Chapter 1 - A Day in the Life of Nicky M.
The ant dissolved into a puddle while blood mixed with the blue liquid and created a dark purple glow. But soon, a slightly bigger figure formed within puddle, as two arms and two legs sprouted from its body, as well as swirling antennae at the top of its head.
The violet liquid seeped off of the new ant's body, revealing a much more muscular and anthropomorphic shape, but it seemed that after such a horrific transformation, it was completely drained of energy and collapsed.
"W-What? No…no, no! This can't be happening! My calculations were flawless!" Von Gimmick screamed at the top of his lungs, whipping around shoving fragile science equipment off the table and shattering them into a million pieces on the floor. But the one thing he left untouched was the terrarium and the ant inside.
But the old man would soon change that when he reached inside and plucked the transformed insect from the puddle, glaring daggers at it, "You were supposed to be my greatest achievement! But now, I only see my judgment was clouded by the high hopes in an ant! I can't waste my time and energy on such a pathetic creature!"
With that, Von Gimmick through the dead ant towards the single window in his office, throwing it hard enough to miraculously shatter it. And when Von Gimmick was surprised how powerful the ant's body still was, even after death.
"Perhaps my experiment isn't a complete lost cause. If the ant's body was powerful enough to break a window after being thrown like that, I couldn't imagine what power it would possess being alive—and destroy through its own will," Von Gimmick pondered aloud with a smile.
Meanwhile, the ant lay motionless in Von Gimmick's backyard, and a hungry red breasted robin was quickly descending when he spotted the insect below.
The bird hastily made his way down and landed, pecking the unique ant and darting off into the sky with his breakfast. The robin noticed a burning sensation in his beak, as the droplets of Von Gimmick's potion seeped onto his tongue.
As the robin flew over a field and approached lone railroad track, he couldn't take the unbearable pain anymore and accidentally dropped the insect. Descending like a rag doll, the ant soon hit the gravel on the side of the track hard enough to create a small crater.
And that's when it happened; the ant woke with a gasp and finally opened his eyes to reveal curious yellow orbs and human-like black irises. The insect breathed slowly and brought his hands up to further inspect himself, but he then looked down at the crater and back up at the sky in wonder.
"Strange…judging by the depth of this crater, I must have fallen from a deathly height—but I can't feel a thing," the ant spoke in a raspy and high-pitched voice, and then he noticed something else was really off, "Wait…who am I…what am I?"
The ground suddenly started shaking and rumbling as the ant stood, further arising his curiosity. But just when he was going to look the other way down the track, a locomotive and its freight train came thundering through. The ground shook violently and even knocked the ant off his feet, and he watched in terror and awe as the chain of gigantic objects raced by.
"Jumpin' jets," the ant breathed and smiled in amazement, "A vehicle of this size and traveling at this speed must have dangerously unstable inertia!"
As if he jinxed it, a car towards the middle of the train passed by and caught the ant's attention when he heard the loud clanking of a coupling, as it bounced violently over the bumpy tracks. Once the car ran over the largest bump, the car tipped over and leaned to the right as the rest of the train in front continued on.
The ant looked up in fear and his antennae drooped, as the car and the rest behind it threatened to crush him. But as soon as it crashed into the gravel, and the ant expected a swift death…but it never came. He clenched his teeth and slowly opened his eyes while holding his arms up when he heard soft clanking; miraculously, he was lifting the car, and with little effort, to boot.
"This…this is impossible," the ant grunted while straightening his back, "I shouldn't be capable of accomplishing this, it's a feat beyond comprehension and physics!"
With another grunt, the insect pushed forward to try and get the train back on track, but he noticed the ground, or lack thereof, was different as closed his eyes while pushing harder. He looked down when the car was to find yet another impossible event: He was no longer on the ground, and was floating in mid-air with the car still in his grasp.
He gasped in shock and accidentally dropped the car, causing it to land perfectly on the track with a loud thud and some of the freight inside to bounce out. He looked at his hands once more with even more terror than before, questioning his own strength.
"This isn't right…I-I need to tell someone…I can't possibly be a normal creature, let alone an average ant…" the ant muttered to himself meekly, and quickly looked over the horizon to find any sign of help. Luckily, his eyes landed upon a tall and pointy, grey mass many miles away, but he instantly knew exactly what it was.
"A city. Perfect…but I don't think I'm flying there."
Struggling to learn how to land, the ant sloppily floated back down and landed face first in the gravel. But once more, he felt little to no pain, and hastily ran in the direction of civilization. And as the insect crossed the field, the same robin who snatched him up before, hovered high up in the sky, keeping a close eye on the ant—with a hateful glare.
By the time the ant reached the city, the sun had reached its highest peak begin the afternoon, and he was ecstatic to find out where he was and find help. He soon came up to a half-built building on the outskirts, and climbed up on some scaffolding to get a better view. And when he reached the top, he was speechless at the vast community and bustle below.
"What an interesting way to build a nest. It's certainly more—modern than most insects' homes," the ant muttered, and then rubbed his chin in confusion, "Then again, how would a simple ant like myself know what modern society is? …I have yet to learn so much about this world, let alone myself, so I should find a reliable source for research."
Just then, the ant noticed some strange two-legged beings far below wearing flashy orange coveralls and bright yellow shells on their heads, "Interesting…humans with warning coloration…perhaps they could help me."
The ant started to climb down carefully, soon reaching the ground and approaching the group of large humans, but they didn't seem to notice him at first.
"Excuse me, Sir?" The ant's voice seemed to fall upon deaf ears, so he tugged on his pant leg to get his attention, only to unknowingly pull too hard and pull the one side of the man's pants down, embarrassing him by revealing some of his underwear.
"Oops…" One of the construction workers noticed the ant and wasted no time in attempting to crush him, but his efforts to crush him were just as futile as the train's, as his foot was quickly thrown back.
"Whoa, what the hell?!" the worker cried and fell back from the momentum.
"I think I've overstayed my welcome," the ant whimpered and tried to back away, but more large men appeared behind him and also tried to smash him between the ground and their boots.
But at the very last second, the ant suddenly darted off into the air, leaving them all dumbfounded as he flew away. The ant started to lose control as he flew forward, and his luck dwindled rapidly as he was fast approaching the busier and more crowded parts of the city.
Elsewhere, a young black man in his late teens was leaving his apartment building, as he showed off his black paperboy hat, light blue double denim jacket and darker jeans, as he strolled through his neighborhood.
The young boy soon came up to a somewhat busy intersection, and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets while waiting for the crosswalk signal to change.
"Just another day in the life of Nicky M," the man sighed in boredom while leaning against a pole, but turned his head in interest when he heard a car's breaks screech around a block, and the very same car sloppily made a turn and sped towards the intersection.
"What the-?" Just before he could finish his sentence, he cut himself off when he noticed an odd red dot on the windshield, which effectively seemed to catching the driver's attention.
The car's swerving ceased as he neared the intersection, but his speed did not, and so he ran a red light and nearly collided with a few oncoming cars on the sides. And as soon as the speeder passed the man, the same red dot suddenly flew towards him while screaming in terror.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! LOOK OUT!" But its warning was too late, as it humorously flew into the man's mouth and partially slid down his throat.
Stunned, the panicked and started to hyperventilate while trying his hardest not to swallow the foreign object.
"Hey, stop moving! You're gonna make it worse!" the object's voice was muffled, but the man hastily stopped moving and mumbled frantically, "Yes, I know this looks bad, but just listen to me or else we're both going to do something we'll regret. You got it?"
He mumbled an "Uh-huh," as best he could, again without swallowing or inhaling.
"Good. Just sit tight while I climb out." The next thing he knew, he felt an unpleasant tickling sensation in his throat, and his face cringed when he felt it get closer to his uvula.
"You're gonna…make me puke…" he stuttered while hunching over and opening his mouth even wider.
"I would be able to move better if you'd stop moving!" the object snapped and suddenly darted out of his mouth, seemingly without hitting his gag reflexes. And as the object floated and shook off the saliva in disgust, the young man could believe his eyes.
"You're an ant," he gasped, a faint but noticeable ghetto accent in his voice.
"Yes, and you are a Homo Sapien. Shall we delve deeper into this racial topic?" the ant questioned sarcastically.
"B-But…y-you're talking…and flying…how are you-?"
"I know as much as you do, Sir. Speaking of which, what is your name?"
"U-Uh, Nicky…Nicky Manos."
"Well, Mr. Manos, I wish I could further introduce myself as well, but I'm afraid I don't have a name. I am just an ant with no name and superpowers."
"Yeah, no kiddin'. But what're you even doing here? How did you get here?!"
"Like I said: I haven't the slightest idea."
"Then what do you know, Man?"
"Not much—except that I have super strength and flight. I also know that I need to find out more about how I came to be, so would you be so kind as to give me directions, or even tell me where I am?"
"You're in New York City, the city that never sleeps. So, good luck survivin' out here, Man—you're gonna need it."
With that, the crosswalk signal finally changed, and Nicky walked across the road like he originally planned, but the ant followed him into the city.
"You seem to know your way around. Couldn't I stay with you for a while?" the ant asked with high hopes.
"No way! I'm pretty sure I'm losin' my mind, and there's no way I'm indulgin' the ant that's talking to me," Nicky hissed in protest, trying to ignore the insect as he started speed-walking.
"I will admit, this is something you would consider out of the ordinary."
"Way out of the ordinary, Man." Nicky finally turned to give the ant a cold scowl, but it was a big mistake.
"Watch out!" In the blink of an eye, Nicky looked back ahead to find that he had one foot in an uncovered manhole, and he expected to fall to his death. But when he pulled his hands from his eyes, he saw the manhole a few feet below him, and that his feet weren't touching the ground anymore; he then noticed a pulling on the back of his jacket, and he glanced up to find the ant carrying him effortlessly.
"Holy cow! You just saved my life, Man!"
"Aw, it was nothin'. After all, it's the right thing to do, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so…but I really owe ya, Alonzo."
"Alonzo?" the ant repeated with a sneer.
"I gotta call you somethin', don't I?" Nicky asked with a smirk, as the ant carefully put him back down on the sidewalk.
"I suppose so…but I honestly don't like that name."
"Yeah, it's not one of my smartest ideas. I'll keep thinkin', but along the way." Nicky flashed the flying insect a knowing smirk, as he started walking again.
"What do you mean?"
"You're comin' with me."
"But I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with me."
"Hey, we all say things we regret sometimes. Now, c'mon, I wanna show you where I work—just try ta stay out of sight, Alf."
"Keep trying, Nicky."
Nicky and the ant soon arrived at a humble little barber shop by the name of 'Euro's Barber Shop', and a buff man with pale skin and a long black beard could be seen through the window, trimming the hair of a male customer.
"A barber shop, huh?" the ant asked out of curiosity, "Don't these places offer hair care?"
"Yup," Nicky simply replied.
"Well, what do you do here? Do you trim hair? Shave beards? How about make expensive perms?"
"Nah, I just sweep hair."
"Oh."
"I know, it's not as impressive as Mr. Euro's professions, but it's just where I'm at right now, and I ain't complanin'."
"Mr. Euro?"
"My boss. And I'm wanrin' you, takin' ant or not, you better stay outta sight, Aaron."
"That one doesn't do it for me either. But you better get inside, or else you'll be late. I'll be alright."
With a nod, Nicky hastily pushed the door open and rang the little bell inside, alerting his intimidating boss of his arrival.
"You're two minutes early, Nicky," Mr. Euro pointed out in a thick Russian accent, never taking his eyes off of his customer's head.
"I thought that was a good thing," Nicky jokingly argued while getting behind the counter to grab his apron, and then grabbed his broom and dustpan.
"You know I expect you to be at least five minutes early, Boy."
"Right. Won't happen again, Mr. Euro."
"You're darn right it won't happen again—otrod'ye."
As Nicky began his normal routine of sweeping up the excess hair, he looked up in fear when he saw his new ant friend in the window and excitedly waving at him. To try and save him, Nicky bared his teeth and batted a hand to the left to try and signal him to go away, but to no avail; he even started mouthing "Go away," but the ant was still in the window.
When Mr. Euro noticed the odd silence and checked on his sweeper boy, who stopped moving and smiled innocently at the very last second. But Mr. Euro still suspected something was and looked at the window with a glare, only find nothing there.
The big man scoffed and shrugged before going back to taking care of his customer again, allowing Nicky to slouch and sigh in relief. But it still begged the question: What happened to the ant?
"Hey, Nicky," there was a whisper in the said young man's ear, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Luckily, he didn't get his boss' attention this time, but he still wasn't happy to find the ant inside and floating right next to him.
"I told you to stay outside," Nicky whisper-shouted angrily.
"No, you said to stay out of sight," the ant corrected with a snarky smirk, making Nicky grunt and roll his eyes in defeat.
"Fine, you can stay in here. But if my boss so much as sees you, I ain't gonna be able ta save you."
"Oh, don't worry. Your boss won't know what he's dealing with until it's too late."
"Nicky! Stop talking to yourself like a psikh, and get back to work!"
"Yes, Sir! Sorry, Sir!" Nicky rapidly started sweeping, but managed to send his friend a few death glares. "You better not get me in anymore trouble, Axel."
"Ok, one: That one doesn't fit either. And two: Why do they all start with the letter a?"
"'Cause you're an ant."
"That's vaguely racist."
Nicky's shift ended at five o'clock that afternoon, and his new ant friend was eager to go with him and see where he lived; though, he was a little surprised it wasn't somewhere close to the hustle and bustle parts of the city, and that it was a more quiet—among New York standards, at least—apartment building out towards the suburbs.
"So, this is the abode of the famous sweeper boy, Nicky Manos?" the ant questioned jokingly.
"Yeah, it's also home ta Robert De Niro and Eartha Kitt," Nicky informed sarcastically.
"Really?"
"No, Man! You're too gullible!"
"I was asking out of disbelief. Anyway, I can't wait to meet your family."
"Oh, no! You don't wanna do that."
"Let me guess: It has something to do with that fact that I'm an ant with too many human-like qualities."
"Exactly. My parents are real big believers is God, and my sister can't stand bugs. Trust me, she's just as bad as Mr. Euro. But if any of them sees you, it won't end well either way."
"Ok, ok, I get it. Your family is just as irrational as you and your boss."
"Hey, I'm not the irrational one here! I'm the one invitin' a freak of nature like you inta my house!"
"Touché."
"Big Bro's home, Big Bro's home!" a tiny voice called from inside the building, and a little girl with dark skin and poofy hair in pigtails ran up to the said young man in excitement. Acting out of fear, Nicky quickly grabbed the ant in his hand and held him behind his back to keep him out of sight.
"H-Hey, Tiana," Nicky greeted nervously, trying desperately to keep the squirming ant in his grasp from escaping.
"Momma made spaghetti for dinner, Big Bro!" Tiana informed with a smile.
"You're serious? Oh, that's awesome!" Nicky forgot about the ant in his hand for a split second from his genuine excitement.
"C'mon, c'mon! It's ready!" Tiana suddenly grabbed one of Nicky's hands in attempt to pull him inside, but she unknowingly grabbed the hand that the ant was in, so he had to ball his hand into a fist to keep her from finding out.
"Wait!" Tiana reluctantly stopped and looked up at her brother in confusion. "I-I'll be in in just a sec, Tia."
Tiana smiled again and dropped Nicky's hand, excitedly turning around and skipping into the building. The ant finally had enough and broke out of Nicky's hand, flying up into his face in anger.
"At least give me a warning next time," the insect hissed.
"You're welcome, Angel."
"Uh, no."
A half hour later, Nicky and his friend headed up the second floor where his apartment was, and joined his family at the table for dinner. He and his little sister sat together on one side, and his parents sat together on the other; Nicky's parents were Teresa and Nicholas Manos, with his mom sharing the same darker skin tone with him, and Tiana looking more like her father.
"How was church, Pops? I'm guessin' empty since, ya know, it's Saturday," Nicky began with a smirk.
"There are plenty of poor souls out there who are glad to go to church on Saturdays, Nicky. You could learn a thing or two from them," Nicholas gently yet firmly protested, and his son held his hands up in defense.
"Do you have ta read at the table?" Teresa asked in annoyance, as her husband paid more attention to the newspaper in his hand than his own family, as per usual.
"Yes, I do," Nicholas simply replied. Out of nowhere, a high-pitched chuckle could be heard from somewhere in the room. Everyone glanced at each other in confusion, and then Teresa checked under the table. The ant was hiding under the table while snacking on a meatball, so Nicky quickly grabbed him in his hand and hid him behind his back before his mother could see him.
When his mother looked back up at him, he made a terrible attempt to mock the same high-pitched laughter and leaned down as well, "Sorry! Dropped mah meatball! I'm, uh, done anyway."
Nicky then grabbed the dirty meatball and put it on his empty plate, standing from his seat and taking his dishes to the sink.
"You are being the absolute worst house guest right now," Nicky whispered to the ant in annoyance, as the two headed to Nicky's room.
"I can't help it if your family is so tediously cliché," the ant protested, flying into Nicky's room before he could close the door on him, "Tell you what, when you help me find more about who I am—and when you give me a better name—I'll be on my merry way, and you'll never see me again."
Nicky pondered this for a moment, and the smirked in appeasement, "I could live with that."
So, the two shook on it—granted, it was slightly difficult for Nicky to grab the ant's tiny, three-fingered hands—but they somehow sealed the deal in the end.
"By the way, how 'bout Allen?"
"Still no."