Information

Great_Mantis
Legacy Name: Great_Mantis

The Golden Zasaba
Owner: gatorgirl

Age: 17 years, 4 months, 3 weeks

Born: October 27th, 2008

Adopted: 17 years, 4 months, 3 weeks ago (Legacy)

Adopted: October 27th, 2008 (Legacy)

Statistics

• Level: 2,074
   
• Strength: 3,292
   
• Defense: 2,184
   
• Speed: 2,096
   
• Health: 4,093
   
• HP: 4,091/4,093
   
• Intelligence: 2,896
   
• Books Read: 2217
• Food Eaten: 55
• Job: Director of SAI

In the sprawling suburbs of Insectia lives a king of sorts whose name is spoken respectfully by every citizen who hops, flutters or crawls. He is known not only for his impressive size but for his ability to get you anything that makes your life as a tiny insect a little grander.

Mantis Bar serves even better drinks than the place just outside the town dump. You can get a drop of nectar so sweet, a sugar ant would sell his own hive queen out for a taste. There’s clear spring water with just a hint of orange peel, sweet and sour river water collected at no small peril to the skimmers who bottle it and the eve-popular sewer droplet that draws flies by the hundreds.

He’s also the owner of Butterfly Hotel, a sprawling three-story complex shaped from mushroom caps, blades of grass and seeds of various sizes and colors. Every room at the Butterfly comes with a quartz TV equipped with over a hundred channels ranging from the Moth Fashion Network to Killer Wasp’s Knock ‘Em Dead Comedy Station. The swimming pool is refilled with fresh rain water every night and for an extra fee, guests can enjoy the relaxing pleasure of a millipede massage.

He’s a supporter of several local sports teams. The Dung Beetle Rollers have a real shot at the championship this year and the Fighting Grasshoppers have brought home the Golden Leaf Trophy for three years running. The Cockroach Cluster is new to the roster but there are already rumors of their impressive talents.

As for Great Mantis himself…

You’ll find him at the top of Stone Tower, the premier living quarters for any bug who’s more than a future stain on the bottom of a human shoe. His penthouse is a lavish, wide space with all the modern furnishings. His flat screen isn’t quarts but true white marble flown in from overseas. He has a true water pump that gives him fresh droplets on demand. Fur rugs make a pattern on the floor, one not typically seen outside a dog groomer’s shop.

An unfortunate accident at a very young age left him with damaged legs but he has used his great wealth and influence to build a collection of artificial wings that serve him as both means of transportation and fashion statement. He can be graceful as a butterfly, ruthless as a hornet or silent as a death’s head moth, depending on the occasion.

He likes to visit his many businesses unannounced. Those living up to his expectations are heaped with berries and nuts, treats that are spread from the highest levels of management down to the entry-level worker drones. Those who disappoint will find themselves in a heap of dung…literally.

While he is a force to be reckoned with when provoked, he is not cruel by nature. He believes in fair dealings and will not tolerate the mistreatment of the young.

He remembers his own rough start all too well.

***

He’d barely had his first view of the world outside his eggshell when the fighting erupted. His sister, born only a few seconds early, was doing her best to eat him.

He fought with the ferocity born not only of being the largest hatchling in the nest but also from a stronger than average instinct for survival. He would have likely claimed the whole nest and all the readily available food if Mother Nature hadn’t seen fit to deal him a nasty hand.

He tumbled sixty feet straight down on a rogue breeze, landing in the rocks beneath the nesting tree. Shocked and in pain, he found he could not even hop to the nearby safety of a root tangle.

He was well aware of the danger of birds…and of his own growing hunger.

That’s when he noticed the ants that kept darting closer and closer…but never quite close enough to grab. They were smelling the sticky-sweet sap that had coated the nest and still coated Mantis.

A single drop diverted a trio from the colony line. Soon, Great Mantis had his own food delivery service and was eating quite well. Some of the ants carried leaves meant for the decoration of their home hill. These formed a prefect camouflage canopy that fooled hungry predators.

As he learned to use his arms to move, Mantis also learned the art of imitation. When a bird flew overhead, he would pretend to be a stick bug. Lie flat with your legs at the right angle and the feather-brained fools would fly right over, never dreaming there was a tasty snack in easy reach.

He fit right in when he got to the big city. He learned how to determine what other insects needed, how to get it with minimal effort…

…and how to make a killing on profits.

***

There’s the occasional troublemaker who will come in and try to claim the bounty of fresh food Insectia has in ready supply. Mantis has seen it all. Two dozen pill bug-riding roaches with slingshot-guns, a Goliath beetle with a fish hook in his wing and even a black widow who tried to sweet-talk her way into his good graces.

Unlike his sister, the prey Mantis chooses to stalk never gets away.

Story by Pureflower

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