Francis then flew to the top of Dim's horn. "Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, our troupe here guarantees a performance, like no other!", Francis shouted with flair.
I smiled as I stared at Francis. "Why, when your grasshopper friends get here, we are gonna knock them dead!", Francis said, punching the air, and flew up into the air just as then all the ants started to cheer. I clapped excitedly as the twins cheered tremendously. Francis sure knows how to get attention...Now I gotta get his attention somehow...
A few minutes later, the small celebration started. To my luck, I was sitting next to Francis...the twins sat next to me, with Ashley next to Flik.
"Those kids of yours are adorable!", Gypsy said with a coo as she saw Ashley and Alex. I shook my head, "I love to think of them as my niece and nephew, but they aren't mine really. I am watching over them for Angela. I don't know what Flik has told you, but Angela is their mother, and right now, she is a hostage of Hopper and his gang...".
"Hostage?", Francis asked, half confused and half curious. Before I could respond...the horn blew and I knew of the scene that was coming up...At least I will catch Francis when he faints.
"The children, and myself have quickly put together a little presentation in honor of our guests.", Mr Soil said with a proud smile. "Dot, Reed, Daisy, Grub?", Mr Soil said to the children who walked forward.
I heard gasps of horror, shock, surprise, and disbelief when the big leaf is revealed, and I winced lightly at the mention of Heimlich's gory picture, glancing to see him actually turning whitish-green.
"I tell you a tale, of heroes so bold, Who vanquished our grasshopper enemies of old. ", Mr Soil sang as the kids moved the big leaf away. "Here it comes.", Alex whispered to me.
I nodded lightly, "Yep.", figuring that the play takes at least 20 minutes...Too bad the movie info wasn't detailed about that. "I die! Die! Die!", one of the kids call out, and flop back to the ground.
I then saw Francis' eyes roll to the back of his head, and I quickly ran over to catch him before he hits the ground. Francis groaned lightly, "Please tell me that was a dream..", coming around. I smiled reassuringly, "Sorry, but that just happened, Francis. Did I say that right? Because guys hates being called 'Frankie' and other things like that.".
"Yeah, you said it right.", Francis said with a smile. Atta then started to give her speech, and then I could see the Circus bugs give signals to Flik to let him know that they are Circus bugs. Ashley spoke quietly to me, "Should we follow them?".
I thought about it for a few moments.. "Yes...but remember which scene is coming up next.", I whispered quietly to the kids. "We know...the Bird.", Alex shivered lightly.
"Stay close to me, you two.", I whispered sharply. The twins nodded firmly, and we quietly followed the troupe of the circus bugs without Flik noticing me or the twins, listening in. "Circus bugs? How can you be circus bugs?", Flik exclaimed in shock. Ashley and Alex giggled.
"Shh.", I whispered quickly. I knew the troupe is glaring at Flik, and yep, soon enough, I heard their angry comments, including Francis. Flik soon made his desperate words. I then heard Atta shouting for Flik, and I hustled the kids into the grass quickly.
We then started to spy on Atta and Flik. "I just hope it all goes as it did in the movie.", I whispered anxiously. Alex pointed out quietly, "But with us, and Mom, things can change.".
Soon, we saw Atta stomping off, and we knew that meant Flik had gone off to run after the Circus bugs. "Should we stay here for a moment before joining the other ants in their search for Flik?", Ashley asked with a thoughtful hum.
"We could make up an excuse that we were searching for Dot.", Alex said with a determined look. I nodded, "That works.", chuckling softly, "Your mother'd be proud of you, twins.".
I could see the council up ahead. "Let's do it.", I said with a nod. The three of us started to call out Dot's name as we pretended to search for her. Atta noticed us a moment later, "Guys, what's going on? Why are you looking for Dot?".
"Alex and Ashley wanted to play with her...but we couldn't find her.", I explained with a frown. "Have you seen her?", Alex asked curiously.
The Queen shook her head, "No, we haven't seen her since the welcome celebration.". Atta frowned lightly, "Maybe she's following Flik. Come on, we gotta keep going.". Then we heard what sounded like screams.
"This way.", Atta said with a hasty gesture. We then made it to the cliff. "There they are.", Atta said, pointing. We saw the Circus Bugs running, and I saw the Bird. "A Bird!", Atta cried out in horror.
Dot was then falling, and I saw that Francis was able to catch her, and now the Bird has them cornered. "Look away, you two.", I whispered to the twins. Ashley whimpered softly, cuddling into Alex's arms, recognizing the twin huddle that's rarely used for comfort back home, but now, it's more commonly here. I whispered lowly, "Stay safe, stay safe.", barely noticing that Atta returned with a telescope.
"Here, I got it!", Atta said with a grin. "What do you see?", The Queen asked frantically.
Atta gasped softly, "The bird cornered them! No, no! Where's the others? Oh, thank goodness, they're safe behind a rock! Stay below, Dot, please!". "Look!", I pointed to Slim and Heimlich.
"What's the bug doing?", Thorny asked in confusion. "He's offering himself as bait!", Mr Soil said with a amazed laugh. We saw the bird hop towards them.
Atta gasped, "God, he's so brave! Wait, wait, hold on! Oh, it's Filk and the others! They have some kind of net! They're flying ahead, oh, they're saving Dot and the ladybug!". "Hurry!", I whispered softly.
"Wait, come on, follow me...I know where they are heading!", Atta said with a relieved smile. I and the twins followed Atta and the council, knowing that the rescue group is to be in the thorns, catching their breath, safe from the bird.
The rest of the ants arrived, and started to cheer for the Circus bugs. We then saw them land and bow. "Flik! Dot!", Ashley and Alex ran to them. Ashley hugged Dot while Alex hugged Flik as I smiled softly, going to check on Francis, "That looks painful. Dr. Flora will fix that up.".
-Small time skip -
We were in the medical room, and I saw Francis with a cast on his leg. "Our Blueberry troop salutes you bugs for rescuing our smallest member, Princess Dot."
"And as a tribute to Miss Francis, we've changed out bandannas!", one of the girls, Peony giggled. "We voted you our honorary den mother!", Dot said with a grin.
Francis blinked in surprise, and droned, "Oh, great. Marvelous.", and I chuckled softly, "Don't worry, Francis, they're precious angels. Think of this way of being a role model to them.". Francis blushed a little.
"All right girls, let's move your keisters outta patient needs her rest, you know.", Dr Flora said to the girls sternly, shooing them out. Francis groaned lightly, and I know he hates being mistaken for a female. I smiled at him, "Hey, Francis, I already know that you are a guy, and...", and Francis looked at me, "And what?". I whispered lowly to him, "I prefer guys myself.".
Francis's face went red. I smirked lightly, raised an eyebrow in delight that I actually made Francis, my crush, actually blush. "Excuse me, Flik. Can I talk to you for a second?" Atta asked. "Sure.", Flik said with a grin.
"Flik, can you take Ashley and Alex with you?", I asked with a chuckle. Flik nodded, "Sure, come on, twins.", with a smile, following Atta out, with the twins glancing at me with hidden smirks. They knew of my crush thanks to Angela. I nodded to them, shooing them off silently.
"Oh...I've been meaning to ask...when you said those kids' mother have been taken hostage...What did you mean by that?", Gypsy asked in confusion. "Where is their father? Shouldn't he be here looking after his kids?", Rosie asked in curiosity after nodding in agreement with Gypsy's question.
I sighed softly, "First of all, Angela made a deal with Hopper, the head honcho of the gang. She'd go with him as long as her kids and Dot isn't harmed by Thumper, another grasshopper whom is insane.", and I growled lowly, "Don't even mention the bastard. He raped her, but it wasn't the twins' fault for being conceived from that.".
The rest of the Circus bugs gasped all around. "She...was raped?!", Manny asked in shock, horror on his face. "Her older brother Josh had taken her out to play...but then these big Grasshoppers came out of nowhere...and attacked them..", I said with a grimace.
"Oh, dear!", Rosie said with concern. Francis shook his head in horror and disgust, "Wow, and she raised those twins herself? No wonder why..."., and I nodded lightly, "You get the gist, anyway...At least it's in the past now.".
"What happened to her brother?", Slim asked cautiously. I felt a tear fall down my face. I sighed softly, "He clearly gave a fight from what I learned about...He gave his life so Angela can run free...The bastards killed him...".
The rest of the Circus bugs gasped in shock. Dim started to cry in sympathy for Angela. "There, there, Dim.", Rosie said, patting Dim on the cheek while comforting him.
"Oh, that poor thing!", Gyspy said, clutching closely to her husband, Manny. Francis growled lowly, "I could have given them a knuckle sandwich for ruining a girl like that!", and I smiled weakly, recognizing that Angela has more support behind her even if the circus bugs hadn't met her properly yet.
"Even her children were born from that...Angela still loves them with all her heart...but her mother doesn't love Alex or Ashley.", I growled sharply. The pill bug boys spoke with their accent, "Twins no love from mother-mother?".
"No...She hates her grandchildren from being born from...that...and she blames Angela for the death of Josh.", I growled angrily.
"That's tremendously ridiculous!", Manny proclaimed angrily, "It was clear that Josh loved Angela, and even if he hadn't met the twins, he would have loved them too! And the twins isn't just born from that bastard, they got Angela's looks and genes too, if I wasn't mistaken! It's like this Angela's mother had forgotten that fact.".
"I agree with my husband.", Gyspy said with a nod. "I believe the same thing too...Angela told me she plans to cut off all ties with her mother...and at least the children still have their grandfather who loves them very much." I said with a small smile on my face.
Francis smiled widely, "That's a relief to hear, at least. So, now what?". "Hopper's afraid of birds!", Flik shouted as he ran into the room with the twins behind him.
"I don't blame him.", Francis said with a scoff. "Oh, this is good! We can get rid of Hopper, and no one has to know that I messed up.", Flik said with a grin.
"We can also save our mother!", Ashley said with a nod. Alex agreed, "Yeah!". I chuckled softly, "Well, guys, you heard them. Can you help?".