The hotel lobby was unusually quiet, save for the distant hum of faulty fluorescent lights. The team had been on edge ever since the confrontation with Thomas Hennigan. Even Lojan, who usually kept the mood light with a joke or two, seemed strangely subdued.

  Lauri Cruise sat on a torn leather chair, scrolling through her phone. She was looking up old files and cross-referencing possible locations of Benito Garcia. The others were scattered around, each lost in their own thoughts. Josh stood by the window, peering out at the darkened streets, his fingers tapping nervously against the glass.

  Suddenly, a small buzzing sound caught Lauri's attention. She looked down to see a fat, sluggish beetle crawling across her leg. Without thinking, she swatted it off and stomped it under her boot with a satisfied squish.

  "That's one less bug in this dump," she muttered, her eyes still glued to her phone.

  Before anyone could respond, a distant buzzing sound filled the air. It grew louder, more intense, like a low, angry hum that seemed to come from all directions. William's ears perked up, and his face twisted with suspicion.

  "You hear that?" he asked, scanning the room.

  Lojan grinned. "Oh, I hear it. Sounds like a swarm of something nasty."

  Josh's eyes widened. "Lauri... what did you do?"

  Lauri looked up, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

  The buzzing grew louder, closer. Then they saw them—hornets, hundreds of them, pouring in through every crack and crevice in the walls, their black and yellow bodies swarming like a living cloud of fury. The room instantly filled with a frenzy of wings and angry stingers.

  "Everyone, move!" William shouted, manipulating metal from the walls to form a barrier around them. The hornets bounced off, but more kept coming.

  "They're attacking!" Josh yelled over the deafening buzz. He grabbed a can of bug spray from the hotel's lobby desk and began to spray wildly in the air. "Take this, you little monsters!"

  The hornets recoiled and began to fall to the ground, but the respite was short-lived. The sound of wings filled the air once again—this time, louder and even more numerous.

  Lauri turned to Josh, a look of panic spreading across her face. "That's not all of them! There's more!"

  As if on cue, thousands of flies started to pour into the lobby, creating a thick, writhing blanket of black. They came in through the windows, the vents, and even under the doors, filling the air with their high-pitched drone. The room grew darker as the swarm blocked out the lights.

  "Are you kidding me?" William muttered, his hands glowing with metallic energy as he tried to maintain the protective barrier.

  "This is ridiculous!" Josh exclaimed, swatting at the flies with his jacket. "What kind of person sends an army of bugs at us?"

  Lauri's eyes narrowed. "It has to be someone with insect control powers... maybe someone we haven't encountered yet."

  "Clappy Cheeks," Lojan interjected with a knowing grin. "She's the insect whisperer. Gets all weepy whenever a bug bites the dust. She's probably pissed about that beetle you squished, Lauri."

  Lauri rolled her eyes. "Seriously? We're dealing with someone who has a bug army just because I squashed a beetle?"

  The flies continued to swarm, and they were running out of space to breathe. "We need to get out of here," Vlad said, coughing as a few flies found their way into his mouth. "This place is going to be a tomb if we don't move now."

  Josh nodded. "Agreed! Everyone, follow me. There's a stairwell to the left."

  They moved as a group, pushing through the thick cloud of flies, trying to cover their faces to avoid inhaling the insects. The buzzing was deafening, making it hard to think straight.

  They stumbled through the door to the stairwell, slamming it shut behind them. Lauri used her ability to send a surge of electricity into the lock, temporarily sealing it.

  But the sound of buzzing remained, echoing up from below. "They're coming from the basement too!" Josh yelled.

  "Upstairs, then," William suggested. "We need to figure out how to deal with Clappy Cheeks."

  They began to climb, pushing upward as fast as they could. The buzzing sound continued to grow louder behind them, the swarm relentless in its pursuit.

  Josh glanced at Lauri. "Any bright ideas, sis?"

  Lauri smirked, despite the chaos around them. "We keep running, hope we find something useful on the way."

  "Terrific plan," Lojan quipped, his voice filled with mock enthusiasm. "Run like hell, hope we don't die. Classic Lauri."

  The team moved faster, their footsteps echoing in the narrow stairwell, the swarm hot on their heels.

  Josh, Lauri, William, and Vlad burst through the hotel's rooftop door, gasping for breath. The swarm of insects was finally behind them, the sound of buzzing muffled by the thick concrete walls. The night air felt crisp and cold, a stark contrast to the stifling, insect-filled stairwell they had just escaped.

  Lojan stumbled out last, covered from head to toe in red welts and stings. His face was puffy, his clothes torn, and his hair disheveled, but he was grinning like a madman.

  "Guess who's got the worst luck in the universe?" Lojan wheezed, patting himself down and wincing with each sting he touched. "This guy! But don't worry, I'm good as new in a few minutes."

  Josh rolled his eyes. "You're literally covered in bug stings, Lojan. How are you still smiling?"

  Lojan shrugged. "Can't help it! Pain just reminds me I'm alive... well, sort of alive."

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  Vlad smirked, lighting a cigarette with a flick of his lighter. "You're like a walking, talking cockroach, my friend."

  "High praise coming from you, Vlad," Lojan quipped back, wincing as his skin began to visibly heal, the swelling already starting to subside.

  Lauri leaned against the rooftop ledge, catching her breath. "Okay, we need a plan. Clappy Cheeks is out there, controlling these insects, and we have no idea where she is. She won't stop until she's flushed us out."

  Josh paced back and forth, his mind racing. "She's too elusive to track down. She's using the bugs to do her dirty work. We need to find a way to force her to show herself."

  William nodded, his expression serious. "We have to hit her where it hurts. If her power comes from her connection to these insects, then we need to attack that connection."

  Lojan, now free of any visible stings, chimed in. "So... we kill more bugs?"

  Josh hesitated. "That... actually makes sense. If Clappy Cheeks gets upset whenever a bug dies, we could use that to our advantage. We start killing bugs left and right, and she'll have to come out to stop us."

  Vlad took a drag from his cigarette, thinking. "It's risky, but it could work. If she's as protective of them as you say, then she'll have no choice but to confront us directly."

  Lauri nodded. "Alright, let's do it. We find as many bugs as we can and start squashing. I've got my phone, and there's bound to be a flashlight app. Let's start with the ones hiding in the shadows."

  Josh grabbed a discarded newspaper and rolled it up, ready to swat any bug in sight. "Sorry, little guys, but this is war."

  William raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do we find bugs up here? We're on a rooftop."

  Josh grinned. "Simple. We start with the ones that survived the swarm. There's always a few stragglers."

  Lauri activated her phone flashlight and shined it into the corners of the rooftop, where small beetles and moths clung to the walls. She sighed. "Okay, here goes nothing." She stomped on a beetle, crunching it underfoot. "One down. Probably a billion more to go."

  Lojan found a small group of ants crawling near the edge of the building and started stomping around them with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Sorry, little dudes, but your queen needs to show herself!"

  Vlad shook his head, smiling slightly. "This is the weirdest plan I've ever been a part of, and that's saying something."

  They continued their bug hunt, Lauri zapping insects with her electricity powers, Josh swatting anything that flew by, and Lojan going after every ant, beetle, and roach in sight. William used his metal manipulation to crush spiders hiding in the cracks, and Vlad flicked bugs off the ledge with the precision of a master swordsman.

  The rooftop became a battlefield, the remnants of dead bugs littering the ground.

  Minutes passed, then a half-hour. They kept at it, moving from corner to corner, trying to cover every inch of the rooftop.

  And then, from the shadows, a voice rang out, high-pitched and shrill, tinged with desperation.

  "Stop! Stop it! Please!"

  Everyone froze.

  From the far corner of the rooftop, Clappy Cheeks emerged. Her wiry frame was trembling, her eyes wide with panic, hands clutching a jar filled with crickets. Tears streamed down her face. "What did they ever do to you?! They're innocent!"

  Josh grinned, wiping sweat from his forehead. "There you are. We've been waiting for you."

  Clappy clenched her jaw, her voice trembling with anger. "You monsters! You don't deserve to live in a world with these beautiful creatures!"

  Lauri stepped forward, her hand crackling with electricity. "Why are you doing this, Clappy? Why are you going after us?"

  Clappy's eyes narrowed, her voice suddenly cold. "Because I want that ticket, and I'm not letting a bunch of insect-killers stand in my way!"

  Josh raised his bug-spray canister, pointing it directly at her. "Well, now you have to face us directly. No more hiding behind your little friends."

  Clappy's face twisted into a snarl. "You'll regret this... You'll regret hurting them."

  The group tensed, preparing for whatever came next.

  Clappy Cheeks stands in the moonlight at the far edge of the rooftop, her thin frame trembling with anger and desperation. The jar of crickets clutched tightly in her hands seems to glow in the dim light, and her eyes dart wildly, trying to calculate her next move.

  Josh grips his mystical sword, its blade shimmering faintly in the darkness. Lauri's fingers twitch, sparks of electricity crackling at the tips as she keeps her gaze locked on Clappy. Vlad remains calm, his karabela sword gleaming, his cigarette smoke curling lazily into the air.

  "Think you can take us all on?" William taunts, a smirk crossing his lips. He extends his hand, manipulating a chunk of the metal rooftop, forming it into a makeshift shield. "You're outnumbered and out of tricks."

  Clappy's face contorts in fury. "I don't need tricks. I have my friends." She raises her hand, and the sound of thousands of tiny wings fills the air. A new swarm of insects — flies, wasps, beetles, and mosquitoes — surges from the dark corners of the rooftop, surrounding her in a living, buzzing storm.

  Josh steps back, swallowing hard. "Here we go again," he mutters, raising his sword defensively.

  Lauri clenches her fists, electricity crackling in the air around her. "Keep her distracted," she shouts. "I'll try to find an opening!"

  Clappy lets out a piercing scream, and the swarm dives at them, a buzzing, biting cloud of chaos. The air fills with the stinging bites of wasps and the relentless, swarming noise of a thousand wings.

  Josh swings his sword, slicing through the air, trying to fend off the bugs. "These things just keep coming!" he yells, slashing at the insects but making little headway.

  William grits his teeth, focusing on his metal manipulation. He spins the metal shield in front of him like a disc, swatting away the bugs that come too close. "We've got to push her back!"

  Vlad moves swiftly, his karabela flashing through the air as he strikes down the insects, moving with the fluid precision of a master swordsman. "Keep moving, don't get cornered!" he shouts, dodging and weaving through the swarm.

  Clappy's eyes flash with a mad determination. "You think you can kill my friends and get away with it? I won't let you!" She raises her arms, and the swarm intensifies, the insects diving and biting with renewed ferocity.

  Lojan, his wounds already healed, laughs wildly as he swats away the bugs with his bare hands. "Come on, Clappy! Is that all you got?"

  Clappy's eyes narrow. "Not even close." She mutters something under her breath, and suddenly the swarm splits into two groups. One focuses on Josh and the others, while the second dives straight at Lojan.

  Lojan, still laughing, barely manages to react as the second swarm engulfs him, biting and stinging with a fury that even he can't shrug off so easily. "Okay, okay, maybe a little too much!" he yells, stumbling back.

  Josh looks around desperately. "Lauri! We need something now!"

  Lauri nods, her face set with determination. "Hold them off for a few more seconds!" She steps back, pulling out her phone. She begins to concentrate, channeling her power into the phone's battery, making it glow brighter and brighter.

  Clappy spots Lauri and directs the swarm toward her, sensing the threat. "No, you don't!" she screeches.

  Josh leaps in front of Lauri, his sword flashing as he tries to hold back the swarm. "Just a little longer, Lauri!" he calls out, his voice strained.

  William, seeing the danger, manipulates the metal around him, creating a cage-like structure to try to trap some of the insects. "Come on, come on... just need a little more time..."

  Lauri's phone is now glowing like a beacon. With a determined shout, she thrusts it forward, releasing a burst of electricity that shoots through the air, frying dozens of insects in an instant. The swarm around her falters, momentarily disoriented.

  Clappy screams in fury, clutching her jar of crickets tighter. "No! No! You won't hurt them!"

  She rushes forward, her focus entirely on Lauri. "I'll kill you!" she shrieks, her voice a mix of rage and desperation.

  Lauri dodges to the side, narrowly avoiding Clappy's wild attack. "Josh!" she shouts.

  Josh swings his sword, aiming for Clappy, but she's too quick, darting out of the way with surprising agility. "Damn it!" he curses, trying to keep up.

  Clappy turns her attention back to Lauri, her eyes filled with manic determination. She lunges again, her hands outstretched, trying to grab Lauri's arm.

  But Lauri is ready. She sidesteps Clappy's attack, then quickly spins around. In one swift motion, she plants both hands on Clappy's back and shoves with all her strength.

  Clappy stumbles forward, losing her balance. She flails wildly, her jar of crickets slipping from her grasp. "No... NO!" she screams, but it's too late. She teeters on the edge of the rooftop for a split second, and then she's gone, plummeting over the side.

  Josh rushes to the edge, looking down. He sees Clappy's body hitting the ground below with a sickening thud.

  There's a moment of silence. Lauri stands still, her chest heaving, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her face is pale, her hands trembling slightly.

  William steps forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did what you had to," he says quietly.

  Josh nods, still staring down at Clappy's lifeless body. "Yeah... it was her or us."

  Lauri takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I... I know. But it still doesn't feel right."

  Vlad takes a long drag from his cigarette, exhaling slowly. "It never does. But sometimes, that's the only choice we have."

  The group stands in silence for a moment, the rooftop eerily quiet now that the swarm has dissipated.

  Lojan, already healed again, breaks the tension with a laugh. "Well, that was bugging me more than usual," he says, grinning.

  Lauri cracks a small smile. "Let's just hope we're done with bugs for a while."

  Josh nods. "Agreed. Now, let's figure out our next move."

  They all turn away from the edge, the tension still hanging in the air. The fight was over, but they knew the real battle was just beginning.

  To be continued...