Chapter Text
After the Wasp King was defeated and all of Bugaria now safe, Team Snakemouth could finally unwind and explore freely the Kingdoms. Now we look at what's happening between them right now.
"OH COME ON, WHY DO I KEEP GETTING 17 WORMS TRY AFTER TRY!!??" Vi said angrily, having wasted 100 Berries on Whack-A-Worm, trying to fulfill the Mayor's request.
"Its okay Vi, you'll get it next time; for now you should take a break." Kabbu trying to comfort his bee friend while massaging her shoulder after suffering much defeat from a simple game.
"Yeah Vi, it's not like the worms hate you or something." Leif responds with monotony yet with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Shut up!" Vi retorts.
"Make us." Ice forming nearby his hand before being interrupted by their beetle friend, separating both of them using their arms. "Maybe you guys should stop before anyone of us gets hurt...". Both Vi and Leif resign to an agreement. "Fine.", "True..." both their responses respectively.
"Maybe we should go look at the Quest Board to see what kind of quests there are cause I'm getting bored of here." Vi said while yawning with her Beemerang raised.
"We agree with her, could really get some walking done." The Ice Mage approving of this plan with a comment.
"Lets go then Team! To the Quest Board!" Kabbu cheers as they find the nearest Quest Board which is located at the Bar in the Golden Settlement. Finding two inside : a Mantis as the Bartender and a Stag Beetle near the table.
Then Team Snakemouth looked through all of the quests in the Quest Board trying to search ones that could be dealt with ease since most were already completed by themselves. "Takes too long.", "Another fetch request?", "I don't really want to do that...". Most of the remaining quests were lackluster and weren't worth pursuing but when they saw that Delilah and Stratos' "Getting Bored" Request; which was asking for a fight at the "secret" bar, they immediately took this one and started to prepare for the quest.
"...Didn't we just challenge Team Maki some days ago?" Leif says about the quest with slight concern, with defeating Team Maki and now going at it with Team Slacker.
"Yeah, but don't we wanna know how strong we have become since? Plus we could get some awesome reward if we do manage to defeat them!" The bee looks at both her teammates, excited for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, "Right Kabbu?".
"I mean... guess so, if it's for all of us then we should do it, no matter the cost."
Using the Ant Compass, They headed for the Ant Kingdom's Bank using the mines as a shortcut to gather enough berries in preparation for their fight against Team Slacker; with the purpose of getting enough items and hoping that they have enough to use when the time comes.
"Welcome... Oh, it's you!" The Teller of the Bank surprised, greeted the Team with a renewed interest. "You have 585 berries in your account right now. What will it be?" She said after.
"We would like to withdraw 135 berries ma'am." Kabbu replied.
"Here you go. Your balance is now 450 berries.", "Your berries are safe here. Come back anytime."
"See, Vi? There's no problem here." Him trying to reassure that the bank is credible to the young bee.
"Hmph." Vi said, now with arms both crossed, still not believing what he said. "What if after we put in a huge deposit they just steal our money and run around to a hot spring or something?".
"Come on... They gave us a Platinum Card... Have more faith in our land's bank system!" Kabbu pleads. "Now I think we should gather what we need for the fight."
"Maybe we could go to Defiant Root, We'd like some Crisbee Donuts." Leif suggests, trying to satiate his never-ending hunger.
"Yeah those donuts are really good... Can't really get enough of them." The Green Beetle agrees.
The Team, now at Defiant Root, headed inside the marketplace was many merchants selling whatever wares they could find, a blacksmith that makes medals, a clothes store selling many fabrics, a charm shop, and what they mainly wanted: the bakery, where those really delicious donuts were made.
"How many donuts are we going to get again? 6 or 3?" asked Kabbu to his moth friend. "6, we'll eat the first 3 and use the latter to make Queen's Dinner." Leif responded.
Having entered Crisbee's Bakery, they sought out first the ingredients to make the first 3 donuts: 3 Honey Drops and 3 Bags of Flour. Then Crisbee thanking them for buying those leftover ingredients. Which Leif asked The Bee Baker the following after, "Hello Crisbee, We would like these baked please.".
"Gotcha, Okay. here it goes! Wish me Luck!".
6 cycles of baking later...
"Heheh, Nailed it! I'm getting so much better at this!" Crisbee exclaims. Then handed over the last donut to Leif, who handed over the rest of the donuts to his team.
"Yknow, On my first trip here, I would eat here every day and I must say, the food's gotten even better!" Kabbu remarks while munching on the donut.
"Still weird to see a bee chef out of the Hive..." Vi, also eating her donut; Wonders about the baker's unsual location outside her old home.
"Doesn't matter. We get good pastries anyways." Leif, having finished his seconds ago enjoyed the food he ate while replying to what Vi said.
After their snacks were consumed, Leif proceeds to ask Crisbee about making the latter donuts using the remaining ingredients they had, which the baker complied.
When those were finished, They headed out to the Ant Kingdom to get Fry's expertise into making his masterpiece: a Queen's Dinner. Which would be very useful aside from being really delicious, it had one of the best healing abilities of all the food they tasted.
Kabbu asks. "Do we have the Tangy Carpaccios?". "Yes." Leif says, having gotten them from Kut during sometime before.
After that, Kabbu approaches Fry to ask him to make his signature dish. "Hey hey! You guys! Back for more? What can i get for you?", "So 3 Queen's Dinners huh? Watch a master do his work!".
Some cycles of Fry somehow making the best damn food using a cauldron later...
"Here it is, a masterwork! Eat up, small fry!" Kabbu receives the blend of sweet and tangy dish from their fly friend.
"Okay, since now that's done... We should go check on ourselves real quick if we've got enough." He says. "Items?".
Leif looks at the inventory filled with goods. "Check.".
"Medals?"
"Check!" Vi answered.
"Team, let's do it!" They cheered in anticipation for the fight.
Now, Team Snakemouth has entered the (not so) secret place just hiding underground, which was a decently alive bar filled with bugs alike. And there they are, Team Slacker; Just sitting at the table of where Leif and Carmina did their first Spy Cards duel...
"It's kinda weird that we took all of the credit..." Vi feels a bit of shame when thinking about it...
"I think they're satisfied with what they did, but you're right. They deserve more!" Kabbu replies.
Leif interrupts. "We should go talk to them. We bet they're itching for a fight right now.".
So they approached their fellow associates sitting at the table and interacted with them.
Delilah talks. "...Heheh. Figured you'd take the quest."
"You've come to..."entertain" us?" Comes Stratos.
"If Doppel won't mind a broken table or two."
"You're dear comrades. but we won't hold back."
"Get ready Team!"
So Team Snakemouth got into their fighting stances and readied for their hardest fight yet with Team Slacker.
two teams exhausted and many items wasted later...
"H...Heh... As expected of those who beat the Wasp King." Stratos utters, congratulating the Team in their victory against them.
Delilah realizing, now faced with the harsh reality that they lost, "Aww shucks... I thought We would win...".
Vi with a cheery smile, responds. "You guys are pretty good too!"
"We could go for another round." Leif says.
"N-Not anytime! Let's rest a bit!" Kabbu shouts.
"Time to pick up the tab. Oh, you guys can have this too!" Delilah gave the Team some berries as a reward for beating them.
As Kabbu, Leif and Vi went outside the tavern, it was already beginning to set and all of them were exhausted from the fight the team did earlier. It was nice and soothing; something they needed than the bit of berries given to them by Team Slacker. But alas, they needed rest so they head out to their home. The house was simple: It had a triple bunk bed fitting for the trio, a place for their pet Chompy and some relics of their adventures.
Vi first spoke up, "Man, that was fun! But I feel tired... I'm going to bed." before heading into their quarters. "What about you guys?".
"We're coming with you, hold on." Leif responds, tending to their pet Chompy.
And there is Kabbu is staring at the corner, maybe zoned out?
"...Kabbu?" Vi tries to get her friend's attention.
"I- I think I'll take a walk in the plaza for a bit..."
"Alright... stay safe."
"I will."
So, as the beetle left their house to take a brisk walk in the Ant Kingdom Plaza. Many thoughts surround their head: First being very grateful for having created new friends that he could rely on, friends that care for him, friends that led him to his life today; especially what happened some hours ago that he wouldn't been victorious without them. But... He couldn't shake off the lingering guilt that he might lose both of them like how he lost his old friends. Maybe trying to walk it off might work...
So when Kabbu re-entered his own Team's house, he had one conclusion: Cherish what he has left. Since it was late, he saw Vi, Leif and even Chompy soundly asleep their own beds. It was peaceful especially at night, they'd likely do something at day so he got ready and head himself to bed.
Usually during his sleep, the dreams were of standard dreams like adventure with his beloved teammates, or nightmares from the things haunting him and his conscience like losing Bit and his Master. Although, this is not one of them...
Kabbu opened his eyes, trying to make sense of this dream. The landscape was fuzzy, filled with some sort of fog around him, everything felt off...
Then, a shadowy figure appeared.
Hello... are you there...?
A voice? And it sounds unfamiliar, nothing he had recognized from any bug or anything he heard.
please... we need your help...
Help? Is this a request? What does it mean?
we have seen you and your team's... heroic acts... saving everyone from that tyrant...
Huh...? How do they know of us?
we now ask you all... to save our world...
Oh...
we don't have much time... see you again...
He feels groggy, as if the ground is pulling him down. He tries to fight it but it's too strong...
Then, Kabbu closes his eyes one last time and fell.