Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board "A Descent into the Maelström"

*Suddenly without warning after 24 hours of nonstop carnage and death, the swarms of bees suddenly stop*

*The sun breaks through for the first time in a day. A few dead bees litter the grounds but for the most part they are simply gone*

Within midst of downtown Legion World, carved into the metallic pavement, the bees had stung away to reveal a message left along the street*

<font face="Algerian"> </font f>

<flies into the center of the message, as citizens begin to come out of hiding and a form an on-looking crowd>

...All kinds of crazy...

He appears of nowhere causing chaos and is gone just as soon. And for what? What did it accomplish other than terrorize us? Or was that it?

Or was it a distraction for something else?

If his attacks are in this blitzkrieg manner, we'll never find him...

Question Kid looked on the message. Anagram? No, that would acquire intelligence. Red Bee clearly is not a tactician. Question Kid turned to Cobalt Kid, "He made the wind, let him harvest the whirlwind*. I'm at your service for whatever needs to be done."

OCC: *= Have to match your Nazi reference with the Soviet's response when they invaded Berlin. )

That's precisely what he wants you to think--that he's a wild card. It's all a part of his strategy. The truth is he is a master tactician.

I'd wager the last 24 hours of carnage were a distraction to keep us occupied for the Bee to accomplish some other purpose.

Dev flies up.

"I do thank the gods that he stopped. The sun feels good and I don't know how much more I could have used my heat vision at that intensity."

He looked around. "It's hard to believe that one man with bees could do this much damage."

He moved a little closer to Cobalt Kid.

"Furball is almost to OoS headquarters with you know who. You may want to head back there."

Sounds good.

Hard to say if this message is him being poetic in his own sick mind or taunting us with a clue. I'll tell Lardy to have some people stationed here.

Sir Roy and Red Arrow arrive...

It feels good to be rid of the impure thoughts haunting me these last few months. Rockhopper Lad has reminded me of what I stand for.

Now I shall use whatever skills I have to defend the citizenry of Legion World.

"I wish I could say the same, Sir Roy. All those files brought back bad memories," Red Arrow said. My father...spied...betrayed...a super-team. He kept dossier files on everyone for years and massacred them at their weakest point. I remember standing there and him patting me on the head and telling me to go to mommy. She sent me away to another universe, so I wouldn't be raised the super-villains I count as relatives. Ever since I started hanging out with Question Kid my memories have begun to reassemble themselves. (In case anyone doesn't know italics mean thoughts)

"It's about time you came for me," Question Lad smiled. "We have to end this quickly, but the way you are fighting this will be a long war."

Up until now we've been all over the map. We've been scattered and half of us have been hurt. We've spent so much time trying to find the Bee, we haven't figured out how we can beat him.

But Dev has come up with an excellent strategy to lure the Bee to us. Good enough where we need to go on the assumption it will work.

And that's where you come in. We know the Bee's power can be depleted. But even when slightly depleted, he still could practically kill two of us.

But...if we could cut his power in half from the get-go...and then pour it on...

It's a lot to ask of you. Absorbing that much of his power means absorbing that much of his madness. You may never the same.

Dev lands. He looks the best he's looked in years...and that surprises Des. His face however is saddened, as he's just found out news that he has been dreading, but expecting.

"Hey Cobie, Kid. Timberwolf and Hot Chick are on their way here too. Lon told me that Sharky is not happy about missing out on the last melee, and wants in if we come across it again."

He pulls Des to the side, "have you talked to Lolita about the plan? Is she up for it?"

You better believe it. No ones hates the Bee like her. She'll be meeting us shortly. From here on out, she's in on it.

Timberwolf and Hot Chick land.

He just stares at Question Kid. "We could have used your help yesterday."

He turns away before Question Kid can respond. "What's the plan boss men?" He says to Des and Dev with a smile. He pats two guns on his hips. "These aren;t probably going to do much except annoy the hell out of him...but if I can manage at least that...I'm happy." He looks back at Hot Chick, "or at least happier."

Don't be so quick to judge QK. I purposely asked him to hold back and not engage the Bee thus far. The Bee has no clue who he is or what he can do...maybe this will lull him into a false sense of security.

Some aces who hold up your sleeve for awhile.

Timberwolf nods his head. "Alright then. After Rimbor, I trust your judgment on things like that."

"So we wait then," he says and grabs Hot Chicks hand. "Call us when it's ready." He says with a wink and they fly off.

Dev looks at Cobalt, "I have some things to check on, then I want to go to Medicus II and check on our friends. I'll be in touch."

He turns and flies off.

"Thank you. It's nice to know someone other than Red Arrow and I understand strategy. I will risk my sanity for this cause. On that note, since I'm willing to do that I demand a mixed team. We need intelligence as well as power in this fight," Question Lad explained.

<Cobalt smiles but it's a grin that shows little humor--a smile he's famous for among his closest allies>

QK, you need to understand one thing. I'll hear no demands from friend nor foe, from ally nor enemy. If we do this, we work together and you've got to be able to follow our lead if things go wrong. Know that this is our only plan that sounds like it'll work...so you'll have a broad mix of everyone whose available with you.

<puts a hand on QK's shoulder making sure no bare skim touches>

Everyone will have something to add. Know that I appreciate the sacrifice you're willing to make.

He bit his tongue and held back the long rant he prepared about strategy and prep. "I will follow your command," Question Kid says. "Where are we going from here?"

<Cobalt recognizes QK's not pushing it and appreciates it.>

We need to make sure our forces are in position so Dev's plan isn't wasted. And then find the right location...

<suddenly, Cobalt's omni-com goes off>

There have been sightings of...Lard Bots?!! A few scattered sightings around Legionopolis...but Lardy made it seem like he wasn't going to use them!

No, no, no...now is not the time for this distraction! C'mon QK, we've got to find out what the story is with these things! Otherwise the whole plan will be out of focus!

"I think a better thing to ask right now is not whose controlling them, but where are they stored?" Question Kid smiled. I think I know who is behind this, but I won't say. I like her too much and frankly she scares me. Really don't want to be responsible for her becoming some sort of evil genius.

"I may know the answer to that one Question Lad," Dev says as he flies up to them. "I was doing a routine scan of the Security Office a couple days ago and there was a null space there. Something else else my vision couldn't process. That might be where he kept them if it was some sort of tesseract. It would make sense that he would want them close...but I can;t see how he could have activated them, I just left him and he;s pretty out of it and without any equipment to do it."

"Hmm...then we just need a key. Let's go test our security systems, shall we?" Question Kid said.

"Let's go." Dev said.