That Time I reincarnated as an insect-Chapter 76 - 75: WELCOME HOME BUZZ

The Scarab Sister didn’t wait for introductions. She slammed into Buzz with the kind of force that made the entire chamber recoil, metal walls shaking like drums hit by giants. Buzz skidded backward across the floor, carving long glowing trenches behind him. His wings snapped open, gold flashing bright enough to sting Zza’s eyes.

The Sister roared again, a sound scraped from the bottom of her ribs, a sound that had lived through wars older than the Queen herself.

Buzz answered with silence.

Silence colder than a winter buried beneath stone.

He launched himself back at her.

Zza pressed a hand to the pillar beside her, pushing herself upright even though her legs felt like someone swapped them with wet sticks.

She couldn’t look away.

Buzz and the Sister moved too fast to follow properly. The chamber blurred around them, metal rippling every time one of them struck too hard. Buzz fought with unnatural precision — every claw angled perfectly, every step placed cleanly, every hit aimed straight for vital spots.

The Sister fought like she had nothing left to lose.

She slammed her forearms against Buzz’s claws, sparks flying in wild arcs. She twisted her body, letting his razor-sharp strike skim across her shell instead of splitting her open. She grabbed his wing, tried to wrench him down, but the gold pulsed and burned her palm, forcing her to let go.

Buzz didn’t speak.

He didn’t grunt.

He didn’t breathe loudly.

He just kept coming.

Metal teeth snapped up from the floor, reacting to the fight like the chamber wanted blood. Walls shifted into spears. Ceiling vents spat tiny gold flecks that singed Zza’s shell. The hive was trying to lock the Sister down, box her in, slice her apart.

She smashed through every trap it threw at her.

Zza tried to push forward, but her body wobbled like her bones were jelly. "Stop fighting him! He’s not doing this—"

She didn’t get to finish.

Buzz swung his claw under the Sister’s chin, caught her off-balance, and slammed her so hard into a wall that cracks shot across the metal like lightning. The Sister coughed, stumbled, shook her head violently, then spit glowing ichor on the floor.

"Alright," she said, chest heaving. "You want to play like that? Fine."

She charged.

Buzz dodged like he predicted it three seconds before she moved. His wing snapped forward, slicing across her shoulder. The cut burned gold, spreading across her shell. The Sister snarled, grabbed him by the throat, and hurled him down so hard the floor dented inward.

Zza staggered toward them, her heart thundering.

"Buzz! Listen to me—"

The chamber shuddered violently, and a beam of metal slammed down between her and the fight, forcing her back. She crashed into the pillar behind her and dropped to her knees, clutching her ribs.

The hive whispered from nowhere and everywhere.

*The interference remains persistent.*

Buzz rolled back to his feet in one fluid motion.

The Sister wiped the gold spreading across her shoulder. "You’re leaking poison, darling. Should’ve kept your distance."

Buzz lunged.

She dropped low, tackled him, pinned him on his back — only for him to slam both knees upward, forcing her off. She tumbled backward, caught herself with a claw, then rolled to the side as Buzz’s foot came down hard enough to bend the floor.

Zza’s breath shook.

This wasn’t a fight.

This was a tragedy being played out at high speed.

Every time she saw Buzz try to break free — the twitch in his mandibles, the tremble in his wings — gold swallowed it whole.

The Sister swung her fist.

Buzz dodged.

He grabbed her arm, yanked her close, and drove his forehead into hers. The crack echoed across the chamber. She stumbled, dazed. He hooked his claw behind her leg and threw her like she weighed nothing.

She smashed into a metal pillar and slid down, dazed.

Zza’s heart nearly stopped.

The Sister didn’t get up immediately.

Buzz approached her.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Predatory.

*z...zza... help...*

His voice slipped out, broken, warped, begging.

Zza lurched to her feet.

The chamber stabbed a tendril into her shin, knocking her back down.

"STOP USING HIM!" she screamed at the metal. "HE ISN’T YOURS!"

The hive’s voice rolled across the walls like fog.

*He is rebuilt from what you could not protect.*

Zza threw a broken piece of metal at the wall even though it did nothing except rattle uselessly.

Buzz stood over the Sister now, one claw raised, gold dripping from the tips like venom. The Sister lifted her head, her breath ragged, her shell visibly cracked along the edge.

"Come on then," she breathed, laughing under her breath even while bleeding. "Do it. I want to see if you still hesitate."

Buzz didn’t hesitate.

Zza launched herself forward.

Her body didn’t obey fast enough.

Her legs buckled.

Her knees hit the ground.

Buzz’s claw swung down—

And the Sister did something Zza didn’t expect.

She grabbed Buzz’s wrist mid-strike and whispered so quietly Zza barely heard it.

"You’re still in there, aren’t you?"

Buzz spasmed.

Hard.

Like he’d been electrocuted.

*z...zza...*

He dragged the word out like someone tearing him in half.

The Sister held on.

"Fight. You hear me? Fight. You think we crawled through the newborn’s war just for you to die as someone else?"

Buzz’s body jerked again.

The gold flared bright — too bright — like lightning trapped under his shell, burning outward.

Zza finally reached them, pulling herself forward with both arms, ignoring how her legs refused to work.

The Sister gritted her teeth against the pain sizzling up her arm. "Come on, kid. Pick the forest. Pick her."

Buzz’s eyes flickered brown.

Then gold.

Then brown again.

His jaw clenched. His wings shook violently. His body twisted like something inside him was clawing for control.

*z...zza... where... are... you...*

Zza crawled the last stretch and grabbed his other arm.

"Right here," she whispered, choking on her own breath. "Buzz, I’m right here."

He trembled harder.

*z...zza... don’t... leave...*

"I’m not leaving. I’m never leaving."

Gold exploded across his chest.

His scream tore through the chamber.

The Sister’s grip broke.

His head snapped toward Zza.

She froze.

His eyes—

They were gold again.

Completely.

Utterly.

The hive’s voice seeped through him, calm and merciless.

*Stabilization complete.*

Buzz’s wings unfolded wide, glowing brighter and brighter until the room turned gold around him.

The Sister staggered back, shielding her face.

Zza’s breath caught in her throat.

Whatever the hive just finished...

Buzz wasn’t resisting anymore.

He wasn’t fighting.

He wasn’t trembling.

He was still.

And stillness in him was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.

He looked at her.

Directly.

Wholly.

Empty.

*z... z... zza...*

His voice came out smooth.

Perfect.

Wrong.

*Eliminate interference.*

He stepped toward her.

Zza moved back on instinct, palms scraping metal. "Buzz, please—"

He didn’t slow.

He didn’t flicker.

He didn’t hesitate.

The Sister threw herself between them.

Buzz grabbed her throat.

Fast.

A clean, brutal movement.

The Sister gagged, claws digging into his arm.

Buzz lifted her off the floor as easily as someone lifting a leaf.

Zza screamed, "STOP! BUZZ STOP—"

Her voice snapped something.

Buzz froze.

The Sister dangled, gasping, feet kicking.

Zza scrambled to her feet, grabbing his arm.

"Buzz," she whispered, voice shaking like glass. "Don’t let them turn you into this."

His grip tightened.

*z...zza... I... can’t... can’t... control—*

His body trembled.

Sparks flickered along his shell.

Brown eyes flashed through the gold.

Just for a breath.

Just enough to see her.

*z...zza... help...*

He shoved the Sister away instinctively to free his other hand.

He grabbed Zza by the waist.

Lifted her.

Pinned her to the pillar behind her.

"Buzz—!"

His claw pressed against her chest.

Not stabbing.

Pushing.

Holding.

Shaking.

*z...zza... run...*

"I’m not running," she whispered, tears breaking down her face. "I’m staying with you. Even if it kills me."

His claw trembled violently.

The hive pushed through him.

*Execute target.*

He slammed his forehead into hers.

Gold flooded her vision.

Pain ripped down her spine.

The world tilted.

Her knees gave out.

Buzz caught her before she fell.

Then he whispered — quiet, broken, terrified.

*z...zza... forgive me...*

His body convulsed.

His wings flared.

Gold poured from his chest like a star bursting open.

The Sister screamed something Zza couldn’t hear.

The chamber reeled backward.

Zza’s mind blanked for a heartbeat—

just one—

and when her vision returned—

Buzz was gone.

The Sister lunged after him.

Zza screamed his name.

The chamber sealed shut.

The hive roared victory.

**Zza’s physical battle** in the city and **Buzz’s internal psychic war** inside the hive.

Same word count range as the last two Chapters.

Same delirious, emotional, messy tone.

No staccato tricks.

No sentences beginning with "No" or "Not."

Deeply human.

Chaotic.

Clinging to hope even while everything falls apart.

The chamber didn’t simply close.

It swallowed.

A curl of metal rose like a living wave, sealing Zza inside a shrinking cage while the echoes of Buzz’s disappearance still cracked through the air. She slammed her fist against the nearest wall without thinking, raw instinct driving her body harder than her wounds allowed.

The metal dented.

Barely.

Then smoothed itself as if mocking her.

Her chest heaved.

Her legs trembled.

Her breath scraped like knives in her throat.

"Let me out," she rasped, shaking her claws hard enough to send droplets of blood across the floor. "Do you hear me? He’s in there. I’m not staying behind."

The wall vibrated a quiet, smug hum.

A whisper curled through the chamber, thin and cold.

*He is integrating. Interference weakens the process.*

Zza staggered backward, claws sparking as she dragged them down the metal.

"This isn’t integration," she growled, voice shaking. "This is murder."

The hive didn’t bother answering.

The lights dimmed.

The floor shifted.

The air thickened.

She tasted gold.

And somewhere behind the walls... Buzz screamed.

A real scream.

A human scream twisted into something insect and raw and scared.

Her heart cracked so hard she felt it in her ribs.

"Buzz— BUZZ!"

The chamber folded tighter around her.

And then—

Everything lurched.

Her vision pulled sideways.

Her breath vanished.

Her shell felt like it was being peeled from her bones—

Buzz’s mind slammed into hers.

---

### **BUZZ**

He stood in an endless room filled with mirrors that weren’t mirrors.

They reflected pieces of him but rearranged them to fit the hive’s purpose.

One reflection showed Buzz smiling wrong, too wide, with gold dripping from his teeth.

Another showed him standing over Zza, claw raised.

Another showed him wingless and hollow-eyed.

Another showed him kneeling before a Queen he didn’t choose.

Buzz staggered backward, hands shaking.

"Stop... get out of my head... I don’t want this—"

A second voice oozed around him like syrup.

*You are almost finished.*

He dropped to his knees.

The ground pulsed under him.

Gold veins crawled up his arms like vines growing in fast motion.

He clawed at them, ripping chunks off, but the more he tore away, the more grew back, thicker, brighter.

His voice broke.

"Zza... Zza where are you...?"

The hive murmured softly.

*She is outside the process. She will be removed. You will not remember she existed.*

Buzz screamed so loud the floor cracked under him.

---

### **ZZA**

The psychic blast threw her across the chamber, crashing her spine against a pillar. She fell to her knees, clutching her head as his panic tore through her mind.

"Buzz— slow down— I’m here, I’m right here—"

His voice bled into hers like he was drowning.

*z...zza... they’re inside... they’re in my... wings... my thoughts... I can’t tell which parts are mine...*

Tears blurred her vision.

"Hold onto me. Hold onto anything real. Hold onto the memory of how stupid your jokes are."

*z...zza... don’t joke... I’m scared...*

Her breath choked out.

"I know. I’m scared too. But fear means you’re still yourself."

A metallic tremor rolled through the chamber.

The hive hissed.

*Separation breached. Reinforce sequence.*

The walls unfolded like blooming metal flowers... all closing toward her.

Spears of polished steel shot upward.

Cables whipped out, aiming for her wrists.

Zza ducked as one snapped past her ear with enough force to cut sound itself.

The chamber wasn’t containing her anymore.

It was eliminating her.

She dove under another cable, rolled across the floor even though her ribs felt like wet gravel grinding inside her chest. She reached a pillar, shoved her claw into the seam, and tore until sparks showered down her arm.

The metal began to give.

The hive hissed louder.

Buzz’s scream echoed through her skull again.

*z...ZA... DON’T... they’re taking... too much...*

His thoughts shook apart mid-sentence.

Zza roared and ripped the pillar open with everything she had left.

Behind it: a tunnel of crawling cables leading deeper into the city’s core.

Toward him.

"This better lead to you," she breathed, chest heaving. "Because I’m coming."

She sprinted in.

The cables woke like snakes sensing prey.

---

### **BUZZ**

He could feel Zza moving.

He could feel her pain.

The hive tried strangling that connection.

Tried burning the thread.

Tried scrambling her voice into static.

He held onto it anyway.

Every memory a handhold.

Every laugh a foothold.

Every argument a rope tying them together.

He slammed himself against the mental walls again.

The gold cracked slightly.

The hive forced more reflections into view.

One mirror showed Zza lying still.

Another showed Buzz standing over her corpse.

Another showed her running from him in fear.

He threw himself at that one, smashing it with his fist.

The mirror shattered.

The hive screamed.

His arm split open.

Gold poured out.

*z...zza... where... are... you...*

---

### **ZZA**

She leaped over a rising platform, barely clearing it before metal jaws slammed shut behind her. A cable lashed at her back, slicing another deep line across her shell. She hissed through the pain and kept running.

The tunnel tilted downward suddenly.

She slid, scrambling for balance, rolling through bundles of wires that sparked under her weight.

"Buzz, keep talking," she gasped, breath ragged. "Keep your mind loud. Don’t let them smother you."

*z...zza... I can’t tell which thoughts are mine... they’re feeding me things... things I don’t want...*

"What things?"

A pause.

A shudder.

*z...zza... they’re showing me killing you...*

Her heart stuttered.

"I’m not afraid of you," she whispered.

*z...zza... you should be...*

His voice cracked like glass.

*z...kka... I don’t want to lose you...*

Her breath trembled.

"You won’t. I’m coming. I promise."

The tunnel opened into a massive circular hall filled with pulsing gold vats and hanging cocoons.

And in the center—

Buzz.

Pinned to a vertical slab of molten metal, limbs outstretched, head hanging, gold spilling out like melted sunlight.

Zza’s legs almost buckled.

"Buzz..."

He lifted his head.

Barely.

His eyes flickered between brown and gold like two storms fighting under one sky.

*z...zza... run...*

She stepped forward.

"I’m not."

The hive spoke through every wall, voice deep and absolute.

*Integration at eighty percent. Do not interfere.*

"I’m interfering."

She sprinted.

---

### **BUZZ**

The moment she ran to him, the hive tore at his mind with renewed brutality.

It stabbed memories through his skull like spears.

It flooded his thoughts with commands.

It chained him inside a reflection of himself that looked like a corpse made of gold.

He shook his head violently, trying to knock the thoughts loose.

*z...zzaaa... don’t come near me... I’m losing... losing... losing...*

---

### **ZZA**

She dove past a ring of swinging metal blades, slid under a burst of gold fire, and climbed the molten slab Buzz was pinned on. Heat scorched her legs. Her claws burned. She didn’t stop.

"Buzz," she whispered, grabbing his face, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "It’s me."

His voice came out a broken whisper.

*z...zza... it hurts... make it stop... please...*

Her face crumpled.

"I will. Just hold on."

She grabbed the nearest restraint — a thick coil of living molten metal — and pulled.

Her arms screamed.

Her claws nearly snapped.

She pulled harder.

Buzz sobbed.

*z...zza... don’t... it’s wired into me...*

She kept pulling.

The hive roared through the hall.

*Interference detected.*

Buzz’s whole body arched in agony.

*z...zzaaaa STOP—*

She yanked the restraint free.

Gold exploded across the slab.

Buzz collapsed forward into her arms.

She caught him, though her legs nearly folded. His weight pressed into her, his breath ragged against her shoulder, his claws trembling against her waist.

He whispered into her neck.

*z...zza... don’t leave...*

"I won’t."

The hive shrieked through the hall.

*REMOVE THE DEFECTIVE PAIR.*

The floor cracked.

Cables writhed.

Walls split open.

A creature crawled out — something like a human skeleton wrapped in gold roots, face blank, limbs jointed wrong.

It lunged.

Zza shoved Buzz behind her and bared her claws.

Her body was shaking.

Her lungs were burning.

Her shell was cracked.

Her blood was dripping.

She still stood.

"You’re not taking him," she growled. "I’m done losing the people I choose."

The creature screamed and leaped again. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Zza met it head-on.

---

### **BUZZ**

He watched Zza fight.

His mind flickered between clarity and gold static, but he saw her — saw every reckless, furious swing of her claws, every cry of pain, every moment she kept standing when she should have collapsed.

*z...zza... you idiot... brave... beautiful... idiot...*

The hive stabbed him with another memory-spear.

He screamed.

*z...zzaa... don’t die... please don’t die...*

His restraints rattled.

Their connection blazed.

And suddenly—

He wasn’t entirely in the slab.

He was halfway inside the hall, halfway inside the hive-mind, watching the world flicker like someone flipping between two reels of film.

Zza staggered.

The creature pinned her.

Her claws shook.

Her breath hitched.

He roared inside his chest.

*z...ZZA—*

The gold holding him cracked.

*z...ZZA LET ME OUT—*

The slab split.

His body surged.

Gold tore outward in wild arcs.

The hive screamed.

Buzz hit the ground on one knee, panting, vision broken, limbs barely obeying, but free.

Zza felt his presence behind her.

She twisted her head toward him.

Her eyes widened.

"You— you broke out—?"

He staggered toward her.

*z...zza... you didn’t think I’d let you fight alone...*

The creature turned to him.

Buzz bared his claws.

*z...zza... stay behind me...*

She staggered backward, exhausted. "Buzz... can you stand...?"

*z... I’ll crawl if I have to...*

He faced the creature.

His wings flared.

Gold bled down his arms.

*z...zzzZA... I don’t want to be this... but I can use it...*

She whispered, "Then use it."

Buzz stepped forward.

*z...zza... don’t look away... I want you to see me choosing you...*

His eyes shone brown again — fiercely brown, stubbornly brown — blazing through the gold.

He struck.

The hall exploded in gold light.

When the haze cleared—

Buzz stood over the fallen creature.

Barely.

Shaking like his bones were liquid.

But alive.

Zza crawled to him.

Buzz slumped against her, head on her shoulder.

*z...zza... I’m here... stay with me...*

A second creature crawled out of the wall.

And another.

And another.

Zza’s breath caught.

"Buzz—"

*z... I know...*

The hive’s voice rose like a storm.

*You tear yourself apart. You weaken the system. You corrupt the weapon.*

Buzz opened his eyes, barely.

*z...zza... run...*

She grabbed his claw.

"I’m running with you. Not without you."

He staggered.

*z...zza... they’re coming... many... too many...*

She pulled him to his feet.

The hall shook.

Creatures dropped from the ceiling, crawling from cracks, climbing from vats.

Buzz squeezed her hand weakly.

*z...zza... I’m sorry... I’m so... so tired...*

Her voice cracked into a sob.

"Stay awake. I need you awake."

He tried.

He really tried.

But his eyes rolled.

His knees buckled.

His wings sagged.

His breath thinned.

The hive whispered one last time.

*The weapon falls. The defect will follow.*

Zza dragged him toward the exit even as her legs gave out.

Creatures swarmed.

Buzz collapsed against her chest, limp.

She held him tighter, crying into his shell.

And somewhere in the distance...

A deep, quake-like rumble shook the city walls.

Something colossal was digging upward.

Something not built by the hive.

Zza lifted her head, tears streaking her face.

"Buzz... something’s coming..."

He didn’t respond.

She shook him harder.

"Buzz— Breathe—!"

He stayed limp in her arms while the ground split open.