Welcome to Bugaria

by Jayjar100

As Anne Boonchuy finds herself in a new world filled with talking bugs, she struggles with herself as a person, reuniting with her friends, AND finding a way home. It sounds like an impossible task, but with her new unlikely bug family, she just might be able to.

19. 10a: Wasp Invasion

Act 1 – Welcome to Bugaria

Episode 10a - Wasp Invasion

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Author Note: Welcome back to another chapter! This one's the biggest chapter yet! It's the first part of the finale for the first half of Act 1! I had a ton of fun writing this one! :D

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After making sure that none of them had any lingering sickness, Team Snakemouth was good to go on the Golden Hills expedition. They spent a couple days preparing, making sure they had everything in order, and before long, they had a set plan in mind.

Come tomorrow, they would leave for sure, no matter what happened. It was their last day that they could before another team would get re-assigned to the expedition, anyway.

Anne knew this more than well, which was why she made absolutely sure that there'd be nothing distracting her. She finished up all the shows she wanted to watch and set a few others aside for later, she re-did her area of the house so it would look extra nice when she came back, and she even took on a small quest of her own yesterday to nab a few extra berries.

It was a good thing she did, since Kabbu decided that they should go to the store today. The employees seemed to have mostly forgotten about what Kabbu did here several days back... no hard feelings, hopefully?

"Everyone!" Kabbu said to the others, after making sure that they all wouldn't be chased out of the place. "Before we leave tomorrow, I figured we could all have a little treat. Each of you can pick something out for yourselves, but only one! And it can't be too expens-"

Before he could finish talking, the others already turned and ran in different directions. "...Expensive." Kabbu muttered to himself, sighing in exasperation.

Anne casually walked around the store, her hands stuffed in her pockets. Hm... What to get? So many options, but it wasn't like it would matter too much. Perhaps a snack, or just something to munch on? Yeah, that sounded good. She steered herself to one of the food isles, scanning the shelves... "Aha!"

She found just what she was looking for. On the shelf, there was a Leaf Omelet wrapped up in an airtight container. A Leaf Omelet consisted of leaves wrapped up in a fried egg casing, and something about them always made Anne want more. "Score! And I got the last one!" It'd been a couple weeks since Anne had one, so she reached for it-

Only for another bug to grab it first, Anne retracting her hand back a bit. Anne looked over in shock and disbelief, seeing some random moth holding the container of food she was about to claim for herself. "Hey! I was gonna get that first!" Anne explained, pointing at the container. She really wanted that Leaf Omelet...

The moth scoffed, turning away from her. "Guess you were too slow. Which is to be expected of a stick-bug."

"What?! Don't call me a stick-bug!" Anne yelled, appalled. The moth simply walked away, ignoring her even as she shook her fist in the air angrily. Great, she lost the only Leaf Omelet in the store AND there were random bugs calling her stick-bug now.

Well, maybe she could just get something else. Maybe- "Ack!" Anne stumbled forward as something bumped into her from behind, interrupting her train of thought. "Ow, what was..." She turned around, only to see two familiar faces. Levi and Celia.

Celia wheeled a shopping cart around while Levi stood beside her. "Oh, hey you guys." Anne greeted, remembering them from all the way back when she asked for advice from them... wow, it'd been a long time. "It's been a bit, how's it hanging with-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Celia abruptly pushed the cart into her again, Anne flinching in response. "Stick-bug, move out of the way!" Celia said loudly. ...Oh yeah, now Anne remembered where the whole 'stick-bug' thing started.

"Celia!" Levi scolded his partner. "Anne prefers to be called a human! Also, say please."

Before Celia could say anything, Anne wordlessly stepped aside, allowing Levi and Celia to move their cart through the aisle. Well, this was clearly a bust. Anne was getting a bit frustrated, but she tried her best to calm down, telling herself that she could just get something else. Not having a Leaf Omelet wouldn't be the end of the world, right? Absolutely. Anne walked out of the aisle, taking a few steps toward-

"Whoa!" Anne stepped onto a wet spot on the floor without realizing, causing her to slip, her foot flying forward. She panicked, having no time to adjust herself before she fell backward onto her butt, letting out a cry of pain. "Ow..."

Anne winced, at the same time wondering why none of the employees thought it would be a good idea to put up a wet floor sign. But that wasn't even the worst of it.

The commotion from her slipping attracted the attention of several customers nearby, all of them looking over to see what was going on. When they saw that Anne slipped... they began laughing. At her. Anne shrunk back a bit, growing increasingly embarrassed. The bug made various comments toward her, intermixed with the intense, almost deafening laughter.

"Watch where you're going, stick-bug!"

"That stick-bug couldn't see something even if it was right in front of her!"

"And I used to be scared of her! But she's just some clumsy stick-bug!"

Just like that, Anne was humiliated. Her body froze up, fear coursing through her as if she were in mortal danger. Their comments dug into her as if she were cheap topsoil; she... she needed to get out of here.

Anne abruptly stood up, rushing out of the store as fast as she could. She didn't care about buying anything anymore, she just needed to get out. The customers and even an employee laughed and pointed at her as she ran to the front door, Anne not looking back.

She nearly pushed the doors off their hinges as she ran out, tears forming in her eyes that she was quick to wipe away before anyone could make fun of her for that as well. The doors slowly closed on their own, the sounds of laughter finally dying out. ...It was silent, save for the usual noises of the day-to-day life in Ant City.

Anne released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, closing her eyes and groaning as she leaned against the store wall, trying but failing to forget about all this. The xenophobia never ended, did it? Whether she was getting called a stick-bug here, or random people back home flinging insults just because of her Thai descent... she could never escape it.

Why did this have to happen? She couldn't control the way she was born. She didn't have any say over whether she was Thai or not. She didn't ask to be sent here and treated like she was just an object to be feared and then ridiculed. How could she change this? How...

Time flew by as Anne stood there, stewing in her own thoughts. Before she knew it, the front doors of the store opened again, Kabbu, Vi, and Leif walking out.

"Anne! There you are!" Kabbu said, immediately spotting her. The three of them walked over to her, confusion and concern written on their faces.

"Why'd you run out of the store so suddenly?" Leif asked. Great, they saw her run out?! Hopefully they somehow didn't see the commotion beforehand.

"You brought all the berries so without you, we couldn't get anything!" Vi yelled, Kabbu glaring at the bee afterward. Oh right, Anne did volunteer to bring the berries... oops. There goes that.

Anne sighed, pushing herself off the store wall. "Everyone kept humiliating me in there!" Anne explained. "Even with everything I've tried do and how long I've been here, all the townsbugs still treat me like I'm some sort of freak!" She wished she could just brush it off or push it aside, but it was almost as if it was worse compared to when she first arrived in Ant City.

Back then, everyone feared her like she was some monster about to attack them. It hurt, but she got used to it. As the days passed, and they got used to her... that fear went away, being replaced with ridicule for some ungodly reason. Was it because she was a little clumsy? Didn't look like the other bugs? Or some other reason that she had absolutely zero control over?

Frustrated, Anne crossed her arms, looking away. "I just wish they'd treat me with some decency and respect." Only a very small minority actually gave her that respect. Her friends, Fry, Alex, and a few others...

"Anne, you don't need to earn anyone's respect. You know that." Leif reminded. But this wasn't like when she was pushing herself to her limits, trying to fulfill everyone's quests at the same time. Anne was just trying to live her life when an unfortunate accident happened, everyone making fun of her for it. Was it really that bad to ask for a bit of decency?

"Yeah! And I'll hit anyone who says anything bad about you, Anne!" Vi said, bringing her beemerang out. It was a nice gesture, but...

Kabbu appeared to be in deep thought, trying to come up with something, before... "Oh! Anne, follow me. I want to show you something that I think will help!"

While she didn't know how anything could help at this point, Anne shrugged, deciding to go along with it. Team Snakemouth walked away from the store, the trip taking several minutes before they arrived at their destination in the middle of Ant City, where that big statue was.

"Right here!" Kabbu gestured up at the statue.

Anne looked up, confused. It was just that statue of the ant she saw all the way back when Eetl and Maki led them to Elizant's chambers. "I don't get it."

"W-Well..." Kabbu deflated slightly. "I was going to explain this to you before! But then we got interrupted, then I forgot, and... well, here we are now!" If it was really that important, would he have forgotten so easily?

"The first settler's statue..." Leif cut in, looking up at the statue. A small smile was on his face. "It's nice to see that it hasn't changed. Got a new coat of paint, too." He sure seemed nostalgic.

"Okay, but what's so important about the statue itself?" Anne asked, gesturing to the statue. Hopefully it wouldn't be some old boring story.

"And I heard that the Queen led everyone here, so how come she didn't make a statue of herself?" Vi added with a question of her own.

"You see..." Kabbu began, Anne imagining the following story in her head as illustrations in some sort of children's book. "Apparently, the Queen was heading in a different direction when this ant became lost." In Anne's imagination, there were a group of ants and other bugs led by the Queen, but one of the ants tripped, becoming dazed before wandering off somewhere else.

"Rather than abandoning the ant, she decided to return with her fellow bugkind to find the ant." Kabbu continued. Back in Anne's imagination, the Queen realized that the ant was missing, telling everyone else that they must turn around and find the ant. They retraced their steps, finding the point where the ant split off...

"When they finally regrouped... they were standing in this very soil." Kabbu concluded. Anne's imaginative story finished up as well, with the Queen reuniting with the ant, embracing them in a hug. The illustrations petered out after that, the whole thing not really sinking in.

"I don't get it." Anne shook her head. That story seemed far-fetched anyway, just how much of it was actually true?

"Basically it means that the whole town was built thanks to some clumsy ant." Vi shrugged, not seeming to care too much herself.

"It's a fascinating tale." Leif added, still smiling. "Life works in mysterious ways."

"This is what I mean, Anne." Kabbu said. "Even if someone might appear to be out of place, even if someone might be lost, just like you, just like that ant, they might actually be the right puzzle piece someone needs, and..."

Before long, Anne zoned out, missing everything he was saying. To tell the truth, she didn't care at all. Some old ant from a story that might not even be true wasn't going to help her be treated well in the present. Ugh... where were Sasha and Marcy? How were her parents holding up? Did she remember to turn off the sink before Team Snakemouth went to the store earlier?

"Booooooring." Anne said, wanting to do something else. Kabbu stopped talking, somewhat surprised by Anne's outburst. Vi and Leif snickered at this exchange, Kabbu giving them a slight glare in response.

Yeah, this whole thing was a waste of time anyway. She already forgot pretty much everything Kabbu said; it was as if she was stuck in history class all over again. Anne glanced around, curiosity striking when she noticed two bugs she'd never seen before.

They were far away so she couldn't get a good look at them, but they appeared to be wasps. The shorter one wore a purple belt around his waist while the taller one wore a yellow belt. Anne was sure this was the first time she'd seen them. "Who're those two dudes?" Anne asked, getting the attention of the others. "Are they new here?"

"Huh?" Kabbu asked, still a bit miffed. He looked over, stifling a gasp. "Hide! Before they see you!" Kabbu whisper-shouted, practically pushing everyone to the side of the statue, out of view of the wasps. They complied, all of them managing to fit. Kabbu turned his head to make sure that the wasps didn't notice them, before sighing in relief.

"Uh, why are we hiding?" Vi asked.

"I dunno, I just wanted to know who they were." Anne shrugged, completely confused. "They're just wasps, aren't they?" What could've happened with those wasps that got Kabbu so worked up?

"They are." Leif confirmed. "...But we don't know what's going either." He deadpanned. So, if something did happen, it was after Leif's time.

Anne craned her head around a bit, trying to get another look at the wasps. The two wasps wore similar uniforms, a black shirt with a diagonal red stripe on it, as well as an orange badge. The shorter wasp was a bit chubby while the taller wasp had a skinnier appearance. They wielded large spears as weapons, the tips of them looking deadly. They walked around, though not in a casual way. It was more as if... they were investigating something, but what?

"Those are wasp troopers." Kabbu explained as Anne turned back to face him. Unlike the statue story, this seemed important, so Anne made sure to listen.

"They're from the Wasp Kingdom, which is..." Kabbu struggled to find the correct words. "Currently in conflict with the Ant Kingdom. Not outright war! But things between the two are very... tense, and any further incidents no matter how minor could set things off!"

That was a lot all at once. So... was Anne just supposed to ignore them? But why? What could've set off a conflict between the two kingdoms? Were any other kingdoms involved? The only other one Anne could think of was the Bee Kingdom, when Elizant mentioned it a while ago. But still... great, this was circling back into more history stuff.

"The Wasp Kingdom doesn't sound very friendly." Leif commented.

"No duh!" Vi yelled. With this much racket they're all making, hiding may as well be pointless now.

"For many moon cycles, the Wasp Kingdom has been led by the elusive Wasp King." Kabbu said. A dark, shadowy image of a king wasp appeared in Anne's head. "...But it's never been documented how he came into power." Huh.

...Yet again, it was as if she was back in history class, the teacher droning on and on about something she'd never need to know. It was history, in the past, why should she have to care?

But then another thought crossed her mind. She'd never seen these wasps before, which meant that to them, she may as well be a blank slate. A fresh chance for her to make new acquaintances or friends... and perhaps even find a way home. She'd already ruined everything with the residents of Ant City.

Anne turned to walk toward the two wasps, Kabbu's previous words about conflicts and the Wasp King barely a passing thought in her mind.

"Which is why I think it would be best if we all avoided the wasps and simply-" Kabbu paused, noticing Anne starting to walk off. The beetle sputtered in exasperation before grabbing Anne by her right arm, yanking her back to the others.

"Could you please listen to anything I say for one second?!" Kabbu said in frustration, visibly shaking. His fists were clenched tightly; he was trying his best not to outright yell.

"Alright, geez!" Anne said, rolling her eyes. "Can you watch the arm, though?" She rubbed her right arm, a little sore from how he yanked her back. She had to remember how powerful that beetle was, did he even know his own strength?

"Sorry." Kabbu deflated slightly, feeling guilty.

"We do agree with Kabbu." Leif spoke up. "It would probably be best to not disturb these kinds of conflicts as long as the wasps aren't doing anything... which they aren't. Right now." What did that mean?

"Yeah, what he said!" Vi agreed, having no actual input of her own.

Anne groaned; of course this would happen. "I'm thirteen! I don't care about political conflicts or stuff like that! Don't you get it?" How could they not see it?

"No, I don't get it." Vi said.

Growing more frustrated, Anne realized she would have to spell it out to them. "Well, those wasps might know something about the music box or how to get me home!" Anne argued. "I've had absolutely no progress here and I can't just stand around and wait forever! Plus, if they're not from around here, maybe they've seen Sasha or Marcy!"

It sounded like she was grasping at straws, but it made too much sense. If Anne initially got zapped somewhere near the Ant Kingdom, maybe her friends got zapped near the other kingdoms... it made too much sense. Three people, three kingdoms... This had to be it! And then once they reunited, they could work together to figure out how the music box worked and then go back home, safe and sound. The idea planted itself in her head, refusing to leave.

"Anne..." Kabbu said. "I know you want to find your friends, but..." But what? Kabbu seemingly lost the will to speak, as if wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"There has to be a better way, isn't there?" Leif asked.

Anne shook her head. "Look, there's no harm in talking to them! It's not like saying 'hi' is gonna start a war." The idea of that sounded so silly in her head.

And yet, another part of her wondered just what she was getting herself into. As if she was stumbling onto something big, something more complicated than she ever expected. She never understood history stuff in school, so who's to say there was something here she just didn't understand? ...Nah.

"This is an extremely stupid idea." Vi crossed her arms.

Kabbu opened his mouth to say something, but he still couldn't find the words.

"Stupid as you may think it is, I've already made up my mind." Anne said, once again turning to walk over to the wasps. She turned back to the others, pointing at them. "Don't ruin this." She had it all planned out in her head. Anne would introduce herself, ask about her friends and the music box, and if they didn't know anything, she'd walk away, thanking them for their time. No harm, no foul.

Anne began making her way to the wasps, and Kabbu reached out again as if to stop her, but he couldn't.

"Just let her go." Leif said. "If we don't, then she'll be angry about it for a week."

"If you die, I get dibs on your phone!" Vi yelled.

Ignoring that comment, Anne walked over to the two wasps, the teen more determined than ever. Anne stopped several feet away from them, noticing that they were talking to each other in a hushed, lowered tone as if they didn't want anyone to hear them.

"Sup, dudes. My name's Anne Boonchuy." Anne introduced herself, trying to act casual. If she didn't act too overly serious, maybe she'd get on their good side.

The two wasps ceased their discussion, turning to face her. There was a strange expression on the shorter wasp's face, while the taller wasp sized Anne up, looking over her. Well? Were they gonna say something?

Several long seconds passed, Anne growing increasingly impatient- before the two wasps turned back to each other, talking amongst themselves. This time, Anne could hear the whole conversation.

"Who is that?" The taller wasp asked.

"Dunno. Have no idea why she's acting all buddy-buddy with us either." The shorter wasp shrugged. So instead of talking to her, they were just gonna gossip while she was standing right here?

"Well, she's got a lot of nerve. We're doing something important!"

"Absolutely." The shorter wasp glanced at Anne again. "Though I've never seen a bug like her before. Is she a stick-bug?"

"Hmmm... nah." The taller wasp shook her head. "That hair and all those clothes, I'm wondering if she's even a bug at all."

Anne almost felt tempted to speak up, getting tired of them talking about her like this.

"If she's not a bug, then what is she?"

"Just some strange creature! I don't know!" The taller wasp unintentionally raised her voice, before glancing at Anne again. ...Maybe this was a bad idea. Anne took a step back, part of her still doubting whether she should do this or not. It already was way off-course from how she envisioned it going, and now they were classifying her just like everyone in Ant City already did.

The two wasps turned back to her, staring at her again. Maybe she could try talking to them again? She already had their attention, so...

"Do you think she'd taste good?" The taller wasp randomly asked.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Anne spoke up, holding her hands in front of her. Was this a lost cause by now? Probably. It was almost ironic; when she first got transported to Bugaria, everyone accused her of wanting to eat bugs, and now the opposite was happening.

"What? Something the matter, creature?" The shorter wasp taunted.

Anne took her trusty tennis racquet out, thankful that she brought it with her when she left the house earlier. "Don't come any closer. I am not for eating!" Anne warned, getting into a fighting stance. She didn't know how strong these wasp troopers were, but she was willing to defend herself if it had to come to that.

"Is that a challenge?!" The taller wasp questioned. Without warning, she aimed her spear at Anne, charging at her.

Anne gasped, side-stepping the wasp at the last moment. She dodged just in time, the wasp appearing a bit surprised. If it was going to come to this, so be it. Anne grunted, gripping her tennis racquet tightly as she swung it as hard as she could at the wasp's back.

It made a direct hit, the wasp yelping in surprise as she stumbled to the ground, dropping her spear. Anne prepared herself, taking several deep breaths, waiting for the wasp to get back up... but she didn't; the wasp just lay there on the ground, confused.

The shorter wasp stared at Anne, looking at her and the taller wasp. Anne kept her defensive stance, waiting for him to attack or for the other wasp to get up, but... the shorter wasp began laughing, nearly doubling over in the process.

"Huh?" Anne asked, having no idea what was going on.

The taller wasp groaned, taking a few seconds to stand up before she brushed herself off and picked her spear back up. "Well, I sure didn't expect that!"

Anne didn't let her guard down for a second, anticipating any move or attack they could potentially make.

The shorter wasp managed to stop laughing, walking over to Anne. "Well well well, it looks like this 'Anne' creature has some fighting spirit." His words sounded genuine, unlike those taunts from earlier.

It was an immediate confidence boost. Anne smirked; smugness written all over her face as she held her tennis racquet over her shoulder. "Yeah. I do." Now they were starting to get somewhere. Though it seemed like it was going to go wrong, it turned out better than Anne could've expected!

But of course, something else had to ruin it. Before Anne could say anything else, Kabbu ran over in a panic, stepping in front of Anne and pushing her away from the wasps. Vi and Leif followed behind him, the two of them having their respective weapons out. In response, the two wasps backed away, gripping their spears tightly.

"Guys, seriously?!" Anne spoke up before a fight could break out. "I was starting to talk to them! I ask you not to ruin this and here you are! Ruining it!" She was frustrated and embarrassed, shaking slightly! She had this handled just fine!

Kabbu sighed, turning to Vi and Leif before gesturing for them to put their weapons away. Vi stuffed away her beemerang while Leif called off his ice magic. Anne glared at Kabbu, the beetle avoiding her gaze as he turned back to the wasps.

"I am... terribly sorry about Anne's behavior, you two." Kabbu apologized. "I'm sure you're very nice and friendly bugs; and you serve your kingdom well!" It was obvious how he was trying to choose his words extremely carefully. "Anne just... sometimes she can get a little... wild and out of control."

"Hey!" Anne called out. Was that necessary?!

"Not as much as Vi, though." Leif commented.

"HEY!" The bee screamed.

The two wasps looked at each other, no longer appearing as hostile as when the others arrived. The shorter wasp shrugged. "Whatever. Just stay out of our business, it has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah! We're busy with important stuff!" The taller wasp added.

With that, the two wasps wandered off, walking somewhere else in Ant City. Great. Anne lost her chance. All because the others felt the need to protect her, when for once she had things handled on her own. This wasn't like the spider or Domino 2, where they were feral beasts that couldn't be talked down. These were others that Anne could talk to and actually get some valuable information from... if it wasn't too late for that.

"We should get back to the house." Leif said. "We have to rest up for the expedition for tomorrow." With everything going on, Anne nearly forgot about that, admittedly.

"Absolutely!" Kabbu agreed.

"Anne, you're lucky that whatever happened with those wasps didn't go any worse than it already did!" Vi yelled.

What did she mean, 'worse'? Sure, it didn't have a perfect start, but she managed to prove herself to the wasps all by smacking one in the back with her tennis racquet. The short one seemed to respect her, at least. Respect... They were still in Ant City, right?

"Actually..." Anne glanced away from the others, knowing that they wouldn't take this too well. "I was thinking I could hang out with those wasps for a bit longer, they seem pretty cool." On top of them respecting her, she never got to ask her questions, so that was another excuse she had.

Out of everyone today, those two wasps (that she still didn't know the names of) respected her the most today. Nearly everyone in the store laughed at her, and her teammates didn't let her do anything on her own. It was infuriating, trying to claw desperately for at least one modicum of respect or dignity.

At hearing Anne's words, Kabbu appeared taken aback. "No! Didn't you listen to anything I said earlier? We can't disturb these political conflicts, Anne!" Was that really his excuse for stopping her a minute ago? Kabbu flapped his arms up and down, trying to get his point across.

"Look." No matter what anyone else said, Anne was dead set on what she wanted to do. "What I want to talk to them about doesn't even have anything to do with this 'conflict', okay?!"

The others stared at her, Anne realizing she might've been a bit too harsh just now. Anne sighed. "I'll make you a deal. If they don't have any information on the music box or Sasha and Marcy, then I'll walk away from them and come back to the house. Okay?"

"Just don't get yourself killed." Vi crossed her arms.

"We'll bail you out if you need us to, Anne." Leif added.

"Er..." Kabbu looked conflicted, as if contemplating if he should say something, but... "Be careful, Anne."

With that, the three of them waved Anne goodbye as they walked back to the house, which wasn't too far away. Now, where did the wasps go... when they walked off earlier, Anne remembered them going to the residential district. So, that's where she'd be heading.

As Anne began walking, another feeling bubbled up from within. ...She stood up for herself. It was something she'd almost never felt before, deciding for herself what she wanted to do. Back home, she really only just went along with Sasha and Marcy wanted to do. Sure, maybe she didn't want to go to the mall one day, but if her friends wanted to, who was she to say no?

But standing up for herself felt... powerful. Anne hadn't been in a situation before where she felt the need to stand up for herself, but this was important. She did feel bad about it, though. Anne didn't mean to yell at her friends like that. ...Maybe she should apologize to the others when she got back to the house.

After a few minutes, Anne found the wasps again. The taller wasp leaned against the wall of a random house as they talked to each other. The taller wasp fiddled with her spear before she noticed Anne first, signaling the shorter wasp to her arrival.

"Oh, you're back." The shorter wasp said. He didn't sound too happy to see her, but at the same time, he didn't look mad about it.

"Hey, uh... I didn't get a chance to ask your names earlier before my teammates stepped in. Sorry about them." Anne said, trying to get on the wasps' good side again. How did she do it so easily before?

"Ah." The shorter wasp nodded. "Well, my name's Vesp. My partner's Skye." He gestured to the taller wasp, Skye. She gave a short wave, one that Anne returned.

"Well, nice to get formally introduced!" Anne exclaimed before realizing something about Vesp's earlier wording. "Wait, is she your partner in that way?" Anne asked, emphasizing 'partner' with air quotes. She couldn't help herself; she was a sucker for relationship stuff like this!

Vesp gave her a weird look. "Don't... don't ask that. Stop." Vesp shook his head, unamused. Oh, they were totally a thing. Even if he wouldn't admit it.

"Now it's my turn for a question." Vesp said. "Why did you come back? We wasps... don't really want to be seen around a creature like you. No offense."

Anne frowned; here they go again with the 'weird creature' talk. She wouldn't back down, though. Anne scoffed. "I live here? Of course I'm going to be walking around this place. Well, I don't live in that exact house behind you but you know what I mean!" She tried to match their tone and attitude in an attempt to impress them.

"So, what are two wasps like you doing in Ant City?" Anne asked, trying to make conversation. She wouldn't just come out of the gate with her questions, she'd ease into it first.

"Uh, none of your business?" Skye raised an eyebrow, pushing herself off the wall as she walked closer to Anne. "Also, why are you still trying to hang out with us as if we're friends? Like my partner said, we can't be seen around someone like you."

Anne frowned, looking away. Maybe she was mistaken, and they didn't respect her after all. Maybe she should just turn around and go back to the house before she got herself in too deep to whatever mess this might be. Maybe she should just wait around for some miracle portal to take her home, right?

As if.

No matter what, she knew she had to stick this out. For herself, for Sasha, for Marcy... for everyone back in LA, waiting for her to come home. Anne had to do this.

"Look, I'm a 'strange creature' because I'm not even from this world, okay? I've been stuck here for over a month now!" Anne explained. That got Vesp and Skye's attention.

"Uh... how long is a month?" Skye asked.

Right, this place used moon cycles instead of months. "Around thirty days, but that's beside the point!" Anne said. "I don't have any idea how to get home, nothing I've tried has worked... I've been here in Ant City the whole time, and here you two are from somewhere else, so I'm just wondering..." Anne looked Vesp and Skye in the eyes, trying to get through to them. "Do you two know anything?"

Anne took a breath, waiting for either of them to respond. But just like when she introduced herself to them earlier... they were quiet. Were they just trying to think about it?

The two wasps took this all in, as if contemplating it all. Anne closed her eyes, sighing as she started to turn around, the realization slowly settling in that they didn't know anything. What Anne didn't see was Vesp giving a sly look to his partner, Skye returning the look for a moment before it was as if they'd never given each other those looks at all.

"Hey, don't walk away so fast. Hang on." Vesp spoke up, acting concerned.

"Huh?" Anne turned back around, her hopes raised again.

"Yeah! Uh... sorry about all that stuff we said." Skye mumbled. "I had no idea you were from another world!" Geez, way to rub it in.

"Plus..." Vesp paused, as if figuring out what to say. "I do think I might know something. About how to get you back to your home."

Anne's eyes lit up at those words. It was almost too good to be true, but then again, this was one of the best introductions she's had to someone else so far. And now, there just might be a way to get home... her heart pounded, the teen shaking in relief and excitement at the possibility of finally getting back home and having everything go back to normal.

"Really?" Anne's voice squeaked out. "Wait, this isn't a prank or something, right?" She just had to make sure.

"Of course not!" Vesp dispelled her worries, shaking his head before walking over to her from the side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "We're pretty busy, though. If you help us out with what we're doing here, then we'll tell you what you want to know."

That didn't sound too bad. Then again... she had no idea what the wasps were actually doing here, now that she thought about it. They kept avoiding the question whenever she brought it up. "I dunno..." Anne stepped back, Vesp taking his arm off her shoulder.

The thought of going back home soon entered her mind, and she decided then and there that whatever they'd need her to do, she'd do it. She hated how much she kept going back and forth on this... it felt weird.

"You know, Vesp and I could use someone like you for what we're doing." Skye said, a small smirk on her face.

"Really? For what?" Anne asked, her interest piqued.

"Well, you know... since you've been living in this place ever since you got here, that means you must have some inside knowledge, right?" Skye asked.

Anne nodded in response, deciding not to correct them on the fact that she was actually in Snakemouth Den for the first few weeks, but those were minor details anyway. "Yeah... but what does that have to do with-"

"We aren't here to do much." Vesp explained. "We're just scouting out any information we can about the artifacts."

So, Elizant wasn't the only one looking for the artifacts? But why would the Wasp Kingdom need the artifacts? Anne knew why Elizant was looking for them, but... hm.

"Do you know anything about the artifacts?" Skye asked, noticing the look on Anne's face. "You look like you're thinking about something."

"Uh..." Anne said before quickly shaking her head, hoping Vesp and Skye wouldn't get suspicious. Anne didn't want to risk anything; if she told them about the artifact she found in Snakemouth Den and then handed over to Elizant, who knows what would happen? Especially with that whole 'conflict' Kabbu kept bringing up. "I dunno. Heard of 'em but don't know anything about 'em."

"Very well." Vesp nodded. Just like that, they believed Anne's lie. "Even if you don't know anything, you'll be perfect to help us out. We're just here to get a job done. Nothing more, nothing less."

Scouting out information about the artifacts... Anne could easily tell them where the next artifact was, that would get the wasps the information they needed, and then she'd be able to go home. But wouldn't that compromise the mission? Anne couldn't just...

"It doesn't sound so bad, but I'm not sure..." Maybe if she could get the information to them in some other roundabout way, then they'd get off her back. She just wanted to go home. But was it her place to worry about all this artifact stuff to begin with? "I'm not sure that any of this is my business. Especially since I'm not from here."

Was she really just intruding on someone else's story, taking over and doing things her own way? Interrupting something big and possibly ruining everything? Anne couldn't help but doubt herself every step of the way, it all felt so confusing with Sasha or Marcy or anyone to guide her. They always helped her out, telling her what to do such as steal a music box-

Without them... it was as if she were swimming in the deep end of a pool, directionless and having no goal in mind. After over a month without them, she still felt like this every day. Even when she was with Kabbu, Vi, and Leif, Anne wondered how things might've played out if Sasha and Marcy were next to her when they woke up here. Maybe they could've figured out how to get back home already...

"You know..." Vesp said, reaching for something in his pocket. Anne snapped out of her thoughts. "If you join us, I'll give you an honorary Wasp Kingdom badge. Good thing I have a spare." He winked at Anne before pulling an orange badge out of his pocket, identical to the ones he and Skye wore.

Vesp held up the badge, Anne now able to see it in perfect detail. It depicted a red silhouette of what must've been the Wasp King's face with his crown on. The badge glimmered, reflecting Anne's face as she stared at it.

"You know... if you wear this, then other bugs will have to treat you with respect." Vesp added. "After all, this is a symbol of the Wasp Kingdom army."

A light switch went off in Anne's head. Vesp said exactly what she needed to hear.

"Gimme that ding-dang thing!" Anne immediately said, her arm outstretched as she had a wide grin on her face.

---

At the house, Kabbu, Vi, and Leif sat in a circle on the floor. Leif asked earlier why they couldn't just pull up some chairs, but Kabbu decided to just sit on the floor. They had nothing else to do to pass the time, so they decided to play a few games.

Leif looked around the room for a bit before his gaze settled back on the others. "We spy something... green." Leif said.

"Me?" Kabbu asked, pointing at himself.

"Correct." Leif deadpanned.

"Yay!" Kabbu cheered, waving his arms in the air.

"Why are we even doing this?!" Vi asked incredulously.

Before Kabbu could explain that they were doing this to pass the time, the door abruptly SLAMMED open, all three of them spinning around to see what was going on. Kabbu's heart nearly just to see... Anne.

"Guess who just became a Wasp Kingdom deputyyyyy?" Anne asked, her eyes closed as she stood there, proud.

She was gone for less than eleven minutes, and she somehow changed so... drastically. Anne gestured to herself, the human girl now wearing a left shoulder pauldron colored red and orange, as well as an orange badge, indicative of her new status. On top of that, she leaned on a massive spear she held, the girl clearly not knowing how to use it well.

Kabbu was stunned, absolutely lost for words. Vi and Leif were the same, the former blinking several times as if to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Also, check out this cool spear Skye gave me!" Anne said, attempting to hold up the spear with one hand before she re-adjusted herself, holding it forward with two hands as she jabbed it a few times, trying to practice.

"Watch where you point that thing!" Kabbu yelled after Anne briefly lost her balance, one of her spear jabs nearly poking Leif. The three bugs stood up and backed away.

"Oi, you could poke someone's eye out with that!" Vi added, frustrated. Kabbu did not want that kind of image in his head, especially after... Never mind.

"Sorry." Anne said as she pulled the spear away, letting it lean against the wall as she took her tennis racquet out and tossed it aside, the sports equipment landing on her bed. "Guess I won't need that anymore."

"Anne, please tell us this is some kind of horribly timed joke." Leif said, looking unhappy.

"I agree, it feels... disrespectful." Kabbu added, a bit weary. Kabbu never imagined that something like this would happen... just what was Anne thinking?! Joining the wasps like that, after everything he told her...

Anne scoffed. "I don't believe this!" she said dismissively. "Guys, they're just here to do a job!" But what kind of job? Anne must've known what it was by now. "And I'm finally going to get answers on how to get home! Something that I wasn't able to accomplish traveling through Snakemouth Den or hanging out with you guys in Ant City."

"That's not fair, and you know that!" Vi yelled. "All of us have been trying everything we can! You can't bail out on us just because you feel like it, jerk!"

"Vi!" Kabbu scolded, not wanting things to get worse. Everything was spiraling out of control so fast; they were all starting to yell at each other... Kabbu wanted to keep Anne safe from what those wasps could do, but...

"With enough time, we can figure something out." Leif said. "It won't happen in a day or even a week, but you can't be rash, Anne. Come on in and take that Wasp Kingdom stuff off... Right, Kabbu?" Leif turned to Kabbu for approval.

Kabbu so badly wanted to remind Anne of the dangers of the wasps, but he knew her well enough by now. She was a stubborn girl; she wouldn't listen until she saw it all through. How would he be able to protect her? ...An idea formed. A small one, but it would work.

"Just let her go." Kabbu sighed. The beetle turned away.

"That's what I thought." Anne said, smug. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some respect to enjoy." With that, she grabbed her spear and walked out the door, slamming it shut.

Silence. The three bugs looked at each other, Vi and Leif lost and confused. Leif cleared his throat, staring at the door as if Anne would come running back inside. Kabbu wished that would be that case, but alas.

"...Am I going to have to point this out? Okay." Vi said. "You were being weirdly dismissive, Kabbu. Are you up to something?"

"Yes, in fact." Kabbu admitted, now comfortable enough to speak freely about his plan. This wouldn't be like when he ran down the battery on Anne's phone or stole berries without realizing it. Even if he'd be going behind Anne's back, it'd be for her benefit. ...It was his fault that she didn't have a clue on how to get back home, of course. But hopefully he'd find a way around that.

"I know Anne can... take care of herself. But I'm worried about her." Kabbu explained as he walked toward the front door. He waited until Anne was hopefully far enough way so she wouldn't suspect anything. The beetle opened the door just a smidge, seeing Anne walk off toward the residential area. "Which is why I'm going to have a couple of friends watch out for her."

"So you're going to spy on her?" Leif asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you want to call it that, fine. But I'm just watching out for her!" Kabbu argued. He needed to do this quick, who would be perfect... aha! "There were two friends that I had a brief chat with at the store earlier... hopefully they're still in the area." Kabbu mumbled to himself. If anyone could get the job done, it'd be them.

---

After going to the house to put away her tennis racquet, Anne caught back up with Vesp and Skye, the three of them walking around Ant City's residential area. Anne walked in between the two wasps, an aura of confidence surrounding her. Now, everyone would have to respect her. No more calling her a stick bug or laughing at her, no more of any of that nonsense.

"Here's how we're gonna do our recon." Vesp began to explain, Anne making sure to pay close attention. "We're gonna go to some houses, ask the residents inside for any information they might have on the artifacts, and then keep doing this until we have everything we need."

"That sounds easy enough." Anne shrugged. With her new symbol of authority, everyone would have to listen to her if she asked them a question.

"And you'll make it even easier." Skye said. "So, where should we go first, new recruit?'

"Hm..." Anne thought about it for a few moments, coming up with an idea to further impress her new friends. "First, I should probably tell you who you want to avoid. I've been here long enough to know who... might not want to do things peacefully, so it'd be better to just pass them over."

"Intriguing." Vesp commented. "Go on."

Anne then went into detail about two bugs in particular to avoid; the first of them being Robertius. She explained how he tried to sue her based on an accident and could very well try and seek revenge... maybe. Then she talked about Bitsy, and how it had anger issues, so it was best to avoid it in this context as well. Vesp and Skye listened to her, nodding along.

"...And that's pretty much it." Anne shrugged.

"Wow! Now I'm really glad we brought you onboard!" Skye said with a laugh. "The last thing I need today is to be sued or attacked with a bat!" She continued laughing, Vesp joining in on it before Anne decided to as well.

After a minute or so, the laughter died down. Anne couldn't believe how fast she became friends with these guys! She... belonged. A group where she could easily fit in.

"With that out of the way, which house should we go to?" Vesp asked, eager for information.

...That was a good question. They were depending on Anne to tell them where to go, she couldn't disappoint them so soon! Anne thought back to everyone she met during her stay in Ant City, trying to determine a good place to start. Maybe... no that wouldn't work. Or how about... nah.

"There's this guy called Ali I met once. He reads a lot; he might know something." Anne said. It was just a guess, Anne wasn't really sure that he knew anything at all to be honest... but she had to tell Vesp and Skye something.

"Very well." Vesp nodded. "Show us where he lives."

The brief anxiety that spiked within Anne soon dissipated as she led the way to Ali's house. Vesp and Skye followed behind, the two wasps talking to each other about something. Before long, the three of them made it to the small house, Anne easily remembering where it was.

"Aaaand here it is." Anne said, gesturing to the front door. The two wasps walked up to the door, Anne barely noticing what they were doing. "So how is this gonna work, are we just gonna knock or-"

As Anne was talking, Skye raised the back end of her spear toward the door before charging forward, bashing the door down. Anne immediately turned to see what was going on, confusion and panic rising within her as Vesp and Skye walked into the house. Why'd they have to do that?! Anne gulped, rushing in after them... She didn't imagine that they'd be breaking and entering.

"What's going on?" Anne heard Ali yell as she got into the small house, seeing the purple cicada cowering behind a chair. Vesp and Skye glanced around, as if trying to find any clues or hints on their own.

"Uh..." Anne stepped forward; a bit nervous. Ali glared at her for a moment, only to stop in shock as he saw the badge she wore. "I guess you have information on the artifacts?" Anne started to doubt herself, would these methods really work?

Despite being scared a moment ago, that statement sent a wave of confusion through Ali, the cicada appearing bewildered. "Huh?!" He stood up, shaking his head. "That's utterly ridiculous! I don't know anything about them!"

"Stop lying." Vesp's tone turned cold, the wasp quickly advancing on the poor cicada. Ali tried to use the chair as a shield between himself and Vesp, but the wasp easily pushed it aside, the chair falling to the floor.

Anne felt the need to say something, but she swallowed her words, not wanting to get her new friends to question her.

Ali continued backing away, downright terrified. He yelped when he hit a wall, having nowhere else to go, and nowhere to escape to as Vesp stood only inches away, glaring at him. Ali visibly shook, cowering away from Vesp as much as he could.

"Let me make this clear." Vesp said, his words as cold as ice. "If you don't cough up the information we need... let's just say you're gonna need to pay for the damages to your house."

"I-I don't know anything, I swear!" Ali cried, his eyes shut tight. He quivered, trying but failing to find some kind of escape route.

Vesp stared at him for an uncomfortably long amount of time before he turned his head, nodding at Skye and Anne. The latter wasn't too sure what that nod meant, but Skye jumped into action.

Anne froze in place as Skye ran over to Ali's shelf, grabbing it by the side and pushing it to the ground. The shelf slowly tipped over before falling with a CRASH, many books and other expensive items getting damaged. Anne was transfixed on the scene before her, unable to move even an inch. Why... did Skye do that?

"Not my shelf again!" Ali yelled in fright. He tried to push past Vesp as Skye prepared to tip over a desk, but the former wasp was faster.

Vesp grabbed Ali in a flash, pinning the cicada's arms behind his back. Ali struggled in Vesp's grasp, leading the wasp to force Ali to the ground on his stomach, holding him down. Ali let out a grunt as his glasses fell off, his struggles soon ceasing, knowing it was no use. He helplessly watched as Skye tipped his desk over before slamming her spear onto one of its legs, causing it to break off.

Skye admired her handiwork, surveying the area. "So, you think you'll tell us anything now? Or do you want to keep being difficult with us?" She taunted, glaring down at Ali. The cicada didn't say anything, shaking.

"I don't think we're gonna get anything here." Vesp said. "I can tell." He looked down at Ali, the cicada looking like he was on the verge of tears. "We tried, though." Vesp stood up, letting Ali go. "Skye. Anne. Let's get out of here."

The moment he was free, Ali scrambled to his feet, picking up his glasses and getting as far away from Vesp and Skye as he could, huddling in a corner at the back of the house. Anne's heart sank; the poor guy didn't deserve this. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Don't mention a word of this to anyone." Skye said, pointing her spear at Ali. "Or else we just might come back for round two."

Ali gulped, nodding several times.

Vesp and Skye walked past Anne, the teen knowing that this wasn't right. "Guys, this seems a little extreme." Anne said, making a pinching motion with her fingers.

"It's just the way we wasps do things." Vesp shrugged, not even looking back at Anne as he exited the house.

"Yeah! It's not like we enjoy it, either." Skye added. "Now come on, show us where we should go next."

Didn't enjoy it, huh? Skye sure seemed to enjoy breaking Ali's stuff, and Anne knew she saw a wicked grin on Vesp's face when he had Ali pinned to the ground. ...Just what had she gotten herself into? Anne was more than happy to have the respect she deserved and a potential way back home, but... at what cost?

Sure, she and her friends back home did some extreme stuff... but to this extent? She skipped school and spray-painted buildings and fences, but did she ever destroy someone's house? No! But at the same time, Anne didn't want Vesp and Skye to stop liking her. If she continued voicing her disapproval, then they might remove her badge and tell her to get lost, and Anne didn't want to chance that in the slightest.

But was the respect worth it if it caused an innocent person this much distress? Anne turned back to Ali, the cicada frozen in place. She thought back to when Kabbu knocked over Ali's shelf in his insane 'investigation'; this must've dredged up those memories and made things even worse.

The guilt swarmed her in waves; it was as if she was in the middle of a tug-of-war between Vesp and Skye's approval versus not wanting others to get hurt. She obviously wanted both, but... Hm. Maybe there was a way.

Trying to do this quick, Anne rushed over to Ali's shelf, summoning strength she didn't know she had to lift it back up to where it was originally. "There you go."

Ali wiped away a few tears at seeing Anne's actions, more than grateful to her. "Thank you..."

"No problem." Anne nodded, grimacing at seeing all the stuff still all over the floor. "By the way, you should really get that shelf bolted to the wall." She wished she could stay longer and help clean up the place, but the snappy advice was all she could do before she ran out of the house, shutting the door behind her.

...That felt good. Really good. Anne let out a sigh of relief, happy that she could make this work after all-

Wait, what was that? In the corner of her eyes, Anne swore she saw two familiar figures, but the moment she turned her head to see who they were, they ducked behind a building, as if trying to avoid being seen. But was there anyone even there in the first place? Or was the stress of the situation making her imagine things?

It was probably nothing. Hopefully. But she swore she saw something...

"There you are!" Skye said, a couple yards away. She waved to Anne to hurry up.

Vesp stood next to his partner, his arms crossed. "What exactly were you doing in there?"

"Uh..." Anne tried to be as casual as possible as she walked over to them. "Oh, you know. Just grilling him a bit more, reinforcing that he can't tell anyone what we did. It'll be like we were never even there." She gave Vesp and Skye a smug look, her statement filled with half-truths and lies.

"See, you're getting the hang of it already!" Skye giggled. "Now come on! Show us where we're going next!"

...

With that, the three of them fell into a pattern of sorts.

The next house they went to was one that Anne went to for a quest not too long ago. Inside were a beetle and butterfly couple, the two men not sure why Anne was back with the two wasps. The couple were understandably confused and upset upon being interrogated by the wasps on the artifacts, claiming they didn't know anything about them.

That was the wrong answer. Before the beetle or butterfly could react, Skye skewered their couch cushions, completely ruining them. When it seemed like that the wasps wouldn't get the answers they needed, they left. Before Anne left as well, she swooped into action, grabbing one of the cushions and stuffing fluff back into it, handing it back to the two men before leaving. It was all she could do, but it was the gesture that counted.

Before long, Anne, Vesp, and Skye were at their next house. Anne knew by now how this would play out.

A grasshopper and their several children cowered in fear as Vesp went and threw a box of toys on the floor, Anne flinching as the toys went all over the place. Skye made a comment about how the grasshopper was too busy taking care of little ones to have information, so the wasps left.

Yet again, Anne went to work. She grabbed the box, picking up as many toys as she could and put them back in there, before she set the box down in front of the children, apologizing to the adult grasshopper before needing to leave the house.

"Did you see that?" Vesp asked after Anne walked outside, closing the door. His spear was ready, aimed in the direction that he thought he saw something.

"Huh?" Skye asked. "What are you talking about?"

"...Nevermind."

The next several houses went by in a blur. Despite getting no information on the artifacts, Anne's system worked out better than she ever hoped for. She looked good in front of Vesp and Skye, and looked good in front of the citizens when the two wasps weren't looking, her badge of authority adding to the respect they gave her. Sooner or later, someone had to give up some information... right?

With each house they went to, the pile of guilt within Anne's gut grew deeper. Was she really getting anywhere? Sure, the townsbugs felt grateful for her help... but she was part of the problem by letting Vesp and Skye do this, wasn't she? But she had no other choice if she wanted Vesp and Skye's approval. It was a vicious cycle that Anne wasn't sure how to stop before it might be too late.

It didn't help that as time passed, Anne became surer that someone was watching her. Whether that was one or two people, she didn't know. She could only catch brief glimpses of them before they ducked out of view, Anne never really got a good look at them, and if the two wasps hadn't confirmed that they saw something as well, then Anne might've thought she was losing it. ...Was someone actually watching the three of them? If so, then who?

Before she knew it, the late afternoon arrived. The skies became cloudy; would it start raining soon? Anne wasn't sure, but the three of them left another house, having gone to over a dozen by now. Anne took an extra minute before leaving to pour the bug inside a fresh cup of juice after Skye splashed the last one in the bug's face.

Even now, they were getting nowhere. Vesp and Skye chatted amongst themselves as Anne joined them outside, a dull pit in her stomach. It wasn't from hunger, because the three of them did get lunch not too long ago; Anne's treat. Hm.

"I don't know about this, guys." Anne glanced away, hoping her new friends would take this well. The three of them began walking away from the house. "This feels... wrong." The clouds in the sky were a bit darker than usual.

"I'll tell you what's wrong." Vesp said, the wasp rolling his eyes. "The fact the entire city is somehow conspiring together to not tell us anything."

"Exactly! Someone has to give up that information eventually! We'll go all night if we have to!" Skye cheered.

All night?! Anne wasn't sure how much longer she could take this, to be honest. ...And were they even listening to her? They just sorta heard what she said before going off on their own tangent. This felt... too familiar.

"That's the thing." Anne said, hoping they'd listen to her this time. "The more I think about it... I'm not too sure if random citizens would be trusted with this type of information. I mean I don't know for sure, but..." It was as if she were walking on eggshells, trying to steer her new friends on the right path while not making them angry and question her. A balance that was nearly impossible to maintain.

Anne thought of a new suggestion, one that might help them get the results they needed. "Maybe if we used a little less force, then-"

"Force is needed." Vesp reiterated, cutting Anne off. She stayed silent, noting that they were nearing the settler's statue. Right, Kabbu tried to tell her some story there earlier... what was it again?

"My partner and I have direct orders from the Wasp King to find information about the artifacts." Vesp continued. "We cannot disobey his orders, no matter what. And so, we must use any force needed to fulfill those orders. Anne, you understand where we're coming from, right?"

"Plus, we're all after the same thing, aren't we?" Skye asked, directed at Anne. The three of them stopped walking, stopping near the settler's statue. "Who knows, maybe any information we get on the artifacts could help you get back home."

"I..." Anne thought she had some sort of rebuttal in mind, but she choked on her words, knowing that if she pressed this any further, it wouldn't be a good look for her. Vesp's words had some sort of ominous undertone that Anne didn't understand, and Skye's addition did make sense, even if there was something deep in the back of her mind that felt... weird. She couldn't explain it.

"I guess that's true." Anne backed down, more than used to doing that. It was as if she were back home all over again, letting her friends make all the decision-making. But she'd known her friends back home for years, so they knew what was best for Anne.

...Great, now she felt embarrassed for even speaking up in the first place. What was the point of it anyway? Anne looked away before spotting someone in the distance, hoping to catch them before they could duck away again- except... unlike before, where she thought she recognized the figures, she had no idea who this one was. Perhaps it was just someone else, unrelated to the people who were apparently watching her.

"Who's that?" Anne asked, curious if Vesp or Skye knew.

Several yards away, a beige moth walked around, holding paperwork. The moth, like several other moths Anne had seen, wore his wings as if they were a cape. His wings and fur were both brown, and he wore two pockets along his waist. His abdomen adorned a black stripe pattern, and he quickly glanced around, as if searching for something important.

Vesp turned to see who Anne was talking about. "Him? He's the renowned Professor Neolith."

Neolith... Neolith... "Oh!" Anne's eyes lit up in recognition as she recalled something from weeks ago.

"You know him?" Skye asked, becoming more interested.

"Huh? Oh, no I don't." Anne clarified before a misunderstanding could happen. "I've heard his name before, I just happened to recognize it when I heard it again." Anne had never seen Neolith before, so of course she wouldn't recognize him. She only heard his name once, back when they all met up with Eetl and Team Ant after coming back from Snakemouth Den.

"Well, Neolith's an archeologist who works for the Ant Queen." Vesp explained. Anne nodded and followed along, wondering if she was one of the only people to have never heard of him. ...Would Marcy get along with him?

"He's known to have been researching and analyzing the ancient artifacts, so he's bound to know a lot about them." Vesp continued. That made sense. When Anne first heard about Neolith, it was in relation to the artifacts.

Artifacts- "Oh! Oh oh oh wait! What if that music box is another artifact or something?" Vi's voice echoed in Anne's head, the bee's words ringing a new tone at this development. If Neolith was researching and studying the artifacts, there was a non-zero chance that he could know something about the music box! And then she'd be so much closer to going home!

"Oh, for sure." Skye said, agreeing with Vesp. She re-adjusted her spear, turning to look at Neolith in the distance. "If we're going to get info out of anyone here, then it's going to be him."

With those words, some sort of deep pit of dread settled itself within Anne, worming its way into her very core. For the past few hours, Anne had witnessed just how... violent and brutal these two could be. But they had a reason to do that... didn't they? Right? They knew what to do, after all. Even so, whenever Anne questioned their methods, she was always brushed aside, not being taken into consideration.

"So..." Anne gulped. "Are we just gonna ask him about it, or-"

"Neolith!" Vesp suddenly shouted, getting the moth's attention. Just like that, Anne swallowed her words.

"H-Huh?" Neolith squeaked out, startled by the yelling. By now, he'd been walking past the statue, only several feet away from the others. Neolith turned his head, stopping.

"Wait there a second!" Skye called. She followed Vesp as they walked over to Neolith.

Anne nervously followed them, unable to avert her eyes. The fact that they started out by yelling at him wasn't a good sign... but maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

Neolith appeared a bit surprised as the three of them walked over, Anne toward the back. "Oh, hello." Neolith greeted. "...Do I know any of you?" The beige moth spoke timidly, not really knowing what to say. Was he an introvert?

Nobody replied; the ensuing silence more awkward with each second. Vesp and Skye stared at Neolith, the grips on their spears tightening just slightly. Neolith stared at the badges on each of them, wondering if he should say anything himself.

Anne spoke up first, trying to speak as fast as she could. "Well, I'm Anne-"

"Don't worry about our names." Skye cut in. Neolith nodded, unable to argue with the tone Skye took. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to spill everything you know about the artifacts. Or else."

Neolith's eyes widened, the moth immediately stammering and stumbling over his words. Part of Anne hoped he would just tell them everything they needed to know so they could get out of here. They were symbols of authority, after all... and it would avoid a confrontation. ...But another part of Anne thought of something.

Did these two wasps deserve any information on the artifacts? With the way they went about it, their behavior was sure to... drive everyone away... huh. Anne swallowed that thought down, not wanting to think about the implications of it.

"...I don't know anything..." Neolith said, his voice at a near whisper. Okay, that had to be one of the worst and most obvious lies that Anne had ever heard in her life.

But still, she knew what would happen if Vesp or Skye didn't get the answers they wanted.

Anne spoke up again, trying to defuse the situation as fast as possible. "Well that takes care of that now why don't we take a quick break and get a bite of-"

Even when Anne spoke as fast as she could and jabbed a thumb toward the commercial district to try and get Vesp and Skye to leave, it didn't work. Anne choked on her words as Vesp raised his spear, pointing it in Neolith's direction. Neolith yelped, taking a step back at the tip of the spear was only inches from his chest. ...Good thing Vesp hadn't been any closer to him.

"That wasn't the correct answer." Vesp glared daggers at Neolith. The beige moth visibly shook, most likely freaking out.

"But I'm... telling the truth!" Neolith said, trying to get them to stop. He shook his head, his grip on his paperwork tight. Anne questioned her previous assumption about Neolith lying; was that really the case? Or did they all convince themselves that he had information? Because if the latter was the case...

"Guys-" Anne tried one more time to speak up, but Skye joined Vesp, stepping forward and pointing her spear at Neolith as well.

"You heard my partner." Skye spat, her voice like venom. "Talk. Now."

...This was bad. Really bad. Even if she wasn't the one actively in danger, Anne began to internally panic, her eyes darting back and forth between Vesp and Skye, trying to figure out some way to resolve the situation before it became any worse. Any attempts to get her new friends to stop were futile, and with the way they looked ready to attack Neolith, Anne wasn't sure that her usual tactic of staying behind to fix something would work this time.

Neolith stayed silent, staring at Vesp and Skye, his eyes wide. He took a tiny step back once again, clutching his paper close to his chest. Time seemed to stand still, nobody, not even Anne moving a muscle.

In an instant, Neolith turned, attempting to break out into a run.

Vesp was much faster, swinging his spear at Neolith. Before the moth could even take a step, Vesp spear struck his side, Neolith crying out as he stumbled back a bit, somehow still standing.

Anne couldn't look away, wide-eyed, transfixed by the horrible scene before her. She tried to find some kind of justification for Vesp doing that, but there weren't any excuses left. That hit looked nasty... Neolith was definitely going to be in a lot of pain later.

Neolith took several short breaths, his eyes darting around. Tears formed in his eyes, the moth hunched over a bit, still trying to protect his papers. "Somebody, H-"

"Shut up!" Skye snarled, striking him on the back of his head with her spear. Neolith let out a scream of agony as he stumbled to the side, trying to make himself appear as small as possible.

Anne stifled a gasp, her spear dropping to the ground and rolling away as she brought her hands up to her mouth. Her body felt unnaturally cold, as if she were witnessing something that she should've never been a part of to begin with. There was no sense in what was happening, was there? Absolutely no reason to be so brutal with someone they just met, right?

Neolith whimpered, unable to do anything as Vesp and Skye hit him with their spears over and over again, each hit worse than the last. Every part of Anne's body told her to run, to get help, to do something, but she... couldn't.

She stood, frozen in place, watching as if this were some horrible movie. This... wasn't normal behavior. This was no way to treat anyone you'd just met, no matter who they were... much less someone who was just a nice, timid researcher. Why would Vesp and Skye do this?

Before long, Neolith let out another cry of pain. He was hit and struck so many times that it all became too much for him, the moth falling to his hands and knees. His papers flew out of his hands as he fell to the ground, all of them scattering everywhere onto the grass. Anne wondered what was on those papers, but maybe that wasn't the most pressing issue at the moment.

"I-I told you... you savages..." Neolith said as Vesp and Skye took a short pause from their assault. "I don't know anything..." Neolith was desperate, pleading, begging for mercy. He looked up at the two wasps, crying.

Anne wished that all this would stop, but Vesp and Skye were already too far gone. They didn't listen to her before, and they wouldn't listen to her now. And now that she had thought about it, the only time they listened to her... was when she gave them information about everyone she knew. Anne tried to connect the dots; put the whole puzzle together on what this meant, but she could hardly think with the horrific scene happening before her.

Vesp and Skye didn't care about Neolith's pleads, instead continuing to beat him mercilessly. Neolith was forced to duck his head to the ground, using his hands to try and shield any further blows to the back of his head. Even so, Neolith yelled and wailed with every blow he endured, Anne wondering just how much more Neolith could take-

Wait, what was that green liquid? There was a bit of it coming from a few of Neolith's wounds, staining Vesp and Skye's spears- When she realized it, Anne nearly screamed. Kabbu had mentioned it to her before, one of the differences in this world compared to back home. Bugs here didn't have red blood. Their blood was green.

If this was beyond reason before, then this... this? It was totally insane. It should've never gotten to this point, not even close. Her brain went a million miles an hour, trying to have one coherent thought and come up with a way to stop this before something truly, terribly, unforgivable happened. Neolith was right, these wasps were savages. Could she really associate with a group like this, much less be friends?

"Hmph! The renowned Professor Neolith doesn't know anything?" Skye mocked, taunting Neolith. She slammed her spear onto Neolith's arm, causing Anne to wince.

"This is your last chance." Vesp warned, glaring down at Neolith. "Spill the beans about the artifacts or pay with your life!"

Neolith squeaked out some kind of incomprehensible noise before frantically darting his eyes around, fear written all over him.

Anne's heart dropped further than it already had, trying to make sense of all this. She tried to think of something, but most thoughts were drowned out by the intense dread looming within her, threatening to swallow her whole. What good was respect when it only made others afraid of you? When it was just an excuse to bully and attack others?

The end didn't justify the means. It never did. Anne grabbed at her badge, at the same time reaching out with her other hand as if to say something- but what could she say? In the face of something so wrong and morally unjust, what power did she have? Anne sweatdropped; time was running out fast. She had to do something-

Vesp stood in front of Neolith. The wasp raised his spear above his head, the sharpened, pointed tip almost sparkling with the light reflecting off of it. Vesp narrowed his eyes, waiting several seconds.

Skye stood next to him, watching eagerly.

Neolith visibly shook, too afraid to move.

The fear and anxiety circling Anne nearly caused her to crumble.

She remembered what she was thinking about a minute ago. How Vesp and Skye only listened to her when she had 'useful information'. Were they... using her? Of course. It all made sense, all perfectly clear to her. Anne was just a tool for them to further their own goals. No amount of fixing things behind their back would change what they'd do. They were set in their ways, they made that more than clear.

That same fear, that same anxiety... it bubbled, Anne gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. It morphed into frustration, Anne growling. This wasn't about trying to please everyone she could anymore. She couldn't stand here while Vesp and Skye continued to bully and harass and use everyone they came across. Someone had to do something before they got an innocent person killed.

Vesp slammed his spear down-

Neolith flinched-

"STOP!"

Everyone froze at Anne's interruption. Vesp pulled his spear away, him and his partner turning to look at Anne. Skye looked a bit annoyed while Vesp was confused slightly. Neolith looked up, wondering what was going on.

The three of them stared, Anne taking several deep breaths. ...She never thought she could scream that loud. But whatever. For once in her life, she was going to do the right thing. No more going along with this; if nobody else would stick up for an innocent person, then she had to.

Anne glared daggers at Vesp and Skye, pointing a finger at them. "Keep your claws off that archeologist." Anne said, her message loud and clear. Vesp and Skye wouldn't be able to ignore her any longer.

She couldn't believe that she ever called these two friends. The mere thought of them disgusted her to her very core, making her wish that she never even met them. They had no right being anywhere in Ant City with the way they behaved.

"Or better yet..." Anne got a sudden confidence boost, storming past Vesp and Skye, pushing them out of the way as she walked by. The two wasps were too taken aback to do much, only staring wide-eyed at Anne.

Good. Anne could use their shock to her advantage. As she stomped past them, she turned, facing them as she stood in front of Neolith, blocking the wasps' way to the poor moth. Anne stood her ground, not taking her eyes off the two wasps as they stared back.

"Why don't you just leave?!" Anne yelled. "As a member of Team Snakemouth under the authority of Queen Elizant II, I order you to get out of the Ant Kingdom!" With her declaration, she stamped her foot on the ground, making her point loud and clear.

In that same moment, a clap of thunder echoed through the air, rain beginning to fall to the ground. The timing was almost too perfect; a thunderstorm began right now of all times?

Though Vesp was initially surprised, it wore off, the wasp regaining his glare grew dark. "...Care to repeat that?" His tone was cold, but Anne didn't care. She wasn't going to be afraid and back down. Not this time, not ever again.

Anne crossed her arms, not giving them even an inch of weakness. That's how they initially got her to join them, after all. "I said, get lost. Now!" Anne snarled. Her heart pounded, part of her still incredibly anxious. She turned that into strength to do the right thing and stand up to these bullies once and for all. She knew their true colors; there was no going back.

Behind her, Neolith slowly stood up, the moth clearly still in pain. He gathered as many of his papers as he could, Anne making sure that neither Vesp nor Skye had a way to get to him.

To think... that just a few hours ago, she saw them as friends. They appeared to respect her, but they were just using her, manipulating her into giving them exactly what they wanted. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she'd be regretting going along with their plan for a long time.

The rain poured down harder, a bit of wind kicking up as well.

Anne frowned, grabbing her Wasp Kingdom badge and ripping it off her chest. She stared at the silhouette of the Wasp King that it displayed. This badge... it no longer represented the ideals she stood for.

"All I wanted was respect from the citizens of Ant City." Anne said, gripping the badge tightly, almost to the point of crushing it.

It all started weeks ago, when she first moved to Ant City. All the residents feared her, so she tried fulfilling requests in an attempt to get them to like her, but all she did was run herself ragged. No matter what, a bunch of them seemed to dislike her. Sure, there were the odd few that came around and gave her a bit of decency, such as Alex and Bitsy... but there were still many, many others who didn't, their fear turning into mockery, laughing at her and treating her like some kind of sideshow act. Anne just wanted them to treat her a bit better, as an equal.

But she couldn't control what others thought of her. And the kind of 'respect' that the badge gave her was different. Everyone saw Anne as an authority figure to be feared, and she was right back where she started. Anne only wanted to be able to live and breathe as a fellow citizen, even if she was from an entirely different world.

"Just because they treated me crummy, it doesn't mean I'm going to do the same to them." Anne declared, gesturing to the various houses nearby. No matter how many times they laughed at her or called her a 'stick bug,' it wasn't fair to have their homes be ruined, or some innocent person be threatened with death.

Her frustration grew once again, thinking about all the injustices that took place today. Anne only stood by and watched, not doing anything to stop it until after the oppressors left. But she wouldn't be a part of it anymore. No more standing idly by; she'd drag these two wasps out of the city herself if she had to.

"I'm done with this. All of this." Anne continued, glaring down at the badge once again, disgusted with what it represented. "I don't care about political tension or who has knowledge about the artifacts or whatever!" She poured out all her frustrations.

She was so tired of this. Anne just wanted to find her friends and go home. Even if she thought she had found a way... it turned out to be nothing but lies- false promises from the two wasps so she could do their bidding without question. Anne didn't want to have to worry about all this stuff anymore- she just wanted to go home.

Beyond frustrated and angry, Anne grabbed the shoulder pauldron she was wearing and tore it off, throwing it aside. She didn't care what happened to it at this point; it could rot in the rain and she wouldn't give it a passing glance. At the same time, Neolith managed to pick his papers up, the moth limping away while still transfixed by what was happening.

"You can't treat people like this!" With her final declaration, Anne held the Wasp Kingdom badge high above her head before she slammed it to the ground as hard as she could. The badge had a rough landing, getting covered in dirt and mud.

Anne glared down at the badge as if it were responsible for everything that happened today. She raised her left foot before stomping on the badge, shattering it into several small pieces and rendering it useless. To add insult to injury, Anne used her shoe to grind the badge's remains further into the ground, a smug look of satisfaction on her face.

That would show them. These bullies wouldn't hurt anyone else. If Vesp and Skye were like this... Anne could only imagine how the rest of the Wasp Kingdom fared.

She looked up, glaring at Vesp and... wait, where was-

Vesp snapped his fingers.

Anne grunted as someone pushed her from behind, forcing her to the ground. It was obvious who the culprit was, Anne immediately trying to stand back up and wipe the fresh mud off her face, only for Skye to stomp on Anne's back, keeping her pinned to the ground.

How did Skye... oh. Anne cursed herself for getting so distracted in her long, dramatic speech. That was how Skye was able to sneak behind her so easily...

The teen hissed in pain, trying to think of some escape route. Where was Neolith? Anne hoped that for his own sake, he would run away. Nobody should have to deal with these two savages. The rain kicked up some more; it wasn't as bad as any of the other storms in this world, but it made her shiver.

Vesp let out a sigh, shaking his head as he walked up to Anne, who only glared daggers at him in return.

"I'm incredibly disappointed in you, Anne." Vesp stopped a few feet away. Skye pressed her foot down on Anne's back further, Anne wincing at the increased pressure. "If you would've just done what you were supposed to, then we wouldn't have to do this."

Anne didn't let his words get to her. Even now, he was still manipulating and trying to get her to obey. It wouldn't work; she saw through all of it.

"We were so close to coercing that information out of the archeologist, including... how to get you home, perhaps?" Vesp continued. "But it looks like you don't care about that after all. What a shame."

"What?!" Anne shouted in disbelief. "I do want to go home! I don't want to stay here forever!" The very idea of it was insane. How could anyone willingly want to stay trapped in another world without trying to find a way back home? It was ludicrous; it only inspired her more to want to find her friends so they could get back to their lives.

Vesp casually shrugged, as if he didn't care. "What you want to do doesn't matter to me." Of course, it probably never did, now that Anne thought about it.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as Vesp raised his spear above his head in the same way he did to Neolith earlier. "We wasps will eliminate anyone who gets in the way of what we want. We'll go after that archeologist, the rest of your team, maybe your friends... but first, your poor, pathetic existence."

Time slowed to a crawl. Everything happened in slow motion, Anne processing what Vesp just said. Skye started to laugh; Vesp smiled as he prepared to strike down...

Fury and rage threatened to explode out of Anne's very being. That was it, all bets were off.

"No you WON'T!" Anne roared, throwing both wasps off-guard. Her vision filled with blue for a split second as she pushed herself backwards with strength she didn't know she had.

Anne flung herself off of Skye, barely hearing Vesp's spear stab into the ground as she rolled several feet away. She stopped, seeing the spear she discarded earlier.

In that moment, Anne knew what she had to do. She couldn't run from them, lest they hurt anyone else. Their reign of terror across Ant City had to end here and now! With her new resolve, Anne grabbed the spear, standing up and getting into a fighting stance as fast as she could.

No time to waste. Anne had to make sure of one thing. Her eyes darted around, the teen looking for someone in particular.

Despite the heavy rain, she found him. Thunder clapped in the distance as Anne found who she was looking for: Neolith. The beige moth stood a few yards away, as if debating whether to run or not. Anne jerked her head at him, trying to indicate for him to run away without outright saying it.

She didn't have much time, though, as Anne saw Skye charging at her from the corner of her eye, Anne only realizing in that moment that she had no idea how to use a spear.

"Oh, crud."

Anne stepped back, raising her spear up at an awkward angle in an attempt to block Skye's attack. It worked- their spears clanged together, but the force of it caused Anne to stumble back several steps, giving Skye the advantage.

Skye jabbed her spear at Anne, the teen barely sidestepping it before Anne slammed her own spear down, trying to end this as fast as possible. Skye couldn't see the attack coming, the wasp yelling out in pain as the spear slammed down onto her shoulder- not where Anne was aiming for, but it would work.

There was a brief moment where Skye was dazed, Anne taking advantage of it by swinging her spear at Skye again- only for the wasp to grab Anne's spear. Skye stepped out of the way, pulling Anne's spear down, the teen going down with it.

Anne yelped; the last thing she needed was to be forced to the ground again, otherwise this fight would be over before it began. Anne re-adjusted her body weight, growling as she pushed her feet off the ground, launching herself at Skye while temporarily tossing her spear aside.

Skye's eyes widened as the two of them crashed onto the muddy ground. Before she could react, Anne took advantage of her momentum, planting her hands on the ground as her legs swung forward, waiting only a second before she pushed herself off the ground, landing a few feet away while also keeping her distance from Skye.

Anne briefly wondered what Vesp was doing as she picked her spear back up, but she couldn't focus on that. Skye rolled to her stomach and pushed herself up, glaring at Anne. The teen glared back, taking a few deep breaths.

The two charged at each other at the same time, trying but failing to strike or jab each other with their spears. Skye had the advantage, but there was no way Anne would give up so easily.

Their spears clanged and clashed, with Anne slowly being forced to back away as Skye advanced upon her. Anne's arms grew tired from holding the spear up with both hands for so long; just how much more could she keep this up?

Skye raised her spear above her head, Anne only having a second to react before Skye tried to attack her again. Anne stepped to the right, holding her spear with both hands as she prepared to evade the attack-

Only for Skye to change tactics, shifting her stance slightly as she prepared to swing her spear onto Anne's head- Anne gasped, quickly repositioning her spear to hold it above her head to block Skye's attack at the last possible second. The two spears collided, a horrifying realization dawning on Anne as she heard some sort of crack.

Her spear broke in two. Did they intentionally give her a bad spear?!

Anne stood there shocked, a mistake she'd regret. Skye jabbed the pointed end of her spear at Anne, the teen letting out a scream as she jerked her head back, the tip of Skye's spear just barely missing Anne's face.

Desperation took over; Anne threw the two halves of her now useless spear at Skye in an attempt to slow the wasp down as Anne backed away. She wasn't stupid enough to turn her back and run.

Skye dodged the first throw- the half of Anne's spear that had the pointed end- but she couldn't dodge the other half, the piece of wood hitting Skye in the face. Haha!

The satisfaction of getting another hit in soon wore off; it only served to piss Skye off more than anything. The wasp growled, jabbing her spear at Anne several times, Anne barely dodging it each time as she continually backed away.

Anne grunted, soon finding some sort of wall against her back- the Settler's Statue. She didn't have anywhere else to go. Skye realized this as well, taking a moment to pull her spear back. Anne noticed that Skye was aiming for her head... and the Settler's Statue was right behind her... an idea sprung forth, Anne knowing she'd only have one shot. One chance to survive a bit longer and hopefully incapacitate Vesp and Skye.

Skye gripped her spear tightly, her aim true as she jabbed it forward as hard as she could-

Anne felt for the corner of the statue, Anne gripping it as she ducked down faster than Skye could react, pulling herself out of the way and around the corner as Skye's spear hit the statue.

"What the-" Skye immediately knew something was wrong, the pointed end of her spear stuck in the statue. Skye grunted, planting a foot against the statue as she tried with all her might to pull it out, but to no avail.

Yes! Just what Anne was looking for. She took a moment to breathe and mentally prepare herself; she would get Skye away from her spear, and then they'd be on an even playing field. If Anne could just find another weakness or-

"You just don't know when to lie down and give up, do you?!" Vesp roared from behind her, Anne immediately swiveling around in anticipation for an attack. Anne swore to herself, she completely forgot about Vesp for a minute, and she was an idiot to leave her tennis racquet at the house.

"I thought my partner could take care of you on her own. But I guess I need to step in as well!" Vesp swung his spear, Anne unable to dodge it in time. She grunted from the pain as the spear hit her on the side; that was going to leave a mark later.

Vesp hurled more insults at her, Anne refusing to acknowledge any of them as she managed to dodge another attack. Anne tried to find any sort of opening, but Vesp's long-range spear made it nearly impossible.

"Say something, you coward!" Vesp growled, trying to yell over the thunderstorm. No. If Anne said anything to try and argue against his threats and lies, then she'd be feeding into it. She knew that now; if she didn't listen to him, then he'd never be able to manipulate or lie to her again. And once this was over, Anne could spread the word about what awful people Vesp and Skye were, and they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone anymore.

It was strange, Vesp was usually the... calmer one, from the short time Anne knew them, but now he acted completely differently. Maybe Anne could use his temper to her advantage...

Anne dodged another jab of Vesp's spear, the teen a bit weary as she rolled out of the way before standing back up. She'd need to make this quick. Before Vesp could attack again, Anne gave him a knowing smile; her expression aired intense confidence. Anne chuckled a little, making it clear that she wouldn't let Vesp boss her around ever again- that she was in control.

Vesp let out some kind of animalistic snarl, wildly sprinting at Anne without abandon. Perfect. Anne only waited a second before she sidestepped to the right, shifting her weight back and- POW!

Anne grit her teeth as she punched Vesp in the face, time slowing down for a split second. Vesp's head bent at an awkward angle, and waves of satisfaction swam their way through Anne as Vesp stopped for just a moment, turned around and dazed a bit

Though Anne was prepared to attack him again, Vesp was faster, the wasp fighting through the pain as he turned, his spear flying in Anne's direction-

Before it could make contact, Anne grabbed the spear with both hands, grunting as she tried to push it away from her, before trying to rip it out of Vesp's grasp entirely. The two fought for control of the spear, Anne trying with all her might even if she knew that Vesp was stronger and had much more experience than her.

Vesp let out a dark chuckle, Anne getting worried at what that meant- she screamed, Vesp yanking his spear up and to the side, bringing Anne along with him. The teen's heart chilled with fear, her grasp on the spear slipping- stupid rain- as she was sent flying backward several feet, tumbling onto the ground.

She must've been covered in mud by now, but she didn't care, she could clean up later. That hurt a lot, but she didn't have time to think about it. Anne stood up as fast as she could, which was much slower than she would've liked. Her adrenaline rush was wearing off, she practically had to heave for a breath, and the ice-cold rain made her shiver, Anne desperately trying to focus.

Vesp stalked toward her, intentionally walking slow. He laughed under his breath with his spear ready... What was he doing? Dread creeped up under Anne's skin, wondering if Vesp was doing this because he saw how weak she was from all that fighting... well, she wasn't down yet. Anne resumed a fighting stance, trying to take deep, slow breaths to steady herself. Easy does it... she could do this...

That's what she told herself, despite Vesp not looking too much for wear even after she punched him.

A beige figure was in the corner of her vision, Anne immediately knowing who it was. Why was Neolith still here?! He should've run far away by now! Anne tried to make it look like she didn't know he was here, focusing her eyes on Vesp while still keeping track of Neolith.

The moth appeared a bit more confident despite his injuries; had he been inspired by Anne? The teen didn't have time to think about this as Neolith suddenly had a burst of courage, charging at Vesp in an attempt to attack him.

In that same moment, Skye let out a grunt as she finally freed her spear from the statue, immediately seeing what was going on. "Oh no you don't!"

Skye ran at Neolith, intercepting him before he could ever make it to Vesp. The wasp swung her spear at Neolith's chest, the shaft hitting him in the chest. Neolith let out a gasp, his eyes widening as he slipped to the ground, still trying to keep his papers close to him. Skye didn't waste time, already about to attack him again.

Anne froze. "No!" She turned, reaching her arm out to Neolith, even if he was too far away for her to ever reach him.

But in doing so, she forgot about Vesp.

He rushed at her, raising his spear above his head. Anne just barely saw him out of the corner of her eye.

Vesp didn't hesitate. There was no time to react.

He slammed his spear down, the shaft hitting Anne's right arm with a sickening CRACK.

A split second passed; Anne didn't feel anything.

In the next, she screamed. Intense, unbearable pain flashed in her arm, white hot as if someone stuck a knife through it. Anne instinctually jerked her arm back, grabbing onto it with her other hand, immediately realizing that moving her arm at all caused the pain to multiply.

She staggered backward, trying to maintain some semblance of balance despite the pain. Oh god, there was so much pain, nothing in her life ever compared to this. Her eyes shut tight, she grit her teeth, trying but failing to ride out the pain despite how awful it was, invading her every thought, unable to focus on anything but the pain.

Before long, she couldn't stand up anymore, the teen falling to her knees. Tears streamed from her eyes, unable to cope with the intense, agonizing pain. Was her arm broken? She wasn't sure, but the pain was too much to bear. Her arm shook, despite Anne trying her hardest to keep it still; she nearly swore from how unimaginable it was.

Anne was barely aware of two sets of footsteps walking to her. She tilted her head up, malice and hatred on her face as Vesp and Skye stopped a few feet away from her, looming over her fallen form. There was another clap of thunder in the distance.

"How pathetic." Skye rolled her eyes. If Anne weren't in horrible pain, she would've retaliated in some way.

Vesp chuckled, apparently finding this amusing. "No hard feelings, creature. Not that I ever had any to begin with."

As he moved to raise his spear... Anne knew this was it. She was exhausted, she couldn't fight anymore, her arm was injured, she was in so much pain... This is when it would happen, right? That usual thing where moments before death, a person's life would flash before their eyes. This is when it would happen... at least Anne went down fighting, but not before hearing one last thing.

Heavy footsteps- several sets of them.

"Leave them alone!" A voice she never expected to hear.

Anne turned her head, Vesp and Skye turning as well. Neolith sat up to see who it was as well.

Levi ran onto the scene, stopping several feet away and assuming a fighting stance. But it wasn't just him. His partner Celia was next to him, and... behind them were Kabbu, Vi, and Leif, all of them prepared for a fight.

Despite the pain she was in, many questions whizzed through Anne's mind, disregarding the incredibly lucky timing of them showing up at this exact moment. She hissed in pain, briefly moving her arm to try and wave for help only to stop, the agony spiking again.

Vesp and Skye got their spears ready, aiming them at the group of five. "What do you think you're doing?" Skye spat, trying to be intimidating.

Kabbu stepped to the front of the group. "I will not allow this injustice any longer!" He called, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Assaulting a child... you have no dignity." Leif said, glaring.

"Stay out of this!" Vesp spat. "This doesn't concern any of you!"

Really? Considering that half of them were part of Anne's team and the two wasps even saw them earlier... did they just not recognize her friends or something? Anne didn't dwell on this; she could barely think with how fast everything was happening.

"Oi, who do you think you are?!" Vi yelled, her beemerang prepared.

The two wasps didn't say anything.

"You've made your choice." Kabbu said. "To protect my friends, I'll take you wasps down!" Friends? Was Neolith one of Kabbu's friends as well?

"You Wasp Kingdom crooks won't get away with this!" Levi warned.

"Yeah! You're outnumbered!" Celia said.

Everyone rallied together... that's right. Anne knew there would always be those that supported her, those that would be true friends, not bullies that lie and manipulate to get what they wanted.

"It's doesn't matter how many of you appear! We will complete our mission for the Wasp King!" Skye said. At any moment, a fight could break out.

Celia turned to face the group she was with. "We need to get Neolith and the stick-bug to safety!"

"Right!" Kabbu agreed. He pointed at Vi and Leif. "Vi, get Anne! Leif, get Neolith! Team Celia and I can handle this!"

Vi and Leif nodded, immediately springing into action. Before they could get far, Vesp and Skye moved, blocking the way to Anne and Neolith. The two wasps had their spears outstretched, prepared to do anything to stop the two bugs.

"Oh no you don't!" Kabbu said, seeing what the wasps were trying to do. He raised his hand, motioning for the wasps to come toward him in a taunting motion. That seemed to do the trick; Vesp and Skye's expressions turned to rage, the wasps completely ignoring Vi and Leif as they ran past them, speeding over to Kabbu. Just how was he able to do that?

Anne didn't care, trying to focus on something to distract her from the immense pain. Kabbu, Levi, and Celia were fighting Vesp and Skye by now, thankfully far enough away that Anne wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

Kabbu, Levi, and Celia seemed to have the upper hand. They outnumbered the wasps, after all, and they likely had much more combat experience than Anne did. The bugs traded blows, and the wasps wouldn't give up no matter what, even when Kabbu disarmed Vesp... though that was brief, as Skye tripped the beetle so Vesp could pick up his weapon again.

At the same time, Leif ran over to Neolith, kneeling before helping him stand up. "Are you alright?" Leif asked.

"I could be better..." Neolith winced, realizing just how many bruises he had. But he soon forgot about that, staring at Leif as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Uh..." Leif wasn't sure what to do.

"A-Ah, sorry!" Neolith said, shaking his head. "Thank you so much, it's just... I've never seen a moth like you before!"

Leif chuckled, taking the comment in stride. "We do get that a lot."

Neolith giggled, just a little flustered. He tried to ignore Skye's scream of rage as she just couldn't get a hit in on Celia at all.

The two moths smiled at each other, but Leif paused when he saw a nasty cut on Neolith's side, green blood trickling down Neolith's side. "That's... not good." Leif commented. Neolith wondered what he was talking about, only to look down and see the same cut, the beige moth nearly screaming.

"Don't worry, we can help soothe the pain." Leif said, reaching his hand down to Neolith's side, activating his ice magic. "It might sting a little bit." The blue moth warned, though it was a bit too late as Neolith hissed, initially trying to squirm away before Leif put a hand on Neolith's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "...We should've warned you ahead of time, apologies."

"It's fine." Neolith shuddered at how cold it was. "You wield magic?" Neolith asked, interested. Leif nodded.

Anne hardly listened to whatever conversation the two moths might've had, instead focusing on the fight. By now it devolved into Kabbu fighting Vesp, and Skye fighting Levi & Celia.

Kabbu delivered a powerful upstrike, sending Vesp soaring several feet through the air. The beetle didn't waste time, running after Vesp in preparation to attack again. Levi parried several of Skye's attacks, giving Celia a chance to attack the wasp from behind, which then took Skye off-guard, allowing Levi to strike Skye with his weapon for a devastating hit. Levi and Celia really worked fantastic together, huh?

"Anne!" Vi yelled, snapping Anne out of her thoughts. She didn't even realize that Vi was standing right next to her. "I told you these guys were bad news! Come on, you gotta get up!" Vi waved her arms frantically, trying to get Anne to hurry up.

She tried to move, but she couldn't. Any small shift of her weight sent new waves of pain through her arm, and Anne wasn't sure what she could do.

"What's taking so long?" Vi said, annoyed. Tears were in Anne's eyes, the realization slowly dawning on Vi that something was wrong. "Uh... are you okay?"

"No!" Anne said, shutting her eyes again. The pain needed to stop. "My arm... they did something to my-" She tried to stop herself from outright screaming when the pain spiked again. "My arm is in a lot of pain, okay?!" Anne hissed, trying to stop herself from lashing out.

Vi stood there, not really sure what to do. "Oh." Seriously, was that all she could say? "Kabbu and that other team are gonna show those wasps what for, okay?!" Vi's tune suddenly changed as she moved to help Anne stand up.

The bee bent down and wrapped her arms around Anne's torso, waiting for a few seconds before she grunted, trying to lift Anne up. Anne hissed at the pain, but pushed herself up as Vi lifted her, getting her back to her feet. After making sure that Anne was stable, Vi stepped back a bit before looking back at the fight.

Anne took several deep breaths. The pain was still awful, but she could at least stand up now. "Thanks."

She paid attention to the fight again just in time to see Vesp and Skye lying on the ground in a heap, Kabbu, Levi, and Celia standing around them. The two wasps got back up, Vesp needing to lean on his spear to even stand while Skye shook, her eyes full of fear.

"Have you had enough yet?!" Kabbu roared, ready for more. He barely had a scratch on him, meanwhile Vesp and Skye appeared as if they had just been run over by a bus.

Skye froze on the spot, shaking her head before correcting herself and nodding several times. "Vesp! We underestimated them! We have to get out of here!"

Vesp grunted, losing his balance and falling to the ground before he picked himself up again, panting. "We must report this at once." He said in-between breaths. Skye turned to him and continued nodding. Kabbu, Levi, and Celia glared at the two wasps, waiting for any wrong move.

"Count your blessings, explorers! You won't be so lucky next time!" Vesp turned to run, but not before staring directly at Anne. "Including you, Anne."

Anne could only glare at him through her pain, refusing to say anything else as Vesp and Skye ran, leaving as fast as they could. It was... satisfying, seeing them run away like the cowards they were. Hopefully, Anne would never have to see them again, even if Vesp's last words were a bit too ominous for her liking.

"Wait, are we really just gonna let them go?!" Vi asked as the two wasps soon disappeared out of view, running who knows where.

"Forget about them!" Levi said. "We need to tend to the injured!"

---

The seven of them took refuge in Team Snakemouth's house, at Leif's suggestion. Vi did have to briefly leave to do something, but she quickly returned. And even though the doctor was still out of town, they'd make do. Kabbu and Celia had a little bit of medical experience, to Anne's surprise, especially as she was easily able to determine that her arm wasn't quite broken, just severely injured from Vesp's attack.

Anne's blood boiled, wishing Vesp could get his just desserts. ...Maybe getting beaten up by Kabbu was enough. Regardless, the pain did go down a bit as Kabbu helped wrap her arm up in a cast with a sling. She'd be endlessly thankful that they all arrived when they did, although...

That reminded her! She asked them how they knew where she was, but Kabbu gave some vague answer about hearing a commotion, a story which Levi corroborated. Huh... it was a lucky coincidence after all.

Anne and Kabbu sat on the couch, trying to make sure the cast was on properly. According to Celia's estimate, Anne's arm would heal... in a moon cycle or so, which translated to around a month. Just great. She could hardly think about that, though; she was busy trying to come to terms with what happened. At least the storm outside let up a bit, the rain practically stopped by now.

Nearby, Leif sat on his bed, Neolith sitting down next to him. Leif was busy taking care of Neolith's bruises and cuts, using his ice magic to make it a bit more bearable. Neolith asked Leif many questions, but Leif told him that the main priority was making sure he was okay, to which Neolith sighed, relenting.

Vi, Levi, and Celia stood around, Levi and Celia wrapped up in a conversation, which left Vi standing there on her own to fiddle with her beemerang.

Anne hissed as Kabbu tightened the cast, the beetle immediately letting go in response.

"Do I need to loosen it a bit?" Kabbu asked, worried.

"It's fine." Anne shrugged it off. "Either way, it's going to be painful." At this point she accepted that there wasn't some magic cure that would make her arm feel better. Sure, there were the yellow crystals, but who knows where the nearest one would be? Plus, even though the yellow crystals had revitalization properties, that didn't mean they cured injuries! ...How would Anne know that?

Kabbu didn't like her response, frowning before he sighed, adjusting the sling. "Just try not to move your arm too much, please."

Silence filled the room as Levi and Celia's conversation trailed off, not having anything else to say. Vi walked over to Anne and Kabbu, putting her beemerang away. "So... How are you doing, Anne?" Vi awkwardly asked. Did she not know how to act in this kind of situation?

"Well, I barely held my own in a fight before thinking that my arm got broken." Anne said, not putting up with those kinds of questions right now.

"Right. Bad question." Vi said, backing away a bit. Anne wished she could be in a better mood and not snap at everyone, but it was impossible with the current circumstances.

"Thank you all so much..." Neolith said, clasping his hands together. By now, most of his cuts and wounds were patched up thanks to Leif, with Celia doing some of the initial work. "I think I would've been a goner if it weren't for you, Anne. You were so brave, standing up to those brutes! I really thought I'd croak before finishing my research..."

The teen looked away, guilty over how she didn't stop Vesp and Skye earlier. How could she not see the signs? Or maybe she did see the signs and just brushed them off as nothing... but how could that happen? "...Thanks." Anne muttered. It just didn't make sense.

Levi walked over, noticing Anne's change in attitude. "Is there anything else bothering you?" The ladybug asked.

Anne sighed, leaning back on the couch. "I did something really stupid all because I just wanted some respect." she admitted. It sounded so outlandish when she thought back on it. Her friends all warned her not to talk to the wasps, and what did she do? Decided that she knew better than them despite being a stranger in this world, that's what.

"But now I've probably made everything worse." Anne grimaced. Even if she helped the townsbugs by fixing something right after Vesp and Skye left their houses, that didn't eliminate the damage done in the first place. Plus, Anne only did it in the first place to make herself look good... that's what she told herself.

"Hey, I respect you for standing up to those wasp troopers!" Celia said, a smile on her face. "They're some of the toughest soldiers around! Not any stick-bug could do that!"

Anne couldn't help but appreciate Celia's comment, not bothering to correct the blue ant anymore.

"Quick question." Vi said, looking in Neolith's direction. "Am I the only one here who doesn't know who that other moth is?" Vi looked confused, to which Leif gave her a slight glare.

"His name is Neolith." Leif answered, a bit harsher than Vi expected. The bee flinched.

"And he's the leading authority in archeology, studying under the Queen herself!" Levi added. Huh, Neolith sounded like a huge deal.

Vi's face flickered in recognition. "Oh! Nice to meet you!" She said to the professor. "...What's archeology?" She then whispered to herself.

Neolith blushed, a bit flustered. "Aw, shucks. I'm not that famous!"

"We think archeology is pretty cool." Leif commented. Anne raised an eyebrow; since when was Leif of all bugs interested in archeology?

Kabbu stared at Leif and Neolith, as if realizing something. Kabbu cleared his throat, bringing attention to himself. "Neolith and I met in the Lost Sands while I... traveled to the Ant Kingdom. That's where I know him from."

"Really? I didn't know you two had history with each other." Anne said. This was getting interesting, so much so that she almost forgot about the pain in her arm.

"Mhm." Kabbu nodded. "He helped me find my way... I don't really want to talk about it much further than that, though." Well, that was disappointing. Why bring it up in the first place if he wasn't going to go into detail?

"It was nothing, compared to saving me from that ambush!" Neolith said, apparently relieved to move past the other subject.

Beat.

"I am curious, though." Kabbu said. "Why did you come here in the first place?" That was a good question.

"Hm..." Neolith was in thought for a few moments. "Well, I was examining the tunnel in the outskirts, linking it to the Golden Path. But while I was looking around, I found some weird objects in the grass, it looked like it was in a bunch of pieces and-"

"I know what that is!" Vi said, remembering something. Neolith was in the middle of scouring through his pockets but stopped. "Anne had a puzzle thingy, and I got frustrated with it and threw it on the ground." Vi explained. Right, something like that did happen... wow, that was weeks ago by now.

"Oh." Neolith deadpanned; a bit disappointed. "I hadn't seen anything like it before, so I was on my way to the Anthill Palace to try and find out what it was, and... yeah."

Another wave of guilt crashed down. If only Anne hadn't brought up that Cubix Block way back when, then Vi wouldn't have destroyed it, and then Neolith wouldn't have seen it and decided to go back to Ant City, thus dooming him to his fate.

"I never expected to get assaulted... Hopefully I never go through something like that again." Neolith shuddered. Leif put a hand on Neolith's shoulder, pulling the moth a bit closer.

"From what I overheard, they seem to be looking for artifacts as well?" Celia asked.

"Yep." Anne confirmed with a nod. She witnessed every single moment of it. "Those two were interrogating townsbugs for information about the artifacts! And when they didn't get their answers, they terrorized them! I should've done more to stop them..." In hindsight, it was so easy to see what they were doing was wrong. Why couldn't Anne do something earlier?

Levi put a hand on Anne's shoulder, looking down at her. "You did all you could. Nobody blames you for anything those wasps might've done."

Sure, that might be true, but she let it happen in the first place. Anne felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. But then again, Anne purposefully didn't tell Vesp or Skye any information she had on the artifacts, including where the next expedition would take place... maybe that was a good thing.

Neolith let out a sigh. "The wasps have behaved for a few moon cycles, but they can't be planning anything good." Was this what Kabbu meant by all the political stuff? Just what was going on? "If it's going to be this unsafe, maybe I should cancel my trip altogether..."

"No way!" Celia said, shaking her head. "Professor, Levi and I are on a journey to the Golden Hills. Come with us!"

"We would be glad to escort you." Levi agreed.

"Thank you so much!" Neolith said, Levi nodding afterward.

"We're on our way there as well, so we'll all catch up eventually." Leif said, referring to Team Snakemouth. "By the way..." He turned to Anne. "We're wondering, did you ever manage to find out anything about the music box?"

Anne shook her head. "Nope." She was sure that any promises those two wasps had about helping her find a way home were nothing but lies, tricking her into doing what they wanted. They most likely didn't know where Sasha or Marcy were either.

"Music box?" Neolith asked, curious.

Anne started to reach over to her backpack to get it out, only to realize that having only one usable arm would make things a lot more difficult. "A little help, Vi?" Anne asked, only asking the bee because she was the first bug she thought of.

Vi walked over, not complaining as she unzipped the backpack, getting the music box out and setting it on Anne's open palm. Kabbu stared at the music box, but nobody seemed to notice that as Neolith stood up, walking over to the couch.

"I've been asking around about this because it's what sent me here." Anne said, trying to be concise. "It made this weird light show and teleported me here the first time I used it, but now opening it doesn't do anything. Do you know something about this music box?"

Neolith stared at the music box for several seconds, intently focusing on it. Anne could only imagine what he was thinking; perhaps now, after everything that's happened, would she finally get some answers? The wait was so agonizing... but in the end, Neolith shook his head.

"I haven't heard anything about this in my research. I'm sorry." Neolith said. He looked away.

Anne sighed, a part of her expecting that answer. "That's alright. Thanks for trying." Nobody she asked knew a thing, the research at the Anthill Palace didn't wield any results... every step of the way, her hopes were dashed. The music box depicted an ant on it, so it had something to do with this place, right?

Neolith's face lit up, the moth having an idea. "You're going to the Golden Settlement next, right?" He asked, Anne nodding in response. "Well... I think someone there might know something about it! I'm not totally sure, but..."

Even if Neolith wasn't completely certain about it, Anne was starting to be. After all, she hadn't been to the Golden Settlement at all, which meant a whole new batch of bugs that could potentially know where her friends were or how to get herself back home! "I sure hope so!"

With renewed confidence that she'd be able to find a way home, Anne handed the music box back to Vi, the bee putting it back inside the backpack before zipping it up. The room filled with silence yet again, nobody really sure what to say.

"What should we do now?" Vi asked, setting Anne's backpack on the couch.

By now, the shock of the earlier events had passed by. Anne narrowed her eyes, standing up. "I'll tell you what we're going to." After all the injustices that took place today, there was only one way to correct it. "We're going to report this to Elizant. All of it." Those wasps wouldn't get away with it; Anne would make sure of that. If she ever saw either of them again... they'd be sorry they ever crossed her.

Kabbu stood up as well. "Yes, we should go to the Anthill Palace and explain everything that happened." He started to say something else, only to stop himself, realizing something. "But first! Vi, Leif, we have something to show Anne, don't we?" The beetle asked, gesturing to the two he mentioned.

"Indeed. This is important." Leif agreed, getting up off his bed.

Vi stood there for a moment, needing a second to remember. "...Oh yeah! Yeah yeah yeah, you really need to see this, Anne!"

"Uh... alright." Anne said, going along with whatever this was despite her confusion. She didn't protest as the three led her to the front door, Kabbu reaching over to open it. The rain had stopped, leaving puddles of water behind.

Kabbu gestured for Anne to walk outside, the teen doing so while being careful of her cast... where she saw several townsbugs standing outside the house.

More notably, they all shared a common trait. They were all bugs that Vesp and Skye 'visited' earlier.

Ali, the beetle and butterfly couple, the grasshopper with a bunch of kids... Anne couldn't believe it. Why were they here? How and when did Kabbu, Vi, and Leif set this up?

"What's going on?" Anne asked, completely lost. She expected them to be angry with her for letting those wasps trash their houses, but all of them were... smiling? Anne didn't understand any of this.

"We heard about what you did." Ali said. "To think, you drove those wasps out of Ant City... thank you so much, Anne." He paused. "And also, thanks for that suggestion about getting my shelf bolted to the wall. It's been working wonders."

"Without you, Anne, we wouldn't have a couch to sleep on!" The butterfly added. "...I probably shouldn't have admitted that I sleep on my couch, but oh well! Thank you!"

"I don't know what I would've done if those wasps decided to come back..." The grasshopper said, looking away. "Anne, you did all of us a favor by standing up to those wasps. I give you my well wishes, and I hope you can recover as soon as possible." They looked down at their kids. "Thank the nice lady, please."

As the grasshopper's kids thanked Anne, her heart swelled at all the compliments and well wishes she received. Word of this would spread fast, and everyone would know about her exploits... And now she knew for sure. Nobody saw her as a fraud for ever siding with the wasps, they viewed her as a hero; they gave her respect.

"Thanks, you guys..." Anne said, a smile forming. A few tears escaped her eyes, more than relieved to finally be accepted.

After all this time, after everything she's been through... a part of her knew that she had earned this. Not in the sense of cheating or lying. Anne had a long way to go, but she would stick up for what was right, and seeing everyone's support was proof enough that she had to keep trying, no matter what.

Perhaps, along the way... she'd finally find a way back home.

---

Suffice to say, Vesp didn't expect to get a beating from some random explorers today.

He grunted as he walked alongside Skye, needing to use his spear for support as the two of them continued their long trek back to the Wasp Kingdom. The two were quiet for a while, trying to keep calm after the events that had just taken place.

Vesp kept checking behind him to make sure they weren't followed. For now, they were both in the clear... hopefully, it would stay that way. Vesp practically had to limp with how much pain he was in.

"Are we going to tell the Wasp King about this?" Skye asked, sounding unsure. Vesp felt bad, hopefully Skye hadn't been beaten up too bad compared to himself.

His expression grew dark, a new resolve in mind. "We're going to tell him everything." No more fun and games. Not a single detail would be left out.

Silence. Nobody was around this part of the Outskirts anyway, save for the few Underlings that dug around occasionally.

"...Good." Skye said, smiling. Before Vesp could react, she leaned down, giving him a short kiss on the cheek.

Vesp blushed, looking away as they continued walking. Well, at least she didn't do this in public.

...

...

To Be Continued...