The Awesome Finale to a Boston Trilogy

Dabbler teleport-paced back and forth impatiently. Time was passing but no one was rolling credits or yelling cut. Maybe this wasn’t like those stories in books or movies. She decided to go find out how things were going. Maybe she was going to walk in on some dramatic scenario, and she’d have perfect timing.

“Well, they sure are taking a long time. Let’s check it out!” Dabbler invited Terri to see how things were going to end. She opened portals, taking about 6 portal hops to quickly cover the large horizontal distance to the Hive’s exterior. Being a hive of flying wasps, there was no ground level entryway. Dabbler scratched her head at how to access the big hive. She saw a small window and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Hey Sage? SAGE! Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and thyme! If you’re in there, can you open us a door?? HELLOOOO ANYONE HOOOOME?” Dabbler asked, and when no answer was forthcoming, she resorted to summoning tentacles out of the ground to start tearing a hole in the wall. This would take only a minute. "Get ready to go in swingin', Black Belt!" Dabbler warned Terri just in case.

= = =

The Queen was caught off guard by the power of the modern weapon, tearing through an ice barrier and blasting into her carapace. Without the ice she may have died or been critically injured. Before she could muster another retaliatory attack, a third assailant appeared from nowhere, one that could utilize the cryo-swords no less. Sword slashes too fast to see caused wounds to appear on her body faster than she could perceive them, and sure enough her body was numb with cold and frost.

She didn’t quite shatter after being frozen, given the sheer size and power of her body, standing as tall as a two-story building. But she was soundly beaten, her carapace blasted open, Her torso bleeding thick ichor. All over her body, her flesh was frozen and rent asunder by Dragon fang and claw. With Jeanie proficient enough to restore warmth to her numb limb, Dragon Niao approached the kneeling Queen, the formerly proud, monstrous monarch mustering the last of her breath to make a desperate plea.

A tear fell down her cheek, as her last thoughts went to the fate of her hive. “…Please… my… children…Spare...”

Dragon Niao blinked and pondered for a second, before she chomped down on Vespania’s mutant head, the skull crushed like a water melon. Her lifeless body collapsed onto the Hive floor, blood spilling down through the honeycombs, to the emptied vats below.

“ROOOAAARRR!” Dragon Niao exulted and roared in triumph, the Hive shaking from the earth dragon’s fulfilled rage. She transformed back, falling to all fours, now absolutely exhausted. She coughed up the vivid green blood, spitting it out. “Blegh, I could wash my mouth out with boiling water right about now.” She spoke. Tired, a small, simple stump of stone rose from the ground. She made Jeannie and Alexis their own seats too. With surety, it was over- at least, the threat of Vespania to the American continent. Sage was spent- other heroes will have to deal with the Maldeth situation, whoever they were.

The wall in the hive was opened up by a familiar set of alien tentacles, making an entryway.

“…NEVER FEAR! DABBLER IS HERE! SHOW ME THE QUEEN AND I'LL MAKE HER GET ON HER KNEES IF YANNO WHAT I MEAN!” The witch dramatically teleported into the center of attention, only to realize that the big bad Queen was now a headless giant corpse. And Dabbler was standing in her blood. “Awwww gross!”

Sage spared Dabbler a smile and two chuckles, high praise from the Transmuter. “I guess there’s just the matter of the final business. The larvae chamber, then I recall a Lady was captured by the Queen…and…” Sage glanced at the bodies below them. Leaving them in that state would not do. Sage could not stomach witnessing such indignity again. “…And I will lay them to rest outside.”

Sage turned to the witch. “Dabbler. Samantha.” Sage approached and addressed Dabbler by her human name. “I’d like to ask a favor. Two actually.”

“Sure Parsley. Whadyya need?” Dabbler agreed with a friendly grin. Calling Sage 'Sage' got old much too quickly for her.

“First, those dead bodies in the layer below. I need you to bring them outside of the hive. To a nearby clearing bordered by the woods.”

Dabbler looked down and saw the victims of the Hive, so callously tossed aside. Evil had standards, and Dabbler’s mood turned sullen at the sight of those who fell to the wasps. “Oh.” It was morbid work, teleporting the dead, but Dabbler did so anyway.

The death cries of the Queen seemed like some strange fever dream to Alexis.  The accumulation of tiny wounds had taken their toll, and a great wave of exhaustion settled over her.  She let the RPG launcher fall to the floor next to her as she decided to just lay on the ground for a while.  Alexis never really knew how comfortable the ground could be.

It only lasted about 20 seconds, however, before something registered just on the edge of Alexis' hearing.  It almost sounded... like a child crying?  Groaning, Alexis got to her feet and moved with a reserve of energy she did not know she had possessed.  She half-limped, half-ran up a gigantic spiral stairway into what she assumed were the Queen's personal chambers.

Opulent didn't begin to describe it.  Apparently the 'Queen' was not just the title the gigantic creature had been borrowing to show her position in a group mimicking eusocial insects.  She was apparently going for the human notions of that term as well.

There was this law of interior decorating that stated you should use gold as an accent.  Not only did it convey a sense of class and wealth to a room, but it also preserved the taste of the decorator while still boosting their status.  The Queen had apparently heard that rule, thought about it, then stuffed it firmly in the rubbish bin.

It almost hurt to look at.  There were heaps of the warm, golden metal everywhere.  It was frankly a bit ridiculous.  It was like walking into Scrouge McDuck's vault; she was surprised the bitch hadn't swam in it.

The renewed cries of the child's voice brought Alexis back to the moment.  Louder now, Alexis found the child only after a moment of searching. And immediately, Alexis hated her.  

She was small, almost fairy like, with tiny cherubic features and gossamer insectile wings that seemed to shine with some inner light.  Her skin was white; no, pearlescent, as was her hair and eyes.  Her lips, just the faintest shade of pink to differentiate from the flesh around them, only barely hid the rows of sharp, needle-like teeth in that innocent mouth.

The tiny creature looked at Alexis with shocked, fearful eyes and trembled.  Alex, staring at the creature, found she could not sustain the cold knot of hatred in her heart.  Instead, she gave a tired sigh and shook her head.  She went to her haunches before the child and gave her a gentle smile.  

"Are you alright?"

Jeannie puts down the ice swords letting them rest beside the stone chair and goes back to normal ahh brain freeze!

Jeannie noticed sage had bitten off the bug queen's head. eww that's gross but totally means we got her. did she taste like chicken?

she then is amused to see the wacky witch make her entrance. yay dabs your ok, how's teddy and the masked lady?  Jeannie watched as dabbler went about teleporting dead bodies out sage said something about laying them to rest.

oh I know some guys that can help  she whistles and some groundhogs wearing mining hats and carrying shovels burrow up through the floor of the hive.  they gather around Jeannie.

ok boys my witchy friend there needs help on the graveyard shift. she says dig you say where ok? they nod their heads then gather around dabbler and wait for her further instructions.

then teddy stumbles through the hole dabbler made in the wall. Jeannie hops from her stone seat and runs over to hug the bear. yay teddy tour ok I'm glad. so mission accomplished?

glad your ok to boss, yeah the bugs outside are all squished. looks like your group was successful too?

yeah you missed it there were booms and bangs and magic swords and sage is a dragon!

a dragon I thought something smelled somewhat not human about here

yeah me too but I thought it might be rude to say she smelt funny, huh where'd Lexi go? she hops up and goes to look for Alexis. teddy follows her as the wonder though hive following Lexi's scent.

Jeannie is surprised by how shiny the room is.jackpot teddy we found where they keep the loot I think she spys her missing friend kneeled over by something.

hey Lexi whatcha got there? she peeks over Lexi's shoulder to see the tiny baby aww how cute! can we keep it? Jeannie smiles at the fairy-like baby. she is so adorable, what should we name her?

Terri cocked her head at Dabbler's invitation, and she spent a moment to contemplate it. She had just been thinking and worrying about them... though going straight in like this so suddenly felt, off, for whatever reason.

Oh well.

She nodded and approached, deciding to forgo the helmet. More things were on her mind than keeping her face hidden. She'd likely continue to keep her realm name secret, just for then. Keep to Black Belt or Mandy. She probably looked more like a Mandy then a Terri, anyways... maybe.

She hopped through the portals just behind Dabbler, with her staff held over her shoulder. Was there a point of tire, or overwork, where more casual movements felt like you weren't moving at all? That may be what she was feeling, as she passed through and to the giant hive. The raise of her head to look towards the top of it gave her a bit of a stumble.

The monk focused back to reality upon Dabbler's warning, as well as upon the sudden interdimensional appendages cleaving through the side of the structure.

"Right."

She hunched a bit lower towards the ground, as her grip on the staff repositioned. Black Belt was ready to attack practically anything that came out of the hole the witch was fabricating, ready to make a quick charge to add more force to whatever maneuver she would pull. Not even she knew what maneuver she would pull, really, given how she fought previously.

Her fears rose at the roar that shook the earths, but then she remembered Sage. Which, made her think: Was that Sage, or did the wasps get to her, and now there were a bunch of mini-wasp-Sage's ready to wreak havoc-

The scene as the entryway formed made her relax. The staff was dropped from her shoulder and held horizontally as she walked into the room.

"Hey Jeannie. Hey... Parsley. Glad you're alive. Cool swords."

...She wasn't exactly sure on what else to say. The ice swords... she wasn't going to really comment or think on, as of yet. Alexis seemed to be going elsewhere- was that a cry? Like a baby's?

That gave her more shivers than any of the previous events. They can deal with that themselves.

"I can... deal with the Lady? Whatever that would include?"

She didn't want to get anywhere close to the larvae. She was going to have nightmares for days, weeks even. Terri was beginning to feel loss, without any real direction of what to do. Maybe she should've gone to check on her parents, but... she figured they were alright. She trusted the bears, ironically. This felt like a more pressing matter, checking on everyone else and concluding things.

QUEEN’S CHAMBER – GESTATION ROOM

The Queen’s chambers had many side rooms, most of which served as the private quarter of her Royal Guard when not performing their… royal duties for her. But one room contained the apparatus by which she gestated her daughter, an apparatus whose function was now complete and the glass vat she was connected to had evacuated its fluids and contents onto the whole floor, making it and the wasp princess drenched.

The adorable abomination crawled on all fours to approach Alexis and Jeannie. Unspeakable acts of evil created her, yet, did that make the creation evil as well? There was no malice in the wasp princess. Sure, her mouth distended wide to reveal an insect like maw filled with little harmless teeth, and she was hungry enough to bite whatever hand grabbed her, but it was a reaction born of hunger, not malice.

“Coooo…aaaaaahhhh!” Hungry, Vespania’s child cried, seeking comfort and nourishment.

Also, within the gestation room, was a second apparatus. The Silver Lady was wired into some vast, arcane machine, clamps holding her up, and tubes all over her body. She was stripped of her armor by Vespania, stripped of power and of dignity – she seemed like she had shrunk from her former glorious appearance. Drained and dried out like a raisin. The light had gone from her body, it seemed, for all intents and purposes, she was no more than a corpse on display, Vespania’s final trophy for her collection.

But, against all odds, she took a shallow breath, grasping on to life by but the thinnest thread. “…Monster…” she muttered.


OUTSIDE THE HIVE

It started with the grave marker. It was a simple monument all things considered, a large, twenty foot tall slab of obsidian transmuted from a ruined concrete wall, and titanium letters enumerating the dead, who fell victim to the Hive at Boston incident. The phenomenon persisted, as Vespania was but a symptom of the greater problem, but there was news that other heroes were dealing with Eugene, elsewhere. Sage made a fresco of herself, Dabbler, Alexis, Jeannie and Terri, of the dwarfs and animals, fighting the wasps in a stylistic battle. She made no mention of poisoning their food supply, of making them suffer a horrific death. It did not feel like victory- there was no glory. Sage rubbed her aching arm where she was stabbed.

Sage had the benefit of Jeannie’s groundhog friends, lightening her work load. She personally encased each body in clay to preserve them, and with the furry friends put the bodies into graves. She placed marble tombstones above each lost soul. Each one was a person, a victim of this accursed evil. Sage did not consider herself a great hero. But, to see the dead so casually discarded was more than she could bear.

Sage sat down on a stone bench she conjured from the ground, and looked at her work. It would do.

“So. That’s it. We’re done with Boston?” Dabbler said, holding her hat to her chest reverently.

“Yes.” Sage said nothing more. There was nothing to say, nothing to make things better. They had survived, and by their actions, helped others survive. That was all there was to it.

“I’ll go check… on the others.” Dabbler said, leaving Sage to mourn.

QUEEN’S CHAMBER AGAIN

Dabbler popped back into the Hive, seeing no one was in the main chamber. She hopped around until she found the others in the queen’s chamber. “Hey guys, you should come see what Thyme built. Ooh! A bug baby!” she exclaimed, then had to go ruin the moment. “…are we going to kill her too?”

The strange child looked into Alexis' eyes; large, white pearls that held no malice.  She cried again, and it was all Alexis could do not to scoop the poor thing up and take her away from there.  Lexi looked over at Jeannie and bit her lower lip.  Then at Dabbler.  Well, if there wasn't a physical metaphor for the angel and the devil on her shoulder, she didn't know what was.

Immediately, Alexis refuted Dabbler's question.  "No," she said.  "She's just a child."  Before her family had died, Alexis used to have a sister, named Sabrina.  Something about the way the child sobbed made her think of the tiniest member of her once family.  

Alexis reached put and manifested a few strips of bacon, still hot and crisp.  She jumped as the little creature snapped out took the pork strips in her mouth, nearly taking off the tips of Alexis' fingers with them.  Alexis laughed as the little girl munched happily on her treat, and she manifested more for the strange angelic watch girl.  Angelic.

"Sabiel," Alexis said.  "Your name is Sabiel."  The wasp child, having decided she rather liked the taste of bacon, inched closer to Alexis and pointed at her mouth.  Alexis smiled and manifested an entire plate of the stuff larger than the child's head.  

The insect girl's eyes went wide, and she began to stuff her face with the piles upon piles of meat.  Alexis bent down, greatly daring, and picked the child up in her arms.  She seemed to regard Alexis not at all, stuffing strip after strip into her mouth.  

Alexis glanced over at the 'Silver Lady' and turned away.  Whatever compassion she might have held for the woman was dashed when she had said that.  Children were innocent, and whatever atrocity had been done to create her was not the child's.  

"My family's all gone, too," she said softly to the child.  Alexis felt something stir inside her.  Before she could stop it, a tether of psychic energy reached out and bonded with the small carnivore.  Strangely, she was not even angry.

...!!BOND FORMED!!
...Bond: Sabiel, Princess of Wasps
...Level 1: Nascent
...Powers Obtained:  None

...Current Effects
...Bio-sync: Complete
...Quantum Entanglement: Complete
...Neural Interface: Complete

Jeannie is surprised with dabblers suggestion no bad dabbler killing children is very bad

she then watched Lexi take care of the baby presently surprised with how good she was at it.looks like you are a natural for doing mommy stuff.

Jeannie watched Lexi pop up bacon for the buggy baby. it smelled yummy looks tasty! can I have some? sabeil isn't that a pokemon? nice name anyway.

she watches amused as the baby munched her treats hungry little thing, isn't she? looks like we found her favorite food. so if Lexi is taking care of the baby. what do we do with sparkles over there?

Jeannie still wasn't sure what to make of the silver lady, was she good or bad? if we save you will you and your knights be nicer? well sage or dabbler would have to save her Jeannie could make heads or tails of the odd thing she was trapped in.

she then turned her attention to dabbleroh I want to see what you and the dragon lady made! is it a neat magic thingy!

Jeannie then realized she had forgotten something importantmanddy parents we need to take her to the bear cave to get them!

Terri nodded to herself, to nobody in particular. Right, everybody seemed to be going to the... baby's cry room. A room she wanted to avoid, but if that's where everyone was, then there was likely something important there. She wasn't sure where Sage had gone, nor Dabbler, until the witch had suddenly appeared.

The gi-clad woman entered the golden space, and her eyes wandered about. No surprise her eyes went to whatever wasn't the garish gleaming color first.

Her eyes went across the wasp princess, whom everyone was gathered around, Sabiel? She would have thought it cute, had she not seen her with her mouth open, ravaging the pieces of pork. Now, it was less cute, and more... well, maybe cute, but in a different sense of the word. Not cute as in adorable, cute as in... she wasn't going to try and explain it to herself. A disturbing cute, end it at that.

There was somebody who seemed like they needed more attention than her qualms with defining the princess's features.

...It took her a moment to realize who it was. It was the... thing that chased them before, right? It was the Silver Lady. Stripped of armor, hooked up to these... things. She was frail and lost the glow that terrified her previously.

Not a threat.

Terri, with no real way of doing this nicely, gripped the tubes that hooked to her and pulled them out of her skin. She was surprised to see just how deep the tubes actually work. It was quite literally going to her core, it seemed. The Lady was trying to mutter something, incapable of speaking over a whisper, if even that.

"Sorry..."

She ripped the rest of the tubes and connections out of her. Terri made a point not to use her ability, in case the deeper tubes ruptured up and made more of a mess than it did already. It seemed as if the Lady was practically numb, thankfully. She hoped she wasn't just trying to gasp in the pain.

The Lady wasn't bleeding as much as she should.

Finally, Terri clasped the restraints that held her, and enforced a moment of her power onto the metal fixtures. With a snap, the Lady fell over and onto Terri's shoulder. The woman backed away as she carried the nude, shriveled statuette. She eventually laid her down onto the ground, facing upwards.

A grasping hand surprised her. The Lady mouthed something. A look of... frustration, on her face.

With a glance towards the rest of the group, she bent lower and leaned closer towards her lips. Terri jumped as the Lady suddenly pulled herself up towards her, meeting her part way.

"Don't, trust, the witch, Monk. Behind, that crooked smile, is a power, that cannot, enter this world. The skies, will turn as black as the abyss her sponsors hail from. The world, will see a ruin never, never seen, by human coils, before. The Old Gods, will be back. A dark force, unending in reach, will rain down, and destroy humanity in, their blind wake. Nobody, dances, sober."

Terri's eyes were wide, and suddenly the grip the Lady had on her vanished. Her hand was as feint as a feather, and with small, minor convulsions, the Silver Lady closed her eyes and began to shrivel. Her skin and hair broke up, exposing nothing but more white and silver participles, as she fell apart into a mound of dust on the floor. It sparkled with what light there was in the room.

The monk fell back and began to pant, having not realized she was holding her breath. Her arms held her up behind her back, as her eyes just started at the pile of angel.

...

Her eyes went towards the group. It was difficult to tell, with how she shook, but she could not help but particularly focus on Dabbler.

THE END?

DABBLER

Dabbler was surprised that their extermination was not fulfilled to its logical conclusion. “Oh. So we’re letting the bug kid live now.” She said, giving Sabeil a mean look, the wasp princess clutched Alexis further in fear of the witch. When Dabbler stuck out her tongue to blow a raspberry, Sabeil bit it with her own prehensile… tongue.

Dabbler recoiled in pain as the tip of her tongue was bitten off, bloodying her chin, and Sabeil chowing down on demon flesh. “AAhh! Mah thung! thee bit mah thung!” The witch blurted out, holding her mouth. She sneered at Sabeil. “Yuhth’ lucky Alethis ith yo momma!”

“Fiiine! ’Wel! I geth we’th dung heww! Thom on and thee what Thsssage mathe!” Dabbler opened a portal, and through the mystical doorway they could see the monument Sage had set up to commemorate this event. She decided to add white marble statues of them, in heroic poses. The Boston Hive monument was complete.  

Dabbler stood by her portal and gestured everyone through, so they’d be done with this place. Her eyes though, went to the Silver Lady's golden armor that was strewn about. She set her hat to the task of taking as much of the room with her as possible. "Hath! Eath!"

SAGE

Sage had finished the memorial, a bit grander than the simple marker she initially set out to do. She created a ring of stone benches outside the graves. Happy with her work, she laid down to sleep on a stone bench, which contoured to her lying form. She decided she’d earned some rest from their adventure. Collecting specimens for study and display could wait. She made sure there were stone benches and stone tables, while the grave site was demarcated with little mushroom men statues, like gnomes.

The beast army Jeannie had assembled, waited for her at the memorial, taking up most of the benches and paid their respects to the victims of Boston.
The dwarfs, having taken casualties, did not sit around and wait to see what was next. They put together what wagons and surviving beasts they could, absconding with barely 10% of the gold they’d been promised.

As for the heroes… they would eventually move on from this place, but Boston would not forget this day.

(( words: 9,267 exp: 37 LoW: 17 ))

Things hadn't gone the way Alexis had expected.  This had been perhaps the most traumatic few weeks of her life.  There was only so much longer she could go on before going stark crazy after everything that had happened to her.   Strangely, though, the strange creature she held in her arms that nuzzled her like it was her only friend in the world help stave off some of that madness.

Alexis had long ago come to the conclusion that she was not a good person.  It was not some depressive meditation on how she could have done certain things differently.  Rather, it was the acknowledgement that she often did things for the people she cared about that ran counter to prevailing morality.  She smiled down into those innocent eyes and fed the creature another slab of bacon.  

Alex was pretty sure this was the last thing she needed in her life right now.  She had made so many mistakes, so many screw ups.  People were dead because she had been thoughtless or shortsighted.  Reflecting on that simply made her wish to do better, however.  Alexis Ada Lovelace as nothing if not a creature of ruthless self-improvement.  She got what she wanted by simply being the best in a room; it was how she defined herself.  

Becoming a parent hadn't even been on the horizon.  Despite her bond with the little creature, she was certain there was some other person or being out there was more adept at this task.  Yet, she still found herself holding the little one close.  Was this what her own mother had felt like, holding Alexis?  This weird, instinctive need to clutch a little thing close to yourself even as you felt woefully underprepared to take care of it?  It felt like Alexis had just entered into a perpetual knife fight with the world.  

Strangely, Alexis was ok with that.  She praised the child, told her how special she was, how good and how pretty.  That she had needle like teeth and atrocious table manners was completely overlooked.  For in that time after all her trauma, Alexis fell immediately and hopelessly in love with the creature.  She so desperately needed something like that in her life.  Dabbler might claim a fortune, Jeanie a sword, and Niao her revenge; Alexis had collected something far more valuable.  

Though she was wounded, Alexis knew that the creature she held would help her heal.  Even biting off the tip of Dabbler's tongue hadn't diminished her view of that.  She placed her hand to stroke the child's cheek, and instead of losing her thumb at the joint, Sabiel opened her mouth and gnawed affectionately at her hand.  Whatever sins had been done to create this child were not Sabiel's to bear.  Expecting anything of the sort was the worst kind of cruelty.

"No matter what anyone tells you," Alexis said to the wasp girl, "You are perfect."  She smoothed the soft fall of her hair.  "Let's go home," she said, smiling for he first time in a long while.

507

7625 words
30 XP

Jeannie looked at her shiny new toy. huh somehow I think getting this through airplane security going to be a pain. huh maybe I could take a boat back to London, pirates wouldn't mind swords on their boats. oh, maybe you can use your backpack girl powers to smuggle it back for me Lexi.

Jeannie smiled that gave her an idea.  yeah if we did that you could come to see my house and have a slumber party it'd be fun!

she watched Sabiel find the odd little baby cute she tries playing peekaboo with her. my I could help you get some stuff for the little one, or do you just use your power instead of shopping?

all of the sudden a bear driving a taxi shows up. manndy it's for you this teddy uber will take you to the big bear cave to pick your folks up.


right before I forget for my new friends! she hands each of the other women a piece of paper with a number and a cutie chibi drawing of Jeannie on it.
it's my number if you ever need help, want to talk, need a tour guide if you are ever in London.

Jeannie then gets sad owww teddy do we got to split up? I'll miss you she hugs the bear and starts crying then at dabbler hey can you make teddy a puppy again? so I can keep him, it'd be easier to take a puppy home than a bear, huh hey what about a talking teddy bear yeah

with a poof of smoke, teddy was a cutie little puppy again. he hops up Jeannie's lap and licks her face.
yay teddy we can stay together now. you'll get to meet mommy and daddy. and be friends with our other puppies and kitties. you'll like our house it's nice and big.

she then noticed the animal army still laying about. oh right thanks for all your help guys. huh, guess you can go home now. oh try and help the people here ok, they have been through a lot with this ok.

they start to wander off stopping to get goodbye a hug from Jeannie before wandering back to the woods.well guess we should be going, it was nice meeting you, tell we meet again toodles  she waves goodbye then spins around stopping pointing her finger in a direction.yeah this seems like a nice way to go.

she takes off in a random direction with teddy by her side off to her next adventure!