Episode 10b: Prison Break (mid-finale)

Far, far away from Ant City...

...

...

...

This was going to be a hassle. He knew that for sure, at least.

General Ultimax, the military leader of the Wasp Kingdom, walked through the halls of the kingdom's hive, his arms behind his back. It was... quiet. Not too quiet, but just enough. Everything was so hectic lately, so it was nice to get a few minutes of silence for a change.

On the outside, the hive appeared to be small, but on the inside... it was much bigger than it looked, with plenty of room and space for the various wasps in the army. The hive even had two whole weapons storage rooms, though one of them remained mostly unused. Meh, it wasn't his problem to worry about.

Ultimax was the only hornet in the Wasp King's army, though that hardly deserved any award or recognition. The hornet was muscular from all his military training, He was mostly colored brown, but his gray uniform stood out among this, also sporting two red straps to hold up his spiky pauldrons on his shoulders. He wore a red cap as well, covering up most of his black hair.

He had gotten up early today, getting dressed as fast as he could for the occasion. But some parts of him didn't want to cooperate. After the incident almost two moon cycles ago, one of his antennae was left badly injured, a bandage wrapped around it. Ultimax had to replace the bandage every few days or so, but no matter what he did...

The headaches just wouldn't go away.

His eye twitched, his head pounded. Maybe he should've eaten breakfast, that might've helped his headache... it was too late now, though. Ultimax huffed, stopping right before he would've turned a corner. He was almost where he needed to be, after all.

Ultimax leaned his shoulder against the wall, wincing as he held the back of his head. Stupid headache... He reminded himself that he could deal with it; he had to deal with it. Laziness was not tolerated under any circumstances.

His bandaged antenna brushed up against the wall.

And Ultimax's eyes nearly bulged out of his head, his headache flaring up in an instant. He lost his balance, the head-splitting pain too much to bear as he nearly fell over. So much pain, so much pain-

As abruptly as it started, it stopped. His headache wasn't completely gone, but it was again reduced to a dull ache that persisted on most days. Despite the pain being dulled, it took a few moments for Ultimax to get his bearings, the hornet a bit dizzy. Using the wall for support, he got up off the ground, standing back up.

Ultimax cursed under his breath; he hated it whenever that happened. He took a deep breath, taking a few moments to steady himself, re-adjusting his uniform and fixing his hat, dusting himself off. The door to the meeting room was just around the corner, and he had to look presentable.

Today, they were all supposed to be having a meeting about... suspicious activity outside the Wasp Kingdom. Someone reported it last night, but nobody was able to get a clear view of what was going on, which was why the meeting would be happening. The soldiers in the army would be notified first, and then if they had time later, they'd notify the civilians... it was a pretty big if, because if there was something going on, the last thing they needed was public unease. Better that nobody knew a thing, right?

Of course the meeting had to be today of all days. Ultimax was in charge of overseeing it; the Wasp King was busy with something. Ultimax wasn't at liberty to ask what he was busy with, which was to be expected.

And although Ultimax would've preferred to sleep in and get much-needed rest to help his headache... there was some sort of need within him, an obligation to do what the Wasp King told him. It was always present, but he never thought too much about it, he was always supposed to follow orders, after all. Plus, thinking about it too much only worsened his headache.

...Well, he may as well get this over with. He turned the corner, walking up to the huge door to the meeting area. Ultimax had been in that space many times before; it was pretty big, with a bunch of chairs and tables for many wasps to sit, as well as blue crystal lights hanging from the ceiling, with some others along the walls.

But today, when Ultimax opened the door, he was met with what he could only describe as chaos.

At one table, several wasp scouts were gambling with each other in some kind of game, using berries and other assorted items. Ultimax swiveled his head to another table, seeing a few wasp bombers and troopers cracking off-color jokes with each other, stuff that shouldn't be said anywhere near children. Two wasps sat in a corner, holding hands as they talked to each other.

But perhaps most perplexing of all, two wasp drillers were wrestling with each other, a huge circle of wasps around them cheering on either of the competitors. There was a table broken in half nearby, as well as several chairs that had been toppled over.

This certainly wasn't doing Ultimax's headache any favors. Members of the Wasp Kingdom's military were given specific roles, such as scout, bomber, driller, etc... but obviously, none of this was in any job descriptions for what they were supposed to do.

Wordlessly, Ultimax took a whistle out of his pocket, eyeing the various wasps. He opened his mandibles, giving no warning before he blew hard on his whistle, an obnoxious antennae-splitting noise filling the room. Every single wasp froze in place, even the two that were wrestling. Most of the wasps slowly turned their heads, facing Ultimax.

"Ahem?" Ultimax said, glaring at the massive group of wasps. Just why had they been goofing off like this? Was it because he was a few minutes late?

The wasps scrambled into position, abandoning whatever they were doing earlier. The massive room would have to be cleaned up later, but that was for the janitor to worry about. Every single wasp stood in a mostly complete circle, each group standing with members of their respective rank. It took a minute or so for everyone to get in position, a few wasps tripping over each other, their expressions filled with fear and anxiety.

Once everyone was in position, Ultimax walked forward, a few wasps stepping out of the way so Ultimax could have more room. The hornet yet again had his arms folded behind his back, glaring at the various wasps as he walked to the middle of the room. The wasps shrunk under his gaze, practically all of them shaking with fear.

Before long, Ultimax made it to the middle of the room, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. His headache made it difficult to focus, but he had a pretty good idea of how he would address this.

"Um..." A random wasp spoke up before Ultimax could say anything. "Wasn't the Wasp King supposed to oversee this meeting? Where is he?"

Ultimax sighed in exasperation, trying to hurry before he lost his train of thought. "He's busy."

The wasp looked away, fearful. Silence filled the massive room, Ultimax collecting his thoughts once more.

"Busy with what?" Another wasp asked.

Aaand Ultimax lost his train of thought. When would these soldiers learn to just shut up?! Angry with the incessant questions, Ultimax stomped on the ground, glaring in the direction of the wasp that asked the question. "How should I know?!" Ultimax yelled, the wasp letting out a squeak in response.

A split second later, Ultimax's headache spiked again. Today just wasn't his day, was it? He hissed, trying to hide the fact that his head was throbbing... only for the pain to die down again, just like earlier. This certainly wasn't helping his mood.

He just needed a few more moments... how was he supposed to start this meeting again? Maybe if the stupid soldiers wouldn't keep interrupting him, they maybe they could all get something done for once! Ultimax just wanted to get this over with, but it was proving to be harder by the second.

"You know..." A wasp scout leaned over to the wasp beside him, whispering. Ultimax was just barely able to hear what he was saying. "He's acting strange... maybe he isn't as 'mighty' as he claims."

Ultimax's eye twitched; he had just about enough of all this insolence. Before anyone could react, Ultimax turned, stomping over to the wasp scout, the hornet's eyes filled with fury.

"Eep!" The wasp scout yelped as Ultimax grabbed him by his uniform before yanking him up to eye level with Ultimax. The wasp scout wasn't even wearing his goggles, so the fear in his eyes was clear for all to see. None of the other wasps did anything, not wanting to incur Ultimax's wrath.

"Name. Now." Ultimax hissed. He would make an example out of this soldier.

The wasp scout stammered over his words, squirming in Ultimax's grasp while trying but failing to say some apology for what he said a moment ago. This was perhaps the most pathetic thing that Ultimax had seen; the guy was practically on the verge of tears!

"Your NAME!" Ultimax roared, fed up.

"Jason, sir!" The wasp scout blurted out, whimpering.

Ultimax's eyes bored into the wasp scout, 'Jason', as if waiting for him to say anything out of turn or mess up again. Jason shook violently, but refused to say anything else, as if his mandibles were glued shut. Once it became clear that no other incident would happen, Ultimax turned to the rest of the wasps, keeping Jason in his grasp.

"Let this be a reminder for all of you!" Ultimax commanded, pointing at the other wasps. "In the Wasp King's absence, you lot will look to me for direction. I am the military leader of this kingdom, I call the shots, and without me, you wasps..." Ultimax paused, turning back to Jason. "Are NOTHING!"

He yelled that last part right at Jason's face, the wasp scout flinching. Maybe his headache was making him cranky, but Ultimax would not tolerate any further distractions or interruptions. He was the great, the mighty, the supreme General Ultimax, after all!

"Got it?" Ultimax peered into Jason's eyes, the wasp scout weakly nodding.

Wordlessly, Ultimax let go of Jason's outfit, letting the wasp scout fall to the ground. He landed on his abdomen, dazed. A few wasps nearby looked like they wanted to help Jason out, but they didn't want to incur Ultimax's wrath as well.

With that, Ultimax turned, walking away from Jason with a huff. "Now, where was I..." Without someone to yell at, the only thing he could focus on was his headache. Come on, he couldn't have forgotten why he came here in the first place... right?

But no matter how hard he thought about it, Ultimax only drew a blank, which only helped further his current frustrations. He tried not to let it show, trying to mentally retrace why meeting this was happening. How could he have forgotten about the point of it so fast?

Ultimax murmured to himself, trying to will himself to remember. The throbbing head pain made it more than difficult, and it didn't help that he overheard a couple of wasps making a few... choice comments.

"What a temper..."

"This is the worst he's ever been..."

"I'd hate to be his parents..."

That was it. His eye twitched, his head felt like it was going to split open, and he was generally just pissed off. Ultimax couldn't handle any of this for another second; his mandibles opened wide, the hornet letting out a roar of frustration.

Everyone else immediately stopped whispering, Ultimax roaring for several seconds before he stopped, taking several deep breaths. Screw this, he couldn't handle being in the same room as these idiots for another second.

"This meeting is over!" Ultimax yelled as he held his head, pushing past a few wasps as he made his way to the door, swiftly exiting the room. They could goof off for all he cared, he didn't have the patience to deal with their shenanigans right now.

So... what could he do instead?

Perhaps it was time to pay a visit to a certain prisoner...

(WTB-LINE-BREAK-WTB)

The same, boring cell. The same, boring routine. Day in, day out, stuck in this godforsaken cell in an alien world with no way out... at least, she just hadn't found one yet. There was always a way to succeed; a way to win and take charge of the situation.

Sasha Waybright believed that wholeheartedly.

She had dreams- no, nightmares where she didn't get captured; where she reunited with Anne and Marcy before the three of them somehow found a way back home... only to wake up with the crushing realization that it wasn't real. She constantly thought about how to turn this around, but none of her plans ever came to fruition. If only she could've overpowered that hornet...

There was nothing else to do in the small cell except think. Her phone had died long ago, and despite her attempts to woo the various wasps to try and get them to either quit or let her out, nothing worked. They just kept going on about how loyal they were to the Wasp King; nothing got through to them.

Sasha let out a sigh, mentally preparing herself for another mind-numbingly boring day. The cell gave her room to stand up and stretch, but she chose to laze around, sitting against the wall. Maybe she would've been able to slip through the bars... if it weren't for the fact that her ankle was chained up, the chain connected to the wall. She'd tried nearly everything to try and get it off, but it just wouldn't budge.

Why did she have to be stuck in such a crappy situation? When Anne initially opened the box, the blinding lights that emerged from it disoriented her, and she fell to the ground... in an entirely new world; an alien world. Sasha managed to avoid being captured... initially. She didn't want to think too much about it right now, especially since Anne's shoe got torn apart right in front of her since she didn't 'cooperate'. ...She did get a chance to meet the 'Wasp King' himself, though.

She stuffed her phone back in her skirt pocket, grabbing a nearby stone. With it, she scanned the wall, finding the series of tally marks she'd been working on since the day she got here. She scratched another mark before tossing the stone to the side, the small object hitting the nearby wall.

Nobody could stop her from vandalizing the wall, after all. Tally marks, a "SASHA WUZ HERE" message, to crude scribblings and obscenities meant to piss anyone off that saw it. A way of showing that she wouldn't bow down, she wouldn't concede, no matter what.

Her eyes drifted over to the tally marks, mentally adding them up... there were over thirty of them. Sasha glared, frustrated.

"I can't believe I've been locked up in this stupid cell for over a month now." Sasha huffed, crossing her arms. She grabbed the chain preventing her escape, shaking it a little as if it would crumble into dust. It didn't.

Even if the amount of time she'd been here was frustrating beyond belief, keeping track of the days helped her avoid going completely bonkers. It was surprisingly easy to keep track, too.

They always brought her food and water three times per day without fail. Once she had three meals, that meant a full day passed. A full day closer to getting out and running as far away as possible. The food never tasted any good, but she had to eat something.

In fact, she was getting a bit hungry. Sasha looked at her bowl of food, wondering when her next meal would come. Her food and water always came in two bowls, just like ones that people would use for their dogs or cats back home. It was humiliating, to say the least. But she would have her revenge... all in due time...

As if on cue, she heard footsteps approaching from outside the room. Sasha let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, food." A moment later she realized that it might be too early... or maybe it was just the hunger getting to her.

Even if she could escape from the cage, it wouldn't mean much if she couldn't unlock the door. The room itself didn't have much of anything, but at least her cell had the bare essentials.

The footfalls grew louder, Sasha noticing how booming they were. Sasha groaned, knowing exactly who was coming. "Here we go again." Still sitting down, Sasha leaned against the wall, rolling her eyes.

A few moments later, she heard the click of a door unlocking before it was slammed open, a very angry and frustrated Ultimax barging into the room. Sasha only gave him a knowing smirk as he walked into the room, glancing up at his bandaged antenna. That was a win that she'd never forget.

"Sup."

"Don't 'sup' me, prisoner." Ultimax scowled. The hornet winced, rubbing his head for a moment as he pushed the door behind him, not caring if it closed all the way. "I have a very bad headache right now, so if you want to avoid trouble today, then you will cooperate with me, or ELSE!"

Was that his idea of a threat? Sasha overdramatically yawned, leaning back further on the wall. She was used to being yelled at; this was nothing new. Even before she was transported to this dump.

"You've been acting weirder than usual lately." Sasha said, pointing a finger at him. An upside of Ultimax being here was that she had someone to talk to for a change, and she sure wasn't going to pass that up.

Ultimax faltered ever so slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

And that was the opening Sasha needed. "When I first showed up here, you were this big, scary guy that always kept everyone in line." Sasha chose her tone carefully, having kept track of Ultimax's weak spots throughout every single interaction the two of them had shared. Ultimax didn't know what to say.

"But now, you've just been acting cranky for the past few weeks." Sasha sat up with a shrug. "That's like... the fifth headache in the past few days?" She didn't know the exact number, but it was a guesstimate based on past behavior, and it hit him where it hurt, Ultimax crossing his arms and looking away. "Do you need ibuprofen or something?" Sasha added.

Ultimax's eye twitched at Sasha's playful, mocking words. Without warning, he slammed the side of his arm and fist onto the nearby wall, creating a small dent in it. "I don't even know what ibuprofen is!" Ultimax roared.

Sasha was silent, admittedly taken aback. Had he grown wise to her behavior? Or maybe his headache made him more agitated than usual. Regardless, she had to account for this, whether she liked it or not.

"Enough of this!" Ultimax shook his head. Aaaaand here it was. "Now, who-"

"Sent me?" Sasha lazily answered. "No one. How'd I get here? Don't know." She'd been asked these same questions dozens of times, with the same answers given an equal number of times. This was so boring, to the point that Sasha casually lay on her side. Ultimax raised a claw to say something, but Sasha kept going. "What do I want?"

It was obvious. "To find my friends and go home." Sasha finished, looking up at Ultimax in annoyance. "Haven't we been through this enough?" She shrugged. Above all else, she had to make sure Anne and Marcy were okay. Their safety was a priority above everything else, after all.

Ultimax grabbed the cell bars, glaring at Sasha, his eyes narrowed. "It'll be enough once you start giving me REAL answers." He spat, almost crushing the bars in his grip. "Until then you can just rot away in this cage for all I care!"

So, this was how it was gonna be, huh? Sasha stood up. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She challenged. "You're so cold and heartless that you don't care if a thirteen-year-old child starves to death!" While she wasn't sure if he would go that far, she had to say just the right thing in hopes of getting him to back off a bit.

Ultimax stepped away from the bars; it looked as if Sasha was ready to outright attack him. "I'm not the one who somehow got past all the Wasp Kingdom's defenses, prisoner!"

Sasha let out a long groan, more than tired of these circular arguments that happened every single day. "I told you about a thousand times already, I just want to go home! I barely even know anything about this place!"

It was frustrating to argue with someone who wouldn't listen. It was even more frustrating when nobody else believed you, and you were kept from everything you knew and loved. Sasha wouldn't go down without a fight, that was for sure. But at the same time, she didn't know how much longer she could take it in here, with seemingly no way out.

A month was a long time, after all. And in the timeframe... one thing remained true above all else. Sasha locked eyes with Ultimax; it was her turn to grab the bars. "The moment I get out of here, I'm going to make you and everyone else in the Wasp Kingdom pay."

Nobody crossed Sasha Waybright without consequences. One time in 3rd grade, some bully a year ahead of her decided to ruin the group project she worked on with Anne and Marcy... long story short, the bully had to stay home for a week after evidence of him cheating on a test 'conveniently' showed up in his locker.

Ultimax stared at her for several moments... and then laughed. The hornet couldn't help himself, which only made Sasha angrier. "What's so funny?"

"Really? You think you can..." Ultimax trailed off, as if trying to prevent himself from going into another laughing fit. "You and what army?"

Even if she might be bluffing, Sasha couldn't back down. She did falter slightly, but Ultimax's overconfidence wouldn't win out. "Well..." Sasha bought herself a few seconds to think of the first thing to pop into her head. "Well, if you have anyone else locked up here, then maybe I'll set them free too and-"

A voice came from down the hall, screaming for Ultimax. Sasha and the hornet in question stopped their heated debate, both turning to the door that was just barely open a crack.

Moments later, a wasp scout rushed into the room, slamming the door open so hard that Sasha thought the door might fly off its hinges. Thankfully it didn't, but the wasp scout nearly fell to the ground before standing back up, panting. The wasp scout was clearly out of breath, as if they had been running for their life, their eyes darting around the room.

"Soldier!" Ultimax chastised. "Just what was important enough for you to interrupt my interrogation?!" Sasha rolled her eyes at this; it was probably just some drama that had gotten too big for its own good.

"Uh-Uh, well-you see-" The wasp scout stammered, trying to say something but unable to. They were scared out of their mind, appearing as if they were about to pass out from shock. From what Sasha could make out, the wasp was trying to say something about a crystal-

A loud CRASH in the distance, followed moments later with multiple wasps screaming. The wasp scout in the room squealed, turning to the door. They rushed to close it, but Ultimax stopped them, grabbing them by the shoulder and forcing them to look at him.

"Speak UP, soldier! Nobody can understand you when you're blubbering like a baby!" Ultimax said, only making the wasp scout shake more.

The wasp scout stayed quiet for a few moments, Ultimax glaring at them. "S-Something..." The wasp scout managed to speak up. "Something really bad happened!" That was probably the most unhelpful response anyone could've given.

Ultimax seemed to agree, the hornet letting go of the wasp to hold his head. "Show me what's going on!" Ultimax ordered.

The wasp scout took a quick glance at the door, freezing up. "But-"

"NOW!" Ultimax roared. The wasp scout yelped and nodded several times, carefully walking out of the room. Ultimax was about to follow, but before he did, he turned back to Sasha, pointing at her. "Stay there, prisoner!"

"I can't go anywhere, moron!" Sasha yelled. Her cries fell on deaf ears as Ultimax already ran out of the room, forgetting to close the door.

Leaving Sasha alone, yet again.

Sasha scoffed, leaning back against the wall as she crossed her arms. At least Ultimax had redirected his yelling onto someone else this time. Although... in his rush, Ultimax did forget to lock the door. If she had a way to get the chain locked around her leg off, then she could probably slip through the bars and make a run for it... if only it were that easy.

Thanks to the door being open, she could easily hear the huge racket going on in the distance. It was... different than what she was used to in this place, but she wasn't worried. After all, there were a few different things it could be.

Knowing from experience, it might be just some people making a big ruckus over something. Whatever it was, it would probably simmer down soon, and things would go back to normal... as 'normal' as they could get, though.

Or there was another possibility, one that provided much more hope than anything else. There was a small, but not impossible chance that Anne or Marcy (or both) found out that Sasha was trapped here and set out on a daring mission to rescue her. Sasha knew those two would do anything for her, after all. But considering how she'd been locked away not long after arriving here... who knows what could've happened to her two friends?

Well, there wasn't any use dwelling over it. No matter what, she'd reunite with Anne and Marcy, making sure that their friendship stayed intact.

To pass the time, Sasha pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket. Sure, there was no charge left in the battery, but that didn't mean she couldn't use it for other purposes. She held the phone up, using the black screen as a mirror as she checked over her face, her teeth, her hair... All while ignoring the loud noises outside.

After a few minutes of this, Sasha put her phone back in her pocket, hearing stomping nearby. "Back already?" She muttered to herself. Whatever problem it was that needed Ultimax's attention must not've been that bad... even though the commotion in the distance hadn't let up.

Sasha raised an eyebrow, noticing that the footsteps... sounded different. It didn't take long to recognize someone by their footsteps, and this didn't sound like Ultimax at all. These sounded... hasty, unfocused, without purpose, but also fast... whoever this was, they were walking on four legs. Uneasiness washed all over Sasha; just who could this be? A friend? Foe? Someone coming to rescue her?

Her eyes flew open as a massive, crab-like claw reached through the door, grabbing the door before ripping it off its hinges, tossing it across the room. Sasha stifled a scream, cupping her hands against her mouth as she pressed her back against the wall, watching as the door hit the side wall.

She shook violently, hearing the footfalls of who-whatever it was walk into the room... Sasha swore under her breath, trying to get past the shock of seeing just how effortlessly the door was tossed aside, forcing herself to look at the culprit. Her heart pounded, threatening to burst out of her chest entirely.

When she saw what it was, she nearly passed out.

It was some sort of unholy abomination; Sasha had no idea how it managed to squeeze through the doorframe with how large this... thing was. From a quick glance, it looked like some sort of fusion between a spider and a hermit crab, with a single large eye protected by huge teeth. But that wasn't all, it also had a gray abdomen covered in yellow spores... and of course, that massive crab claw.

Fear coursed through Sasha's very being. Sure, walking, talking bugs were one thing, but this... whatever this was, it was horrifying. Time seemed to stand still as the thing made its way into the room, looking around with its singular eye.

Sasha tried to keep still, hoping that it wouldn't see her. She didn't have anywhere to hide in the cell, and if the door was any indication, the cell bars wouldn't protect her at all. Questions upon questions flooded her mind, Sasha wondering just what kind of messed-up world she was in. If it weren't for that stupid music box...

The creature let out a low growl, as if searching for... something. Sasha shuddered, trying to force herself to think about anything but this... anything but this... Despite her efforts, her mind wandered to back home, when she got the news that her parents would be-

"What ARE YOU?!" Sasha screamed before she could stop herself, her hands flying away from her mouth. Her mind swirled, too overwhelmed with everything happening... this was a nightmare.

And of course, she did the worst possible thing, only realizing that after she screamed. The large creature's eye focused on her, the creature letting out some sort of high-pitched hissing sound before it snapped its crab claw... as it slowly began to walk to her.

"OH CRUD!" No no no no no this couldn't be happening she shouldn't have done that she needs to get out of here and take control- Sasha darted for the bars, trying to see if she could squeeze through them-

Only for her to scream as she remembered the chain around her ankle, yanking her back. Sasha had completely forgotten about that in the heat of the moment, which was why she was yanked back so forcefully, Sasha falling to the ground as she hit the back wall. She hissed in pain, her side aching from the awkward angle she landed.

"Stupid chain!" Sasha growled, irritated. The crab claw snapped again- this time much closer to the cell bars.

Sasha gasped in horror, whipping her head to where the chain was locked to the wall. She had no choice, she had to rip the chain out if she ever hoped to survive.

Without a moment to lose, she planted her free foot against the wall next to the chain to steady herself before gripping the chain with both hands and pulled with all her might. It didn't budge. Sasha gave it another tug, desperation kicking in as the crab-like claw snapped again, only inches away from the cell.

"Come ON!" Sasha roared. She didn't bother to look when she heard one of the cells bars get grabbed, crumpling within the creature's grasp before being tossed aside. Sasha tried again, even if it seemed futile. After all, she'd tried something like this many times before...

Cell bars were being shredded like tissue paper. The thing would be in the cell at any second, and Sasha was just a sitting duck.

She couldn't let it end like this. Her emotions swirled, boiling into some kind of rage at the thought of being left in this cage to die. How dare anyone treat her like this, she'd be damned if she let them get away with it. It wasn't right. She... she wouldn't let this HAPPEN!

Letting out a scream, Sasha gave the chain one final tug, her vision briefly filling with pink. It only lasted a split second, but Sasha quickly forgot about it, as with strength she didn't know she had, she ripped the chain completely out of the wall, the force of it also causing the part of it around her ankle to break as well, freeing her completely.

Sasha didn't have time to process anything as she tumbled backward, flipping onto her stomach. Deep breaths, deep breaths- no time! Her eyes flew open, seeing the massive creature slowly walk into the room. She was barely aware of the fact that she was still gripping the chain.

She was free, but this thing was blocking the way out. If she could stun or daze it for a moment...

"Get back!" Sasha yelled, standing up. The creature didn't listen; it probably didn't understand her anyway.

It slowly raised its crab claw, staring right at her with its big eye.

Sasha tightened her grip on the chain in her hands, knowing she only had one chance at this. It was either freedom or eminent death by the claw of some unknown creature, never to see her friends or family again.

Ready... Sasha adjusted the chain, holding it in one hand as she shifted her stance ever so slightly.

The terrifying creature's claw was poised to strike- NOW!

Letting out a battle cry, Sasha flung her arm forward, swiping the chain at the creature like a whip. Her aim was true, the chain hitting the creature in the eye.

It let out a horrific screech, causing Sasha to drop the chain as she abruptly fell, covering her eyes to block the noise. It was as if it was carving its way into her entire being; a sound unlike any other she had heard in her life. Sasha forced herself to look up, seeing that the creature had staggered back a bit, covering its eye with its giant claw. But more importantly...

There was an opening.

She only took one second to pocket a small rock just in case (the very same one she used to carve out messages in the wall) before she stood up, running past the monstrous creature as she made a mad dash for the exit.

Entering the hallway, Sasha became immediately aware of how exhausted she was. Heaving for breath, her legs wobbling, her head spinning... she had to stop or else she might collapse and pass out. She leaned against the wall, taking several deep breaths... trying to think in the midst of the panic and confusion swallowing up her thoughts.

She almost died. It was nothing short of a miracle that she made it out alive. Her entire body shook; if this was what she was experiencing... then what about Anne and Marcy? What kind of hell was inflicted upon them in her absence?

The all-too familiar snapping of a claw jolted Sasha upright, the teen whirling around on a dime- she wished she didn't. That thing was after her.

Sasha let out a high-pitched scream, nearly tripping over her own feet as she turned to run again. She had to get away. Her body screamed at her to stop and rest, but doing that would mean certain death. She had to get out, find some way out of this hellhole and never look back.

Screams and shouts intertwined with other sounds assaulted her ears as she ran around randomly, trying find her way out. Unfortunately, she didn't know her way around the Wasp Kingdom Hive, and there was no way she'd have time to force someone to give her directions. Just how big was this place?!

Another thought popped into her head; what if someone spotted her? Maybe she could take advantage of the confusion of whatever was going on to escape, but if someone knew she escaped from her cell, then they might try and re-capture her, which was the last thing she needed. ...But maybe she should worry more about what was currently chasing her.

Sasha noted that it didn't do well with turns, so Sasha tried to take the windiest paths she could find to trip it up and create some distance between herself and the creature. This also let her slow down slightly to catch her breath before her lungs gave out entirely, but she had to force herself to speed up whenever it got too close. She occasionally turned her head to see how far it was, adjusting her speed accordingly.

She made her way to a large, open room-

"Quit lollygagging and get a move on! Kill those things! Now!"

Only to not look where she was going, causing her to bump into someone.

"Argh!" It was Ultimax. Him and Sasha stumbled away from each other upon impact.

"Soldier, what are you-" Ultimax whipped his head around, turning on a dime to presumably yell at her, only to sputter over his words as he saw who it was. "Prisoner?! How'd you escape from your cell?" Ultimax pointed an accusatory finger at her.

So much for staying undetected. Sasha could barely even think of what to say, but with the snapping of the crab claw behind her getting louder, she just couldn't form the words. Ultimax's eyes widened a bit as he looked past her, presumably seeing the massive creature as well.

A moment later, Sasha heard a cacophony of other alien noises from another hallway, turning to see even more monsters trying to get into the large room. No two creatures were alike, and the chilling realization that there were more than one of these things dawned upon her. She just barely managed to get past one of them, how could she ever hope to get away from the rest of these?

"What-"

"There's no time!" Ultimax said, grabbing Sasha by the arm. "Come on!" Before Sasha could protest, Ultimax ran, dragging Sasha with him to a nearby wall where an empty shelf was, the hornet shoving the shelf aside to reveal a hidden hallway. Before they ran through, Sasha took one last look at the room, seeing all the different creatures pile in, leaving no other way out.

The two ran through the hallway, Ultimax refusing to let go of Sasha's arm. Thankfully she was able to keep up despite how hard he pulled on her arm, only making Sasha more annoyed than anything.

"Whatever happened to 'leaving me to rot,' huh?" Sasha asked, her tone laced with sarcasm. Sure, she might've been screwed if he wasn't there to open the secret exit, but Sasha might've found it on her own. There was no chance of leaving now, unless...

Ultimax glared at her with a huff. "In case you forgot, you have potentially useful information that you still won't give up!" Really? Was that it? Sasha rolled her eyes; she couldn't believe this. She wouldn't be surprised if Ultimax started interrogating her again the moment they were out of danger.

Before long, they made it out of the secret hallway, leading back into one of the main rooms... to be met with chaos. Various wasp soldiers were trying to fend off the creatures with little to no success; just how were these things so strong?! Ultimax and Sasha stopped for a moment to take everything in, Ultimax scanning for the nearest exit.

However, Sasha was fed up with this wild goose chase. "Ugh, where are we even going?" She cringed after seeing one of the monsters tackle a wasp soldier, Sasha looking away before she could witness what happened next.

"Quiet!" Ultimax hissed, taking a whistle out of his pocket. His mandibles open, the hornet blew on the whistle... Sasha heard nothing. It must've affected the other wasps, seeing as they stiffened up slightly; was it like a dog whistle?

"Soldiers! Safe room! Now!" Ultimax commanded, wincing as he held his head for a moment. The wasps didn't have to be told twice, no longer trying to fight against these creatures, instead running down another hallway.

Before Sasha could rip her arm out of Ultimax's grasp, he dragged her along with the wasps-

Another one of those creatures blocked the duo's path, Sasha letting out a scream. Unlike the one she initially encountered, this one was airborne, using purple balloon-like appendages to stay afloat. It had spikes all over its turquoise body, except for its mouth, where a blue tongue lie, dripping with what was surely poison.

"Shoo! Shoo!" Ultimax hissed, trying to slap the thing away with his hand.

The creature didn't take too kindly to that, spitting poison out in Ultimax's direction, to which the hornet frantically dodged to the side, letting go of Sasha in his haste.

...Which meant that right now, she was free to get out of here if she chose. But she had no idea where to go, and the only person who could possibly guide her was Ultimax. For now, she had to get out of immediate danger.

Sasha fished the rock she picked up earlier out of her pocket, throwing it at the creature. "Take THAT!" She said... as the creature ducked under the rock, completely dodging it.

Right as Sasha was about to curse herself for her bad aim, Ultimax let out a grunt as he punched the creature in the face. It spiraled off-course, letting out some kind of hoarse cry of agony, spitting out poison that just barely missed Sasha- "Whoa!"

Ultimax grabbed her arm again, both of them ducking past the flying creature before it could recover, running into the hallway with the other wasps. Sasha was suddenly aware once again of how exhausted she was, hoping that she wouldn't lose her lunch.

"Good work back there." Ultimax muttered, as if not wanting to admit it. What? Did he mean when she threw the rock that completely missed? Then again, if it weren't for that, then Ultimax wouldn't have been able to punch the creature... hm. It was almost ironic, like the two of them could make a good team... as if.

Why would she ever team up with her kidnapper, after all?

Before long, they drew close to the "safe room" that Ultimax mentioned earlier, a bunch of wasps ahead of them scrambling to get inside. The creatures still tailed them, but everyone else was still far enough ahead that they were able to push the large double doors open, everyone piling inside. Sasha and Ultimax were among the last of them, Ultimax waiting only a few seconds for the last stragglers to come in before he let go of Sasha, slamming the door shut.

To say that Sasha was tired would be an understatement. She sat down on the nearest chair, leaning back and staring up at the massive ceiling- though looked back down due to the blue crystal lights stinging her eyes.

Her heart rate refused to go down as she tried to make sense of the situation. Ultimax locked the door, though he was using some kind of mechanism to bolt the door shut... whatever he was doing, hopefully it would prevent those things from getting in.

The safe room was pretty big, all things considered. Not massive like a mansion, but it had enough room for the dozens of wasp soldiers that were situated here. No civilians, though. ...And Sasha wasn't sure that all the soldiers were accounted for, either. There were plenty of beds, tables, piles of rations and some medical equipment (some of which was in use) as well as a few weapons.

Sasha frowned, briefly feeling sorry for these wasps. But then again, they were all complicit in kidnapping her, so why should she care about them? They all appeared to be in distress, especially as one of the creatures banged on the door, a random soldier squealing in response.

Hm. Now that she could think properly, Sasha needed an action plan to get out of here. If she could do it without worrying about anyone trying to capture her again, that would be even better. But also... she needed information. She put a hand on her chin, glancing around at the various soldiers. Who would be the best candidate?

Ultimax finished up securely locking the door, taking a few steps back and waiting. The creatures continued trying to break in... but after a few minutes, the noises stopped, followed by footfalls that grew quiet. Ultimax breathed a sigh of relief, dusting his hands off as he walked away. "Now I can finally get a brea-"

"Hey!" Sasha said, having stood up out of her chair. Her hands were on her hips as she looked expectantly at Ultimax.

"Ah!" Ultimax let out a weird noise, surprised by Sasha's presence. "Don't scare me like that, prisoner!" What, was he really frightened that easily? Interesting...

"Too late." Sasha said, before dropping the topic and immediately moving onto the next one. "You're going to tell me what the heck is going on here. What were those things?" She gestured to the door. "And what was that earlier about a crystal?" Sasha remembered that from when that one soldier said it earlier. Now that she thought about it... did that soldier even make it in here?

"You're asking too many questions." Ultimax said. Avoiding the point, was he? "And I don't know that much, I'm a military general for crying out loud!"

"Wouldn't that mean you're supposed to know these kinds of things?" Sasha challenged, crossing her arms. Several long seconds passed before Ultimax decided to just not answer.

Besides, Sasha already knew he had information. She thought back to late last night, during one of the interrogations, where Ultimax had let it slip that there was to be an urgent meeting the next day. At the time, Sasha didn't know what it was about, but it was obvious that whatever it was, and the situation currently going on were related.

The cogs turned in her head as she thought about how she could spin this to where she would come out on top. As much as she wanted to leave these wasps behind, there was no way for her to escape without being at the mercy of those creatures outside. She knew nothing about them, which would have to change. If she could get those wasps to fight back those creatures...

"Alright, listen up." Sasha said, getting Ultimax's attention again. "If I help you get rid of those... creatures, whatever they're called, you will give me provisions and release me. Deal?" Quick and to the point. Ultimax had already complimented her on her skills earlier, so there was a good chance that he would let her join them.

"And why would I agree to that?" Ultimax asked incredulously. "You're a child, you're too young to even join this army!" But not too young to be called a prisoner, apparently.

"Oh, really?" Sasha asked as she casually looked away, checking over her nails. This was going to be too easy. "Because I seem to recall a certain prisoner who, in your own words, snuck past Wasp Kingdom security before almost overpowering you, injuring you in the process." After she finished talking, she gave Ultimax a sly smirk, glancing up at his injured antenna.

Ultimax's face turned a slightly flushed green as he looked up at his antenna, his pride hurt. "Fine, deal!" He spat before he could be embarrassed any further. Hook, line, and sinker.

"That's better." Sasha said with a smile. Now she was getting somewhere. "First and foremost, what's the deal with those-" As if on cue, one of those creatures slammed on the double doors, as if trying one more time to break in. "Things." Sasha barely listened as a wasp soldier squealed before jumping into the arms of another soldier.

"You... really don't know anything, do you?" Ultimax asked, trying to stop himself from laughing. Sasha glanced at the door. "Don't get scared, none of them can get in... I think." Ultimax sweatdropped a little.

"That's comforting." Sasha rolled her eyes. "I'll be sure to remember that 'I think' when you wonder why the lock stops holding."

"I don't need you criticizing me, prisoner!" Ultimax retorted. "The great General Ultimax will not tolerate any slander! And-"

"Can you just get to the point?!" Sasha asked, not wanting him to go on another long rant of how 'mighty' he was.

"Fine." Ultimax huffed, giving Sasha a side-eye. "Everyone in Bugaria should already know about this, but I know you won't shut up until I explain it anyway, so..." Ultimax paused, as if trying to find the right words.

"Those... what did you call them, creatures? Anyway, they're called Dead Landers." Ultimax began. Huh. The name alone brought upon a lot of implications and questions, such as...

Their name surely had something to do with the place they came from. A lazy way to name something, but more convenient for Sasha. The place they were from was probably called 'Dead Lands', or something like that. If that was the case, then Sasha would make sure to avoid that place whenever she escaped from the Wasp Kingdom's clutches... then again, it wasn't like she had a map or anything like that, there was no way for her to know when she'd stumble into these 'Dead Lands', whatever they were.

"Are they common?" Sasha asked, trying to glean as much info as she could.

"What?! Absolutely not!" Ultimax shook his head.

"Alright." Sasha put her hands back on her hips. "Where'd they come from?" While she could guesstimate on her own, having outright confirmation would be much more helpful.

"Nobody really knows for sure." Ultimax answered. "But supposedly, and keep in mind there's no direct proof of this, they were the result of some... I'm not sure what it was meant to be exactly, but it was described as a cataclysmic event related to a species called 'The Giants' a long time ago... so they say." Ultimax rubbed the back of his head, clearly not sure about any of this.

After finishing that part of his explanation, it only made Sasha more confused than anything. She briefly thought she knew what that other species might be, only to dismiss it moments later, since the bugs here all appeared to be human-sized.

"Okay..." Sasha wasn't sure what to do with that information. This wasn't really helping much. "Is there anything we can do to defend against those things?" If the Dead Landers had a weakness or an exploit of some kind, that would make things so much easier.

"Obviously!" Ultimax said. "...Right, I forgot about how you 'don't know anything'." He added air-quotes. What, did he think she was lying about not knowing anything about this wacko world? "It's not really that complicated, you know. The power of the crystals here should keep them away-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, back it up!" Sasha interrupted. She wasn't going to let this slip by; it sounded like crystals were a huge part of this world. "What are these crystals that everyone keeps talking about?"

Ultimax let out a sigh, looking away as he shook his head, placing a hand on his forehead. "Oh, you're hopeless..." He muttered to himself, not realizing that Sasha could hear.

"What was that?"

"That's it." Ultimax wheeled back around to Sasha. "If you keep asking me questions that are OBVIOUSLY common knowledge, I'm going to have start charging you, prisoner! Fifty berries a question, non-negotiable!"

Too bad Sasha didn't have any chance to make any money, considering she'd been locked up for a month. "I'll write you an IOU, how does that sound?" she asked, an incredulous look on Ultimax's face. "Just answer my question, please?" There was an overly sweet smile on Sasha's face, the teen clasping her hands together, looking as innocent as possible.

"Whatever." Ultimax sighed, clearly not enjoying this. "I'm getting tired of this, so you'll only get the short version." Whatever, as long as it would help get rid of these Dead Landers.

"You see those lights up there?" Ultimax asked, pointing up at the ceiling. Sasha looked up at the blue crystal lights before nodding in response. "Those are but a few of the many, many crystals around Bugaria. They can be used for lighting, healing, etc. Bigger, more powerful crystals have the ability to 'save' data, so to speak." Sasha raised an eyebrow at this.

"I said you'd only get the short version, so deal with it." Ultimax continued. "The most important ability they have is to keep the Dead Landers far from any civilization in Bugaria. In fact, Dead Landers aren't supposed to be able to survive here because of the Mother Crystal!" Ultimax only sounded more and more frustrated as he went on.

"And yet there's a bunch of them running loose in this place." Sasha deadpanned.

"I know that!" Ultimax hissed. "And don't ask me how they got in despite all that, because I don't know, and you've run out of questions!"

So... what did Sasha get from all that? The only useful piece of information was that the Dead Landers had some kind of weakness to crystals... except that didn't matter in the slightest, apparently. No way to easily take them down, and they were powerful, with who knows how many in the hive.

To tell the truth, none of the other information Ultimax shared had any real significance. A lot of it went over Sasha's head, the teen not understanding any of it, not that it was worth her time thinking about. The main objective was to get out of here and reunite with her friends; any of the frivolous stuff wouldn't help in the slightest.

Although... another key factor was still missing. Someone that, by all accounts, should've been more than involved in this, someone that mysteriously was nowhere to be found...

"Shouldn't the king be doing something about this?" Sasha asked, ignoring the arbitrary fee Ultimax had imposed upon her. "Where is he?" The only time she'd seen him was back after she was first captured, but he made more than a lasting impression, to say the least. "And 'I don't remember' isn't an acceptable answer."

"He's busy questioning Vanessa." Ultimax answered. "There, does that make you happy?"

...No, to say the least. Sasha had no idea who Vanessa was. And it was pointless to ask for more details, since it became increasingly obvious that questioning Ultimax was just a waste of time. Well, it was worth a try at the very least. ...Maybe she could still spin this to where she got out scot-free, but she needed a bit more time to think.

"So, to re-iterate..." Sasha said, voicing her thoughts aloud. "There's an invasion of Dead Landers that somehow are defying their weaknesses, and the Wasp King is busy questioning someone about it..." The obvious reason for that would be that whoever this 'Vanessa' was, she was suspected to have some involvement in this.

"Which means..." The cogs began turning, ideas flowing through her. She knew the behavior of the wasps and Ultimax so well; she had an idea of where to go next once she said this. "In his absence, you're in charge of taking care of this." Sasha said, pointing at the hornet.

Ultimax stared at her for a moment before blinking a few times, something clicking in his head. "You're right..." His voice was low, only for him to let out a boisterous laugh, attracting the attention of several of the wasp soldiers in the room. "Me! The great General Ultimax! I'm in charge!" As predicted, he couldn't stop himself from boasting, which meant...

"Step aside, prisoner!" Ultimax pushed Sasha out of the way, getting a whistle out as he walked toward the wasp soldiers.

"Oh no." Sasha whispered to herself, already cringing at what was soon to happen. It was necessary, but... she couldn't help but relate to some parts of it, in a way.

Ultimax blew on the whistle, every single wasp in the room freezing up. "What are you doing?!" Ultimax barked. "All of you, quit laying around and fall in line! Now!" He blew on the whistle again. Sasha stood back, having no choice but to let the following events unfold.

The soldiers were scared out of their minds as they fumbled to their feet, one wasp accidentally spilling their drink, causing a chain reaction of at least four others to slip on the mess. Was anyone gonna put up a wet floor sign? Regardless, after a few minutes, the wasp soldiers were lined up in order of rank, Ultimax giving them a death stare as he walked over to them. Most of the wasps were shaking with fright, several more sporting injuries of some kind; a few of them so nervous that they kept dropping their weapons, causing them to CLANG on the floor.

Ultimax stood several feet away from them, his hands behind him back. Sasha just had to wait for the right moment, and then she could put her plan into action without anyone realizing...

"You lot..." Ultimax began, hiding how much he was shaking with rage. "Are without a doubt, the worst, most USELESS group of soldiers I've ever seen! You can't even take care of one measly group of Dead Landers, instead you run and hide, cowering behind your own abdomens!"

"But-"

"But WHAT?" Ultimax interrupted, the wasp trying to speak now scared beyond belief.

"Please, there were too many of them..." Another wasp shook, a few others nodding in agreement. Plus, wasn't Ultimax the one who commanded them to go into the safe room in the first place?

"These excuses are absolutely ludicrous!" Ultimax argued. "You wimps didn't even try to fight, did you?!"

"We did, but..." A wasp looked at her friend that she was helping bandage up. Sasha grimaced, just what happened there? It must've been nasty if it required that much attention.

"Everyone is accounted for, right?" Another random wasp soldier asked, his eyes darting around the room. "Wait a second... I haven't seen my friend since we got in here..." This comment caused a murmur to arise in the room, the wasps worriedly talking amongst themselves in an attempt to make sure everyone was here.

Ultimax's eye twitched, the hornet stomping his foot on the ground to get everyone's attention once more. "Imbeciles!" He roared. ...Perhaps it was time to take action. "Maybe if any of you had even the tiniest scrap of courage, then we wouldn't be in here like a bunch of-"

The sound of Sasha's loud, nervous laughter cut Ultimax off, the teen walking over to him with her hands raised to her chest. "Okay, let's-"

"What."

"Let's take five." Sasha said, trying to hurry this along before Ultimax could ruin her plan. "A word in private, please?" Despite the hornet's protests, Sasha slowly pushed him aside, leading him to a nearby wall where a curtain was, lifting it up before lowering it so that both of them were behind the curtain where nobody could see them. "There, now-"

"Prisoner, what in the name of the Wasp Kingdom are you doing?" Ultimax questioned. "I don't have time for any of your inane questions, so don't get in my way!" Ultimax moved to lift up the curtain and likely go back to yelling at the soldiers, but he instead hissed, his headache acting up again.

"No, listen." Sasha said, continuing before Ultimax could get another word in edgewise. "If you keep yelling at them like that..." She gestured to the large group of wasps in the room, even if she couldn't see them from behind the curtain.

"Then they'll keeping cowering and being useless, aaaand we'll all die." Sasha clapped her hands together, giving Ultimax a smile that could only be read as 'see how screwed we are'?

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Ultimax challenged. "I'm the great General Ultimax, I'll command my army in whichever way I choose! They will cower and submit to me, then they'll have no choice but to follow my orders!"

"Sure, get everyone so scared of you that even just saying anything might cause them to pass out from fright. Great plan." Sasha said, trying to get Ultimax to see reason.

The hornet only looked at her incredulously, not following at all. "Well, what am I supposed to do, oh wise one? Give each of them an award? Throw a party?" Ultimax crossed his arms, turning his head away from her.

"Nnnnot exactly." Sasha said, shaking her head. Time for the smooth-talking. "Just say nice things for a change. Get them to love you, and they'll do anything for you."

"And you expect me to believe that would work?" Ultimax wasn't convinced.

Sasha gave him an almost dangerous smile, the teen more than confident. "Oh, it works all right. Trust me." After all, if someone liked you, they'd be much more willing to go along with what you wanted to do, even if the other person might disagree. Besides, it was always because she cared about her friends and wanted them to succeed. She would do anything to make that happen.

Ultimax stared at her, his expression blank.

Beat.

He laughed out loud, tilting his head backward. Ultimax kept laughing for several seconds, making sure that his military cap didn't fall off before he straightened up, clearing his throat and resuming his previous persona.

"That's ridiculous!" It looked like Ultimax was about to burst out laughing again, but he stopped himself as he lifted up the curtain so he could walk away. "The great General Ultimax would never stoop to such crude, pathetic levels like you, prisoner."

So, this would be a bit more of a challenge than Sasha thought. Time to play hardball. An idea formed in her head as she followed Ultimax, the two of them walking back to the wasp soldiers. Ultimax walked in front of her, but Sasha suddenly sped up a bit, stopping him in his tracks.

"I get it, you're nervous. I'll give you a head start." Sasha said as she playfully elbowed Ultimax in the stomach.

Ultimax tried to stop her, but it was too late as she overdramatically clasped her hands against her cheeks, letting out a loud gasp. "Wait, WHAT?!" Sasha yelled overdramatically, attracting the attention of a bunch of the soldiers that were still lined up before she then raised one of her hands in the air to wave other soldiers over. "Ultimax, you think all the soldiers are amazing but you're afraid to show them your true feelings?!"

Some of the wasp soldiers perked up at hearing this, some of their antennae twitching slightly as they looked to see what was going on. Perfect, just as planned.

Ultimax froze before he shook his head fervently. "What?" He hissed. "No-"

"What's that?!" Sasha interrupted, cupping her hand behind her ear as she stood up on her tiptoes as if to better 'listen' to what Ultimax was saying. "You wouldn't be where you are today if it weren't for the hard work and efforts of your soldiers so you owe it all to them?!" With that, Sasha stepped back before Ultimax could say otherwise.

The soldiers looked at each other, a bit confused. Ultimax glanced between Sasha and all the soldiers, as if he were frozen in place. Come on, Ultimax... Sasha did all the hard work, now he just had to take the bait... any second now...

Silence was truly deafening.

Ultimax began to chuckle, soon transforming into booming, hearty laughter; not one intended to mock or belittle as Sasha had heard several times before. This was genuine... and everything began to fall into place. Sasha watched, smug as this all unfolded.

"Yes!" Ultimax thankfully agreed. "The only reason that I'm the hornet I am today... is because of all of you!" He boasted, pointing at the soldiers. A bunch of them seemed rather surprised, starting to relax a bit. Sasha noted how well this was going; they were influenced so easily. It made her job smooth as butter, so she wasn't complaining.

Even though a few of the wasps had walked away to sit or lay down, they rejoined the line at hearing Ultimax's words. And he wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. "Your hard work and passion for this kingdom has brought all of us to where we are today, and if even a single one of you weren't here, the Wasp Kingdom would be nowhere near as influential as it is!" He paced around the room, giving warm, accepting looks to the soldiers, but at the same time those looks were commanding... not in a harsh way though.

"R-Really?" A wasp soldier spoke up, her wings buzzing a little.

"Yes, Taylor, really!" Ultimax said, focusing on said wasp as he gestured to her, walking over. "I must say, your contributions to our cause... are irreplaceable!" he declared, earning a smile from her. Admittedly, that was a bit generic, but no one pointed it out.

Sasha followed Ultimax, making sure he didn't screw this up. Even if he did, she could always steer him in the right direction. "What about that guy?" Sasha asked, gesturing to a random soldier; a bulkier one wielding drills. If she kept goading Ultimax into complimenting wasps, then... the rest would speak for itself, really.

"Uh..." Ultimax stared at the wasp in question, a hopeful look on the wasp's face before Ultimax seemed to remember who he was. "Ah yes, Anthony! I must commend you for always getting up bright and early, and never missing a day! This kind of work effort should have been recognized sooner!"

Anthony shed a tear, giving his thanks to Ultimax. At this point, Sasha didn't even have to lead Ultimax on, he was doing all the work for her, which made this all the easier.

"Zing has always pushed themself during afternoon training!"

"Aero never backtalks and always gets the job done!"

"Harper set a military record for fastest initiation I've ever seen!"

As Ultimax went on to compliment and congratulate nearly every soldier (including ones that weren't in the room), the group slowly became less wary, more open to talk and express themselves without fear that they'd be yelled at or punished in some way. At the same time, Ultimax grew more positive, showing little to no signs of having a headache, despite it affecting him greatly earlier. Even when he had to stop for a second due to it cropping up out of the blue, a soldier would ask if he was okay, showing much more concern for their military leader than before.

"Um..." Sasha turned at hearing a new voice speak up, another wasp soldier. He was a bit timid, adjusting himself slightly as he shook a little.

"Yes, Jason?" Ultimax asked, turning to the wasp in question.

"I... never mind. It's not worth asking." The wasp scout, Jason shook his head, trembling slightly.

Ultimax was about to leave it at that, but a glare from Sasha told him otherwise. She knew that if he just complimented one more soldier... it would be all he needed. Ultimax grumbled a little, letting out a small sigh. Why was he so hesitant with this soldier in particular? "Nonsense. Speak your mind."

"O-Oh..." Jason trembled, quivering a bit. "I just wanted to know... am I a good soldier too?" He looked up at Ultimax, willing himself to not look away.

"Er..." Ultimax glanced away, to which Sasha cleared her throat, forcing him to continue. "Right. Soldier, I will admit, you are not perfect. In fact, when you first signed up for the military, I almost thought about throwing your application away." It was as if those words crushed Jason's very soul, the wasp's antennae wilting. Sasha facepalmed; of course this was all too good to be true.

"But..." Ultimax continued, Sasha's hopes raising a bit. Come on, turn this around... "You never stopped trying. You always sought to improve yourself, no matter how many mistakes you made." Ultimax made sure to have direct eye contact with Jason, driving the point home. "Which means..."

"Come on, come on..." Sasha whispered, anticipating what would come next.

"You've earned my respect." Ultimax finished, his voice a bit low.

Jason gasped, the other wasps murmuring amongst themselves. "Really?" His eyes sparkled a little.

Ultimax shrugged. "Yes?" He couldn't stop the wasps' loud chatter, their words impossible to make out. Sasha smiled; any second now... Ultimax was only confused as he watched the group of wasps, wondering just what they could be talking about, a few minutes passing.

Against all odds, the soldiers stopped talking, instead making sure they were all lined up like they were supposed to be, straightening up in their correct stances. Jason stepped forward, bowing to Ultimax. "Sir! We are ready to drive out the Dead Landers and take back the Wasp Kingdom Hive! What are your orders?!"

Perfect. An army willing to attack the Dead Landers and thus, help Sasha escape. This was brilliant. Sasha crossed her arms as she smirked to herself; any other outcome would've likely led to certain death.

Ultimax didn't know what to say for a few moments as he held his head, but a slight elbow from Sasha snapped him out of it. "O-Oh!" He said, shaking his head. Looks like someone wasn't used to people actually listening to him, huh? "Very well. If we're going to get anywhere, then we'll all have to come up with a plan. We need a way to neutralize the Dead Landers with as few... casualties as possible. As much as I'd love to rip them all apart myself, there's simply far too many of them."

Sasha doubted Ultimax could 'rip them apart' himself, given his reaction to the one Dead Lander that surprised them earlier. Avoiding casualties was a given... Sasha brainstormed; a head-on assault would be too risky, and driving them all the way out of the Wasp Kingdom might give her the chance to slip away without anyone realizing until it was too late, but on the same token, the Wasp Kingdom was guarded, and Ultimax would be watching over her. She did strike a deal with him, after all.

Simply put, the Dead Landers were too powerful to take down in a physical assault. But an army wasn't only useful for that, of course. "Is there any way we can contain them?" Sasha spoke up, all eyes now boring on her. "Like maybe locking them in any unused rooms or getting them to run off a cliff-"

"That's it!" Ultimax said, pounding the side of his fist onto his palm. What, getting them to run off a cliff? "Prisoner, you don't know this, but in the basement of the Hive, we have two weapon storage rooms. They're both incredibly fortified, and massive at that. The second of the two is mostly empty, so we could trap the Dead Landers in there without any way for them to escape!"

"Are you absolutely 100% sure?" Sasha asked, thinking of the numerous ways this could go wrong. What if they needed more weapon space at some point in the future? ...Actually, that wouldn't be Sasha's problem at all, she would be long gone by then. Unless something catastrophic happened, then she would fulfill her part of the agreement, and she would be free to walk away, not caring about whatever would happen with the Dead Landers later.

"...Yes." Ultimax nodded after taking a pause that was just a bit too long for Sasha's liking. "This will work for now until we can find a way to eradicate them permanently."

It was better than nothing. "That's perfect! Well, what are we waiting for?" Sasha couldn't have Ultimax doubting the plan now, not when they were so close to succeeding.

"I must warn you, there is a catch." Ultimax raised a claw. Of course, there always had to be a catch. "In order to minimize locking anyone inside on accident, we always stored the locks themselves on the inside of the rooms."

"No problem, the two of us can look for it!" Sasha nodded, trying to speed this along. By volunteering to help, it would make her much more trustworthy in everyone's eyes.

"...Right." Ultimax sounded willing enough as he walked over to the double doors, preparing to unlock them. "The weapons storage is massive, so we'll have to move quickly. Sasha gave a thumbs up, and that was that. She steeled herself, her heart racing at the thought of having to face any of those Dead Landers again. With any luck, she might be able to avoid them entirely, but who knows what might happen?

Ultimax spent a minute undoing the intricate lock for the safe room before he stopped, turning away from the door. "Soldiers!" Ultimax addressed. "Are you ready to drive the Dead Landers into the unused weapons room?"

He was met with a mix of battle cries and cheering; music to his ears. "Very well!" Ultimax said. "Once I've secured the lock, then we will show no mercy!" Another batch of cheers and battle cries. With that, Ultimax stepped to the side as he pulled the double doors open, waiting for them to open all the way before... "Soldiers, move out!"

Sasha and Ultimax stood to the side as the dozens of soldiers charged out of the room, their many footfalls and stomps almost feeling like an earthquake. There were a few Dead Landers nearby, but the soldiers didn't care, trying their absolute hardest to overcome them. Sasha watched for a few moments, seeing the absolute chaos in the huge hallway. Ultimax stood next to her in disbelief, the hornet never expecting this kind of outcome at all.

Before Ultimax could waste too much time, Sasha reached over and snapped her fingers, pulling Ultimax back to reality. "Come on! Show me where that weapons room is!" Sasha yelled.

"Right, of course!" Ultimax nodded before running out of the room. "This way, prisoner!" Sasha groaned, wondering when he'd stop calling her that before she followed him.

(WTB-LINE-BREAK-WTB)

The basement wasn't much different from the rest of the Wasp Kingdom Hive. There were some rooms for soldiers to sleep in, and smaller storage spaces for extra supplies and stuff like that, but Sasha didn't really care.

It took around ten minutes for the two of them to arrive at their destination. At first, it was difficult to maneuver around the chaos while trying to avoid getting hit or attacked, but Sasha managed to fare well enough, thankful that she wasn't nearly as exhausted as earlier. Ultimax had shown her another secret shortcut that led away from the chaos of the soldiers driving back the Dead Landers, which got Sasha to question just how many of these were hidden in the Hive... to no answer, of course.

But whatever. Now, the two of them stood outside the two weapons rooms, Ultimax briefly showing her the first one to demonstrate how the Dead Landers wouldn't fit. He was right! Sasha briefly eyed the tank, but Ultimax pulled her away from the room, shutting it.

"This is the one we want." Ultimax said, turning to the second weapons room. Both rooms were on opposite sides of the wall, but strangely enough, one of the double doors for this one was ever so slightly open. Ultimax didn't seem to care as he pushed it open, Sasha trying to push the other door open only to realize how heavy it was.

"Why does this stupid door weigh a ton?!" Sasha groaned before Ultimax rolled his eyes, helping her push it open.

Once the doors were open enough, the two of them stepped into the weapons storage area, Sasha marveling at how massive it was. "Whoa..." Without much of anything in here, it really made the room that much bigger. It was a shame, if they didn't have to stuff the Dead Landers in here, then they might be able to throw a dance party or something with how huge this was.

"Don't dilly-dally. We have to find that lock!" Ultimax ordered. Sasha nodded, the two of them splitting up. Sasha checked one side of the room while Ultimax went to the other, both of them trying to find that lock as fast as possible.

Ultimax had explained what it looked like on the way down, so Sasha had a rough idea of what to look for. She didn't see it lying around the floor, so she checked the small piles of random junk that were strewn about, the teen growing increasingly worried as the minutes passed with there being no signs of it.

"Have you found it yet?" Sasha asked.

"No! Don't stop looking!" Ultimax answered.

Sasha groaned as she ran over to a rather large pile of stuff, only to notice something shiny sticking out from the bottom. Sasha stifled a gasp, pushing the pile over onto the floor, not caring how loud a noise it made as she kneeled, confirming her suspicions.

Here it was. A rather large, red lock that would appear to fit perfectly on the door. Nothing extravagant, but this had to be it, right?

"What was that?" Ultimax yelled, upon hearing the loud noise.

"I found it!" Sasha called as she bent down to pick it up, only realizing at the last second how heavy it would probably- "Huh." Sasha was able to lift it up much easier than she expected. She stood up, smiling at the fact that this would be much, much easier than she-

-Failed to see the small hole in the ground under where the lock was, something popping out of the hole. Sasha stumbled back in surprise, barely even registering what it was before she fell backward onto her butt, letting out a scream.

It was another Dead Lander, one that was a bit taller than her. It was a darkish beige, appearing out of the ground with only a mouth where its face should be. It had two limbs and mouths on the ends of them as well, and in addition, there was a thin tail with a circular yellow end to it. Shorter stalks with a similar look sprouted on its head, the Dead Lander hissing before raising one of its arms at Sasha.

"Watch out!" Ultimax arrived faster than Sasha thought possible, the hornet pulling Sasha to her feet, even if she ended up dropping the large red lock in the process. In that same moment, the Dead Lander shot out some kind of yellow projectile from its mouth-hand, just barely missing Sasha.

"No, the lock!" Sasha said, trying to reach for it before Ultimax could pull her too far away. Ultimax realized what he just did, but kept hold of Sasha, trying to get her away from the Dead Lander. "You idiot, it's right there!" Sasha yelled.

But a moment later... the Dead Lander ducked back into the ground. Sasha breathed a sigh of relief, Ultimax letting go of her- only for the Dead Lander to re-appear in front of the lock, blocking their path to it.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasha deadpanned.

"No time for funny business!" Ultimax glared at her before whipping his head back to the Dead Lander. "We've got to get that lock back, and fast!"

Sasha nodded in agreement; she was so close, she couldn't give up now, not when the end was in sight.

Before Sasha could come up with any plan, Ultimax moved first, baiting the Dead Lander into following him. It worked, the Dead Lander turning and shooting projectiles at him, all of which missed. Sasha took her chance, running for the lock. She nearly tripped over herself as the Dead Lander's back was turned, the teen reaching down and grabbing the red lock.

Just as she felt her hands grip the metal lock, the Dead Lander turned, its arm raised to swipe- Sasha grunted as she lifted the red lock, using it to hit the Dead Lander with a loud THWAP before she took several steps back, trying to catch her breath.

The Dead Lander was dazed. Ultimax rushed in, closing the distance before he turned in a complete circle, using his huge abdomen to hit the Dead Lander, causing it to screech. It growled, trying to straighten itself out as it raised both arms, preparing to shoot projectiles-

It never got the chance. Before it could do anything, Sasha let out a battle cry, the red lock raised above her head before she slammed it down onto the Dead Lander. It froze up on contact, becoming limp as it flopped onto the ground, some sort of weird, translucent liquid flowing from its head. It didn't move at all after that.

Sasha and Ultimax stepped away from the Dead Lander, glancing at it before they looked up at each other, a smile forming on Sasha's face. "We did it!" She couldn't stop herself from cheering, holding up the red lock as a show of victory. For a minute, Sasha completely forgot that Ultimax had kidnapped her over a month ago, instead relishing in how well they worked together; they took down that Dead Lander as if it was nothing!

"Yes... Indeed." Ultimax hesitantly nodded. "We did." His face formed into a smile, even if it was a small one.

A moment later, there was some sort of rising commotion outside of the room, the two of them turning to the door. "Perfect timing!" Ultimax said. "Hurry!"

Sasha didn't argue as they ran out of the room before looking down the hall. Holy...

The dozens of wasps were intermixed with many different Dead Landers. The Dead Landers slowly drew closer, with no choice but to go where the wasp soldiers drove them to, despite their struggles and vicious attacks. Sasha and Ultimax looked at each other before nodding, knowing what they had to do. This was the final stand.

From that point on, as Sasha and Ultimax charged forward to help the wasps, everything felt like a blur. Sasha barely remembered any of the specifics, but it was difficult trying to get all those Dead Landers in the room. Once they noticed that one of them had been defeated, they doubled their efforts in trying to get out; were they trying to avenge one of their fallen comrades?

Regardless, it was a miracle that the wasp soldiers suffered no further casualties, though a few had to fall back due to the severity of the injuries they received. Sasha gave it her all; if this went well... then everything would work out. This was much more difficult than a marathon run during gym class, suffice to say.

It only took several minutes, but it felt like forever before the last of the Dead Landers was forcibly shoved through the double doors. The Dead Lander screeched and tried to run back out, but Ultimax and a couple soldiers pushed against the heavy doors, closing them in seconds. The doors creaked loudly before they were slammed shut... but it wasn't over yet.

"Now!" Ultimax yelled. That was her cue. Lock in hand, Sasha rushed forward, trying to get to the double doors as fast as possible. The Dead Landers banged on the doors; Ultimax and the soldiers were just barely able to hold it closed.

Sasha closed the distance. "Here!" She thrusted the lock into Ultimax's hands, the two of them trading places as Sasha pushed against the door with all her might, struggling to keep it closed. "Hurry!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Ultimax nearly dropped the lock in his haste, but he applied the lock to the door, fastening the necessary mechanisms to make sure that it wouldn't open.

Sasha's heart nearly skipped a beat as a Dead Lander repeatedly banged against the door. She closed her eyes, grit her teeth... come on, she just needed to imagine she was somewhere else, and not trying to keep a group of bloodthirsty monsters from trying to kill everyone...

A minute passed; it was the slowest minute of Sasha's life.

"Got it!" Ultimax stepped back, having fully installed the lock.

Adrenaline pumped through Sasha's body, part of her thinking that this might not work after all. That it was a huge waste of time, and she was doomed. But... the banging and pushing from the other side of the door slowed... before it stopped. She blinked. Was it over?

Everyone else had already backed away from the door, Sasha realizing that she looked silly. She took a few steps back, waiting for something to happen to ruin this... but it didn't. Sasha let out a deep breath, relieved. "I think we're in the clear."

Silence only reigned supreme for a few more seconds before the wasp soldiers erupted into cheering, a few of them even throwing their weapons into the air in celebration, Sasha making sure to stay far away from those spears.

"We actually did it!" A wasp yelled.

"They had no idea who they were messing with!"

"There's no way they'll escape!"

Ultimax let the wasps celebrate for a minute or so, watching as a few hugged and congratulated each other, a few even throwing a wasp in the air. However, he soon motioned with his hands for them to stop, Sasha standing right beside him. "Soldiers! Settle down!" He called.

With that, the soldiers slowly quieted down, Ultimax waiting patiently for them. Sasha smiled to herself; he really made so much progress in so little time... Just as planned. Once everyone was quiet, Ultimax let out a bold, hearty laugh, his hands on his hips.

"All of you are correct!" Ultimax said. "Because of your efforts today, you have successfully stopped the Dead Landers AND boosted group morale! For that... you are all heroes!" He flung his arms out, gesturing to each and every one of the soldiers before him.

They were all stunned at such words, gasping and whispering to themselves. Ultimax raised an eyebrow at this, only to see that the wasps were diligently lining up in rows by rank, all standing at attention. "Sir!" Jason called out, stepping forward and bowing. "What are your next orders?"

"...Wow." Ultimax stood there, stunned. He still wasn't used to how willing they all were to listen to him... He rubbed his head before clearing his throat, all the soldiers waiting on his every word. "Soldiers, take the rest of today to rest and relax amongst yourselves. I will inform the Wasp King of your accomplishments today. And come tomorrow..."

"We will throw a party in your honor!"

(WTB-LINE-BREAK-WTB)

Clean-up from the incident was underway, but Sasha didn't have to be part of it. That was the janitors' problem.

Almost an hour or so had passed, Sasha and Ultimax walking around the Hive to try and make sure there weren't any stragglers. There were a few soldiers that needed medical attention, but the doctors would surely take care of them. Their search led them outside, and...

For the first time in over a month, Sasha saw sunlight. The sun was setting, but it was a beautiful sight. She was battered and bruised, and her clothes were a bit torn from the events of today, but she couldn't care less.

She and Ultimax stood outside the Hive, Ultimax checking around the surrounding area. Most of the civilians had barricaded themselves in their houses, so logically, the Dead Landers must've gone through here before getting into the Hive, right?

"Entry point, entry point... where could it have been..." Ultimax mumbled to himself.

Sasha almost lost herself in the outside surroundings, like a zoo animal finally being freed. There were only a few clouds in the sky, and there were small, can-like buildings on both sides of the pathway out of the Hive. But also...

"Yeesh." Sasha looked at a crystal... that had been completely sliced in half from top to bottom, the other half lying on the ground. "Someone really hated this." A blue liquid leaked out of the crystal, Sasha chuckling to herself as she walked a bit closer. Anne and Marcy had to see this-

She instinctively brought her phone out of her skirt pocket to take a picture, only to remember a second later that her phone was dead, with no way to charge it- "Shoot!" Sasha was exhausted, which led to the phone slipping out of her hand before she realized it. She fumbled with it for a few moments in a comedic attempt to reclaim it, but her efforts were in vain, the phone dropping face-down to the ground, partially soaked in the blue crystal liquid.

"Great." Sasha sighed, already coming to terms with the fate of her phone. "Aaaaand there goes my phone." If it was already a paperweight now, then getting it drenched in some alien liquid only guaranteed that it would be further useless. Still, she may as well keep it as a reminder of home.

She reached down, picking her phone up off the grass and shaking any remaining liquid off it, only for a light to appear on the screen, indicating that the boot-up sequence was in progress. Sasha stared at her phone, dumbfounded as it turned on, the teen only more confused as the battery amount displayed 300%.

"Wha..." Sasha had no words. It was a stroke of luck, a miracle even. What if... no, she had no bars. Drat.

"I must ask you something, now that we're alone." Ultimax said, distracting Sasha from the many questions whizzing through her mind. She stuffed her phone in her pocket, hoping Ultimax didn't see it. "This... praise and compliment stuff is like witchcraft. Where'd you learn it from?"

Sasha hardly paid attention to his question as she walked over to him, more pressing issues in mind. "Yeah, uh-huh, so anyway, I upheld my part of the deal." Ultimax watched her as she walked by, listing all her demands. "So, I want some rations, a map, maybe a cool weapon or two, and I'll be on my way."

Finally, she would be free of her captors and be well on her way to finding her friends as well. To think that she'd turned things around so easily in less than a day... despite being out of practice for over a month, she still knew exactly what made people tick.

"Not so fast!" As she walked past Ultimax, she yelped as the hornet grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back over to him.

"Ack-hey!" Sasha's eyes flew open in surprise, trying but unable to rip her arm free of his grasp. "What are you doing?! Let me go, you-"

"Quiet." Ultimax's tone changed, his voice ice-cold as he tightened his grip on her wrist. "After what I've seen from you today, I was right to have you locked up. You're far too dangerous and manipulative to be left to roam free."

Sasha could only glare up at him, cursing herself. What went wrong? How did he figure out what she was doing so easily? Did she make it too obvious that she was using them all solely so she would survive? Well, after everyone saw how she helped today, she might be able to coerce a guard into letting her free, but that came with its own risks.

But maybe... just maybe... he knew what she'd been doing the entire time. Could that be it? He'd been very opposed to it at first, only to do a sudden turnaround at the first sign of it working... which meant he'd been playing her for a fool. "You little..." Sasha had to be careful, he was much smarter than he led on, despite his headaches.

Ultimax stared back at her, the hornet letting out a small laugh. "But..." He let go of her wrist, stepping away. Sasha immediately rubbed her wrist with her other hand, even more confused than she had been before. ...She thought that he'd drag her back into the Hive, but... just what was he doing?

Time to play hardball... again.

"We both know that I can't stop you." Ultimax continued, his hands behind behind back. "So go ahead, run along. Be a vagabond, wandering all alone in the Wild Swamplands." He gestured his arm out beyond the part of the kingdom where the civilians lived, to a place Sasha hadn't seen yet. "I'm sure that you out of anyone could survive that place and find some other civilization.

The trees and tall grass were a reddish purple, a stark contrast to the greens and yellows of the Wasp Kingdom. It gave off some kind of... foreboding, intense vibe, one that made Sasha rethink her decision, even if it didn't sound like the best idea. But at the same time... was wandering around in an alien wilderness really the best course of action?

And Sasha recognized the way Ultimax spoke to her. Leading, confident that she couldn't survive in the wilderness. Considering her options and what little she had with her... Ultimax had something else in mind, didn't he? Sasha turned back to him; if the situation weren't tense, she'd have to give him credit for this.

"Or?" Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned back to him. She would hear him out and then make her decision. What that decision would be...? Not even she knew yet. But she couldn't choose anything that wouldn't solely benefit her. Ultimax was smart, but not smart enough for Sasha.

"Or stay here and help us recuperate." Ultimax suggested, now gesturing back to the Hive. "I'm sure you understand how much of a... setback, this incident was for us. The Dead Lander ambush is something that nobody, not even you could've predicted." That was all true. Sasha kept quiet, waiting for an opening.

"Perhaps you could serve as, oh..." Ultimax paused for a moment, as if thinking. "My second in command. For your brave efforts in helping everyone despite your position here, I think your new ranking, Lieutenant General, would suit you nicely, no?" He stopped again, Sasha still not saying anything.

Ultimax stared at her expectantly, to which Sasha just looked back at him. Anyone else happening upon the scene might mistakenly think that they were engaged in some sort of staring contest.

The hornet winced a little, rubbing his head again. "How about this: if you help the Wasp King further his goals..." What were those goals? Sasha had absolutely no idea, but whatever it was, it probably didn't affect her. "Then I can assure you that you will have the Wasp Kingdom behind you in your search for your friends. Whatever you need, we will provide it. How does that sound?"

Sasha rested her chin on her fist, deep in thought. This was... good. Better than she could've imagined. The gears turned in her head, figuring out in seconds how she could twist this so that she would come out on top. A position of high power, resources... it was a sweet deal, all things considered. Some might say it was too good to be true, but it was just enough.

"...I think I can live with that." Sasha said. And so, it was done.

Ultimax nodded, satisfied with her response. "Come along, prison- I mean... Sasha." He gave her a short bow, one that she didn't return as he turned to walk back into the Hive. "We shall discuss everything with the Wasp King."

"I'll catch up with you in a moment." Sasha waved him off as he walked away.

"Ultimax!" Some wasp addressed the hornet, Sasha barely listening. "Vesp and Skye have returned from their scouting mission in Ant City, and..."

The wasp's voice trailed off as Sasha became lost in thought, pulling a photo out of her pocket, one that she'd treasured ever since she got here. It depicted her, Anne, and Marcy, all standing together... All three of them had a copy of the photo; it was one of the last things they had done together before they... they...

Sasha still couldn't believe the whirlwind of events that occurred over the past few hours. Her entire body ached, and she was starving, wishing that she'd eaten something earlier when they were all in the safe room. She furrowed her brow, trying to come to terms with it all.

She was stuck in an alien world. That fact wouldn't change. She also had proof that Anne was here too, which meant that Marcy must be here too... just where could they be? What could they be doing? Sasha gingerly touched Anne and Marcy's faces in the photograph, as if it were equivalent to touching them in person; she longed for them, she needed to see Anne's enthusiasm or hear whatever topic Marcy found in her late-night studies.

But none of that would be happening anytime soon. It was torture.

"Hold on for a little longer, girls." Sasha whispered to herself, making sure nobody could overhear. "I'm coming for you. And when I find you, we're gonna get home. But first..."

A devious smile formed on Sasha's face as she lowered the photograph.

"I think I'm going to have fun with this place."

The Wasp Kingdom would pay for kidnapping and imprisoning her, and they'd regret ever setting her free.

Putting the photo away, Sasha casually walked back into the Hive, the sunset behind her slowly turning to nightfall.