A Bug's Life: The Ant Queen
Chapter 10
Long Live The Queen (Part II)
With Flik's announcement landed his airborne fellow insects, as every bug sitting atop the wagons all jumped off once they were set down on the ground of scorched black and ash. While Atta and everyone else gave themselves a minute to regather their bearings, Flik sped to the wagon's rear and back he quickly came with a stone club slung over his shoulder with a grass blade. Offering each other an affirming nod, Flik gave a gentle pat on Atta's back, before gesturing the other bugs to get crawling on all hands and feet.
Skulking through the barren forest of dead stalks and some gnarled bushes, like the creepy crawlies they as insects were known for, they were out and swiftly they hid behind some rocks to avoid detection by hornets on constant surveillance for any daring trespassers.
"There it is: the Hornet's Nest. Just inside that tree," Flik pointed with brood in his voice, as he peeked out of the rocks slightly. Shivers were sent creeping down everyone's backs upon the foreboding sight of the Hornets' Nest housed within the wailing tree, and what followed were their worried murmurs, "Woah...", "Dim feeling scared...", "I think we all are, Dim", "It surely doesn't look very inviting at all!", "I think I'm gonna wet myself!"
Flik turned to Atta, only to see she was staring at the tree intensively, before pointing her eyes downwards into deep contemplation. Atta felt it, this was it; there was no turning back, even with the temptation of doing it out of fear, as she had made it this far and was now nearing the end of her adventure.
She knew at this point there was no quitting, as everything she'd been through, every decision she had ever made, would be for nought, as all this had been leading up to this exact moment: save Dot and the ants, and at last put an end to Thistle's madness. Shifting her face towards Flik, having already decided inwardly that the mad hornet queen must be stopped, no matter what the cost may be, Atta imparted with him a firm nod. Flik could tell from her determined expression that a lot was stirring up in Atta's mind, and thus nodded back in response.
"Hey Curlin's, so remind me quick," Charlie spoke up, "The clowns go in and try crackin' them horns up, while we break out the ants?" "Right about the plan!" answered a confident Atta, feeling it was essential to have confidence on her side if her plan were to work; if it otherwise failed, there would never be another chance to do this again.
"Atta, if I may?" interjected Nettle, "As soon as they're brought before my mother, she would immediately suspect this plan to be obvious, since she already knows about them through her scouts!" She raised a rather good point, both Atta and Flik thought, since Thistle pretty much knew everything that transpired before she ever paid her threatening visit to Ant Island, all thanks to the informants she sent every once in a while to keep track of what was happening over there.
"Which is why we need bait! And I know just the perfect candidate for the job!" Flik piped up, as he eyed Heimlich with a knowing smirk, who simply leaned his head to the side, gawking at him in confusion as to what he was implying, "What? What're you all looking at me for?"
Standing guard in front of the entrance leading up into the Hornet's Nest were Thistle's royal bodyguards; because the two hornets were both unusually huge for their size, they were personally deemed perfect by their queen for taking up the role of escorts, as well as defenders of the nest.
What distinguished them from the other drones, apart from their bulk, was that they had spiky chestnut shells for helmets instead of the walnut shells the rest wore. The two guards silently stood still, as they scanned the area around them, having their pointed spears ready to pierce any perceived threats to their nest.
What would catch the corners of their eyes, however, was the sight of what appeared to be group of exotic bugs approaching them from a close distance, with a couple carrying something rather large and heavy, blanketed by a blue napkin decorated with patterns. Coerced by their suspicion of the group having ill intentions, the giant hornets walked up to them and then crossed spears, blocking them from proceeding any further.
Out in the front of them came Slim, introducing himself and the circus bugs, even Charlie among them, while assuming the role of their ringleader, "Good evening, gentlebugs! We have come as a surprise for your banquet! And we've brought something that will definitely leave your beloved queen all the more impressed!" The guards exchanged bewildered looks, as both were left dumbfounded by the fact that there was a walking stick, actually talking to them. Regardless, one of them left to inform their queen about their unexpected visitors, leaving the other to stay with the troupe until they return.
Watching from above, as the drones gutted, tore apart and feasted on the white mushy flesh of the many ants that fell victim to their voracious appetites, was Thistle sitting rather comfortably in her throne of twisted sticks, snacking on her bowl of ant limbs, one handful after the other.
Suspending off to her side from the ceiling was Dot, shrunken into a ball of misery inside her cage of twigs, desperately trying to hang onto that dying hope that Flik or at least someone would come soon to pull her out of this nightmare; she even buried her own antennas into herself, blocking out any more noises that she could not stand listening to any longer.
Appearing at Thistle's side was one of her guards, which she paid no mind to, finding herself too busy stuffing her face with those delicious ant limbs. Irritated by a mere tap on the back, Thistle whipped around to face her guard with a scowl, "What?! I'm busy eating!" Before their mouth could utter a single word, however, they were instantly cut off when Thistle blurted out, "Nah-ah! Did I say you could speak?" This conflicted the guard, as their tongue was holding back the need to let their queen know of the circus bugs' appearance, out of respect.
"NO!" shouted Thistle, jolting the guard, "In case you've forgotten, I speak! You DO! Full stop! Like, is that really hard to memorise?!" The poor guard was left standing there, unsure of how to respond, "Now, if you have something that you'd like to say to me, whisper it here!" With an annoyed Thistle pointing to her antenna uncurling itself, the guard was induced to bow their head in an apologetic manner, before scooching up to her and then breaking the news. Hearing this widened Thistle's eyes with surprise, since she already knew of their involvement in Ant Island's affairs.
"Really? Well, why didn't you say so? Bring them in!" demanded Thistle, actually excited in meeting the circus bugs themselves, the same ones that aided the ants in chasing the grasshoppers off into exile. Leaving Thistle to resume munching on her snacks, off the guard went to fetch their fellow other to escort the circus bugs in.
Once they were out of Thistle's earshot, however, the guard growled in frustration of having to be reminded of that one rule being enforced throughout the Hornets' Nest, where no worker nor drone could discuss whatever they had in mind amongst themselves, only disclosing it with their queen and her alone through whispering. Almost the whole nest knew how much Thistle despised gossip, especially when it was behind her back, dreading it could potentially lead to a conspiracy against her or even ignite a revolution at worst. With this rule in place, Thistle could rule every hornet with her iron fist and therefore keep them in line.
The circus bugs and Charlie were still waiting outside with their gift, as they were being circled around with eyes locked on them by the other suspicious guard. "Say... Would you like to hear a joke to pass the time, perhaps?" asked Slim, breaking the awkward silence at last, which in turn halted the huge hornet in front of him. Their inquisitive grunt impelled Slim to go ahead, "Okay, had the snail ever crossed the road?"
When the curious guard simply rose their eyebrow, Slim answered enthusiastically, "Don't know! Because they haven't gotten there yet!" Expecting a laugh or at least a snicker from the hornet, all he was met with was a deadpan stare and even some facepalming from his friends. What added to the unfunny joke was a series of loud chirps, which turned everybody towards Charlie, rubbing his wings together. "Sorry," Charlie said with a sheepish smile, as his wings stopped chirping.
Right next to them returned the other guard, whispering to their antenna about their queen's demand for them to be brought in. Nodding in agreement, the guard faced the bugs once again, and this time they pointed their spear at them, causing some of them to flinch a bit, and then towards the nest's entryway. Given the permission to come in, all the bugs with their tribute were now being escorted into the Hornet's Nest by the guards in front and back.
The last bug to enter was Charlie, as he turned his head slightly towards something and giving a quick wink and a thumbs-up close to his stomach, thankfully going unnoticed by the large hornet trailing behind him.
Recognising that to be the signal, Flik, Atta, and Nettle sneaked in through, one by one. Going up the cylinder passage and all they saw inside was darkness, only lit with some patches of dimming green, illuminated by dying fungal growth on the walls and pillars. Their antennas had picked up echoes of many hornets joyfully engorging themselves, some of them even laughing as they indulged their food. Not giving up hope upon hearing this, Flik turned towards the two princesses behind him and beckoned for them to hurry, to which they complied without question, knowing time was of the essence for the surviving ants; their minds were unfortunately instilled with the acknowledgement that some of them had ended up being served in platters.
Meanwhile, flying up by many levels and the escorted bugs had finally reached the top floor, interrupting the banquet being held. Just the grim sight of the hornets devouring the ants they once interacted with had all the circus bugs stunned into silence, with mouths slightly agape and eyes broadened.
"COME FORTH!" bellowed a deep powerful voice, snapping them right out of their petrified state; looking upwards and glaring down at them was the hornet queen they recognised to be Thistle, sitting atop the imposing monstrosity of sticks clustered together, with a hand on cheek and a leg over the other. From their perspective, she appeared way more ghostly than how Atta or Flik described. Forcing a gulp, Slim and his fellows began approaching, albeit slowly.
Doing their best in ignoring the many hungry eyes following their every movement, the bugs pressed on and kept going until they were all brought to a stop, as signalled so by Thistle's raise of hand from her throne's armrest. What would then break the tense silence filling the air of the hall for what seemed like a minute, however, was when the impatience growing within Thistle had her groaning and rolling her eyes hard, "Just state your business already!"
"Oh! Right!" Slim whispered sharply to himself, clearing his throat, before finally starting, "First of all, I'd just like to say: greetings and salutations, your majesty!" Upon witnessing the walking stick's pitiful attempt at a respectful bow, Thistle gave a mere chuckle, finding it frivolous. Slim resumed, "And as you can see, we are the world's greatest bug circus! It is in our honour to have been invited to perform for your lovely banquet! But you haven't seen everything yet! As we've also brought a special gift, just for you!"
Snapping all his stick-like fingers had the patterned napkin removed from what every hornet in the hall were about to feast their eyes on; surrounded by dried leaves and an array of other supplements was Heimlich on a bark piece, with eyes closed and a single boysenberry in his mouth. Because caterpillars were considered a favourite delicacy amongst hornets, every one of them were salivating at their brims, some even licking them intensely. As for Thistle, she simply thrummed, as if she wasn't expecting this from a bunch of clowns. "So, what you say, your majesty? On with the show?" Slim asked almost sheepishly, smiling as he spread his arms outwards, prompting his friends in doing the same; even Charlie, who wasn't a circus bug himself, went along with their planned act.
Having their business stated right there and then, Thistle grabbed her chin and up-pointed her eyes deep into pondering about the circus bugs in front of her; everyone could feel the tension beginning to grow, as they awaited her reply. Suddenly, her eyes broke out with an epiphany; because she was already let know of the circus bugs, thanks to her spies, Thistle realised that since they were here in her home, then that could only mean that Flik and her unruly daughter must've had a plot devised to save the surviving ants, whilst they served as the diversion. Thistle seemed to had found this to be the funniest joke of all time, as once upon figuring it out, she let out a hard wheeze, before eventually exploding into hysterical guffawing that could be heard all around the Hornet's Nest.
The bugs standing before her were only left perplexed, as this was certainly not the kind of reaction they were anticipating from Thistle. The hornet queen continued crying herself cackling, banging on the armrest uncontrollably, until she finally calmed herself down, allowing a sigh escape her mouth, as she wiped away those warm tears from her face, "Seize them!"
The circus bugs felt as if their hearts hurtled to their stomachs the second she blurted those words, as every drone screeched before taking off from their chairs and held them all at spearpoint. Suddenly, Tuck and Roll were both snatched up by their heads, exclaiming in unison, "Uh oh!" Grass blades were thrown over an unsuspecting Gypsy and then tied around her arms and waist, making her cry out to her husband, "NO! Let me be! MANNY!" "You get your grubby claws off my wife, you rapscallions!" Manny shouted in anger of seeing his wife being bound and forcibly dragged away by the hornets, but was stiffened by a drone snarling at him, holding their spear near his throat.
Watching his friends being grabbed infuriated Francis, balling his hands into fists, but before they could be hurled, he too had found himself restrained, as he was being picked up from under his arms; no matter how hard Francis fought, his strength was overpowered by the hornet's hold.
"W-w-wait! W-w-we can perhaps negotiate?" Slim stammered frantically, before he was grasped by the neck from one of Thistle's bodyguards, who only growled at his face through their bared teeth, furrowing their eyes deep into his with a deathly glare. Feeling a poke from a pointy stick in his rear had shot the boysenberry out of Heimlich's mouth and into a drone, knocking them back with a smack in the face and a yowl. "Ow! That really hurt!" Heimlich blurted out in pain, until he quickly realised all the seething hornets around him closing in with no way out, which turned his bright green complexion pale, as he whimpered and recoiled from the sight of all those spearheads pointing at him.
Feeling his feral instincts kicking in, Dim reared up and let out a furious roar, before charging at the surrounding hornets, knocking them back all over the place. Dim's rampage didn't last long, however, as when he rose up again to attack, several grass blades swiftly caught his feet from behind, pulling his body, until he was turned over onto his back and all his six feet were then tied together, therefore pinning him down. "DIM!" Rosie yelled out in worry, but before she could rush over to help, she had many spears near her neck, freezing her in place.
In spite of his best attempts at fending off the hornets, though, no matter how many punches he threw, spears he had countered and kicks he launched with his spiky legs, Charlie quickly found himself overwhelmed by the more hornets that engaged the more he struggled, with one of them even inflicting a thwack across his face with their spear, nearly knocking him cold.
The entire time this all transpired, Thistle only sat there on her throne, leering as she smugly took a sip of the nectar from her leaf chalice and mauled on her bowlful; whereas for Flik and Nettle, this only made Thistle's sneer crack further, knowing that something was already awaiting them in the lower levels, where the remaining ants were kept...
To be continued...
Quick Author's Note:
Hi guys, FireAntKing2311 here. It's been quite a long time since the last time I've uploaded anything really, but I've just been busy with a lot recently. I had to take care of things going on in my life, like college work and my job and whatnot.
Anyway, the second part to Chapter 10 is here at last! However, as I was writing this chapter, I had noticed that I couldn't fit everything in and I wanted to do the climax justice, since there is a lot going on. So, I've decided to split Chapter 10 up into four parts, unlike some other chapters that were split into only two, as I want this chapter to be the most jampacked and as satisfying as it can be; expect to see a lot happening in the last two parts, especially the last one, but even so, the story wouldn't be finished yet, since I still have the ending and the epilogue to deal with, once I've finished Chapter 10.
Again, I want to apologise for the long wait, but hopefully with this, you're all pretty much filled in as to what has been going on with this story; just to clarify, this story is not going anywhere and I don't plan on giving up on it anytime soon. I've spent too long working on this, only for me to just abandon it. I will try to get the remaining parts to this chapter and the last chapters done sooner than possible, but it will take awhile, since, like I said, I have life to deal with.
That's all I have to say for now, so stay tuned for the other two parts, as you will see the final confrontation between Atta and Thistle; after all, this is the moment that the story has been building up to.
FireAntKing2311, out.