Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I feel like I’m going to vomit…”

A member of Bugaria’s exploration team uttered, Levi fought the urge to hurl in the middle of the outskirts. Celia carried Levi on her back, the ant huffed wanting to give a snarky comment about him but decided its best not to. Who knew Levi would get wasted to the point where moving would make his entire world swirl? Celia kept herself steady, wanting to make sure not to make sudden movements, one wrong move and both of them will have to clean up before bed. Her main focus is to get home immediately, it was getting late and they have a long way ahead of them.

Celia grimaced; she was sure their hungover will be present until tomorrow. What was supposed to be a friendly banter between them and Team Slacker: who gets to drink the most berry juice before passing out, it ended up turning into a bet and now it got them kicked out by Doppel. He’d normally be fine with these kinds of stuff gut it seems the ladybug- beetle wasn’t in the mood for shenanigans. She couldn’t remember much of what happened after she blacked out but she’s sure that all those order of berry juices will be on her tab. They were supposed to be saving berries not spend them in one go just because of the stupid bet. And of course, unsurprisingly they did not win. Maybe going against Team Slacker in a drinking contest wasn’t such a good idea. The whole thing wasn’t that’s for sure.

And thanks to it, both members of Team Celia are now drunk. Her head was pounding, merely recovering from being knocked out by alcohol. Dan did offer to help the two go home, but Celia kindly refused, confident in her ability to not fall after a good drink. She heard Levi grunt, his head low he was trying to tell something to Celia but she was too lost in her mind to notice.

“Celia…” The ladybug started, voice in a hushed tone. “Some…someone’s following us..-HRK” Celia froze. 

“What..?” The blue ant glanced at her shoulder where her partner’s head rested, Levi does not look good. She repeated her question, firmer this time “What do you mean?”

The ladybug was trying his best to not upset his stomach further, he weakly tapped on her shoulder, asking to put him down. The other quickly obliged, carefully setting him down. They were alone in the outskirts; it was pretty far some the commercial area and little to no guards would be bothered to roam around in these zones. Celia had to steel herself, they were on no condition to fight plus getting help is going to be a problem.

“Be wary, Celia. I sense our pursuer is rather… familiar.”

The ant stared at him, Levi is not going to be helpful in this fight. But heaven forbids it wasn’t the same bug she’s was thinking. Maybe if she still had both her antennae them perhaps, she could avoid this entire ordeal.

“Scarlet?” Celia asked carefully.

“Scarlet.” Levi nodded.

The blue ant frowned; it wasn’t possible. They haven’t seen him in moons, why suddenly return? Or he was hiding in the shadows this entire time. They made sure to put his head on the wanted list, Levi even asked Doppel to put up a bounty for his head. They made sure everyone was familiar with the drone. Making sure he won’t do any of his schemes again. If he was smart, he would’ve left Bugaria’s lands. But apparently he still had business here. Celia sighed, incredibly irritated. They were no match for him, and especially in this condition. There’s no way of apprehending him with just the two of them, Team snakemouth was there to help when they first cracked his deceit, and it was only thanks to the trio they were able to get out alive.

She searched for her shield. It wasn’t with her, normally she’d be carrying it around with her at all times…

Wait…

Oh no

Celia groaned, pulling her antenna in frustration. She has to play smart. She needs to.

Now once she taught about it, Reed was saying something about not forgetting her stuff before they left. But her mind wasn’t functioning properly, and her hands were already full with carrying Levi her shield—her only weapon just completely slipped out of her mind. This has got to be the worst timing ever. Celia planned to get her shield strapped to her of all times.

All she wanted was to get to bed. The blue ant cursed silently, judging by their encounter a few moons ago Monsieur Scarlet was clearly pissed after his defeat. She gave Levi a once over, he was sitting on the grass, leaning against the stacks of stones around them. The ladybug was burying his head on his claws, yearning to fall asleep. Celia sighed and kneeled next to him “Should we… uhm rest first?” she leaned closer “Or just y’know—book it.”

Levi weakly glanced at her, his face hidden under his own helm, but Celia was sure he was confused with her suggestion. So, she insisted “I can easily carry ya’, no need to worry about that. But we need to get to the others as soon as possible” Celia frowned she hated thinking that they were weak. But in this case, they were practically helpless. “There’s no way we can… we can fight him in this state.”

“You’re…right.” The other agreed. “Think you can run fast enough?”

“Should be easier, I don’t have my shield.”

Levi stared at her for a moment, “You… you don’t have your shield with you?”

Celia smiled sheepishly “I might’ve left it at the bar…”

“I- well, we are not in the right mind to think properly… You can use my sword.”

Celia glanced at his belt where his sword is sheathed. “Are you sure?”

“I can’t… fight like this,” He wheezed “Celia.”

His sudden sternness made Celia snap her attention to him.

“I… I can’t keep awake any longer, I’m sorry.”

“Levi!” Celia exclaimed, as much as she hated it, she was very tense right now.

“Alcohol’s is getting on my system…” Levi was falling asleep. “Prepare… yourself…”

Celia watched as her partner doze off. How much did he drink??? That should’ve knocked him out earlier ago, not now. Scowling as she took his sword from his belt. Her free hand moved across the ground, picking something while she fixed Levi’s position so she could easily carry him incase Scarlet decided to charge.

“My, my!”

Speak of the weevil.

“If it isn’t Team Celia~”

A very familiar voice finally announced himself. Celia glared at him; face hidden from the pink ant. She did not want to see his face.

“The association’s detectives, right?”

Celia sighed before standing up and finally facing him. She gripped Levi’s sword tight. Her glare still accounted. The blue ant finally saw the other: he stood before them, parasol in hand, he was leaning against it. Celia had to fight the urge to just smack him in the face, but Venus knows that’s a bad idea. She kept her eyes locked at him not bothering to entertain his useless commentaries. Scarlet’s antenna twitched while his sun hat shadowed his face from the moonlight. She could hardly see the pink ant’s expressions but she knew full well he was glaring at her. Well, that makes the two of them then.

The place was filled with a tense air as the two faced each other. Eventually Scarlet had the audacity to laugh.

“What’s the matter dear? Seedling caught your mouth?” The drone opened his parasol before resting it on his shoulder. “This is quite rude don’t you think? Don’t tell me this is how you treat your friends? ~”

Celia sneered lightly. She wanted to mess with him, “Do I… do we know each other?”

Scarlet’s smile faded; she notices him clutch the handles of his parasol lightly. He took a deep breath “Very funny.”

“I mean, no one’s laughing—but sure.” Celia shrugged baking up to Levi “Say whatever you like.”

Scarlet huffed slowly advancing towards her. She rose the sword ready to defend just in case. It shouldn’t be too hard to use it right? Levi uses it all the time, it is his primary weapon after all.

Celia smiled lowly “Ready to serve your time in jail?”

“No no,” he smiled conceitedly “I just saw you nearby and wanted to say hi.”

“Mhm” sure, sure that was just it.

He peered behind her, observing the unconscious ladybug behind. Scarlet couldn’t help but smile, seeing how much easier they just made themselves prey to him. It has been so long since he last feed on something—on someone. And he couldn’t help but be delighted for team Celia to willing fully serve themselves on a silver platter just for him. It almost made him want to spare them. But alas, he has other plans for the two. He wasn’t easily going to let go after ruining his plans, it was going well too. Then they decided to show up.

“How about we go on a midnight stroll? Just the two of us?”

“Yeah, no thanks. I still have something to do.”

Scarlet snickered. “And what would that be? ~”

“Having your sorry ass sent to rubber prison-”

Celia suddenly charged at him, sword in hand she aimed to slice his eyes, attempting blind him. But of course, the drone was faster, almost as if he’s anticipating her move. Scarlet immediately used his flower parasol to block the sword from himself, it ended up her scratching the canopy of the floral parasol. The blue ant frowned, setting her footing to back up immediately going on the defensive, her hand clutched it in annoyance. She knew not to underestimate him but still wanted to try and catch him off guard. She already planned the fastest route to one of the stations some of the ant guards usually are. His constant chattering helped her buy time. 

He stumbled behind, laughing lightly as he tried to regain his balance, he kept his parasol in front of him acting as a shield “My- I didn’t know you were a swordsbug.”

“Well, now you do.” Celia attacked, trying her luck again— she aimed for his face, and as expected Scarlet had to move the base of his floral parasol to avoid getting sliced by Celia’s sword. The latter took this small window to swipe down at his foot, making him loose his balance and fall on his back. Scarlet grunted, he landed on his elbow shooting a sharp pain through his entire arm. The moment he lowered his ‘shield’ Celia threw the fist full of dust and debris she held in her other claw the entire time. Successfully getting his sight and stunning him.

Scarlet yelped and Celia didn’t waste her time. She rushed to get Levi and took him on her back before darting on the route she planned prior. She heard Monsieur Scarlet shriek behind them, cursing them heavily. Celia ignored her fatigue, running as far away from him. She could only hope he doesn’t waste his time going after them. Team Levi said he saw him get away via teleportation during their first encounter. Celia spared a glance behind careful not to trip on the way he was already out of their sight.

Good.

After a few good minutes of running, she finally saw one of the ant guards near the bridge. Celia called out for her before getting noticed. The ant guard dropped her spear and met them half way, Celia nearly collapsed on the floor due to exhaustion, luckily the former caught her just in time.

“Miss Celia are you alright?!”

The explorer ant panted, gasping for air while they took Levi off her back. He was still knocked out cold. She glanced at the ant, sitting down on the floor as she catches her breath.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine…” She watched the other ant take Levi. “We’re fine…”

“We need to get you to a medic.”

“No need, we’re just…drunk…” Celia said coyly

“Drunk? Where on Bugaria can you drink at this hour?”

“…Defiant root” She can’t exactly just reveal the tavern now, can she?

“Defiant root has a place that sells at this hour?”

Celia blinked, well- “Yeah I think so… Listen my entire body is aching right now, do you happen to take escorts...?”

The ant guard sighed, picking her spear from the ground. She waved a claw, ordering the other one to come to her. The and guard whispered something to her associate, one of which the explorer wasn’t interested in hearing. Eventually she looked back at her.

“I’m afraid not, we can’t leave our post especially this late at night. If you want, I could get you to the inn for now.”

“Oh…”

“Do you have any spare berries with you?”

Celia shook her head.

“Right, I’ll pay for your then.” The ant guard kept the last sentence quiet. But Celia assured her she will pay her back early in the morning. They waved it off and took Levi to escort them to the inn. The other ant guard staying behind.

They got there safely and not before being spotted by Maki and Eetl. Why are they still awake at this hour? It was already in the middle of the night. Needless to say, she was sure he wasn’t going to make her hear the end of it tomorrow. The moment they got to the in, the first Celia did was collapse the instant she laid on the bed.

Ignoring the fact, that they almost died again. She did not want to think about that.

___

Scarlet shrieked loudly while he tried to hey the sand off his eyes. His antennae wandered around, finding the explorer’s scents gone. He finally got his eyes free of the sand, he got a glimpse of Celia carrying her good for nothing teammate far away from him. The pink drone stood up huffing and cleaning his dress of dirt, and picking up his parasol that’s now unscathed. Scarlet glared at the distance, now they really are getting on his nerves. Sooner or later, he’d get rid of them for good. However, it’s not worth it to follow them right now.

He was starving and he could feel his magic weaken. Scarlet needed to feed on anyone or anything he could get his claws on. He should play his cards right.

Scarlet summoned a flower before any of the authorities could spot him. And disappeared into the night.

Chapter Text

He peered behind her, observing the unconscious ladybug behind. Scarlet couldn’t help but smile, seeing how much easier they just made themselves prey to him. It has been so long since he last feed on something—on someone. And he couldn’t help but be delighted for team Celia to willing fully serve themselves on a silver platter just for him. It almost made him want to spare them. But alas, he has other plans for the two. He wasn’t easily going to let go after ruining his plans, it was going well too. Then, they decided to show up.

“How about we go on a midnight stroll? Just the two of us?”

“Yeah, no thanks. I still have something to do.”

Scarlet snickered. “And what would that be? ~”

“Having your sorry ass sent to rubber prison-”

Celia suddenly charged at him, sword in hand she aimed to slice his eyes, attempting blind him. But of course, the drone was faster, almost as if he’s anticipating her move. Scarlet immediately used his flower parasol to block the sword from himself, it ended up her scratching the canopy of the floral parasol. The blue ant frowned, setting her footing to back up immediately going on the defensive, her hand clutched it in annoyance. She knew not to underestimate him but still wanted to try and catch him off guard. She already planned the fastest route to one of the stations where some of the ant guards usually are. His constant chattering helped her buy time. 

He stumbled behind, laughing lightly as he tried to regain his balance, he kept his parasol in front of him acting as a shield “My- I didn’t know you were a swordsbug.”

Celia glared at him “Yeah well now you kno-“Celia was cut off by Scarlet’s parasol almost hitting her, she was able to duck out of the way, regaining her footing as she kept a safe distance.

Scarlet giggled, “Well, if you want to play like then,” scarlet closed his floral parasol waving it at ease. Celia could see him glaring at her. The blue ant gripped the sword tightly.

“Have at it! ~” Scarlet swiftly threw his parasol towards her; Celia only had a second to dodge to the side, only to immediately see scarlet right in front. ‘He’s so fast-‘ Celia raised her arm to block strike. It landed on her. She winced, that hurt. The explorer didn’t have time to recover before realizing Scarlet already had his parasol with him and struck her at the face, making her stumble to the side. She took the opportunity to get far from him.

Celia let go of the debris she held on her other claw as she raised it to graze her face. That was definitely going to bruise her shell. He threw that thing at her, why suddenly return? Just how did Team Snakemouth beat this guy?? She stared at him, wide-eyed “You- you’re pretty strong-” Of course he is, he was able to knock the both of them out during their first encounter. What kind of comment was that supposed to be? Celia panted, her stamina was much worse than usual, or was it because of the alcohol?

She was starting to miss her shield, using a sword was not her forte.

Monsieur Scarlet smirked, tsking, “Shame, shame my dear~ I was hoping that would knock you out.” His yes darkened, “It would’ve made my a plan a lot easier…”

The drone swiftly struck again, gripping the handles of his parasol as he slowly advanced towards her. Celia grunts trying to keep up with the latter’s attacks. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to play defensive, using Levi’s sword to block his parasol from hitting her. It was effective at first, managing to dodge the first two strikes and parry some of them, even if her grip was a little bad, terrible even. But none of those really helped with the weight of his attacks. They some of them still hits, and he hits hard.

“Oh?” Scarlet noticed her focus on defending, his smirk turned into a knowing smile. He couldn’t help but feel delight knowing he had the upper hand. Maybe after this he could feast on her- Without a warning he swung his parasol heavily upward making Celia welp, disrupting her balance.

It staggered her, and the pink ant sneered, not wasting time. He pushed her to the ground. Celia landed on her back, knocking the air right out of her. She grunted at the sudden fall, still managing to keep a hold of the sword. Yet, right before she could use it properly Scarlet stomped on her wrist, twisting his foot. Celia cried in pain, using her other claw to pry his foot off.

Scarlet towered over her, using his weight to keep her pinned down. His hat casted a shadow over them, limiting her view to only him. The drone lifted his closed parasol making the sharp ferrule hover over her shoulder. Celia manages to take a good look on it, before he roughly stabbed her with it

Celia screeched, the sharp tip piercing her armor and digging right painfully into her chitin.

He did not hold back, using both arms to shove it deeper. Celia had no choice but to use her free arm to try and get him off of her. Unsuccessfully so, carrying bugs was never such a problem for her—why can’t she get him off of her. And now she can’t get his stupid parasol out of her. Her antenna twitched; she was already smelling hemolymph; it was faint but it was there.

Scarlet leaned closer to her face, “You have gotten on my nerves quite enough my dear…”

He was closing in on her, mandibles and fangs in sight. Celia was panicking she shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see Scarlet anymore. Her mind was racing, she couldn’t think straight. She knew—She knew she couldn’t fight him on her own. Her head was pounding, her arm ached. They were going to die; she was going to die.

Celia could feel his parasol dug onto her shoulder, she can’t get him off, she wasn’t thinking straight, she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know what do to, she---

­-Shing-

“Alright, that’s ‘nuff’”

Celia heard a familiar voice and both her and Scarlet froze.

The blue ant opened her eyes to see Stratos have his large sword to his neck. The pink drone froze, his yes locked behind him. He couldn’t properly move, not without the hercules beetle’s weapon being one slice away from killing him.

“How dare-”

“Heyy, mind if we join the fun?” Delilah stood across her teammate, looking down at them smugly. She had her bazooka with her, aimed directly at the criminal. She glanced at Celia “Hey C!”

She blined, Celia couldn’t have been so happy to see them.

She felt the pressure on her shoulder lift up. Scarlet slowly raised both of his arms, setting down his weapon. Stratos moved to give him space to get off of her. And he did so, careful not to make any sudden movements. Delilah looked relaxed, not caring about the danger in front of her at all. How strong was Team Slacker again?

“That’s it, nice and easy.” The mosquito giggled, keeping her weapon aimed at him. She turned to the ant, “I think you left something!”

She eyed Levi and Celia followed when she stood up, clutching her shoulder in pain. Her shield was next to the ladybug’s unconscious body. Well, it was next to Eetl as well. Just great. The blue beetle was looking after her teammate, he looks so worried. She was glad they came to her rescue but, Eetl being here means they need to report what happened tonight. And she was not all too gleeful to write-up her team almost dying do to one big mistake of getting wasted. Not a good look to their team, let alone the association as a whole.

Before she could ask Delilah how they found them, a force suddenly pushed them. It wasn’t strong but it was enough to catch them off guard. The last thing she saw was Scarlet getting away with his stupid flower teleportation thing. Celia’s irritation merely doubled, he just got away. Again.

But she was just thankful she lived.

Stratos cursed lowly. He turned towards Celia and Delilah. “You good?”

“Oh she’s fine." Delilah waved a claw as she giggled, walking next to her teammate.

“Aww… were kinda hoping to join in y’know? The both of you seemed to be having quite the fun!”

Celia grinned sheepishly “Unless you consider having a near death experience ‘fun’, then be my guest.”

“Give or take,” She took away her weapon and so did the large beetle.

“We actually planned on getting your shield back to your house, it was pretty funny how you just straight up forgot about it. Either way you were in luck we decided to not slack around, eh?” Delilah spoke, snickering.

Celia sighed, burying her face on her claws, she muttered “Thanks…”

Delilah rolled her eyes playfully, “Anyways, Stratos and I are gonna go home. I take it you can handle things on your own now?”

The ant nodded, “I… We owe you guys one…”

Delilah grinned at her “Oh forget it, it’s fine.” She turned to Stratos “Alright we’ll see you to it, Ta ta! ~” the beetle also gave his fair share of goodbye and Team slacker disappeared to the night. Celia was still processing the whole thing; her body is going to be aching at her for the next few days.

“Celia!” Eelt ran towards her. “Oh my Goddesses- Are you okay?! Are you hurt??”

The ant was supposed to reassure him, but the Eetl was already freaking out.

“Thank goodness Team Slacker was nearby, I heard screaming and realized it was your voice and I panicked and-”

Celia held her hands up, winching at the sudden sharp pain but she was trying to calm him down. “Alright relax, relax,” The ant huffed “Everything is under control…”

Eetl sighed “I hope so…” he noticed the wound on her shoulder. “We need to get you to a medic!”

“It’s fine Eetl, really…’

The other shook his head, insisting they get back to the association. He asked for Team Slacker but they were long gone. Eetl carried Levi all the way to the association where they met Maki and Artis still awake at this hour. Celia definitely gripped her shield tightly. Planning to commission the weaponsmith to make a strap for it.

The moment Levi got up from his slumber. Team Celia ended up getting scolded my Maki for about another hour.