Disclaimer: I don't own The Ant Bully or any of its characters.

Hova didn't know what she was thinking. She had to protect Lucas, yes...but now what? The young human had escaped like she wanted, but what did that leave her? A severely pissed off wasp... She never had to fight something before, and it was against her peace-loving nature to start now. And even if she did, it would be a deadly mistake. Why did she have to slap him? She should've just negotiated with him or run away in the other direction. What can she do?

Meanwhile, the wasp was none to happy, as expected. After all, how DARE this little insect even THOUGHT of striking him! He didn't let his rage get to him however. He intended to have some fun in this assault, and what could be better than this? The ant before him was clearly very frightened and it'll be quite entertaining to intensify that fear.

He's been making soft little snaps at her, taking it easy on this game as Hova tried to evade harm. The wasp could effortlessly lunge forward and snap the nurse ant in half before she even knows what's going on. That's what his mouth was made to do! Vertical beak-like jaws and rows of razor teeth...perfect for biting through tough armor and tearing other insects apart to get at their soft insides...

Of course, with this play of cat-and-mouse, something can go wrong if any escape attempts were made on the mouse's part. Hova decided she had enough of this life threatening situation and made a dash for the grass behind her enemy, hoping to make herself scarce among her fellows.

She was almost there when she was knocked over from behind. She rolled to her back and came face-to-face with her predator. She stopped his taunting chuckles with another slap, wishing to knock him away so she'll have enough room to get up and out of here. However, that only made things worse as it unleashed the larger insect's full anger.

With a roar, he snatched her up in his front pair of legs and opened his jaws to take a bite out her. It's been fun up till now. Now she was getting annoying. And he had a way of dealing with annoying bugs.

"Hova! Get down!" They both heard the voice from behind. And it only took a split second for the giant carnivorous insect to comprehend the meaning of those words. An attack. Well, he'll put a stop to that. The ant coming from behind obviously knew the one he held captive. So he decided to use Hova to prevent any harm coming to himself. And it seemed to have worked as he spun around to face this new threat...

"Zoc!" Hova exclaimed in both surprise and overwhelming gratitude. Zoc will save her! She was certain of it!

The wasp held Hova in plain view, his powerful jaws wide open right over her head. That sent a clear message: Attack, and she dies.

Zoc understood immediately and he tried to slow down and stop his staff from releasing its harmful blast of energy. It was too late for that, and he only hoped that it would miss its target. His hope came true. His aim had blown off and the wasp, with a quick look of surprise, stepped aside to dodge the attack.

The predatory insect was close to beheading Hova, but figured it will be safer to do so in the air instead of on the ground. Lifting, he gave Zoc a short glare before moving off with a screaming Hova in his grasp. His captive reached out a hand to Zoc, but it was hopeless.

"No!" Zoc yelled, before going into the grass in order to look for a way to save his loved one.

Hova kept on screaming. Most of her life was spent with her feet firmly planted on the ground, now she was a great distance in the air and there was no coming back down. At least not when she wants to. "Let me go!" She tried to pry the wasp's grip apart, but it did no good.

She continued to try nonetheless and also kept on screaming and protesting as loud as she could, hoping to attract the attention of her fellow ants so they can possibly save her from a horrible fate. "Help!"

The wasp has had enough. "Shut it!" he roared, his patience running thin. He stopped in a hover and bent his abdomen up, pointing the deadly stinger at her. This worked as she immediately fell quiet and stopped her attempts to free herself. Blissed with peace, the giant bug was about to go off again when he caught sight of another wasp thrashing around on the ground as ants took him towards their anthill.

Recognizing the unfortunate fellow as a friend of his, the wasp flew down to help, still not letting go of Hova. Stopping before the distressed insect, the wasp roared loudly at the ants and lunged with his stinger-tipped abdomen. The ants scattered to avoid being impaled and, panicked, scurried in opposite directions.

The wasp rescuer landed on his four free legs and quickly regarded his friend. "Can you fly?"

"Not when I'm all tangled up in this stuff." was the response given in a German accent.

Hova's captor noticed the sticky thread that had twined itself around his comrade's legs, wings, and face. Looking around to make sure an ant didn't grow the nerve to attack him, he then bit into the thread and yanked the stuff off little by little.

The nurse ant in his grasp took advantage of the situation. "Help!" she cried out at the crowd of fleeing ants. Either nobody heard her or she was being ignored. She was guessing it was the latter as several ants did look at her, but then ran off. The wasp was already done untangling his friend by the time Hova's pleas were heeded.

An ant warrior jumped onto her captor's back and proceeded pulling his antennae. Her captor roared and thrashed, trying to dislodge the painful nuisance. He succeeded and threw off the ant. His now-recovered comrad took to the air and so did he, keeping Hova in his hold as tightly as ever.

"Thanks. I owe you one." the other wasp said in relief. Looking at Hova, his savior shoved the ant into his forelegs. The other wasp gave his friend a surprised look, eyes and jaws wide.

"Hold that little brat. I'm pretty sure the Boss would like to meet her."

Hova's new captor nodded, and he would give an evil smirk if he could. Going their separate ways, Hova was taken further from the anthill. However progress stopped before they could get far. A loud noise and a brief flash of light distracted everyone.

"What was that?" Hova's captor asked another nearby wasp, as Hova made another attempt to get free. But, like before, it was useless.

"It's buzz time." the other answered.

"Retreat!" With this, all the remaining wasps took off towards their nest in the cactus garden. Hova looked back at her home, the home she'll never see again. She didn't even get to say goodbye to Zoc...and Lucas...and Kreela...Maybe even Fugax too. Now she'll never get the chance. Her fate has been sealed.

She was surprised to notice how close to the hill the wasps actually lived. It wouldn't even be a day's journey on foot. So perhaps she wasn't as doomed as she originally thought. Maybe somebody would be able to rescue her before it was too late. Or maybe she'll be able to escape herself and avoid the predators enough to make it back home.

She was so engraved in her thoughts that she didn't notice that they've arrived at their destination. Looking around, she saw that the garden was mostly barren except for a few empty shells. The ant could tell that these weren't shed as they would with growth. No, these were the remains of dead insects. Her fear intensified and she made her sad face (which is adorable, by the way), antennae lowered and big eyes glistening.

It was much more crowded near the actual nests. There was multiple paper structures hanging high in the air, attached to cactus branches. Wasps came and went and it appears that each nest had different uses. For instance, Hova saw the caterpillars that were taken being brought to one particular nest and pushed through the circular opening. Then the wasp dropping it off would either climb inside or leave to visit some other nest.

Looking down, she witnessed a terrifying scene. A young grasshopper, practically a baby, was being pinned to the ground by a wasp, screaming and yelling for help and its mother. Being a Nurse ant, Hova was quick to sympathize. However there was nothing she could do. The predatory insect rose his stinger and Hova turned her head away as he brought it down. She winced at the resulting screech of pain. Then it stopped abruptly. None of the other wasps appeared to take notice, like they were used to such commotion and it was an everyday thing. Hova then realized it was, having remembered the empty shells not far from here.

She took a deep breath and looked back at the young one. It didn't take much thought to know that the little grasshopper just had its short life cut even shorter. The one responsible took the small body in his front legs and flew towards a nearby nest. He crawled inside and another wasp exited immediately afterwards. Clinging to a free spot over the opening, he cleaned his jaws, which Hova noticed was covered in insect blood, wiping away the mess with his front legs and then licking the limbs clean.

Hova began trembling, knowing that that was going to be her fate sooner or later. "Mother...help..." she muttered. Her captor neared another paper nest and gave a short roar-like call and another wasp answered with a similar noise and he flew over.

Without further ado, she was handed over and she instantly recognized her new carrier as the one who took her in the first place. She knew better than to struggle and she was taken closer to the target nest. The wasp landed below the opening and crawled inside.

Hova was dropped immediately and the wasp practically growled at her. "Stay here until the Boss returns. If you try to leave, I assure you, you'll be killed on sight."

"And if I stay..." she inquired softly, afraid he'll attack her for it. He didn't and instead gave a chuckle as he left to wait outside.

"You might live a little longer." he answered menacingly.

Yeah, I know it's slow progress, but hopefully it'll speed up. One thing's for sure, Zoc is NOT gonna be happy in the next chapter, I can assure you. And Lucas better run while he can, because Zoc's got plans for him...And it's not gonna be good...

So review if you want the next chapter!