Vanessa

Wasp Kingdom, Queen

[Story, walk up]

Vanessa: ...! You... Who are you?

Leif: What?

(minibubble) Kabbu: !?

Vi: Uh, are you the King's, um…

Vanessa: Heavens, no! I'm but a hostage in my own castle…

Vanessa: I am Vanessa II, ruler of the Wasp Kingdom.

Vanessa: Or so I was, before that poser somehow stole my people's minds and locked me in my own chambers…

Vanessa: Could it be you've come to save me?

Kabbu: Er...It would be a lie to say so.

Leif: We came to defeat the King. He's not here?

Vi: Or at least to take the artifact…

Vanessa: I'm afraid not. He left the general in charge some time ago, when he decided to attack the Ant Kingdom.

Vanessa: I have not seen him since.

Kabbu: What? How could this be?! He was driven out of the Ant Kingdom and we've had reports he...

Kabbu: C-COULD IT BE!?

Leif: This is bad! Disastrous!

Vi: Uh, what's up?

Leif: We were tricked! There's no artifact here!

Vi: WHAT!?

Kabbu: The general lied through his dirty jaws! Curses!

Vanessa: Your kingdom must be in danger, too!

Kabbu: We must return, immediately!

Vanessa: Please, allow me to accompany you. It would not be wise for me to stay here.

Leif: Have your people forsaken you completely?

Vanessa: ...My people have lost their minds, even if I do not know how. We cannot rely on them!

Vi: Let's leg it! What if the town's all ruined again!?

Kabbu: With haste!


Wasp Kingdom, Throne Room

Fuff: HYEHEHEHEHEH!

Fuff: You fell for our trap! I cannot help but LAUGH!

Vanessa: General Fuff!

Fuff: NOT MY NAME! And you're too late! Our attack at the Ant Kingdom may have failed the first time…

Fuff: But the second time, with you lot and that sword guy out of the way…

Fuff: Our glorious King will finally take all the artifacts!

Kabbu: Curses! We won't be able to get back in time!

Leif: We played right into their hand...!

Vi: Grrr! Get out of the way!

Fuff: Gladly! Not like you can do anything to stop us now!

Fuff: HYEHEHEHEHEH!

Kabbu: No time to waste! Let's meet up with Maki and rush to the Ant Kingdom!

Maki: Team Snakemouth! What's wrong? Did you find the artifact?

Kabbu: Maki! We have no time! We must go to the Ant Kingdom right now! You see…


Ant Kingdom, Main Plaza

Vi: ...Town looks more than fine… Did that poser lie to us!?

Maki: No. I can feel something is off. We must hurry to the Queen.

Vanessa: I shall accompany you. I do wish to talk to the Queen about the situation as well.

Maki: Yes, I shall escort you.

Maki: Team Snakemouth, please join us whenever you are ready.


Ant Palace, Throne Room

Kabbu: You vile filth! Step away from the Queen!

Maki: T-Team Snakemouth...I'm sorry. My injury…

(minibubble) Elizant: Nghgh..

Vanessa: You blasted usurper! Will you burn all of Bugaria to the ground to reach your foolish ambitions!?

Hoaxe: Hmph. You're all so pathetic. Pitiable.

Hoaxe: A King holds absolute power over his people. He is not meant to serve... He is to be served!

Hoaxe: To command! To possess! To enjoy! That is the privilege of royalty! And it shall all be mine!

Hoaxe: You haven't learned your lesson? Shall I thaw out your ice in flame once and for all?

Vi: Like we'd fall for the same trick twice!

Hoaxe: You WOULD!

Kina: Team Snakemouth!

Neo: Kabbu!

Hoaxe: MOVE!

Maki: KINA!!!

Elizant: Stop! You will hurt my people no longer!

Hoaxe: Hand them over. All of them.

Hoaxe: Or I will pry them from your carcass!

Elizant: …

Zaryant: N-No! If we do, he'll…

Hoaxe: You have until my axe swings... To say YES!

Elizant: ...

Hoaxe: It'll be all the same, when I come back with the power of the Everlasting Sapling.

Hoaxe: You shall all bow to me once more - but you shall keep breathing.

Hoaxe: Enjoy your last days of peace, lowlives!

Elizant: Grrr...…curse it all...!

Leif: We lost... That's no way to end a show…

Maki: My Queen, all I've done is fail you…

Kina: Stay still, Maki... You're even more hurt than me.

Neo: It's okay. A-At least we're all safe…

Vi: It's not! He's just gonna get the sapling and come back!

Kabbu: What could be the source of his power…

Leif: Elizant…

Leif: No, Queen. Thank you. For choosing to save us.

Elizant: ...

Elizant: I do not deserve your gratitude. I've failed everyone. You, my loyal people. My mother, the Queen…

Elizant: It would be folly to pretend I deserve this royal mask.

(minibubble) Leif: ...

Zaryant: My Queen... That's not true! We couldn't ask for one better!

Zaryant: You are our mother! Our beacon of hope!

Elizant: Thank you, Zaryant. But now all has been taken away from us. The Wasp King possesses the keys to find the sapling.

Elizant: I have failed as both your Queen and mother of our people.

Zaryant: N-No…

Vanessa: ...I know I am an outsider to all this, but may I speak?

Vanessa: When the King usurped my people, I cowered and hid. I have never raised a blade…

Vanessa: I simply believed my subjects would always follow me, no matter what.

Vanessa: I don't know how, but he turned them all on me just like that…

Vanessa: If you are not a Queen, I am but a peasant.

Maki: I would never serve one without conviction and integrity.

Kabbu: You've given us all the chance to thrive in your city!

Elizant: …

Elizant: Your words are kind, but I cannot accept them.

Elizant: As we speak, the Wasp King must be heading towards the Everlasting Sapling…

Elizant: Yet we have no way to pursue…

Leif: Elizant, please answer us finally. Why do you desire the sapling? Why go through all this?

Kabbu: I assumed it would be to keep yourself young and fit to rule…

Vi: Uh, right. No one wants to get old!

Elizant: ...Fair assumptions. But no, it was never something for my own gain.

Elizant: I might as well tell you, then. The reason for my search.

Elizant: The true Queen, Elizant I... My mother, she yet lives.

Elizant: She was put in a deep slumber, using crystal energy. A sort of stasis.

Elizant: It was her dream to get the sapling so she could continue to rule Bugaria for years to come.

Elizant: ...I wished only to bring her back with it.

Elizant: A graceful Queen, loved by all. A diplomatic genius, who ended wars without combat.

Elizant: I longed for her return... So that I may concede my throne to her.

Elizant: For she is so much more than I have ever been.

Leif: …

Leif: We truly thought wrong of your intentions. But the truth sounds even more insane…

Vi: Wow! That's awesome!

(minibubble) Maki: ...

(minibubble) Kina: ...

(minibubble) Leif: ...

Kabbu: Um, I'm not sure if that would be my reaction…

Vi: We need to go beat up the King! Whatever he wants isn't any better!

Kabbu: If we knew where he was going, we would have some chance, but…

Neo: A-Actually! I do know where! Probably!

Kina: Were you ever gonna tell us? Speak up!

Neo: R-Right. I was, uh, waiting for the right moment. The King is certainly going for the sapling, yeah?

Neo: Analyzing everything we know so far, my conclusion is the sapling must be in the Giant's Lair!

(minibubble) Elizant: ...

Vi: You mean that giant wall we can see from the big tree? The haunted place?! THAT Giant's Lair?!?!

Elizant: A towering behemoth of steel and wood, said to have housed the previous rulers of these lands. The so called giants.

Elizant: It is forbidden to go there. None who enter have come back.

Maki: ...In hindsight, it makes sense it'd be there. Even if we needed the artifacts to enter.

Kina: We need a boat to get there though. Doubt the Wasps will let us sail in fine and dandy.

Zaryant: Tch. They were one step ahead of us. We had just received reports that the ships at the pier were sunk by the Wasps!

Vi: W-What do we do, then? Bees can't build boats or anything...

Vanessa: ...! If you'd allow me to suggest something, why not ask the Termite Kingdom?

Vi: There's a Termite Kingdom?

Kabbu: They are an isolationist yet advanced society that lives just outside Bugaria…

Kabbu: They hate daylight so they don't make much contact.

Kabbu: Some species go for a visit, but they forbid entrance to all Ants.

Leif: ...Or that's how they used to be. Right, our Queen?

Elizant: When my mother went into her sleep, I was not...skilled enough to maintain her level of diplomacy. And our alliance fell apart.

(minibubble) Zaryant: My Queen...

Elizant: But they are our only hope. I will go, injured though I may be. I shall request an audience and do what it takes.

Zaryant: I must oppose! The Termites live deep in the Forsaken Lands! That area is teeming with dangerous beasts!

Zaryant: You must NOT put yourself in such danger! I will prepare envoys at once!

Elizant: If this was any other time, I would agree with you... But there is no choice!

Elizant: We are only in dire straits because of me. I will go myself, and that is final.

Zaryant: Hnngh…

Maki: If only I was strong as you, my Queen. Injured as I am…

Elizant: Maki, Zaryant, you two rally up all explorers. Do not let rumors and panic spread.

Elizant: When we return, we shall strike the Wasps.

Elizant: They most certainly have seized the Rubber Prison as we speak.

Elizant: That is the only known way inside the Giant's Lair from Bugaria.

Elizant: But right now we will move to the Forsaken Lands. I will need an escort to ensure I arrive at the Termite Kingdom.

Elizant: Team Snakemouth, I shall wait for you in the Golden Path Tunnel. The old entrance to the Forsaken Lands is located there.

Elizant: Also, Vanessa, please feel free to stay at our palace.

Elizant: We do not have much to offer, but we will make sure to treat you as you deserve.

Vanessa: Why, you have my gratitude Elizant. It seems you misjudge your ability to impress and court!

Vanessa: Our mothers may have had trouble in the past, but we can change the relationship between Ants and Wasps for generations to come.

Elizant: ...Is that so? Then let us share a meal when this is all dealt with.

Elizant: Team Snakemouth, we must hurry. Do not keep me waiting.

Zaryant: Team Snakemouth... Please protect the Queen.

Leif: You can count on us.

Textbox: Chapter 6: Assault on Rubber Prison


Ant Palace, War Room

[ch6, before reaching Termite Kingdom]

Vanessa: Team Snakemouth... I apologize in behalf of my people, but right now I am powerless.

Vanessa: I shall help in any way I can, however. Please be careful, the Forsaken Lands are mysterious and a true maze.

Vanessa: Only the Termites themselves know the way through that place.

Vanessa: ...You're the ones who found all the artifacts of legend, so maybe you can do it. Good luck.


[after reaching Termite Kingdom]

Vanessa: Oh, you managed to get through the Forsaken Lands?

Vanessa: You truly are exceptional fellows... if only you were there at the Wasp Kingdom at the time…

Vanessa: This all could have been prevented…

Vanessa: Oh, don't mind me. Just thinking out aloud...


Rubber Prison, Giant Lair Bridge

[post-battle]

Fuff: N-No! You won't pass! No one can pass!!!

Vi: Knock it off! You already lost!

Fuff: NO ONE WILL PASS! THOSE ARE THE KING'S ORDERS!

Fuff: I...I HAVE TO FOLLOW THE KING'S ORDERS!

Fuff: I...I MUST FOLLOW...

Kabbu: T-This isn't normal!

Leif: That Wasp in the kingdom said everyone'd gone nuts…

Leif: Could this one be controlled too?

Vi: Just let us pass!

Fuff: YOU WILL HAVE TO CRUSH MY BODY!

Vi: ...That works.

Leif: That king employs such distasteful tactics.

Leif: Let's leave this poor guy to the Ant Kingdom.

Kabbu: Indeed. Let's secure the area so reinforcements can come in.

Kabbu: Then, we'll have to give swift chase!

Kabbu: I will send the signal!

Mothiva: Ohohoho! The cavalry's here! Aren't you glad?

Celia: Great work clearing the way, Team Snakemouth!

Eri: Yeah. It's gonna be smooth sailing from here!

Maki: We cannot celebrate yet. The Wasp King is brutally powerful.

Kina: He's gonna pay for bruising you!

Yin: Muh muh!

Elizant: Indeed. But for now, we are fortunate to have gotten this far.

Vanessa: Are we sure it's alright with everyone having come?

Elizant: Queen Bianca has gracefully offered to protect the Ant Kingdom while we fulfill this mission.

Vi: Woah, I thought she was a super pacifist!

Zasp: Can't reason with a mad bug.

Elizant: My knights and trusted explorers! Make your final preparations. We venture into Giant's Lair - No Bug's Land!

Elizant: None have returned from it. We have no legends, no way to know what's inside.

Elizant: But if we do not face this challenge, we don't deserve tomorrow's freedom! Let us pray to Venus and charge!

Levi: What a magnificent rally! I'm pumped up!

Leif: Hmm. She's come far, hasn't she?

Kabbu: Even you were moved, eh Leif?

Vi: Time to kick some butt!

Vanessa: It's time...Bugaria will be saved today, but I too will reclaim my people. Let's go!

Mothiva: Idols first!


Vanessa: Lead the way when your preparations are complete.


[Story, walk to entrance to Lair]

Vanessa: Team Snakemouth.

Kabbu: May we be of service, Queen Vanessa?

Vanessa: While you ventured into the Termite Kingdom, I did some studying of my own.

Vanessa: I think the Wasp King is hiding something. The source of his strength…

Vanessa: It probably lies in his crown.

Vi: Huh? How's a crown gonna pump you up?

Vanessa: Before I explain, I want you to have this.

Textbox: The Wasp Queen has entrusted you with the Flame Brooch!

Leif: What is this amulet? It feels so...warm.

Vanessa: This is the Wasp Kingdom's royal heirloom. My mother gave it to me, and told me to protect it no matter what.

Kabbu: Queen! Is it really alright for us to have this?

Vanessa: Of course. See, this emblem's been protecting me all this time…

Vi: I don't get how this is gonna help.

Vanessa: This amulet's magical. I don't know how, but it always protected me against the Wasp King's flames.

Vanessa: I am not a fighter, but you will most likely need this more than I do now.

Kabbu: We will safeguard it. It is an honor to be trusted with a royal treasure!

Vanessa: Be safe. And beat the heck out of that usurper!


Ant Palace, Bridge

[Ending]

Vanessa: My people are free...I will never be able to thank you enough.

Leif: You don't need to, it was the right thing to do.

Vanessa: So humble! Please, I hope you'll visit our Kingdom now that the dust's settled.


Wasp Kingdom, Throne Room

[postgame]

[first talk]

Vanessa: Team Snakemouth...I owe you and all the kingdoms a great debt.

Vi: Nah. You saved us with the Flame Brooch!

Kabbu: Speaking of...we've come to return it.

Vanessa: You're too kind. I was fully prepared to entrust it to you.

Leif: It's the Wasp Kingdom's heirloom. Not something for us to own.

Vanessa: ...Thank you. But it could still prove useful in your journey.

Vanessa: Might you protect it just a bit longer? There's no rush.

Kabbu: Queen Vanessa...! Very well. You can count on us.

Vanessa: You've reminded me... This isn't much, but please accept it in the name of our recovering Kingdom.

Vi: W-Woah! WOAH!!! T-Thanks!

Leif: Good luck with everything, Queen. You've got your work cut out for you.

Vanessa: I'll be alright. And I know I can count on you if anything happens.

Kabbu: Indeed! Don't hesitate to come to us!


[talk again]

Vanessa: Make yourselves feel at home. You've got my sincere gratitude.


[Quest: A New Hope]

Fuff: Team Snakemouth. I received a report that Roy's quest was taken…

Roy: I heard you saved my people... Thank you.

Vanessa: And our people, as well. You will always have our gratitude.

Kabbu: I-It was nothing!

Vi: Come on, it was really something!

Leif: ...How can we help?

Roy: Our botanists have been working together…

Roy: We're ready to test planting crops in the Dead Lands.

Leif: Is it a good idea?

Roy: One day, the Dead Lands could be filled with life…

Roy: There's no way I'll give up on that dream.

Kabbu: ...Count on us!

Vi: Yeah! It's gonna work for sure!

Vanessa: With the trials you've faced, I have no doubt you'll be safe.

Roy: Shall we go, then? We're headed towards the cold behemoth's entrance.

\

Npc Spies

[Ant Palace, War Room]

Vi: She lost her people to a faker... That's gotta sting!

Leif: Very empathetic of you.

Vi: Ants, Bees and Wasps aren't that different. Most just follow whoever's in the throne.

Vi: But we love our Queen, so it just feels a bit sad…

Kabbu: You've truly grown, Vi! Your maturity shines pride on me!

Vi: Stop it! You're embarassing me!

Leif: Guess you're not THAT mature yet...


[Rubber Prison, Giant Lair Bridge]

Kabbu: Everybody's here!

Vi: Yeah! We're good enough, but this is great!

Leif: It's very reassuring. Heh. We've made good friends.

Kabbu: We cannot afford to lose, for all of their sakes!


[Wasp Kingdom, Throne Room]

Kabbu: Queen Vanessa has retaken control of the kingdom.

Leif: We may never know how the Wasp King just hypnotized everyone...creepy stuff.

Vi: Well, everyone's back to normal, right? It's all that matters!