CHAPTER XIV: FRIENDS, INSECTISM, FAMILY
The Chief Hornet had me in a headlock with one of her arms. Rosie had only taken one step towards us before the Chief Hornet produced a spear from nowhere. She pointed it directly at me, causing Rosie to stop walking.
The Chief Hornet smirked, knowing none of them would dare approach her while she had the bargaining power – me. All the audience members were looking both shocked and scared, having realized that this was not part of the show. The other circus bugs looked like their worst fears were confirmed – especially Rosie.
'Let him go, and get out of here,' stated P.T. to the Chief Hornet. P.T.'s position of no-fear was instantly replaced with one of horror as the Chief Hornet snarled at him. Could she even speak?
I didn't know what to do. The Chief Hornet was slowly dragging me towards the tent exit, careful to keep the spear end only a millimeter from my face.
Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw Francis and Slim slip under the tent flap on the other side. That was it! I just had to keep the Chief Hornet stalled for a few seconds.
'Let me go!' I squirmed, struggling in her grip. In response, she gave me a quick stab with her stinger on my back right foot. Ow!
But those few seconds were all I needed. I didn't even need to turn around. Just as the chief Hornet was dragging me outside, into the dim glow of the evening sun, Francis and Slim, from behind, launched themselves upon the Chief Hornet.
We were all squabbling, our limbs criss-crossing around each other. The Chief Hornet was struggling to keep a grip on me through Francis and Slim, and she had lost her spear. Eventually, the squabbling subsided. She was now trying her hardest to hold on to me, with Francis and Slim pulling her from behind as hard as they could. Our squabble brought us back inside the tent.
Suddenly, without warning, Heimlich launched himself upon the Chief Hornet, causing her to lose her clasp on one of my legs. I landed forwards an inch or two, and then I looked around.
The Chief Hornet threw Heimlich off her, and he landed a few paces away in a heap. She then started towards me – but Francis and Slim got in her way. She turned around to face them, deciding to take them down first.
The audience members were fleeing, clearly not troubled to stick around, despite the promise of watching a good fight.
'Aarghh!' yelled Francis, quickly grabbing Slim, sword style, and swinging him at the Chief Hornet. She quickly hovered a few paces in the air and used her stinger as a sword, clubbing it against Slim. Francis and the Chief Hornet were fighting, Lightsaber-style.
Suddenly Rosie grabbed me from behind. I had almost forgotten that Francis was only stalling the Chief Hornet while I fled.
'Come on!' she hissed. We tip-toed towards the backstage exit, doing it slowly, hoping to avoid the Chief Hornet. I hoped Francis, Slim and Heimlich would have the sense to flee too, once I was safe. It was only for me that the Chief Hornet was here, after all. It almost tore at me that it was my fault that the lives of my friends were in danger...
Wait – friends? Were these guys my friends? What made me think that? I had only known them for a day-and-a-half, after all. But they were trying to save me...
Rosie and I were almost at the other exit. Just before we were about to duck under it and get outside, I heard a groan of pain. Looking around, I saw the Chief Hornet disarm Francis of Slim, knocking him to the ground. Holding Slim by the neck at arm's distance, she flew up to the swinging-thing at the top of the tent. She quickly dropped Slim there, leaving him dangling from a great height.
Watching that had cost me – the Chief Hornet looked around, saw me with Rosie, and darted at us at top speed. We flinched, expecting the worst, but then –
Heimlich grabbed onto her stinger from the ground, bringing her crashing down to earth.
'Leave im alune!' yelled Heimlich, keeping himself pinned down on her stinger. His gelatinous-like figure was enough to keep her from getting up easily. She struggled to sting him, but her body position was too awkward for that.
I made to leave again, but Rosie didn't.
'You go on, I gotta help them!' she told me before rushing forwards to assist Heimlich. Over on the other side of the tent, Francis' unconscious figure seemed to be stirring.
Again, I made to leave, but something horrible happened that stopped me. In one almighty move, the Chief Hornet jumped upwards, catapulting Heimlich up towards the ceiling. He almost fell down, but Slim, who was still stuck on the swinging-thing, quickly grabbed him, almost falling off himself. Both of them were now stuck, and it was my fault!
Francis suddenly re-awoke. But before either he or Rosie could engage in combat with the Chief Hornet, there was a yell to our right.
'Take this!' yelled P.T., lighting up a gigantic match against the upturned wastepaper basket. In spite of ourselves, me, Slim, Heimlich, Francis, Rosie, and the Chief Hornet turned to watch as he leapt onto the giant bottle of flammable liquid.
I almost screamed out "no!" But too late – the flammable liquid shot out of the opener, and P.T. stuck the lit match in the path of the flammable liquid, turning it into fire.
The fire-shot landed exactly where the Chief Hornet had been – for she had quickly jumped out of the way. The fire-shot landed instead on the ground, and a huge fire instantly started up, spreading very quickly.
At this, everybody ran. I saw P.T. and Francis quickly slip under the tent near them, just dodging fire that spread in their direction. I quickly ran out backstage, and out into the grass, outside the tent. Running around, I saw that the fireflies, the wolf tarantula and Manny were already outside. P.T. and Francis appeared within seconds.
'Get some water – now!' he told the fireflies and the wolf tarantula! They quickly ran off.
'Daa!' exclaimed Francis, looking at the circus tent, from which we could see smoke emerging from. 'Slim! Heimlich! Rosie!'
I realized it too – they were all still trapped inside the tent by the flames. They could possibly die, and it would be my entire fault!
Slim, Heimlich and Rosie were struggling to keep themselves on the swinging-thing, for the flames were everywhere, and they seemed surely doomed. Rosie had tried to bring the other two down from the ground with her spider web abilities, but the flames had forced her to bring herself up there instead.
Suddenly Heimlich slipped and fell, but Rosie and Slim just about grabbed him by the foot. But their grip was slipping – Heimlich was just too chubby...
Rosie and Slim couldn't hold on any longer. They lost their hold on Heimlich, and he fell.
'No!' cried Rosie and Slim as Heimlich fell downwards into the flames. They closed their eyes, not wanting to see him lose his life.
They had their eyes closed for several seconds, but they didn't hear Heimlich scream as he was consumed in the flames. What they did hear was – wing buzzing!
They opened their eyes and saw me floating right in front of them, grasping Heimlich by my legs.
'By Jiminy Cricket!' gasped Slim.
'Get on!' I said quickly. Slim clasped himself on top of my abdomen and Rosie squatted herself between my shell plates and my neck.
I quickly turned around and flew the other way, just missing an explosion of fire. I swerved left and right, avoiding the fire as it exploded around me. The Chief Hornet had vanished – had she been consumed in the flames, or had she fled?
Seeing no way through the flames that were closing in on us, I faced directly upwards and charged straight at the top level of the circus tent. Through both the sharpness of my horn and sheep willpower – the determination to keep fighting – I broke through the tent, narrowly missing a jet of fire that landed right where we had been had I not broken through.
I quickly flew forward a few paces in the evening air, careful to keep a grip on Heimlich with my sore feet. I suddenly lost height, and landed on the ground roughly, almost squashing Heimlich. I quickly rolled off him, before finally sighing.
The fireflies, the wolf tarantula and P.T. were throwing water droplets at the fire as fast as they could, slowly extinguishing it. Manny and Francis quickly jogged forward as Slim and Rosie got off me, finally giving me the moment to collapse and regain my energy.
'Oh, you're OK!' cheered Francis, hugging Heimlich. Slim joined in the embrace with the two of them. Manny just watched the scene, too dumbstruck to say a word. Rosie, however, looked at me.
'Why'd you do that?' she questioned. 'You could have died trying to save us...' All the other circus bugs were watching, waiting for my response.
Rosie was right – why had I done it? Somehow, I had always known the answer, but it took me until just now to realize it.
'That's what friends do,' I finally said. 'You look out for each other...'
Rosie chuckled at these words.
'Thanks,' she smiled. Somehow, despite the still-horrible mental situation I was in, that last word of Rosie's brought a smile to my face too.
'Where is he?' snarled Queen Maula, delivering a slap to the Queen's face. She groaned under the pain Maula had dealt her. 'You know, and you're gonna tell me.' Maula's black and red color scheme – making her more like a devil then anything – only served to increase the terror in the Queen.
'I... I told you,' chocked the Queen, for Maula's slap had filled her mouth with blood, which was dripping out of her mouth – fast – like saliva. 'We sent him to you.'
'Liar!' gnarled Maula. She gave the Queen a quick stab of her stinger on her foot, causing her to let out a soft scream of pain. 'I'm going to ask you again. Where is he?'
Queen Maula was interrogating the Queen and King of Dim's beetle colony. After they had been taken hostage, the hornets had kept the majority of the beetle colony locked away in the crew rooms, with the rest – too small a number to stop the hornets – doing manual reconstruction of the tunnels to fit Queen Maula's wishes – under her persuasion.
Maula had searched the tunnels for Dim top to bottom, but she had failed to find him anywhere. Therefore, she was now resorting to interrogation of the colony's former monarchs – for she was certain they knew where he was.
King Palpatine was watching the questioning with a semi-disgusted, semi-sick face. He had been more then reluctant to take over the beetle colony, but knew better then to even remotely suggest anything different then Queen Maula's wishes – one step out of line, she'd have him beheaded, later sucking his blood for a drink. He wondered how Dim was feeling. He couldn't help feeling a small bit of pity for the rhino beetle...
'Well?' repeated Maula. The Queen looked too injured to even answer, for she had been struck with almost every word she had said. But before Maula could slap her with her right claw, the King ran in front of her.
'Don't know what you're playing at,' he stated to Maula, in a tone that would have suggested he had no fear, but was somewhat ruined by the fact that his legs were trembling. 'We know you've got him. You're just making this up to justify your actions!'
Maula snarled at the King while contemplating his words. In an instant she had an idea. Rather than violence, she'd give him a reason for her actions – a good one!
'Nature calls,' she smirked, completely aware that her dialogue her befuddled the King and Queen.
'But... but...' stammered the King, looking around at the silent, robotic-like hornet guards lining the room that used to be their room.
'It's a superior-rule-inferior galaxy out there, coleopteran,' she smiled, impressing even herself with her choice of words. 'One of those... circle-of-life kind-of-things... It's called Insectism. And you're the inferiors.'
'Prove it,' responded the King, still shielding the Queen from Maula's gaze.
Maula paused. What could she say that both would be true and that he would understand? Well...
'How'd you expect to sign that treaty when your species had no arms?' asked Maula.
'Easy,' snapped the King. 'We'd just...' Here he lost his train of thought, unable to think of a good reason. But she had a point. How would they have been able to sign that treaty?
'Exactly...' laughed Maula, glad that she had won. 'Another flaw in your plan.' She then turned to the hornet guards.
'Take them away,' she stated in a rude tone, as though they too were inferiors. The hornet guards crowded around the King and Queen and shoved them outside the earth-lined room. All the other hornet guards followed, leaving Maula and Palpatine alone.
Palpatine nervously approached Maula, for he had been sulking in a corner of the room for the whole period of interrogation.
'Maula?' he began, getting her attention. She faced him, looking apprehensive, but didn't say anything.
'Maybe we should forget about getting Dim...' he muttered slowly.
A braver insect then Palpatine would have flinched under the look Maula gave him, as she towered over him. It was only now clear that female hornets were bigger then male ones – especially royal ones.
'No...' she shouted. 'I'll be happy only when I've stabbed him to death, drank all his blood and gnawed on his bones! Or better...' she wondered.
Before Palpatine could ask what else Maula had in mind, they were interrupted by a regular hornet. Again, it was the Chief Hornet. She had clearly fled the circus tent as soon as the fire had started.
'I've found him,' she said, out of breath from flying at top speed for 20 minutes.
'Excellent!' cheered Maula, albeit in a Hitler-like way. She was very impressed with the Chief Hornet, who was even more loyal to her then she was herself.
'You've finally earned yourself a name,' continued Maula, catching the complete attention of the Chief Hornet, who now showed signs of a personality. She'd always wanted a name, and now she'd get one!
She quickly knelt before Queen Maula, putting her hands on her knees – it was rather like she was being knighted.
'Henceforth,' said Maula, quickly thinking of a good name, 'you shall be known as... Amber.'
Hovering in the air, Maula tapped Amber on both of her shoulders with one side of her stinger. She then stood back down, faced Amber and said, 'Arise, Amber...'
Approximate Chapter Running Time: 00:53-00:59