The droning of grasshoppers is heard as the ants cower inside the anthill
"They come, they eat, they leave. They come, they eat, they leave" Atta whispers to herself
"Excuse me. 'Scuse me, pardon me. Pardon me. Excuse me, coming through. 'Scuse me, 'scuse me. Sorry, sorry. Coming through" Flik said as he runs to Atta "Princess Atta, there's something I need to tell you"
"Not now, Flik" Atta said
"But, your highness, it's about the offering!" Flik whispers
Atta shushed him and hearing the grasshoppers landed
"Hey, what's goin' on?" One grasshopper said
"Yeah! Where's the food?" The other one said
The ants gasped
"What did you do?!" Atta angrily at Flik and everybody turned to him
"It was an accident?" Flik said
Then the grasshoppers crashed underground, landed and all the ants were panicking and running around
"Boo!" One grasshopper laughs "where's the food?"
But then their leader lands and everyone stopped
"Hopper" Flik said
Grace gasped
Hopper walks around and stopped
"So Where Is It?" Hopper asked "Where's My FOOD?"
"Uh... I-Isn't it up...there?" Atta asked
"What?" Hopper asked as he goes up to her
"The food was in a leaf sitting on top..." Atta tries to explain
"Excuse me?" Hopper interrupted her
"Are you sure it's not up there?" Atta asked
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Hopper asked
"No" Atta replied
"Do I look...stupid...to you?" Hopped asked again "let's just think about the logic, shall we? Let's just think about it for a second. If it was up there, would I be coming down here, to your level, looking for it?!"
"I..." Atta tries to say something
"Why am I even talking to you? You're not the queen" Hopper said and smells her with his antenna "you don't smell like the queen"
"She's learning to take over from me, Hopper" the Queen said
"Oh, I see. Under new management" Hopper said and turns to Atta "so it's your fault"
"No, i-it wasn't me. It was..." Atta tries to say it was Flik
"Uh-uh-uh. First rule of leadership: everything is your fault" Hopper said
"But, but I..." Atta tries to explain but then Hopper pushes her down to sit on the rock
"It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess. One of those circle-of-life kind of things. Now, let me tell you how things are supposed to work" Hopper said "the sun grows the food. The ants pick the food. The grasshoppers eat the food..."
"And the birds eat the grasshoppers" Hopper's brother Molt interrupted "hey, like the one that nearly ate you, you 'member? You 'member.. Oh, you should've seen it"
"Molt" Hopper said
"This blue jay, he has him halfway down his throat, okay? And Hopper, Hopper's kicking and screaming, okay? And I'm scared, okay? I'm not going anywhere near, okay?" Molt said and Hopper goes to him "oh, come on! It's a great story!
Hopper grabs Molt's antenna and drags him, Hopper slams Molt into a wall and pins him
"I swear, if I hadn't promised mother on her deathbed that I wouldn't kill you, I would kill you" Hopper said to Molt
"And believe me, no one appreciates that more than I do" Molt said
"Shut up! I don't want to hear another word out of you while we're on this island" Hopper said "do you understand me?"
Molt whimpers
"I said, do you understand me?!" Hopper said after he shook Molt
"Well, how can I answer? You said I couldn't say another word" Molt said and Hopper reels back his fist "Ah! Remember Ma!"
Hopper turns around and punches another grasshopper. The ants and grasshoppers stare at him
"Hey, I'm a compassionate insect. There's still a few months 'til the rains come" Hopper panting "so you can all just try again"
"But, Hopper, since it's almost the rainy season, we need this time to gather food for ourselves" the Queen said
"Listen, if you don't keep your end of the bargain, then I can't guarantee your safety. And there are insects out there that will take advantage of you" Hopper said "someone could get hurt" and he snaps his fingers
Two grasshoppers hold a third, pale and fiercely struggling grasshopper, Thumper, by a leash
Grace gasped, runs off but Hopper grabs her and lifts her up
"What's the matter? You scared of grasshoppers?" Hopper brings Grace toward Thumper
Grace panics
"Grace!" Flik said
"You don't like Thumper?" Hopper asked Grace as she whimpers and Thumber was snarling
"Leave her alone!" Flik said as he steps forward
Hopper slowly walks over to Flik and holds Grace out to him
"You want her? Go ahead. Take her" Hopper said to Flik
Grace whimpers
Flik looks down to the ground
"No? Then get back in line" Hopper said
Flik steps back in among the other ants
"It seems to me that you ants are forgetting your place" Hopper releases Grace who runs back Atta, Dot and the Queen "so let's double the order of food"
The ants gasped
"No! But, but, but..." Atta tries to say something
"We'll be back at the end of the season" Hopper tears off a piece of Molt's shedding skin "when the last...leaf...falls"
Hopper drops the skin piece which floats down and Atta looks up at the outside tree
"You ants have a nice summer" Hopper said and the other grasshoppers "let's ride!"
Hopper flies out through the ceiling, the other grasshoppers joining him
Molt hits his head on the ceiling before flying out a hole. After the grasshoppers have left, the ants stares at Flik and he nervous chuckled
YOU ARE READING
Grace's Adventure In A Bug's Life
FanficGrace magically appeared in Ant Island and got turned herself into an ant. She met a misfit ant named Flik who was looking for "warriors" to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers. I don't own anything except my characters.
