Chapter 6: Scene 6 – HoneyB33

When magical warriors invade a Tyrant, they tend to move in stages. The first stage consists of remote scouts; these machines use Neverlander technology and can bait out the defensive and offensive capabilities of the dungeon. Rarely are remote scouts capable of doing any long-term harm to a budding Tyrant, but their endurance makes them ideal for recording data about Malice.

The second wave will usually consist of a scout, who will record additional data about the rules the Malice abides by before returning to their team. Magical Warriors tend to attack in groups of three or more, with their strongest and fastest unit working as both the scout and the leader. Mars had experience slaying malice, and her offensive abilities were second to none.

Her bike veered to a stop in front of the amusement park. She remembered going to this place as a kid; her mother was less distant back then. She even loved Mars at that time. They'd go on all the rides together, the teacups and the log flume, the roller coaster, and the Ferris Wheel. They'd have funnel cake and smile.

The amusement park was no longer a place full of smiles. It was a desiccated corpse housing Malice. The roller coaster had holes in its supports, and the log flume was a pool of stagnant water fit only for mosquitoes. The food stands were all shuttered, and the teacups had spider webs sprawling across their interiors.

Mars popped open the trunk of her bike, pulling off her helmet and stuffing it into the back. She reached in before retrieving a strange remote, calibrating it carefully. Hexagonal tiles lining the monitor of the remote flickered to life, giving Mars a good idea of what the Honeybees were looking at now.

The Honeybees swarm had kept their distance from the dungeon once they'd identified it as a Tyrant. Tyrants tended to be much less active than other varieties of Malice; they'd stay in one place and wait for you to come to them. Ultimately, this was a good thing. Mars had been dealing with violent Malice all day, and her reserves were exhausted by the end. Tyrants could be handled at her own pace.

They needed to be exterminated before they could grow, but the day had run long, and Mars was tempted to throw in the towel. Whatever the Council of Knots was up to, they'd managed to awaken more than one hundred Malice in a single day. That was unprecedented.

New York had it worse. She'd heard the city was overrun with Malice, and they'd even lost a powerhouse like Demokitty. Magimaid had contained the flood, but you just don't forget that kind of devastation and walk away. She hadn't heard anything from Sacramento, Seattle, or Boston; she hoped it would stay that way. No news is good news, right?

Mars pressed her thumb against the remote. "Barry, Adam, I need a sweep of the perimeter. Check for any signs of life. Evacuating humans before the dungeon can turn them is our number one priority, okay?" Six honeybees from the swarm vibrated in confirmation before heading directly into the hollow structures of the Amusement Park.

Mars oversaw each screen carefully, but her eyes fixated on the House of Mirrors.

One of the bees had wandered in and was now locked in combat with a shadowy version of itself. Neither seemed to hold a particular advantage, but Mars didn't want to give the dungeon too much time to adapt. "Martin, Janet. Go support Barry; he's having trouble in the House of Mirrors."

Six more bees from the swarm buzzed, leaving only three honeybees behind as they flew into the House of Mirrors to deal with the shadow-bees. "That must be where the heart of the dungeon is. It seems to be the only place that they're defending aggressively. Adam, any signs of human life?"

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Three screens beeped negatory. "Alright, Trudy. Gather everyone up and head into the House of Mirrors. End sweep. Look for a big crystal of some kind, and I'll be right behind you." Mars set the monitor down, stretching and shaking out her arms. That's enough resting. She snapped her fingers, and a golden helmet popped into existence moments later, followed by a pair of golden headphones.

"Shove it, N/AS." Mars fit her helmet on carefully, feeling strength course through her body once more. "I-I don't have a problem. Not as long as I'm wearing these headphones." Slipping the golden cups around her ears, the world went quiet. Just the way she liked it; anything noisier and she might tremble.

She tapped the side of her helmet, and words began to filter in on the side of her vision. Radio chatter from other departments, transcripts of updates sent to her by teammates, and messages from the honeybee swarm. She filtered out the unnecessary information with her mind, limiting herself to messages from her team and the monitors on the Honeybees.

Dr. Bright had asked her why she wanted a system designed for the deaf; she'd told him that she was hard of hearing. When Venus had pointed out, correctly, that she was a tonally adept musician with perfect pitch, she also deflected and made up excuses about hating the sound of her own voice. That wasn't exactly a lie; she did dislike her voice, even to the point of getting voice training to change it. It was too deep, too masculine.

But that wasn't why she wore the headphones.

The reason she wore the headphones?

She's weak to pretty voices. The voices of girls, especially. The memory of Venus calling her voice lovely this morning made her face heat up.  She didn't want to say it to Venus, but those words have kept her driven to succeed all day. Holding tight to that feeling, she let out a gasp and fueled herself with the cherished memory for the umpteenth time today. Her Faith reserves began to swell with one-sided love, and she felt ready to fight once more.

It's time to commit some regicide.

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