2010-07-28 - Covered in Bees
From Four Color Comics MUX
| Covered in Bees! | |||
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| Summary: The Beekeeper and his minions attack a casino, attempting to kidnap a geneticist. Miss Perception assists. | |||
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It's evening at the Paradise Palace Casino. The middle of the week in the middle of the summer, not peak times but doing well enough. Or it was. Most people have turned from their tables and their slot machines, and those that haven't probably just have their hearing aids down - because the hum of bees vibrates through the casino, multiple swarms buzzing around, most near the doors to discourage flight. Five people are enveloped in them near the bar - one of them no one other than Keisha Knight Jones, the casino owner! Though one of them is no hostage: instead he shows a hood over that yellow and black enveloping him. That would be the man known as the Beekeeper. Beside him stands a beautiful dark-haired woman - is that the former supermodel, Kelly Elza?
The Beekeeper is the one who speaks, however, voice clear enough under the hood as he addresses the security guards standing back warily from this. "I wouldn't make any sudden moves, if you care about your boss. These aren't ordinary bees, and they are under my complete control." Back to those being swarmed, "Meanwhile, if you cooperate, no one has to be hurt. Dr. Thornell, don't think we don't recognize you."
One of the hostages, seeming a thin man in his middle years from what can be seen of him, trembles where he stands, "You can't do this! I'm allergic!"
Ivan isn't normally in Las Vegas, but he'd decided today to check out one of the casinos. He turns from his slot machine at the sound of buzzing and stands up when the Beekeeper shows up and starts making ultimatums. He waves at the man, "You and your bugs are to be giving up." He pauses, looking around the assembled insects and hostages and then shrugs. Hope that works.
This... this is not /quite/ what Ms. Jones planned for the evening, to say the least. For one thing... even if she's not allergic, she still isn't very /fond/ of bees, and one doesn't have to be very unlucky to be stung when there's /this/ many around. Stupid probabilities. "Um," she remarks where she sits, arms behind her back. "I still don't... I mean, if you're robbing the place you aren't going to get far. And if you're mob enforcers or something we can totally work this out, right?" Shame she's a completely harmless and mundane woman. Not very threatening.
Every time Kharis is in this part of town, this casino gets attacked. It is like a lightning rod for casino-related hijinks. Last time she was able to deactivate some killer robots with her brain, but unfortunately bees are not robots (OR ARE THEY?) In any case, she need not even transform as she is already in her teenage guise as The Rumor, plucky sidekick to The Witness. She has spent much of her day training in how to be more teenager-like.
SOME HOURS AGO
"Wow," The Rumor -- physical age: sixteen -- says to Captain Colossal, a local hero with a skintight costume that shows off his mighty pecs. "That was awesome; thanks for the help. So... is there a Mrs. Colossal?" Captain Colossal runs a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, grinning.
The Witness stares.
NOW:
Her cousin Jerry, big spoilsport that he is, is spending the night in working on some new tech for his Witness-suit or whatever, so The Rumor is practicing hopping from rooftop to rooftop when she hears the screams of bee-related chaos. Thank goodness; she was getting bored.
"Then it would be good for you to keep very, very still." The Beekeeper speaks to the frightened man, but it's one of the others - a shorter, rounder fellow - that his attention is immediately focusing after. "Perception, is that him?"
Kelly Elza, aka Miss Perception, narrows her eyes at that one. "Yes, that's him. And oh, don't worry, we're not here for any sort of robbery." A winning smile to Keisha follows in sudden change of mood. "Do understand, it is just a matter of this Dr. Thornell, who is involved -very- deeply in some of the worst sorts of research. He will be coming with....eh?"
That would be when Ivan speaks up, and the Beekeeper gestures, causing a swarm of bees to move menacingly around the hero. "Giving up? Don't be foolish, get back to your games, we'll be out of here soon enough. No need to fight this." He gestures to Thornell, and the man jerks forward and from his stool with a gasp. Not hard to guess a sting was guiding him there. "You, with us."
Ivan rolls his neck on his shoulders, sighing, "Always you want to be doing it hard way." He intones lifting up one of his hands to extend it, palm out, toward the Beekeeper. A brief pulse of steam up from his feet along the lines of his armor and a beam coalesecses and creases the air between the hero and the villain, smashing into the Beekeeper with a dull THWUP of energy hitting matter.
Needless to say, Keisha can't help but wince annoyedly. Not just at this interruption to her business, dammit, but simply because they're going after a customer! Why couldn't they just grab him before he got here!? ... Okay, not the most heroic of impulses, but she's a businesswoman still. Something, though, catches her eye, as she warns, "Hey, watch ou-"
See, there's a ramp off to the side there... and a cart that has been slowly rolling down it, after the server had run off in a /bee panic/. Gravity is starting to take its toll, however, as it picks up speed... barreling through the area, both villains ducking as it sweeps past, even as Miss Perception actually topples off her feet! Unfortunately for them!
Miss Perception is bowled over in most undignified fashion, and she has a snarl of an expression as she climbs to her feet again, glaring to where....well, surely no one there to have -pushed- that cart. So her attention of course is right for the armored man, hand outstretched. "Stop right there!" Sure enough, Ivan feels his muscles tighten briefly, as though trying to lock him into place....but he manages to barely shake free.
CRASH! An expensive skylight shatters into a million pieces as The Rumor bursts onto the scene. See? She -is- learning how to be a dark avenger type. "Stop right there, evildoers!" she calls, falling gracefully from the rooftop to the casino floor. "If you continue to resist, you will be harmed!" With that, she spins into a roundhouse kick and nails Miss Perception in the face, so one presumes the warning was mostly lip service. When her kick fails to put a dent in the villainess's face, she looks kind of put out. "Force fields are cheating!"
The bees muster themselves into more concerted swarms, looking almost like solid clouds of pure wing and stinger! They try to envelop Ivan, but it doesn't seem to do much - can bees really -do- anything to his armored defenses?
Rumor though, is another matter - she dodges one swarm, but another of them gives her some painful stings, if nothing she can't shake off. Keisha? She's still kept harmlessly there - apparently she's still kept hostage.
Then the Beekeeper seems to shake off the daze of that blow, calling out, "Leave him be, you're not going to...." A shake of his hooded head at the bees, and he calls, "Perception, you take care of him, I'll focus on this one!" He unsheaths a thick bladed sort of knife from his belt under that coating of bees, and turns on the Rumor - while the uncapping tool might not be terribly sharp, he sure gives her a hard whallop with it, sending her staggering back. "You! Keep out of this!" (Rumor is bruised and stunned!)
Ivan charges across the intervening distance where Rumor is menaced by Miss Perception and the Beekeeper and he hauls his fist back. He snaps a punch across the woman's jaw, spinning her on her toes, and catches her as she starts to fall. He twists her arm behind her back and gets a grip on her neck, holding her steady.
"Hey... hey! Careful around the equipment! My insurance is already mad at me!", Keisha protests in a little huff. If she seems unconcerned... well, it's probably just due to being jaded and wealthy, right? Not that she doesn't seem a little put out as she... sits there. Otherwise a good hostage! "... I mean, are you going to take the bees with you when you leave? I don't have anything against them, but no hive near here, or flowers, and they get into the machinery and-" KLONG! A hearty bell-chime as a slot machine malfuctions, most of them electronic these days, an arm jerking down to, er, smack the beekeeper on the head. Looks like it stung a bit, if mostly due to the indignity. "See?"
ooc Miss Perception is downright mauled by the assault, and wrestled down, gripped there and struggling. At first she barely even manages that from the shock of things, but then she tenses and narrows her eyes. "Stop! And unhand me this instant!" It's not trying to lock him up this time though: she'd probably be caught that way, given that strength. Instead, it's just a raw, and painful, psychic assault, a shock of pain throwing him off! Not that she seems in much shape to pull away even then, though%r%r(Ivan is bruised and stunned!)
Miss Perception is downright mauled by the assault, and wrestled down, gripped there and struggling. At first she barely even manages that from the shock of things, but then she tenses and narrows her eyes. "Stop! And unhand me this instant!" It's not trying to lock him up this time though: she'd probably be caught that way, given that strength. Instead, it's just a raw, and painful, psychic assault, a shock of pain throwing him off! Not that she seems in much shape to pull away even then, though.
"Ow!" The Rumor cries, looking down at the rapidly forming bruise on her shoulder. "That actually hurt! I..." For a moment, she doesn't do anything at all. "You're not supposed to be able to hurt me, mortal," she hisses, though the last word is largely inaudible. "You will -pay- for this affront!" Staying in character is not her forte.
Bees swarm angrily around Kharis and Ivan both! Kharis is the only one really affected, mind - she gets some more stings, not that they're really slowing her down any further. More of them seem to sting at Thornell, who is now running for the door, still covered in yellow and black motes, and giving a scream as he moves. Daring a break for it even now, or is he being goaded that way?
The Beekeeper widens his eyes a moment. "Not suppose to be able to hurt you, girl? You'd better take care, this is Vegas you're playing int." Still, rather than following up on her he turns away. Ivan then finds an unpleasant realization - those bees weren't trying to -hurt- him. Oh, no, they were a smokescreen distracting from that vicious blow the Beekeeper gives with the blade, even hurting him right through that armor! "And you, let her go!"
Ivan growls as he feels the Beekeeper's strike find purchase and he's still reeling from the mental assault. "You will be keeping out of my head, witch." He growls in Russian, tightening his grip. "Or there will be a reckoning between us."
In the meanwhile... the tide seems to be turning some. And despite Keisha being, by all appearances, a perfectly normal woman... well, she can't just sit there, even if her luck's pulled through so far. This is her casino! With the villaind distracted by the far more visible heroes, she carefully rises to her feet... and ducks to the side, rolling and rising to her feet, to... pull the fire alarm? Yes, the police are already here from the normal alarm, but she has other ideas. Water!
A spray gushes down suddenly from overhead... annoying to the humans, yes, but to the bees its dangerous! Splashing them out of the sky, messing with pheremones, ruining their formations... no real /harm/, but it's the perfect swarm-destroyer! Indeed, at least half the mass of it are breaking up and either twitching on the floor or flying off, removing the threat from the other hostages! "G'wan, run for it!"
Miss Perception still struggles weakly, clearly in pain and quite physically overpowered. But her mind - that remains entirely sharp. "Stop this right....there!" She mentally lashes out at Ivan again, this time trying to lock him up much as she had the first time. And this time his muscles seem reluctant to move at his command, even the armor held by that.
Meanwhile the thin, frightened man freed doesn't run - he just faints dead away.
With a big frown on her shapeshifted teenage face, Kharis unhooks a little device from her ~utility belt~. It is a little blaster thing, or at least looks like one. It is actually a prop made of tinfoil and cardboard and some realistic paint. She levels this at the Beekeeper as she opens her divine mind to the cosmic channels, sending a psychic e-mail of pure vertigo and pain to his unsuspecting brain. "My Rumor Ray will leave you reeling!" she calls out, making a dramatic pose as she 'fires' the gun. Glancing over at Thornell, then, she cries: "Hey, you! Stay put until we sort this out, or I'll knock you out too!"
The bees rage angrily at The Rumor, but she's nimble enough to keep out of the thick of them. Another of the surviving swarms wraps itself around the Beekeeper: protecting him? Or maybe just having some escape from the wet?
Thornell meanwhile more trips than stops, stumbling to the ground near the door. "Aaah! Don't, don't! I swear, it was all an accident! It's not even airborne, we-" He cuts himself off then, huddling there instead with the insects still cloaking him.
The Beekeeper himself meanwhile is not in such fine shape, caught off guard by that assault. The bees must not be so -directly- controlled by him, since he's not in any shape now to be giving orders, but they do seem more aimless compared to before.
Ivan takes a firm grip further down Miss Perception's arm and twists it further, "I warned you." He intones in Russian, making a sharp motion, but nothing happens. The bitch's elbow turns at the last second, allowing her to escape a broken arm, this time. "... Hey!", Keisha yells. Not to the villains though, but to Ivan; snapping a woman's arm seems a bit like /overkill/, especially considering the tide's already turned. She can't help but grimace some. Not that she's done herself, mind you... reaching out to grab a lightfixture from the wall, and... well, give it a good /toss/, like a baseball! Inglorious, perhaps, but even as a mundane it luckily seems to be enough, clonking upside the beekeeper's head - and sending him to the floor, in an awkward slump - with it ricocheting off Miss Perception in turn. What's the chance of that?
With the bees starting to disperse at the fall of their leader and headed for the exits, Miss Perception finds herself alone. And in no real condition to fight. She tugs uselessly at the grip holding her, but mutters after. "Fine! Fine then, I surrender." No more attacks follow there, at least, and the remaining hostages soon are harmlessly freed. Even if Thornell is still cowered there while the bees fly over his head through that still open door.
"Can someone get that guy? Whoever he is, he probably shouldn't get away." The Rumor is talking about Thornell, but she's still walking toward the Beekeeper. Standing over him, the blonde teen puts her gloved hands on her hips. "What prompted this, ma'am?" That's to Keisha. "It seems like your establishment gets a lot of meta-crime!"
Ivan drops Miss Perception to the ground, considering the threat neutralized, he doesn't want to damage Vanguard's reputation any more than he has by breaking her arm /now/; she's surrendered after all. And he turns to leave the casino, realizing that he won't get to gamble anymore anyway.
"Of course it does, I have a business in /Vegas/," Keisha huffs to Rumor as she steps past. Employees are already working on shutting off the water and such, and the police are already about, so it's not too hard a cleanup... overall. She looks like she got off well enough for it though, not even all that damp! Lucky. "I mean, it's not like it's good for business! And pretty sure he," she says, thumbing over towards Thornell, "Was a patron at the bar, and looks like those two loonies were gunning for him, but.."
Security is at least responding -now- given that they aren't facing huge swarms of bees. Though to be fair, could they have done much about those? A couple of them do focus on Thornell, though the rest are helping other patrons, and keeping an eye on the two villains until the police can take them in. Thornell himself is still looking nervous even as he sits up again. "I don't know them, they came out of nowhere, really!" Not that he sounds so convincing especially after earlier comments.
"Well gosh I am just trying to make conversation, ma'am." The Rumor pouts a little bit in a way that she thinks is adorable and childlike but which is probably just cloying and strange. "Have the police been called? I can stay here with you until they arrive."
"Yeah, the silent alarm was tripped before they grabbed me," Keisha sighs, rubbing her chin as she takes some care to /not/ walk under the sprays. "Considering the city it might not be a quick repl- ah, see?" Squad car lights visible out front, through the glass. And to Thornell, she wonders as she approaches, "What were they after you for anyway? I'll need to know for the police report. And the insurance report," she scowls.
Thornell coughs. "They....they think I'm part of some weird sort of mind control scheme. They're crazies, like you said." He's gotten to his feet, stiffly and a bit painfully after a few stings. "I thought I'd lost them in LA, but no luck."
"Uh huh. Well, sir, you should stick around to talk to the police in any case." The Rumor says that pretty pointedly; these people caused a panic, even if they were well-intentioned, but that doesn't mean this guy is a good dude. "If you need anything from The Witness and his amazing sidekick THE RUMOR in the future, ma'am, just uh. Actually I'm not sure what you should do. I ought to ask the boss."
