Kabbu looked on at the scene quickly unfolding before him, hoping that he was still unconscious and that this was just a bad dream that his brain had concocted for him. The events he witnessed were too foolish to be a part of the waking world. Still lying on the grass, the sound of the water behind him gently babbling, he allowed himself to entertain the thought that he was still dreaming a little longer before reality came crashing down by Mothiva's high-pitched scream of livid anger as Leif's ice magic wore off. Blearily under his helmet, he gazed at Vi, his partner, grinning innocently as the silk moth launched a never-ending parade of taunts down at her. The singer superstar bent down and tried with all her might to lift Vi off the grass to release Zasp and, more importantly, the mask, but the bee was like a fluffy fat boulder, not budging an inch.
Kabbu sighed and flumped backward onto the ground. The two greedy, gluttonous, selfish, ill-tempered, and stubborn girls were the complete opposite of what the rainbow beetle had expected explorers to be; explorers were supposed to be these chivalrous knights of honor, helping those in need and lending aid without any expectation of reward. But these two gluttons were so brazenly blunt in making it known they only care about riches, glory, and food! Neither would think like mature, level-headed heroes - all they cared about was stuffing their faces! "AGH! Just get off him already!" Mothiva roared, stomping on Vi's bountiful side belly with her broad foot, only to jiggle and wobble without any sign that the bee was getting hurt. "Why you little -! Why don't I fly over to Maki and tell him you stole the artifact from me, huh?!"
"If you do that..." Vi smirked, believing she had the advantage in this situation. "I'll tell everyone we had to rescue your team member from your butt."
Mothiva's face paled, shocked that the bee would go so low. "Y-y-y-ou wouldn't d-d-are...!" Meanwhile, Leif snuck up on the fat silk moth from behind, ready to deal another freezing spell on her so that she would shut up.
"STOP!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard Kabbu yell, much louder than Vi's petulant whining in the Explorer's Association or Mothiva'a arrogant screams. Leif, Mothiva, and Vi looked at the rainbow scarab beetle by the water's edge, who looked done. "I have HAD IT with all of this constant fighting!" He marched toward Vi and Mothiva while Leif slowly backed away, still priming his magic but not wanting to get caught in Kabbu's rage. The silk moth tried to remain steadfast and look unfazed, but she couldn't help herself from withering slightly underneath the beetle's directed fury. "You have a very high opinion of yourself, so high that you claim that you don't ever need help from anyone, but if it were not for Vi, then you and the rest of us would have been stuck in Snakemouth Den for who knows how long!"
"Y-you don't get to ta-" Mothiva tried to talk, not wanting to relieve the hallway incident in her mind, but Kabbu was already directing his rage toward Vi, who visibly winced under the angry face he sported.
"And you, Vi, aren't much better!" The look on Vi's face made it apparent those words stung, but he kept going. "You claim that you're not a child, yet you've done nothing to disprove that - we very easily could have perished in Snakemouth Den, yet you've never treated our trials seriously! All you did was complain that there was never enough food! Has all of this just been a game to you - to both of you!?" Mothiva and Vi were silent, stunned by Kabbu's outburst. Vi grimaced - she hadn't known Kabbu for long, but she could tell from that short time that Kabbu imbued much of his persona with some idealized, chivalrous notion of what it means to be an explorer. Vi didin't buy into it, but looking back, she (loathe as she was to admit it) could have done more to act like a reliable teammate...
Kabbu's rant moved Mothiva less than Vi, but it was somewhat difficult for her to come up with a comeback that didin't just involve calling him a loser again. "S-so, what? Don't lie and tell me that you risked your life going into Snakemouth so that you could be a good little bug and give it to the queen free of charge!" Her tone was as sharp as the beetle's, puffing her chest out in assured pride, making it look much more prominent. "You know the expression 'an army marches on its stomach'? Well, it applies to us, too! We have to get paid somehow; the more renowned a team is in the association, the more people will come to them for help, and the more we help, the more we get paid." She put her hands on her hips, eying Kabbu down.
"If money is so important to you, then why don't you just go on a diet!?" Kabbu flailed his arms around. "It's obvious where most of you and Zasp's funds have ended up!" The superstar's face contorted with anger before a grumble of impatient hunger emanated from her bloated middle, making her slightly embarrassed. Vi, glum as she lay on top of Zasp while digesting Kabbu's words, was reminded of her hunger as she heard Mothiva's gut rumble. The honey-fed, sagging orb of abdomen flesh quivered as the organ below groaned, shaking Zasp, who was still trying to escape from yet another prison of lard and making the frown on Vi's face deepen.
"...Kabbu?" Leif interjected, taking a cold claw to rest on the beetle's shoulder as he appeared from his left side. "Regardless of your opinions on their behavior, maybe this isn't the best place to discuss it?" He motioned to the nearby bushes, and sure enough, under the cover of the foliage, he could see seedlings ogle, waiting to attack at the right moment. Lingering any longer here was a bad idea.
"You're right, Leif." Kabbu sighed, shaking his head as the adrenaline left his system. "We're all exhausted from what we've gone through, and we might have a more level-headed conversation over lunch. We can work this out once we're back in the Ant Kingdom and have food in our systems.
"...I-I'm not...hungry..." Vi lied, not able to make eye contact with anyone. Ugh, Kabbu really spoiled her mood. Everything was fine a few moments ago, but he had to make her feel like a...like a...kid. "Maybe I should have just stayed home..." She muttered under her breath.
Mothiva looked over at Vi with a weirded-out expression in her eyes. She clearly heard the fat blob of a bee's gut groan a few seconds ago - why would she brush past it? Who in their right mind would turn down free food? Her partner's words couldn't make her feel that bad, right? "...fine." She spat acid at Kabbu and Leif. "I might, and this is a very slim chance here, so don't get your hopes up, consider sharing credit for finding the mask if you take us to lunch."
Kabbu breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Mothiva finally saw reason.
"A leaders' only lunch." Mothiva clarified, putting one claw on her broad chest and another on Vi's broad back, getting her attention. "You guys pay. Us girls eat."
"W-what?!" Kabbu shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. "Vi isn't the leader of our team!"
"Well, out of all you three, she's the one I hate the least." Mothiva narrowed her eyes, shutting down any further protest from Kabbu. "She reminds me of my favorite person; me! Albeit a younger, thinner, more annoying version of me.
"...what did I do?" Leif was puzzled why he was on the receiving end of this stranger's anger along with Kabbu.
"Rescuing you made me get almost eaten by a spider." Mothiva delivered dryly. "Now, if I were you, I would stop talking and start finding ingredients for Fry to cook with when we return to the Ant Kingdom. Because if I'm not 100% full, the deal is off."
Kabbu and Leif sighed, realizing the predicament that they had found themselves in. Vi finally chose this moment to get off Zasp, the wasp having been rendered momentarily two-dimensional by how much weight he had to endure underneath the bee's belly. "What...did I miss..." He asked as he dizzily tried to get back onto his feet.
"Get food. They'll explain more." Mothiva ordered, picking her teammate up and setting him down toward Kabbu and Leif, who were walking ahead of the two well-fed girls. As the wasp wobbly marched off, obeying his orders, the superstar turned to Vi, looking dejected as she stared at her stomach, a bright yellow and black-striped ball of furry fat. "Ugh, don't tell me you're taking what that beetle said seriously." Mothiva shook her head with disdain as the bee pouted.
"...no." Vi lied. All she could think about right then were the Hive and why she left. The constant grind in the factory wasn't a fun place to grow up, so she snacked a bit more on honey than the other bees - she needed extra cheering up, that's what she said to justify it. But then her bosses told her that 'cheering up' was taking a toll on her honey quotas. "What does Tangy Pie taste like?" She tried to change the subject to something that had been bugging her for a while now.
"Huh? Don't tell me you've never..." Mothiva slowly widened her eyes as she realized Vi was being genuine. An alien twinge of sympathy sputtered out from her heart as the revelation. "Oh my Venus, no wonder you only eat honey - you've never had anything else."
"I've h-had lots of food! It's just that most of the stuff in the Bee Kingdom calls for honey!" She defended herself.
"It's now wonder you're so skinny, then - all that honey has made you malnourished! Ohoho!" Mothiva laughed, and Vi crossed her arms and turned her head away in a huff. "Well, I don't want to spoil the surprise for you - let's just say when you taste Tangy Pie, it's gonna be hard for you to go back to eating something as bland as honey. Now, get up. Our boys are getting us lunch."
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