Act 1 – Welcome to Bugaria
Episode 11b - Breakout Star
Author Note: And we're back for another chapter! This is one of my favorites (and one of my beta-reader's favorites) so I hope you enjoy!
The incident with the safe line proved to be an... interesting start to the Golden Path, needless to say. But despite that, Team Snakemouth continued the long trek to the Golden Settlement, the sun close to shining on their third day out.
After setting up camp last night in a relatively tame spot where no monsters would get them, the four of them were fast asleep, sleeping the night away. Anne didn't have any dreams that night, but at least nothing disturbed them as they slept.
All in all, Anne was in a good mood as she slowly woke up, taking a moment to remember that her right arm was still injured. Ugh, that's right... every time she woke up, there were always those few seconds where she forgot about it, until it came back to her all over again, reminding her of the grievous mistake she made. Over and over she had tried to get others to like or respect her, not realizing that it was most important that her friends already liked her.
Anne blinked a few times as she sat up, yawning before stretching with her good arm. "Good morning, Bugaria!" The air was a bit windy today, nothing she couldn't handle. The others were still asleep not too far from her, so she figured she had a bit of time to freshen up, right?
Right. She zipped open her backpack; she knew she had to get used to doing this with only one arm by herself, which was why she practiced a bit last night before going to sleep, much to Vi's chagrin. Anne eventually got to the point where she could do it without much effort, as proven when she zipped her backpack open with ease, sifting through it to pull her phone out.
With her good arm, she turned her phone on, found the camera app, switched it to the front camera-
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
-And screamed.
In that moment, she didn't care that she woke everyone else up, more focused on the absolute monstrosity she saw the moment she switched her phone to the front camera. It was her worst nightmare, a doomsday scenario that she hoped would never happen, especially here of all places.
Kabbu also screamed as he shot up to his feet, his arms flailing as he panicked, hurriedly looking around to find the source of the first scream.
"Is someone dead?!" Vi yelled the first thing that came to mind, also freaking out.
"Why are we all yelling?" Leif asked, the only calm person or bug in the area. He sat up, absolutely confused.
Anne stood up, absolutely distraught as she pointed at her face with her good arm. "Just look at me!" Kabbu, Vi, and Leif all took a glance, seeing exactly what Anne was talking about.
Her face had pimples all over it, about as nasty as one could imagine. It was devastating, Anne wishing that she could just get puberty over with already so she didn't have to deal with any of this. But now here it was, in full view for her friends to see.
Kabbu tilted his head, as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking at. "First your arm got injured, and now your... face? Is that what a human face injury looks like?"
Before Anne could correct him, Vi gave her a weird look. "It looks like a disease." The moment the words were out of the bee's mouth, she gasped, rushing to back away as fast as she could. "Oi, I don't want to catch your disease!"
"It looks like Anne is sick for real now." Leif said, standing up. "She needs to be quarantined in case it's contagious." The moth began to walk toward her, readying his ice magic.
While Anne appreciated that they were willing to return the favor in taking care of her after she took care of them while they were sick, Anne needed to set things straight before they could derail any further. "What? Guys, these are pimples." Anne shook her head, hoping they would get it. "It's a human thing."
There was a beat of silence before the others lowered their guard. Kabbu breathed a sigh of relief, Vi stopped freaking out, and Leif stopped walking.
"Ah. That makes sense." Leif said.
"Just how many weird human things do you HAVE?" Vi yelled.
"Vi! Don't be insensitive!" Kabbu chastised, glaring at the bee, who let out a huff in response.
"Sorry." Vi mumbled.
Kabbu turned back to Anne, saddened. "Please don't mind Vi's comments..."
"Dude, it's fine." Anne said. After all, to the rest of them, humans basically had alien biology. Whatever bug puberty someone in this world might go through would be foreign to Anne, and she might've reacted in a similar way. Granted, she didn't pay attention to anything in science class when the topic of bugs came up, so she didn't know how similar the bugs in her world would be to the ones here.
"If... pimples are so normal for you, then why were you freaking about it?" Leif asked, confused about that.
"Because pimples are the number one way to becoming a social outcast at school!" Anne said. Then again, maybe it was a good thing she wasn't back home with a pimple breakout this bad... "One time, there was a girl in my grade who got a pimple so big that she had to-"
"LALALA THAT SOUNDS GROSS, I'M NOT LISTENING, LALALA-"
"Vi!" Leif yelled, Vi uttering an 'eep' in response. Did Vi really have to go that far? If she didn't want to listen to it, she could've just asked Anne to stop talking about it.
"You've been testing our patience this morning, and we really don't want to resort to freezing your mouth shut." Leif said, giving Vi a glare.
Though it was an empty threat, Vi was quick to defend herself. "Well, she was talking about stuff that sounded gross!"
"I do agree..." Kabbu said, sounding hesitant to even say it. "I don't wish to hear about the... grosser parts of human anatomy."
While they didn't mean any harm, Anne knew then and there that having pimples was a universal sign of grossness, in any town, world, dimension, or wherever else. A truth that couldn't be changed no matter where she was. It hurt, but at least they were honest with her on this.
"Sorry, guys." Anne said with a defeated sigh. "I may as well put a paper bag over my head while I'm at it." Even if pimples didn't last forever, she didn't want to subject her friends to seeing them while they were here, which was why she knelt to the orange grass, using her good arm to sift through her backpack, trying to remember if she brought a paper bag.
After a few moments, Kabbu walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Anne, you don't need to do that! I'm not sure why you would, but... it's not necessary!"
Anne stopped, wondering if he was right. After all, nobody else was here but her friends, and they'd already seen her pimples... but what if she made it to the Golden Settlement and her pimples weren't gone? For all she knew, they could scare everyone away, leaving her with nobody to ask about the music box AND no closer to finding a way home. But she made so many assumptions in the past, with so many of them just being outright wrong... so what was she supposed to do?
When Anne stayed quiet, Kabbu kept talking. "In fact... if you wanted to explain some of how this works, I'd be happy to listen!"
Anne raised an eyebrow, turning her head to face him. "Didn't you say you 'didn't want to hear the gross parts of human anatomy?'"
Kabbu nodded. "Uh huh." There was a short beat of silence before Kabbu realized his mistake. "But do avoid the gross parts, we're about eat breakfast."
Anne was tempted to facepalm at how absurd this all sounded.
Vi groaned, rolling her eyes. "Speaking of, someone's gotta make breakfast. Leif, help me out, won'tcha?"
"Fine." Leif said, the two of them getting some of their supplies together to make a quick breakfast.
In the meantime, Kabbu listened to every word Anne said as she explained her very limited knowledge about pimples, having something to do with teenage hormones. Granted, Marcy would've been able to do a much better job with explaining this, but oh well. Still, it was nice to sit and talk about something while having someone listen to her.
"I better not wake up with pimples one day!" Vi said out of nowhere, interrupting Anne's train of thought. She drew a blank, forgetting what she was talking about. Again, Marcy would've done a better job.
Marcy... where was she? Marcy would accept her pimples, right? ...Right? Hm. Anne only wished that she could see her soon, it's been over a month and still nothing... just where could she be? What was she doing? Anne worried about her and Sasha every day, so many scenarios running through her mind that Anne wasn't sure what she would say when she finally reunited with either of them again.
Leif snapped Anne out of her thoughts when he held a plate of food in front of her. "Here. Breakfast." Leif said. Next to him, Vi handed Kabbu a similar plate, the beetle thanking her whole-heartedly.
Well, at least Anne had something to eat now. The four of them sat near each other, all of them chowing down on their breakfast, Vi telling them to hurry up so they could get going soon.
With that, there was silence, leaving Anne to her thoughts. "I wonder if anything worse is gonna happen to me." Anne said, already fearful over the unknown of what it might be with the seemingly endless string of bad luck that was forced upon her. "What's next, am I gonna go blind?!" Dropping her utensil, she pointed at her eye, as if it would will her prediction into reality.
"Anne, please calm down! I highly doubt you'd go blind!" Kabbu reassured. "Unless you poke your eye out, which I highly advise against doing!"
"Well, I've already had two bad things happen to me." Anne argued, seeing no problems with her logic. Her injury happened a couple days ago, and by that train of logic... something else was bound to happen in a few days, wasn't it?
"Y-Yes, you have..." Kabbu said, taken aback by her response. "But even if you have an injured arm and pimples, it's not her fault!" Yes it was. "No matter what happens to you, it isn't going to change anything!"
"I wasn't onboard at first, but now I agree." Vi said, a smile on her face. "The more I look at them, the more I think those red spots on your face look cool! ...And no, I'm not calling them by that other name."
"They're a neat addition to you, Anne." Leif added.
"See?" Kabbu said, gesturing to Vi and Leif. "You're around friends! Nobody is going to judge you for how you look! And if they try... I'll give them a stern talking to!"
Anne couldn't help but smile at the heart-warming sentiments that her friends shared; it was more than clear that they all cared about her. But even so... Anne knew what this was. After all, back home, when she had a bad hair day, Sasha and Marcy would tell her she looked great, even though it was obvious she didn't.
It was always like this, neither of the trio wanted to make each other feel bad for any mishaps of how they looked, even if their peers would still make comments, whispering to themselves all the while. And now, when this sort of thing was happening with her newfound friends... the bitterness of it all bubbled up within her, as if something was wrong... with herself.
But for the sake of her friends, she chose to ignore it. They were trying to cheer her up, and no matter what, she had to deal with her pimples on top of her injured arm. ...Would they start treating her differently because of this?
That question simmered in her mind as they finished up breakfast several minutes later, everyone packing everything up before they headed off, continuing their journey to the Golden Settlement.
Over the next several hours, Team Snakemouth traversed the Golden Path, solving various puzzles and overcoming other obstacles along the way. Progress was slower than they would've liked for a myriad of reasons, but they kept at it, even with what they encountered.
Just as it had been for the first two days, the group was more careful than they otherwise would've been, Anne's injured arm being the main culprit. They'd gotten used to it at this point, though Anne did need the occasional reassurance, which did give her a boost of confidence each time. Her pimples didn't get in the way of anything, which should've been obvious from the start. However...
About a half hour into their progress for today, they noticed a small group of Weevils approach them. Kabbu stepped forward in case anything happened, but the Weevils stared at them, their eyes focused on Anne for a few moments before... they simply walked away, leaving the four of them alone.
"Yeah, you better run!" Vi said with a smug look on her face, thinking that she was responsible for that. It was strange, those monsters had never done anything like that before...
In fact, this was true with pretty much everything they encountered today. They didn't get any battling experience, but at least it gave them a chance to take a more relaxed approach to the mission today, which ended up in them talking about several subjects over the course of the day.
"You see these berries?" Kabbu asked them at one point, pointing at a number of large, red berries nested in a bush.
"Oh boy! Free money!" Vi said, running over to pick the berries.
Before she could get far, Leif grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back. "No. Those look different than the ones we use for currency!"
"That is correct, Leif!" Kabbu said. "I've read about these berries before, they're only found in certain areas in the Golden Path, and even then, they're incredibly rare!"
As Kabbu explained, Anne couldn't help but think about other random things, bored out of her mind. She used her good arm to get her phone out of her pocket, scrolling through old photos she took a while ago.
"...if you take even just one off of the bush, then the berries emit a scent only lesser bugs can detect that'll..."
Nearly all of Kabbu's explanation went over her head, Anne choosing to giggle at an old photo she took of her dad on April Fool's Day. Good times...
As Team Snakemouth continued along, Anne did... notice something. Vi wasn't complaining as much, Leif wasn't as snarky, and Kabbu wasn't as overbearing... well, most of the time. They were definitely acting different, at least Anne thought of it that way. Hm...
Well, she did enjoy it. They were nicer to each other, not nearly as many arguments breaking out as back when they were traversing Snakemouth Den. ...It was nice, really nice. And of course, there could only be one cause for it.
Sure, earlier she lamented about how her pimples might get her friends to act differently, and sure, they were... but her thoughts swam through her head, constantly fighting herself on whether it was a good thing or not. Anne didn't know what to do except take the easy way out and do nothing, not that it was a bad thing.
This constant mental back and forth continued into the night, Anne standing by and waiting as Kabbu, Vi, and Leif set up camp again. Should she say something? ...No, she didn't want to ruin everyone's good mood. And besides, even if progress was slow today, they were bound to make it to the Golden Settlement before the festival at the pace they were going. That was something the four of them could be excited about.
Which was why Anne went to sleep quickly, ignoring everything else as she drifted off into dreamland. Part of her knew she couldn't keep things going like this...
...
In the middle of the night, unbeknownst to anyone, the pimples on Anne's face gave off a faint, blue glow, before...
...
Just like the night before, nothing interrupted the four of them as they slept. Once again, Anne woke up first, almost instantly deciding where she stood on the matter as soon as she was properly awake.
She would gladly embrace the changes that her pimples brought to the team. After all, if they liked them, then Anne saw no reason to try and change their mind or do anything else. She liked the way things were now, and with any luck, they'd stay that way for a long time.
Her mood lifted, Anne sat up, stretching with her good arm as she blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the sunlight. It was a bit warmer today, which was a relief. In just a few days, they'd be at the Golden Settlement, witnessing the Golden Festival, and best of all...
"Good morning, greasy babies." Anne greeted her pimples as she took her phone out, opening the camera app and switching it to the front camera. "Time to get ready for another-"
She had to stop herself from screaming so she wouldn't wake the others up.
No... no, this couldn't be happening! How! Why? So many questions, and absolutely zero answers. It was impossible, but at the same time, Anne saw it for herself, absolutely flabbergasted and horrified at the same time. The truth was right in front of her, and she had to accept it.
All her pimples were gone. Every single one. Not even a tiny little baby one remained. Pimples didn't just... disappear this fast, did they?! How come no one told her about this? She remembered seeing someone with a pimple that lasted for weeks; she just had to be the lucky one that got rid of her pimples fast, huh?
There wasn't anything she could do to bring her pimples back, which meant that the only option was to panic. The only reason that everyone started being nicer to each other was because they liked her pimples, which meant arguments were bound to start up again... meaning more delays, then they'd miss the festival and then-
But that couldn't be it, right? Even if there was one, small, rational part of Anne's brain still working, everything else overwhelmed it, coming up with so many wild scenarios that Anne didn't want to even entertain the possibility of anyone seeing her without pimples. They weren't awake, so she still had time, but... what could she do? It wasn't as if she could just magically give herself pimples again!
-"You see these berries?" Kabbu asked them at one point, pointing at a number of large, red berries nested in a bush-
...Or could she?
She hadn't paid attention to everything Kabbu said about those berries, but they looked enough like pimples to where nobody else would know the difference. It was the perfect plan; Anne couldn't see any way this could go wrong. And now that she thought about it, they did pass one of those red berry bushes on the way to camp, so...
Being as quiet as a mouse, Anne slowly stood up, making sure that nobody else was awake. She stuffed her phone in her pocket, tiptoeing away while occasionally looking back, checking to see if everyone else was still asleep. After several minutes of this, Anne was far enough away that she figured they wouldn't hear her, so she casually walked in the direction she thought the berry bush would be.
The entire time, she repeated to herself that this was going to work. It had to, otherwise her efforts would be for nothing! She even did this while still having an injured arm, which slowed her down a fair bit, but still... it was all going to be worth it pretty soon.
She glanced at every bush she walked past, seeing if it was the right one. Nope. None of them. She did have to stay out of sight of any of the monsters along the path, which only contributed further to slowing her down, to the point where she hoped she wouldn't get lost.
Around a half an hour later, Anne's heart skipped a beat as she spotted a bush with the unmistakable red spots off in the distance. Without wasting a second, she jogged over to it, and...
"Yes!" Anne cheered, more than relieved that she remembered where the nearest bush was. She kneeled down, quickly taking a picture (for posterity) before shoving her phone back into her pocket, using her good arm to reach for a berry, picking it off the bush.
Anne stuck it to her face, the berry clinging to her without any problems. Yes! In rapid succession, Anne stuck several more of the red berries to her face, before pocketing a few extra just in case. She then stood up, taking her phone back out and examining her face... it was as if her pimples never disappeared.
"Yep. Nobody would know the difference." Anne said, confident once more. She stood up, whistling as she walked back in the direction she came from, not realizing that a Weevil and a Chomper stared at her, following her from a distance...
Kabbu, Vi, and Leif were quite alarmed to find that, upon waking up, Anne was nowhere to be found. She left her backpack behind, which wasn't a good sign, and the fact that her arm was injured only made the potential possibilities of what might've happened to her even worse.
"Did she leave any sort of trail? At all?" Leif asked, trying to cover all bases.
"No!" Kabbu yelled, worried and frustrated. "We need to look for her! Who knows what could've happened to her?"
"Where are we even supposed to look?!" Vi asked, flailing her arms.
Amidst their confusion and arguing, they didn't even see Anne as she walked over to them, giving them a casual wave. "Hey, dudes!" The others spun around, a mix of shock and relief on their faces to see Anne back so soon.
"Wh-Anne?! Where were you?" Kabbu asked, his tone stern now that he knew Anne was safe.
Anne flinched, immediately realizing that she didn't plan for them to wake up before she got back, and now had to try and think of something on the spot so as not to arouse any suspicion. "O-Oh! I was just..." Come on, what was something that Anne would normally do...
"I got up early to stretch!" Anne exclaimed, confidence written all over her face. She felt bad about lying to them, especially after the incident where her lying about being sick caused everyone else to get sick for real, but this time, it was for a much more noble cause. If everyone believed she still had pimples, then the arguments would stop, and the team would get everything done in peace.
Kabbu didn't appear too convinced. "...Are you sure?" The beetle asked, frowning.
"What do you mean, of course I'm sure! What, a girl can't get up and stretch?" Anne asked, now on the defensive. She got it, they were worried about her, but there was no reason to worry! As long as nobody figured out the difference between the berries and her pimples, then she didn't have to worry about a thing.
A short beat of silence passed before Kabbu sighed, nodding. "Alright... I just want to make sure you're okay."
"And I am!" Anne waved him off, driving the point home. "I promise that I am absolutely 100 percent fine!" She did sweat a little; part of her knew that she couldn't keep this up forever, though... she would figure it out eventually.
Vi walked over to Anne, looking at her face. "Is it just me, or are your pimples a little... weird? Weirder than usual, I mean."
Anne scoffed, backing away ever so slightly. "Whaaaaaaat? I don't know what you're talking about. My good ol' pimples are the same as always!" To emphasize her point, Anne snapped her fingers, a wide grin on her face. Please don't let them figure it out-
"They look a little bigger, okay!?" Vi said, finally explaining what she meant.
"...Pimples are supposed to get bigger." Anne deadpanned.
"Oh."
Well, that was pointless. Anne felt a bit silly; nobody would figure it out, and she was worrying over nothing.
Leif straightened up, glancing to the side. "Something's wrong."
Anne froze up; she just jinxed herself, didn't she? Leif was going to expose her lie, she'd have to apologize and explain why, and then things would never be the same again, all because of stupid pimples. Well, if she had to be found out, it was better to be now rather than later.
"What is it, Leif?" Kabbu asked.
The moth stared off into a set of nearby bushes for another moment or two, before closing his eyes, shaking his head and turning back to the others. "Er... never mind, sorry. We thought we might've seen someone stalking us, but there wasn't anything there. Our mistake."
"Huh? I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be anyone out here stalking us, Leif." Vi said, confused. "The only other bugs who would be out here are other explorer teams, and it would be weird if they were stalking us."
"Yeah, you're right." Leif agreed with a nod.
Anne breathed a sigh of relief, so glad nobody noticed that her pimples weren't pimples anymore. Then again, it was a bit worrying that there was the possibility that someone could be stalking them... but Leif said he didn't see anything after all, so Anne chose to believe him.
With nothing else to talk about, they prepared breakfast, taking a bit to eat before heading off again. Just a few more days...
But only a few minutes into exploring for today, it was immediately apparent that something was off.
"Er, I don't want to cause any alarm, but..." Kabbu began, glancing over his shoulder. "There's a Weevil and Chomper behind us that are..." He trailed off, unsure how to describe it.
"Huh?" Anne asked, the four of them pausing before turning around. The two monsters had indeed been following them, which might've solved the mystery of who was stalking them. ...It was an anticlimactic answer, but oh well, not every mystery had some grand, earthshattering solution.
"How long have they been following us?" Vi asked, a weird look on her face.
"If they follow us all the way to the Golden Settlement, we get to take them home and keep them." Leif said, a smile forming.
"We'll see about that..." Kabbu muttered under his breath, not big on the idea at all.
There was something strange about it, though. The two monsters didn't try and attack or anything, they just... stared at them. To be more accurate, they were fixated on Anne in particular. It was a little weird, but a lot of things in this world were weird.
"Come on, let's keep going." Anne said, ushering the group to move on. They began walking once again, ignoring how the two monsters were still following behind them.
Before long, more Weevils, Chompers, and even a few Midges crossed their path, not attacking but not leaving either. Needless to say, the sudden change in behavior was a bit unnerving, especially as how each one only stared at Anne. This wasn't lost on the others, the four of them trying to move quickly in order to shake off the large group of creatures.
"Are we gonna do something about these guys, or..." Vi trailed off, weirded out by the sheer number of monsters; there must've been a few dozen of them by now. Vi got out her beemerang and tried to shoo one of them away, but it hissed at her in response.
"If all of them want to become our pets, we can't possibly say no." Leif said, the moth wishing he could go over and pet one of them right now.
"No! I am putting my foot down, Leif!" Kabbu said, literally slamming his foot onto the grass. The four of them stopped walking, more wrapped up in the argument now than anything else. "We are not - and will not ever bring another wild lesser bug into our house again, and that's final!"
The very moment the four of them stopped walking, the various lesser bugs began to slowly close the distance, inching forward. Most of them didn't go too far, but one Weevil in particular was a little brave, walking forward ever so slightly.
Anne grew nervous at seeing the group of lesser bugs surround them, the teen gulping. "Uh, guys?" She tried to get her friends' attention, but to no avail; they were too wrapped up in whatever they were talking about.
"You're no fun, Kabbu." Leif huffed, rolling his eyes. "And Vi, you shouldn't be snickering like that; we remember how terrified you were of Domino 2."
"Wh-hey! No fair!" Vi yelled. "Well that wild animal is gone forever, so HA!"
"Vi! Don't act so callously!" Kabbu chastised.
"Guys?" Try as she might, Anne couldn't get their attention, no matter what. The same Weevil crouched down, as if preparing for something
"So you're defending her?" Leif raised an eyebrow at Kabbu's words.
"No, I'm-"
"YEAH, he is!"
"Stop speaking for me!" Kabbu yelled.
Without warning, the Weevil lunged at Anne, the teen screaming, and the argument stopped instantly. Anne stumbled to the side, barely dodging the Weevil's random attack on her face. In the process, Anne fell over, thankfully landing on her good arm.
Her heart pounding, there was only one thing on her mind.
Run.
She scrambled to her feet, not wanting to stick around with the crowd of lesser bugs any longer, sprinting off as fast as she could in a random direction. Anne made it past the crowd, the Weevil chasing her as well, the teen's fight or flight instincts kicking in, the only thing she was thinking about was to get away.
"Anne!" Kabbu, Vi, and Leif's previous argument was all but forgotten, the three of them chasing after her. A split second later, all the lesser bugs joined in, trying to get to Anne no matter what.
There were way too many of the creatures to fight, so their only option was to run as fast as they could and hope either they could find a hiding spot, or that the various lesser bugs would get tired and stop chasing them. Leif managed to freeze the Weevil that initially tried to attack Anne, which did slow the others down ever so slightly, the large group needing to maneuver around the ice block.
All the while, Anne screamed, trying not to trip or stumble or anything, the teen taking a turn to run off the beaten path. "I don't understand why this is happening!" Anne yelling, hoping someone else could provide an explanation. "They weren't like this yesterday! Or any other day!" There was no way she could try and think of a reason for this now, not when she had to focus on putting as much distance between herself and those creatures as possible.
"They might be attracted to your pimples, Anne!" Vi yelled out a random answer, and although Anne was about to shoot that ridiculous idea down... she realized that in more ways than one, Vi technically was correct. ...Anne really needed to pay attention more often.
The shock of this unspoken revelation nearly caused Anne to trip over her own two feet, but she kept running, even if slowed down ever so slightly. This did allow Kabbu, Vi, and Leif to catch up with her, the four of them all running for their lives. Taking that turn a few moments ago did help them out a bit; the horde of lesser bugs couldn't figure out where they went at first, which gave them a little bit of extra distance to work with.
Up ahead, there was a wooden platform, a crane attached to it. A couple dozen feet above that lay higher ground, and there was no other way through.
"Come on!" Anne yelled as she rushed onto the wooden platform, the others still with her. The horde of lesser bugs would catch up any second- "Quick! Turn the crank!" Anne pointed at the first of her friends she saw- Leif.
The moth nodded, rushing over to the crank before starting to turn it as fast as he could, the platform rising a few inches into the air. His efforts only seemed to make the lesser bugs increase their efforts, spiking Anne's anxiety up much higher than it needed to be.
"Take this!" To counteract this, Vi grabbed her beemerang, swinging it at anything that got too close to the slowly rising platform, which did deter the creatures a bit, even if not by much.
"I'm not sure we're going the right way..." Kabbu said, wilting slightly.
"Just do it!" Anne yelled, glaring at Kabbu and pointing at the crank with her good arm.
Surprised, Kabbu nodded, uttering a quick apology for his carelessness before helping Leif turn the crank, the beetle's added strength contributing to getting the crank higher much faster than before. Within seconds, the lesser bugs were out of reach, and the team was safe, Kabbu and Leif continuing to push the crank until it reached higher ground, the four of them stepping off the crank and letting out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
"This isn't the right way..." Kabbu sighed, still not relenting on that subject.
"We'll find another way!" Vi said. "You better believe there's NO way that I'm gonna go back to a horde of... of..." Vi trailed off, her eyes wide with horror as she looked ahead. Anne's mouth was agape, also unable to believe what she was seeing, a mix of shock on everyone's faces at what they saw.
Ahead of them, there was an entire new group of various Chompers, Weevils, and Midges. ...And just like the other group, they all stared, fixated on Anne's 'pimples'.
"...We're guessing these won't play nice either." Leif commented, wincing at how many there were. Vi silently shook her head in response.
The new horde of lesser bugs charged at them-
"RUN!" Anne screamed.
There was no debate about it. They couldn't very well go back to the way they came from, so they ran to the right, thankfully finding another way across the new path. It was madness; Team Snakemouth couldn't stop running, no matter how tired they were.
And after several minutes of dodging any stray lesser bugs that got too close, and weaving around obstacles, Team Snakemouth reached their limit, so tired that they didn't realize until it was too late that they'd run into a dead end, their only saving grace being a nearby yellow crystal. Anne gasped, turning around as the horde ran at them...
Until they stopped just several feet away. The four of them were confused at this, and even moreso when the group of lesser bugs became scared, the large group then running away.
Nevertheless, Team Snakemouth stayed on guard, taking deep breaths... just in case. But after a minute or so, it became clear that they weren't coming back.
"So... why did they just run away like that?" Vi asked.
"They were cowards, that's why." Leif answered.
"It was awfully convenient..." Kabbu breathed a sigh of relief.
Anne was about to add her own snarky comment, but before she could, the ground below them shook wildly, the four of them trying to figure out what was going on. The shaking stopped after a couple seconds, but what followed would make the previous experience with the lesser bugs seem like a walk in the park.
Out of nowhere, something gigantic burst out of the ground, a massive, purple pitcher plant that was easily at least dozens of feet tall. The massive plant arched forward, its stem adorned with spikes. A leaf covered its mouth, a long, pink tongue sticking out. It didn't have any eyes, but it knew Team Snakemouth was here, to which the four of them could only stare up at this massive plant in shock.
"What is that thing?!" Anne screamed; just when she thought she'd seen the worst of what this world had to offer, it just had to keep topping itself, didn't it? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she also thought of a proper name to give this thing... the Devourer.
"I don't know but I'm not sticking around to find out!" Vi screamed. "We've gotta run!" In any other scenario, Anne would've chastised her for trying to flee, but now she agreed wholeheartedly.
Before any of them could make such an attempt, the Devourer made some kind of awful screeching noise, assaulting Anne's eardrums. It stopped after a couple seconds, but in its place, more rumbling. Two more plants sprouted out of the ground behind the four of them; they weren't as tall as the Devourer, but they were still massive, yellow flytraps, blocking Team Snakemouth's only escape.
"Curses, it won't let us escape!" Kabbu said, getting into a fighting stance. "If a fight is our only option, then so be it!"
"This thing is way too powerful!" Leif argued. "We're way out of our depths on this one, we need to find another way out! Just how are we supposed to fight something so massive?!"
Thankfully, the Devourer hadn't tried to attack them yet, as if waiting for one of the others to make a move. Anne let out a nervous groan, seeing that yet again, the others were divided, getting into another argument. ...Which meant that her friends being nicer might not have had anything to do with her pimples, after all.
"Ugh, fine! I'll cut through it with my beemerang and that'll be it!" Vi said, getting her signature weapon out.
"There's no way you'll pull that off, Vi!" Kabbu said, trying to prevent her from doing so risky. "Their stems are way too thick!"
"And they're too big for us to freeze, either." Leif said. "Face it, there's nothing we can do!" Nobody had any clue how to deal with it, and they wouldn't stop bickering, either. Anne could only listen as they kept arguing, with no end in sight...
Unbeknownst to any of them, the Devourer got tired of waiting, slowly raising its massive head high in the air, before SLAMMING down onto the ground. This created a shockwave effect, Team Snakemouth forced to go flying in the air, all of them letting out a collective scream, helpless.
Time slowed, Anne's eyes wide as saucers as she tried to process what was happening. It all went by so fast; she didn't see as the leaf on top of the Devourer's head open, the Devourer arching forward-
Complete and utter darkness filled Anne's vision, time resuming. She landed roughly, but it wasn't on the orange grass she was used to. "Huh?" Anne froze; it took only a second to realize where she'd landed.
Inside the Devourer's mouth.
Outside, Kabbu, Vi, and Leif fell to the ground, all of them witnessing what had just happened. "Anne!" They screamed in horror, realizing that this might've been the worst outcome possible.
Anne didn't see or hear anything of this, the teen grumbling as she sat up, trying but failing to climb out of the Devourer's mouth. It proved nearly impossible; her injured arm made in extremely difficult to even climb with some kind of pain, and her only exit was soon blocked, the Devourer covering its mouth with the giant leaf, making it impossible to see the outside world.
But that didn't stop her- at least until she accidentally leaned on her injured arm, Anne letting out a scream of pain before falling back to the bottom of the inside of the Devourer's mouth. There goes all her progress.
Letting out a sigh, Anne sat up, tucking her knees to her chest as she resigned herself to her fate. "I just wanted people to like me!" Anne ranted to herself, frustrated by this absolutely insane turn of events. "And this is where I end up! Inside of a giant pitcher plant, just waiting to be digested!" That was how this worked, right? Anne didn't know much about pitcher plants, but when she initially fell in here, she could see the entrance to the Devourer's throat, so...
"Just how could this have happened..." Anne muttered, less frustrated and more saddened by now. She didn't even know what the point of this was anymore, didn't it all start with wanting her friends to accept her? She knew that they did, but that doubt always existed, even now as she sat, contemplating everything that happened up to this point.
What she didn't realize is that when she initially got flung into the air, one of the berries fell off her face, rolling to the ground. Somehow, it hadn't been smushed by any of the others amid their panic over Anne's safety.
"H-HOW DO WE GET HER OUT OF THERE?! WE NEED TO GET HER OUT!" Kabbu screamed, freaking out for obvious reasons.
"I know that!" Vi yelled, trying to think of something. "Maybe if we can lure it down here, then-"
"We need to figure out something, now." Leif said. "No 'maybes' or 'probablys' or whatever. We need a definitive and solid plan before those flytraps get tired of waiting for us."
Vi was about to suggest something involving her beemerang when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something noticeably red on the orange ground. She picked it up, giving it a weird look. "Uh, Kabbu? Isn't this one of those berries you talked about?"
"This isn't the time for-wait, what?!" Before Vi could react, Kabbu snatched the berry out of Vi's hand.
"How did that get here?" Leif raised an eyebrow. He did see a bush of those berries nearby, so that alleviated any suspicions he might've had.
"Who cares?!" Kabbu yelled. "These red berries are what attracted everything to us! You were listening when I explained it yesterday, weren't you?!" Vi and Leif stood there awkwardly, not sure how to reply. "Weren't you?!"
Anne had a lot of time to think; it wasn't like she could do much else. She recalled her earlier revelation, how the red berries from the bushes were the cause of everything trying to chase her. She did recall hearing something about the berries' scent attracting lesser bugs... but how would that help her get out of here?
It wouldn't... but maybe she could use the berries in a different way. She came up with a plan on the spot; it was risky, but it was the only thing she could think of. She used her foot to locate where the Devourer's throat was, before using her good arm to get the berries off her face, before taking the extra she got out of her pocket, clutching them tightly. She hoped this would work...
As soon as Leif pointed out the berry bush to Kabbu and Vi, the three of them came up with a plan. Avoiding the two flytraps, they raced over to the bush, picking as many berries as they could in a few seconds before holding them up, trying to get the Devourer's attention.
"Down here! Pay attention, you!" Kabbu called, taunting the Devourer. It captured the scent of the berries, leaning down to the three of them ever so slowly... it was the perfect plan; lure the Devourer down, open its leaf, grab Anne, and then try and make a run for it, no matter what got in their way!
Anne shifted, the Devourer tilting. It was moving; she had to hurry! "Take this, you stinky, overgrown plant!" With a courageous shout, Anne jammed the berries into the Devourer's throat, retracting her hand immediately after.
The Devourer froze, starting to make a strangled cry before it physically couldn't make any more noise, starting to choke. Yes! It was working! The Devourer needed to desperately get rid of the blockage, which meant it had to get rid of whatever it last inhaled-
Before Anne could react, the Devourer tilted all the way onto its side, the leaf on its mouth opening before spitting Anne out, the teen flying down to the ground outside. Kabbu yelled her name, the beetle immediately rushing to help her out as she tried to process that she made it out alive.
"Anne, ANNE!" Kabbu said, giving her a hug. "You're ALIVE!" Tears flowed out of his eye, before he paused, letting go of Anne, a weird look on his face, his arms covered in some kind of purple substance. "Uh..."
"I'm covered in plant goo, aren't I." Anne deadpanned, internally cringing.
"...Yeah." Kabbu wiped the purple plant goo off of himself.
The Devourer still coughed and heaved, trying but failing to get rid of whatever obstructed its throat, becoming more desperate by the second. It thrashed around, attracting Team Snakemouth's attention, the four of them absolutely bewildered by what they were witnessing.
"Uh..." Vi had no words.
"Don't just stand there!" Anne exclaimed, more than anything wanting the Devourer to go down after it tried to eat her.
Vi and Leif jumped into action, Kabbu standing next to Anne in case another disaster might occur. Vi swung her beemerang at the gigantic purple pitcher plant, knocking its head to the side before Leif threw an ice crystal at it, causing the Devourer to let out more strange, strangled sounds.
It wasn't down yet, but that didn't stop either of them. Vi spun around several times before throwing her beemerang as hard as she could. It spun around the Devourer, striking it several times over... and that was it.
The combination of their attacks as well as it being unable to breathe was too much, and its movements stilled, the Devourer's head eventually succumbing to gravity, falling to the ground. Everyone made sure to get out of the way, especially as the two yellow flytraps fell to the ground as well, defeated. With that, the three plants slowly shrunk into the ground until they disappeared completely, leaving Team Snakemouth there in the wake of its defeat.
The four of them said nothing, Vi and Leif panting after the ordeal. Kabbu wanted to say something, but the right words just couldn't come out of his mouth, and Anne's heart raced, the teen terrified and bewildered at today's events. In spite of how hopeless it seemed, they escaped the multiple hordes of lesser bugs AND defeated a giant plant monster... which was pretty good, in all honestly.
"Hey, it dropped something!" Vi said, breaking the tension as she pointed at the spot where the Devourer used to be. Before anyone could protest, Vi ran over, picking it up. "It looks like some sort of..." It was a large, red fang, and a bit shiny as well. "A Crystal Fang? Eh, that's what I'm calling it."
"What's it for?" Leif asked, curious.
Vi shrugged. "I dunno, but it looks important. We're keeping it!" She walked over to Anne, signaling for her to put it in her backpack. Kabbu zipped the backpack open as Anne grabbed the Crystal Fang, looking at it incredulously. Could this be important? ...No, but it was a good trophy for their efforts.
And just like that, Anne dropped it into her backpack, Kabbu zipping it back up and putting it back on her afterward.
"That was EXCITING!" Vi said, pumped and full of energy now that the immediate danger passed. "Okay, let's-" Yet again, Vi interrupted herself, letting out a gasp as she looked at Anne again. "Anne, your pimples disappeared!"
In the chaos of everything going on, Anne had completely forgotten about that up until now, and she had no explanation or excuse ready. "Oh no, my berries are gone!" She gasped, realizing her mistake a second later. "Oh no, I said that out loud!"
The cat was out of the bag; it was too late to take anything back now. Kabbu and Vi were confused, staring at Anne, hoping she could give them the answers they needed. But in truth, she was too embarrassed to explain herself, already knowing it was her fault everything turned out this way.
"She took some red berries off a bush and pretended they were pimples." Leif explained. Just like always, he easily figured out the solution to a mystery the group faced.
Anne let out a sigh, thankful that he spoke the truth. "He's right." She was still embarrassed beyond belief, but the guilt of keeping this from her friends outweighed that by a longshot, the truth spilling out. "I'm sorry for tricking you all like that."
"...Why did you feel the need to do that, Anne?" Kabbu asked, hurt by this, but also wanting to hear Anne's side of the story. Vi let out a huff, as if she expected this sort of thing to happen by now.
No matter what, Anne needed to explain the full truth and leave nothing out, or else the situation would get worse. "At first, I actually did have pimples, I swear!" As she talked, Kabbu nodded along, listening to her every word. "But when we went to sleep, they just... I dunno, went away on their own! That's not supposed to happen! And trust me, in any other situation, I'd be ecstatic if my pimples disappeared, but..."
This was the part she worried most about. "But then I remembered I remember how nice you guys were when I had my pimples. You didn't argue as much, and I just... didn't want that to stop. I guess I was wrong, though." Anne looked away, ashamed. Even if looking different caused people to be nice to her, that doesn't mean she should try and replicate or fake it, because that would just be controlling how people felt about you... just like how two certain wasps manipulated her into joining them several days back.
"I remembered part of what Kabbu said about the red berries and snuck off to go find some to put on my face. And... that's it." Anne finished, facing the others once again. "Again, I'm really sorry I got you guys caught up in all this."
"Apology accepted." Leif nodded. "...But it was still really, really dumb. Well, at least now we know that we can't use the scent of the red berries to bring a Weevil home. It wouldn't turn out well."
Kabbu looked at the moth incredulously. "And you thought that was a good idea in the first place?!" In response, Leif only nodded. "Leif, there are SEVERAL REASONS why-"
"Can both of you just shut up?! This is exactly what Anne was talking about, you know!" Vi yelled, frustrated and a little flustered. "She's right, we keep bickering with each over the stupidest things, so how about we don't, okay?! I bet both of you are sick of it too, right?"
Anne was a little surprised at how Vi stood up for her so easily even after she lied to them, but it was nice to see. The teen smiled, knowing that she had to return the favor later... but how?
"Er... yeah." Leif winced, the moth realizing that he had indeed gotten into multiple arguments with his teammates today. "We think that the stress of the mission might be getting to us. We apologize."
"I concur, I hardly want to miss the Golden Festival, after all!" Kabbu said, giggling at the thought of being there.
"Then let's stop bickering and start moving!" Vi proclaimed. After all, they needed to get back to the main path before they lost too much time... hopefully, the monsters would leave them alone now.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Anne said. Just as always, they were able to overcome a problem and make up, reinforcing how well they worked together as a team. Maybe, just maybe, Anne could finally drill it into her head that Kabbu, Vi, and Leif accepted her no matter what, even if she had pimples, an injured arm, or who knows what else!
And with a new victory under their belt, both physical and emotional, there was only one fitting way to celebrate. "Group hug!" Anne said, her good arm outstretched, only to be met with utter silence.
Leif shook his head. "Wash that plant goop off you first, and then we'll consider it."
"Deal!"