An ant worked as it consumed and stored aphid dew for the colony. The ant followed the pheromones of its fellow comrades, sticking to its assigned trails. Upon completing her route, the ant began its return to the colony. Unknown to the little ant, a hidden predator was stalking her in the dark.
The ant followed the trail of pheromones out of the Flower Forest. She trekked onto leaves, wary of any possible predators until she reached the ant mound. A hill of dirt, where thousands of ants traversed through. The ant mound seemed to be in the outer regions of the regular forest, and out of the Flower Forest. Zack had found his target's home base.
Zack spied on the entrance and would've frowned if his mantis features allowed. The entrance to the ant mound was much smaller than him. It only allowed little ants in and out of the mound, but something wasn't adding up. If the entrance was that small how were Soldier ants able to enter? There must be more to it, so Zack decided to collect more data. His hiding spot wasn't the best, but his whitish-pink coloring functioned well with his ability. Laying close to the roots of the tree, Zack blended into a cluster of white mushrooms.
Hours passed until he saw it, and a hunting party had returned. They carried separate pieces of a dead spider as they passed their fellow ants. Their size was twice that of their siblings, so they wouldn't be able to fit into the main entrance. However, they didn't head towards the main entrance but moved off into the distance. Suddenly they were gone. Zack's metaphorical eyes widened, and he moved with haste to figure out what happened.
After a bit of searching, he found it. A hole that was a little larger than 10 mm in size. Much bigger than the main entrance yet half his size, but it was enough. Zack thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't molt yet, or else he would've been too big. Crouching down, Zack compressed his legs inward and laid his head down. His limbs scuttled the ground pushing Zack into the hole.
The tunnel was a little cramped, but enough for movement. If something attacked him from the front it was possible to retaliate. Then Zack waited, he waited until an ant came over. It was a smaller ant and not a soldier ant. Now time for the moment of truth. Zack didn't want to get trapped in tight tunnels with thousands of bloodthirsty ants, so he needed to do some tests. Mimic Flora activated and Zack patiently watched the ant's reaction.
The ant slowly got closer and then it tapped Zack's carapace. No reaction, Zack held still. After the initial inspection, the ant lost its wariness. It crawled onto Zack to examine the situation. Then it tasted sweetness, the mushroom-like object was covered in honey. The ant immediately got to work informing its fellow ants to help bring the mushroom into the mound.
Perfect, it worked better than Zack expected. Initially, he had planned to disguise himself as a mushroom to sneak into the ant mound. He stuck close to the exit to see the ant's reaction to foreign objects within the mound, but this was even better. The ants would be giving him a personal tour of the ant mound. The leftover honey on his carapace was an accident. After slaughtering the convoy earlier this morning, he wasn't able to fully clean himself. Which led to the current situation.
However, in the case his Mimic Flora ability failed Zack would've given up on his plan. While he wanted revenge, it was not at the cost of his own life. Zack refocused on the ants, he was in enemy territory, and getting lost in his thoughts was a stupid idea. Tens of ants collected in the tunnel and pulled him deeper into the mound. Their mandibles scratched his carapace but otherwise did not harm him. Zack made sure to shield his eyes and antennae with his forelimbs.
Carried down the winding tunnels Zack saw the true form of the colony. It was like an active war machine, each ant served as a cog to propel another. Zack held no doubt if he were to be swarmed by them death was but a certainty. The ants brought him down the tunnels as Zack peered through the gaps of his forelimbs. When they passed by a cluster of eggs Zack finally knew they were close. As for where they were carrying him it didn't matter. The tunnels below grew wider, providing enough space for greater movement. So in the case of a fight, Zack wouldn't be at the ant colony's mercy.
And then he saw it, the Ant Queen. Down the tunnel guarded by ants 20 mm in size. Luckily their number only totaled four ants. However, that wasn't counting the dozens of other ants tending to the queen within her chambers. Zack's antennae twitched. It seemed assassinating the Ant Queen was a lot more challenging than he first thought. The ants carrying him suddenly turned left, and now the Queen's chamber was out of sight.
Now! Zack's forelimbs crushed an ant at the front and his legs launched the others away. The unexpected attack left the ants defenseless and stunned. Zack used his ability Flowery Aroma to spread out a pungent smell. He had spent time collecting the aroma of different flowers and found this one particularly useful in disrupting pheromones.
Pheromones essentially acted as an ant's main method of communication. When the main method of communication is cut off, all that remains is chaos. In their panic, the ants lost track of Zack. He had already reached the entrance of the Queen's chamber. Zack activated his two abilities offensively. To their senses, Zack had suddenly turned into a walking mushroom. Additionally, the pheromones from the ants that carried him here had yet to warn of an enemy because of Flowery Aroma.
However, the four Royal guards protecting the Ant Queen immediately charged at Zack. An unexpected reaction, but Zack had his claws at the ready. Zack clashed with the first Royal guard. His scythes met the mandibles of the ant. The Royal guard's strength outmatched Zack's own. But that wasn't Zack's strong suit anyway. Pulling back his claws, Zack crouched low and then struck the head of the ant from below. The Royal guard was flung upwards by the underhanded strike. Although, the attack did little damage it gave Zack an opportunity. The neck of the Royal guard was out in the open until Zack's mandibles severed its head. One down, three more to go.
The battle had taken place at the entrance to the Queen's chamber, essentially creating a funnel. Only one Royal guard could pass at a time. In this case, their size was a detriment. Zack threw the Royal guard's corpse behind himself. The action served to let another opponent come and block off any ants attacking from the rear. The pungent smell from Flowery Aroma wouldn't last forever and Zack planned to escape with his life intact.
Facing the second Royal Guard, Zack swiftly took it down like the previous one. But, the expenditure of such swift attacks was starting to catch up to him. The third Royal guard's attacks were harder to contend with than the previous two. Additional support from the Queen's chamber had also come. Luckily Zack only had to deal with the smaller ants as the Solider ants were too big to fight alongside the Royal guard.
The smaller ants though provided a nuisance that restricted his movements a certain amount. However, Zack's battle intellect wasn't to be underestimated even with his movements restricted. Leaning towards the Royal guard, Zack focused on the big ant's legs. Right when it pushed forward Zack leaned back. The mandibles of the Royal guard crunched empty air. Two scythes stabbed the Royal guard's eyes as Zack's mandibles bit off its antennas. Blinded in sight and smell, Zack mercilessly ended the defenseless Royal guard with a bite to the head.
Zack repeated the action of chucking the dead Royal guard behind him. His movements though were sluggish, but his new opponent didn't give him any respite. Exhausted, Zack knew he had to end this quickly. Not because he was going to lose to the Royal guard, but because the whole ant colony was about to be on top of him. Zack summoned energy from the depths of his body and pushed his Mimic Flora ability tirelessly. Zack cycled between as many plants as he could imagine and fed them into the Mimic Flora ability. The Royal guard froze. The image of the enemy turning into a hundred different plants was too overwhelming for the Royal guard's simple mind. With a swift swipe, Zack pulled the Royal guard close and killed it.
Not even praying to his kills, Zack hurried into the Queen's chambers. Zack finally got a good view of his target. The Ant Queen's abdomen was large and freshly laid eggs were shuttled away by the ants. It seemed the pungent smell from Flowery Aroma kept most of the ants in the Queen's chamber unaware of the intruder. Only those close to the chamber's entrance had picked up the pheromones warning of an intruder. Zack didn't care though, with slow movement he grabbed the Queen and ended her life.
The kill had been anticlimactic, but all Zack needed was a dead Ant Queen. Cycling through all those plants and using Mimic Flora had strained his mind. A headache had formed as a result and it wasn't the soft kind. In a state of calm, he quietly prayed to the Queen and used his Mimic Flora once more.
The death of the Queen had sent the ants into a state of frenzy. The ants outside the chambers were furious as well after learning of an intruder so deep in the colony. Despite their fury, they were all so clueless about the intruder's exact location. The intruder's scent went down many tunnels and passages. His smell lingered wherever he went, blocking communication of any kind. All he left was a trail of ant corpses. The assassination was a success.