A Familiar Foe

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“We need your help, Bugbo's been bugnapped!” - Gerbo

“Sorry, I’m a little preoccupied right now, hehehaha!” - Hoppo

## A Familiar Foe

### Release date

August 14, 2023

A Familiar Foe is the 3rd episode of Bugbo, it revolves around the main 4 and is mainly about how Bugbo gets into a serious problem with having to escape Bug Hater’s evil plan for him. Luckily for him Gerbo and Gradient Joe two of the main 4, search around the globe trying to find him. They both realise where he went because Bug Hater sent a very long letter explaining how they had to rescue him and how Bugbo was taken.

## Story

The episode begins with the Sun spinning around, they then proceed to look surprised at the Globe, which is also spinning. After briefly greeting us, Bugbo is captured by Thomas Flyswatter, his "arch nemesis". Following the iconic intro, Gerbo engages in a conversation with Gradient Joe about "sitting down before looking up at the sky on the 3rd day of 'Bug Summer'." Suddenly, Gerbo realizes something is wrong. Miraculously, a ransom letter drops shortly after he makes this observation. Gerbo picks up the letter and reads it. As he reads, the voice transitions from Gerbo's to the 'Bugnapper's. Shortly after reading the note now knowing what's truly happe- BUG JUMPSCARE ning, this causes Gerbo and Joe to panic. Gerbo takes out his phone and calls Hoppo for help in the search, but she's occupied with a war happening in an unknown city. Unfortunately, this means Gerbo and Joe have to handle it themselves.

A song about finding and saving Bugbo plays. A montage of Gerbo and Joe putting up missing posters for Bugbo follows, as they ask the residents all over the GLOBE for assistance. The majority of their responses are sadly "no." During the song/montage, it cuts to a silhouette of Bugbo falling into the Sun's pool of tears is shown, with an unknown fish creature swimming up to eat him.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the changes in the ground/grass (presumably in each subsequent episode) can be attributed to the changing months, as it is currently summer for them.

After the song/montage, the dart from the previous episode reappears. The camera then pans to the right, revealing an alarming amount of clones in tanks, with the bugnapper's voice singing about killing Bugbo. It is at this point that we uncover what remains of Bugbo. He is tied to his right leg upside down, but remains calm. Bugbo then says "It appears I have gotten myself into quite the cucumber." and suddenly, the Bugnapper appears. He tells Bugbo how "foolish" he is, and mentions that there are only 6 bug hours remaining for him. After Bugbo delivers his monologue, with the lighting changing, the Bugnapper shushes him using his (now revealed) fly swatter hand. Bugbo simply says "Ok." And we cut back to Gerbo and Joe who are visibly concerned. Gerbo then informs Joe that the only unsearched place is "Mt. Bobo," but it will require "bug days" to climb. He says, "If only we had a Red Brother," before getting interrupted. Red, goofy text is overlaid on Gerbo's monologue. Gerbo inquires about the newcomers' identity, and he introduces himself as the Red Brother and offers them a blue mushroom and promptly "flies" away. Joe and Gerbo, both curious, shake the mushroom, and they find the following items; a ladder , a snake, and a grappling hook. While they both appreciate their items, they must choose only one. Gerbo thinks and experiences a flashback of Bugbo mentioning WWGJD, (a callback to the Pilot) Gerbo then asks the viewer the following question, "RN BUB?" and gives us 3 choices: A) The Ladder; B) The snake; C) The Grappling Hook. Joe selects the snake for a reason known only to him. Gerbo confirms Joe's decision, and Joe nods in agreement. They both sit on the snake, which transports them to the top. The snake informs them that her purpose has been "served" and then disappears.

After witnessing this, Gerbo says. "Well, what Bugs around Grubs around I guess." Joe nods in agreement with Gerbo. Now ahead of them, they unveil "the secret lair." Gerbo and Joe cautiously enter the building by smashing through the door. They are greeted by "The Billy Bass speaker animatronic" on a mantel, functioning as a speaker. Through the fish, the Bugnapper informs them that they have fallen into his "trap" and releases the bees. However, the bees miss Gerbo and Joe and instead go outside, with Gerbo exclaiming, "Bye, bees!". Upon more sleuthing, they discover Bugbo in a larger section of the storage unit. Although Gerbo, Joe, and Bugbo are overjoyed to reunite, their rescue is thwarted by the Bugnapper. Gerbo inquires about the Bugnapper's identity, and to their astonishment, they do not recognize him at all. The mustache might be the cause of this. He introduces himself as Thomas Flyswatter. Gerbo questions Joe about Thomas's identity, leading to Thomas's dismay. He reveals himself as their 'familiar foe,' yet none of them, particularly Bugbo, remember or recognize him.

An enormous red flyswatter looms above Bugbo. However, if calculations are done, it would simply crush his head. Gerbo questions Thomas's motives, prompting Thomas to recount his backstory. Thomas was a low-wage worker at "SWATTER INC.," a company that produced flyswatters and other bug-disinfecting products. His co-workers never warned him about the conveyor belt's hazards. One day, while at work, he "tripped" onto the belt and got stuck on it (he intentionally walked onto it and sat down, knowing what he was doing). The belt carried him toward the 'flyswatter making machine thingy,' resulting in his body and flesh melding into a sentient flyswatter-human mixture. Thomas was spun around, and then pooped out of the machine. This transformation made him both sad/horrified, yet incredibly angry, motivating him to blame and eliminate Bugbo and similar bugs, hence his alias, Gerbo admonishes him for his rudeness, and then he and Joe discuss a plan. (However it is unknown what they were going to do)

Unbeknownst to them, Bugbo uses his powers to swap places with his captor. Which interrupts Joe and Gerbo's plan. During his speech, the captor acknowledges that he was defeated "fairly" and could have faced a worse fate. Thomas tells Bugbo that he'll "get him someday", while Bugbo simply tells him, "Sorry Pal, **But it seems you've swatted your last fly**." While Thomas begs Bugbo to release him so they could have peace, Bugbo floats back to the railing with Gerbo and Joe, and they leave Thomas behind in his death scene. (NOTE; Thomas mentions something abour Bugbo not knowing the truth about his father.) Upon finally leaving the warehouse, Bugbo expresses gratitude to Gerbo and Joe for rescuing him with a gold star sticker but changes his mind and takes it back. He imparts a valuable lesson they've all learned. As the camera zooms out, Bugbo remarks, "Togetherness makes anything effortless!" Suddenly, a wrecking ball appears out of nowhere, smashing into the warehouse into a million pieces and causing it to break, also presumably killing Thomas in the process while doing so. A partial amount of Bugbo's dialogue is slightly heard because of how loud the wreckage/destruction really was behind them. After the ending credits, the menu at the end replaces Thomas's scuffed Bugbo portrait with him. Possibly foreshadowing that Thomas is dead after the destruction.

## Characters In This Episode

BugboGerbo (Main Character Of This Episode)Gradiant Joe (The CoMain Character Of This Episode)Hoppo (Cameo)Thomas Flyswatter (Antagonist Of This Episode)The Red BrotherZip (Side Character)Farmer Ant (Side Character)Parry Garganium (Side Character)Herman (Side Character)