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After the events of the Sapling, Professor Neolith had more time to do more research on other archeological finds that weren't centered around the Everlasting Sapling. It meant he didn't have to worry about racing the clock to find artifacts for the Queen. He actually could work at a pace he preferred. Most importantly, he had more time to see Kabbu.
Luckily for Neolith, Team Snakemouth had picked up his quest to help keep him safe while he worked on his research regarding artifacts in the Forsaken Lands. Today was his lucky day!
“Why do we have to go here?! This place gives me the creeps!” Vi groaned while following Kabbu, Leif, and Neolith towards where the Forsaken Lands began.
“It may be creepy but this is where our lead starts,” Neolith replied with excitement. “While the termite guards were searching for another monster for their uh… colosseum, they found a tablet showing pictures of a tardigrade. This has to mean the ancient tardigrades lived beyond the Lost Sands! Who knows what else could be found here!”
“And we'll help you find it all!” Kabbu says with a gleeful tone despite the dangerous wasteland ahead.
Leif leans close to Kabbu, letting his voice drop to a whisper to say, “Any by we, you mean you'll find it all for Neolith,” before smirking.
That is until the Leif is lightly shoved by a blushing Kabbu.
The four bugs entered the foggy wasteland known as the Forsaken Lands. The lands were littered with many Giants items that mostly were used as markers to navigate the pathways. The winding pathways were always covered in a thick fog making it very easy for a bug to get lost and more than likely eaten by ferocious lesser bugs. Plant life struggled to grow since the sun could barely penetrate through the clouds of fog in the air. The only thing that grew were patches of pale colored plants that sometimes grew squash and big pumpkins.
Kabbu led his friends through the misty pathways while carefully reading over the Bugaria map that he and his team carried. Any gaps they couldn't jump across, Vi would fly Kabbu across while Leif used his ice magic to create an ice platform to float himself and Neolith across. Speaking of Neolith, the moth rambled on and on excitingly about the archeological breakthroughs he and Team Snakemouth could find. What interesting things could be learned from bugs from a forgotten time.
Kabbu couldn’t help but take his attention from the path ahead to listen to Neolith’s ecstatic ramblings. It always warmed his heart to see how passionate Neolith was about his work. Even if he didn’t quite understand some of it, it was just nice to see him in the zone even in a dangerous wasteland. Even though his full attention at the moment was on Neolith and his tangents, Kabbu saw a flash of yellow in the mist. He quickly stopped in his tracks, causing Leif to bump into him and lose focus on what was lurking in the mist.
“Is everything alright Kabbu?” Leif concerningly asked.
“Oi! Why’d we stop? Did we find something worth a thousand berries?” Vi called out behind Leif and Kabbu.
Kabbu looked back up at the direction where he saw the yellow in the mist. It was gone. All that was in front of him was just swirling clouds of fog and dried up plants. Was it just his imagination? Kabbu shook his head before turning back to his team.
“I-It’s nothing. Let's keep moving before it gets dark.” He dismissively replied.
He tried not to think too much about what he had seen. It had to be his imagination playing a trick on him because there weren’t any yellow creatures in the Forsaken Lands. All he had was a leaf salad this morning. Maybe he was getting hungry from all of the travelling. Whether it was hunger or his mind playing tricks, he refused to have it get in the way of Neolith enjoying himself. Especially when they were getting close to where the supposed discovery was.
It took some climbing down a few cliffsides east of the Termite Kingdom to finally reach the area where the tardigrade tablet had been found. Right away Team Snakemouth and Neolith noticed crumbled pillars and broken stone structures. Some of the destroyed ruins now covered by big pumpkins and vines. Off in the distance looked like some crumbled buildings similar to the abandoned Kingdom where the ants temporarily settled years ago.
“Well, here’s your discovery.” Leif casually announced.
“Looks like a dump to me.” Mumbled Vi.
“Nonsense!” Kabbu insisted with his typical prideful voice. “This place may be in ruins but that doesn’t mean there aren’t treasures to be found!”
“Kabbu’s right! For all we know there could be a treasure trove of discoveries to be found.” Neolith agreed.
“Well if there’s some treasure then count me in!” Vi cheered while quickly dashing towards the ruins in search of anything treasure worthy.
While Neolith searched the ruins for anything worth bringing back to his lab and Vi searched around for something worth lots of berries, Kabbu and Leif opted to keep guard just in case any foul beasts decide to attack. Kabbu especially looked out for that wisp of yellow light from earlier. As much as he wanted to keep it off of his mind, he had a gut feeling something wasn’t right. That something was out there watching him and his friends. But Kabbu didn’t want to stop this whole quest just on pure speculation. So for now, he just forced his mind to think about other things. Like mite burgers, the possible things Neolith could find, and what Chompy could be nibbling on while he and his team were gone.
Meanwhile Neolith and Vi searched through what looked to be the remains of an old building. The stone walls were cracked and had a few broken spots in them. Furniture was broken to pieces and littered around the floor. A thick layer of dust clung to the remains of the building. While the two searched around, Vi couldn’t help but sneeze here and there. The more she sneezed, the more the dust floated about in the air.
“Why couldn’t the tardigrades have picked someplace else like the Golden Settlement?” The pouty bee grumbled between sniffles.
Neolith on the other hand wasn't as worried about dust. His excitement to explore was a lot more powerful than mere allergies! He checked another room in the ruins. In the center was a puffy pile of black. He tilted his head, unsure of what it was. Could this have been some sort of artifact? It was the only thing in the room that looked like it hadn't been ruined by age. He slowly stepped towards the puffy mass, his claws already shaking in fear but why? This had to be what he was looking for. Then why did he have a gut feeling that something just wasn't right?
“It's alright, Neo. This is all for history! New breakthroughs.” He quietly spoke to himself in an attempt to calm his nerves.
His fuzzy claw landed on top of the black mass, almost sinking into its softness. It felt soft, like what he would imagine a cloud would feel like. He wondered if this was some old pillows that were left behind by the tardigrades.
“Huh?!” He let out a surprised sound once he felt something pulling his claw into the mass of black lumps.
Neolith could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to pull his claw from the pile but whatever was inside wouldn't let him go. His eyes darted left and right. He couldn't see Team Snakemouth nearby to save him! His shivering arm up to the elbow was already being enveloped inside. He tried again to yank himself free but the pile wasn't having it. Neolith then felt something akin to many mandibles biting down on his arm. Tears welled up on the sides of his eyes as the poor professor let out a pained shriek!
“KABBU! KABBU! HELP!” He cried out as loud as he could.
The puffy mass started to shift around making purple wings pop out from the sides. One by one, yellow eyes opened up. They let out a loud predatory “SCREEEE”. Their purple wings flapped as they were ready to snatch their prey into the foggy abyss. Neolith tried to dig his feet into the ground but the cluster of mothflies were stronger.
“No no no! KABBU! VI! LEIF!”
The tugging suddenly stopped as many yellow eyes looked at the frightened moth.
“Ka…..Ka…Kabbu?” They slowly buzzed. “Ka…bbu? He…Help?”
They buzzed closer to the weeping Neolith. Their buzzing grew louder and louder as they attempted to say more words. Neolith could only watch with a mix of confusion but still fear since his arm was still in their grasp. He heard that mothflies had some form of intelligence but this was different from the stories he was told.
“P-Please, just let me go!”
“Puh…pu…lease? Kabbu- SCREEEEEE!” The curious mothflies let out a pained cry from suddenly being smacked by a beemerang. It caused them to drop Neolith onto the dusty floor.
The beemerang spun back to land in none other than Vi's paws. Beside her was the rest of her team already in their fighting stances. Kabbu quickly ran to Neolith’s aid while Vi and Leif worked on taking out the cluster. Vi focused on knocking down the mothfly cluster so that Leif could attack them with his ice.
“Oh no! Neolith your arm!” Kabbu worriedly spoke while quickly lifting up the professor's arm to take a look.
Bite marks covered the lower part of Neolith’s arm making it bleed hemolymph. Kabbu carefully pulled the terrified Neolith into his arms, gently patting his back. Neolith buried his face into Kabbu’s shoulder. All he wanted to do was stay there, protected from those monsters.
“It's okay. It's okay. They won't hurt you anymore. We won't let them.”
The cluster of mothflies let out pained yowl from getting hit by Vi's beemerang again. Many of the mothflies inside were making pained buzzes while some others were flying with bent wings. They needed to retreat. Their prey was too much to handle. The buzzing creatures hissed at their attackers before flying out of a hole in the ceiling.
“And scram, ya big ball of creeps! You're no match for my beemerang!” Vi shouted out to the leaving cluster, even shaking her weapon in the air.
The mothflies didn't listen to Vi's threats. They quickly escaped into the fog and hid behind a large pumpkin. One by one they peeked their yellow eyes to see the four bugs leaving from the building. The green one comforting the moth that just reeked with the sweet smell of fear. Was this the Kabbu? The one the moth kept screaming for? Was this their leader? Were they… his cluster? Clusters cannot operate well when separated. A cluster is stronger. A single mothfly is weaker.
They scuttled into another building, one full of clothing that was now dulled from age. The mothflies quickly descended upon the clothing, pulling and ripping it apart. Some of the mothflies left to grab vines from the pumpkins and squash plants to help mend the clothing pieces together into the shapes they wanted. They will separate the Kabbu. They will weaken the Kabbu's cluster.
Team Snakemouth quickly rushed Neolith inside of the Termite Kingdom to be checked by a medic. Luckily, none of the bites did major damage to Neolith’s exoskeleton, but it definitely stung a lot. In the waiting room, Kabbu frantically paced back and forth. Even when Vi and Leif tried to reassure him that all would be well, Kabbu would go back to worrying again.
“This is my fault you don't understand,” He insists. “I shouldn't have been so distracted! I could've lost-”
“But you didn't,” Leif quickly interjected, not allowing Kabbu to finish that sentence. “We saved him. Neo is safe. That's all that matters.”
“Leif's right! We kicked those mothflies’ butts and saved Neolith! They were no match for us! If anything, Neo's gonna be telling everyone how awesome we are!” Vi added while pumping her fist into the air.
Kabbu couldn't help but chuckle at Vi's antics. He always liked how she always found time to well.. be Vi and Leif being the one to remind him of what's important. Kabbu pulled Leif into a one armed hug and used his other claw to ruffle Vi on the head causing the small bee to pout.
“Where would I be without friends like you two? Come, let's go see Neolith.”
In the patient room, Team Snakemouth greeted Neolith with a big hug pile! Course they made sure to mind his now bandaged arm. Kabbu, of course bombarded Neolith with many questions about how he felt to which Neolith assured him he'll be fine. The worst was the pain from being bitten by many mothfly mouths.
“Hey, on the bright side, you'll have some WICKED cool scars to show off!” Vi laughed while playfully shaking Neolith.
While Neolith wanted to join in Vi's laughter, he couldn't help but think about the encounter from earlier. The mothflies were mimicking his speech. But how? He knew they had their own supposed language, but to be able to speak Bugnish was a huge leap. It was worrying.
“Hey uh guys,” he spoke up, making Team Snakemouth quiet down. “When you fought the False Monarch, did it ever speak?”
“Well yeah, but we couldn't understand any of it.” Vi replied with a shrug.
“Did it ever try to speak Bugnish?” He asked again.
“Erm… no. I don't think they can do that, Neo,” Vi answered before tilting her head to ask, “Why?”
Perhaps it was his imagination. Mothflies can only do so much. Most of what they did was nothing more than that similar to an ant mimic spider. He shook his head.
“It's nothing. How about I treat you guys to some Dinemite? Besides, we deserve it after all we've been through today.”
“Count us in. We have worked up an appetite after this whole ordeal.” Leif agreed, even rubbing his hand on his stomach.
Once Neolith had the clearance to leave, the four bugs left to fill their rumbling stomachs at Dinemite. Leif practically having a pitfall for a stomach ate through two mite burgers and a basket of spicy fries. The others just opted for a mite burger and fries. Leif, Vi, and Neolith talked about any and everything from the Termacade to even spy card tournaments. Kabbu mostly listened, relieved to see his friends in good spirits.
“This is nice. This is very nice.” Kabbu quitely spoke to himself.
With it being dark and the fog thickening up to the point of even seeping into the dome itself, the four decided to spend a night in one of the inns. They picked one of the rooms with four beds and instantly laid down into them. All four of the bugs could feel their bodies ready to unwind after everything they dealt with. They said their goodnights before finally drifting off to sleep.
Except one.
Try as he might, Kabbu tossed and turned in his leaf blanket. He even flipped his pillow over on a cooler side to get comfortable, but nothing worked. Even though everything was fine, he couldn't help but still think about Neolith and the encounter with the mothflies. He should've kept a closer eye on the professor. He was distracted. He knew Leif was right to not worry about it but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to be a dependable leader.
He ran his claw up his face with a sigh. The room suddenly was feeling a lot more congested and he needed to clear his mind. Kabbu stood up and left the inn to go outside for a breath of fresh air. A walk through the kingdom could be a nice way to relax. It was quite interesting how different the Termite Kingdom was from the other kingdoms. It's buildings full of twinkling lights that pierced through the fog advertising any and everything. He couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle at the sight of a Mothiva billboard. That woman was something else. Both her and Zasp are.
His sightseeing was suddenly halted once he heard his name being called. Did his team wake up? He turned to the direction of the voice but all he could make out in the thick fog was a long, brownish shape. It almost looked like Neolith.
“Neolith? Is that you?” Kabbu called out.
But Neolith only tilted his before motioning him to follow before running off into the fog.
“Ka..Kabbu!” Neolith called out again.
“Wait, where are we going?”
Kabbu ran after his friend, trying to catch up with him but it seemed Neolith was moving faster. He tried to ask once more where Neolith was trying to take him but Neolith refused to answer. Neolith only continued to call Kabbu's name.
“Kabbu…Ka..bbu it's o..kay.”
Neolith led Kabbu past the dome's door and outside to the Forsaken Lands where the fog was at its thickest. The moth quickly sped off east of the dome where the tardigrade expedition had started. Kabbu had a bad feeling about this. He wasn't so sure it was safe for Neolith to be back out exploring again after the attack. Not to mention he was behaving strangely.
“Don't you think we should wait until the morning? I can barely see anything.” Kabbu suggested to his friend, but Neolith refused to stop.
Kabbu tried to keep up with Neolith but he found his vision was being more and more obscured by the fog. It made it hard for him to adjust to the uneven terrain of the wasteland. His foot then was caught on a gnarled squash root, throwing him forward into the air and onto the dusty ground with a grunt. Buzzing and rustling could be heard all around him but he couldn't see where it was coming from. His heart pounded in his exoskeleton. He couldn't see Neolith anywhere!
“Ka..Kabbu!”
“Pl..Please.”
“Ka..bbu it..s o..kay.”
He saw the wisp of yellow in the mist again. He quickly stood up and stood into a fighting stance.
“S-Stay back, beast or face my horn!” He threatened the figure in the fog.
It didn't heed Kabbu’s warning, in fact it came closer, muttering something. Kabbu wasn't quite sure. He was ready to warn the creature once more until he could see it closer into view. It wasn't a creature! He knew that enthusiastic yellow face anywhere! It was Vi!
“Vi! Why didn't you just say it was you?” Kabbu sighed. “Lemme guess, you and Neolith woke up and found something special?”
Vi tilted her head before muttering something else that Kabbu couldn't make heads or tails of. He wanted to ask but then Vi sped off similarly to Neolith. He figured she was so excited to show off a treasure she found. Though he knew Vi was going to hate when it turns out she won't be able to sell it for thousands of berries. The treasure would More than likely be given to a museum. Kabbu simply shook his head and followed her.
“Vi, could you slow down at least!”
He knew Vi could be energetic at times but he never remembered her being fast enough where he had to break into a sprint after her. Maybe the excitement just amped her up. Kabbu ran and ran, following Vi through the cloudy fog. He would've thought Vi would've led him into one of those abandoned buildings but no, she led him into the mouth of a cave instead. Just like Neolith, Vi disappeared in the fog. Panic started to fill his nerves. If Vi wanted to show him something, why would she disappear just like Neolith? And worse, leave him in some cave he'd never seen before. Nothing about this felt right. It felt like he was living in one of those nightmares where he wasn't running fast enough.
“V-Vi! Neolith!” He called out into the fog. Unfortunately, there was no answer. “I get your two are very enthusiastic about your find b-but could you two at least let me keep up?”
Kabbu nervously rubbed his arms, hoping to soothe his panicky mind, but it couldn't stow his worries about his friends’ behavior. They were eager to take him somewhere but refused to tell him why. They weren't worried about any dangers or anything. He knew Vi could be reckless at times but Neolith wasn't. In fact, Neo hated danger!
He was then jostled out of his thoughts when he slipped on something. Luckily, he caught himself against a wall. He would've breathed a sigh of relief until his eyes widened at what he saw. Crude drawings depicting what looked to be some scribbles entering some sort of pile. The piles then grew faces, arms, and legs. These strange creatures seemed to be surrounding another bug that looked like a beetle with a horn and cape. Then the beetle was engulfed by the scribbles. He reached out to touch the beetle drawing with his shivering claw. Was this a drawing of… himself? He looked down to see what he had slipped on, it was a pile of clothing with dulled colors.
The shifting in the air returned, getting louder and louder. One by one, they said the Kabbu's name. They loved how it made him shiver, tremble, and reek with fear. They loved how he continued to call out his cluster but no one came to protect him. Without his cluster, he was as vulnerable as a larva without its mother. They shifted closer and closer to the Kabbu. Oh how they wish they could laugh when they saw the look of relief on his face. The brown suit, Neolith, reached their arm out and gently placed their fuzzy claw on his shoulder.
“Ka..Kabbu? It’s o..kay. Neo..lith.” The Neolith cluster assured the frightened Kabbu. They even gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. A common gesture they'd seen with other thinking prey.
They could feel the ease this gesture gave to the Kabbu's tense body. They knew he thought he was safe if his cluster returned to him. Without any warning, the Neolith cluster tightened its grip on the Kabbu's shoulder before letting the mothflies bite down onto his skin. This was always the best part of their feast. The fear, the relief, and the returning fear. It was like a mix of flavors that made their prey taste the best, sweet even. The Kabbu tried to pull the Neolith cluster away while begging for them to stop. But why stop when they have him right where they wanted him? When his hemolymph tasted the best.
“Neolith, forgive me for what I am about to do!” Kabbu cried out while swiftly swinging his horn at the Neolith cluster causing it to let out a surprised squeal.
The strike was enough to have them let go of Kabbu and flop over onto the floor. While what he thought was his friend was slowly lifting themselves up from the ground, Kabbu couldn’t help but get closer. Neolith was his friend after all and he had to at least help him through whatever was making him behave strangely. But once he got close enough where the fog didn’t obscure his friend’s face, that’s when a shiver ran down his body. What he thought was Neolith was nothing more than a bunch of those dulled clothes sewn together with vines. The face of this False Neolith was just three holes torn out to be the eyes and mouth. Inside, many angry yellow eyes stared at him. It wasn’t just the False Neolith either. The others came closer too. A False Vi and Leif closed in on either side of him, showing those angry eyes inside of their faces as well. Their bodies shook and rippled from the many mothflies inside.
“Ka..Kabbu… no ma..match!” Hissed the False Vi.
“Is…ev..ery..th...ing… al..right.. Ka…bbu?” The False Leif buzzed.
“It’s o…kay.. Kabbu,” False Neolith buzzed while hobbling closer, causing Kabbu to back himself into the wall where the drawings were. They threw their head back and let out a mighty, “SCREEEEEE!”
Just like in the drawing, the three false friends quickly descended upon the frightened beetle covering him like some large, freakishly living cocoon, biting wherever they could. Kabbu tried to push them off but there were just too many mothflies biting, scratching, and pulling at him. He couldn’t let it end like this! He couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen if his real friends found him as nothing more than a husk. It would tear their hearts apart the same way when he lost Master and Bit. He faced more dangerous threats that these mothflies couldn’t bear to understand! He clenched his fists tight, bowed his head, then threw it back, swiping his horn at the horde of flies with a heavy strike. Many of them were knocked back, causing them to let out a pained squeal and roll along the floor before quickly scurrying back into their clusters. He attacked them again and again, keeping them from closing in to bite him again.
“You may have tricked me by pretending to be my friends but you will not be having me as your meal you foul creatures! GRAAAAH!” Kabbu let out a mighty roar before dashing towards the False Neolith with his horn pointed forward like a jousting lance.
But he was suddenly stopped in his tracks when he heard a high pitched voice yell out, “THERE HE IS! C'MON GUYS!” He knew that energetic voice anywhere. And to confirm he was right, he saw Vi's Beemerang soar through the fog and bonk the false Neolith on the head. Vi landed in front of him to catch her weapon. Then Leif joined in beside her along with Cross and Poi from the Termite Kingdom! He was saved! Then suddenly he was pulled into a hug. He was about to retaliate until he realized whose arms he was pulled into. Neolith. The real Neolith.
“You guys found me! But how?” He asked.
“Vi woke us up when she said she saw you running after someone. She was worried and woke us up,” Neolith began to explain, “Then we told Cross and Poi and they helped us navigate through the fog.”
“Yep! If it wasn't for me wanting to go get a late night snack at the shop, we wouldn't have found you!” Vi added.
“Let's save the chit chat for later. There's an angry swarm of creeps to deal with.” Leif interrupted while pointing to the false friends that angrily buzzed.
The clusters hissed at the newcomers. They didn't expect the Kabbu's cluster to arrive to his aid! It wasn't supposed to be like this! They planned everything out, yet his cluster arrived and gave him hope! No matter. This will just be more prey for them to feast upon! The Vi cluster wasted no time tossing a few hissing mothflies at their lookalike. They landed onto the bee’s body, sinking their teeth into her flesh. The Leif cluster let out a pleased squeal then went for the two called Cross and Poi. Then they, the Neolith cluster rushed towards the Kabbu while letting out buzzing growls. But in their rush to combat, they had forgotten about the other Leif who wields chilling powers.
With the swipe of his hand, Leif froze the two mothflies biting at Vi into blocks of ice. The many mothflies inside of False Vi let out many buzzing snarls before charging towards Leif. Mothflies oozed from underneath the pretender ready to tackle Leif for what he had done to their brethren. Leif tried to fend off as many as he could with his magic but too many of them were closing in.
Luckily, an arrow whizzed through the air stabbing through a mothfly that was close to biting Leif in the face. The creature fell onto the misty ground as hemolymph pooled around its lifeless body.
“Nice shot.” Leif complimented.
“No prob!” Cross replied with a thumbs up before continuing his cover fire for Poi, who was fending off the False Leif.
With a swift swing of his sword, Poi was able to dispatch more of mothflies that were coming towards Cross. Any mothflies that were downed by Vi's beemerang, Kabbu would finish off by charging into them with his horn. Leif used his ice to freeze and attackers out of thin air and then Kabbu would use the frozen bugs as projectiles against the other mothflies. With there being 3 clusters of false citizens to deal with, it seemed that no matter how many mothflies the five bugs took out, more would keep coming out of their clusters to fight back. It was as if they were fighting 3 False Monarchs at once!
“There's gotta be some way to take them out at once for good!” Grunted Poi.
It was like an imaginary light bulb appeared over Kabbu's head once he thought of an idea. He motioned for his team to come close.
“Team, to me! It's time we show these creeps what the REAL Team Snakemouth can do!”
Leif and Vi quickly formed up next to Kabbu. Vi huffed, knowing what the plan was. She stood up straight and allowed Leif to encase her in a ball of ice. Once the ball was large enough, Kabbu dashed towards it, knocking it forward like a battering ram. The ice ball rolled with great speed towards the false friends. They had no time to react as it collided into them, knocking the four clusters of bugs into the air like bowling pins before they hit the ground hard. Then the ice ball broke, freeing Vi, who tumbled onto the ground.
The outfits of the false friends rippled and shook as the mothflies inside whined and squealed in pain. They were just no match for what the actual Team Snakemouth was capable of. Many of their own were too injured to want to fight anymore. They quickly dispersed out of the cave and escaped into the foggy abyss. All that was left were the costumes they wore.
The injured clusters of mothflies quickly hid behind a large boulder. They slowly poked their heads out to watch the Kabbu leave with his cluster. It filled them with rage to see their prey escape! They planned everything just right! Yet, their prey was stronger, smarter even. They could hear the pained weeping from some of their brethren. The scared ones were unsure, but the smarter ones reminded them that a cluster is only as strong as its mothflies.
Once their domain was free of those foul creatures, they returned to the cave. The smartest of the clusters began to pull apart any leftover clothing they had. They weaved together many green pieces to create another appearance for a fourth set of mothflies. One that donned that piercing horn of the Kabbu.
Perhaps they were foolish to think all they needed was to separate the one called Kabbu. Maybe they needed to be stronger. Their clusters must band together the same way their prey does. They must use what their prey does against them. They must be Team Snakemouth. After all, what could be much more stronger than them?