Description: Q-Bee attempts to gather some souls, but could it be that there is a protector in Southtowns that will save them all!? The answer is yes, and it turns out that Q-Bee doesn't have the buffet she wanted! Riki brings plenty of bugspray with her as well!
The outskirts of the Business District attract a lot of attention - especially since there's tons of businesses, from low key shops to the most expensive of varieties! As the day begins to wind down, there's a group of three students that happen to be heading towards the Northwest section of Southtown, specifically towards the Forest - as one of the three happens to be doing the leading. "(It's only a little bit farther!)" She declares, having promised the others an out of the way location that is, as the kids say, 'totally cool' and will of course 'be out of the way'.
It seems human kids specifically like that kind of stuff.
Q-Bee likes it as well, it seems. A very small hive has been set up about South-Town near the forest in order to assist in the collection of souls, to feast and to store for another. Even if she wanted them all. The lead human happens to be, of course, a bee. "(Here we are!)" The girl declares, quite bright and cheery! The other two look oddly, dressed in their uniforms. "I don't see anything..." "It's just ... a bunch of trees?"
Then comes the buzzing. The buzzing is louder than any phone and more obnoxious, especially as the leading schoolgirl spins about once, specific sections of her body growing larger and sprouting out of the outfit, leaving Q-Bee floating infront of them, antennae twitching and wings flapping - and a swarm of bees suddenly making it hard for the two unlucky humans to retreat.
It likely does not help their situation as Q-Bee licks her lips, drooling. Human girls have no chance from escaping from this! ... Even if it's just a morsel.
The surprised and terrified shrieks of the pair of unwitting school girls echo throughout the forest their high-pitched voices reverberating in the empty space. However, the cries last but only a few moments before both their voices and the droning buzz of the soul bees is drowned out in a new and even more terrifying sound. A bellowing roar akin to that of some wild feral beast blasts the tiny clearing rattling the very trees around them with its ferocity and primal rage.
The ominous crashing and cracking of something large and heavy smashing its way through the underbrush fills the air for several seconds but the perpetrator of the terrible outburst remains hidden behind the dense foliage. Here and there a glimpse of some massive shape takes form, silhouetted in the faint light of the sun that trickles down into the darkness beneath the dense canopy of summer leaves, the unmistakable outline of huge bulging muscles and dreadful glowing red eyes peering in hungrily at those gathered within the trap that it has laid.
After several long hellish seconds of awful noise and predatory circling the figure finally steps forward into the light and reveals its true nature. Despite whatever demonic horrors the minds of the two girls may have conjured in the scant time their imaginations were forced to fill in the blanks, the creature that appears is almost disturbingly normal. A woman strides into the clearing with a look of smug confidence on her chiseled features beneath a wild mane of blonde hair. She towers over all those present standing atleast seven or eight feet tall with a body built like a tank made out of raw muscle and bone. The ground shudders faintly as she approaches, her bare feet leaving deep dents in the soft earth.
Were these her only features, one might be forgiven for mistakening her for a normal but very large human. However, the single curved horn protruding from her forehead and the dull crimson glow in her eyes makes that assumption a little harder to swallow. The corner of her lips pulls back into a grin upon taking in the scene before her, revealing the glistening curve of a pointed fang. Her dread gaze sweeps across the two terrified school girls but keeps right on moving until it comes to rest upon the leader of the soul bees.
Narrowing her eyes, Riki crosses her arms over a rather noticably large chest and snorts. "Man, and here I thought I might actually have finally caught wind of some proper evil. But it's just a bunch of soul bees. Didn't you losers get kicked out of the human realm ages ago?"
The vibrations may do the very same, actually, from the wings - but none are so sharp and apparant as the human scream. As if it was meant to convey something! All it conveys today is the end of two lives, if there was nothing to be done, that will result in a boon of souls - one for the hive and one for Jedah.
Something roars. While the soul bees themselves do not move, Q-Bee's head turns to face the direction of that crashing, twisting slightly, tilting, as she tries to pinpoint what it is exactly that caused such a ruckus, and why it would. An animal, perhaps? Were there bears? Were there other demonic creatures nearby? It only gets louder. It only gets closer. The bees fly slightly higher, words unsaid circulating between the swarm with a buzzing vibration and scents that would leave others questioning what hand would have moved them, and with such accuracy. The girls would still not be able to escape.
A single woman strides forth. However large, it is a woman that may be one and a half Q-Bees, which in this case, does not matter. The purplish black and yellow clothing on Q-Bee and the bees in stark contrast to the fairly normal woman, even as she strides forwards, large, and clearly making the earth suffer for it.
Oh. A horn.
Q-Bee immediately consults with the hive, finding agreement between them. It's a horn. Then a bargaining agreement was in order.
"(Where we have grown and now have found our way back.)" The hive states, though it is from Q-Bee's lips that the words come from. "(We have started smaller hives. Though they fight back with such ferocity, we now have a clear path to survival, and growth! While the hives may yet be small, they will be nutured and soon a proper hive will begin for the soul bees!)" It's almost a cheerful exclamation coming from Q-Bee, who seems to not take the last few words as an insult.
"(We will give you one girl to have the other. I am hungry.)" She declares, pointing to her mouth and patting her stomach, looking down - or at least evenly upon Riki - due to her vibrating wings. "(...Losers? We may have lost, but we are still here. We are survivors.")
Riki's expression shifts to one of mild annoyance at the proposal and she lifts a massive hand to scratch the back of her head, rattling a short length of chain that dangles from an iron manacle fastened about her wrist. A quick glance reveals another such manacle/chain combo on her other arm and another set around her ankles, as if she had been bound at some point and broken free but didn't bother to or could not remove the cuffs themselves. Maybe she wears them like jewelry as some sort of joke.
"Yeah, your lot is rather annoyingly persistant," the giantess says with an exasperated sigh. She looks up at Q-Bee and shakes her head slowly. "However, you seem to have mistaken my intentions. I am not here to poach your prey for myself."
She steps forward, thundering over to the pair of school girls who are little more than terrified masses of quivering flesh at this point, and interposes herself between them and the soul bees. Her grin returns in full force as she flicks her head to the side sending a wave of ragged golden locks flowing out over her shoulder and takes up a fighting stance, lowering herself slightly into something that looks like a sumo-wrestler's pose.
"I'm here... to save them!"
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee has started a fight here.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Riki has joined the fight here.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Riki
It all happens so fast!
One second, they were talking. The next, Riki unsheathes a weapon and interposes herself inbetween the girls and her and the bees, the soul-bees buzzing in tune with Q-Bee. There was no need for violence, nor was there a need to be bothered by insulting - as Q-Bee is above (below) such matters! Such words fall flat (not food) to her temperment (still not food) and thus does nothing to deter her chipper mood.
Annoyingly persistant! "(Yes, we are very persistant! That is why we will survive and soon, thrive.)" Q-Bee remarks, antennae twitching.
The Queen's head tilts a bit, not understanding (she can't eat intentions) except that she won't eat them. "(Oh! Then more for us!)" Q-Bee exclaims with excitement, "(We will not forget your kindness-)" Though there is a fighting stance. The bees all buzz, a dull thrumming sound as the massive human sized demon makes her intentions known. Fake eyes on the Queen blink, true eyes following suit. The abdomen on her back finally sharpens, sliding out a good foot as the eyes, fake, narrow and go into what is a glare.
"(You ... are preventing food for the hive?)" Q-Bee asks, almost as if she cannot understand. Words that were meant to insult her did little. This is far more direct. This the Soul Bees understand. "(No. We cannot allow that. I cannot allow my hive to go hungry.)" There is a very clear annoyance in her words, almost like a slight tantrum, as she buzzes backwards... and then charges Riki!? Infact, she attempts to catch onto Riki, flipping over her head, and then aim her stinger towards the back of her back - and fire, sending the enlongated and widening stinger into her back, to launch her away from the humans!
"(I will take them, and you will get out of my way!)" She declares.
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee successfully hits Riki with O. M..
- CRAZY Hit! -
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Q-Bee 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Riki
"We'll you're gonna have to go through me first, you oversized buzzbr-hey!"
Her taunt is cut off midstream, which is already annoying, but as the winged annoyance flits nimbly overhead the ogre quickly realizes that she's got more than her average monster on her hands. The stinger slams home into the thick muscles of her back and pierces through the skin with ease tearing a small but painful hole in her flesh. Riki staggers forwards at the unexpectly fierce impact of the blow and falls to one knee, her fists digging into the grass to catch her from flopping completely onto her face.
"Okay. Ow." Pushing back to her feet with a growl, she turns to glare at the offending creature with a slightly less cocky attitude; but only slightly. Stupid half-human body. "I'm guessin' you're not one of the drones, then. Well good. Let's me get right at the heart of the problem!" She holds one hand out and makes a strange gesture, drawing a wide circle in the air with her index finger. There is a soft crack like a party balloon being popped and an object blinks into existence in her oustretched palm. As it turns out, it's a very large red bowl, wooden perhaps, with ornate golden scrollwork along its edges. A cloudy clear liquid fills the bowl and it shimmers faintly in the afternoon sun reflecting the light off its placid surface.
"But first," she says, tilting her head back and slurping the liquid down in a couple of swift gulps. A soft sound of appreciation escapes her lips as she lowers the bowl and banishes it back from whence it came with another gesture. "I need a drink! Alright, now it's time to have some fun!"
Rolling her shoulders, a sharp cracking sound fills the air, bones and tendons popping in ways that elicit rather unpleasant imagery, though she doesn't seem to find it anything more than invigorating. Riki lowers herself into her combat pose again, takes a deep breath, and charges back in like a football lineman. The ground thunders under her heavy footfalls and she makes no secret of her intentions, driving both of her hands towards the fluttering bee in an overhead smash as she makes a short hop to clear the final distance.
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee blocks Riki's Ogre Smash.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Riki
"(No, we will not be so easily beaten now!)" At least, not so easily beaten... sort of. Sort of! They do have a human now, merged with their hive mind, which will of course mean they will be a bit beyond. "(I am Q-Bee, the Queen of the hive.") She declares, in a strangely un-hiveminded-ness. Of course, it's not ogre yet! Riki is Oni getting started!
There's a wide circle. THEN there is a soft crack and then finally... a bowl? The liquid is slurped, leaving Q-Bee to stare at the Oni and her actions. Why should she wait? Why should she not immediately assault her? It is obvious since the drink is done with so quickly. Charging forwards, Riki makes the ground thunder, hands trying to reach Q-Bee. The frail bee ... is just replacing her stinger! She can't easily just fly out of the way. Of course, she does not intend to.
Not yet, at least.
Her body tenses up, the stinger growing back to help ward Riki off for mere moments as she bundles up, from thin and lanky to smaller and compact. It doesn't stop the violence, nor does it stop the onslaught. Both hands slam into Q-Bee in such a way and with such strength that the Soul bee queen is slammed against the ground and bounces back off of it, rolling through the sky with such force she could be some sort of pachinko ball. With an impact against the tree, Q-Bee unfurls, wings doing the same to catch her.
Bzzz.
"(Fun? It is not fun for the hive, we must eat or else we will starve to death!)" Q-Bee exclaims as she shakes off the pure force that she had witnessed and felt from the impact. Shuddering and shaking, the exo-skeleton, slightly cracked, seems to be holding. "(So I will do what I must, and can, for the hive!)" And for others - though she does not name them.
With a sudden buzzing of wings, Q-Bee darts back in towards Riki, diving low and aiming to go through her legs, using the larger woman's size against her, before grasping one of those legs and twisting it upwards as she flies upwards and around, back towards the Oni's head. If she doesn't budge, the momentum would be kept by grasping for the Oni's head and digging in with her stinger, into the ground, to flip her in a quick explosive burst!
And hopefully not be /under/ her.
COMBATSYS: Riki endures Q-Bee's Medium Throw.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Riki
"That sounds like your problem, honey!"
Riki smirks at the ease with which her blows rattled the the bee queen. Breaking this creature shouldn't be difficult, even with her current body. She just has to keep that damn stinger away. Don't get stabbed, good plan.
When Q-Bee darts back in for another pass, the ogre doesn't bother trying to avoid the attack. Her feet plant into the ground in a solid stance and she simply opens her arms as if to catch the critter in a bear-hug. Instead, she goes for the legs. "What the-!" Feeling her weight start to shift out from under her despite her solid footing, Riki growls and simply rolls with it. The sudden shift upwards causes an extremely uncomfortable stretching in her thick leg as it extends a little more than she would have cared for but the end result is that the overzealous bee is still holding on to said leg while being between it and the ground.
The response is pretty obvious.
Letting out a ferocious growl, Riki flexes her muscles and brings the leg slamming down towards the ground with titanic force. It's an odd looking bug-swatter but whatever works, right? The heavy iron-manacle around her ankle doesn't make for a particularly soft hammer either.
COMBATSYS: Riki successfully hits Q-Bee with Iron Hammer.
Grazing Hit
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Q-Bee 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Riki
Her problem!? HONEY!? Why, that's just not right! As Riki rattles her, it's still, of course, not Q-Bee's intention to just give up! Nothing, no matter what! Yet with Riki finding herself shifting, Q-Bee is left on the assault! ... Well, she was, at least. This time, Riki rolls with it and leaves Q-Bee on the defensive, her BEEhind on the line! With Riki growling out and grasping forwards, towards her, with such A LEG, Q-Bee is forced to taken bee-vasive action! It works, as well... sort of. One of the wings is clipped as is her exoskeleton, sending Q-Bee rolling away and hitting the ground, bouncing a few times from impact.
Clearly, this is the end of the soul-bee. What with the Queen unable to fly... what hope does she have left!? Except... she can. But how!? The damaged wing falls off, almost as if shed, a new one erupting from her back as she takes off, clearly pained from it all. "(How... to try to stomp me!)" She takes that far more seriously.
With all the pain in just getting back up, Q-Bee doesn't try anything too exciting of skillful, instead, dashing towards Riki once more, this time, leading with her hip - no... her rear! The spiney thorn in her rear is thrust towards Riki, the two foot long stinger intending to barb into her arm as she does!
COMBATSYS: Riki blocks Q-Bee's Medium Strike.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Riki
Having swatted the annoying gnat away yet again, Riki has plenty of time to get back to her feet. She grits her teeth against the lingering pain in her thigh but otherwise doesn't look terribly out of sorts just yet, other than a few loose leaves and twigs in her rugged hair. If anything, it just makes her look more angry.
"Alright, you wanna play that way, we can play that way!"
Planting her feet again, the oni reaches forward and simply catches the rushing bee-monster in her thick hands when she comes diving in yet again. The speed of her charge is such that she manages to scratch the surface of the monsterous woman's abs before being forced back but the wound is superficial and Riki pays it no mind.
Now that she's got her hands solidly on the little bugger, she decides to change tactics a little. Opening her mouth wide, the ogre inhales deeply and her eyes begin to glow faintly red as she draws upon the power of her realm. Fire explodes from her mouth when she finally breathes out again, belching brilliant red hellfire directly into the bee's body while she tries to hold her still. If you can't swat em, burn em.
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee interrupts Breath of Heaven from Riki with ES R. M. EX.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Riki
"(This is not a time to play!)" Q-Bee fights out as Riki manages to get her in her grasp, grasping her closely, the oni managing to get a good hold on Q-Bee as she lunges towards her, but the impact is more or less negligable to the Oni. Q-Bee will likely have to win through attrition... since she certainly will not be able to win through one deadly sting!
Which would be more effective if Q-Bee did not find herself firmly in the ab-range of the monstrous woman, massive compared to her, that is grasping around her. With hands all around, Q-Bee... panics. Oh, how does she panic! Her body begins to twist, wings and bits of her beginning to wiggle this way and that, "(This is not fun! Let me go! I'm getting crushed!)" That is - until the ogre inhales deeply. Eyes go wide, even if they are fake, as the bee Queen can already feel her antennae singing. Her efforts redouble, the fire washing over her and her exoskeleton. Her wings, unable to beat to keep it at bay, but her body washing over her. "(It burns! It burns! Let go! LET GO!)"
Which is when Q-Bee suddenly shrinks in size for a brief moment, her body compacting, before every single bit of her with an edge suddenly grows explosively, knees, back, elbows and stinger all suddenly becoming lances into Riki's body, Q-Bee attempting to wiggle out with the free room she is given.
The fire has an odd effect as well, her wings and body ... sluggish. As if there was some other effect the singed skin and wings had on the soul bee. As if some sort of smoke was wafted towards her to calm her a bit.
"(Hungry... gotta finish and ... feast for ... the hive.)" Her simple mindset keeps her on lock, but it is obviously affecting her, feet nearly touching the ground.
That... was not something the ogre expected. Her flaming breath cuts off into a choking cough as the various spikey things that used to be a squishy little bee jab into her body in unpleasant places. She instinctively releases her grip and staggers backwards, her hands clutching fresh wounds.
"Nrghk! Damn you, you little... BEEotch!"
This stupid human body is going to be the end of her if this keeps up. It might be time to take a moment to recover herself. Whatever this creature might be, she can't seem to stand up to the ogre's strength but pinning it down is the issue. This is going to be a war of attrition and an unpleasant one at that. But no one ever said the life of a divine guardian was fun and games.
...okay, she might have said that. And lived that. And angered a cosmic entity in the process. But what's life without a few mistakes, yeah?
Speaking of mistakes, this aborted monstrosity of demon magic should never have been allowed to survive. It doesn't look like she'll be able to destroy them all today but she can atleast give these humans some time to escape.
Turning to face the still quivering school girls, Riki glares at them with disapproval. "Why in the Hells are you two still here? Begone!" She swipes a hand at them in a shooing gesture. "I will cover your retreat. Flee while you still can."
COMBATSYS: Riki gains composure.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Riki
With various bits of bee all inside of Riki, in the way that would not mean Q-Bee was torn apart or eaten, which is good, the Bee frees herself! With Riki releasing her, Q-Bee buzzes free, though quite sluggish still. Slowly but surely, the soul bee Queen wakes up. It does seem to be taking a good share of time, however! With her antennae hanging, eyes staring at Riki, the 'aborted monstrosity of demon magic' cannot hear her inner monologue yet the existence of Q-Bee drives through the leylines and Jedah's involvement. After all, without the leylines, Q-Bee would never have existed and the hive would continually be on the verge of surviving! Nevermind it still is. Imagine if she never existed!
How terrible that would have been.
Buzzing lazily still, Q-Bee is slow to react and direct the hive, Riki managing to cause the two girls to get lost just before the soul bee swarm closes in. Even if they scream and stagger, even if they run into each other, the soul bees themselves are not as deadly as the queen. To the normal human, they could fight them long enough for an interloper!
It really is all for the hive. Many would still die.
"(The... food? The food! It got away!)"
Agitated now, but still sluggish, Q-Bee drives towards Riki once more! This time, however, she only intends to grasp one of her limbs and bend them, too sluggish to put forth the power the bee honestly should have! Grasping a limb, she intends to bend and twist by flying slightly upwards - but it could all go very wrong!
COMBATSYS: Riki barely endures Q-Bee's Quick Throw.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Riki
Still somewhat pained by the injuries received thus far, Riki rises to her feet to meet the on-rushing bee queen. Even if she manages to fail here, atleast she accomplished something worthwhile. But that victory would only bee temporary. As long as these creatures are on the loose then they'll keep harming humans.
"Not on my watch," she growls.
Q-Bee's clumsy attempt to grapple with the ogre earns her little more than a grimace as Riki's arm is twisted slightly. However, before the flighty creature can do much more than that she gathers her strength and bellows, turning to face the monster as her other fist lifts high overhead. Fresh hellfire bursts to life in a shimmering envelope around the massive mitt and Riki leaps into the air relying on the little extra power she can gain from gravity as she plummets back down to slam the flaming punch into her antagonist.
"Eat THIS!"
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee blocks Riki's Helldiver.
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Q-Bee 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Riki
As Q-Bee twists that arm, or attempts to, Riki only grimaces which means that Q-Bee is, and always will be, at a loss in this case. At a loss? No, to clarify, she is at a turning point. The point where Riki's arm TURNS right towards her, hellfire burns freshly as the fist lifts ahead, the fist coming towards Q-Bee once more as the Queen bee buzzes - and is tossed backwards by the assault, attempting once more to mitigate the affects, carapace and exoskeleton taking the brunt of it as she is sending spiralling backwards from the SHEER FORCE. Arms and legs which had collapsed to protect her midsection numb and barely responsive.
Still, Q-Bee flies. "(Why do you want me and the hive to die? I need to make more. It's what I need to do!)" Q-Bee declares with increasing intensity, a slow pitch that has been forever roaring in the back of her mind just now breaking into a fever pitch. It thrumbed before. Now it begins to roar. While not as loud as Riki, it certainly makes up a majority of what she can hear. So much of it dedicated to blaring the importance of food that has gotten away.
Q-Bee makes up her mind. "(I will have to eat your soul then, if you want to get in the way!)"
The stinger, as she says this, immediately swells. That's not good.
With a heavy buzzing, louder than ever before, Q-Bee directs herself towards Riki, shooting in a headlong charge straight towards Riki as her limbs attempt to wrap around Riki's for just a moment, the abdomen twisting back and forth before lining up a perfect sting against the oni - and digging in deep. For a brief moment, her body may become numb and unresponsive, causing her to topple over - which Q-Bee would pull her along with and then slam the stinger in to finish before flying away!
COMBATSYS: Riki interrupts ES C to R from Q-Bee with Charging Ox.
- Power hit! -
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Q-Bee 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Riki
Riki growls in satisfaction as her blow sends the monsterous bee sprawling yet again. There are few creatures, be they spiritual or mortal, who can withstand the direct touch of hellfire. She is one of the chosen few, the great guardians of the afterlife who keep watch over the Gates. Woe unto those of evil heart or intentions who would dare stand in her way, yadda yadda. It just feels good to smite something every now and then.
It would seem, however, that this particular foolish creature is in need of a few more smitings. Whatever, she has plenty to spare. She'll keep on smiting until the lesson sinks in: you aren't welcome here.
"Nothing personal, Queenie." Riki rolls the arm that Q-Bee twisted, massaging the shoulder muscles there a little. "But it's my job to protect humans. As long as you prey on humankind, I'll be here to stand in your way. Maybe you should go on a diet."
And then the creature makes an even bigger mistake. Riki's eyebrow raises at the declaration and her nonchalant expression slowly fades into a dark smirk. "Oh, is that what you're going to do? Well, it's one thing to pick on some hapless little girls who aren't even out of their skirts yet."
As the stinger grows to disturbingly large proportions, it becomes quickly apparent what the creature intends to do. Screw that. She's tired of being stung today. The ogre lets out a warcry that rattles the forest and charges just as Q-Bee unleashes her own mad dash. The two meet in the middle but the contest was over before it even happened. With superior size, mass, and strenght, Riki plows into the soul bee queen like a runaway bus, picking her up on one shoulder as she dashes forward without stopping. It is only when she finally reaches the edge of the clearing and finds a convenient tree that the ride on the pain train ends with a dramatic CRUNCH.
"It's another to threaten a divine oni!"
Being slammed into by Riki, Q-Bee goes limp when the impact is made, the stinger shrinking in size as the massive form meets her. The plowing that is done by Riki is quite amazing, and it is exactly when that tree and Q-Bee hit that there is indeed a satisfying crunch. The tree may very well snap! It's certainly not looking much better for the Bee, either. The impact causes Q-Bee to double over, rolling to a stop onto her back after all of that, wings and body twitching slightly. Is she squashed? Is it all over?
It should be - but it is not. With a testament to the very life of the Soul bee and the persistance that it implies, Q-Bee pulls herself off the ground. Wings slowly flit and find their strength to carry her skywards once more. Either the exoskeleton is harder than it looks or there is some other trickery at work. There should have been a satisfying SQUISH to accompany that CRUNCH.
"(But there is no other food, and I will die! Then the hive will follow!)" Q-Bee exclaims as if there was no more words to be had. "(If I do not feed, then we will die within the day!)" She promises with a very panicky look on her face - "(It is not a threat, I will require whatever I can get!)" Q-Bee declares with a matter-of-factly statement, buzzing immediately towards Riki. Only then does she immediately hook away. No. No. Nope. Not happening.
She wanted a better vantage point.
Arms raise upwards as Q-bee does so, her abdomen doing the same, twisting around to feed into her ... something. What could she be doing? "(You are too fighty.)" Says the bee, in what must be the most obvious statement yet. Yet this statement comes with a very important statement. Something grows above her head. The hands hold something translucent, swelling and sweet. If the venom would not work...
"(This should do.)" She claims, before immediately tossing it towards Riki afterwards, the blob bouncing off the landscape, taking things as it goes, sticking to them. If the oni couldn't repell it, it would crash into the Oni and suddenly she would find herself in the most delicious prison she had ever found herself within - writhing and possibly prey to Q-Bee.
COMBATSYS: Riki blocks Q-Bee's QJ EX.
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Q-Bee 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Riki
"Yep, that's what happens when things starve. They die." Riki shrugs, stepping back as the bee somehow manages to get back up after being flattened. Tough little things. Maybe this is why they were so hard to get rid of. "You're a monster. Like me. Unlike me, you hurt people instead of helping them. That means you gotta go. Just how it is."
Displaying no compassion for the plaintive cries of the pitiful creature, the oni crosses her arms and stares up at Q-Bee. This isn't her call to make but even if it wasn't expressly her job to deal with this kind of crap, she'd probably still want to wipe these things out. They're a little too much of a reminder of the past. Maybe these things could change, just like her, but she doubts it. They're just parasites.
The creature is obviously broken and beaten. Its prey has escaped and its unlikely to find fresh food in time to save itself if its claims are true. Riki starts to turn away and leave the doomed monster to its fate when it does something unexpected. Mid-turn, she pauses and peers upwards as the massive glob of sticky goo begins to take shape in Q-Bee's hands. Her mouth opens slightly in an incredulous stare but it quickly turns into an angry snarl as she throws her arms up in a defensive shield.
"You gotta be KIDDING ME!"
Sadly, it is no joke. The bouncing katamari honey ball slams into the ground and careens directly into her waiting arms. Riki staggers backwards as the impact almost knocks her off her feet but she endures with a grunt of effort. The worst part, however, is that now the goo-ball is stuck to her body. She lets her displeasure be known in a series of annoyed growls, her claw-like fingernails tearing at the congealed blob with reckless abandon until she's reduced it to little more than smears and chunks.
"Ugh, it's going to take me FOREVER to get this crap off! It's in my clothes, on my skin... IN MY HAIR! Raaagh!!"
Well and thoroughly pissed off now, Riki unleashes her biggest roar yet and turns her wrathful gaze upon the soul bee queen. Gritting her teeth and baring her fangs, she crouches for a moment and then leaps straight into the air, her massive strength launching her easily in range to plow horn-first into the hovering foe. What follows, should she manage to connect, is a series of extremely unpleasant things, most of them involving punching, biting, slamming, thrashing, kicking, crushing, and other violent adjectives that could describe a muscle-bound amazon going ape-shit on something's face.
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee manages to escape Riki's Raging Demon!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Riki
No! That's NOT what should happen if she doesn't get food!
Well, it would be exactly what happens. Which is why Riki is in such a good position. "(No! He said we don't have to, that we have a place! The tall man said he'd make sure the hive thrives! We will go nowhere!)" That is the challenge that Q-Bee has. Parasites that they are, Q-Bee, and the soul bees perhaps last great hope, is /exactly/ a parasite. A new form of parasitism that has a human plagued with a soul-bee. So deep it is that it might be slowly turning the Soul bees into more of itself.
An ill omen, if that was ever discovered.
Still, the congealed ball of honey would entrap the foe and -
Q-Bee for a moment hangs in the air with no response. Riki manages to tear through the ball, shearing at it, removing it - even if it might take energy from Riki in the mean time to tear free from it. Q-Bee is not in a good position. Oh no, not at all - especially not as she seems to have pissed Riki /clean off/. The bee buzzes in place, wings vibrating as Riki roars as loud as she has ever, the soul bees in the air literatelly careening from the bellow, all pulling away, crashing into each other just from the force of the roar before regaining their balance. The same can be said of Q-Bee, who happens to suddenly have a burst of energy. Of speed.
With the oni chasing her, Q-Bee ducks behind a tree, which snaps, before buzzing up and over some overbrush which shortly becomes underbrush. Then she ducks through a small path - which becomes a LARGE path. Each and over obstacle that the bee ducks or tears abdomen through, Riki turns it into shredded woods or damaged goods, opening up entire sections of the forest as Q-Bee leads her on a chase of violence that she is the unwilling fox to the massive hound dog.
That is, before it comes to an end. Q-Bee is cornered, a massive arm slamming towards her and then landing right where her top half should be.
There is a deafening crash, the ground thrown upwards from the force, where Q-Bee once laid. It is all over.
It should have been. Underneath Riki's fist, a foot below, is ... a small foot long Q-Bee staring up at Riki. It points up at Riki, "(!!!!!!!)" And speaks in words that cannot be heard, or sense could be made.
The bees suddenly surround her as well, all of them lancing their stingers towards Riki as Q-Bee suddenly undergoes a growth spurt, lunging upwards back to her normal size to tackle Riki over while she is being STUNG by soul bees all over!
It is a tackle if there ever was one.
COMBATSYS: Riki endures Q-Bee's Armed Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Riki
Nearly blinded by the rage that had overtaken her, Riki is too distracted and exhausted to notice the utter absurdity of what she is witnessing when her terrible rampage leaves her with nothing more than shredded foliage and shattered trees to show for her effort. She tilts her head down to stare at the tiny bee through glowing red eyes, a lack of understanding in her snarling expression until the tricky creature suddenly grows to full size once more and tackles her in a bold and desperate effort to bring the brute down.
Riki roars again as she falls to the ground, the queen bee attempting to grapple her into submission long enough for her minions to unleash their deadly stingers and bring her low. For a few precious moments it looks like the plan might work. Caught off-guard and still hazy, the ogre struggles to free herself from the surprise attack. Several pointy spears of pain lance into her skin from all sides as the small flock of soul bees descend upon her in a frenzied attack. However, confined to a human body or not, a divine ogre is not so easily bested.
A devastating roar explodes from underneath the pile of bees sending them sailing away as if swatted aside by a giant invisible hand. Battered and bleeding, Riki grits her teeth and gasps as pain invades her senses threatening to overwhelm her with each passing second. She doesn't have time to lie down and rest though, if things keep up like this she might not make it out, especially with all the little pests to give her foe aid.
Reaching down she grabs ahold of Q-Bee and diverts all of the strength she can muster into crushing the damn thing between her arms.
"You will go... straight... to... HELL!"
COMBATSYS: Riki successfully hits Q-Bee with Combo Grapple.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Q-Bee 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Riki
The bee attempts to, for the moment, not be smashed by Riki.
It goes exactly as expected once, trying to pull away from someone she just tackled, Q-Bee is grasped and then pulled straight into her arms. Struggling just as before, Q-Bee attempts the impossible, to struggle completely free, to wriggle and wiggle out of the grasp from Riki, attempting to free herself from the Oni prison! Yet it is not to be as she crushes, and smashes, and compresses... the poor Q-Bee of the soul bees is made more and more compact before she finally manages to free herself, writhing free from the grasp only with the effort from a few soul-bees that help pull her out!
In her current state, it is clear that a single strike will likely take Q-Bee... right out!
Wings beat alive once more as her body, damaged, crushed and smashed manages to hold together, however barely. The bee, buzzing low and quite weekly, flies ... higher? "(No No No No No they tell me I can't fall here! They tell me I have to get food... I hear something telling me I need to, at any cost... I need to!") Her argument is quite flawless, that of a youngling throwng a tantrum flawless.
The Oni wouldn't expect what comes next though, as Q-Bee's arms slam together and fuse. Wing buzz heavily, keeping her aloft as the stinger swells larger, growing mightier in size. Suddenly the entire swarm would be upon her. Soul bee after soul bee flies towards Riki intending to swarm her as Q-Bee dive-bombs Riki over and over with her stinger, never staying in the same place. Each and every soul bee buzzes brilliantly as it marches off towards its death, just as the others have as Riki tossed them off. More and more join - and are seemingly CREATED - to be thrown towards Riki as Q-Bee attempts to give her the death of a thousand stings!
COMBATSYS: Riki blocks Q-Bee's I2.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Riki
It just...never ends. A strange sentiment for an immortal guardian perhaps but this day is starting to resemble an eternity of hellish bees. And somehow, despite having smashed those bees, there are now MORE BEES than she started out with! Graaah!
Snarling in outrage at this creature's refusal to simply accept its inevitable end, Riki faces the onslaught of tiny bee babies without fear or remorse. Her massive fists swat them out of the air, crushing and smashing each and every one, even as their queen rains spikey death down upon her from above. Dozens of stingers lodge into her body, countless javelins piercing her thick skin and drawing fresh blood. By this point her clothes practically worthless. She'd probably have gotten fewer holes in them if she'd stood in the middle of a gunfight. Yet another annoyance she'll have to deal with after this is over. And it is /going/ to be over. One way or another, it's time to finish this.
Riki weathers the storm of bees as best she can, managing to curtail the worst of the onslaught. Though she is pierced and bleeding from a hundred stings, together those strikes are not strong enough to overcome the raw iron shield of her will and determination. The last of the soul bees dies in a horrific explosion of demonic ichor as it is crushed mercilessly in the oni's powerful hand. She casts aside the corpse without a second thought and turns to glare up at Q-Bee. Angry as she is, she can't bring herself to hate the creature, not completely. It's just an animal, albeit one that developed some basic communication skills. It doesn't understand and it likely never will. But it still has to die.
"Well, that was... an experience I will not soon forget," Riki says, reaching up to brush several of the stingers out of her shoulder. "But it is time we bring this to an end."
Reaching deep down, she finds some last remnants of strength and resolve and calls them to fore. Her fatigue seems to melt away for the moment and fresh strength surges through her body invigorating the flesh and muscle anew. The massive woman holds a hand up infront of her and it ignites with crackling red flames, a ball of hellish light dancing in her palm. She brings her arm back and pitches the fire up at Q-Bee, hurling it with a terrible speed and purpose.
"Face the judgement of Hell, monster!"
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee blocks Riki's Flames of Purgatory.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Riki
If there is a word that sums up the hive of soul bees, it will always bee - Persistance.
Bee after bee is condemned to be smited by Riki, as she crushes them to death, one by one. Her stinger continues to assault Riki but it doesn't seem to do anything! Javelins of chiton and exoskeleton lodge in the oni but the bee queen of the soul tribe fights for her life - and the lives of those to come! And the hive! All of them are important to her. All of them at once /yelling in her head/, though it is not a sharp sound. It is a dull one that only grows louder.
Right now, it is as if a drum is being beaten against her head. Perhaps her head is the drum.
Yet instead of causing her to lose focus, it has allowed her to retain it. Exploding, Q-Bee watches her last bee baby be detonated as she forcefully returns to the ground, wings overheating. "(No! No end! It won't end!)" The bee queen states, attempting to make true to it's word as Riki reaches down, a hand held up before her, igniting with crackling red flames and burning towards her. It's thrown, launched directly towards Q-Bee ... and goodness, does it manage to burn the bee! Once more she retracts herself, the fire catching her burnable bee bits and singing them - and as if hell could not laugh right back at Riki, they unfurl, Q-Bee hanging in the air - weak, wounded and ... still fighting?
"(No! ... I... I'm hungry.)" She complains, then drops to the ground right before Riki.
"(Feed... feed me!)" And as she falls to her knees, the stinger and spines all about her lance blindly out towards everyone and everything around her, which does not include many living bees. Likely the trees, a single swarm, and the Oni!
COMBATSYS: Riki blocks Q-Bee's R. M..
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Riki
By the gods, this thing won't die!
Riki grits her teeth in frustration but she doesn't give up. As the stingers lash out in all directions she simply raises her arms defensively taking the blows on her meaty biceps. Though they skewer her yet again, she shrugs the cuts off as if they were merely a distraction. Just a little bit more.
"Just die, you damned thing!"
Lifting a foot up into the air, Riki brings her full weight down upon her heel as she drives it into the ground sending her hellish fury into the very earth itself. The raw power of the blow sends an earthshattering shudder through the forest and the ground erupts as a wave of physical force explodes from beneath the soul bee. Earth and rock become a shotgun blast of deadly power engulfing her in a storm of flechette-like shards of broken stone.
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee dodges Riki's Earthshaker.
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Q-Bee 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Riki
The Bee is driven entirely on instinct. In no surprise, it is /literately/ against the wall. Fighting now just to stay afloat, stay awake and stay living, Q-Bee is yelled at but is buzzing about so haphazardly that Riki is able to lift a foot into the air and slam the earth upwards, the massive wave of physical force tossing her upwards and sending bits and pieces about - but none of them managing to catch Q-Bee! Diving back down, Q-Bee actually rides the wave, straight down towards Riki, actually, her stinger aiming straight down towards Riki!
"(I don't want to die! I told you!)" The declaration is made as she just back down towards Riki.
The fight has been long and hard, and now, Q-Bee wouldn't even be able to sink her teeth into Riki, much less even drag her anywhere - look at the size! Why is she even fighting!? ... They might be able to get a small animal around.
It'll be just enough to subsist her!
COMBATSYS: Riki fails to interrupt Delta A from Q-Bee with Charging Ox.
[ \\\\\ <
Q-Bee 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Riki can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Q-Bee 0/-------/------=|
Feeling the last of her surge of reserve strength starting to fail in the face of so much blood loss and effort, Riki does the only thing she can. Even as the shards of shattered earth fill the air she rushes forward and dives into the obscuring haze of dirt, intending to simply throw herself at the persistant creature and finish it off up close and personal while it is still confused.
Unfortunately, the soul bee had the same idea and this time things don't turn out as well for the oni. Diving straight into the oncoming threat, the two monsters collide in a disturbing crunch. Riki lets out a sharp grunt of pain as the stinger plunges into her abdomen, fresh pain washing away the hard shield of focus and raw toughness that had kept it at bay until now. She doubles over and falls to her knees, reaching out to push Q-Bee away with a rough thrust of her hand while the other props her up against the ruined forest floor.
"Nrgh... damnit..."
Her vision begins to grow fuzzy and she wobbles slightly, only barely managing to remain upright. The wounds aren't enough to kill her but it's going to take some time to recover from this, time that this creature will probably spend hunting and spreading its nests. With some effort, she lifts her head to glare at the demonic bee, anger and disgust etched into her hard features.
"Run while you can... next time... you won't be so lucky."
With the Oni reaching out, Q-Bee's instincts immediately tell her - nothing. This is over. She has lost. There is a great silence as the thrumming, hundreds of wings, would suddenly stop. Yet there is no grasp. There is no finishing strike - Q-Bee pulling back the stinger and floating in the air nearby the Oni. Finish her? No way. No energy is left to do so, Q-Bee literately collapsing a ways from the Oni, to her feet. In what is even more surprising, the entire form of Q-Bee falters and crashes down to the ground.
Not everything does, though.
"(Pfhaaaaaw....)" The small, only foot long Q-Bee exhales, the out exoskeleton falling off of her. "(That was everything...)" All of her energy lost, the very last bit of her form cracking and crumbling at the very end. Yet a rabbit runs by, the Soul bees, much like her in size, immediately darting for it. "(Catch it! Catch it! I'm hungry! We're hungry!)" She declares, immediately swinging out a massive fork and knife as she buzzes after it. /Eat or die/. Even if it seems like it is carefree, the very last wingbeats she would have had are in these movements.
Infact, Q-Bee, mini as she is, stops to look at Riki and stares for a moment at the now /mountainous/ Oni. "(We will not fight you next time.)" Q-Bee remarks, "(You are too tough for good food! Even now, I bet your soul would be too chewy, even if I could eat it!)" She complains, perking up as her antennae catches the Soul bees hauling a rabbit upwards. "(Gotta go! Food! Food! Food! FOOD!)"
Immediately she buzzes off, the remants of the soul bees, and Q-Bee form, all vanishing. If nothing else, Riki thinned the hive - it would take the time to at least break even for them to recover, before Riki does!
COMBATSYS: Q-Bee has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:51:10 06/04/2016 by Q-Bee, and last modified on 10:14:05 06/05/2016.