BeeFFs (IC)

[Electra]

"WE DO NOT CALL HIM MAZZTER ANYMORE BEECAUZZE HE DOEZZ NOT DEZZERVE IT!" Beeatriz expostulated. "HE CREATED UZZ, AND UZZED UZZ, AND THREW UZZ AWAY AZZ MIZZTAKEZZ! ZZTEZZA AND GAINITE AND VICTORY ZZHOW UZZ HOW TO TREAT FRIENDZZ. YOU WERE KIND TO UZZ WHEN YOU BEEFEATED UZZ. WE HAVE LEARNED MANY THINGZZ ABOUT BEEING FREE CREATUREZZ. HE WAZZ JAILER, NOT MAZZTER, EVEN IF HE MADE YOUR PARTZZ ZZTAY ATTACHED!" she sternly informed Curl-bee. The massive drone just shrugged, an impressive gesture.

[Gizmo]

Jack mirrored the shrug, gesturing helplessly to Beeatriz. Fixing it so that the male bees' parts stayed attached was a pretty hard act to follow, the swashbuckler had to admit. "Well, hey," he called up to the enormous insects, changing the topic, "What's a guy gotta do to get a tour around here, huh? Can't tell the other squishy bipeds I went all the way to Beedom City and just looked at the hive from the outside, right?"

[Electra]

"WE WILL BEE HAPPY TO ZZHOW YOU OUR HOME, JACK OF BLADEZZ," Beeatriz said graciously. The two bees descended so they were actually standing on those deceptively fragile-looking legs.

"Climb on board," Stesha invited with a smile. She'd been standing by, ready to intervene if diplomacy had seemed necessary, but the reintroduction had gone very well. Since there was no way she was climbing up the fuzzy 12-foot wall of Beeatriz's flank even at the best of times, a quick assist from a vine boosted her up to the worker bee's broad back. 'This is the best way to go in the tunnels without having to worry about getting clobbered by someone flying too fast."

[Gizmo]

A series of nimble acrobatics brought Jack up over Curl-bee's side quickly and onto the great insect's back, a honed sense of balance allowing his to remain standing these even as the bees took flight, affording him a better view. Flexing his knees to maintain his precarious perch, the fencer craned his neck to take in the massive hive and its outlying substructures, reflecting that they were not entirely dissimilar to a human city. Mostly, however, he simply bared his teeth in fierce enjoyment as the wind swept back his greatcoat and the tails of his bandanna mask.

[Electra]

The bees rose upwards and swooped around the outside of the hive first, spiraling upwards to follow the generally conical construction. Stesha waved and called greetings to other bees as they passed, but she was nowhere near brave enough nor balanced enough to try standing up like Jack was. "Gaian Knight built this whole hive for them!" Stesha called out to Jack. "It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, it looked as though he pulled it out of the ground fully-formed. He said it was fun!" She laughed as they climbed high above the distant tree-line, into what would've been rooftop level anywhere in Freedom City outside the very heart of Midtown. Beeatriz continued climbing smoothly, but Curl-bee, perhaps nettled by the antics of the rider on his back, began banking his turns a little more sharply. "BEETER HOLD ON, ZZQUIZZHY BIPED!" he challenged the swordsman. "IZZ A BUMBEE RIDE!"

[Gizmo]

"Oh, bring it on, Legs!" Jack called back down to Curl-bee from his stance, crouching enough to a grip on the coarse hairs on the insect's back, anchoring himself in place as he shifted his weight back and forth against the sharp movements. Luckily, it wasn't too different from balancing on the back of Colt's flying motorcycle, with the added benefit that nobody was actually shooting at them. That didn't stop him from making sure that his grapple was ready in his free hand, however.

[Electra]

Beeatriz and Stesha settled into a hover, with Beeatriz heaving an enormous sigh over her hivemate's antics. Stesha watched with her fingers over her mouth, hoping her swordsman colleague hadn't bitten off more than he could chew. Despite their size and bulk, the bees were amazingly nimble creatures.

For his part, Curl-bee laughed, an extraordinarily odd sound coming from a massive insect, then dropped like a stone, easily twenty or thirty feet, then went zooming out away from the hive at well over a hundred miles per hour. He banked on a dime, then headed back, doing an actual barrel roll as he sped back in the direction of the hive!

[Gizmo]

As Curl-bee dropped, Jack abruptly released his hand hold and kicked upward, free falling while his sprawling greatcoat slowed his decent slightly, widening the gap between him and his ride. Turning himself over midair so that he was facing downward, the swashbuckler fired his grapple with practiced precision to loop around one of the massive insect's rear legs. Holding onto his end of the cable with both hands, Jack whooped loudly as Curl-bee changed direction, dragging the human along behind him like a parasailor. When the bee suddenly reversed direction, the swordsman had a split instant to release and retract the line before landing once again on the returning behemoth's back, just in time to hang on for dear life as they spun about.

[Electra]

"NIZZE MOVEZZ, BIPED," the giant bee allowed, slowing to a more sedate cruising speed as they approached the hive once again. "MAYBEE YOU CAN HANG WITH UZZ AFTER ALL." They caught up with Beeatriz, who seemed to be shaking her head, and Stesha, who was looking a little pale after watching the show.

"LET'ZZ GO INZZIDE NOW, AND NO MORE ZZHOWING OFF," Beeatriz said firmly, and the foursome took off into the giant warren of tunnels that made up the hive. They had to go single file, but even so the sight was impressive. The interior of the hive was lit with luminescent rocks, casting just enough of a glow that the humans could see, for all that the bees needed no such help. The air was full of a distant buzzing, and smelled of flowers and pollen. It was also noticeably warmer in here than outside.

[Gizmo]

"Not showing off?" Jack called over to Beeatriz, his exaggerated tone suggesting he was mystified. "I... don't think I follow, Trix." Even so, he took up a more relaxed stance, simply keeping his balance without any theatrics as they flew through the hive. The fencer was glad for the light casting stones; in retrospect, he wasn't sure how he'd expected to see within the cavernous tunnels. He supposed he'd simply thought of it was something akin to a massive parking complex, his brain substituting in a more common structure to deal with the sheer level of absurdity.

[Electra]

Most of the walls of the massive complex were composed of earth and stone, wide tunnels that opened onto massive chambers of rock. As they moved downward, though, it was clear that the bees were starting to utilize their space more fully. Honeycomb began to cover the walls of some of the chambers, some merely wax outlines, others actually full of barrel-sized amounts of the gooey substance. "WE HAVE BEEGUN TO ZZTORE FOOD IN THE NEW HIVEZZ," Beeatriz said proudly. "ZZOON WE WILL NO LONGER BE AT THE MERZZY OF WEATHER AND ZZUNZZHINE FOR WHEN WE MAY EAT!"

"AND WITH FOOD ZZTORED, IT WILL BEE TIME TO MAKE THE BABY BEEZZ!" Curl-bee added enthusiastically. "I AM PRACTIZZING MY BEZZT MOVEZZ." Beeatriz seemed to sigh again.

[Gizmo]

"Woah, dude," Jack cautioned, calling down from Curl-bee's back, "too much information. Seriously." The swashbuckler was beginning to suspect that evolution had built a severe downside into mating for male bees for a reason. "Romance isn't exactly a native concept for you bunch, huh?" he drawled, shaking his head slightly. Granted, his very basic understanding of the way a hive was structured suggested wooing wasn't really a concern, what with only one queen, but that didn't rule out the possibility of a little style.

[Electra]

"QUEEN BEELIZZIMA DOEZZ NOT EVEN FLY, BUT THIZZ DOEZZ NOT ZZTOP ZHE DRONEZZ FROM CRAZY ZZTUNTZZ TO TRY AND IMPREZZ HER," Beeatriz explained dismissively. "ZZHE WILL CHOOZ WHOEVER ZZHE WANTZZ WHEN ZHE TIME COMEZZ, AND ALL ZHE TRICKZZ IN ZHE WORLD WILL NOT HELP. BUT DRONEZZ DO NOT THINK OF ROMANZZ, ONLY OF MAKING THE LITTLE BEEZZ."

"ROMANZZ?" Curl-bee asked, sounding bewildered. "DRONEZZ ARE NOT FOR ROMANZZ! ROMANZZ IZZ FOR FEMALEZZ, WE HAVE ZZEEN IT ON ZHE TELEVIZZON! ZHAT MUZZHY ZZTUFF IZZ A WAZZTE OF TIME!"

This time Beeatriz and Stesha both visibly sighed. "Maybe Beeatriz is right," Stesha suggested gently. "it couldn't hurt to stand out from the other drones and do something different, right?"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO ZHE ROMANZZ," Curl-bee admitted. "I WOULD LOOK FOOLIZZH!"

[Gizmo]

"Dios." Finally sitting down, Jack reclined on the massive insect's back, supporting himself on his forearms. "Alright, Curl, follow my logic, here. You're trying to impress a female, yeah? So if romance if for females, guess who else it's important to?" After a beat, the fencer eaborated, "You, is what I'm getting at, comprende? And yeah, you probably are going to look foolish." Jack broad grin was lopsided and cocky. "The trick to romance is looking so foolish it wraps back around to looking awesome instead."

[Electra]

"MY FLYING TRICKZZ MAKE ME LOOK AWEZZOME," Curl-bee pointed out hopefully. "WHEN THE QUEEN ZZEEZZ MY ZZWEET MOVEZZ, ZZHE WILL KNOW I AM THE BEZZT OF ALL THE DRONEZZ IN THE HIVE!"

"HE IZZ HOPELEZZ," Beeatriz told Jack, her tone one of longsuffering. "THE DRONEZZ ARE NOT MADE FOR THOUGHTZZ OR REAZZONING, ONLY FOR MAKING BABY BEEZZ. THIZZ IZZ WHY THEY MUZZN'T GO TOO FAR FROM THE HIVEZZ WITHOUT ZZUPERVIZZON."

[Gizmo]

"Man, this whole caste system thing you guys got going on is bonkers," Jack assessed flatly before realizing that the brusque judgment was potentially terribly insulting. "I mean, I get that, y'know, you're talented at different stuff, and that's cool and all, but you kinda keep using it as an excuse." Having committed himself at this point, he sat up to better address both Beeatriz and Curl-bee. "You're all, 'I don't need to set a good example, that's the workers' job' and 'no point trying to reason with drones, they're not built for it'. But seriously, we are having a conversation right now and I don't care what species you are, your dad makes up half of who you are whether either of you like it or not."

[Electra]

"WHAT IZZ CAYZZTE ZZYZZTEM?" Beeatriz asked curiously, looking at Jack even as her antennae tilted back to pay attention to Stesha.

"He means the way that worker bees and drones have different duties, that it might seem like one group is more important than the other, or that they have more important jobs," Stesha explained. "You will get along better if you understand that everyones' jobs are very important to the hive."

"YEZZ, MAKING THE BABY BEEZZ IZZ IMPORTANT," Beeatriz agreed. "BUT BEECAUZZE ZZOMEBOBEE HAZZ AN IMPORTANT JOB,IT DOEZZ NOT MAKE THEM ZZMART," she pointed out.

Stesha looked slightly pained, but gave Jack a one-shouldered shrug. "The drones... do seem to be a little bit, ah, intellectually limited," she admitted with some reluctance.

"I CAN DO A DOUBLE LOOP!" Curl-bee interrupted. "WOULD THAT BE ROMANZZ?"

[Gizmo]

Jack planted his face in both his hands with a long groan. "Curl, buddy, you are freaking killing me over here." At the very least, he was quickly beginning to appreciate Beeatriz' frustration with her fellow fire-breather. "Alright, I'm going to try to break this down even more," he sighed after a moment to compose himself. "Sick flying stunts might make you look special, but the goal of romance is to make the lady feel special, see? The first part gets her attention, but after that, it's all on romance."

[Electra]

"ZZING HER A ZZONG," Beeatriz suggested, sounding like she was fed up with the whole thing. "MAYBE ZZHE WILL BE IMPREZZED WIZZ YOUR ZZWEET NOIZZEZZ. NOW WE GO LOWER." She swooped into a downward-tilting passageway and headed deeper into the hive.

The further down they went, the busier things became. Whole caverns were already encrusted with wax deposits, carefully being shaped into giant hexagons by teams of bees. The process didn't seem entirely efficient, for all they were working hard. "OUR POPULAZZION HERE IZ ZZMALL," Beeatriz explained to the visitors as they went. "OUR ZZMALLER COUZZINZZ HAVE MANY THOUZZANDZZ OF WORKERZZ IN THE HIVE. BUT THEY ALZZO DO NOT LIVE LONG OR LEARN THINGZZ AZ WE DO. WE WILL GET BEETTER QUICKLY."

[Gizmo]

Jack made an intrigued study of their surroundings and the work of the bees. "Huh. So that's how that works," he muttered largely to himself. Admittedly, he never given a considerable amount of thought to the specific going ons of a beehive, but it was interesting to see its construction from the inside. "Ha, things are getting all Magic School Bus up in here," he called over to Fleur, cupping his hands around his mouth to direct the sound against the background buzzing.

[Electra]

"It does give one a sort of flea's-eye view," Stesha agreed with a laugh. "It's easy to lose all sense of scale after you've been in here a little while. But just wait till we get down to the main chamber. I think we're almost there." Their downward journey began to level out, even as the buzzing noise increased to ever-louder and more echoing levels. "Make sure to be polite!" Stesha called to Jack over the din. "You're going to meet the queen, and that's a very big deal here!"

[Gizmo]

"Hey, I'm wounded, Sprouts!" Jack shouted back with an expression of mock hurt, placing a hand over his heart and leaning back slightly as if recoiling from a mortal blow. "When have you ever known me to be anything less than on my best manners?" Rising back to his feet, the swashbuckler balanced on Curl-bee's back, bracing his posture with one foot ahead of the other to account for the gentle downward angle.

[Electra]

Stesha put a hand to her face for a moment, perhaps rubbing her forehead, perhaps covering her eyes while Jack performed his daredevil stunt. Either way, the swordsman was on his feet as they emerged at the bottom of the tunnel into one of the eeriest rooms Jack had ever seen. It was immense, larger than a football field in each direction, and with a ceiling so high and arched, it almost didn't seem possible they were underground. There were luminescent rock outcroppings here and there, but in a room so large, the light they projected was dim and diffuse, casting world into purplish shadows. The buzzing noise was everywhere, echoing off the walls and booming from the invisible rafters.

In the center of the open space, a bee who could only be the Queen lay in repose. She was massive, even compared to her giant subjects, the size of a decent one-story house for all she didn't even have a stinger. A dozen of the worker bees raced around her, grooming her, feeding her, cleaning up the enormous space, all just as busy as could be. A couple of the drones were in attendance too, sitting indolently on the far side of the cavern, their huge wings beating the air at an idle hundred beats per minute.

[Gizmo]

Jack took in the massive cavern slowly, giving himself time to process the scope of it all. He was reminded vaguely for a moment of the overflowing brawl with the death cultists and their dark masters that previous Hallowe'en, a thought that put the fencer unconsciously on alert. The sight of the reclining Queen gave room an entirely different context, and Jack had to suppress the urge to whistle. Wow. I guess that's what you call 'big exoskeletoned'. He managed to restrain himself from saying anything at least until Fleur made the introductions.

[Electra]

Beeatriz took the lead on the introductions, flying a bit ahead with Stesha still on her back. Apparently by now the plant controller needed no introduction. "QUEEN , THIZZ IZZ JACK OF ALL BLADEZZ, A ZZUPERHERO FROM THE ZZQUIZZHY BIPED WORLD," she intoned formally. "HE IZZ THE ONE WHO BROUGHT FLEUR DE JOIE TO UZZ, WHEN WE WERE EXZZILED BY ZHE BEEKEEPER. HE WIZZHEZZ TO ZZEE HOW WE LIVE HERE."

The Queen turned slowly to face the newcomers, her enormous multifaceted eyes seeming to glow in the dimness as they picked up and refracted every bit of available light. "JACK OF ALL BLADEZZ?" she repeated. Her voice was surprisingly light for something her size, and there was some odd quality to it that suggested not childishness, but definitely youth. Who knew how long giant bees even lived? "YOU COME TO UZZ FROM THE WORLD THAT WAZZ? WE ARE PLEAZZED TO GREET A HERO OF BEEDOM VALLEY HIZZTORY." Stesha looked a bit surprised about something, but it was hard to say what.