3.22

Gauzelle and Hunter arrived at the unfolding situation Gauzelle had noticed just before.

There was indeed a large swarm of bees. A hypnotizing, insectoid vortex swirled around a fleeing crowd.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Gauzelle asked one of the fleeing bystanders.

“I dunno. This young kid was walking through the street. They looked lost, kind of wobbly in their walk. Bu-” The bees surged toward them, and the witness booked it out of there.

“What happened with the kid?” Gauzelle asked another.

“What kid? There’s a giant swarm of bees in case you haven’t noticed. We’re all gonna die unless you heroes do something.” The goat-person ran off, bleating in fear.

“What is going on?” Gauzelle screamed. A few of the fleeing civilians stopped for a moment and looked at her. Hunter felt a strange sensation hit him like a crashing wave when Gauzelle had burst out in frustration.

“The bees, they come from a kid. Like, out the body or something.” With that response, the person fled.

“At least now we’ve got something. I say we just make our way to the middle of that swarm and figure it out from there.” Gauzelle launched herself at the swarm of critters.

“Uh, wait,” Hunter called.

“What’s up?”

“Those bees probably can’t do anything to you, but they can still sting me.” Drops of fear spattered Hunter’s voice.

“Yeah?”

“I’m allergic. Bad news.”

“Oh, okay. Well, hang back then. I’ll figure something out then.” Gauzelle whipped around, eyeing the bees.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be all right?” Hunter asked.

“Of course. Its just a kid right, what are they gonna do?” Gauzelle launched herself at the swarm.

As her body hit it, it was like crashing into a wall. Gauzelle started to fall. She unravelled her arm, swung her body around like a yoyo and launched herself back up at the bees.

Gauzelle readied her staff and released a bright flash as she brought it down on the bees.

A small gap peeled open and Gauzelle found herself inside the living sphere.

Floating in the middle of the sphere was a young rabbit. They looked like they weren’t aware of anything that was happening and Gauzelle noticed there was a golden ooze coming out of a corner of the kid’s mouth.

As Gauzelle started to fall back down, she grabbed the kid’s ankle. The kid jerked to awareness and looked down at Gauzelle.

“What are you doing?” the kid asked.

“Trying to see what’s causing all the mischief that’s going on, and I found you at the centre of it.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s going on?” Gauzelle had never used such a soft tone with her voice before. Short brashness had always been the way to go.

“These bees, I think they’re trying to protect me.”

“From what? Where are they coming from?”

“They came from inside me. I woke up feeling funny today and when I coughed, honey came out.” As the kid said this, they coughed a little and some honey sprayed out.

“So you’ve got a superpower now. You can be a superhero.”

“Yeah, but I can’t control them. And I feel sick. I’m just going to scare people.”

“I know what its like to have powers you can’t control.”

“Really?” The buzzing of the bees rose to a deafening crescendo.

“Yes. And it scares people.” Something dark and twisted pulled at the back of Gauzelle’s mind. Like a rusty hook, it pulled, and it caused blinding pain.

“What do those people do. The ones you scare?” The kid coughed and more honey leaked out.

“They help me. They’re my friends. Where are your parents?”

“I don’t have any. I live in a foster home.” The kids voice stretched thin and was slapped with layers of emotion.

“Oh. Wh…where are they?

“I don’t want to go back!” The kid’s voice hit a fever pitch and the swarm became a deafening mess.

“But they look after you. You have to go back.”

“You’re just like the rest of them. I don’t want to go back.” The kid locked eyes with Gauzelle. The swarm broke away and drove her out of the sphere. It continued to push her for a few feet before flying back to the kid’s shield.

“Everything all right?” Hunter asked. He had clearly waited for all the bees to leave Gauzelle before going over to her.

“Yeah, I’m all right. The kid seems scared. They’ve run away from their foster home and doesn’t want to go back.”

“Hmm. What do we do? I mean they look after the kid, they’ve gotta go back.”

Gauzelle eyed the scenery and spotted two humans. One was a rotund man and the other a stocky-built woman.

The bees suddenly burst and made their way toward the two people. They both crouched down, their arms up over their heads. Gauzelle raced over to them.

“Hey, do you know that kid?” Gauzelle asked.

“Yeah, that’s our kid. Come to take em back.” The man grizzled.

“Why do you think that kid ran away?” Gauzelle asked.

“Ungrateful little rodent.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ungrateful little rodent. Without that kid, we don’t get our money.”

“Like that is it?”

“Huh? How do you mean?”

There was no response, just a loud crack across the forehead. The man fell forward and the woman eyed Gauzelle.

“What do you think yer doing? Yer meant to be one of them superheroes. Why’d you go and attack my husband?” The woman rolled up her already short sleeves and advanced on Gauzelle.

Gauzelle made quick work of her too.

“What are you doing?” Hunter asked.

“These are the kid’s foster parents. And they’re nothing but scum, so I did what I had to.” Gauzelle looked at the mass of writhing bees in the sky and sent some calm emotions toward the child.

The bees made their way back into the kid and the kid lowered themselves down onto the ground.

The kid ran over and hugged Gauzelle.

“I don’t know how much swing Michael has, but I’m gonna make him promise he’ll help find this kid a new home.”