Buzz groggily opened his eyes. He didn’t recognise this place. How did he even end up here?

It took him a few moments to remember what he last saw. Stars. Flashing stars, burning his eyes, his body… Now he remembered. He was in a Starman base, trying to help the prisoners in his Cell Hall escape. And they did… but not with him.

But now that he thought about it… why was everything around him so big?

He stood up, only for his legs to give out on him almost instantly. He looked down at them, expecting to see the deep red of his suit, or maybe his skin, but didn’t. His legs were thin, thinner than any normal pair of legs should be, and black. Dread grew inside of him. He looked down at his hands to see that they had become as thin as his legs, and had gone the same black as them too. Then he realised that those two arms weren’t the only ones he had. Another pair of arms rested on his waist, and were identical to the ones he had just examined. Something was verywrong here.

He noticed the weight on his back. He didn’t really want to know what it was, but looked over his shoulder regardless. And there, residing on his back, were a pair of transparent wings. They were round and incredibly bug-like. Humans did not have bug wings, nor did they have four arms. And whatever it was that was on his head he just noticed, humans didn't have that, either.

The door in the room opened with a click, and Buzz looked up at it wide-eyed. A Starman walked in. A knot tied in Buzz’s stomach. Was this his punishment? Did they turn him into some weird, four-armed, bug-winged human as punishment?

The Starman looked over at Buzz. “Oh! You’re awake now! Uh, let me just…”

The Starman faded away with a flick of his hands and some sparkles, and in his place was a black woman wearing a strange, light pink suit and black boots. The woman was short and quite chubby, and her hair had been shaved on both sides of her head, giving her a mohawk of sorts.

The woman came over and sat down nearby, and with a smile and a polite wave, she said, “Hi! My name’s Tori!” Her hands rested on the table that Buzz sat on, and she asked, “What’s yours?”

Buzz took a breath in as he tried to take in what was happening and put it aside.

“...Buzz. It’s Buzz,” Buzz told Tori.

Tori smiled a toothy grin. “Cool name! You pick it yourself?”

“Yeah, actually,” Buzz replied.

“Nice! I picked mine, too,” Tori told him.

A small smile appeared on Buzz’s face. Even though the rest of this situation was bizarre and frightening, he could at least take comfort in their similarity.

Buzz then looked around and asked, “So tell me, why is everything so big?”

“I found you unconscious outside near the Starman base, so I took you back to my current home,” Tori explained. “There was no way you were gonna live in the state you in, so I transfered your soul into a bug. A lot easier said than done, but I managed to do it.”

A sinking feeling washed over Buzz. Not only did he almost die, he was a bug now. A literal bug. It explained the everything new about him, but he would have been lying if he didn’t say he was scared out of his mind. He didn’t want to believe it.

A few moments passed before Tori frowned with concern and asked, “Buzz? You okay?”

“This can’t be happening,” he muttered to himself.

“Well, it is…” Tori said, glancing away. She looked back at Buzz and asked him, “You want me to get a mirror for you? I’m pretty sure I’ve got one around.”

Buzz simply nodded. Tori stood up and started looking around for a mirror. After a minute of searching through drawers and cupboards, she found one, and brought it over to Buzz.

The reflection showed a dusty brown bug with a four-pronged horn sitting on the table, fear and disbelief written all over his face. Just like him. He didn’t want to believe that was his reflection. He gingerly stood himself up, but fell over again. He instead crawled, legs and arms trembling, closer to the mirror. He put a hand to the mirror’s surface, and his reflection did the same. Buzz stared long and hard at his reflection. He couldn’t deny it, even if he wanted to. He was a bug now. He was really a bug now.

Tori watched him with concern. Buzz didn’t seem to be taking it too well, and it was probably a good idea to check if everything was alright with him.

“Uh… Buzz? You okay?” Tori asked.

Buzz blinked, snapping out of his thoughts, and looked away from the mirror and down at the table.

“Y-... Yeah.” He sat down, removing his hand from the mirror’s surface, and told her, “I just need to settle into…” He gestured at his body with a hand, “all this. I should be fine.”

Tori sighed and said, “That’s a relief! I was starting to get really worried for you. Thought you were gonna lose yourself there for a second!”

Buzz let out a fake laugh, then replied, “Well thank God I didn’t, huh?”

Another silence fell between them, but it was more comfortable this time around. Buzz glanced around the room, taking in the shelves, cupboards and drawers scattered in the room, and the various jars and old fish tanks sitting on and in them. Some had plantlife inside, others were completely empty. And one fish tank… Oh. That answered where Tori found a new body for him.

Wanting to take his mind off this new discovery, Buzz looked back at Tori and asked, “So, uh… what’s with the get-up?”

Tori looked down at her clothes with an inquiring hum, then frowned as she groaned, “It’s my uniform. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t even be wearing this right now, but it’s the only thing I’ve got.”

Her face shifted to confusion as she then asked Buzz, “So how’d you get in such bad shape, anyway? Kinda weird how badly hurt you were…”

Buzz sighed and leaned back on his upper arms. “I tried freeing some other imprisoned humans in the Starman base you found me near. They managed to get away, but I ended up locking horns with a Final Starman.”

Tori covered her mouth with her gloved hands.

“Yeah. It didn’t go too well.”

“I didn’t even know those types of Starmen existed!” Tori exclaimed. “How powerful are they?”

“Very,” Buzz replied. “The most powerful in Giygas’ army.”

Tori just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. It took her a few moments to regain some of her composure and say, “Wow… That must have been horrible… I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” Buzz reassured her. “I’m just glad those prisoners got out.”

Tori gave a quiet hum of agreement. Another silence fell between them. It made both of them uncomfortable, and Tori quickly broke it by saying, “So! I guess you wanna stay here for a little while? Just to get used to your new body and all?”

Buzz nodded, and told her, “Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.”

Tori stood up and clapped her hands together. “Great! And uh, one more thing…”

Buzz looked up her curiously.

“Can I call you Buzz Buzz?”

Buzz raised an eyebrow and asked, “Wh-... Why?”

“It’s cuuuute!” Tori cooed.

Buzz sputtered. It was the most coherent response he could make. And if he could have in his current form, he would have been blushing out of sheer embarrassment.

“And it’s a good pun, too! Because if I remember right, when you fly you buzz! It’s perfect!”

Buzz just stared at her in a stunned silence. Tori gave him puppy eyes, and really good ones too.

Buzz sighed. “Sure.”

Tori practically squealed, “Thank youuu~!”