Electra Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Stesha popped a couple of grapes into her mouth to stop herself from giggling at Derrick's semi-tormented expression. For a superhero, he really was very shy... but she was pretty sure he wasn't actually averse to any of her flirting. When his arm came around her, she snuggled comfortably into the embrace, picking up another strawberry and this time eating it herself. "Maybe not as good as cupcakes," she decided, "but they certainly do have their charms. What do you pack for a trip to space, anyway?"
Cyroa Posted August 6, 2009 Author Posted August 6, 2009 He held her lightly, smiling (but still a little red; hadn't quite calmed down from the ...ah...yeah...), enjoying the way she smelled and felt snuggled up like that. He didn't bother reaching for food, perfectly happy to remain where he was. Food could wait. "Space itself you won't be cold at all. I'll project an energy field that prevents the realities of space from being a problem. So it depends on where would you like to go? If you're interested in something tropical and warm you might want to pick something with..uh..less..uh..material. And same sort of applies if you..uh.. want to do something with ..pools of water and stuff." The idea of her is less revealing attire...FOCUS BEFORE YOU PASS OUT YOU TWIT! BREATHE!. "You know. Dress for where you'd like to go, with maybe a change of clothes if you'd like to be prepared. I suppose another basket of food and such would make sense too. Think of it as if you were going hiking or camping somewhere in the world. This just won't be on Earth. Though I suppose if something is forgotten, a quick pop back to get it should be easy enough to do."
Electra Posted August 6, 2009 Posted August 6, 2009 "A camping trip," Stesha repeated, intrigued. "In space. That sounds very exciting." In a lot of ways, some of which gave her butterflies in her stomach, but she sort of liked it. "I really like warm weather and beaches, but I'm not too keen on salt water. If you know a place with tropical freshwater beaches, that would be pretty amazing. We can bring swimsuits, and maybe I can borrow some snorkel gear. Bring dinner along, stretch out under different stars at night. It could be a lot of fun." She looked up at him with a smile, still nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm. "You busy next weekend?"
Cyroa Posted August 6, 2009 Author Posted August 6, 2009 He hadn't meant actual camping, just as a reference for things to bring. Surely she wouldn't think he'd offer something like that. That would have been brazenly forward! But she seemed interested in the idea of camping together. Even implied she'd like to spend the whole weekend together camping. With no one around for light years in any direction. Together. For at least a couple days. Which meant it included at least one night. Together. In the same place. Sleeping. By this point, Derrick's brain was almost totally shut down before some form of basic survival instinct took over and restarted the thought process. Sort of. Of course, he was pretty sure it was 110 degrees out, his stomach was doing its impression of a twister and he wasn't sure but there seemed to be less oxygen around considering how light headed and giddy he was feeling. That and the world seemed to not exist outside of a lovely young woman he held in his arm and an empty world hundreds of light years away. Despite the rather extremely lengthy pause and silence as his body and brain were frozen at the prospect, something deeper in him knew better. His face was combination of something awkward and confused mixed with a rather wide smile and a dazzlingly happy expression. "I...uh...yeah...a...err...um...ah...I'm...uh...available...yeah...I mean...Yes, that sounds wonderful." Man was his throat dry. Not wanting to dislodge the Stesha from his embrace, he still reached out, stretching for his glass. A full glass. A few moments later, an empty glass. He still felt rather parched but at least it seemed to have gotten his brain moving again. He focused on his memories of planet to help keep him focused. Otherwise, his brain was going to slide back to her in a bathing suit...on a picturesque beach...spending a night with... ABANDONED PLANET! He quite literally had to give a mental shout before he got...distracted again. He had this vague thought of nearby telepaths wincing. "Err, uh, yes. Right." Another deep breath. Or two. Do not think about Stesha breathing! Focus... "I think I know of a perfect place. A proto-Paradise World; a place where no hostile or dangerous life has developed at all. This one is mostly a waterworld. Freshwater oceans. Lots of tropical islands. Mostly small fish and reefs." And soon an amazing green hair woman wearing only a bathing suit... STOP THAT!
Electra Posted August 6, 2009 Posted August 6, 2009 Solicitously, Stesha passed him her full glass to replace the one he'd suddenly drained. "That sounds great," she told him. "I'll make sure to bring my camera, we can take lots of pictures." Inwardly she was giggling at his extremely obvious thought process, but it was really quite flattering to know that she could get him so distracted. It was time to show some pity though, before he stopped breathing entirely. She wasn't sure he needed to, but better safe than sorry. "Sounds like an easy vacation to pack for, too. I can put together a hamper of food and dig up snorkel gear if you bring what we'll need for the nights. For camping," she added hastily when his eyes glazed over again. "We can talk about specifics later." She leaned forward and took another cupcake, offered him one to go with the wine.
Cyroa Posted August 7, 2009 Author Posted August 7, 2009 Ok...he knew she had powers over plants and all that. But he was beginning to wonder if she had some form of bio-control too. Because it felt like he had little to no control over his own body at this point...pretty much every time she was speaking over the last few minutes really. Heightened temperatures, shallow breathing, inability to form a cognitive sentence, some weird form of nausea, yet at the same time making him feel giddily happy about the entire process and everything really. Logically, he knew it wasn't something relating to her plant abilities. But clearly she had a power over him, not that he minded really. "Uh, camping gear, yes. I can handle that." He drank a lot more wine, though this time only half the glass. He was calming down a little, though drinking that fast wasn't likely to help him keep his equilibrium. He accepted the cupcake with smile, getting his mind to focus on what she might need or like in the way of camping supplies. He'd have to make a trip in advance, just to make sure things were ready for her. Him too actually, since he'd have to be human as well. Which reminded him... "Uh...it will take me a few hours to change back once we're there. I can become energy with ease. But becoming human again isn't exactly easy or fast. I've been working on it a little, but..." He shrugged.
Electra Posted August 7, 2009 Posted August 7, 2009 "All the more reason to make a weekend of it," she pointed out, peeling the wrapper off her cupcake. "We can look around on the trip, then unwind for a few hours while you're getting solid again, then go swimming or hiking or do whatever. Do you need to sleep and eat and breathe when you're in this form," she asked him, "or is it just for fun?"
Cyroa Posted August 7, 2009 Author Posted August 7, 2009 He didn't unwrap the chocolate cupcake right away. He actually licked at the chocolate first, much like a kid would do. When the chocolate was about half gone, he got around to unwrapping it carefully. It was a great way to focus and not dwell on the fact that they would be spending the entire weekend together.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... RIGHT! BREATHING! He blinked, and stumbled out with a nod, "Um uh, ya.. yeah.." Deep breath. "Sort of. I still don't age. I need to sleep maybe half the time I normally would. I do intentionally sleep, just to remember what it's like, once a month or so. Food is similar. I can go longer than normal without needing food but I still would need to eat if I stayed like this for too long. I still need air of course."
Avenger Assembled Posted August 8, 2009 Posted August 8, 2009 "YOU! I KNEW I WOULD FIND YOU HERE!" Suddenly, a yellow and black figure came crashing through the trees overhead and pointed right at Stesha. "You're Fleur de Joie's friend! She's the one who put me away!" The Bee-Keeper looked to be in fine form today, his armor polished bright and a black cloud of bees buzzing all around him. "If I kidnap you, she'll have to come find you! Scream if you want," he said rudely, "it'll just attract more attention!"
Electra Posted August 8, 2009 Posted August 8, 2009 Stesha startled out from under Derrick's arm when the picnic was so rudely interrupted. "Not you again!" she cried, her voice half a moan. "You ruin everything!" She looked around at the park full of people. Running away wasn't an option, if he was trying to catch a superhero's attention, he'd just go harass someone else. "Anyway, she might be closer than you think!" Stesha ad-libbed. "She could be right behind you!" She gave the tree they were all under a bit of a nudge, and suddenly its slender branches descended like arms, wrapping around the yellow and black villain.
Avenger Assembled Posted August 8, 2009 Posted August 8, 2009 "FLEUR DE JOIE!? Here!?" Bee-Keeper was thoroughly fooled by Stesha's clever wiles, looking around wildly and missing her cunning attack from below as the trees around him came sweeping down and wrapped their branches around his armored limbs. "Gah! I know she's here somewhere! Swarm!" he called out. "Deal with the boyfriend and with the shop-clerk! _I'll_ handle Fleur de Joie!" And at that, his armor disgorged a cloud of black, menacing bees, their eyes glowing with supernatural intelligence. "I've bred a new race of bees, Fleur!" he called at the sky. "A race of bees with powers and abilitiezz far beeyond those of mortal bees! You won't get me so easily this time!" With that, the great swarm coming out of his armor formed itself up into an eerie, human-like mass as it hovered above Stesha and Derrick. The great mass divided up into two human shapes, each one only half as thick as the other two. The one approaching Stesha raised its bee-limbs menacingly, the swarm buzzing madly, while the swarm attacking Derrick dived for him to entangle him in bee-limbs! Again and again he felt their stings sink into his tender all-too-solid flesh!
Cyroa Posted August 9, 2009 Author Posted August 9, 2009 Derrick was having a wonderful time. This third date, supposedly a turning point from his reading, was going very well and was extremely enjoyable (baring certain moments of extreme heart attacks and the like). And then it all went badly... Now, Derrick was not someone who got angry really. He didn't let disappointments and annoyances upset him unduly. Nor would he let those things influence his reactions. He really preferred to talk things out and not resort to violence. But right now, he was feeling a little perturbed. He hadn't been this happy in a long time. Combined with just that fact that their date had been interrupted, this villain apparently want to harm her (in her hero form, but still). And he wasn't going to let that go. Ever. Unfortunately. he couldn't just change right there. His and, more importantly from his point of view, Stesha's secret identities would be put at risk. He couldn't allow that to happen. He had to smile at her quick wits and getting this villain to turn away from them. Of course, given that he was almost instantly enveloped in a horde of bees, something he could honestly say had never happened to him before in or out of 'costume, he didn't exactly have a lot of options. Luckily, from the sound of this...person's rant, Stesha was in no danger. Just Derrick himself. Doing his best to ignore the half-dozen stings he received almost instantly, Derrick threw himself out of the swarm and into the bushes nearby, letting the energy he contained flood outwards. Hidden for the moment in the bushes, the dark energy burst forth from his chest, quickly consuming his body. Within moments, Derrick was gone and only the energy being called Dark Star remained. A very annoyed energy being...
Electra Posted August 9, 2009 Posted August 9, 2009 Stesha watched as Derrick ran away, chased by hundreds of bees, even as another mass of them closed in on her. She wasn't in any urge to face them! She directed the branches to retract into the tree and swallow the Beekeeper, for safekeeping. Before even watching to see how well it managed that trick, she vanished into the grass, zipping over to where she'd seen Derrick run. "Are you all ri-" she began, trailing off when she saw her date exploding into pure energy. "Derrick?"
Avenger Assembled Posted August 9, 2009 Posted August 9, 2009 The plants wrapped themselves around the Bee-Keeper, swallowing the armored supervillian with an "Awp!" of dismay. But disabling the Bee-Keeper didn't simply end the fight as it had before, not when suddenly the swarm of bees formed itself up and launched an attack against Fleur de Joie! The great glowing-eyed bees abandoned Derrick, having already attacked him once, and assaulted Fleur de Joie with their terrible stings!
Cyroa Posted August 9, 2009 Author Posted August 9, 2009 Dark Star resurfaced only a feet feet away, on the opposite side of the imprisoned villain. Probably for the best considering how annoyed he was. He waved on hand, sending out a wave of radiation but modulated to only affect those annoying insect swarms. He didn't particularly want to vaporize the little things, but leaving a massive swarm of bees trained to hurt people just wasn't a good plan. He looked at Stesha, wanting to reassure her but not wanting to risk her identity. He didn't know if the fellow could still hear them while inside that plant. Better safe than sorry he supposed. "Good afternoon ma'am. Are you alright?"
Avenger Assembled Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 The bees imploded with sad little poofs, their tiny bodies falling apart in little bursts of radiation. A scattered few survivors flew away into the trees, but they showed no more interest in harassing Dark Star and Stesha now that they'd been so soundly defeated. But from the plant that imprisoned the Bee-Keeper there came the sudden, distinct sound of a revving chainsaw.
Electra Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 Stesha put her hands up to cover her face as the bees attacked, that useless reflex trumping the smarter idea to transmit out of range. She'd gotten no more than a sting or two, though, when the bees began dropping... well, like flies. She looked up and saw the bees disintegrating around her in a rather disturbing yet satisfying way, and breathed a sigh of relief. It took her a moment to parse why Dark Star was treating her like a stranger, till she realized that he was in his hero identity and she certainly wasn't in what passed for hers. But it looked like the battle was over, and with hardly anyone the wiser... She took a few steps back towards Derrick, hoping for a confab on what to do with the villain she'd just captured for the second time in hardly more than a month. The revving chainsaw noise had her jumping before she could so much as open her mouth. She grabbed for Derrick's arm, but of course her hands passed right through, leaving them tingling as though asleep for just a moment. "I don't know what that is," she told him, hugging her arms to her own chest. "What can he be doing in there?" She wasn't panicking, yet, but it was close.
Cyroa Posted August 10, 2009 Author Posted August 10, 2009 Sometimes, only rarely up till recently, he hated being made of energy. He really had no sense of touch with tangible beings. And at the moment, he would have really like to hold Stesha. With a mental sigh, he returned to the matter at hand. "I would venture that he is cutting his way free. Perhaps, you could run and seek cover while I take care of the villain? Everything will be fine, I assure you."
Electra Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 "I'm not just going to leave you here," she protested, even though she might have liked to do exactly that. Being brave and heroic wasn't easy. "I'll just hide behind the bush and try and help from a distance, so he doesn't see me. He's looking for Fleur, not for Stesha. He shouldn't be able to break out, anyway..." The revving noise sounded again, and she darted back behind the bushes to a more secure vantage point.
Avenger Assembled Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 With the sudden, spasmodic roar of a chainsaw, the Bee-Keeper burst free from his plant-prison, his body covered in plant ichor. Around his armored hands buzzed two glowing, rapidly-spinning blades, and he laughed in malignant triumph. "Hah-hah, Fleur de Joie! Your plant-prison can't hold a master of super-science like the Bee-Keeper! My dimensional chainsaws have...." He fell silent, his segmented eyes falling on the shattered bee fragments all around them, his armored head moving back and forth before he threw his face to the sky and screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Cyroa Posted August 10, 2009 Author Posted August 10, 2009 Dark Star smiled at Fleur, even though he would have been much happier if she were no where around. But at least she was hidden, relatively speaking. Finally this foolish villain burst free, covered in tree sap. Dark Star floated off to one side as the man suddenly started wailing about the incinerated insects. He might have felt bad for the man if he wasn't so odd and hadn't interrupted Dark Star's date. "Sir, you have attacked innocent citizens and are clearly a danger. It is my duty to deliver you to the police. Please do not resist and come along quietly." He reached out with invisible tendril of gravity to the wailing man, but came up a little short in his efforts to be gentle.
Electra Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 From the bushes, Stesha gaped as the Beekeeper made his macabre reentry upon the scene. She hadn't realized he'd be able to cut his way out, hadn't realized he'd even try! While Dark Star tried to negotiate with the crazy villain, she reached out with her powers and healed the grievous wound that had been done to the poor tree, before it could lose any more of its vitality. Suddenly, she didn't feel at all bad, if she had before, about the malicious bees getting incinerated.
Avenger Assembled Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 "You...you MURDERER!" exclaimed Bee-Keeper, his muffled voice horrified by the unspeakable carnage he saw all around him. "You're a terrible arch-nemesis! I'm going to tell the world that Dark Star is nothing more than a mass-murdering psychopath!" And he proceeded to do just that, blasting off into the air with a whirr of bee-engines and shouting, "Dark Star is a murdering alien! Dark Star is a murdering alien! Watch out, or your children will be next!" The few tourists who'd stayed to watch the fight looked singularly unimpressed by his rhetoric.
Cyroa Posted August 10, 2009 Author Posted August 10, 2009 Dark Star shook his head. "I'm sorry for your loss. They were endangering two innocent people. And you're quite mistaken. I an not your archnemesis nor am I an alien." He flew upwards with the man, reaching out and grabbing the delusional villain with his telekinetics. "I was human once. Now please stop resisting before you harm yourself."
Avenger Assembled Posted August 10, 2009 Posted August 10, 2009 "Your alien science can't hold down the Hero of the Hive!" called the Archduke of the Apiary as he impossibly pulled himself out of Dark Star's grip. "Soon I shall return more powerful than you can possibly imagine!" he laughed malignantly, his armor amplifying his voice as he zoomed higher and higher into the sky. "And I shall have my revenge on the world!"
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