Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ahh, the land of Bugaria.

A peaceful, prosperous place where many adventurous bugs gather.

In fact, you will find all kinds of bugs taking up residence in Bugaria's very heart, the Ant Kingdom. Home to the bravest explorer team who ever lived, Team Snakemouth.

Who is Team Snakemouth, you may ask? Good question!

Well, there was Kabbu, a beetle from a northern land who wanted to help those in need, Vi, a honey bee who fled her kingdom in pursuit of riches, and Leif, a moth who didn’t want fame or glory or riches, but instead wanted to figure out who they were.

How did they become the most beloved team of them all? To be honest, it was a really long story. I don’t want to bore you with the details.

Ahh, but still! Team Snakemouth was one of the many teams of the Explorers' Association, and from there, the Association has greatly expanded, inviting new kinds of bugs and teams who dream of fame, glory, and honor.

But you see, no adventure ever ends in Bugaria, and with each passing moon, there is always something to do.

In the middle of the Ant Kingdom City plaza, Team Snakemouth were spending their day off, albeit interrupted by a horde of seedlings.

Vi tosses her beemerang in the air, and catches it in mid-air. She lands on the ground with a defiant stance. “Alright, Leif. Let’s show ‘em what we’ve been working on!” She commanded Leif by her side as a group of seedlings approached the duo

Leif began to twirl in a serene manner, creating an icy blizzard around the seedling and freezing it in a solid block of ice. Vi began to throw her frozen seedling with her beemerang with a big whack to its face, shattering it to bits and pieces.

Surrounded by “oohs” and “aahs” and impressed applause, Vi proudly bowed in front of the crowd of bugs in the Plaza.

“Come on, Kabbu! You could've at least helped.” Vi playfully teased Kabbu, who was holding on to Vi's berry shake in one hand, and a plushie in another.

“I’m trying to help you, Vi!" Kabbu grunted "But is there any way for you to control this impulsive spending of yours?”

“I can’t help it, Kabbu. Besides, I just had to get this little Bug Rangers plushie! Cause you do like Bug Rangers, right?”

“.. Right.” Kabbu blushed and smiled “I do! I have to give you credit: You know me quite well!”

“To be fair, we should’ve asked for one, too.” Leif interjected while kicking another seedling out of sight.

“Don’t encourage her, Leif. You know how she is with berries.” Kabbu joked with a smile.

He then notices a familiar orange mantis with a blade stepping out of the Ant Palace and approaching the team. He possessed a calm, royal aura that would’ve made anyone straighten themselves out when they noticed it. Truly, anyone would if they ran into a member of the Queen’s court.

“Sir Maki, how lucky to see you!” Kabbu bowed before Maki, who bowed his head in return.

“Team Snakemouth. The queen requires your presence, immediately.”

“What? Now?!” Vi questioned

“Well, yes. Turns out, you’re practically the only team required for this job.”

"Funny. I thought Team Maki was always the top team. That probably sounds like something super serious.” Vi whispered to her teammates

Once the team stepped into the Queen’s throne room, Vi felt a little awkward holding on to all the stuff she bought. It didn’t feel right for a famed explorer to be presenting themself in such an unworthy manner, especially in serious situations like this one. Then again, she even didn’t know where to put them. “Should’ve brought a bag”, Vi thought to herself.

Maki's sister, Kina, a red mantis, approached Vi while standing near the enormous blue crystal in the middle of the room. She was looking after her teammate Yin, who had recently pupated into a moth a few moons prior.

“Hey Vi, do you mind if me and Yin carry your belongings? The Queen's newest Royal Blades should look presentable.” Kina asked Vi.

“No, go ahead, it’ll make things a little less awkward.” Vi handed over the plushie and shake to Kina, before heading in.

"P-plushie!" Yin exclaimed while squeezing Vi's Bug Ranger toy repeatedly.

"Okay. Yin, I need you to carry all of this stuff. I need to be present with Maki... I must." Kina hastily followed Team Snakemouth and Maki into the throne room, while Yin stayed in place, looking through Vi's shopping bags.

Maki, Kina, and Team Snakemouth had finally entered the throne room of the Ant Queen, Queen Elizant II. They glanced upon the stained glass portraits of the rulers of the four kingdoms: The Ant Kingdom, the Bee Kingdom, the Wasp Kingdom, and the Termite Kingdom, before turning their attention to the Queen.

“Team Snakemouth, it is quite a pleasure to have you here.” The masked queen stood before the explorers with a warm quality to her voice.

“Your majesty.” Kabbu bowed before her, along with Vi and Leif standing beside him. “What seems to be the problem this time around?”

“Please forgive me, explorers. As much as I hate saying this to you, I think you’d be the perfect team for this mission, for you are my Royal Blades after all.” Elizant II sighed with mixed emotions, fearing how the team would react to her announcement, but also confident in her team of knights.

“Why so ashamed?” Vi pointed out to the queen “We’re Team Snakemouth, we can handle anything!!”

“Well yes, Team Snakemouth. I’m afraid this is an urgent matter. I need you to scout out the Giant’s Lair for an investigation.”

All three of the insects’ midguts dropped at the name. Such a name like Giant’s Lair was enough to make any insect quiver in total dread.

“COME ON!! SERIOUSLY??” yelled Vi.

“Yes.” Elizant II sighed. “It is a most dangerous place for a scavenger mission, but there is something that has been bothering me and the rest of our fellow bugs as well.”

“What could it possibly be, your Majesty?” asked Leif

“I hope it’s not a stupid sapling we have to destroy.” Vi sassily interjected, before being silently scolded by Kabbu's eye expression.

“We don’t know for sure.” Elizant shrugged “However, a fellow bee over in the Bee Kingdom Hive noticed a particular shadow from high up top of the Big Tree. I need you three to see whatever’s in there and report it to me, for the sake of Bugaria’s future."

The queen then turned to a shy moth professor on her right side of the court. "Professor Neolith, have you been putting the final touches to that potion of yours.”

“Yes indeed, your majesty. I’ve had a little help from Patton over in the Forsaken Lands. In fact, I’ve been testing it on a couple of seedlings. Granted, it’s not perfectly complete, but I’m positive that it will work nonetheless!” Neolith enthusiastically rambled.

“See? Very serious.” Vi whispered to Leif during Neolith’s monologuing

“Fascinating.” Kabbu said with a gleam in his eye

“Though, I feel like I’m missing a key ingredient..” Neolith pondered with a puzzled expression.

“What could be missing?” Kabbu curiously asked the professor moth.

“Let’s not worry about that for now.” Queen Elizant II interrupted “The one thing we should most concerned about is whatever’s beyond the Great White Wall.”

“Judging by the size of that shadow, I’m going to take a wild conclusion that it might be some sort of… Giant.”
In that moment, the entire team and everyone else in court had been frozen in complete fear and disbelief. Maki took a deep breath and turned to Kina, while Kabbu began to nervously rub his arms.

“No.. you don’t mean.” Leif shivered

“But they’re dead!” Vi interrupted “They all died before the time of the Roaches! Before the Day of Awakening! No. There is no way! I refuse to believe it.”

“For all we know, it could be Deadlander Omega. But still, we can’t rule out the possibility that the Giants who once lived here.. might still be out there.” Elizant said with a heavy sigh. "Even the Roaches were considered to be extinct for the longest time."

“Either way, we won’t disappoint you, your highness. Hopefully, we’ll get something. Right, Vi?” Kabbu tried to calm Vi’s nerves.

“Fine. Just as long as we stay far away from those Dead Landers.” Vi held her head up in a snobbish manner, trying to hold in her fear behind her “serious” pouting face, as the team walked out of the palace and out of the Ant Kingdom.

As soon as the trio left Elizant's palace room, Kabbu began to feel a rush of excitement.

"Finally, team! Seven moons of peace, and now we're back to a LIFE OF ADVENTURE!!" Kabbu's boisterous voice echoed through the palace walls, catching the ant guards' attention and causing the rest of the trio to stop in their tracks.

"Uhh, Kabbu. Are you okay?" asked Vi with her head tilted

"Umm.. I-I. Yes, sorry." Kabbu rubbed his arm to calm himself down and chuckled. "It's.. been so long since we've gone on an expedition like this."

As the trio continued to walk on out, Vi quietly grumbled under her breath

“Giant. Tuh! Yeah right. They’re all dead, just like my dad.”

And so the three bugs were off to the Giant’s Lair, after making a quick stop back at their house to bring everything they needed. At this point, It almost seemed that even after defeating the Wasp King, they would be returning to their normal lives, but once again, no task is ever over when it comes to protecting and helping Bugaria.

After taking the shortcut through a secret ant tunnel underground, they arrived outside the Rubber Prison, near the hole that led into the Lair. The guards at the Rubber Prison saluted Team Snakemouth as they headed for the hole leading to the Lair, wishing them good luck and a chance of survival. But they know.. there were barely any bugs who come back from the lair unscathed. Vi was hesitant, but Kabbu and Leif were more cautious, taking it more seriously than their bee teammate.

Oh, the Giant's Lair.. such a name could send fear into the exoskeleton of any bug who hears it. It was never an easy place to get through, especially for the first time around. Whatever claims this so-called lair must be pretty damn terrifying. But the giants have been long gone. Nothing more than a myth. Right? They probably left for another world, so to speak. But still, the team had always hated being in the Dead Lands. Who knows what could be inhabiting the space - aside from the Deadlanders, the survived roaches of the Roach Village, or the dreaded Deadlander Omega looming over whoever steps into these forbidden lands? Make no mistake, Omega was the worst of them all, but.. this one’s different. No Deadlanders. No roaches. Not even Omega! Everything and everyone is weirdly absent today, especially those giant glowing eyes that watched over the Lair.

“Strange… this place is supposed to be riddled with Dead Landers. Where have they all gone?” Leif pondered

“Well.." said Vi "At least you oughta be grateful that Deadlander Omega isn't here to creep over us!"

And from there, everything they thought they knew changed.

The ground shook with the sounds of a distant earth-shaking boom that caused Kabbu and Leif to shiver. Followed by another, and another, and another. A pattern of booms, pulsing like a heartbeat, slowly approaching the team, causing them to huddle up closer to each other.

"Wait a second... those sounds like footsteps." Kabbu began to put all the pieces together in his mind.

"IS THAT OMEGA?" Vi questioned "Augggh! Me and my big lousy mouth!"

“If anything, it’s certainly not Omega to us.” Leif whispers under their breath.

“Alright.. let’s get a better look at it.” Vi sucked in her fear and flew Kabbu to the top of a table to find where the tremors were coming from, while Leif created a floating ice platform to catch up with Vi. As the three got onto the table, Vi pulled out her boomerang, Leif began to summon their ice powers, but Kabbu was silently observing, signifying a symbol with his hands for his teammates to remain calm.

“Wait, team! This isn’t a Deadlander..” Kabbu whispered before turning it into a shout, “This is a living, breathing GIANT!”

Chapter Text

To the team’s utter shock, they gazed upon a truly immense figure.. that wasn’t Deadlander Omega itself, but a completely different kind of behemoth that stomped out of the shadows.

Two gigantic white sneakers emerged, connected to two squishy, peach-colored legs, and a gargantuan body clothed in a lime-green shirt and old denim shorts, and a massive mane of curly auburn hair sprouting from its head, much like a particular species of bug they were familiar with, except it was also extended further down to where a bug’s wings should be. The Giant was at least as tall as fifty Awakened Bugs combined, if not bigger. It treaded past the Cold Tower, looking all over the Lair.. for something. Team Snakemouth began to silently gaze in awe and curiosity.

“What is it doing?” Leif curiously whispered before Kabbu shushed them with a hand signal.

The giant stopped in its tracks, causing everything to go still. And even so, the trio’s hearts were all beating at a rapid pace. Kabbu was slightly terrified out of his own shell and could almost feel his abdomen dropping, Vi tightly grasped her beemerang, twiddling her fingers, and Leif felt his feet being frozen to the table underneath his wings. The team watched the creature slowly turned itself towards their direction, revealing its freckled alien face.  Its two eyes were now locked on Team Snakemouth, but it didn’t make a sound. It just stared, and blinked, and stared, and it began to approach closer to the team. The shaking began to start again, but lighter this time, now that the Giant was conscious of its own heavy footsteps. The team slowly stepped back, with the giant’s shadow engulfing them, each footstep still sending tremors that vibrated through the surface of the table. 

Curiously, the Giant gently bent down and got close to look upon the tiny team, studying them with its complex alien eyes of warm brown pupils surrounding black dots and surrounded by white sclerae, and a curious kind of emotion on its face. A weird yet beautiful sight to behold in the beady eye of a bug. It’s just staring. Just staring. Not a single intention of harm at all. It’s just observing them like a curious puppy dog, if that puppy dog was the size of a titan.

“So, THIS is a giant?” Kabbu pondered

With the giant’s face being this close to the bugs, they picked up the sound of the creature breathing through an overgrown lump between its mouth and eyes, instead of its abdomen. Hmmm. Already, its biology is weird.

“It’s so freaky-looking… and yet… so adorable!” Leif cooed “It doesn’t want to hurt us at all.”

“So what should we do?” Vi asked

“You guys can talk?” The Giant spoke with a soft, whispery, feminine voice that caused them to jump.

“AHHH!” Vi, Kabbu and Leif all screamed in unison and in brief shock, prompting the giant to scream back.

“AHHH!” The deafening scream of shock from the giant creature caused the bugs to wince. The giant began to lose its balance in its squatting position and collapsed to the floor, with the entire lair violently shaking. The tiny explorers lost their balance in the earthquake, with Leif accidentally knocking himself into Kabbu, but Vi was scared to mid-air, just merely floating above the table. Once the earthquake cleared, the two land bugs got back up on their feet and the young bee landed back onto the table.

“Kabbu, Leif, are you two okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. What have we just witnessed??” Kabbu groaned as he stretched away his pain.

“We're not sure.. but that Giant had the most adorable voice!” Leif admirably cupped his hands from out of his cloaked wings in wonder.

“It doesn’t matter. Adorable as it may look to be, it could be a dangerous threat! We just need to leave this place now before-” 

The beetle’s voice was cut off by the screams of his companions as the Giant’s face rose back into view, now more curious than it was before.

“Not again!” Vi cried out

“Stay back, whatever creature you are!” Kabbu ordered with his horn, ready to attack.

“Oh my god, you really DO talk!” The Giant’s enormous eyes glimmered while it was now sitting with its legs on the floor. “I thought I heard some tiny voices here. At first, I thought there were actual people living here, in this old house, but you guys are insanely small. In fact, you’re like way smaller than I expected you to be, actually.” It giggled as it made a pinching gesture with its hand.

"How is it speaking our language?" Kabbu asked Vi, who only replied with "I dunno."

"Are you guys like.. tiny people in bug costumes?"

"WHAT?? Where did you get that idea from?" Kabbu tried to stop the Giant from touching him with its huge fingers. The horned beetle paused for a moment and began to recompose himself. 

"Oh, my dearest apologies, Giant, or whatever name you prefer. Do you have a name?" he asked

"Uhh, yeah. It's Margaret, but you can just call me Maggie. I'm a female human. She/her." The Giant giggled and got back onto her feet, furthering herself away from the bugs.

“I was only here to look all over this place and maybe steal a couple of things while cleaning this place up.”

“So are you like a bandit?” Vi asked

“No, I’m a scavenger.” Maggie leaned herelf against the Cold Tower, before spotting the Roach Village nearby. “Ooooh, a tiny village!" She whispered to herself curiously.

“Umm, Margaret! We're gonna need a moment to sort this out.” Kabbu calmly spoke with his hands clenched.

“Uhh, yeah sure.” the Giant agreed, and with that, Team Snakemouth began to huddle up close in a circle.

“Team. This seems like a pretty difficult situation to get by.” Kabbu muttered

“But we can’t just leave this giant! It-s-she clearly showed no intentions of crushing us.” Leif softly uttered with a sympathetic tone

“Who cares!” Vi complained, “She could destroy all of Bugaria if it wanted to!”

“Whatchu guys whispering about?” Maggie sneakily looked down with a curious smile.

"Well, I believe we haven't introduced ourselves to you yet." Kabbu cleared his throat. "We are Team Snakemouth, the protectors of Bugaria. I am Kabbu, and these are my teammates, Vi and Leif. Now, we've been thinking it over, and though it's going to be difficult adjusting to such a creature called a.. "hu.. man", I truly believe that you are on our side."

“Awww, thank you, thank you!” The Giant scooped her new friends into her hands, causing them to yelp. 

“Okay, don’t get too excited!” Kabbu chuckled "We still need to-"

Maggie held her newfound friends close to her heart, causing the beetle to sigh and smile. 

"I suppose you're not that much of a threat after all. Vi, I need you to alert the Rubber Prison and get them to spread the message out to the Queen.” 

“Tstt.. Guess I gotta respect his wishes on this. Will do, Kabbu!” Vi saluted her teammate, albeit slightly still disapproving, and flew off Maggie’s hand and headed straight for the Rubber Prison. 

“And Maggie, the sooner we leave this Venus-forsaken place, the better." Kabbu spoke to his new giant friend, who nodded in agreement. "Let's hope there's enough space for you in Bugaria.”

Chapter Text

Maggie has never imagined the possibility of an advanced bug society in an abandoned backyard, let alone the existence of bugs that can speak English. Or was it English? Either way, she had millions of questions running through her mind. Maybe the neighborhood was possessed with crystalline magic. The multitude of crystal shards all over the neighborhood was a dead giveaway when she first got there, but none of that mattered now. She has already gained the trust of Bugaria’s most beloved explorers and her first attempt at contact was successful. With her tiny friends on her palm, she stepped out in the backyard down the Giant’s Stairway.

Meanwhile, in the Ant Kingdom Plaza, business was going as well as usual. At Madame Butterfly's shop, a curious cyan-colored firefly of a young age walked in, collecting items and food for a very special occasion as he hummed a tune.

"My, my! You're picking up a lot of honey drops today!" Madame Butterfly exclaimed as the firefly began to search all over the store.

"I'm preparing for a big moment in my life, Madame Butterfly. For today, I, Nox, will be auditioning for the Explorer's Association!" He held up his bow and arrow, a repurposed giant's flosspick, smiling with pride and radiating great boldness.

"Now, I just need to stock up before I start my training." Nox began to pick up  

"Just honey drops and mushrooms?" Madame Butterfly asked

"They're only worth four berries max, Madame. But once I finally join the Explorers' Association, I'll have all the berries I need to spend a lifetime's worth of-"

"AAAHHHH!!"

Nox's voice was cut off by a sudden whirlwind of screams coming from outside the shop. He froze and turned to see several bugs fleeing for their lives, some of which were coming from the front of the Ant Palace.

"It's a giant! It’s coming for us! RUN!!” Kina screamed as she ran away to hide.

"A giant? Where is it? I wanna see! I WANNA SEE!!" Nox's eyes gleamed with mass curiosity as he bolted and flew out of the store.

"Hey!! Do you still wanna make your purchase!?" Madame Butterfly shouted as Nox flew up to see what all the ruffling was about. He hid himself behind the left side of Madame's shop to watch the commotion unfold.

Sounds of rustling grass echoed from afar, sending some of the bugs into a frenzied panic, and others standing in fear, unsure of whether they should fight or flight.

Soon enough, everyone was in a panic. No one had ever seen a real giant, and now there was one heading towards the Ant Kingdom. Some ran for cover and closed all their windows, others peeked outside the window for a safer look, and those who were frozen in place took a step back the closer the Giant got. They were terrified in awe, but they took in word that the figure would not hurt them. With every footstep approaching closer to the Plaza, more bugs peeked out of their windows and gasped in utter shock as the giant human approached the Ant Kingdom, casting her huge shadow over the city.

“We’re home!” Shouted Vi from up top Maggie’s palm, yet nobody responded. No response except for open mouths and stares. The Ant City was dead silent in shock and awe, except for a few tiny whispers that were almost inaudible to the giant’s ears from high above, causing the bee to ponder.

“Wow, no cheering? No nothing? This must be super embarrassing.” Vi smile turned into an awkward frown.

“They seem to be in shock. Just like we are.” Leif observed the stunned crowd surrounding Maggie's sneakers.

Nevertheless, Maggie began to set the rest of Team Snakemouth down in front of the palace. All the bugs in the Ant Kingdom slowly gathered back together to get a closer look at the human girl as she carefully and slowly kneeled down to the ground to hear the bugs better. Small instances of chatter and whispers began to rise amongst the tiny civilians. Maggie tried to greet the bugs at her feet with a friendly hand wave, but still, no response.

“Leif, Vi, allow me to handle this.” The beetle Kabbu stood in front of Maggie’s legs and began to address the crowd.

“Citizens of the Ant Kingdom” Kabbu projected his voice to the civilians ”This.. is Margaret. Though she prefers the nickname Maggie much more.”

“By Venus, that size!” exclaimed Kina

“Is she friendly?” asked Levi

“I’ve never seen a real giant before!” Samira’s eyes widen in awe.

“Ugghh! She's so soft and squishy!” Eri cried out after touching Maggie’s skin

“Where is her exoskeleton?” Gen followed soon after

Maggie tried to remain silent as she watched all the bugs surrounding her. She was unsure of how she would approach the idea of a miniature bug society in an abandoned backyard. It was like stumbling onto a miniature model town inhabited by talking invertebrates. She could easily cup four of these bugs into one of her hands and still have room for the other hand to be free. Granted, they were small, but the idea of a human may be a little just too much for them to comprehend. Not just in size, but also biologically. How will they react to human biology?

“Hey, your majesty!” Vi called to Queen Elizant II. “Remember that uneasy figure you’ve talked about? Well.. we brought you some evidence.” Vi double-patted Maggie’s gigantic leg with a proud smirk.

Queen Elizant II nearly went catatonic from the overwhelming sight of the gargantuan creature in front of her, but she was still smiling behind her white mask to see a real living Giant in front of her. Professor Neolith too was even more delighted to be in the human's presence, his eyes growing bigger than jewels. He came by the Queen’s side with a green-tinted potion in his hand, shaking with joy.

"Now now, calm yourself, Neo." Elizant giggled and softly patted Neolith in the back.

As Maggie gave another friendly hand wave to her new insect friends, Elizant II bowed before her and greeted her with the widest open arms an ant could give. 

“Greetings, Giant! We are delighted - and terrified - to be in your presence!”

“Awww! Thanks, Your Majesty!” Maggie sweetly cooed

The bugs gasped in amazement upon hearing her speak. “It speaks our language!” exclaimed a stunned Maki

“Actually, it’s a she. She’s a lady Giant.” Kabbu corrected the mantis

“True, I am a ‘lady Giant.’” Maggie blushed “But we giants like to call ourselves humans.”

“Hmm, such a strange name for a giant species.” The ant queen pondered “But nevertheless, I am quite fond of it.”

“Thanks. I-”

“Wait, how is she capable of understanding our language?” asked Kina

“I don’t know!” Maggie exclaimed, “How was I supposed to know that there was an entire yard of intelligent talking bugs who could speak perfect English?”

The bugs around her began to chatter amongst each other in confusion.

“I’m sorry, what is English?” Kabbu inquired

“We think she meant Bugnish.” Leif interjected beside him

“Bug.. nish? You mean I’m automatically speaking BUGNISH???” Maggie's booming voice echoed across the Ant Kingdom, causing everyone's antennas to shiver.

“..Ermm, r-right. Sure. We call it a Gift, one that breaks down language barriers between bugs and your kind, though I'm not sure how you got it.” Shocked by the giant's sudden outburst, Professor Neolith began to stutter, then he scratched his chin.

“However.. I do have something for you.” Neolith came to a realization and found the opportunity to show off his creation. The moth professor held up his green-tinted potion in front of the human. “Behold, oh great giant! This is the potion that will condense you down to our size, for everyone’s sake.”

“Wait, you’re gonna shrink me? For what?” Maggie asked in a confused manner.

She looked down at the tiny crowd around her, and the custom-made buildings made out of old human junk lying all around the grassy plains. If she stood back up, she’d awkwardly tower above all of it. But if she were bug-sized, she’d be able to see this town differently. They’ve already had enough shock for the day, so it would feel inconsiderate for her to want to pass on an opportunity like this.

“Well, sure! I’d be interested to see this whole world at your size. I'll take it!”

The crowd cheered and sighed with much-needed relief.

“How delightful! Very well!” Elizant exclaimed with pride “I must be off now. I have an emergency meeting with the rulers of Bugaria, and Margaret, I trust that you don’t destroy anything in the process.”

“Oh, I solemnly swear.” Maggie lightly raised her left hand as a sign of her promise.

“See? Nothing bad’s gonna happen!” said Vi, crossing her arms with a smile "Besides, if Kabbu and Leif are happy to have her here, I guess I wouldn't mind either."

“Neolith, I need you and Team Snakemouth to keep an eye on her, and in the meantime, you can show her around, and enlighten her about the rest of our land.”

“A pleasure it shall be.” Neolith waved goodbye to the Queen, as she and Maki went back into the Anthill Palace, with Maki briefly giving a silent cold stare back at the human girl behind him.

“Alright Maggie, come with us. We have something to show you!” Kabbu squealed as he gave a “follow me” hand signal to the Giant.

Careful not to destroy anything in her path, Maggie got back on her feet and followed the tiny Team Snakemouth and Professor Neolith to the Bugaria Outskirts in front of the Ant Palace, causing another loud rustle through the grasslands as she left the Ant City.

Within the halls of the Queen’s Court in the Anthill Palace, Queen Elizant II sat on her throne, with her guard Zaryant on her right side, her royal blade Maki on her left, and the other rulers of Bugaria: Queen Bianca of the Bee Kingdom, King Hector IV of the Termite Kingdom, and Queen Vanessa of the Wasp Kingdom, all standing in front of her.

“My fellow rulers of Bugaria, you must understand I have gathered you all here for an emergency meeting of utmost importance. Many of you have been made aware that there is a giant in the land, now what do you suggest we do with this creature?”

“I say we kill it!” cried King Hector IV “Throw her to the Metal Lake!”

“No, we mustn’t be hostile!” Queen Bianca pleaded

“What are we to do!?” Queen Vanessa interjected

Left and right, responses of hostility and arguing echoed throughout the court, causing Elizant II to raise her voice to a firm roar.

“ENOUGH! I must stress to you all that we are not barbarians!” After the kings and queens regained their composure, Elizant’s voice was brought back down to a normal level. “This giant is still very young, barely an adult even, there has got to be a way for all of us to make do with her.”

“I’m trying to remain positive about this, your Majesty, but we have much to fear.” Queen Bianca stated “There is a possibility that her tremendous size could strain our economy and our resources. The Honey Factory could shut down in mere moons if we were to feed her with our honey.”

“… Oh dear.” Elizant II gasped

“However..” Queen Bianca added, “..I do believe she can be a great help to us, with her size and her benevolence, she could be our greatest protector.”

“My queen, I must warn you, that giant is already a security risk.” Maki argued “She might appear to be gentle and innocent, but I will not fall for this deception. A single misstep from her can cause a lot of damage, and if she doesn’t control her emotions, she will blindly damage all of Bugaria.” Maki firmly stood with his blade faced down, obstinate and unconvinced by his Queen’s pleas.

“May I speak before all of you?” Queen Vanessa, the ruler of the Wasp Kingdom, stepped forward in front of the ant Queen. “Elizant. There is no in-between with this giant. She is either our biggest enemy or our biggest ally. This seems impossible.”

“I believe so. However, there IS one solution.” Elizant turned to Neolith’s collection of blue and green potions left on a table.

“This, my fellow royals, is the potion that will answer all of our questions until she has truly proven herself to be a benevolent figure to our land.” Elizant II held one of the several doses of the green-tinted potion up front, hoping to convince them of a second option to accept.

“Do you believe this could work?” Bianca asked Elizant

A brief beat of silence. Elizant took a deep glance at the potion. She feared for the worst, and for what the other bugs might do to the human, especially her fellow royals, but she had her full trust and hope in Professor Neolith.

“We can only pray.”

Chapter Text

The Explorers’ Association on the Bugarian outskirts was busy with life. All the teams were chatting and training for their next battles. While it was only south of the Anthill Palace, requiring only a hundred steps for bugs to reach this particular spot, it took only three steps for Maggie to arrive here. She was laying on her stomach and knees, watching the explorers train each other like any other human would watch a bunch of bugs in their natural habitat.

“So that’s basically all you need to know about Bugaria.” Vi decreed

“Now for the fun part: the Explorers’ Association! But first.. shall we proceed, Neolith?” Kabbu signaled Neolith to come in front of Maggie’s face.

“With pleasure!” Neolith blushed in response

“Oh right. That. So how does this shrinking potion work again?” Maggie asked Neolith.

“It’s really easy. Now, stick your tongue out for me, dear.” ordered The Professor

Maggie kept her mouth closed and did exactly as ordered. With her huge tongue out and front, Neolith dropped only the tiniest drop of the liquid onto her taste buds. The giant swallowed the droplets down and awaited a response. “So, how long must I wait for the effects to take place?” Maggie smiled and murmured She didn’t have to wait much longer, for immediately afterward, she felt her entire body slowly shrinking smaller and smaller and smaller. Everything that was on her began to shrink down with her too, until she was completely out of sight.

“Hey, where did she go?” pondered Vi

“I’m right here!” Maggie waved and stepped from behind the grass blades. She smiled showing off her new shrunken figure, her eyes lighting up to see her new bug friends being as large - or as small - as she was. The human squealed with delight as she marveled at the enlarged world around her. She was no longer taller than the blades of grass that were nearly four times her new size and was nearly as tall as Leif was. Within a span of a few seconds, Maggie felt much more joy and wonder than she did back in her home world.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!!” Vi squealed, her wings fluttering her off the ground. “Neolith, you’re amazing!” Kabbu cheered for the moth with a big hug. Neolith blushed with affection as he felt the beetle’s arms around his slim figure.

“Oh, it was nothing.” Neolith shrugged. “I am quite a genius. So, how do you feel, Mags?”

“Hmm, not that different at all. Sure it’s not something I’m used to, like.. ever, but I can manage.”

"Neolith, will you allow us to take over?” asked Kabbu “I believe she will be in good hands with us.”

“Certainly. I have to get back to the Queen at once. Hopefully, you can get her integrated into the Explorers’ Association.” said Neolith

“Oh, and I have something else for you.” The moth professor reached into his pocket and handed a blue potion to Maggie. 

“Keep this. This is an enlargement potion that should have you reverted to your large size, but I suggest you only use it when you’re outside.” Neolith chuckled “Oh, and here’s the rest of the shrinking potion, my dear, in case you wanna turn back again.”

“Cool! A double package! I’ll try my best not to overuse them.” Maggie held both the shrinking and growing potion in both of her hands and placed both of them into her fanny pack. 

“I must be off now. Do take care, you four!” Professor Neolith waved goodbye to Team Snakemouth and Maggie as he left.

“So, you ready?” Vi asked her newly shrunken friend

“Sure! Is this like a camp?”

“Much more than that, it’s home to the bravest explorers in Bugaria! We just need to get you a partner first.”

Vi lured her to the hub of the Explorers Association, where business was going as steady as usual, while Leif and Kabbu stayed behind on the training grounds. Eetl, the blue beetle, stood by the entrance, anticipating his next chance to give a permit to give to a new explorer.

“Eetl, my man!” Vi pointed finger guns at the beetle to greet him.

“Vi, how very nice to-EGADS! What kind of bug is that?” Eetl jumped at the sight of the rugged human girl stepping in.

“It’s so… so.. fleshy!”

“Oh, this is Maggie. She’s a… ehh.. what are you again?”

“Human. A female human.”

“Strange. She looks like a child.”

“A child?” Maggie began to sass back “Sure, I’m only 14, but I- had to go through a lot of dangerous stuff in my young life! I know how to handle myself.” 

“14?” Eetl suspiciously raised an eyebrow at the human girl who was only a few years younger than Vi when she first joined the Association.

“She’s a scavenger from the Dead Lands, or maybe somewhere beyond the Dead Lands.” Vi pointed out

“A scavenger girl who survived the Dead Lands, eh? Well, we have a young firefly just about her age, he’s been on the waiting list for a couple of days. Said he needed a partner before he could earn his permit.”

Before Eetl could continue, his voice was cut off by the voice of a teenage bug.

“Whoa! By the great wingspan of Atlas! No way!” Nox, carrying his bow and arrow, arrived at the building, stuttering and hyperventilating as if he had run into his biggest idol.

“How did you get so small?!”

“Well, I actually drank a shrinking potion. You know, I’m just glad it didn’t taste like medicine.”

“Oh, I’m Nox! Musically-inclined bard of Bugaria. I’m a firefly, see? I glow!” Nox proudly showed off his glowing abdomen, causing Maggie to giggle with delight.

“Hey, I’m Maggie. Human girl scavenger. Nice to meet cha, future partner!” Maggie began to imitate Vi’s finger guns with a wink.

Nox gasped at the sight of Vi in front of him before he could speak to his new partner.

"Holy gods.. IS THAT?? I KNOW YOU!!” He pointed towards the honeybee.

“Haha, finally I’m getting recognized!” Vi crossed her arms in a confident fashion overhearing the firefly recognize her face. 

“Vi, I need you to tell the other members of Team Snakemouth that you are my biggest inspiration!” Nox squealed with overflowing excitement. “You’re the reason why I wanted to join the Association!”

“Ummm, yeah. Sure. Anyways, follow me to the training grounds inside the Queen's palace. I’ll have to see if you are truly worthy of joining the Association.”

"Wait, isn't she busy with the royal meetings and everything?" Nox asked Eetl

"Well, this is a different room in the Queen's chambers. We just recently opened it and uhh.. Wait! Do you have your weapons ready?”

“Weapons?” Maggie asked

Just then, Nox pulled out the giant-sized flosspick and an arrow he both held wrapped around his back, smiling proudly as he held the flosspick in his grasp.

“Whoa, at least you came prepared.” Maggie snarked

The human girl gulped nervously and looked around her for a makeshift weapon to fight with. Artis, a pink-and-white moth, and the accountant of the Explorers’ Association was sweeping on the far right side of the building with a green broom. Maggie ran to snatch the broom from his hands. 

“Hey! I needed that!” Artis shouted.

“Sorry, Artis. We’ll get you a new one.” Eetl shrugged. 

“Yeah, buddy. Don’t sweat it!” Vi joined in Eetl was a little afraid that he’d let two kids into the Explorers’ Association without being tested by Maki, but that would be a little too hard on the two teenagers. After all, Maki was the Queen’s Blade and the most skilled out of all explorers. There was no way they would compete with him. But then again, Eetl was the main caretaker of the Association anyway, he led the new trainees outside the building to the training grounds.

“Alright.” said Maggie, now prepared for training. “Now we’re ready!”

Chapter Text

As the five explorers headed outside of the Explorers' Association where the teams trained, Nox and Maggie were preparing to battle two-on-one with a test dummy, named Mr. Tester, with Leif, Kabbu, and Vi watching.

The two trainees looked all around them to see a couple of ant soldiers and the exploration teams - Team Slacker, Team Ant, and Team Celia - all training with several other test dummies.

“Team Snakemouth is watching us!” Nox squeed. He was almost as anxious as Maggie was performing for his biggest heroes.

“I know.” Maggie said nonchalantly. She then began to swing her new broom around her fingers and threw it over her shoulder. “Whoa.” Team Snakemouth whispered in unison, with Vi commenting in awe.

“Now that is awesome.” Nox rolled his eyes and playfully scoffed at the human girl, before taking in a deep breath. He stood at least 6 bug-feet away from Mr. Tester, and aimed his arrow at its head. Once he released the arrow, it landed on the dummy’s forehead, impressing his idols in front of him.

“Hmm, guess he won’t be as half-annoying as I thought.” Vi smiled

“You really thought that?” Leif suspiciously commented with a side eye

As Nox and Maggie aimed for Mr. Tester, they began to exchange words with each other while in combat.

“So I just have so many questions about you!” Nox said while keeping his arrow focused.

“Oh yeah?” Maggie grinned

“Sure! First of all, how long has it been since you’ve hatched? Do giants lay eggs? What’s the difference between a male and a female? How does your body support your massive size? And what’s all this squishy coating all over your body?”

Simultaneously, Nox aims from many positions around the dummy. One from 15 bug-feet away, he misses. Another from 5 bug-feet up in the air, he misses. Another from behind Mr. Tester’s back, he aims, but still misses.  Meanwhile, on ground level, Maggie couldn’t keep up with all the questions being dodged at her, she practiced all the various combat moves she could do with the broom. She spun it around her fingers while twirling, and swung it to her right, pretending that she was hitting her target. Having practiced, she then manages to whack the dummy onto the ground for Nox to shoot his arrow from mid-air.

“Maybe you should stop asking so many questions and keep your focus on the target.” Maggie playfully smirked while setting Mr. Tester back up.

“Fine, you’re no fun!” Nox playfully commented. He was getting used to fighting and dodging, it wasn’t his everyday passion, but with a partner like Maggie, he started to appreciate her company making this training a lot less tiresome.

“Was that sarcasm?” Maggie raises an eyebrow while smiling, she whacks Mr. Tester back down from its back.

“Oh, you’re good! A little too good.” Nox lands back on the ground, causing both of them to laugh.

“Alright, can you handle this then?” Maggie began to swing her broom around once again and began to aim for Nox.

“Whoa! What? Are we fighting each other now?”

“The test dummy got boring. At least for me.” Maggie whacked Nox to the ground with the bristles of her broom. 

“Whoa! That was low.” Nox laughed

As they kept fighting one another, albeit in a playful manner, they looked into each other's eyes and felt true companionship. They knew they were the right teammates for each other. They laughed, they taunted, and they still managed to converse with each other as they fought.

“And for your information, I wasn’t hatched, it’s called live birth.” “So how old are you?”

Nox asked as he got back onto his feet “15. You?”

“14, but I'll be 15 in a couple of days.” Maggie took another swing of her broom towards Nox, who began to dodge under her attacks, but not before being knocked back down to the ground by Maggie kicking him in the midgut with her sneakered foot.

“Damn, you’re good.” Nox whispered as he groaned in pain.

“Okay! Time out!” Eetl called out, clapping “You both passed.”

Maggie and Nox sighed and cheered in relief, both were tirelessly worn out by the battle, but Team Snakemouth clapped and applauded from the sidelines, making them feel better. 

“I believe it is about time I grant you both your Explorer Permits, though I'm gonna regret giving them to you without Maki, he'd kill me right now.” Eetl gave two permits to the firefly and the human, both of which were leaf-shaped with a golden front, and a wooden back, decorated with two gemstones and an ant crest.

“Alright, Maggie!” Vi cheered

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself before. Umm.. Hey guys, I am Nox, from the Northern Kingdom!” Nox could feel a mix of pride and anxiety as he introduced himself to Team Snakemouth, but he kept a genuine, huge smile on his face. “I’m a really huge fan of you guys and everything you do. I lived here in Bugaria for, like, three moons now, and now I get to say that I am an explorer, just like you guys! And you, Kabbu! You've inspired me the most!”

The firefly shook hands with Kabbu simultaneously, who smiled with pride in his heart and an overdramatic, nostalgic stance. “Why I'm impressed! If only Master could see us now!"

"So you know this guy?" Vi asked with her head tilted and her antennas dropping to the side.

"Why, we used to train in the North together under our Master." Kabbu proudly showed off the firefly trainee to his teammates.

“I call myself both an explorer and a bard." exclaimed Nox "Once, I practiced archery with a violin.”

“Well, good to know.” said Leif

“Hmph. Betcha didn't think a scavenger couldn’t make a weapon out of anything!” Maggie commented as she twirled her new broom around her fingers like a baton. “I think I’m gonna keep this broom.” 

..but just in case, Maggie picked up the discarded spear of an ant soldier and took it with her.

Chapter Text

Later, Team Snakemouth and their two new apprentices hanged deep in the Underground Tavern in celebration of their acceptance into the Explorers’ Association. The Tavern shimmered with crystals all over, and decked out in human-sized objects from empty cigarette boxes to a huge soda can with English writing on it.

All five friends were seated at a plastic bar table that oddly looked similar to a giant’s pizza saver. Bea, a white honeybee waitress with a heavy Southern accent, approached them. "Alright now, what can I get for y'all?"

"Doppel's Berry Juice! Make it five." Vi winked while she held out a bag of berries to purchase five rounds for the group, Kabbu quickly interrupted her, worrying for the younger explorers. "Hmmm, make it two!"

"Why is that?" Nox asked

"Berry Juice can be a little too intense for young drinkers. How about some soda?"

"Suit yourself. I'll be drinking that berry juice for sure when I'm older!" Vi may not have felt comfortable spending so many berries for the entire group, greedy as she is, but this was a celebration, she deserved to have a little bit of fun. As the group waited, Nox began to strum at his lute, improving a melody to pass the time. 

“Whoa! You never told us you had an underground hangout. Does the Queen know about this?” Nox commented, his wings fluttering while sitting.

"Nope. Only us Explorers." Vi responded.

“Hey.. I can’t believe it! Oh my god!" Maggie exclaimed with curiosity as she pointed to a familiar soda can over at the bar stool. “Is that soda.. Pop Soda?! I'll have to ask for that soda the next time I come here.” 

“Whoa!” Vi exclaimed “How did you?-” 

“That’s actually in the human language of English. I guess you can’t read it that well, can you?”

“No bug could either.” Kabbu sighed, and then he gained an idea. “You know, you could help Professor Neolith with translating the old Giant books.”

“I'd love that, anything to help a bug in need!” Maggie smiled

“Sure, the girl can speak Bugnish, big deal! But can she read Bugnish?” The honey bee scoffed while Maggie read through the menu.

"Well, there's no need to wonder. I guess that speaks for itself." said Kabbu

At the same time, Bea passed out the drinks to the entire party, all giving their thanks. "Never thought I'd be passing out Berry Juice to a couple of kids." She muttered as she left.

“Speaking Bugnish? Crazy superpower, I know, but let’s not worry about that! Besides, I, Margaret Alejandra Dolittle, am the first ever human to join the Explorers Association!” Maggie tossed her drink into the air while seated, dramatically posing with her hands with a huge, proud smile on her face.

But then… a certain feminine voice called out, causing all the bugs to turn their heads.

“Is that so?” Vi gulped in fear, Kabbu and Leif stared with a side eye, and Nox began to stare with a bit of disgust towards the oncoming bug. A pearly white moth and her maroon-colored wasp husband walked into the Underground Tavern. Chatter and gasps began to rise amongst the patrons. A superstar, an idol, has arrived on the scene.

“MOTHIVA?!” Team Snakemouth shouted in unison

“Moth-iva?” The human repeated in a whisper.

“How did you find us here?” said Kabbu

“Oh, a little gnat told us there was a Giant in our kingdom.” Mothiva scoffed

“And I’m guessing that you are the newest member of our association.”

“You know it!” Maggie boasted

“Ohohoho! Can you believe it, Zasp? She’s an Explorer! Why, she’s already the Queen’s favorite!”

“Mothiva, please don’t.”

“Oh, and that silly little firefly bard is also one of us. How delightful!” Mothiva sarcastically remarked

“Please. I’ve written songs that are a lot more tolerable than yours.” Nox sassily interjected. “I’m not just a simple bard.”

“Well, I have the equipment to deliver a huge performance that will blow your silly little lute out of the water!”

Nox began to feel his bitterness rise before Maggie caressed his arms to calm his nerves. “Easy, Nox. Don’t let her get to you.” The human girl whispered.

“Still, she deserves a chance, don’t you think?” Zasp asked his partner

“Maybe… maybe so… but I’m not gonna share my spotlight with that hideous creature!”

“She’s adorable!” Leif whined

“Yeah, we think we should walk away before you start another fight.”

“Psst. Whatever.” Mothiva stormed off with her furred legs, before giving her new human rival a cold, icy stare and an “I’m watching you” finger gesture.

“Sorry about that, guys. Mothiva can be a bit of a bitch sometimes.”

“I already knew that.” Nox commented

“Hasn’t she always?” Vi added in

“Mind if I sit with you for the time being?” Zasp asked

“Sure!” Vi smiled “As long as you don’t invite Mothiva.”

The sun was almost about to set upon Bugaria, while deep in the Taverns, Team Snakemouth began to show off their impressive skills to Maggie and Nox. Nox was strumming away at his lute, trying to come up with a melody to play for his new teammates, while Maggie rambles at the table. 

"I'm just shocked that big crystal kept that fridge running for years. We've seemed to harness crystal energy for basically everything now." 

"I assume the roaches also had a hand in keeping the Cold Tower alive." Zasp added in.

“Hey Maggie, check this out!" Vi yelled out "This is called our Frost Bowling technique! Leif, show em.”

Leif briefly sighed, before they began to freeze Vi into a ball, then Kabbu tosses her into some giant-sized matches, breaking them in two upon impact. Everyone applauded in awe.

“Vi, I know it's impressive, but it is folly to be such a showoff.” Kabbu commented

“What? It was cool!” whined Vi

“Way cool!” Maggie gave a big thumbs up at her fellow trio.

“I didn’t even know a moth like that could cast real ice magic! This place is so weird.”

“So, it’s Maggie, right?” Zasp sat down at the plastic table.

“Yeah. I’m actually a scavenger. From the eh... Giants’ Realm!”

“How did you survive the Dead Lands?” Zasp asked Maggie

“I don’t know, but I did.”

“I'm guessing you probably had to step on a lot of Dead Landers from time to time.” Nox commented

“Oh, how I envy her that! She must’ve been magnificent!” Kabbu sighed in fascination

“Yeah.. but what if there are other Dead Lander Omegas out there?” Vi asked

“Dead Lander Omega?” Maggie’s eyes were filled with concern

“It’s the biggest and worst of them all. We never attack it, we just avoid it any way we can.” Leif somberly muttered

“Makes sense. You guys must be so small compared to it, it’s hard to imagine battling something like that.” Maggie looked down at her hands with a feeling of dread in her stomach. Now that she was bug-sized, she could feel herself getting crushed within the palm of Omega’s skeletal hand. Her self-made combat experience with giant-sized creatures wouldn’t matter at her new diminutive size. 

“Well, legend has it that the Giants of the old days built the Great White Wall to protect us from the Dead Lands.” said Zasp “Maybe there is a reason why her world and our world remain separate.”

Maggie pondered deep into her thoughts before coming up with an idea. 

“You guys, I came to that abandoned house on an expedition of my own. I need to finish what I’ve started.”

“Can I come with you?” Nox asked Maggie

“We are teammates after all.”

“Well, we need a name for our team. You three are Team Snakemouth, and Zasp, you and Mothiva are-”

“Team Mothiva.”

“God, she’s so conceited.” She scoffed before asking her firefly partner “Anyways, Nox. What do you think?” 

“I was thinking something like.. Team Giantspeak! Protégés of Team Snakemouth!"

“Really?”

“Yeah, you seem to be bilingual in Bugnish and the Giant language.” Nox pointed out

“Well, there are multiple Giant languages, but I think you’re talking about English.”

“Well, alright then! We've got a name!” Nox threw his forearms out in pride,

“WAIT!” Kabbu interjected “You expect that to be your first mission?” 

“Yeah, why?” Maggie asked

“The Dead Lands are but a dangerous place to start. I guarantee you won’t return alive without a bruise, or a broken appendage.” Zasp warned the human girl

“We’re not telling you that you can’t go, it’s just that you’re so young.” Kabbu murmured with a heavy, worrisome heart. "Some of us prefer to start small and harmless."

“Kabbu, I’ve been through so much worse, and I’ve learned to protect myself all my life! But at least.. I have a little something that will make me big again.” Maggie pulled out her blue enlargement potion from her fanny pack, the entire pack scooted in close for a look.

“Do NOT tell anyone about this! If it falls into the wrong hands, there will be chaos! Promise?”

“There is no promise we can’t keep, Margaret.” said Leif, his voice as delicate and whispery. The other four bugs nodded and agreed, and proceeded to finish up their berry juice and soda drinks at the table.

Chapter Text

The sky was now of a orange-ish color, as the sun began to set. Team Snakemouth were winding down at their red home, playing with their pink Chomper pet, Chompy.

"You know, it's just weird how comfortable we're adjusting to all this." said Leif

"What do you mean?" Vi asked

"For all of our theories and speculations on what the giants used to be, we never believed that one of them would be a friend to us."

"Oh Leif, I can't express the joy in my heart to have this new change in our lives! Bringing a Giant home to Bugaria was sweeter than any treasure or artifact we could find. And you know, helping others is its own reward." Kabbu smiled while playing ball with Chompy.

"Of course it is." Vi grumbled before switching to an excitable tone "But seriously though, we should've gotten like a bazillion berries for that!"

"Vi, we've made a groundbreaking discovery and you're more concerned with money." Leif sarcastically commented with an added laugh.

"..Speaking of which" Vi pondered "Where is that little rascal anyway?"

Meanwhile, Maggie approached a concrete wall in the far grasslands in front of the Ant Kingdom. She looked further up to see the Giant’s Stairway on the horizon. She could remember stepping down those stairs in her full-sized form, but now it was only three times her height, impossible for her to climb on her lonesome.

She remembered what Team Snakemouth said about how they came into the Giant’s Lair, through a tiny hole in the wall that was only accessible through an ant tunnel or a boat ride to the Rubber Prison. At her normal human size, the Metal Lake would be damp enough for her to step in, but to bugs, it was almost like swimming into an ocean. Maggie knew she shouldn’t be out here alone, even if she was given permission to do so. She was young, and experienced, but her form was more fragile than all the bugs combined. 

“Owww!!” Maggie’s train of thought was cut out when a Seedling began to bite at her fleshy left arm. She became surrounded by a plague of Seedlings approaching her. Clenching onto her makeshift broom, she began to think out loud.

“Jesus Christ, they’re just gonna keep chasing me. Might as well get rid of them.” She said to herself. 

Whack! The human began to swing at them, swatting them with the dirty brushes, knocking them into each other. She then began to notice three seedlings lining up in front of her. “A straight line. Perfect!”  She aimed at the seedling at the front of the line and began to kick it back with her shoe, causing the other seedlings to topple on top of each other like dominoes. Just then, an arrow shoots at one of the seedlings and strikes it down. Maggie looked up to see Nox the Firefly hovering above them. 

“Nox, you’re here!” 

“Mags, I was looking all over for you!”

“What took you so long, huh?” Maggie smiled 

“I don’t know, we just happened to run into each other.” Nox shrugged as he landed on the ground

“Well, anyway, I need your help to get into that.. abandoned house over there.” Maggie gestured to the Giant’s Stairway towering over them. “Besides, I should test my limits. See how long I last at this size."

“Strange.” Nox pondered “I thought the Rubber Prison was the only way in. Now I’m starting to see how huge these humans were.” 

“So, you ready to do this?” she asked Nox

“Yeah.. but I’m not sure if we should.” Nox hesitated “I only wanted to do this so I could prove that my first quest would be something glorious. I don't even know why I chose the most dangerous path to prove my worth! Am I really that desperate?”

“Hey, you’re not alone. I didn’t want to be a part of this, but my curiosity just dragged me into this mess.”

“What about Team Snakemouth? Shouldn’t we tell them? Nothing good’s gonna come out of this if we don’t tell them.” 

“It’s okay, Nox. I’m a giant, remember?” She briefly pulled out and waved her enlargement potion before putting it back into the fanny pack.

“Alright, don’t freak out.” Nox held Maggie’s body as he flew up above the Giant’s Stairway and porch, into another hole near the enormous door. As they both landed, Maggie took a glance back at the world behind her, before she went through the hole, and back into the house where she first met Team Snakemouth.  From a distance, Team Snakemouth spotted the two teenagers high atop the gigantic porch.

“WHAT?? No, no, NO! The poor kids! We’ve only known them for less than a day!” Kabbu began to panic.

“Damn, Team Giantspeak’s got guts.” Vi snarked

“But we don’t feel comfortable about Maggie or Nox going off into the Dead Lands by themselves. They won’t survive.” Leif softly muttered with concern

“They should’ve had more time to train. More time to get familiar with.. all of this! This is far too early!… Are we terrible mentors already?!” Kabbu anxiously fell to his knees before being comforted by Vi

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up like that, Kabbu. We were only a newbie team when we first survived the Deadlands, and sure, we are only a few missions in, but all of our combined efforts made us invincible! All three of us!”

“..and you know, those kids learned from the best," Leif interjected before Chompy nudged their leg.

"Yes, we know, Chompy, but we can't risk bringing you to the Dead Lands this time. You've gotta stay here, just this once."

Kabbu stopped for a thought. He began to realize something was missing from his life. He had always known Nox from his home in the North, but in Margaret, he had always wanted.. a daughter. A daughter to protect, and to keep safe from danger. He glanced up at the giant door overlooking the grasslands. A little terror-stricken, but now fearless. Knowing everything he knew in the past with his team, it was not time to back down.

“Team.. it'll be dangerous to return to the Dead Lands, but it is worth it! We must go after them and help them!”

Chapter Text

Within the halls of the Giant’s Lair, the minuscule Team Giantspeak began to search for Dead Landers.

"This is it." Maggie muttered, "Back to where I started from."

“This place is so huge!” Nox said as he held his bow close to his heart. “I never thought I get to be inside a Giant’s Lair. Y'know, I’ve heard stories about a Roach Village around here.”

“Really? Cuz I've seen a village right up there on those countertops.” Maggie pointed up to the countertops next to the Cold Tower towering over the tiny exploration team in the distance.

“Yeah, so have you stumbled upon any roaches yet?”

“Haha, I hope not. They just kinda look.. disgusting to me.” 

Suddenly, the ear-piercing screeches of the Deadlanders rang through the Lair, grabbing the two’s attention. “But not as disgusting as those things!!” Nox cried

“So.. do you remember our training?” Maggie anxiously asked

“Of course. I hope I do!” Nox tightly grasped his bow and arrow.

“You do realize that a broom is not the best weapon for fighting off a Deadlander!”

“It may not be so, but it’s the best I’ve got!” Maggie clenched her broom, swatting at Dead Lander Gamma’s face.

“If I can distract them, you can shoot at them with your arrow.” 

“Already behind you!” Nox aimed for Gamma’s back and struck his arrow, causing the creature to let out an eldritch-like scream.

Maggie began to whack at Deadlander Alpha from the back of its head with her broom, and she snapped its body in half with her kick. She gasped upon seeing Alpha’s upper body collapse onto the floor from the impact.

“Whoa, Mags! How did you-?”

“Sheer human strength, I suppose.” Maggie is then knocked back by a liquid attack from Dead Lander Beta, hovering above the firefly and human with balloons wrapped around its body. 

“I got this one!” Nox began to aim at Beta, before its balloons were popped by a bee-merang. It fell heavily to the ground and was unable to get back onto its feet. The bee-merang came back to the honey bee Vi, who proudly stood with Kabbu and Leif at her sides.

“Nox, Margaret, you better have a good reason to be out here!” Kabbu demanded

“What are we supposed to say?” Nox panicked

“Look, we can explain everything.” Maggie tried to convince Team Snakemouth, standing in front of her. “No time to explain, we must put our heads together.” The beetle lured his teammates to a nearby crate to hide from the Deadlanders.

“Hopefully, they won’t see us.” Leif whispered, “We need to hurry up and come up with a plan, they’re gonna catch us any minute!!” Vi panicked

“Okay. Okay! I may not be good at this but.. Leif, you’ve got your ice magic, right?” Maggie asked her moth teammate as she rallied everyone in a huddle

“Certainly.” Leif responded

“So you’ve got no problem freezing a Deadlander. You should be front and center. And Vi, is that?-“ Maggie began to ask, pointing at Vi's weapon

“Oh yeah, my bee-merang! Isn’t it cool?” Vi boasted while tossing her bee-merang into the air.

“Oh, oh! And I forgot to mention something, Kabbu may not be wielding a weapon, but he’s got brute strength, with his horn! Vi and Nox, you’re our long-range attackers, and either one of us is gonna have to distract them so that Kabbu can do his taunting and attack them from behind.”

“What about you?” Nox asked Maggie

“Well, I think I have brute strength too. Kabbu, mind if we work together?”

“With pleasure!” Kabbu held his protégé's hand.

“Ooh, maybe we should try your Frost Bowling technique!” Nox suggested

Just then, a brilliant idea began to fascinate Maggie.

“Actually, I have a little something I wanna add to it.” Maggie interjected

As the Dead Landers crept closer, the team finally stepped out of hiding, with their weapons ready. 

“Alright. Let’s go ahead and give ‘em a snowball fight.” Nox commanded his moth mentor

“With pleasure.” Leif conjured up snowballs for Nox to throw at the Dead Landers with his bow and arrow. The firefly taunts them with a raspberry blow, rendering them unaware of Kabbu striking a blow from underground. Vi threw her beemerang to whack two dead landers into each other in its flight path. Kabbu sliced their weak points with his horn. Leif freezes several of them in their path, with Maggie wrecking their frozen bodies into pieces with her hammer.  Nox launches a bow at a flying Dead Lander Beta, popping all of its balloons.

After it came down to the ground, Kabbu came into its view and did a fake yawning taunt. As it hisses at Kabbu, Vi unsuspectedly knocks it down with her beemerang. Leif runs to protect Nox from Dead Lander Alpha’s projectile attack, freezing its projectile liquid into ice crystals, with Kabbu kicking it from the side.

And, for the final Dead Lander, all five explorers finally came together for the ultimate team move: The Frost Bowling technique. Leif danced and created a blizzard that froze Vi, curled up into a fetal position, into a giant ice ball. He throws it to Kabbu, who tosses the frozen bee into the air. And for the very first time, Nox carries Maggie into mid-air, high enough for the human girl to hit the frozen bee with her broom, sending her hurdling at the Deadlanders below, and striking them down.  The ice ball bursts open upon hitting the ground, unfreezing Vi. She gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, signaling to her fellow teammates that she was fine.. despite having a slight brain freeze.

“They’re all down... We really did it!” Nox cheered, causing all five explorers to celebrate in unison.

“We did so good!” Maggie exclaimed

“I don’t think anything’s gonna top tha-AAAAAAH!!” Vi froze in shock as she looked up at one of Deadlander Omega’s many, unsettling catlike eyes, glowing in tones of orange and yellow.

“Oh yeah… that.” Maggie’s smile had dropped. She stepped back and thought, and thought. She can’t really figure her way out of beating Omega, except for one idea on her mind. She took a brief look at her fanny pack for her answer and clenched the straps around her waist.

“So what do we do now?” Vi asked Maggie

“You’ll have to trust me on this one.” The human girl began to step away from her team.

“Wait, what are you doing? We’re not splitting up, right.” Vi asked Maggie

“I think I have a plan, just trust me!” 

“Maggie, don’t!-” The bee reached out to the human girl as she splits herself from the party.

“Wait..” Nox thought “I think she might be on to something.”

“What do you possibly know?” Vi shouted

“Don’t push him, Vi. Let’s just focus on the mission.” Leif redirected the bee’s attention to Omega.

“But.. She’s one of us!”

But she was gone.

Vi went into an internal panic, worried for the human’s safety.

Deadlander Omega stares down at the four teammates with its demonic red eyes, its huge skeletal hand reaching out onto the wooden floor. The firefly Nox nervously stares up at the titan in front of him, almost losing a grip on his bow and arrow as his arms tremble. This is what he wanted, right? To explore the Deadlands? Unscathed? Well, it seemed like all four are them were gonna be tattered one way or another, but nevertheless, they still pressed on. 

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to take it down ourselves. All four of us.” Kabbu gulped Leif focused on freezing Omega’s fingers. If they were frozen, Omega would no longer care to crush the explorers. Hopefully.

“If we can freeze all these Deadlanders. Let’s go ahead and face this with dignity.” Leif began to conjure their ice powers, before…

The lair begins to shake once more with heavy footsteps.

The giant Dead Lander’s attention was redirected to an equally large figure stepping into view. 

WHACK!! The Dead Lander lets out a demonic screech of pain after being smacked with a broom.. held within the hands of a gigantic Maggie, now returned to her true giant size. All four of the bug explorers shouted with joy as they witnessed their giant friend finally taking control of the battle.

“Oh yeah, I knew that was gonna happen!” Vi snarked, while all four bugs turned their heads to Vi, giving her a suspicious side eye. 

“You knew?” Leif commented before being startled by Maggie’s voice blaring overhead.

“You guys! Get out of here, NOW!”

While Maggie struggled to hold Deadlander Omega back, the bugs began to flee further from the two giants at war with each other, hiding under an old book three feet away. They were helpless now, and only able to stare at them tasseling it out.  Omega tried to tug at Maggie’s arm, roaring with malice. The strength of the Dead Lander was so overwhelming, that it left Maggie tugged down to the ground, landing beside the exploration team in their shelter.

As Omega stomped closer to Maggie - one of its many glowing orange eyes praying on the travelers in hiding - Maggie stumbled as she got back onto her feet, and she grabbed her broom, whacking it in the Dead Lander’s eye with its bristles.

“No! Bad Dead Lander!” Maggie sassily ad-libbed

Omega reached its hand out once more, but she had successfully blocked it with her plastic broom. She was frightened in the moment, but with the monster’s feral nature not letting up, she had to block whenever she could.

Omega threw a tiny Dead Lander Gamma into her face, causing her to scream. The four bugs took a couple of steps back into the caverns of the open book, while Maggie did the same. After swatting Gamma to the ground and stomping on it flat, she then proceeded to kick Omega in the eye with her other foot, giving it distraction for her to clear her mind.

Distancing herself away from Omega, Maggie had realized that the Dead Lander was too bulky, too strong, and so deeply deformed, that a broom alone wasn’t able to cut it. She panicked as she looked upon the junk lying around in the other parts of the Giant’s Lair, but amidst the pile, she had found a tall, sharp spear with the point of a sword, leaning on a wall a couple of steps away from the Cold Tower.

With the spear in her grasp, she took a deep breath of realization. Her eyes widened as a bright idea began to take form in her head. A spear this sharp was the perfect weapon to deliver the final death blow.

Meanwhile, back on bug level, Omega was distracted, allowing the four explorers to come out of hiding and perform their Frost Bowling technique one last time. Leif formed a bigger ice ball with Vi and Nox enclosed inside it, and Kabbu launched it into the air at one of Omega's eyes with a mighty kick, causing an explosion of ice magic that blinded the monster.

Now that Omega was fully distracted, Maggie sprinted back into the kitchen with a roaring battle cry, and struck the top of her spear into Omega’s body, impaling it from the inside. The monster suddenly went still and fell to the ground, causing a humongous, crashing THUD that shook the Lair and everything in it.

Silence fell upon the atmosphere. The bugs came out of hiding and stared in utter shock, then they looked up at their human companion, now proudly standing over them. They only saw the fallen skeletal arms emerging from the darkness, unable to make out whatever body it was attached to, but they didn’t care. For once, they all worked together to finally rid themselves of Omega.

“By Venus, Maggie.. You’re amazing!!” Kabbu rejoiced

“And HUGE!!” Maggie squealed “It feels good to have my old body back!”

“I can’t believe it. All these years of dread, have finally passed on. We can finally breathe easy, thanks to you.” Kabbu rubbed Maggie’s gigantic shoe with thankful affection in his heart.

“..Wow. I really did save Bugaria today.” Maggie grinned with excitement, kneeling down on the floor to get up closer to her bug friends.

“Actually, we did!” Vi laughed

“Thanks for helping us! Also, we’re so sorry for running out here without you guys, we just wanted to impress you, and all three of you, you mean so much to me. You’re not mad at us, right?” asked Nox

“Mad? I’m too celebratory to be mad! If both of our teams were to work together like this all the time, all five of us, we can be something extraordinary.”

“Did he just say FIVE?” Nox’s eyes shimmered with joy

“You really mean it?” Maggie’s eyes shimmered too.

“Of course!” The beetle replied “Well, we can’t just call ourselves Team Snakemouth and Team Giantspeak. That’d be too clunky”

Vi scratched the side of her head. “Well, we could go with the Snakemouth Five... or better yet, the Den Masters."

"Makes sense, huh?" Vi agreed as she smiled "I mean, we've already survived Snakemouth Den AND the Giant's Den, as a team!"

“Oooh! What do you think, Mags? You’re one of us now!” Nox looked up at Maggie’s towering frame. The human began to take a quick look behind her, at the world she left behind for a new life. While she subtly hesitated at first, she turned her head back to her new friends and felt herself bubbling with excitement, her smile growing bigger than a single bug’s body.

“Sure! I would love that!”  The bugs rejoiced and hugged Maggie on her left leg. 

Finally, all five of them were together. They’ve gone from fearing a long-gone behemoth to calling it a friend and a protector. Not only that, they’ve gained another friend who shared the same dreams, the same hopes, the same desire to explore the world. They were more than explorers, they were a newfound family.

“We didn’t know your shell was underneath all this squishy stuff.” Leif commented while pressing onto her kneecap, causing Maggie to blush and chuckle.

“Yeah. This is still kinda awkward.”

Chapter Text

The next day, Maggie was back to her bug size and was offered a place to sleep in Team Snakemouth’s red house.  Leif was playing ball with the team’s pet chomper, Chompy, while Vi and Kabbu were sharing a plate of pancakes.  Team Snakemouth had placed a room divider for Maggie to undress out of her pajamas in privacy after she told them how the giants prefer to change clothes in private. Appearing out of the room divider, she rubbed her eyes and caressed her curly hair after she got fully dressed in her usual tattered outfit that was now cleaner than ever.

“Hey, Kabbu. Thanks for letting me sleep in. Have you seen Nox?” Maggie asked her beetle companion

“He’s performing for the Ant Kingdom plaza. Oh, how we do enjoy his musical talents!”

Knock knock! Kabbu saw a familiar face standing outside the archway opening of the red box house knocking on the walls.

“Morning, everyone!” Nox then appeared in front of the four with his lute in his hands. A surprised Maggie ran to hug Nox in a tight hug, nearly suffocating him in her grasp.

“Oh, sorry. Human strength! So, what brings you here?”

“I was hoping if Eetl gave us another quest to come by. Hey, you know, after yesterday, I think I’m starting to understand this whole explorer thing. I mean, impressing other bugs, searching for fame and fortune. Maybe that's something I wanted for myself?” asked Nox

“Same, except I also wanted to help people. Speaking of which.” Maggie began to pull out her enlargement potion out of her fanny pack.

“Whoa, WHOA, slow down, Mags! Just hold on to it until you get outside!” Kabbu chuckled

“I’m not gonna drink it now!” The human girl chuckled “I just needed to head back into that abandoned house and do a little.. remodeling. That place could really use a makeover.”

“Right? Nobody wants to see some Dead Lander bodies lying around anyways.” said Vi

“Yeah, so I guess I’ll be gone for a while. I hope to be back here by the end of the day!”

Maggie waved goodbye to her new bug friends and gleefully sprinted as far away from the Ant City as possible before she could take in her potion. As she felt the elixir go down her throat, she felt her entire body expanding, her height shooting upwards. She grew.. and grew.. and grew, nearly losing her balance in the process, until she towered over the entire Ant Kingdom. When she regained her balance and looked down, she saw a beautiful bustling country of bug people. No longer did she see them as freakishly intelligent bug creatures that could talk, but actual people. From her five-foot-three height, she could see the entirety of Bugaria. The little town of Defiant Root in the red sandbox, the orange, autumn-ish Golden Settlement near the tree where the Bee Kingdom hung from its branches, the overflowing puddle that made up Metal Lake, the little mound that served as the palace for the Ant Kingdom. She stepped onto the porch and took one more hopeful look back at her new domain, before heading inside into what was to become her new home.

Meanwhile, inside the Ant Kingdom Palace, Team Snakemouth began to explain everything to Queen Elizant II.

“So about Margaret. Has she really killed off Dead Lander Omega for good?” The queen asked 

“Yup, seems like it.” Vi nonchalantly replied, “She told us she was gonna clean up that ol’ Giant’s Lair, and she’s in there right now.”

“I must say I was quite surprised with her efforts. No bug has even come close to eliminating such a colossal creature.” Elizant clenched her hands 

“We’ve seen it all, our Queen.” Leif softly spoke, “She may be young, but she has proven herself a true fighter.”

"I know she will be a great help to us, as she is a great help to me." Kabbu glanced at the stained glass portrait of the four bug royals. He still had so many questions about what a human could possibly be outside of their sheer size, as did his other teammates, but they had all the time in the world to learn about their new friend.

"Kabbu, you big softie! You're getting too attached already." Vi chuckled and nudged at Kabbu's arm, causing Kabbu to learn as well.

"Heh heh, well of course, this expedition was a reward of its own!"

“I shall take your word for it, Team Snakemouth." said Elizant "We may not know for sure what to do with the girl, but I do not doubt that she will be our greatest protector. Thanks to your brave efforts in making contact with this human. As we know between the four of us, this could very well mark the beginning of a new chapter for Bugaria..”

"It may well be so." Kabbu replied

Looming over the now-peaceful region of Bugaria, a light switch is flipped, and the once-dreaded Giant’s Lair begins to illuminate with light for the first time in centuries.