Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In order to understand these fabled tales of Bugaria, one must learn not only about the legendary Team Snakemouth but also about another famous figure: Margaret Dolittle, the Giant Guardian.

Maggie only believed that bugs weren’t capable of speech or emotions, but by a stroke of fate, she ended up as the very first “human” to stumble upon the land of Bugaria.

Naturally, as a great Giant, the Bugarians feared her presence, but the Ant Kingdom praised her as an unexpected hero after slaying the dreaded Dead Lander Omega. As a personal token of gratitude from Team Snakemouth, they allowed her to stay within their home.

Margaret, while at first hesitant, eventually gave in to Bugaria’s strange ways, and also began to develop a new identity of her own.

Vi began to hammer in a sign written in the Bugnish language onto their traditional red flower home. Chompy was chasing Leif who was serving snacks for the Snakemouth family, and to a lesser extent, Kabbu, who was chilling on the side of the carton. Leif was very content with their new growing family, especially with the addition of their Eetl-approved co-explorers Team Giantspeak.

“How is the progress, Vi?” Leif asked his bee friend

“It’s looking pretty good! With all that stuff Maggie’s collecting for everyone, I bet she could build an entire city.”

“Heh, no joking.” Leif snarked.

“Hey, speaking of which, has anyone seen her?” Vi asked as she flew down to ground level to see Kabbu sewing by hand inside the carton house with Maggie sitting on one of the beds.

“Hey. Whatchu sewing there, Kabbu?”

"I'm making something for Maggie!" Kabbu smiled as he sewed away with orange material in his hand.

“Y’know, I was thinking, if I’m gonna pass myself off as a Bugarian, I need to look like one.” Maggie had a fake pair of antennas and a fake abdomen lying on the side of her bed, while Kabbu sewed a cape with an orange fur collar that looked like the wings of a familiar bug.

“Ooooh, an atlas moth! Who came up with that idea?”

“Kabbu did. I think I actually do give off Atlas vibes. Ooh, what do you think, Leif?” Maggie asked her moth friend who was peeking into the door opening

“Well, with that pigment of yours, you could pull it off just well!” Leif commented with a smile

Maggie began to place her fake antennas on the top of her head. When she looked into her reflection in a nearby mirror, she saw an inner bug inside a human body. She beamed with joy over her nearly-completed look.

“Oh, and look! I sewed her a leotard! Isn’t that adorable?” Kabbu blushed and chuckled like a proud father. “Go on! Try out your wings, Maggie.”

As Kabbu went back outside, Maggie proudly stepped out in her usual white sneakers and a dark orange leotard with black leggings underneath, a fake abdomen tied around her waist, fake antennas on her head, and a pair of gigantic dark orange moth wings with spots of lighter shades of orange splattered all over, that were bonded together by a light orange fur collar.

“Now you look like a true bug!” Kabbu cheered with great pride

“Thanks, Kabbu!” Maggie turned to look up at the Bugnish sign above her and emotionally tugged at her leotard top.

“Awww, Den Masters! That’s so cute.. How do you get the name Team Snakemouth anyway?” Maggie asked

“We named our team after Snakemouth Den, where they found us in the Spider's cocoon and rescued us.” Leif pointed out as they reminisced

"That place remains as our pride and joy!” Vi interjected

“But still very creepy, and.. not much very pleasant.” Leif sighed heavily just thinking about how he was tangled in that spider web and thought he would never wake up again. He was grateful for this new life he was given, but that feeling still lingered with him for many more moons.

“Yeah, I’m starting to get really bothered by this whole language thing. I just happened to know all of this instantaneously. I just want answers!” said Maggie

The team began to ponder on what to do and where to go, and then Vi came up with an idea while looking up at the Big Tree towering above the land in the distance.

“Hey, Mags. I think I know a place where we can get answers.”

“Oh, really? So, where are we heading?”

Chapter Text

What looked like an ordinary kid’s sandbox from a human’s eye was a vast desert hemisphere to the miniature Bugarians. The four explorers approached a desert town on the top left corner of the sandbox, lying under a gigantic tree root that went through the sandbox, one that was connected to an enormous tree where the Bee Kingdom hung.

“Defiant Root!” Vi exclaimed, “It’s a little shortcut to the Hive up on the Big Tree.”

“Funny. We thought you didn’t wanna go back to the Hive” Leif asked Vi

“Well, sometimes I do.” Vi blushed while playing around with her left antenna. “I just miss my folks, okay?"

“Wow! You guys, this town is like a market of some sorts. There’s so much stuff around here! Mind if we part?” 

“No, not a tiny bit, we’ll stay around just to make sure we don’t get lost. Alright?” Vi gave a thumbs up to her human partner, approving her to roam the Defiant Root on her lonesome, while the members of Team Snakemouth, Chompy included with them, stayed in the same spot near the museum.

While wandering around, Maggie began to feel a bit of sweat on her forehead. The temperatures in Bugaria were always warm as a day in the spring or summer, but in Defiant Root, every day felt as warm as the summertime. The breezy wind currents blew through the sand beneath their feet. There were cacti and twigs surrounding constructs that weren’t reused from human artifacts but rather built from the ground up with bricks. The town of Defiant Root was the most human-like in design, closer to what Maggie was familiar with in her home world.

She noticed a bug-sized toy car near a sign and began to ponder. Do bugs even know how to drive cars? How did it end up here?.. Then again, this was a kid’s sandbox. All kinds of toys would be found lying around in this vast desert land. Ahh, who cares? This was a scavenger’s paradise! There were so many things to collect. So, naturally, Maggie did the only thing a scavenger like herself could do. While making sure no bug was watching, Maggie sneakily picked up a heart berry and an agaric shroom and placed them both into her fanny pack, but before she was able to do even more scavenging, she noticed a familiar face amongst the crowd.

“Nox! There you are.” Maggie gasped

“Oh, hey Mags. I was just heading for the Lost Sands with these guys. I want you to meet Team Moon: Leela and Mello.” Mello gave a big enthusiastic wave and salute, while Leela calmly bowed before the human.

“Hi! I’m Mello. Proud explorer AND mail carrier! Umm, They/Them pronouns for me, please.” The socially awkward Mello nervously sweated while introducing themself, but they kept a calm composure.

“And I’m Leela. She/Her. So is it really true that you are the Giant of Bugaria?” 

“Well yes. Funny how you could almost see through my moth disguise.” Maggie chuckled

“We don’t care! It’s a nice look on you.” Leela complimented “Besides, those wings are so lifelike.”

“I wonder who made this outfit?” Nox pondered

“Kabbu did. He’s really good at sewing!” Maggie ran her hands through the fur of her fake moth wings.

“Mmmm. Hey, bookworm. You wanna go complete our mission over in the Lost Sands?” Mello reminded their explorer teammate.

“Oh, okay, sure, right! Well, it’s nice knowing you! If there’s any help you need, just call us. Alright? We’ll put in a good word for you!” Leela waved goodbye to Maggie and Nox as they and their teammate left to explore the Lost Sands.

“Speaking of..” said Maggie “I was just wondering if you would like to accompany us. We’re on our way up to the Hive to find an answer to my... condition.”

“What condition?” Nox asked

“My language powers, apparently. And, if we’re lucky, we might have time to uncover some giant artifacts from the Lost Sands.”

Nox’s eyes expanded with joy. “You sure? Cause I would NEVER say no to an ancient giant artifact!”

“Good, cuz I’m gonna need my partner!” 

“Alright, let’s get to exploring! Mystery awaits!” Nox exclaimed as he ran with his bow and arrow in his grasp, with Maggie following behind him.

“Sooo… about Chompy? Has she been biting your wings, lately? Leif?” Vi smirked and giggled, while Chompy listened.

“Huh, what?”

“I don’t wanna make you think about your wings getting ripped out but.. that girl’s got some strong jaws!”

“Would we even hate having a full-grown Chomper as a pet?" Leif sarcastically snarked while petting Chompy

“TEAM SNAKEMOUTH!” A raspy voice called them out, causing them to jump.

“Aww, crud. We’re in deep trouble!” Cried Vi

“Wait! I see them.” Kabbu’s eyes squinted in annoyance. “The Hooligans.”

A wasp, a ladybug, and a dragonfly walked in sync, pushing through the small crowd. Their eyes were locked on their former competitors. Kabbu could feel himself about to snap. He only wanted his team to have an easy quest, but did it have to be ruined by these guys?

“Oh, it’s you. Glad to see you running back to us.” Vi sarcastically taunted them with her arms crossed.

“Haha, Vi. I always knew you were the sassy, prissy one.” Vers, the wasp leader of the trio, let out a sassy laugh.

“What do you want with us? Are you still bitter about being fired from the Explorers Guild?” Leif demanded

“Oh, don’t be so surprised to see us. it’s nothing major.” said Vers “We’re here to take revenge on you. Granted, we don't usually tend to be this aggressive, but ever since we got "kicked out", our lives have been nothing but boring, boring, boring. We need action!”

“Besides, being nice all the time can be so boring.” Zeek, a red dragonfly, commented beside Vers.

Ollie, a ladybug wearing a bandana around his neck, tried to speak up, before being cut out by Vers

“Not now, Ollie. We know how much you try to sympathize with these losers.” 

“I was gonna say something else..” Ollie frowned. 

“Anyway, we have a challenge for you, Leif.” Vers pointed to Leif, causing their eyes to expand.

“Wha-why us?” 

“Because YOU are widely known as the spy card champion, are you not?” Zeek asked

“Well, we don’t prefer to brag about ourself, but we believe so”

“Good! Because we’ve been waiting for the day when we’d get to challenge you in a game of Spy Cards.” Vers’ wicked smile began to expand while hearing Vi and Kabbu let out a heavy gasp.

“Leif, you don’t need to do this. I beg you.” Kabbu dramatically tugged at Leif’s arm. He hated being challenged by the Hooligans again, especially while they were in the Association with Team Snakemouth. The beetle also didn’t want to waste time on their mission, even if it was for any reason at all. Leif took a deep exhale, took a quick look at their teammates, and proceeded to step forward to Vers with a defiant look in their eyes.

“Fine. We humbly accept.”

“Great. It’s settled. So you can carry on with your mission as you wish, but when we see you again, there will be no turning back.” Zeek surrounded Team Snakemouth like a vulture circling them.

“And if we beat you, we’re not joking, we are gonna kick your butts! You idiot losers!” Vers gave an evil smile that caused Team Snakemouth to shiver in fear. Team Hooligan began to walk back out of sight with their backs unturned. Vi slowly turned her head to her teammates and slightly hesitated before asking. Chompy gave a big, mean biting gesture to the Hooligans as they departed.

“Umm… we’re gonna be okay. Right?”

Chapter Text

“The Hooligans wanna challenge us to spy cards? Are they ever gonna get off our backs?” Vi complained with her arms thrown out. Chompy growled at her side.

“They're still so bitter. It’s such a shame their love for exploring got shattered.” Kabbu sighed

“Team Snakemouth! There you are!” Maggie approached her friends with Nox the Firefly at her side. She stopped to see them stressed out, but unsure of how to approach their emotional hoes. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Ummm, nothing. It’s just some unfinished business we have around here. Team, let us proceed with the mission as planned.” Kabbu straightened himself back up and led the rest of the Snakemouth Five and Chompy to an old-fashioned elevator leading up to the Bee Kingdom.

“You guys ready?” Vi asked her teammates.

“Yeah.” Maggie tightly clenched onto the wooden handrail while standing. She wasn’t used to being lifted up to great heights while being bug-sized, she often worried about whether or not a fall from the towering Big Tree would be fatal to bugs. 

As the six were lifted up, higher and higher, Maggie watched as the honeybees flew up through the sky and landed on the walkway. She began to understand why the bugs who couldn’t fly would need an elevator to get up to the hive, it would’ve taken hours for them to climb a stairway that led up there. Besides, the bees must’ve been so lucky to still be able to fly after the Awakening.

"Leif, you don't look so good. What's eating ya?" Vi asked while the elevator lifted the team higher.

"We've always been the best at Spy Cards, but those 'Hooligans' take it more seriously than the other bugs we know. We could just freeze them, but we take no chances." Leif scoffed

"Truthfully, your ice magic is quite powerful. Why, you could conjure up grand icebergs, and remember those ice gauntlets you created? I could never be as strong as you are with those gauntlets." Kabbu held out his hand in persuasion. 

"Tch. Well, at least you've got your horn, and your digging skills." Leif scoffed. They didn't want to brush off Kabbu's compliment, but they knew he would be better at combating the Hooligans.

As they finally arrived at the Hive, the team walked into a closed space leading to the entrance.

“Before we can get in, I think we need you two to get yourselves familiar with the scan corridor.” Vi informed Nox and Maggie

“What’s the scan corridor?” Nox asked

A masked bee guard appeared next to the team, looking through a hexagon-shaped window.

“Greetings, visitors. Please hold still as we scan for impurities.”

“What impurities?” Maggie’s voice was cut off by a huge holographic orange wall scanning through the five members, front, back, and front again.

Vi, Kabbu, and Leif stood perfectly still, Chompy bounced a little bit, while Maggie and Nox panicked and shivered.

“Hey, what gives?” Maggie angrily snapped

“Look, we can’t have you guys bringing outside germs in here, okay? It’s what we must do.” The bee guard shrugged “Alright. You’ve been cleared to pass.”

“That was… kinda weird.” Maggie murmured

“Hmph, you can say that again.” snarked Nox

Upon arriving at the throne room of Queen Bianca, Maggie clenched her fake wings, nervous to hear about what the bee queen might say about her. She feared that the bug royals wouldn’t be too kind to a human, let alone one that was poorly disguised as a bug, but many of the bugs that encountered her had been pretty nice to her so far, she had nothing to fear.

“Greetings, explorers! Oooh, you must be the young lady Giant of the Ant Kingdom. We’ve heard so much about you. You may call me Queen Bianca.”

“Margaret, but everyone calls me Maggie. A pleasure to meet you, your highness!” The human girl bowed in a curtsy while holding up her wings. 

“I believe some of our fellow bees have been watching your kind through the Eliascope. I do apologize for that meeting we had about you. We’ve never encountered your people in centuries, though I’m beginning to fear there’s a bit of hostility towards you.”

“I guess that's what the elaborate moth disguise was for.” Nox joked. 

“Yeah, about that...” Maggie chuckled “I’m starting to think I’m blending in with everybody, even though I do suck at this pretending-to-be-a-moth thing.”

“Well, you do pull off the moth disguise so elegantly.” Queen Bianca sweetly complimented

“Your majesty...” Kabbu interposed “We must speak to the royal scientist at once, she’s the only one who can answer our questions.”

“And just in time!” A voice cried out. It belonged to a scrappy old bee clothed in a gray scientist suit and cracked glasses, who made her entrance into the Queen’s throne room. “I’ve noticed that the scanner picked up some impurities from one of you.”

“Ah, Doctor H.B.!” Vi greeted the scientist with a handshake “Look, it’s kinda awkward for me to be back home, but we really need your help. It has something to do with our little giant here.” Vi pointed towards an anxiety-riddled Maggie, awkwardly smiling in front of the scientist.

“Yeah, I have like nearly 3000 questions inside of my head right now.” Maggie pointed out “And we decided that you would be the one to answer all of them?”

“Well, I hope so. This IS your first time coming to the hive, is it not?”

“It definitely is.” Maggie twiddled her cupped fingers.

“No worries. Would you please follow me to the lab? I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Kabbu bowed “Let us proceed.”

Chapter Text

Doctor H.B. took a quick look at Maggie’s body, giving her a quick check-up, though it was the first time she did so on a human. The team was nervous to see how she would react, considering how eccentric her personality was. The doctor even looked eccentric with her cracked glasses and asymmetrical antennae.

With her fake abdomen, antennas, and wings removed, Maggie was seated on a nearby chair while nervously tugging at her fake moth wings like a blanket. Leif caressed her arms to calm her nerves, though the human girl hadn’t fully adjusted to feeling the rigid texture of bug hands on her body. Nox, Vi, Chompy, and Kabbu stood at the far side of the lab room.

First, H.B. examined Maggie’s skin-covered arm, rubbing it to feel the skeleton underneath.

“Hmmm, weird endoskeleton. It’s almost as if she’s inside out.” 

Then, she examined her bare human foot.

“Gosh, it’s flat. It’s long, and eh, what are these flappy little things on the sides of your head? How can you hear without antennas?” H.B. pulled back Maggie’s curly hair.

“Oh, those are ears, they’re our replacements for antennas.”

While Maggie spoke, H.B. searched through the paper copies of her skeleton X-rays.

“Ohhh, by the great gods, these X-rays indicated that her skeleton looked quite similar to that of Deadlander Omega. Makes me wonder if that Omega had some sort of past connection to the Giants.”

“We’re called humans, doctor.” Maggie politely corrected the honeybee doctor, who began to stroke her chin while writing on the data papers.

“Hmm, how do you spell human in Bugnish?”

“I could write it on a sticky note if you want.” Maggie proceeded to pull a sticky note from H.B.’s desk, and began to write the word “human” in Bugnish letters, passing it down to the honeybee doctor.

“Oh, why thank you! So, what can you tell me, Margaret?”

Maggie took a deep inhale before bursting into a monologue while putting her shoes, fake wings, fake abdomen, and fake antennas back on.

“Well, I should start with the fact that I can talk to bugs! It was cool at first, but now it’s been bothering me ever since I got here. Everyone’s speaking some sort of alien language, and I just so happen to understand all of it, without learning it. How is this even happening?” 

H.B. scratched the side of her head and then came to a conclusion.

“How do I put this briefly? Quite simply, it turns out that you and Leif are one and the same.”

The moth and the human slowly turned to each other, and then back at H.B. “How so?” the two asked in unison

“Well..”  H.B. seriously tightened her lips before proceeding “..much like Leif, it seems that Maggie was also embedded with crystal magic inside her.”

Maggie’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief upon hearing H.B.’s words, shock that felt positive and made everything make sense, but also shock that completely altered her experience in this land.

“Crystal magic?” Maggie murmured with curiosity

“Certainly. First things first, Leif was a science experiment, or a Zommoth prototype if you will. The roaches who experimented on their body infused them with cordyceps that just so happened to have ice crystals, thus granting them the ability to wield and manipulate the element of ice.”

“Wait, so, they’re like a zombie moth with ice powers? I swear, this place keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Maggie huffed, causing Leif to awkwardly smile. The moth was worried about her reaction, but he was relieved to see her take it in well.

Vi and Kabbu stood on the sidelines with tiny smirks. They knew they didn’t tell their human friend about Leif, but it was starting to feel like common knowledge amongst the team anyway. Nox’s mind, however, was completely blown away. His jaw was left wide open, but he quickly composed himself.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?” Nox whispered to Kabbu, causing Kabbu to shrug.

“However, in the case of Margaret, it’s a different story” H.B. proceeded “The scanner had picked up some impurities from this Giant that are quite similar to Leif's, so my best logical explanation is either she touched one of the ancient crystals, causing her to learn about the Bugnish language instantaneously, or rather... she gained crystalline magic inside of her body.”

“Really?” Kabbu asked with fascination

“Yes, it seems like it.” H.B. then began to explain to Maggie

“You see, the ancient crystals have the ability to record the mental data of those who touch it, to pass down their information. And what’s more, Margaret, is that the blue crystals are known for protecting Bugaria from the Dead Landers. So there might have been a chance that you’ve encountered a blue crystal before you came to our world.”

“Wait, wait, wait, don’t tell me! I think I-” Maggie interjected. She thought long and hard about why she had crystal magic, then she was reminded of a certain memory..

"No.. no, WAIT! I wanna show you something!"

Maggie pushed her hair to the side and pulled the back of her leotard to reveal a medium-sized scar on her back. All the bugs collectively gasped at the sight.

"Whoa. How'd you get that?" Vi asked the human

"I had a crystal impaled wayyyy deep in my back! I do a lot of fighting in my world, so I just fell on some sharp crystal shards. They just kinda sat there for a long time, and I pulled some of them out, but now that crystal juice is stuck in my body forever. So maybe that might be it!"

“Ha ha! Bingo!” Nox cheered 

“So that’s our answer, then?” Kabbu asked, “She must be a being of magic!”

“Indeed so. CROW!”

A shy, anxious bee assistant came by H.B.’s side with a huge pile of paperwork in her arms.

“E-ehmmm, yes, doctor?”

“I need you to take this information on Maggie and pass it down to Professor Neolith down in the Ant Kingdom. We should have all the known data on her biology for future use.” H.B. passed down the paperwork to add onto Crow’s overflowing pile.

“Yes, yes, ma’am! Right away!” Crow answered

“Well, I guess that’s it for today.” H.B. proclaimed 

“And uh, Margaret, perhaps if you would like to stay here a little bit longer” Doctor H.B. creepily took a few steps forward towards the human girl, with her broken glasses gleaming.

“I could examine that body of yours, just to understand this fascinating Giant biology-”

“NOT NOW, H.B.!” Vi shouted

“Fine, then. Maybe some other day-”

“NO… well, maybe.”

"LEIF!" Vi scolded the moth, who shrugged in response.

“Anyway, we thank you greatly  for your help, H.B..” Kabbu waved as the Snakemouth Five departed

“Come back anytime you want to be dissected!”

“Wait. Margaret. Before we leave, we should confess to you the truth.”

“What truth? I already found mine.”

“Yes, well, you may not have known this, but we’ve had our history with the Hooligans.” Kabbu sighed

“Hooligans? You’ve never told me about them before.” 

“They're ex-explorers. Kicked out for misconduct, and rightfully so.” Leif informed

“And now they’re just waiting for us to leave the hive so they could kick our butts!” Vi shrieked

“Wow, we've both missed out on a lot of stuff, haven't we Mags?” Nox commented, with Maggie nodding her head.

“Hold it, are you guys really that scared to confront them?” 

“Well, they’ve bullied us, nonstop, everyday!” The bee dramatically shouted 

“Well then, if they ARE gonna beat your butts, I need you to know they you’ve been through worst… me included.” Maggie chuckled with her arms crossed.

“Mags, your little pep talks ain’t gonna- Oh, I guess you’re right.”

Vi stopped herself to understand what the team had gone through in the past. If they went through all that trouble just to save Bugaria on their own, confronting their bullies would be absolutely nothing compared to their past journey.

“See? Nothing to it. So, we’ll just head down to Defiant Root!” Chompy nudged Maggie's leg with affection.

Maggie pushed Leif and Kabbu forward to get them walking. Leif sighed as the Snakemouth Five left outside the Hive to the elevator. 

“Fine. We’ll just have to risk being the laughingstock of Bugaria after this.”

Chapter Text

After the Snakemouth Five and Chompy stepped off the elevator, they gasped in shock to find the Hooligans standing in front of them, menacingly, as if they’d waited in the same spot for minutes on end. 

“Alright, you losers. We kept our word. Now you must confront us!”

“Let’s play some cards!” Ollie shouted

Team Snakemouth’s eyes widened with confusion. They looked at each other and back at the Hooligans.

"Wait, wait. Were you just standing here this whole time?" Vi asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ehhh... maybe." Ollie shrugged

“Oh… why can't you just say you wanna play some stupid cards instead of scaring us half to death, huh?” Vi pouted with her arms crossed.

“They're not stupid! We were only trying to be intimidating.” Ollie threw his arms out in exaggeration

“I know you’d say it.” Zeek sighed with a frown “You’d make us feel weak!”

“Anyways, Leif. I hope you’re down!” Vers crossed his arms with a sinister smile

“Do not underestimate us, we will not be down and out for the count!”

“No, silly pants!" Vers laughed at Leif's literal taking. "Are you prepared?”

“We always have been.” But they were lying. This wasn’t just an ordinary spy game card, this was gonna end up in disaster if they didn’t have the upper hand intellectually.

“Then let’s do it. If you lose this game, we beat your butts!” Vers cracked his knuckles to prepare for his plans

“Not this again.” Vi muttered

“Remember, you’ve got this all the way!” Nox attempted to cheer up Leif, but it wasn’t enough to uplift the moth.

“Okay, look.” said Maggie "I know you guys are busy with those guys, so me and Nox are gonna find some artifacts. It’s only just a harmless card game, right?” 

“Right. Harmless…” Kabbu panted underneath his mask.

“Alright, don’t be gone too long!” Vi waved to Team Giantspeak as they departed.

Leif stepped forward and cracked his knuckles from under his wings.

Vers handed out two decks of cards, one for his Hooligan teammates, and another for Team Snakemouth. Leif held out his cards with a determined look in his eye.

“Very well. Since you’re so persistent… let’s squash this beef!”

While the Hooligans whispered about whoever should go first, Team Snakemouth began to elaborate while Chompy sat in a sleepy-like position.

“What should I draw first?” Leif asked their honeybee teammate

“Use the orange card, fool!” Vi shouted 

“Vers only gave us three orange cards! We can’t waste these.” Leif cried out

“He did this against you. Just try to make do!”

“Vi, you’re not helping.” Kabbu commented

The crowd stared in anticipation watching Leif draw his first card. They took a deep exhale, closed his eyes, and pulled out an orange card onto the ground.

Vers draws a grey card. “How many attack points you've got?”

“One. You?”

“Two.”

The crowd gasps! Vi’s jaw dropped in shock. It was only the first round of the game, and Leif was beaten. Not usually a good sign. Still, Leif thought long and hard about his next attack. They searched through their deck and began to pull out two green cards, while Ollie pulled out a single green card. 

To Leif’s luck, Ollie was never the brightest bulb of his crew. As the crowd cheered for Leif, the moth smiled with confidence and felt his wings fluttering with emotion. 

Meanwhile, in the Lost Sands, Team Giantspeak searched all over the sands for human artifacts with Team Moon.

“You know, it’s kinda hard to dig through all this sand with your bare hands.” Maggie said as she began to dig her hands through the deep sand. 

She didn’t bring her broom with her, but let’s face it, brooms were not cut out for digging now, were they? Truth be told, if you were the size of a bug in a sandbox like this, the sand you’d stand in would go nearly 25 bug-feet deep, so there would be some things bound to get buried underneath.

“So you’ve been getting along almost instantly.” Mello asked Nox while holding on to their backpack, their honey-filled abdomen being dreaded through the sand.

“Yeah.” Nox replied, then pondered at the tall red wall at Defiant Root’s edge, extending across the horizon in his view. “Hmmm, has anyone ever mentioned that there are four red impenetrable walls all surrounding the Lost Sands? If so, I wonder who built them..”

“I’ve heard stories of these walls. Well, I’ve read them, actually.” Said Leela with a history book in her hands “Those walls are ancient, possibly unbreakable.”

Maggie wanted to answer, but she kept it to herself knowing that bugs wouldn’t understand the true scope of their world compared to a giant’s point of view. What could she say?

“Yeah. I have a name for that actually: A sandbox!” Maggie dramatically waved her forearms out in wonder.

“A sandbox?” Nox chuckled

“Yeah. That’s what we call it.” Maggie stomped on a scorpion that was as long as her legs. It made a heinous crunch sound while she pressed onto its body.

“No way! So given their size, the desert must’ve been some sort of box to them.” Leela proceeded to do the same and strike a scorpion with her sharp toothpick weapon like a kebab.

“You could never imagine.” Maggie chuckled

Nox ran his hands through the sands to find.. a plastic artifact! He dug to find a giant-sized silver piece and a red ball that were both slightly bigger than the bugs.

“Hey guys, look!”

“Whoa, what is that?” Mello asked

“Hey, wait. I think these things look familiar.” Maggie was sensing feelings of nostalgia for the artifacts “These are jacks! They’re playthings for humans!”

“Why, this is legendary! We oughta take these things to Team Snakemouth!” Nox proudly proclaimed while pushing the red ball

“Or better yet, the Defiant Root museum!” Leela suggested, “They have a couple Giant artifacts on display.”

Mello and Maggie lifted up the silver jack, while Nox and Leela pushed the red ball to follow the other two explorers.

Meanwhile, Leif’s heart was racing at a rapid pace, while waiting for the Hooligans’ next move. He was winning so far, but they had still a chance to steal his win. The crowd of bugs surrounding them from every corner watched in dread, almost as if they were extremely engrossed in it.

Kabbu curled up into a fetal position and wept for the moth’s potential demise, while Vi grumpily sat on the ground with her head on her hand.

“I can’t bear to watch.” the honeybee huffed

Vers took a look at all the cards Leif drew out, and he began to draw a combined deck of a green card, grey card, and an orange card. His smile grew viciously and he began to chuckle.

“Boom.”

Leif’s heart shattered! Vi and Kabbu were silently stunned, while the crowd cheered for the Hooligans. Leif has never felt humiliated - or terrified - at losing a game of spy cards, but it was time for them to accept their fate.

Chapter Text

“Haha! You fool!” Vers viciously boasted “You dared to underestimate us.” 

“And now you’re gonna have to pay the price.” Zeek began to crack his knuckles

“There’s no way you can run from us now!” Ollie stood back up and made an intimidating pose

Leif looked back at his teammates, who were mildly disappointed, but they gave the two a nod of acknowledgment and proceeded to step forward towards the Hooligans. He felt his ice magic growing stronger, their hands glowing and swirling with a cold aura. He slowly twirled around with grace, preparing to summon an ice storm onto his foes.

“We’re not turning back. Strike us!” 

“Wait! If you want to take down Leif, you’re gonna have to take all of us.” Kabbu stood with his horn, ready to attack, with Vi by his side.

“With pleasure!” Vers pulled out a boomerang.

“Oh what, like he’s gonna copy me? Do better, you jerkass!” Vi jeered.

Vers proceeded to hit Vi on her left side with his boomerang, knocking her down. 

“Oi! That was uncalled for.” Vi groaned with her face on the ground. Vers proceeded to jump high and keep Vi down with a powerful kick. 

"Vi!" Leif cried out

But Ollie held the moth up as a target for Zeek to kick in the midgut, only for his foot to get stuck in a block of ice, summoned by the moth's icy breath. He then proceeded to encase the dragonfly in a frigid coffin.

“Clearly, you did so underestimate us.” Leif smirked

But he didn't notice that Vers throw a pebble from the ground straight at Kabbu, almost knocking him down. The beetle jumped into the ground, and digged underneath to hit Vers in his backside with his horn as he emerged. Chompy ran to Vers to chomp and tug on Vers' abdomen.

"Ouchie! You could've ruined my stinger!"

Ollie ran in and tackled the beetle in a tight lock, but the beetle knocked his elbow back and his foot forward into his gut, causing him to wince in pain, close to shedding a tear.

“Hey! Leave him alone, you jerk!” Vi threw her bee-merang at Ollie, causing Vers to throw his darts at the honeybee. Once Vi was knocked down, Vers ran to a frozen Zeek and jammed his darts into the frigid coffin, helping him break free from his ice block. The dragonfly was now able to create a strong wind with his wings, blowing Vi away in the process.

Leif summoned a tall ice shield to repel Vers from intervening, and a storm of ice spikes to distract Zeek from potentially hurting his bee teammate. They ran to rescue Vi from Ollie’s grasp, throwing snowballs at the ladybug to distract him.

Once the ice shield was lowered, the three Hooligans stood in front of Team Snakemouth, not even willing to surrender. 

“Wow, you’re pretty fierce, but we can take a lot more than tha-.”

Before Vers could finish, a giant red ball rolls into town, knocking the Hooligans down like bowling pins. The crowd gasped, while Team Snakemouth moved to the side of a building to not get rolled over.

“Oh, sorry about that! Are you in the middle of something?” Maggie called out, holding her fake wings up as she ran to her teammates

“No! You’re good! We appreciate the help!” Vi gave a thumbs up to Team Giantspeak. 

"Huff.. huff.. Well, that was a good beating." Vers groaned as he got back up to his feet. "That ball was quite an unexpected turn, don't you think?"

"Hey Nox, can I borrow your arrow?" Maggie asked her firefly companion. He nodded and handed over his bow and arrow to his partner. 

"Oh, it's you." Vers' eyes are locked on Maggie. "We've heard a lot of things about you."

"Yeah, that's right. You should be afraid of me." Maggie held the arrow in her hand, not letting it go, but rather scaring her opponents into leaving.

As she aimed, Nox strummed an intimidating cue on his note.

"You wouldn't want to mess with a human, now would you?" 

The Hooligans silently gulped and began to back away. They whispered to each other and decided to retreat in response. 

"You know what? We admit it. We'll take the loss this time." Ollie sighed with his hand to his heart.

"You got lucky, Team Snakemouth, but the next time we see you, we're still gonna come for your necks. We'll make sure of it!" Vers pointed towards the team menacingly and encouraged his fellow teammates to leave the scene. Zeek blew a raspberry while he walked out of sight with Ollie and Vers. 

The bugs at Defiant Root clapped and cheered in impressment over the accidental human-and-firefly duo.

“Huzzah! We’ve saved the day, and our mentors!” Nox exclaimed while standing on top of the red ball when it came to a halt. He followed Maggie in stopping the red ball, while Leela and Mello ran into town with the silver jack.

"Way to go, Maggie and Nox!" Kabbu cheered

“I didn't think you would-Whoa! What are those?” Vi’s wings fluttered with curiosity.

“The humans call these things jacks. They’re like toys to them.” Maggie informed while she pushed the red ball back with Nox pulling it from behind in-flight.

“Did you kick the Hooligans’ butts?” asked Nox

“We.. sort of did, to say the least.” Leif sighed with relief

“I honestly thought you didn’t have any butts.” Maggie giggled

“To be truthful, it was the craziest mix of emotions we’ve experienced.” Kabbu huffed in exhaustion with a smile behind his mask.

“Come on, we gotta take these things back to the Ant Kingdom with us. Vi, Nox, would you give that silver jack a lift?”

“Sure!” The bee and firefly agreed in unison, and they flew into midair to carry the silver artifact, while Kabbu and Maggie rolled the red ball with Leif, Mello, and Leela following close behind.

Chapter Text

Team Giantspeak and Team Moon were showing off their artifacts to Professor Neolith, who had finished up some research at the nearby Ant Palace.

“Oh, it’s marvelous!” Professor Neolith exclaimed with joy “So, these are playthings for giants?”

“You betcha!” Maggie replied

“I honestly thought they were strategic tools built by roaches.” Nox inquired with curiosity

“I believed so too. Though, I believe Maggie knows a lot more about all the ancient artifacts hidden in Bugaria.” Neolith wrote down into his book while looking upon the jacks.

“Imagine all the information we could get from this young genius.” Leela’s eyes gleamed with wonder

“Oh please!” Maggie blushed “I’m no genius like Neolith. I’m just a scavenger from another world. Maybe this bug disguise didn't really feel like me, but I'm glad I, at least, got to be a bug for a change.”

As she twirled with her fake moth wings, Maggie looked to see Leif sitting at the side of the Snakemouth house, sighing in serenity, but still feeling beaten from their encounter.

“Hey, hang on a second. I gotta do something real quick.” Maggie walked closer to Leif, picking up her fake moth wings to make sure she didn’t trip on them.

“Hey, Leif. How are you doing?”

“We’re fine. We’ve just been thinking about some things.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking too.”

“About what?”

“About how you’re handling all this. It must’ve been hard being someone different.”

“But truthfully, you’ll never know what it’s like to be us. We feel like a waste of research, and even though everything was perfect, we still feel.. a bit of a shock. It would've been nice to spend a bit more time in the reign of Elizant I, or to spend time with our Muse, and our family.”

“But you’re MY family. And you know something? Everything that makes up who you are now makes you even more amazing than you were in your past life. I really like you. I like everything that makes you “you”. Your ice powers, your cool wings, even your weird.. cordyceps!”

Leif’s smile grew immensely. They patted the side of the cheek as a form of self-love, with their other hand hugging the cordyceps under their wings.

“Thanks, Margaret. It warms all of our parts to hear such encouraging words. You know, you really are the daughter we longed for.”

“Aww. Thank you, Leif!” Maggie got closer to wrap Leif in a tight hug. The moth felt the body warmth of the warm-blooded human soothing his soul, and they proceeded to hug Maggie back in another tight hug of friendship.

“Wow, you truly are warm and squishy.” Leif commented

“Heh. That’s true.”

———

Meanwhile, back in Defiant Root, the Hooligans regrouped in their home hub.

“What a day, boys! I can definitely say our butts were kicked back! Haha!” Vers laughed loudly, while Zeek and Ollie stared disappointedly at his horrible joke.

“Vers, we’ve worked this hard to be on top of the Spy Card bracket. We were THIS CLOSE!” Zeek angrily snapped at the top of his tracheae in frustration, while Ollie tried to calm his nerves.

“It’s okay, Zeek. It’s not the end for us, at least.”

“Of course, that squishy creature had to ruin everything.” Zeek complained. “Not even that fake moth costume could make it look less uglier.”

“She also looks like to be that fabled giant we’ve been hearing about. And hey, she looks friendly!”

“You’re just asking to get kicked out, aren't ya?” Zeek stared at Vers

“Well, I’m not gonna let the ladybugs get banned again! I can’t let that happen!”

“You know what? Yeah. That giant! She must be the newest explorer, and that firefly boy too!” The gears in Vers’ mind started turning, he found a poster of Team Giantspeak lying next to them on a table.

“Looks like we’ve found ourselves some targets to toy with, boys!”