Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
…
Munich, the capital and most populous city in Bavaria, was a global center of art, science, technology, finance, publishing, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism and enjoyed a very high standard and quality of living. It was considered to be one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany.
Or at least, it had been. Whether it would still be able to retain that title after the day's events was yet to be determined.
The disaster had started when a meteorite impacted in the middle of Englischer Garten, the heart of the city, shattering windows, shaking the earth, and setting off car alarms all over Munich. It got much, much worse when only seconds later, the slime-covered projectile split open and purple-black fungus voraciously spread out from the impact crater, greedily consuming all the nearby biomass and using it to propagate itself at an exponential rate.
That alone would've been bad enough, but then thousands of centipedes had slithered out of the expanding fungus, coalesced to form grotesque hole-riddled insectoid monsters covered in fungus, and started viciously attacking everything in sight, rapidly spreading out and vomiting up more fungus to cover even more of the park in the cancerous growth. Casualties were already in the double digits, and that number would skyrocket once the invaders made it to the city proper.
Law enforcement had immediately been dispatched to try and get the situation under control, but – as was always the case – their weapons were completely ineffective against the monsters, and, going against established zombie lore, headshots not only did not take down the creatures but didn't seem to inconvenience them in any way. If anything, it only seemed to irritate them further, and they swarmed over the police with much greater speed then you'd expect from a walking corpse and an alarming degree of coordination, eagerly tearing them apart.
Those who could, fled… Not that it made much difference, as fungus quickly started spreading from the parting wounds they received from the beasts, engulfing and transforming them into more fungal monsters. They desperately pleaded for their comrades to put them down before they could become more of these grisly undead horrors, but killing them before conversion was complete didn't stop the process, rather, it sped it up.
Grizzled veterans found themselves shaking and sobbing in terror, having horrible PTSD flashbacks of the Helheim invasion of 2014. Those in power were already calling in the military, and serious plans to evacuate the city and blow it to smithereens to keep the infection from spreading were being discussed.
As the chaos grew, the sound of a train horn rang through the air, and a portal opened in the sky above Munich, a green maglev train with a face vaguely resembling a grasshopper riding out on a rail which constantly generated more of itself just ahead of the front car. It swooped down to the ground, passing through the park, before rising back into the air, leaving five people behind.
The new champions of the Hive stared at the horrific tableau in disbelief. "It's even worse than we thought," said a dumbfounded Goro, taking in the fungus covering most of the park, the fungus-covered undead monsters – both insect and human – shambling about, and the fires and screams and gunshots in the distance in dismay.
"Shin, I thought we were supposed to arrive immediately after the impact," Mibojin accused the Rider. "Before it spread this far!"
"We were supposed to!" Shin protested. "Or at least arrive as close to the moment of impact as the time stream would allow us without causing a paradox! I don't know what went wrong, Cart is usually much more precise about this kind of thing-"
"Mibojin," Nushi interrupted as she stared at her phone, face pale, absolute horror and dread pulsing from her. "Neither Shin nor Cart did anything wrong. It's only been five minutes."
Everyone reeled at this, shock reverberating throughout the Buzzing. "Five minutes…" Goro stammered, knees trembling. "It got this bad… In five minutes?!"
"Fuck," Shin cursed, stunned. "The Swarm don't mess around, do they?"
"This adversary is truly not one to be underestimated," Mibojin agreed, equally horrified.
Ariel whimpered, radiating intense guilt. "This is my fault. We would've gotten here faster if I teleported us-"
"Which would've left you significantly drained, and unable to use your magic to its full effectiveness," Nushi reminded her, sending her reassurance and compassion. "We got here as fast as we could. It's nobody's fault but the Swarm's. If you're going to blame anyone, blame them. Now, you said you know a spell that might be able to stop the fungus from spreading?"
Ariel blinked, snapping out of her brief funk. "What? Oh, right. The spell. I hope it works…"
She produced her wand and swished it through the air. "Gonga Gou Lujuna!"
A warm, tingling sensation briefly passed through all their bodies, and for a moment they shared in the Fox's instinctive joy and thrill of using her magical talents to bend the world to her will. A shimmering barrier of light formed around the edges of the fungus, causing the spreading growth to come to an immediate stop. It wriggled, centipedes crawling out of the fungus and throwing themselves against the barrier, but to no avail; their progression had been halted in its tracks.
Ariel sighed in relief, excitement bursting from her. "I did it! I've only heard of this spell being used on a smaller-scale, but it looks like my power boost helped me pull it off!" She chewed her lip. "Not sure how long it will last, though."
"Long enough for us to destroy it," Goro resolved, nodding at the sorceress. "Good job, Ariel."
The Fox preened at this.
"Not all of it," Nushi suddenly spoke up. "I'd like to get a sample. Maybe even bring back one of the bodies of those monsters to study."
Everyone gave her alarmed looks, and similar cries of disbelief and horror rang through the Buzzing. "What? Why?!" Shin demanded.
I will not allow even the smallest taint into my city! Apista declared. It must all be destroyed!
"Your Majesty, this fungus may be of a different strain than the kind you're used to," Nushi posited. "By examining it, we might be able to better understand how it works and how to combat it. Maybe even find a way to change back those who have been infected."
Mibojin frowned. "Do you truly believe that is possible?"
"I think it's worth a try," Nushi insisted.
… You make a good point, the Queen relented. There's a secure facility deep beneath the city that you can use. But you must take only the strictest of precautions, understood? If even a single spore gets free from containment, the results could be catastrophic!
"I understand completely," Nushi assured her.
"Um, guys?" Shin spoke up suddenly, his worry pouring into their minds. "I think Ariel might have gotten their attention."
Seeing through his eyes – and their own – they realized that all the undead had stopped and were staring at them, silent, completely still.
"… Well, that's creepy," Ariel said uneasily.
"So, you are the new champions," all of the monsters spoke in unison, Parasitica's voice rising from their mandibles. "I have to say, I'm not particularly impressed."
Ariel squeaked, which would probably have been adorable in a different setting. "And that's worse."
"More fuel for the nightmares I'll be having tonight," Shin remarked brightly, his internal thoughts more or less screaming oh Gaim why is this happening what have I gotten myself into kilt with fire to the entire Hive.
Sister, Apista snarled, seething with fury and regret.
"Queen Parasitica II, I presume?" Nushi inquired as she took a step forwards, swallowing her fear and drawing upon the courage and belief pouring into her from her comrades and the rest of the Hive.
Parasitica chuckled, the laughs sounding wrong emanating from so many throats. "At least you are willing to show me the proper respect by using my title, unlike my sister. For that, I shall grant you a quick death."
"Nobody is dying here today," Nushi said firmly. Hesitating, seeing the deceased human police and civilians among the ranks of the undead, she amended her statement. "Nobody else, anyway."
"It is adorable that you think you can stop me," Parasitica crooned sinisterly. "I do not know how you managed to halt the progression of my fungus, but it will not last for long. Once your little countermeasure fails, it will spread out to consume this entire city, producing a medium large enough for me to cross over personally."
Shin blinked. "Medium? Cross over? What's she talking about?"
The vision they had of the Swarm flagship flashed through Nushi's – and all of their – memories. "The Swarm can use the fungus to teleport!" She realized. "By breaking down into those centipedes, they can enter it in one place and come out somewhere else! That's where all these monsters came from… they weren't riding in the meteor or being generated by the fungus, they're warping in from orbit!"
"So that's the real reason she had her giant centipedes break through the barrier," Goro cried, following this line of thought to its natural conclusion. "She's trying to establish a beachhead she can use to bypass the shield and launch an invasion from!"
Horror surged from Apista. You were right, Nushi, this is a new strain! You must get a sample of the fungus, we cannot allow her to try this again! I'm dispatching drones now to help you contain and collect the fungus, we need to begin analysis immediately!
"Well spotted," Parasitica admitted, sounding mildly impressed. "I would use this method to come down and tell you as much in person, but unfortunately, I am far too powerful, and require a much larger portion of the planet to be defiled before I can grace you with my presence."
"Like how Victory General Branken couldn't be transported to the surface by my grandfather's spell and needed to pass through the Hades Gate to leave Infershia," Ariel realized.
"Or Emperor Yodon couldn't manifest fully until enough of Earth had been polluted by darkness and had to pretend to be one of his alter egos until that happened," Goro added.
"I… Have no idea who you're talking about," Parasitica confessed, sounding confused and off her game for the first time since the conversation started.
Shin chuckled, his amusement filling everyone else's hearts and helping their spirits rise. "Lady, you're not the first megalomaniac to try to conquer the Earth, and you're not going to be the last, either."
"Everyone who has come before you has failed," Mibojin agreed. "You will be no different."
"Rather confident, aren't you, for group of mammals," Parasitica snarled, only to pause. "Well, and one member of the Hive. Wait, I thought my sister was so desperate she had to turn to the local savages for help, where did you come from?"
"I am a local savage," Shin explained. "I used to be human, but was turned into this after horrible experimentation."
"And I'm ¼ human, in case you're wondering," Ariel added.
"I wasn't," Parasitica said testily. "Also…"
Without warning, all the closest undead projectile vomited fungus at the five all at once. Even with their enhanced reflexes, they were so taken off guard by the abrupt attack that all of them got hit, even Mibojin, though she managed to get splattered the least.
"Welcome to the Swarm," Parasitica cackled as the fungal growth started to expand over the bodies of the five champions, absolute horror filling the Buzzing…
Only for the fungus to abruptly start shriveling up and dying. "WHAT?!"
"The heck is happening?" A startled Shin demanded as the patches of fungus on his body turned gray and began to disintegrate.
"We seem to be unharmed," Mibojin observed, stating the obvious, brushing off the dying fungus, an intense distaste with more than a hint of relief pulsing from her.
"Is this because of our metamorphosis?" Asked a confused Goro.
"No, you should still have been as vulnerable as anyone else to infection outside your suits," the equally perplexed Formic replied. "I have no idea why this is happening, though I'm not one to look a gift horse-fly in the mouthparts."
Nushi plucked a centipede from one of the decaying patches on her shoulder, examining it with interest as it weakly flailed about, curled up on itself, and crumbled into dust. "Fascinating," she murmured, producing a plastic bag and carefully pouring the centipede's remains inside, zipping it shut, labeling it with a marker, then producing another bag and doing the same for some of the lingering flakes of fungus still on her skin and clothes.
Ariel burst into surprised laughter, relief and joy flooding the Buzzing. "Looks like my vaccination spell worked after all! Phew, that was a close one!"
Well done, Ariel! Apista proclaimed, showering the mage with pride and gratitude.
She was not the only one. "Good job, Ariel," Nushi thanked the sorceress, transmitting a tremendous amount of affection and gratitude towards the blushing fox. "You really saved our bacon there."
"Of course, it might have been nice if someone had given us a heads-up that they could do that in the first place!" Shin grunted. "I mean, no offense, your Majesty, but that was really fucking scary."
I didn't know they could do that, the queen insisted, radiating apology and dismay.
"They haven't been able to in the past," Caelifer informed him. "This is another new trick."
"One which, thankfully, we were unintentionally prepared for," Mibojin commented, flashing Ariel a very quick but very genuine smile.
"How… how did you… This is impossible! You should all be Funghouls by now! Who are you people?!" A shocked and livid Parasitica shrieked.
Nushi smirked. "I think that's as good a cue as any. What do you think, guys? Should we show her?"
They nodded, an overwhelming feeling of assent passing between them.
Princess Philia squeaked in delight, excitement and anticipation filling the Buzzing. They're going to do it! Here it comes!
"Ready!" Nushi cried.
"READY!" The other four echoed.
In unison, they crossed their arms over their chests, took half a step forward, pivoted at the waist, thrust their left arms up and to their right diagonally, then tapped the microprocessor unit on each of their Divine Insect's foreheads.
"Coccinella!"
"Formic!"
"Manti!"
"Caelifer!"
"Lepidoptera!"
"BUZZ ON!" All the Divine Insects cried in the Queen's voice.
All five of the champions rotated their left arms in a circle and thrust them skyward. "HENSHIN!" They cried as blinding light emanated from the microprocessors.
Nushi stood on top of a red circle covered in black spots in the center of a void of red hexagons as a loveliness of tiny mechanical ladybugs swirled towards her from all sides, completely covering her clothes. In a flash of red light, her outfit transformed into a form-fitting skintight suit made of interlocking red hexagons with a few black ones scattered about in an eye-catching pattern. Her gloves and boots had red and black trim and circles with five black spots embossed on the backs of her hands and sides of her feet, and a cluster of gold hexagons on her left breast had a stylized ladybug head in the center. Shoulder pads resembling ladybug wing shells materialized on her shoulders, and more ladybugs coalesced and dropped down on her head to form a helmet with a Hive microprocessor placed between a pair of ladybug antenna on her forehead, a multifaceted visor resembling ladybug eyes covering her eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like ladybug mouthparts.
Goro stood on top of a blue circle in the center of a void of blue hexagons as an army of tiny mechanical ants crawled onto him from all sides, completely covering his clothes. In a flash of blue light, his outfit transformed into a form-fitting skintight suit made of interlocking blue hexagons. His thick gloves and spiked boots had gold trim, and a cluster of gold hexagons on his left breast had a stylized ant head in the center. Shoulder pads resembling ant mandibles materialized on his shoulders, and more ants coalesced and dropped down on his head to form a helmet with a Hive microprocessor placed between a pair of ant antenna on his forehead, a multifaceted visor resembling ant eyes covering his eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like ant mouthparts.
Mibojin stood on top of a yellow circle in the center of a void of yellow hexagons as a swarm of tiny mechanical mantises crawled towards her from all sides, completely covering her clothes. In a flash of yellow light, her outfit transformed into a form-fitting skintight suit made of interlocking yellow hexagons. Her gloves and boots had black trim, and a cluster of gold hexagons on her left breast had a stylized mantis head in the center. Incredibly sharp serrated scythe blades grew down from the underside of her forearms. Shoulder pads resembling mantis claws materialized on her shoulders, and more mantises coalesced and dropped down on her head to form a helmet with a Hive microprocessor placed between a pair of mantis antenna on her forehead, a multifaceted visor resembling mantis eyes covering her eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like mantis mouthparts.
Shin stood on top of a green circle in the center of a void of green hexagons as a swarm of tiny mechanical grasshoppers flew towards him from all sides, completely covering his body. In a flash of yellow light, he was covered in a form-fitting skintight suit made of interlocking green hexagons. His claw -tipped gloves and boots had gold trim, and a cluster of gold hexagons on his left breast had a stylized grasshopper head in the center. Large, sharp spines grew from the sides of his arms, and armor resembling spring coils ribbed the backs of his legs. Shoulder pads resembling grasshopper legs materialized on his shoulders, and more grasshoppers coalesced and dropped down on his head to form a helmet with a Hive microprocessor placed between a pair of grasshopper antenna on his forehead, a multifaceted visor resembling grasshopper eyes covering his eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like grasshopper mouthparts.
Ariel stood on top of a white and rainbow-colored circle in the center of a void of white and rainbow hexagons as a kaleidoscope of tiny mechanical butterflies flew towards her from all sides, completely covering her body. In a flash of yellow light, she was clad in a form-fitting skintight suit made of interlocking white hexagons with a short skirt. Her gloves and boots had rainbow trim, and a cluster of gold hexagons on her left breast had a stylized butterfly head in the center. Her tails fanned out behind her, and in a shimmer of light a set of magnificent rainbow-hued butterfly wings made of energy materialized from her back. Shoulder pads resembling butterfly wings materialized on her shoulders, and more butterflies coalesced and dropped down on her head to form a helmet with a Hive microprocessor placed between a pair of butterfly antenna on her forehead, a multifaceted rainbow -colored visor resembling butterfly eyes covering her eyes, and a silver mouth plate carved to look like butterfly mouthparts. There were also two protrusions on top for her Fox ears.
Suddenly reading from a book with a hand on her chin, Nushi glanced up at the (metaphorical) camera as the background changed to resemble a gigantic library filled with humanoid ladybugs. "The heartful genius! Red Ladybug!"
Goro stood up straight and saluted as the background changed to resemble an ant colony with massive humanoid ants digging behind him. "The stalwart soldier! Blue Ant!"
Mibojin swiped her blades through the air and did a mantis-style martial arts stance as the background changed to resemble a dojo with black-clad humanoid mantises sparring behind her. "The noble Shinobi! Yellow Mantis!"
Shin roared and flexed his muscles as the background changed to resemble an obstacle course with humanoid grasshoppers hopping about behind him. "The indomitable warrior! Green Hopper!"
Ariel leapt into the air, twirling as the background changed to a starry night sky, beautiful humanoid butterflies dancing about as fireworks went off in the background. "The starlight sorceress! White Butterfly!"
Now standing in the Queen's throne room, the team struck a group pose; Nushi in the center, standing with her hands resting on the pommel of a sword with its point resting on the ground, Goro on her right, standing in profile while pointing a gun into the air with both hands, Mibojin on her left, crouched with her blades up and ready to strike, Shin on her far right, crouched low to the ground and looking as if he was prepared to leap into the air, and Ariel on her far left, posing sexily while brandishing her wand with one hand holding up her fingers in a V sign with the other while (presumably) winking under her helmet.
"In the name of the Hive!" Nushi proclaimed. "Konchū Sentai…"
"BUGRANGER!" They shouted at once, causing explosions in their respective colors which blossomed into the heads of the insects they embodied to erupt behind them.
"Let's show them what all the buzz is about!" Nushi cried.
With a flick of her wand, the illusion Ariel had generated vanished, returning them to Munich…
Where they discovered, to their surprise, all the Funghouls were gone. "What the… where did they go?" Asked a confused Nushi.
"They ran off while you were transforming," Coccinella replied.
"WHAT?!" Ariel shrieked, radiating utter indignation. "They can't do that!"
"Apparently, they just did," Goro pointed out.
"They're not supposed to do that!" Ariel protested. "They're supposed to stand there patiently and wait for us to finish our lengthy transformation sequence and team roll call before fighting us!"
"Why?" Mibojin asked, perplexed. "That seems rather impractical."
"Because that's how it's done!" Ariel insisted. "Shin, back me up here!"
Shin raised his hands. "Don't look at me, Kamen Rider transformation sequences are much faster most the time. Also, I never really had much of one, and this is technically my first real transformation sequence in decades, so…"
"Well, I thought it was lovely," Lepidoptera consoled the rather upset kitsune.
Yeah! It was really cool! Philia agreed, and most of the Hive seemed to share this sentiment. Much more flashy than your predecessors!
Indeed, Apista agreed. Though you might want to shorten it next time, to prevent something like this from happening again.
"YOU CAN'T RUSH ART!" Ariel shouted.
"Guys, we don't have time for this," Nushi interjected. "Where'd they go?"
"Towards the city," Coccinella answered.
Goro swore. "We may have managed to contain the contagion here, but if they spread too far into Munich, they could start growing a new patch of fungus from scratch."
"Not to mention they'd have a smorgasbord of innocent people to eat and/or infest," Shin agreed grimly.
"The spell I cast on the main body of fungus seems to be preventing them from calling reinforcements, but if they managed to establish a new growth big enough to call for backup, or worse, my spell fails…" Ariel worried, radiating anxiety and dread.
"We must stop them before that can happen," Mibojin said decisively.
Nushi nodded in agreement. "Since they're all probably being controlled directly by Parasitica through her fungal bastardization of the Buzzing, they'll be capable of greater coordination and tactics than your standard group of enemy foot soldiers… But that's something we have on our side as well thanks to the true Buzzing. Plus she's going to be controlling them all by herself, while each of us is capable of independent thought and have our own unique skill set, allowing us to better diversify and exploit our talents for maximum effectiveness."
She glanced at her friends. "Ariel, get airborne so we've got eyes in the sky to tell us where we need to go. You'll also be able to better support us with your spells, and take care of any monsters that try to get away or take to the skies. Mibojin, Shin, the two of you have the highest kill count of all of us, so I want you to rush ahead; as the physically strongest of us Shin can go all-out and draw their aggro, allowing Mibojin to utilize her ninja skills to take them out when they least expect it. Goro, you're the only one of us who's actually had battlefield experience – crossover battles notwithstanding – so I want you to stick with me as we take out as much of the enemy as we can. I'm also going to need to collect more intact samples from those creatures, so I'll need you to cover me. Your Majesty, I'm going to need those drones ASAP, even if they won't be much help in combat we can still use them to distract the enemy, seal off parts of the city to keep the corruption from spreading, and get civilians to safety."
They're on their way, Apista promised.
Ariel nodded. "Right. Okay everyone, let's-" She frowned, noticing that none of her team had moved, and were staring at her with pride and admiration. "What are you guys standing around for? We have to move out!"
"Sorry, it's just… Weren't you the one worrying you didn't have what it took to be a leader?" Shin pointed out.
"If any of us had any lingering doubts, that would've just dispelled it then and there," Goro agreed.
"Magiel, I'm so turned on right now," Ariel purred, causing Nushi to flush at the rather licentious thoughts and feelings directed towards her. "We're going to have so much fun together."
As Nushi stammered, incredibly flustered, the fox laughed, blew her very red (beneath the suit) leader a kiss, and whistled before leaping into the air, her Sky Hokie swooping down from out of nowhere for her to land on and ride into the sky.
Trying very hard to ignore the amusement radiating from practically the entire Buzzing, Nushi cleared her throat and turned back to the others. "Well, what are you waiting for? We have a city to save! Everyone, BUG OUT!"