Chapter Text
Over at the Ant City plaza, a swarm of multiple bug species gathered to see Mothiva walk onto the stage in front of the famous Settler’s Statue, but not before Eetl introduced the act.
“Ladies and gentlebugs, welcome to the Explorers’ Association’s first-of-its-kind musical battle tournament! Here to kick things out, let’s welcome Bugaria’s finest idol moth: Mothiva!”
“Hello, Ant Kingdom!” Mothiva gleefully shouted into the microphone, greeting many of her fans.
“I’m here to give you a show that was so rudely interrupted a while back, but now I’m going to deliver a full-out eleganza! Are you ready?!”
As the music began to play, Zasp hyped up the crowd for the performance to start. Meanwhile, her musical opponent was waiting on the other side of the city, with the added help of Team Moon, Mello and Leela.
“So how does this work again?” Mello asked while setting up Nox’s equipment on the grassy floor next to Nox’s milk carton house.
“It’s no biggie, Mello. I’ll just make my grand entrance on the top of this roof. Not sure how I’m gonna get their attention from up here.”
Leela, who stood by Mello, wanted to convince Nox before he started performing for the crowd “Look, I understand your passion, but you really don’t want to-“
“Mess with Mothiva? I know, I just like to push my limits, and her buttons.”
“Heh.” Mello smiled, wildly impressed at their firefly friend. “You sure hate her guts.”
Mothiva sang with gracious dance moves, hoping to win the crowd. “♪ Right now, I’m falling in your eyes. All I need is your peace of mind, I just need your time. Cause you, baby, you shine, just like a star. Oh-whoa-oh, just like a star ♪ ”
“So is it time yet?“ Mello asked Nox
“I’m just waiting for her to finish her song.”
“You know, she’s really good." Leela commented while watching
“That’s what she thinks!” Nox pulled out his lute, ready to take over the stage on the ground. “I’ll show her!”
After the song came to an end, Mothiva bowed and smiled with relief now that she had finally finished her song for her crowd. Finally, no Scorpion to interrupt. No one else to take her spotlight. She soaked in the glory, and cheers, but not for long.
“Hellooo, Bugaria!” Nox yelled from the top of his house, capturing the crowd’s attention. “Are you ready for the most magical, most alluring sounds that you will ever hear, today?”
“Allow me to formally myself onto the stage, I am the one and only, Nox the Firefly, and I come here to delight you all with the sounds of my lute and my alluring voice. So, are you crazy bugs ready?”
“Yeah!!!” The crowd cheered with excitement over the new performing act. Eetl wanted to introduce Nox but he didn’t care, he was perfectly fine with how he introduced himself either way. Mello and Leela played a backing track on a speaker connected to a small blue crystal.
Mothiva wanted to throw a fit, she couldn’t handle her show being interrupted for a second time, but she agreed to a duel with her somewhat-hated enemy.
“♪ If you told me I was a foolish one, for flying a bit close to the sun, I would say I didn’t do it for fame, it’s a shame, I did it all in the name of love! ♪ ”
The bugs went wild over the firefly duo’s music as Nox sang for the crowd. Perhaps a little bit louder and more enthusiastic than they were for Mothiva. Nox did some vocal acrobatics while floating in mid-air, he felt his abdomen glowing in daylight as he passionately sang. He indulged in the crowd’s adoration so humbly, that he didn’t want to stop. He never wanted it to stop. He only wished to enjoy this magical moment for as long as he wanted.
“NO!! How can this be?” Mothiva wanted to complain but Zasp stopped her from getting more agitated.
“I did it all in the name of love, but love’s a complicated game. Love or war, it’s all the same, in the name of love.” Nox kept singing with joy in his heart. He did some slow mid-air backflips around Mothiva, blowing a short raspberry at the haughty moth while he was in the middle of a tiny pause.
Mello and Leela were cheering from the sidelines while the firefly did his lute solo. His lute skills were graceful and full of riffs, almost as graceful as his light, airy, melismatic vocals. He landed back on the ground after finishing his solo and began to bow in the most graceful manner before his cheering crowd. They adored his show much more than Mothiva’s!
“Well, well! It looks like the crowd has already picked a winner!”
Mothiva began to fume. She wasn't going to give up. She was not going to give up just yet.
“NO!! This isn't over yet... Huff.. huff.. ZASP, BRING OUT THE REMIX!”
“There’s a remix?” Leela murmured
Zasp had another speaker that was connected to another blue crystal. This time he turned the dial a little bit louder for a bigger impact.
“There’s no way you can reject THIS!” Mothiva began to sing her song in a slightly higher key.
“♪ Right now, I’m falling in your eyes! All I need is your peace of mind, I just need your time! Cause you, baby, you shine, just like a star. Oh-whoa-oh, just like a star ♪ “
“No problem, I’ll just improvise.” Nox pulled his lute back out to play over Mothiva’s remixed track.
Mothiva gave harder leg kicks, and more twirls, she even had Zasp twirl while carrying her. As she sang out loud, Nox began to sing his chorus over her melodic vocalizing.
“♪ I did it all in the name of love, but love’s a complicated game! Love or war, it’s all the same, in the name of love ♪”
Their choruses chaotically melded into each other, with Nox’s lute notes and Mothiva’s dancing tearing up the crowd’s attention. No one could decide which one was the victor, they were both so ridiculously good!
Nox began to anxiously sweat while cranking out the hardest lute riff he could pull out. He didn’t want to give up just yet, he was hanging on to the moment while proving himself to the crowd. As for Mothiva, she was unable to keep up with Nox’s fighting spirit, the firefly bard was already besting her in every way possible, perhaps he was ultimately giving the better performance.
As they both ended their duel, Mothiva and Nox began to collapse and breathe heavily. Mothiva wanted to give her greatest closing pose, but she was too exhausted, too overworked. Same thing with Nox. As the crowd erupted in cheers, they slowly got back to standing up straight, smiling for the shared adoration. They both waved and bowed, but not together, just separately.
“Alright, that was one heck of a show!” Eetl came back onto the stage, impressed by the shared act “But now we need all of you Bugarians to decide who’s the ultimate victor? We’ll announce the winner in just a few minutes, so take this time now to pick your favorite!”
From a distance, miniature Maggie could hear the loud cheering of the bug crowd from several inches away. She was happy for Nox, but she felt saddened that she had to miss out on her best friend’s moment of glory. Regardless of that, she was more focused on her rematch with Maki. After unwrapping the bandage off her arm, now having its wound finally healed back up, Maggie peeked from behind a tall grass blade, at a safe distance away from the Ant Kingdom. She took one more look at the healing scar on her arm, still patching itself up after her past encounter with the mantis. As she looked around her surroundings to make sure that she wasn’t near a crowd of bugs, she held out her blue potion from her fanny pack and began to whisper to herself before drinking it in, preparing for her body to expand to colossal heights.
“Ooohohoho, he won’t know what’s coming!”