Arriving in Fort Wayne, we went straight to the address given to us by the customer. The building was quite old, and when we looked at it, it looked as if it would blow like a house of cards if the wind blew a little harder. Herman and I went to check the flat - it turned out that he used to be a private investigator, and Arclight had taken the case mainly because of him. And I'm working as a bloodhound.
***In the car***
«Okay. They went to do their investigation, but why am I here? Don't tell me it's in case our target comes back, because if he hasn't come back before, it means he's spotted the stakeout and he's not going to walk into a trap like a jerk," Gambit grumbled unhappily.
«No, you're here so you don't do any more shit," Arclight replied.
«Why isn't Bruce getting the same attention? Wasn't he in on it? - Remy asked with righteous indignation.
«Bruce paid up within a month and didn't try to run off the base every third day. So sit tight," Philippa replied, giving Remy a murderous look.
«Okay, Mummy," Gambit said sadly.
***In the flat***
The rooms were quite dirty - it was obvious that no one had cleaned the place for a couple of months at least. The lack of any food in the fridge was also odd. As I looked around the rooms, a strange sound from the bathtub caught my attention-an ordinary person wouldn't have heard it, but my enhanced hearing picked up some buzzing in the vent above the tub. Standing on the edge of the tub, I removed the grate, which didn't even seem to be screwed on and was held in place by some viscous liquid. Looking in, I found a hive of bees inside, which was almost dead: there were only a few insects left, sitting on the outside of the hive and only occasionally making buzzing noises, as if they had lost their purpose in life. Even poking at them had no effect. I'd never seen bees build hives in places like this, but given the state of the house, I could assume they weren't the worst of its inhabitants. Though it seems that even they have decided to move out of here. As I was about to continue my search, I heard Herman calling me.
«Bruce, come here. I think I found something.
As I approached, I saw in his hand a pile of papers written in formulae and some letters.
«I don't know about formulas - not my speciality - but the name of the equipment slipped into them is quite interesting. This gene injector is quite expensive, and only a small fraction of labs have it.
«And let me guess, there's one in this town?
«We'll find out. But what's more interesting is what this thing is used for. It's used for genetic engineering experiments for animal tests, but it's good for humans too. You've heard of the Lizard?
«Big, green, regenerates and thinks his species is the future for humans?
«Well, I don't know what he thinks. But that's how he came to be.
«Wait, but if our target already has powers, why would he need an injector?
«That's what I think these notes will tell us," he said, pointing to the back of the formula sheets.
«We can go over it in the car.
Back to the team, we run through the labs that have the injector. One of them, not surprisingly, happened to be in this city. Googling the look of the injector, I was, to put it mildly, surprised - it resembled something like the chamber where a simple kid from Brooklyn, Steve, was made into a World War II hero - Captain America. Only it was bigger and had two modes of operation: one for humanoid creatures, i.e. monkeys and very curious scientists without self-preservation instincts, and the second - personally approved by the SS quality mark - the gas chamber mode, where the treatment takes place over the entire area inside the injector. It is usually used for insects and plants. All in all, it's a very pleasant thing, begging to get in there and become a furriluvians dream.
After an hour of "enjoyable" time, we learnt that his mini-diaries were basically self-inflicted wounds about how he could have so easily believed "them" and how to take it all back. He doesn't specify who the deceivers are, but I'm starting to guess by looking at the crooked drawing of a skull with tentacles in the lower left corner of one of the sheets. The newest leaf we found was probably the most interesting of all - it only had a couple of sentences on it: "They're trying to get out of control, and that can't be allowed to happen. I've finished the formula. It just needs to infuse, and then we can go to the injector. Or maybe give up and surrender control? No! We didn't work this long to leave this world without those bastards!"
Upon reaching the lab, we decided that he would make his trek to the device at night, except when exactly is unclear to us, as the records said that his formula was left to infuse. However, since there has been no attack on the lab in the past three days, his vehement claims of little time left, he will have to attack in the coming days. So we have to finish up quickly here.
While we are waiting for our psychotic friend, Arclight suggested to spend time with use, so we inspected the territory of the future place of the operation: learnt the location of all exits that were not hidden from prying eyes, memorised the position of cameras and good places for penetration. Now we only had to wait for the appearance of our dear scientist.
After sitting in the car for two days, we were, to put it mildly, not delighted. And judging by the faces of the guys, the option with the capture of the target continued to lose its appeal with every hour of waiting, and everyone was itching to kill this Fritz.
«God, Thomas, at least lick yourself, or another day in the car with you will make me immune to tear gas! Besides, you've got a nose as good as a boy, so why can't you smell the stink? - Remy asked with a martyr's expression on his face.
«Will you shut up yourself, or shall I help you by ripping out that vestigial organ? - replied Puma angrily.
«Guys, let's get out of the car, leaving him inside and closing all the windows, eh? Maybe then he will be able to feel his stench? - Gambit suggested hopefully.
«Well, I warned you, - growls Puma, obviously going to take a fighting form.
«Calm down, both of you," Shocker said, turning around.
«Calm down, both of you! - Arclight said at the same time.
Already thinking that this evening would be wasted, I noticed a strange cloaked figure walking towards the building. After waking the others, I and my partners approach the building and we see a dead guard at the entrance. His entire body has an unhealthy appearance and looks like it's been pierced by dozens of needles.
«It looks like our suffering is over," Schultz said with genuine relief.
«Let's go through the back door," said Philippa.
We went through a maze of corridors and arrived at the right laboratory, where we could hear the sounds of machinery at work and someone crying.
«If you want to keep your arm, I'd advise you to hurry.
«I... I can't get it up and running any faster. It has to go through the setup. It'll take two minutes.
«I'm going on the attack. Werewolf and Puma on the flanks, with Gambit and Shocker covering from a distance. Any objections? - Zontag asked quickly.
«You know that my attacks lose more than half their power when I use the long-range mode," Shocker said perplexed.
«You'll join us later if we need help, since we don't know what this super can do, and you're the only one without powers," Arclight replied patiently.
«Okay.
Shocker could tell he wasn't happy to be reminded of his ordinariness compared to us.
«Puma, do you hear that sound?
«What sound? - Puma was confused.
«Some kind of buzzing. It's coming from the target.
«We'll figure out what sounds it makes later. We're on in ten seconds! - Arclight interrupted the dialogue.
After we finished discussing it, we rushed towards it. I opened fire and fired two bullets at his legs, but to everyone's surprise, he didn't even flinch from the hits.
«They sent you, didn't they? Die, you Nazi mutts!
That's the kind of speech I didn't expect from a man named Fritz.
Then he came into the light, and I realised where that sound had come from. His whole body was covered with bees. He resembled the illegitimate son of Krueger and Candyman. His appearance stunned us all for a few seconds, which he took advantage of by siccing bees on us from his hands. I didn't understand what we were supposed to do with them - you could kill them with claws until you were old, and I don't even know about bullets. I wish I had a flamethrower. But help came from nowhere. Gambit was tearing up the miniature enemies with his cards, and the electrical damage from Shocker's charges was enough to fry the bees.
Taking advantage of the opening gap in his defence, Arclight and I raced at him while Puma sliced the bees by hand. Taking full form while running, I strike at his arm, as it would pay more to catch him. Arclight, on the other hand, doesn't mince words and strikes to the body, but both of our punches don't touch his body and go right through. We pull away in shock, realising he just doesn't have a body. He looks at us and shows us a picture worthy of the best horror films.
«You can't kill me like a normal person! There's nothing human left in me at all! Except for him!
His bee cover parting in place of his chest and head, and we see a completely naked skeleton with not even a scrap of meat on it.
«Is it just me, or are we going to have to rethink our battle positions? - Pierce said excitedly.
«Agreed. Gambit, Shocker, only your attacks have an effect, so you are now responsible for the target's damage. If his bee regeneration doesn't start slowing down within ten minutes, we'll abort the attempt to capture him and you'll hit him at maximum strength," Arclight explained.
«Easy. I'm gonna get you, you beehive on legs! - Gambit bellowed.
«For maximum power, I need to hit close," Herman informed the team.
«So you'll only attack if Gambit doesn't have enough power," Arclight replied immediately.
«I'll be right back, - Raine abruptly threw, then disappeared around the corner.
«...
Realising that I'm not of any use right now, I decide to get a weapon that has long proven effective in such situations.
«The kid has been gone for five minutes, where is he? - Shocker asked excitedly.
«I don't know! You don't think he's... - Arclight was worried.
«No! I just don't know where he's been running for so long," Shocker interrupted the far-fetched theory.
'Suddenly the power goes out in the room, and the lights switch to the backup generator, and then a few seconds later it goes out too.
«NO! NO!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! What have you done?! I'm almost done! - The ferocity of the attacks with which this 'swarm' of aggressive bees was now unleashed was astonishing. It looked like he had previously kept some of his strength in reserve in case the attacks were aimed at the injector. Now, however, he's using all the options available to him. A swarm of bees begins to cover the entire room, with no end in sight to its growth.
«Gambit, hit with everything you've got! - shouted Arclight.
«Got it, mum.
In Remy's hands, eight cards begin to glow at once, and their light was much brighter than usual. Waiting for the swarm to approach, he throws them in, and there is a huge explosion, destroying a huge part of that yellow cloud.
«Can you do that again? - Philippa asked hopefully.
«No power! - You can see by Gambit's face how much he's exhausted after such an explosion.
«Taser? - Zontag turned to another member of the team.
«'I can't see where his body is, and my kill zone isn't that big,' replied the German dejectedly.
Arclight's face shows doubt, but she still says the only correct phrase in this case:
«Retreat!
At that time I return and watch the scene as my team flees from the giant yellow cloud. My prepared gift itches in my hands at the sight of this picture. I wait until they increase the distance to be able to use it, and throw this bouquet of 17 cans with a lit rag wrapped around them. Of course, for the big boom there is no contact with what's inside them, but I easily remedy that with an apt shot at one of the cans. A truly fiery display takes place and I can hear the screams of agony inside this Asian barbecue.
Everyone stops and stands around watching this mesmerising spectacle.
«Now what do we have to provide as proof of his death? - Philippa said grudgingly.
«I'm sure that somewhere in this hall there will be a couple of bones from his skeleton, - answered Raine.
«Okay, two explosions in a row should have alerted the police long ago, so let's go looking," Arclight said with a conciliatory wave of her hand.
While everyone was searching for something to give to the employers as proof of our bee man's death, no one noticed a couple of dozen insects flying into the vent.
«I found the skull! - shouted Puma excitedly.
«Great! That should be enough. Let's go! - Philippa said without hiding her relief.
Arriving in Fort Wayne, we went straight to the address given to us by the customer. The building was quite old, and when we looked at it, it looked as if it would blow like a house of cards if the wind blew a little harder. Herman and I went to check the flat - it turned out that he used to be a private investigator, and Arclight had taken the case mainly because of him. And I'm working as a bloodhound.
***In the car***
«Okay. They went to do their investigation, but why am I here? Don't tell me it's in case our target comes back, because if he hasn't come back before, it means he's spotted the stakeout and he's not going to walk into a trap like a jerk," Gambit grumbled unhappily.
«No, you're here so you don't do any more shit," Arclight replied.
«Why isn't Bruce getting the same attention? Wasn't he in on it? - Remy asked with righteous indignation.
«Bruce paid up within a month and didn't try to run off the base every third day. So sit tight," Philippa replied, giving Remy a murderous look.
«Okay, Mummy," Gambit said sadly.
***In the flat***
The rooms were quite dirty - it was obvious that no one had cleaned the place for a couple of months at least. The lack of any food in the fridge was also odd. As I looked around the rooms, a strange sound from the bathtub caught my attention-an ordinary person wouldn't have heard it, but my enhanced hearing picked up some buzzing in the vent above the tub. Standing on the edge of the tub, I removed the grate, which didn't even seem to be screwed on and was held in place by some viscous liquid. Looking in, I found a hive of bees inside, which was almost dead: there were only a few insects left, sitting on the outside of the hive and only occasionally making buzzing noises, as if they had lost their purpose in life. Even poking at them had no effect. I'd never seen bees build hives in places like this, but given the state of the house, I could assume they weren't the worst of its inhabitants. Though it seems that even they have decided to move out of here. As I was about to continue my search, I heard Herman calling me.
«Bruce, come here. I think I found something.
As I approached, I saw in his hand a pile of papers written in formulae and some letters.
«I don't know about formulas - not my speciality - but the name of the equipment slipped into them is quite interesting. This gene injector is quite expensive, and only a small fraction of labs have it.
«And let me guess, there's one in this town?
«We'll find out. But what's more interesting is what this thing is used for. It's used for genetic engineering experiments for animal tests, but it's good for humans too. You've heard of the Lizard?
«Big, green, regenerates and thinks his species is the future for humans?
«Well, I don't know what he thinks. But that's how he came to be.
«Wait, but if our target already has powers, why would he need an injector?
«That's what I think these notes will tell us," he said, pointing to the back of the formula sheets.
«We can go over it in the car.
Back to the team, we run through the labs that have the injector. One of them, not surprisingly, happened to be in this city. Googling the look of the injector, I was, to put it mildly, surprised - it resembled something like the chamber where a simple kid from Brooklyn, Steve, was made into a World War II hero - Captain America. Only it was bigger and had two modes of operation: one for humanoid creatures, i.e. monkeys and very curious scientists without self-preservation instincts, and the second - personally approved by the SS quality mark - the gas chamber mode, where the treatment takes place over the entire area inside the injector. It is usually used for insects and plants. All in all, it's a very pleasant thing, begging to get in there and become a furriluvians dream.
After an hour of "enjoyable" time, we learnt that his mini-diaries were basically self-inflicted wounds about how he could have so easily believed "them" and how to take it all back. He doesn't specify who the deceivers are, but I'm starting to guess by looking at the crooked drawing of a skull with tentacles in the lower left corner of one of the sheets. The newest leaf we found was probably the most interesting of all - it only had a couple of sentences on it: "They're trying to get out of control, and that can't be allowed to happen. I've finished the formula. It just needs to infuse, and then we can go to the injector. Or maybe give up and surrender control? No! We didn't work this long to leave this world without those bastards!"
Upon reaching the lab, we decided that he would make his trek to the device at night, except when exactly is unclear to us, as the records said that his formula was left to infuse. However, since there has been no attack on the lab in the past three days, his vehement claims of little time left, he will have to attack in the coming days. So we have to finish up quickly here.
While we are waiting for our psychotic friend, Arclight suggested to spend time with use, so we inspected the territory of the future place of the operation: learnt the location of all exits that were not hidden from prying eyes, memorised the position of cameras and good places for penetration. Now we only had to wait for the appearance of our dear scientist.
After sitting in the car for two days, we were, to put it mildly, not delighted. And judging by the faces of the guys, the option with the capture of the target continued to lose its appeal with every hour of waiting, and everyone was itching to kill this Fritz.
«God, Thomas, at least lick yourself, or another day in the car with you will make me immune to tear gas! Besides, you've got a nose as good as a boy, so why can't you smell the stink? - Remy asked with a martyr's expression on his face.
«Will you shut up yourself, or shall I help you by ripping out that vestigial organ? - replied Puma angrily.
«Guys, let's get out of the car, leaving him inside and closing all the windows, eh? Maybe then he will be able to feel his stench? - Gambit suggested hopefully.
«Well, I warned you, - growls Puma, obviously going to take a fighting form.
«Calm down, both of you," Shocker said, turning around.
«Calm down, both of you! - Arclight said at the same time.
Already thinking that this evening would be wasted, I noticed a strange cloaked figure walking towards the building. After waking the others, I and my partners approach the building and we see a dead guard at the entrance. His entire body has an unhealthy appearance and looks like it's been pierced by dozens of needles.
«It looks like our suffering is over," Schultz said with genuine relief.
«Let's go through the back door," said Philippa.
We went through a maze of corridors and arrived at the right laboratory, where we could hear the sounds of machinery at work and someone crying.
«If you want to keep your arm, I'd advise you to hurry.
«I... I can't get it up and running any faster. It has to go through the setup. It'll take two minutes.
«I'm going on the attack. Werewolf and Puma on the flanks, with Gambit and Shocker covering from a distance. Any objections? - Zontag asked quickly.
«You know that my attacks lose more than half their power when I use the long-range mode," Shocker said perplexed.
«You'll join us later if we need help, since we don't know what this super can do, and you're the only one without powers," Arclight replied patiently.
«Okay.
Shocker could tell he wasn't happy to be reminded of his ordinariness compared to us.
«Puma, do you hear that sound?
«What sound? - Puma was confused.
«Some kind of buzzing. It's coming from the target.
«We'll figure out what sounds it makes later. We're on in ten seconds! - Arclight interrupted the dialogue.
After we finished discussing it, we rushed towards it. I opened fire and fired two bullets at his legs, but to everyone's surprise, he didn't even flinch from the hits.
«They sent you, didn't they? Die, you Nazi mutts!
That's the kind of speech I didn't expect from a man named Fritz.
Then he came into the light, and I realised where that sound had come from. His whole body was covered with bees. He resembled the illegitimate son of Krueger and Candyman. His appearance stunned us all for a few seconds, which he took advantage of by siccing bees on us from his hands. I didn't understand what we were supposed to do with them - you could kill them with claws until you were old, and I don't even know about bullets. I wish I had a flamethrower. But help came from nowhere. Gambit was tearing up the miniature enemies with his cards, and the electrical damage from Shocker's charges was enough to fry the bees.
Taking advantage of the opening gap in his defence, Arclight and I raced at him while Puma sliced the bees by hand. Taking full form while running, I strike at his arm, as it would pay more to catch him. Arclight, on the other hand, doesn't mince words and strikes to the body, but both of our punches don't touch his body and go right through. We pull away in shock, realising he just doesn't have a body. He looks at us and shows us a picture worthy of the best horror films.
«You can't kill me like a normal person! There's nothing human left in me at all! Except for him!
His bee cover parting in place of his chest and head, and we see a completely naked skeleton with not even a scrap of meat on it.
«Is it just me, or are we going to have to rethink our battle positions? - Pierce said excitedly.
«Agreed. Gambit, Shocker, only your attacks have an effect, so you are now responsible for the target's damage. If his bee regeneration doesn't start slowing down within ten minutes, we'll abort the attempt to capture him and you'll hit him at maximum strength," Arclight explained.
«Easy. I'm gonna get you, you beehive on legs! - Gambit bellowed.
«For maximum power, I need to hit close," Herman informed the team.
«So you'll only attack if Gambit doesn't have enough power," Arclight replied immediately.
«I'll be right back, - Raine abruptly threw, then disappeared around the corner.
«...
Realising that I'm not of any use right now, I decide to get a weapon that has long proven effective in such situations.
«The kid has been gone for five minutes, where is he? - Shocker asked excitedly.
«I don't know! You don't think he's... - Arclight was worried.
«No! I just don't know where he's been running for so long," Shocker interrupted the far-fetched theory.
'Suddenly the power goes out in the room, and the lights switch to the backup generator, and then a few seconds later it goes out too.
«NO! NO!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! What have you done?! I'm almost done! - The ferocity of the attacks with which this 'swarm' of aggressive bees was now unleashed was astonishing. It looked like he had previously kept some of his strength in reserve in case the attacks were aimed at the injector. Now, however, he's using all the options available to him. A swarm of bees begins to cover the entire room, with no end in sight to its growth.
«Gambit, hit with everything you've got! - shouted Arclight.
«Got it, mum.
In Remy's hands, eight cards begin to glow at once, and their light was much brighter than usual. Waiting for the swarm to approach, he throws them in, and there is a huge explosion, destroying a huge part of that yellow cloud.
"Can you do that again?" - Philippa asked hopefully.
"No power!" - You can see by Gambit's face how much he's exhausted after such an explosion.
"Taser?" - Zontag turned to another member of the team.
'I can't see where his body is, and my kill zone isn't that big,' replied the German dejectedly.
Arclight's face shows doubt, but she still says the only correct phrase in this case:
"Retreat!"
At that time I return and watch the scene as my team flees from the giant yellow cloud. My prepared gift itches in my hands at the sight of this picture. I wait until they increase the distance to be able to use it, and throw this bouquet of 17 cans with a lit rag wrapped around them. Of course, for the big boom there is no contact with what's inside them, but I easily remedy that with an apt shot at one of the cans. A truly fiery display takes place and I can hear the screams of agony inside this Asian barbecue.
Everyone stops and stands around watching this mesmerising spectacle.
"Now what do we have to provide as proof of his death?" - Philippa said grudgingly.
"I'm sure that somewhere in this hall there will be a couple of bones from his skeleton," - answered Raine.
"Okay, two explosions in a row should have alerted the police long ago, so let's go looking," Arclight said with a conciliatory wave of her hand."
While everyone was searching for something to give to the employers as proof of our bee man's death, no one noticed a couple of dozen insects flying into the vent.
"I found the skull! - shouted Puma excitedly."
"Great! That should be enough. Let's go!" - Philippa said without hiding her relief.
***
patreon.com/posts/im-for-hydra-130376553