Power Rangers Fury Swarm chapter 1

In a universe where humanity's gone extinct and insects have inherited the world, the world of Nopterra is under siege by a twisted and powerful force. However, not only was Nopterra destroyed, the entire universe was destroyed as well… save for a handful of survivors. These surviving Nopterrans find themselves in a strange and bizarre new world beyond their comprehension: a world where humans are alive and well. Now that the evil force has entered their new home, these Nopterrans band together to face off against this cruel evil and defend Earth. In the name of Nopterra! It's morphin time! Power Rangers: Fury Swarm!

Episode 1: Nopterra Falls Part 1

Skip and Atlas were running for their lives from a Woodpiercer, the nightmarish descendant of a woodpecker. The creature chased the brothers, though they were not bound by blood. Or rather, by Hemolymph, for they were not human. No, they were Nopterrans, descendants of insects that in the wake of humanity's death had become the dominant species.

Like the insects they descended from, Nopterrans were an eclectic bunch full of differences. Skip was a Lubber, the descendant of a humble grasshopper. Like many of his kind, Skip was lean and fast, though what he was outrunning kept the pace with him and his brother. His adopted brother Atlas was a Dynast, descended from the Rhinoceros Beetle. While Dynasts were not as normally as fast or as spry as a Lubber, Atlas had lived his entire life on the farm from which he and Skip had left mere days before and was more than capable of keeping up with his big brother (even if Atlas was the taller of the two).

But the creature that hunted them was far too fast, and soon the brothers were cornered at a cliffside. Atlas spoke first, "Is this the end Skip?" Skip nodded grimly, "Sure looks that way big guy." Atlas and Skip hugged as the beast bore down on them. But then something odd happened.

From above them, in the distance, a descending scream could be heard, causing the Nopterrans and the Woodpiercer to look up. What they saw was absurd, so much so that the brothers wondered if this was some sort of dying dream. But then this assumption was proven false as the descending scream became a warcry as a falling nopterran used the flag they carried as a makeshift spear, piercing the brain of the Woodpiercer and killing it instantly.

The figure turned to the two brothers and said, "you two are the weirdest Formicans I've ever seen." For the savior of the brothers was a humble Formican scout, descended from the common ant. He obviously descended from a red hive, for the red and black formican hives had been at war for as long as recorded history. And apparently this scout was obviously the most naïve nopterran to ever exist.

Skip couldn't help but chuckle as he extended a hand to his savior, "that cause we're not Formicans. I'm Skip, and I'm a Lubber." Atlas did the same after the Formican was done shaking his brothers hand, "I'm Atlas, and I'm a wildling." Skip frowned and said, "Bro, don't say that about yourself." Atlas looked confused and said, "But all our brothers and sisters do it." Skip sighed and said, "That doesn't make it right."

The Formican cheerfully said, "My names Fig. I'm a scout for my colony, but I'm a bit lost." Skip said, "Hey, my bro and I are headed to Wood Hive, how about you come with us? You can resupply and get a lay of the land." Fig nodded and said, "Sounds good!" He quickly took off, and Skip yelled after him, "Other way!" Fig quickly reversed his direction and ran back to them.


The trio had come upon the forest that surrounded Wood Hive and had gotten to talking about why they were traveling. Fig was endeavoring to create a new colony, while Skip and Atlas were kicked off their family farm after the death of their father Rodya. The brothers intended to head to Wood Hive, one of the true metropolitan cities in Nopterra, to hopefully find work and make plans for their future.

Fig meanwhile was one of the many scouts typically sent by every colony of Formicans to found new ones, and while a very naïve person he was also possessed of boundless optimism and great skill in the art of being a scout. While the Woodpiercer had destroyed the brothers transport and much of the food they had, Fig was able to hunt down and kill Bugsnax, which the brothers insisted on cooking.

Bugsnax were a strange order of creature that arose alongside the Nopterrans, back when the Great Wyrm and Mother Grub restored life to the planet in the wake of the Anthropocene, or the age of man. Almost all of the biosphere had fallen alongside man, and so the newly ascended Nopterrans needed a food source. Mother Grub had taken inspiration from the food of humans and the other dead animals to make strange foodimals, the majority of which were of the arthropod classification. Thus, Bugsnax was the name of these creatures which became the major source of food.

The main reason that they would become the Nopterran food supply was for the simple reason that they were plentiful and widespread. Most of the non Bugsnax based foods were under the control of policies with whom trade was either difficult or dangerous. The humble Aphid which provided the main meat of the nopterran diet outside of Bugsnax was under the control of the Formican hives, and making deals with red hives would mark one as a foe of the black hives, and vice versa. Meanwhile, true honey from the Bombus hives had massive tariffs and taxes added to it.

Bugsnax were also plentiful and harmless to eat. They could thrive even in the wake of an area purged of a Madji infection, and while some could attack Nopterrans they could leave no real lasting damage. Bugsnax could also be eaten raw or cooked any way one liked, even if cooking was preferred due to the natural reluctance to eat such a cute creature. Only the Cicada Caliphate banned the consumption of them, believing them toxins. However, this was the result of their mad and hypocritical religion, and as such not even other wildlings listened to them.

The trio had caught some Bungers and were roasting them over a fire when an unexpected event occurred. Out of the woods came a Bombus woman, with an obviously bedraggled look. This was unusual for any Bombus, as even the lowest worker of any honey factory held themselves with a nobility that rivaled actual nobles of other nopterran species.

The Bombus quickly started to brush off the dust and detritus she had collected and spoke to herself, "Stay calm. You're a future queen. You're unflappable." It was then that a passing lollive dropped a pieder upon her head, causing her to be covered in a splat of pie filling. The Bombus promptly lost it, yelling to the departing creature, "Suck my stinger you freak!" She ranted incoherently for a short while before rearing her stinger to the sky and letting out tooting sounds just as bees did in the Anthropocene to challenge the reigning queen. She slumped to the ground after the second buzzing toot and with a defeated voice she moaned out, "I hate nature."

It was then that she noticed the trio who had seen the whole thing. She blushed a scarlet red (hemolymph having become identical to blood upon insects evolving into Nopterrans), and both Skip and Atlas were stunned by the whole thing. Fig took it in strike and broke off a piece of the bunger and held it out to her, "want some?"

The Bombus huffed imperiously and responded, "Accept food from you lowly commoners? I have my dignity!" Fig opened his mouth to respond, only to be physically restrained by the brothers. They had not known Fig for only a few hours, but they knew whatever he would say would not doubt offend her and given her obviously fragile state of mind it would end badly very fast. The Bombus huffed and stamped off, leaving the three commoner Nopterrans to their meal.


After a day of traveling, the three Nopterrans looked at Wood Hive with wide eyes. Even Skip, the most well-traveled and world wise of the trio, could not help but be in awe of the sheer diversity of the inhabitants. The grand markets of Wood Hive that they had entered had Nopterrans from all the civilized races, and even a few wildlings. Carpenter bees practiced there trade while millipedes and beetles pulling carts full of things from every corner of the supercontinent that bore the name Nopterra.

Fig wandered the stalls, seeing leech witch doctors bargain with green bees and cockroach descended Blatto's before he came across a strange stall full of spider silk with a small Nephilid at the booth. Behind him, a tall and matronly Nephild wove the spider silk, still produced by their Nephilid descendants, into beauteous patterns that sold for fair prices.

Fig struck up a conversation with the merchant, "Hi, my name is Fig." The merchant noticed him and in a very matronly voice said, "Ah, hello there. My name is Silk" she then pointed to the smaller Nephilid, "And this is Argyle." Fig nodded and said, "Well, may I say you have a beautiful kid." This caused Argyle to scowl and respond in a very mature and rage filled voice, "I am not her kid, I'm her husband!"

Silk let out a soft giggle and said, "It's a common mistake, male Nephilids are smaller than females." Argyle frowned and said, "Yeah, buts it's still rude. I'm gonna go on a walk to clear my head." He whistled and a Bullywog came out. This dog-like descendant of common frogs let out a strange combination of a ribbit and a bark, making a "Bork" sound. Argyle picked up the leash and said, "come on Bumpy, let's go to the temple. It's supposed to be very calming." Bumpy let out a Bork and semi-dragged Argyle deeper into town.


Later, Fig met back up with Skip and Atlas, and the trio went to the center of Wood Hive. For at the center of Wood Hive was the grand Temple of the Great Wyrm. Foremost of the Nopterran Gods, the Great Wyrm was the one who brought civilization to the Nopterrans and saved them from the Madji, a nightmarish infection descended from the Cordyceps fungus. The other gods were the life giving Mother Grub, the mosquito maggot like trickster god known as the Vast Wriggler and his court, and the sole humanoid god of the pantheon, the incarnation of death known as the Cloud breather, who resembled a suited up exterminator from half remembered racial memories of that very profession.

Inside the Temple was a truly grand and ornate building, full of shrines and murals primarily dedicated to the Great Wyrm but also to the other gods. After all, this was the grand temple of the Great Wyrm, who all Nopterrans revered. The columns and pillars had designs similar to coiled centipedes, for while the centipedes of Nopterra were a devolved battle beast of the scorpion empire, the Great Wyrm himself looked very similar to a centipede with elements of a dragon like a Chinese Lung. The other murals were to Mother Grub, the wife of the Great Wyrm who breathed life into the blasted waste and ascended Nopterrans to their current form by compressing millions of years of evolution into mere months.

The shrines and murals to the Wriggler and his Court and the Cloud Breather were there, but hidden in nooks and crannies, for they were gods more often appeased than worshiped. Those few who came here to pray to them could find the shrines, but more often they were gods feared instead of revered.

There was a tour group examining the mural of the ancient victory of the Fury Swarm Rangers against the Slaver Ants and there Madji based slaves. A rotund Isop by the name of Rolo let out a small "Amazing" before taking a picture, the pill bug descendant completely oblivious to his surroundings even as he accidentally ran into another tourist, a young female Musca named Iris. This particular descendant of the common house fly was a bit of an air head, so when Rolo ran into her she said, "Oh sorry." Not that Rolo would not have apologized if he wasn't absorbed in his own little world.

The tour group was guided by a priest named Vivo. A young Heteroc, this descendant of the moth was ending the tour when Fig interrupted, "Hi lady! My names Fig, and I need some guidance on where to establish my new colony." Vivo sighed and first said to the tour group, "I guess we can end early." Then turning to the naïve Formican Vivo said, "I know I don't look it, but I'm a guy."

Fig did have enough social awareness to look mortified and said, "Sorry". Vivo shrugged and said, "it's alright, it's a common mistake." Indeed, Vivo was a rather feminine looking male, and while he didn't like getting mistaken for a woman he understood the confusion. Vivo put a hand to his chin and hummed before saying, "As for your new colony, I've not been out of the temple much in my life, but my grandmother should be able to tell you where you can establish a colony." Skip and Atlas had caught up with Fig, but Vivo interrupted them before either could talk, "Whatever you're about to ask, I'm sure my grandmother can answer you better than I can."


In a secluded shrine near the center of the temple Nana Spool, high priestess of the Great Wyrm's faith, met with three important individuals. Or more accurately, two important individuals and a flunky. The first was Gardenia, the princess of the Bombus Hives, who had come to the Temple of the Great Wyrm on the holy pilgrimage all prospective queens must take.

The second figure was Ainzer, an influential Malarial matriarch. Like all female Malarials, Ainzer was a very tall and very attractive woman, and like the Bombus hives the descendants of the mosquitoes lived in a matriarchy. Unlike the Bombus, the matriarchy was completely strict, mostly due to the fact that male Malarials were all insane. Best described as bizarre flying puppets, the male Malarials simply could not function as true citizens, mostly being considered pets at best.

Ainzer herself was old money, her family having been the ones to rediscover synthetic blood, a godsend to all Nopterrans descended from blood sucking arthropods. The Malarial Matriarchy was unchallenged, for only they possessed the way to make it, and only those whose desires were complete annihilation like the Madji dared attack them. Even the Scorpion Empire and other hostile Wildlings were not about to try and take all of the empires descended from bloodsuckers down. The leeches wicked mojo alone, unleashed due to being riled up by the lack of blood, had once killed one of the greatest scorpion emperors.

The third figure was the flunky, not anyone important like Ainzer or Gardenia. Nana Spools teachings of the Great Wyrm meant that she didn't think less of him for that. But it took all the patience she had acquired as both a grandmother and as a high priestess to tolerate him. Fleagor was the third visitor and he was a Siphonor. Like most descendants of the flea, Fleagor was a rather creepy individual. He was Ainzer's butler and manservant, and so would go wherever she went. And Ainzer was here hosting Gardenia as a favor to the current Bombus queen.

Nana Spool spoke, "I am glad to see the traditions being continued. If they weren't, I'd be out of a job." She let out a wry chuckle as she finished talking. Gardenia was about to speak when Fleagor let out a creepy chuckle and said, "Did you know that the Bombus Pilgrimage was actually started because the Bombus Matriarchs wanted to gain a complete monopoly on honey and kill off the honey sauce plants and honey Bugsnax? That why the future queen has to go it alone through the wilderness, cause the servants would sneak off and try to burn the honey plants here in the Great Wyrm's Temple."

Fleagor was ignored by the others, as was often the case with him. Instead Gardenia moved to respond to Nana Spool. She was interrupted by the nearby door flying open as Vivo, Fig, Skip, and Atlas all barged in. Vivo spoke up, "Hey Nana, I'm sorry to interrupt, but these guys have some question for you." Seeing Gardenia about to explode with rage, Ainzer said, "Fleagor, we're leaving." Fleagor replied, "Yes mistress."

As the two left, Gardenia started to breath in and out to calm herself. She was a future queen, she couldn't lose her temper so easily. Fig pointed to Gardenia and said, "Hey, you're that lady who doesn't like bungers." Gardenia's rage cause her to snap at that.


Even as Gardenia gave Fig a royal beatdown, there was something brewing in the stars themselves. For in Nopterra's orbit something was happening. To an observer, it looked like a pane of glass was cracking in the space just around it. Then it exploded, and suddenly the impossible shards froze as the impossible crack in reality glowed an unnatural purple. From it came a space ship, emerging from the shattered space and fixed the rift as it left.

A sleek and aesthetically pleasing ship with an Art Nouveau Style, the master of the ship was a beautiful being known as Van Dorian. While a being from outside of reality, he resembled a rather handsome human man. But his beauty was only skin deep, for he was a monster through and through. His favorite past time, beyond making art, was to destroy entire universes for not meeting his standards. In his wake was a trail of empty places as he removed universes from the multiversal structure.

His ship was crewed mostly by the Krumps, unintelligent mooks born from his attempts to paint when his muse was not inspiring him. These Krumps rustled as they moved, for they were made of paper and given life and strength by dark cosmic paints used by Van Dorian. But they did not aid Van Dorian in more substantial ways than just being chaff.

For he had four generals, each of which was deemed worthy of serving his glorious personage while there universe met the fate all did when Van Dorian deemed them substandard. These four were loyal to Van Dorian, if only because nothing else was left for them. There worlds were gone, nothing remained but service to the one that took everything from them. Each had their own motivation for being loyal to the Mad Artist, but they all served in his dark quest for a perfect world of his own.

Van Dorian spoke to one of his generals, his voice full of cruelty and desire, "Endora, scan the planet below. Have we finally found it? My perfect world?" With a sound like the rustling of leaves, Endora the Autum Witch came forward and began to scan the planet. Resembling a witch, Endora in fact came from a universe where plants arose to be the dominant life forms instead of animals. In truth, Endora was an organic supercomputer, forced into a makeshift body when Van Dorian attacked her world. She had managed to negotiate with Van Dorian for her survival and that of a few others from her world, and now handled the logistical needs.

The scan was complete and Endora responded in her computer like voice, "This world is inhabited by highly evolved arthropods. I will pull up a video feed of their capital, or at least its equivalent." She displayed a video of Wood Hives citizens and Van Dorian exclaimed in disgust, "There so, Ugly!" A voice with a low and hard edge spoke out, "Wouldn't mind squishing some of those bugs myself."

The voice belonged to Swoltair, a jacked up creature with the features of a frog. Unlike the rest of the generals, Swoltair was directly responsible for his worlds devastation. During a bodybuilding competition, Swoltair unlocked his power of lightning flexes and nuked his planet. As the only one left alive, he gave himself the trophy belt which he wears always. The cruelty and power of this action impressed Van Dorian enough to offer the brute a position as his bodyguard, which Swoltair eagerly accepted. With his strength and rock hard skin, he was more than qualified for the position.

The last general currently on the ship of the bridge was a thing seemingly made of animal pelts, with a head that was a deer skull with a single eye glowing a sinister orange. In its right hand, both of which were long clawed paws, was the Fimbulvetr Staff. Comprised of un-melting ice and engraved with Nordic runes, it was a trophy from one of the many universes that Van Dorian had visited. Formed from the essence of Fimbulvetr itself by an Asgardian pantheon that had managed to avert there Ragnarök.

This was Tundros, the longest serving of the Four Generals. His original universe was known only to him and Van Dorian. A melancholic being, he was Van Dorians adviser, and the closest thing to a friend the sociopathic painter had. He alone could sway Van Dorian from a course of action, though he knew that he must ply the ego of the vain madman to gain any results.

Tundros spoke in a voice that was refined, wise, hateful, and unyielding, "I shall lead the Krumps against their capital to ensure the native cannot muster there pitiful resistance." Van Dorian nodded, "Yes, the BFG does take a while to power up. You do that Tundros." He turned to Swoltair and Endora and ordered, "You two, go and find anything worth salvaging on the planet." The generals nodded, and they all teleported away. Tundros vanished in a flock of crows, with a host of Krumps deploying in there one way paper air plane like craft. Swoltair vanished in a flex and a crash of lightning, while Endora vanished in a flurry of leaves.

Alone now, Van Dorian roared out, "Ceres! Where is my snack!" A woman's voice came from a nearby door, one very harsh and spunky, "Keep your pants on, its coming." The door opened and a plant woman came out, her foliage resembling both the robes of a Dutchess and a pitcher plant. This was Ceres, a survivor from the same universe as Endora and Van Dorians chief gardener. For Van Dorian believed that eating beautiful things would make one more beautiful. Thus, no animal was worthy to touch his lips, with only the most beautiful of flowers would ever touch his lips.

A beautiful bouquet was placed on a table and Van Dorian sat down and said, "Bon Appetit." Ceres left in disgust as Van Dorian began to eat. He did not eat by so mundane a method as chewing, but by inhaling and absorbing the life essence and beauty of the flowers. Soon the bouquet was naught but ash, in a way summarizing what Van Dorian truly was.


Gardenia continued to strangle Fig, a small head poked out and a young and cute voice rang out, "What's going on?" Nana Spool turned and spoke with a motherly softness, "Oh Hebe, sorry to wake you honey. It's just some grown up stuff. Go back to sleep sweetie." Hebe was a young Coccine, and like the ladybug which she descended from she was very cute.

Hebe looked at the scene unfolding, and her eyes widened when she saw Fig. She let out a small "eek" and fled back to her room. Vivo was confused and asked, "Why'd she run off like that?" Gardenia meanwhile got bored of strangling Fig and let the scout go. Fig slumped to the floor and gasped for breath a few times.

Nana Spool chuckled a bit at the rough housing before a vision struck her. As the high priestess of the Great Wyrm she has a connection to her god and through the Wyrm to the morphin grid itself. As such, when there was a great threat to Nopterra, she would get warning, though admittedly with only a bit of time to prepare. In her vison she saw a human, or at least something that looked like a human, laughing evilly before Nopterra was consumed in a flash of glowing purple that promised only annihilation.

Vivo recognized the look on his granny's face and asked, "What did you see?" Nana Spool spoke with a hard tone, "You five need to come with me. Now!" So forceful was Nana Spools order that not even prideful Gardenia dared disobey her.


Nana Spool brought the five to a hidden portion of the temple where there were grand murals of strangely clad heroes. Nana Spool began to speak with all the seriousness expected of a sermon, "Back when the Great Wyrm first elevated us Nopterrans from our lowly origins, a great threat arose that threatened to snuff us out before we could begin. The Madji, a fungal infection that had long plagued the ancient insects that we arose from. But when new life was breathed into the earth, so did that ancient blight reach new heights."

She led them to an ancient chest, "To combat this scourge, the Great Wyrm created the Swarm Cogs, and the first Fury Swarm Power Rangers aided him in destroying the True Madji and saving all of Nopterra. I have foreseen a great threat to Nopterra, one that only you five, as the new Fury Swarm Rangers, can defeat."

Nana Spool opened the chest and revealed five cogs and five belts, the cogs each a different color and having a different bug on them. There was a red ant, a blue moth, a yellow bee, a green grasshopper, and a black beetle. Each of the five picked up the cogs that matched them and belt like morphers with obvious reverence.

Vivo asked the obvious question, "How long do we have until this threat comes?" The sound of distant explosions could be heard the second Vivo finished and Nana Spool gave a deadpan look and replied in an equally deadpan voice, "About negative five seconds."


The five newly minted rangers rushed out of the temple to see the city of Wood Hive was under attack by strange paper like creatures. Some of them had strange scythes that resembled a half opened pair of scissors, with the bottom handle of the scissors extending into a staff. Others had giant clubs seemingly composed of rubber bands, which while not elastic like normal rubber bands they were as hard as stone.

The explosions had come from the landing of paper airplane like ships depositing more of the paper things, which made a strange rustling sound instead of true speech. They were met with the defenders of Wood Hive, with the Mantid Warrior Monks being most notable among then. The sisterhood of Mantis descendants used their skill at weapons to defend Wood Hive, which was relatively close to their temple, that being the Shadong Temple.

Others were farmers who had formed their own local branch of the Minutemen Farm Brigade, the elite defenders, and watchmen of all rural Nopterran settlements, brave Nopterrans of all species and gender ready and willing to defend what they cared about. They took up arms with whatever was available and unleashed hostile Bugsnax upon the invaders, for Bugsnax were wild animals that could and would fight for survival against the other life forms, such as lesser bugs not gifted with sapience like the Nopterrans. Originally meant for the butcher shops, these creatures were riled into a frenzy by the invaders. All the Minutemen had to do was open the cages.

It was these Bugsnax who claimed the most casualties out of the invaders ranks, most likely due to their own savage nature as wild animals. Even the normally friendly Bungers were willing to kill, something that they rarely did even in self-defense. Vivo could not help but notice that when the papery beings were destroyed, they burned away into naught but ashes.

Stepping over the ashes was a strange creature, which the Nopterrans recognized was composed of pelts only from the knowledge of what other animals existed alongside mankind. With a strong and harsh voice it spoke, "I am Tundros, The Winter Mendicant. This worlds doom has been proclaimed by the great Van Dorian. Make whatever rituals are necessary for your species, spend your last moments with your loved ones."

Fig dramatically slammed the flag pole on the ground in response and replied, "We won't let some alien who means us harm win! We are the champions of this world, and we will stop you and your master!" the others nodded in response.

Tundros only scoffed and slammed the Fimbulvetr Staff into the ground, instantly causing snow and ice to spread around the ground. With this move, Tundros created an instant and localized snow storm, not enough to damage on its own, but enough to chill and hamper his foes, as well as causing the Bugsnax to flee. He followed it up by firing blasts of ice from the staff, scattering the remaining defenders before charging forward, bringing down the staff on Fig, who just barely brought his flag up in time to block the blow.

As Tundros pressed the weapon lock further he replied with the weight of stating an incontrovertible fact, "You are not the first to make such statements, and I know in my heart you won't be the last." Tundros then kicked Fig, the scout sliding on the ice into a nearby pile of straw. Fig recovered quickly, dusting himself off, rejoining the others, and saying, "I think that its morphin time, don't you guys?" The others responded in the affirmative and inserted the Swarm Cogs into the belt buckle, initiating the morphin sequence.

The new Fury Swarm rangers had taken up there power, each having a helmet that resembled the bug they descended from, while having chest armor that resembled the underside of an insect. They began their roll call, with Fig going first, "The fiery wanderer, Swarm Ranger Red!" Vivo went next, "The sacred wings, Swarm Ranger Blue!" Gardenia went next, "The royal sting, Swarm Ranger Yellow!" It was Skips turn, "The leap of faith, Swarm Ranger Green!" Lastly was Atlas, "The strength of the world, Swarm Ranger Black!" All together the five roared, "In the name of Nopterra! Power Rangers: Fury Swarm!" Behind them the energy run off of the morphin grid caused an epic explosion.

Tundros was distinctly unimpressed, "Power Rangers. I was wondering if there was a local team. But no matter, many rangers have tried to stop us, and all have failed." He snapped his fingers and the papery beings who had been milling around stood at attention, "Krumps, lets test these rangers and get an accurate gage of their strength." The newly named Krumps obeyed and charged forward, while Tundros held back watching with a cunning eye.

Fig fought with incredible strength, easily ten times his body weight, as well as occasionally causing a stone barrier that arose with a single purposeful stomp. Vivo took flight in spite of his wings being covered and fired out blinding dust. Despite not having visible eyes, the Krumps were still effected and were easy prey to the other rangers' attacks when there blind flailing didn't hit other Krumps. Gardenia defended herself with a honeycomb style shield while firing out globules of honey. This honey had many strange effects, such as being so sticky that the Krumps couldn't move, or it acting as a form of explosive. Whether instant or delayed, the honey bombs proved highly effective. Skip could now jump to incredible heights, and with devastating kicks he destroyed the disoriented Krumps. And Atlas charged forward with the speed of an out of control freight train and being hit by him had much the same effect.

The Krumps fell, but Tundros had gotten what he wanted; an accurate view of how these rangers fought. He spoke clearly and certainly, "This is your first fight rangers. Sadly, it will also be your last." Gardenia responded by firing multiple globs of exploding honey at Tundros, which the being froze in mid-air with a single breath before shattering them with a swing of his staff.

This bought the rangers enough time to summon there weapons, and like Tundros they rushed into battle, not giving there foe a second to think. Fig had the Banner Lance, which had a handle resembling an ant with the point being formed from the abdomen. Imbued with earth powers and capable of extending great distances, Fig attempted a few extended strikes before burrowing the lance underground to strike from below.

But Tundros expected that and jumped up to avoid the attack. While Vivo attempted to press the advantage with his moth wing like Morpho War Fans. Sadly, the frigid winds Tundros commanded were more than a match for the winds the fans generated, and Tundros forced Vivo to land. As Tundros fell, Skip jumped up with the Bluegrass Saw Sword, the weapon resembling both a grasshoppers leg and a saw and was sturdy enough to not chip as it met the unbreakable ice of the Fimbulvetr Staff. Skip was sent flying by a kick from Tundros, while the alien landed in a skid.

Gardenia opened fire with Sting Fist Gauntlets, the bee themed single spiked gauntlets able to fire out the blade like spike at a rapid pace. But Tundros countered with a shield of ice, which was replaced as fast as the stings could chip it. But Gardenia was just a distraction for Atlas, who wielded the Hull Crack Kanabo which resembled a beetle's shell with a handle resembles the head of a rhinoceros beetle.

The Kanabo shattered the wall as if it were glass, and the shockwave pushed Tundros back. With a thought, Tundros upgraded the strength of his ice from equal to that of solid steel to that of Tungsten. Atlas then roared out, "Shell Crusher!" hoping to finish off Tundros. The Hull Crack Kanabo became charged with energy and was encased in stones before coming down on Tundros. But before the blow collided, Tundros created a dome of ice to shield himself. The end result was the dome being dented and Atlas sent flying by the shockwave.

Tundros had to admit, it was ultimately there inexperience as rangers that made the Fury Swarm Rangers such an easy fight for him. Given time, they could probably match him in combat prowess. But they had no time, and he the dome down before cruelly laughing and proclaiming, "Its time I end this!" Then a sound like the blowing of a horn could be heard and the sky seemed to start to turn purple. Tundros sighed and teleported away in a swirl of crows as a dramatic and arrogant voice rang out from all directions.

All on Nopterra could hear the voice, "Attention ugly natives, I am Van Dorian, the greatest artist ever seen by any universe. For daring to be so hideous to my perfect sensibilities, you and your entire universe shall be consigned to oblivion." A click of a receiver turning off could be heard, and panic engulfed the planet.


All across Nopterra, the natives desperately tried to do something, anything to forestall there demise. Bugsnax and lesser bugs all stampeded across the land, there primitive brains understanding the danger, even if there response was ineffective. Even the nopterran predators descended from birds and other insectivores understood the coming end, though they grimly accepted it.

The response of the various nopterran governments were no better. The Blatto Hierarchy and other advanced nopterran peoples attempted to destroy the ship that orbited there planet, the few sentences spoken by the mad artist making it clear that there was no bargaining with the being. But the Blatto Hierarchy was the most advanced in terms of space exploration, and the descendants of the humble cockroach had not even managed to yet break the outer layers of the atmosphere.

Elsewhere, in every civilized location, doomsayers began there twisted preaching, and even normal citizens broke down as the rule of law fell away. But more often than not, the inner goodness of the Nopterrans shone through. Families embraced as employers let them go to spend there last moments with their loved ones.


Ainzer's mansion resembled the mansion of an affluent Antebellum southern family. Normally it was bustling with servants, but in the wake of the oncoming apocalypse Ainzer had let all of her staff go to spend their last moments with their families. Only she and Fleagor were left, and Ainzer knew that it was because they were all the other had. Ainzer muttered to herself, "What a depressing thought."

Fleagor spoke up, "Mistress, wont the wards hold? It is second only to the wards of the Temple of the Great Wyrm." He let out no creepy chuckle, for even he could see the sheer danger this Van Dorian posed. Ainzer sighed and replied, "You heard that thing; the weapon will destroy this universe, not just the planet. I doubt the wards lain by the Great Wyrm himself will be able to endure the blast."

Ainzer then gave an order to Fleagor, "Go to the cellar and get the good blood, and two glasses. We'll share one last drink." Fleagor smiled and asked, "Really Mistress?" Ainzer nodded, "Yes. You deserve one good thing in your life." As Fleagor hurried to obey his mistress, an old drunk stumbled and passed out against the manor side, so drunk that not even the oncoming end really registered to him.

In the Grand Temple of the Great Wyrm, Vivo and Nana Spool desperately prayed to the gods for salvation, attempting to work rituals meant to save Nopterra. At the temples opening, Fig watched the purple skies deepen as the weapon powered up. Rolo and Iris were next to him, with Rolo taking a picture of the skies and murmuring, "Amazing."

Fig saw Argyle and Bumpy try to escape, as Argyle yelled out, "My wife is still out there! I can't let her die alone!" He stopped them, more out of instinct than outright thought. And then, the BFG fired, and Nopterra died. Indeed, the universe that Nopterra was in died as Van Dorian cackled evilly.


Deep within a space between universes, a figure watched the fall of Nopterra upon a mirror resembling one found in the backstage of a circus. In the background a calliope played its joyful tune, one made ominous by its placement. He saw the actions of Van Dorian and dramatically began to monologue. "And so the Artist from Beyond has unleashed the destruction he has wrought upon countless universes upon Nopterra. The Fury Swarm rangers valiantly fought, but they were not strong enough to fight them. To all observers, it will seem that this strike upon the world will cause reality quakes that sunder the universe, removing it from the cosmological structure. It may be dead, it may not."

The figure slammed his hands onto the mirrors stand and growled, "But this is not how the story ends!"


The Grand Temple of the Great Wyrm came to rest, and then Nopterrans were all unconscious. As wakefulness claimed them, an unfamiliar voice rang out, "Oh my god!" Looking up, they saw something that should have been impossible. Before them, was a human.

Author notes

Thanks to Krockman18 for letting me write episodes of his works and for beta reading. Go check him out on DeviantArt.

Nopterrans look like the bug humans in the webtoon Anthropods. So look that up for a good reference

here's a little list on which nopterrans look like what, not all of whom are in this episode

short with two eyes and arms: Fig, Fleagor, Rolo, Hebe

Short with four eyes and arms: Argyle

tall with two eyes and arms: Gardenia, Ainzer, Skip, Atlas, Hua Nu (mantids)

Tall with two eyes and four arms; Vivo, Nana Spool

Tall with four eyes and arms: Silk

Yes, Bugsnax are a main source of food for Nopterrans. However, (spoilers for the game Bugsnax) nopterran Bugsnax are not parasites in any way shape or form and are the main source of sustenance for Nopterrans. So no snackification whatsoever, and they can be killed and cooked.

That mysterious figure will become important later

Voices

Fig has the voice of Deku from my hero academia

Gardenia has the voice of the dark queen from the 2020 battletoads game

Skip has the voice of Bumblebee from the 2006 transformers animated

Atlas has the voice of Bulkhead from the 2006 transformers animated

Argyle has the voice of Father from KND

Silk has the voice of Mrs. Spider from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends

Iris has the voice of Leni from the loud house

Rolo has the voice of rube goldfish from SpongeBob

Nana spool has the voice of Muriel bagge from courage the cowardly dog

Ainzer has the voice of lady dimitrescu from resident evil 8

Fleagor has the voice of slappy from SpongeBob

Hebe has the voice of Eri from my hero academia

Van Dorian has the voice of Big Jack Horner

Tundros has the voice of Zeus from the god of war franchise, most of the time he has the voice of gow 2 and on, but when he's softening up he has the voice of gow 1 Zeus

Swoltair has the voice of Lobo from the superman animated series

Endora has the voice of Glados from Portal

Ceres has the voice of blackaracnia from transformers beast war

The mysterious figure has the voice of Lord Fear from the Ace Lightning show

The Madji comes from the amber age insect wars, a fan work for werewolf the apocalypse. Though Krockman18 came up with the fungus independently, I just used the name of something similar.

The Madji is basically the zombie ant fungus, but it affects all Nopterrans. Even the underwater Nopterrans (there's a whole underwater society), but when underwater it's based on barnacles.

Van Dorian is very similar to Warwol, but on a larger scale. If you did not notice, I don't know how.

A male Malarial is basically Crazy Steve with wings and without the crazy sane trope. This will be important later