"Oh crap, that's right! I almost forgot about the princess. She must be scared and confused right now," Ari said to himself.
"Anastasia, give me a hand. We still need to find the princess."
"You're right. It slipped my mind as well. Let's go," said Anastasia as they both ran off.
"I get an uneasy feeling when I'm around this ant. I know he's like us, but there's just something so different about him. He's a great strategist, and he's really fast, like the ones in the stories my father used to tell me. He's a pretty alright ant in my book. I wish he didn't have to leave us at all," Anastasia said to herself.
Princess Tanya woke up in a dark place. She couldn't see anything but a log above her.
"Where am I? What is this place?" Tanya asked, confused and afraid.
"Oh, that's right. Vladimir betrayed the colony. He used stink bug gas on me, knocking me out and leaving me here. I can't believe he would do such a thing, especially to me. I've known him my whole life, and I never noticed any evil intentions.
"I guess Ari was telling the truth. He cared for our well-being, and what did we do? We called him a liar. I said all those hurtful things to him when all he wanted was someone to believe him. If only I wasn't drowning in my own guilt, I could have asked the queen to consider what he was saying, and now this colony will be gone for good.
"I have to get out of here. If the colony is going to cease to exist, then I should also disappear with it," said Tanya as she tried to escape. However, she was bound with a gooey substance. She tried using her legs to kick away the log, but it was too heavy for her to move.
"It's no use. It won't budge. What am I going to do? Am I going to die here? Will no one ever find me? Was I destined to die such a pitiful death? I don't want to die here," said Princess Tanya as tears rolled down her eyes.
"Before the invasion, I asked the queen where Vladimir's chamber was, and she told me. I didn't tell her my reason for wanting this information, but that's the only place I think he would hide her," Ari said to himself.
"To make matters worse, I don't know which one of these is Vladimir's. Princess Tanya! Princess Tanya! Where are you? Princess Tanya!" shouted Ari at the top of his lungs.
"I can hear Ari calling me. I must be imagining things. Everyone must be dead by now," said Tanya.
"Princess Tanya! Where are you?" asked Ari.
"Wait a minute. That's Ari's voice! He came looking for me! I need to find a way to get his attention."
Tanya knocked on the piece of wood to make noise so Ari could hear her. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Ari! I'm over here, in Vladimir's chamber!"
"I hear banging in that room. Could she be...?"
As Ari entered Vladimir's chamber, he called out Tanya's name once more.
"Princess Tanya!"
Tanya banged on the piece of wood even harder and shouted, "I'm here!"
"She's down there, behind this log. I've got to move it somehow," Ari said to himself as he pushed the log with all his strength until he successfully removed it.
"There you are. I finally found you," said Ari as he smiled.
Tanya was overwhelmed with emotions, and tears came to her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Ari. I should have believed you about Vladimir," she said with teary eyes.
"It's understandable. It's natural to believe someone you've known your whole life over some prisoner you met in a couple of days," said Ari as he removed the gooey substance from Tanya's hands.
"Strangely enough, only those who place this gooey material on an ant can remove it. However, for some reason, I'm able to undo this. I wonder why?" Ari asked himself.
"Why are you so calm? What about the colony and the invasion?"
"Rest assured, all of that was taken care of. It's a long story. You should get some sleep and recover your strength before I tell you all that has happened."
"Yes," said Princess Tanya as she took Ari's hand and stood up. However, her eyes were immediately met with Vladimir's.
A shocked expression was clearly on her face, and Ari noticed it. He immediately grabbed Tanya and jumped out of the way, barely avoiding Vladimir's stinger spear, which left a hole in the ground.
"I finally found you, scum. If it weren't for you, my plans would have gone smoothly, and I'd be given my reward."
"Please stand back, Princess. He's after me, so get out of here."
"But I can't just leave you here! He'll kill you!"
"Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Just go," said Ari.
The princess ran with tears in her eyes, knowing that Ari wouldn't make it out alive.
"I know I told her that I'd be fine, but he's way stronger than me. I'm scared right now, but trembling in fear won't save me from this situation."
"I'm going to enjoy ripping you limb from limb," said Vladimir as he rushed at Ari.
Vladimir swung his spear at Ari with heavy strikes, which he managed to barely dodge. However, he left himself open for a kick, sending him flying into the walls of the tunnel. Before he could recover from the attack, Vladimir lunged at him with the intent to kill, aiming at his head, which he barely managed to dodge.
"You're fast, I'll give you that. However, you can't dodge death forever," said Vladimir as he attempted to pierce Ari with the spear.
Ari dodged again but was completely unaware of the left hook coming his way, knocking him through walls and back into Vladimir's chamber.
"I told you that it was no use. Now be a good ant and hold still for your death," said Vladimir as he swung his spear once more.
"This is it. I will die again. I wonder where I'll end up next," Ari said to himself as he closed his eyes.
"I didn't feel an impact," said Ari as he opened his eyes to see that Anastasia had blocked the attack with her mandibles.
"You must be glad that I got here on time, Ari," said Anastasia as she pushed Vladimir away.
"I didn't think that he could take on Commander Seth by himself in the state he's in. However, I was wrong. I found Seth unconscious on the floor, and I knew exactly where he'd go—and that's after you, Ari."
"You're an idiot. If Seth couldn't beat me, what makes you think you can?" asked Vladimir.
"I don't need to. I just need to hold out long enough until backup arrives."
"I see. I guess I'll not be sticking around for that. This will not be the last time you'll see me. The next time we meet, you'll be dead," said Vladimir as he bulldozed his way out of the colony.