An Ant attack

“So…” Toph started saying as she threw a boulder at a cluster of Giant Bullet Ants that were trying to ambush the two of you.

“Yes?” You reply as you use the frying pan to cave in an ant’s head. The two of you, once away from the cliff, have been sharing information with each other. Thankfully due to the wording of Toph’s questions, you were able to truthfully tell that you didn’t know how exactly you showed up in this forest. You informed her that you had woken up in a pod of your own.

“Did your people have something to do with me ending up in that pod?” She asked with a suspicious tone of voice as she easily finished off the next group of ants to attack. Your heart skipped a beat as you tried to think of a good explanation that would keep her friendly.

“Okay be prepared to release a snark in case James here manages to fuck things up,” one of the show runners ordered as he watched the contestant who revealed too much information to the Toph. A snark being a little gerbil like creature from the Nickelodeon show The Troop that erases short term memories and used on the show as organic neuralyzer. The contestant should’ve known that the characters’ control mods made them not think about the contestant’s origins unless they brought it up. James should’ve known this and what to do with the loot from the bosses but he hasn’t done anything for some reason.

“Snark ready to be dropped if needed sir,” reported a Mr. Terrific. “Though I think a contestant getting chased by their first character might be more interesting for the viewers.”

“Good point…” the show runner said as he gained a thoughtful tone.

You were extremely grateful to your brother James and his need to research and find out random bits of information to be prepared for family game night. Really wish he didn’t get the two of you banned from trivia night after winning two months in a row. Thanks to him, you recalled something that could save your bacon and maybe gain some points with her.

“Probably,” You say casually as you start checking some of the ants for loot and stuff to harvest from them. “My people have technology, techniques, and magic that lets us travel to various worlds. To explore, trade, get resources and stuff. Maybe you decided to come over with our explorers; maybe as a negotiator or explorer yourself.”

“I’m going to unpack that traveling worlds part later,” Toph stated with a numb tone. “I think I would remember if I decided to travel to another world and get in a pod.”

“I know some models have defects that sometimes erase years of memories,” you replied as you recalled what problems the prototype and early model stasis pods caused a lot of trouble with early character snatches, enough to cause a year long suspension of character snatching to correct the issues. “Though they were supposed to have been recalled until they could fix that. Someone somewhere probably pocketed the money given to replace them.”

“Your people have some really fancy toys,” Toph shrugged as you finished salvaging and looting supplies from the ants. “Are you really collecting ant meat?”

“We don’t know if there is anyone out wherever we are, we need whatever food we can get. Plus insects have more protein per pound than most mammal meats,” you say, defending your looting habits from a Fallout vacation you took with your older siblings and your Raven (from Teen Titans 2003).

“I think I’ll stick to jerky and bread,” Toph said as we continued walking through the forest.

“Hey, with that seismic sense you told me about, why don’t you check for any good shelters or structures nearby? It's going to get dark soon.” You look at the sun which was getting somewhat close to the horizon.

“I’ll try, for some reason, everything is coming in less clear than it's supposed to,” Toph's face scrunched up in confusion and a bit of fear though that quickly hid itself. “And I can’t seem to feel as far as I should, maybe only a quarter or fifth of my range.” You knew that premium characters were nerfed in the beginning and had their full abilities unlocked as you either gained more characters or fought tougher enemies or wandered into more dangerous places but you weren’t going to tell her that.

“Maybe the pod messed that up as well?” You suggested with a shrug.

“Maybe…” Toph replied in a sedated tone. She then proceeded to stomp her foot on the ground, sending dust in the air. Once the dust cleared, your eyes bulged at the massive Giant Ant Warrior that was about to snap you up.

“Thanks for the rescue…”

“You’re welcome, now come on, I feel a house in this direction,” Toph started walking to the east and you hurried to follow after as you heard more large insects getting attracted to the sound of her attack.