang had taken to the skies with their tails between their legs. The few that lingered looked frantically to their leader for assurance, but he was too busy calling after those who had fled.

"Where are you going?" he shouted after their retreating forms. "They're just ants!"

Within seconds of this reminder a stampede of said ants mowed him to the ground like dust beneath an earthworm. Figuring he wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, Atta turned her attention to the ant that started it all. She reached down and gently grasped the part of his arm that looked the least bruised, helping him to his feet as quickly as she could without causing him further injury.

"I'm so proud of you, Flik," she whispered, slinging his arm over her shoulders and looping hers around his waist. It was the first time she had ever said those words to him, and even in his pain he managed to give her a grin that broke her heart.

Meanwhile chaos was ensuing all around them. Though most of the grasshoppers were nowhere to be found, Hopper included, the handful that stayed were half-heartedly fending off the ants' advances. While the ants' strength was simply in numbers, the circus bugs were finding clever ways to put their unique skills to use in combat. Slim camouflaged himself as a twig to trip two grasshoppers as they ran, then summoned Rosie to bind them with her silk before they could escape. Gypsy flaunted her mesmerizing wings and Manny summoned hypnotic powers from beyond to distract the tougher grasshoppers until Heimlich and Francis came to the rescue, wielding toothpick swords they had salvaged from P.T. Flea's wagon. Tuck and Roll simply barreled about the battle scene in tight little balls, carefully avoiding the good guys and knocking the bad ones down like bowling pins. Dim was a force to be reckoned with all his own—all it took was one mighty roar to send even Thumper flying.

Though she observed all of this with a smile, Atta suddenly noticed with a stab of fear that the sky had turned a menacing black and the air was growing heavy with the feel of oncoming rain. If the bugs didn't seek shelter soon, they could all very well drown before the battle was over. Atta's eyes sought her mother, wanting the Queen's approval before giving the executive order to retreat. She doubted the scattered few grasshoppers that remained would be much of a threat at this point, especially with Thumper being gone . . .

Thumper.

Atta's heart clenched with horror. "Flik!" she cried. "Have you seen . . ."

"Dot!"

She spun to see her mother hobbling towards her, Aphie cowering in the crook of her elbow. There was panic in the Queen's eyes as she grabbed Atta's outstretched hands, drawing several sharp breaths before asking the question in both their minds.

"Where's my baby?"

Before she could answer, Atta felt Flik's body jolt against hers. "There!" he shouted as the first bolt of lightning pierced the sky above them. She followed the direction of his pointed finger past hordes of running ants until her gaze landed on a large green figure in the distance. It was the same grasshopper who had gotten hold of Dot after she stood up for Flik, and sure enough the little ant was still squirming in his arms.

Anger hotter than she had ever felt before flared inside of Atta. She transferred Flik to the care of her mother and then took off after the grasshopper, wings beating furiously behind her as she flew over the heads of colony members who had sensed the coming storm and were making a mad dash for the anthill. Everyone besides Flik and her mother seemed oblivious to the fact that their youngest princess was being carried off to who knows where, the smell of rain sending them into a senseless frenzy. Only the circus bugs remained calm amidst the madness, assisting the council members in taking a head count as the ants hurried underground.

Atta was within a foot of him when she realized where he was taking her sister and felt her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach. At some point Hopper had slipped away unnoticed and hidden himself in a clump of grass near the still blazing bird, probably hoping to scan the crowd for Flik from a safe distance. He had yet to notice the gang member running towards him with his hostage, which worked to Atta's advantage.

"Put her down!" she shrieked as she came within earshot of the grasshopper. Dot's antennae perked at the sound of her voice, and she managed to wrench her mouth free of the hand still clamped over it just long enough to cry out her sister's name. Her captor cast a backwards glance at Atta and quickened his pace.

"Boss!" he shouted, gaining Hopper's attention. "I still got the kid!"

Hopper's good eye lit up at this unexpected twist. "Give her to me!" he ordered, extending an arm towards them.

"NO!"Atta screamed, still too far away. Hopper swiveled his head and flashed her a smirk that curdled her insides and gave her an impossible burst of speed. Don't you dare touch her, you monster.

The other grasshopper saw that she was quickly closing the space between them. Frightened she would reach him before he got to Hopper, he decided to throw Dot to his boss. The little princess somersaulted through the air and stopped short just beyond Hopper's grasp as her own wings sprang to life.

"You idiot!" Hopper snarled at the dumbfounded grasshopper as Dot soared away from them and towards her sister's outstretched arms. She crashed into Atta with a triumphant giggle just as a high-pitched whistle filled the air around them.

There was a deafening explosion and then Atta was flat on her back, gazing at the stormy sky through blurry eyes. Her antennae rang as she tried in vain to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs. She was soaked from head to toe with beads of water so heavy they pinned her body to the ground, but she managed to lift her throbbing head just high enough to see the large glob of water in front of her.

It took her a second to recognize the light purple figure inside of it.

"Dot . . ." Atta moaned, trying and failing to lift her waterlogged limbs. Her sister stared back at her with panicked eyes, tiny fists beating in vain against her prison as bombs of water landed all around them. A towering form emerged from the darkness behind her, his features illuminated by the streaks of lightning above them—six limbs, countless spikes, one scarred eye.

Atta's lungs were still too weak for her to yell for help as she watched Hopper stroll up to the raindrop encasing her sister. He crouched down and observed with mock concern as she pushed against the wall of water with all her might, unaware of his presence.

"Hello again, Princess," he greeted her with a soft chuckle. "Are you stuck in there?"

Dot whirled around and shrank away from the distorted reflection of Hopper's face surrounding her. With one quick tap of his finger the dome around her burst, sending the princess tumbling backwards. She picked herself up from the ground and leaped in an attempt to fly, but her wings were weighed down by water and she remained earthbound. Her terrified blue eyes met Atta's just as Hopper's hand closed around her scalp.

Through the ringing in her antennae Atta thought she could hear the thrum of Dim's wings coming closer, but it wasn't fast enough. She summoned every ounce of strength left in her for one last, desperate plea. The words came between gasps.

"Hopper, please . . . leave—my sister—alone."

Tears brimmed in Dot's eyes and mud dripped from her ankles as Hopper lifted her easily into the air. His lips stretched wide in a cruel smile as his own wings roared to life. "If you want her, come and take her," he said.

Then he shot into the sky.