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Necrokitty Tales: Trouble in Inkwell Isle (Chapter 29)

Authors’ note: Necrida’s writing will be in italics and SPKC’s writing with be regular font. If you have no idea what this roleplaying thing is, you can start from the beginning here. NSFW here!

(A long time coming - sorry about this, totally on SPKC for this one - got nailed by life in general. An extra long, action packed chapter to make up for it!)

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“What is taking him so long?!” Sullivan said, dress up in a blue Hawaiian shirt, a white cap and white shorts. “It’s only been like five minutes! Calm down already. You’re making me nervous,” Hilda snapped. She was similarly disguised, wearing a white cloth on her head, red sunglasses and a white dotted red dress.

Carlos had told them he would get the tickets and asked them to wait for him near the bridge to the third isle. The waiting was starting to make both of them antsy but Sullivan’s whining was the straw to break Hilda’s back if he kept yapping. Thankfully, after a few more minutes, Carlos returned. He walked calmly towards them with a big smile on his face.

"Finally!” Sullivan yelled, “What took you so long?” “You can’t rush love, mi amigo…” The cat said, holding two tickets. Sullivan and Hilda looked at each other, preferring not to ask any more questions and just took the tickets. “Two tickets…So you’re not coming?” the salamander asked. “I will accompany you, my friend, but I don’t need one to get in,” he assured with a wink. They arrived at the hive and got in the line for the visitors. When they arrived at the door, a very slim male bee asked to see their tickets. Sullivan and Hilda showed theirs. The bee turned to Carlos who smiled charmingly at the bee. “I’m here for Beatrice,” the cat informed him. The bee narrowed his eyes. “…There’s 235 Beatrice’s in this hive, sir…” “I’m here for THE Beatrice,” Carlos repeated. The bee opened his eyes wide. “THE Beatrice?” Carlos nodded, smiling even more. “…A moment, please.” He stepped behind the reception desk and made a phone call. The three saw the look of surprise in the receptionist’s face. He hung up the phone wordlessly before returning to the group. “..eh… Mr. Buenaventura?” “At your service.” The cat tipped his hat. “.. She’s asked for you to wait for her at the Main Hall,” he said, still looking at the cat, skeptical. “Muchas gracias!” Carlos waved and walked, whistling happily next to the other two, who were as surprised as the receptionist. They entered the hive and quickly followed the group of tourists before finally arriving in a circular hall as tall as several stories of the hive. There was buzzing sounds and movement everywhere they looked. The visitors group gathered in the center and four guards accompanied them. A very small female bee greeted the tourists and started explaining the history of the hive. Sullivan and Hilda tried to remain behind the group and be as discreet as possible as they tried to figure out where the prison was. After the speech was over, the guide asked the group to move forward to a corridor that would take them to the honey factory. “Vaya! That was surprisingly interesting,” Carlos said, happy to have learnt something new. “Say, how much do we owe you for the tickets?” Sullivan asked, grateful. “Your friendship!” Carlos replied patting him in the back. “I would do anything to help love soar. Now you two go ahead and save your loved ones, and live your happily ever after!” Sullivan’s eyes brightened. “Thank you, Carlos! I will never forget this!” He shook his hand. Hilda rolled her eyes. “Happily ever after…pff…” She mumbled, crossing her arms and blushing slightly. “Carlos!” A female voice called from behind the hispanic cat. The cat turned around to see an impressive bee fluttering toward him. “Oh! There you are my beautiful sunshine!” He greeted the large female bee guard wearing her uniform. “Sorry I made you wait.” “No need to apologize, it was actually very instructive,” he explained, gesturing to the tour group. The bee looked at her wrist watch. “I only have an hour before I need to go back to work…” “Then let us not waste time!” He offered her his arm and walked towards the mess hall. Carlos turned and shot a wink at Hilda and Sullivan before disappearing into the crowd. “Hey! Keep up or you’ll be kicked out” One of the guards flanking the tour group yelled at Sullivan and Hilda, forcing them to return back to the group.

____

Amber bounded through a beautiful field full of catnip. She wasn’t sure how she arrived here but it was a welcome respite from her ordeal in the hive. The wonderful sun felt warm on her fuzzy body and she couldn’t help but rejoice in this new experience. She pounced and leapt and napped. This was the best day ever! She thought it couldn’t get any better when a dark shadow rose over from behind. She turned around to see a very monstrous looking Cagney. “I’m gonna to eat you!” He roared. Her eyes went wide. “No! No! Don’t eat me!” She tried to run away but found she couldn’t move. She looked down to see the field was turning to mud under her feet. She tried to run faster only for his large gnarled hands to seize her. She waved her paws pathetically. “Wait, wait! I’m not very tasty! I’m all fur!” “You’ll be a delicious pussy!” He growled as he lifted her up in the air above his face. She almost groaned at the pun…until she realized it wasn’t a pun. The flicking of his tongue between her legs made her tail shoot straight up. “Wait, wait!” Amber shrieked, pushing down her suddenly way too short skirt.

He continued to lash at her entrance and she bucked and squirmed helplessly. “Ooh, uh wait? No, a little to the right. Yeah, ah!” Amber mewled starting to enjoy the attention. She threw her head back and felt something sharp poke her. Amber woke up with a startled gasp, looking around wildly. When she realized she wasn’t being stabbed, she sighed. “Just a dream. Just a really messed up dream!” She exhaled, trying to shift only to find herself unable to do so. She looked down to see a pair of green, leafy limbs wrapped around her body, holding her snuggly. She glanced behind her to see Cagney dead asleep to the world, snoring. Was he…cuddling her? That was kinda cute? He was mumbling something about a blimp and rubbing his petals into her back, every now and then poking her with a thorn. That thorn part was less cute. She remained where she, scrunching her nose as she couldn’t remember why they were here together. There was a knock at the door and Amber jerked fully awake as Cagney groaned. Holy crap, how could she forget? They were in the hive. Queen Rumor’s hive, to be precise. And it was quickly becoming a dangerous place to be for anything non-insect.

Although Cagney would probably disagree with that statement, she remembered, spotting the bandanna around his neck. It was imbued with some form of magic curse that turned this flower into a mindless vegetable, subservient to the crazy Queen. The Queen would be most displeased to find the feline here within Cagney’s quarters and Amber did not want to stick around to find out what punishment would lie in store for her. “Gotta go, stay safe, Cagney,” Amber whispered, wriggling out of his grip as the door started to unlock. She climbed up the wall into the rafters just as the door opened. Cagney felt around and blinked unsuredly. “Amber?” He asked. The cat was gone.

Rumor opened the door slowly, holding the scepter tightly in her hand “..Sorry for waking you up,” she spoke coldly, glancing at the salted water and locking the door behind her. “Just came here to check on you.” She pointed her scepter at the water and turned it back to dirt.

Cagney brightened considerably at seeing the bee. “Good morning, Rumor…it’s morning, right?” He stood up, still hesitant eyeing what used to be the salt water. “Listen, I kinda want to apologize for what happened yesterday. When I’m in that form, I don’t have the best control and it just really wrecks my ability to think.”

Rumor’s heart melted at the carnation’s apology, but she kept her cool facade. “You’ve turned into that before?” She asked, a bit relieved that it wasn’t her bandanna's doing.

He nodded. “Yeah, one of the ‘perks’ when I traded my soul to look like this,” he gestured to his body. “It’s kind of my body’s way to defend myself if things get really bad…or if I get really angry.” He stretched. “Still wasn’t strong enough to stop Cuphead and Mugman when they collected our contracts,” he chuckled.

The Queen’s look softened. “Why where you angry before? Was it something I said?” She played the scene again in her head, blushing heavily.

He hesitated. “I don’t think it was anything you did. Maybe I was just anxious about becoming a royal gardener. I mean, do I have to make public appearances and stuff?” He asked.

“That’s what’s bugging you?” She smiled sweetly, getting close to him and taking his hands. “You just have to keep doing what you’ve been doing in your own garden. Except, in here… with me…” She got closer to his face, encouraging the plant to kiss her.

The carnation perked up at the touch of the bee and nuzzled her with his petals. “You’re a doll, Rumor,” he sighed happily. He eyed the spot on the bed that had been occupied just a few minutes before and brightened even more. “By the way, I really want to thank you for sending in your special service guard last night.”

Rumor’s soft look disappeared. “what are you talking about?”

Cagney nodded, not noticing the change. “Ya know, Amber. The cat I was fighting with? She came in and told me all about how you recruited her for the special guard thing ya had and how she was here to protect me.” “And I gotta admit, I never petted a cat before, but she was pretty soft. Definitely helped relieve some of my stress!” He exclaimed with a chuckle, “I don’t even know when we fell asleep but it was probably one of the best sleep I’ve had in a while! It was like holding a warm teddy bear. With teeth.” The carnation showed Rumor his hand where the cat had bit him. “She bites pretty hard if you touch the wrong spot. Gotta make sure to stroke correctly.” He pressed a kiss to Rumor’s cheek. “So, what’s the plan for today?” He asked cheerfully. He paused at the expression on her face. “Something I said?”

____

The Queen Bee stormed out of the room. “Guards! GUARDS!” She screeched loudly and almost instantly a couple of guards, armed with spears, appeared on the corridor. “Yes, my Queen!?” They both answered. “Seal the hive. Nobody gets in or out! Look for the small cat we caught the other day at the docks with Cagney, and bring me the responsible bee of the prisoner transfer to the camp!” The guards nodded and immediately flew to carry her orders. An alarm blared and the hive became a buzz with commotion with windows and gates quickly being sealed.

Cagney followed Rumor out, looking really confused. “But she was wearing one of these?” He pointed out, gesturing to his bandanna. He doubted Rumor could hear him.

Rumor turned to Cagney, even more confused and angry. “What? What did she tell you? What did you do in there?” Jealousy started to sting her heart. “My Q-queen!” Beatrice, the giant female bee guard, flew towards them, exhausted. “I-I’m sorry - I was-!” “Silence! Escort Cagney to my chambers. Nobody but me goes in or out!” Rumor yelled at the tired bee who nodded and made a sign for Cagney to follow her. “We’ll talk later” Rumor said to Cagney before flying down the corridor, leaving him alone with the bee.

____

“And that’s how we manufacture the delicious honey we all enjoy!” The small female guide announced, holding a jar of Rumor’s honey. “Are there any questions?”

Hilda and Sullivan seemed a bit traumatized by what they had seen but at the question of the tour guide, they quickly snapped out of it. “This is a waste of time,” Sullivan loudly murmured to Hilda. “We got to find a way to get out of the group!” As if an answer to his prayers, an alarm suddenly blared loudly throughout the hive. “Attention please! A fugitive has escaped. For your safety, please remain indoors and cooperate with the guards!” The bees started to fly in an organised fashion to their homes and places to shelter themselves. The tourist group though, started screaming and running to the nearest exits. The guards were trying to keep them together but they were too many to control. Hilda smiled, grabbed Sullivan’s hand and ran away from the group, back towards the main hall.

____

Cagney allowed the large guard bee to lead him away as Rumor flew off. He couldn’t help but notice the fur on her uniform. “I think you got some fur on your pants…and your chest,” he pointed out, realizing midway through his observation that this was probably not the time to be pointing this out to the clearly stressed out but yet simultaneously relaxed looking bee. He cleared his throat and changed the topic. “So, eh, any chance I could go looking for the intruder too?” He asked hopefully.

Beatrice immediately cleaned the fur from her uniform and cleared her throat, ignoring her red cheeks. “You heard the Queen. No one in, no one out” They reached Rumor’s office and the guard opened the door for Cagney, signaling him to enter. “I’ll be guarding the door."

Cagney entered the room only to hear it lock behind him. He turned around and tugged on the door knob uselessly. "I’m getting really sick of being the damsel in distress around here,” he grumbled. He looked around his surroundings, trying to see if there were another exit.

The big window that allowed the light to come in, was now sealed shut. The only light came from several small lamps hung around the room. The lamps illuminated the walls in Rumor’s chambers revealing them to be covered by books, perfectly arranged on the shelves. A few books were laid on the ground opened and stacked.

With no easy exit, and nothing else better to do, Cagney flopped himself down on Rumor’s bed and began to play with his petals. “Ugh, hopefully Rumor fixes things up so I can get out of here.” He hummed to himself, “Maybe I could make friends with some friendly woodland creatures or sing a song or…” He jerked back up. “Oh my God, I AM turning into a damsel!” He spotted Rumor’s patch of garden and gave a slight smile. “Well, at least that’s something.” He rooted himself within the dirt and started to strengthen himself, especially since he was still feeling pretty sapped from the salt water.

____

Having escaped the tour group, Hilda and Sullivan now looked around, trying to find a sign or some indication of where the prison cells were. Although there were thankfully no guards in sight, there was also nothing else but hundreds of bees flying in perfect lines to their shelters. “Arg! How can they live without any signs?!” Sullivan groaned in desperation. “Let’s just think for a second!” Hilda exclaimed. She paused and thought. “If you build a prison here, where would you put it?” Sullivan seemed to be thinking but before he could come up with an answer, Hilda spoke again. “Underground! No windows, only the doors you build, it’s perfect to lock up people!” She exclaimed. They found a set of stairs going down and they ran towards it. “I can’t help but be nervous that you were able to think of this so quickly!” Sullivan admitted as they descended, “and so enthusiastically…” he couldn’t help but add.

____

Amber ran like hell through the halls, using all four paws to propel her tiny furry body like a speeding bullet, whizzing past confused bees and tourists alike. Looks like Cagney had blabbed and very soon she wouldn’t have an exit. And without an exit, then it was only a matter of time before the guards found her. Then she might actually end up wearing a real piece of jewelry instead of the fake one she currently sported. One that turned her brain to mush. She scurried along the top part of the main hall but paused at the sound of a familiar voice.

Amber knew that voice. That was Sully! She saw him and an unfamiliar looking woman running toward the set of stairs leading into the dungeon and she nimbly leapt down behind them. “Hi, Sully! Looking for me?” She called out, striking a pretty pose.

Sullivan turned to the voice behind him and his eyes brightened at the sight of his beloved feline. “Amber!” He hugged her tightly. “I was SO worried about you! What did they do to you? Did they hurt you?” He asked, turning her around to look for wounds.

Amber allowed Sully to check her for wounds. “Aw, I’m okay! Nothing I can’t handle."

Hilda looked around, hoping to see her friend any second now. "Where’s Cagney?” Amber looked at the woman and realized who she was. “Oh….you’re Hilda, aren’t you?”

Hilda lowered her sunglasses to have a better look at the cat. “Have we met?”

“Officially? No. From what Cagney told me or, uh tried to tell me when he could,” Amber admitted, “I figured you had to be her."

She glanced aside and pulled them into a side hallway as a patrol buzzed by. She glanced at Sullivan. "This place is a looney bin, Sully. You shouldn’t have come, although it’s awfully romantic that you have,” she purred.

The salamander blushed. “Gee, well, of course I had to come. They took you without even hearing you out! It was all a misunderstanding.” He paused, looking at the patrol fly by. “Yeah, yeah, get a room!” Hilda snapped at them. “Where’s Cagney?” She hesitated. “…And what exactly did he say about me?” She asked, her curiosity stronger than her survival instinct.

Amber would have to break the news to Sully eventually. Especially considering there were nearly a 100 eye witnesses placing her at the scene of the crime, it was only a matter of time before he found out. But now was not the time. She turned to Hilda. “Well, last I saw, he was locked in his room. And do you wanna know what he said before or after he got brainwashed?” She asked, smoothing down her fur.

Hilda raised an eyebrow. “His room? Since when does he-brainwashed!? What are you talking about!?”

The cat groaned. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on here. After we got arrested and tossed in jail, the Queen talked to Cagney and he must have pissed her off something royal-” she hated herself for the accidental pun- “Because the next morning, they came down to the prison talking about taking us to reprogramming camps or something like that.” She shuddered. “A lot of the bees are acting really weird, more weird than normal after they all went to this reprogramming thing so I busted us out. We were doing pretty well until we ended up in the Queen’s office and uh…Cagney couldn’t hide in time.”

Amber motioned for them to duck down with her behind a cleaning trolley. “It was the Queen and some scary ant lady. And guards. Lots of guards. She scampered down another hallway. "He and Rumor started yelling at each other until she made him put on this stupid cloth and the next thing I know he’s acting just as weird as those bees, going all gaga for the queen!”

Sullivan noticed the cloth on Amber’s neck. Before she could speak any further, he grabbed the feline and pinned her facing against the wall. Hilda nearly jumped in surprise. “What are you doing!? Has everyone gone insane today?!” She exclaimed, yanking off her glasses. “I’m so sorry!” The amphibian apologized profusely as he carefully removed the bandanna. “How do you feel now?” he asked once it was removed from Amber’s neck, “Are you still mind controlled?” Hilda facepalmed herself.

Amber turned bright red, feeling the salamander press into her from behind. “Sully, trust me I’d love to but now is not the time-oh!” She chuckled. “Oh, that’s just a cleaning rag I swiped from one of the janitorial trolleys! Fooled old grumpy petals last night into letting me crash the night with him so I didn’t get caught.”

Sullivan released Amber. “Oh boy! I-I-I’m so sorry!” He blushed and felt horrible for being so bold with her.

Amber’s face turned serious. “No, the real one doesn’t come off. And that’s a big problem. It’s messing with his mind. Every minute he’s starting to forget stuff. He’s having trouble remembering why he came here! He can’t even say your name anymore!”

Hilda felt a slightly jealous at twinge the mention of the cat sleeping with Cagney, but the thought quickly stepped away at the idea of her dumb weed forgetting completely about her. She shook away her thoughts, focusing on their situation and how dangerous it had quickly become. She paid more attention to the bees around them and noticed that the worker ones had a bracelet, while the higher ranking bees had bandannas around their necks. “The cloth must be more powerful than the bracelets,” Hilda concluded, talking more for herself than for them. She pulled off for her own cloth on her head and tied it around her neck. “Sullivan, wear the cat’s cloth! We’ll pretend we are brainwashed that we found the fugitive and we are on our way to deliver her to Rumor." She turned to Amber. "You think you can take us to Cagney?”

Amber nodded. “Yeah, I last saw him locked into the room. But there’s a good chance Rumor moved him to hers when the alarm went off.” Amber scratched her ears. “Which one do you want me to take you to?”

Hilda sighed, starting to get anxious. “I guess the best option is going to Rumor’s directly. That way if he isn’t there she might tell us where he is.” Sullivan nodded as he tied the fabric around his neck.

Amber nodded once more. “Okay, then hold onto me like you’re taking me prisoner and I’ll whisper directions to you."

Hilda, Sully and Amber traveled through the hive, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, which was rather hard to do when you were a human, a lizard and a cat in a hive full of bees. However, Hilda had that natural 'approach me and die’ look to her that deterred most bees from asking any questions and they were able to make it to Rumor’s door soon enough. As they neared the door - and the large bee guarding it - Amber’s fur suddenly went on end and she hissed.

"HALT!” The guard shouted. “ What’s going on here?” She demanded, extending her arm signaling them to stop. They obeyed but Sullivan couldn’t help but tremble, nervous at the sight of the imposing figure.

“We are taking the fugitive to Rumor” Hilda said, keeping her cool. Beatrice eyed them skeptically before looking at their bandannas. “Rumor is not here. Who gave you the order?” She growled. Hilda gulped but remained still. “Beatrice,” she said, knowing that there where more than 200 Beatrices living in the hive. “Beatrice who?” The bee started to reach to her gun. Hilda was about to reply 'Smith’ when Carlos appeared from another hallway. “Ah! Ahí estás, my sunshine! You left me wanting more,” he smiled charmingly, leaning against the door and waving a pair of handcuffs, one side still attached to his wrist. The large bee looked at him, surprised, and then reddened. “H-how…?” “I told you I was full of surprises,” he purred. He noticed the group and gave them a smile. “Is this the fugitive I keep hearing about?” “Y-yeah,” Beatrice admitted, “But, uh, I’m not sure~” “Great! Then YOU can turn off the alarm and WE can finish what we started.” He shook the cuffs, smiling mischievously. Beatrice was really tired of guarding the door. She took one more look at the group, trying to figure out if they were really brainwashed. “Who did you say gave you the order?” “Uhh..” Hilda was caught by surprise, but Sullivan quickly intervened. “Beatrice! You know… the one with the…” He did a gesture with his opened hand circling his face. The guard opened her eyes widely. “Oh! Beatrice Smith?” Hilda grunted. “I thought she had to leave because of the wax incident.” The bee mimicked the same gesture around her face. “Y-yeah, uh… ” “The fugitive hid in her home,” Hilda intervened, noticing Sullivan was running out of material. Carlos signaled Beatrice to get lower and whispered something in her ear. The group saw the bee blushing and they both started giggling. It was comical to see the large, tall bee being all cute with the smaller skinny cat. “Fine! Fine. You can leave the prisoner here.” She unlocked the door. “I’ll go call Rumor." Beatrice flew away through the corridor. When she was out of the way, Carlos applauded the trio. "Bravo! Bravísimo! Honestly, I never thought you were going to make it”

Amber cautiously watched Carlos. “What’s he doing here? Who is this?” She asked Sully as Hilda strode towards the door and fiddled with it

“He’s a friend, he helped us get in the hive,” Sullivan answered Amber, letting her go when the bee left. Carlos made a small bow and smiled charmingly.

Amber stuck close to Sully. “If you say so,” she acquiesced. Hilda opened the door with a shove, eager to see her friend again. “Cagney! Cagney?” She called out looking around the office and noticing the Queen’s chambers door open. Cagney’s head jerked toward the office at the familiar voice. “Hi-hello?” He tried, peeking out..

“Cagney!” Hilda smiled and ran towards him to give him a hug. “What are you doing in here?”

Cagney saw the slender woman running toward him and instinctively put out his hands to stop her from touching him. “Woah! Lady, ya can’t just run at a guy like that!” He cocked his head. “And how do you know my name? Have we met?”

Hilda stopped and looked at him, surprised, not really certain if he was joking or not. “How do I know your name? It’s me! Hilda!” She waited for his reaction. “Hilda Berg? The sky witch? Your best friend?”

Amber heard the shouting coming from the bed chambers and face palmed. “Oh shoot, it doesn’t sound like he remembers. Give me your bandanna, Sully.”

Sullivan gave Amber the fabric, wondering what she was planning to do. Cagney twitched at the name but he didn’t know why. His throat started to itch but he ignored it to keep looking at the woman. “Best friend?” He echoed before shaking his head. “Nah, Rumor and me are besties. You sure you don’t have your flowers messed up?” He asked, uprooting himself slightly.

“Wha…?” Hilda felt a knot starting to form in her throat. “I’M your bestie!” Tauros was starting to take room in the woman’s head. “You only like her because she’s a bee!”

Cagney scoffed. “Uh, no! She’s actually a very intelligent bee. And nice…when you know, she’s not turning dirt into salt water,” he admitted with a chuckle. Amber scampered in, wearing her bandanna. “Hi, Cagney!” Cagney looked past Hilda to see Amber. “Hey. Did you know Rumor’s looking for you?” His eyes hardened. “And did you also know she also says you’re lying about being a secret guard?” Amber pshawed. “Whhhattt? No way! If I was lying, why would I be here? Wouldn’t I be running away?” He raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you run away this morning?” Amber paused. Shoot. He had a point. She broke into a wide smile. “Seems like you’re having a really stressful day so far!” “You can say that again. Rumor’s furious, this broad says I’m her friend,” Cagney jutted a thumb at a disbelieving Hilda, “And no one’s explaining anything.” Amber crept a little closer. “Would you like to pet the kitty?” She offered. The carnation’s eyes lit up. “Really?” “You can even pet the belly!” Amber insisted. “That would be great!” “Excellent, just reach down, yes that’s it, rub the belly,” Amber coaxed as Cagney reached down to pet her. Just as he was about to touch her belly, she latched on, nails out and sank her teeth into his hand. He swore and ripped Amber off of his arm. “Goddammit, Amber! That fucking hurt!” He turned toward Hilda and demanded, “Hilda, what the hell?! Did you know she was going to do that?!”

Sullivan looked unbelieving what Amber was doing, and Carlos laughed at the trick, for it reminded him of the many times it helped him get out from a sticky situation.

Hilda smiled at him. “You DO remember me, you dumb dandelion!” She couldn’t help but hug him tightly.

The carnation felt like a ton of bricks hit him as the memory of who Hilda was came back heavy and strong. “Hilda?!” He wrapped his leaves around her tightly and returned the hug. “Aw man, I’m so happy to see you!”

The cat and the amphibian looked surprised as the Carnation seemed to recover his memory.

“Cagney we gotta get out of here!” The witch grabbed his hand pulling him to the door. “And take that bandanna off!” She managed to keep her voice steady, terrified her friend would forget her again.

The carnation couldn’t help but snuggle her hand, blowing off the tightness in his throat. “You can say that again. All I did was come here to ask Rumor for help but… Rumor!” He suddenly remembered where they were and he stopped snuggling her. “Hilda, Rumor’s nuts!” He insisted.

“And you just noticed now?” Hilda chuckled. “You can tell me all about it later! C'mon!” She pressed on.

Cagney stopped following Hilda. “I’m serious. She’s never been acted like this before.” He pulled away from her and grimaced. “Something’s really wrong and I can’t figure out why because I can’t think straight! And every time I try to think about it, it just hurts more, Hilda!” He grabbed his head with both hands. “Why does it hurt so much to try to say your name!? Or even think about you?!”

“Cagney!” Hilda drew close to him, not sure what to do. It was painful to see him like this. It reminded of her when she found out about the constellations living in her head.

Amber hesitantly eyed Cagney as he looked almost frantic. She psst the other cat, trying to get his attention.

Carlos ear twitched and looked at Amber curious.

Amber pointed to her neck and made a pulling motion toward Cagney, hoping the other cat would get the hint as the carnation proceeded to become more panicked by the second.

Carlos nodded at Amber and discreetly came closer to the carnation as he struggled with his thoughts. He got in position and waited for Amber’s signal.

“Cagney,” Hilda said softly, noticing the cats moving closer. “I know what it is to have a mess in your head. Just, uh, think about something that made you very happy. Like, eh, the first day of spring? Or uh…” She was getting really nervous as he started gasping. “I don’t know! Mineral water? Focus on that!”

“Mineral water?? Are you kidding me right now?” He gaped at her, “What kind of stupid idea is that?” His eyes widened as the bandanna tightened and he fell to his knees, choking. One of his arms reached back toward the soil in the room. “Now, now, now! Before he touches the dirt!” Amber yelled pouncing on the carnation with Carlos, trying to rip off his bandanna. The carnation plunged his hands in the soil and immediately started changing form with a snarl. He flung the cats off and turned on Hilda with a glare. “You’re just using me, just like she said you would. Just like you always do!” He sneered.

Hilda stepped back frightened. Her heart broke to see the hatred in his best friend’s eyes… again! “Cagney, what are you saying?” She felt Tauros wanting to take control in her mind.

He tried to continue speaking but any further speech Cagney had been capable of vanished as he continued to warp into his monstrous form. Carlos shook his head and saw the flower growing bigger. “I think it’s time to leave now!” He suggested, hopping to his feet. Sullivan immediately came to aid Amber. “You ok? Where does it hurt? ” He worriedly asked.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Amber groaned. She unsteadily got to her feet with Sullivan’s help and turned to see the carnation approaching a scared Hilda, the bandanna still snugly around his neck. She looked around for something but saw nothing she could chuck at him. “Kick his ass!” She finally shouted at the woman. The carnation turned away from Hilda at the sound of her voice, sharp teeth exposed.

“You ALWAYS have to ruin EVERYTHING!” The group turned to see Rumor screaming as she barged through the door, glaring daggers at Hilda. Beatrice and a bunch of other guards accompanied the queen and took positions surrounding the intruders.

Sullivan stood between the nearest guards and Amber, extending his arms to protect more with his body. Carlos, used to these kinds of situations, remained calm and discreetly tried to approach Beatrice. “Rumor! What did you do to him!?” Hilda shouted pointing at the monstrous carnation. “I opened his eyes, Hilda! You can no longer control him, you manipulative witch! He’s FREE!” Rumor shouted, waving her scepter and throwing a strange purple sphere towards her. Hilda dove behind Rumor’s desk, barely managing to dodge it in time. The sphere exploded just inches where she was standing before, leaving a burnt mark on the floor. She popped her head out from under the desk. “You fucking crazy BEEch!” She shouted, surprised that she would blast her without a second thought. She knew they weren’t good friends, but they never fought this serious before. “Seriously!? Bee puns? Now?” Rumor answered angrily and, very bothered by it, threw another sphere, destroying her own desk. “Jesus Christ, Rumor! Did you brainwash yourself too?!” Another blast from the queen’s scepter forced her to jump near Cagney. “Snap out of it, Cagney! Do something” The meteorologist pleaded with the huge flower. “Oh! Good idea!” Rumor chuckled maliciously, flying in the air and waving her scepter, pointing to the ground. "Do something, Cagney. Get rid of the intruders!” A bright blast turned the floor into dirt. All the bees started to fly in place, avoiding contact with the ground.

"Oh shit.“

That was all Amber managed to get out before large green tendrils shot out from the newly formed ground and seized Hilda, Sully, Amber and Carlos, hoisting them into the air. The intruders struggled to free themselves, trying to unwrap the vines around them with minimal success. Cagney chuckled darkly and looked toward Rumor, as if waiting for her next order.

Hilda had a déjà vu feeling. She couldn’t hear the constellation’s voices but she could definitely feel their panic. All except Tauros. He filled the woman’s body with enough anger and adrenaline to keep struggling. "So we’re doing this again, you overgrown weed!?” Hilda was so scared that she allowed Tauros to take over. “Well, this time I’m not holding back!” But when she was about to turn she realized nothing was happening. She looked down at herself. “What the-?!” “Hahaha!” Rumor laughed. “What’s the matter, witch? No sky to drain power from?” She delighted herself to see the woman powerless between her lover’s grasp. She flew closer to Cagney and sweetly stroked his petals. “We do make a great team! Right, Cagney?” She gently kissed him making sure Hilda was watching.

The witch’s heart broke into pieces and her eyes started to get glassy. “You… fucking… is all this just to get at me somehow!? IT’S NOT MY FAULT HE DOESN’T LOVE YOU! You-you-” “Oh! But he DOES love me, Hilda. He ALWAYS did. But you kept luring him away from me! For your own benefit! Always taking advantage of his kind heart” She turned to the flower. “But now he sees the truth, what you really are. And what I really am…” She almost whisper tenderly to the carnation, stroking gently his petals.

Cagney leaned into Rumor’s touches, the bee knowing exactly where to touch on the monstrous flower’s petals to entice him further. At the sound of Hilda shouting, he turned toward the distraught woman and paused briefly, something flickering in the back of his mind at how upset she was. His vines loosened ever so slightly on the prisoners.

“Alright, screw this,” Amber finally growled, freeing her front paws. She grabbed the vine wrapped her chest and bit down on it as hard as she could, drawing sap. Cagney roared and smashed the cat through the honeycomb wall leading to the next room. He lurched himself blindly toward the new opening of the wall. Rumor attempted to hold him still but this only led to him shaking himself wildly, knocking the gloating Queen out of the air and into her flying soldiers. The scepter flew out of the bee’s hands and clattered to the floor, shooting out a stray purple laser. It narrowly missed Hilda’s head, instead searing and blasting a large portion of the ceiling clean off. Large chunks of roof like honeycomb crashed down on everyone in the room, pinning some of the vines down and scattering the soldiers. The carnation could see nothing but red even with the sun now shining down on them. He whirled on everyone else left and opened his mouth, revealing very large sharp teeth. More appendages sprouted up and restrained both bee and mammal alike now.

“Amber!” Sullivan shouted, struggling to get out of the flower’s tendrils. He bit and scratched, but his tiny fangs and claws barely sunk into the monstrous carnation’s skin, and only made him tighten his grip, making it more difficult for the amphibian to breath. Carlos, feeling the loosened grip and taking advantage of the chaos, decided to follow Amber’s way and bit the vine as hard as he could before being thrown against the wall near the entrance door. Hilda’s eyes widened at the view of the sky and felt the constellations getting stronger. Her eyes and bracelets shone brightly and a thick mist started to cover her body and the rest of the room. “Let’s put an end to this!” The witch’s voice resonated like a thunder within the walls of the hive.

The carnation heard the loud boom of a voice and shot spiked vines toward the cloud of mist that billowed from where Hilda had been, leaving the rest of his captives trapped on the ground. The vines grabbed nothing but air as they attempted to seize where Hilda had been.

From the thick fog, a bull charged forward, avoiding the thorny vines, and headbutted the carnation. He recoiled after the impact, cackling, happy to finally be able to strike a blow. Rumor shook her head and looked at the transformed Hilda with horror. “Cagney! Stop her! Get her away from the sky!” She yelled, searching for her scepter.

Cagney reeled back from the impact, shaking his head as he saw stars. He looked around, slightly confused, but upon Rumor’s order, hardened his expression and attacked Hilda. He coughed and hacked up dandelions toward the rampaging bull, trying to knock her out of the air, flaring his petals angrily when he continued to miss.

Taurus kept avoiding the tumultuous dandelions with quick turns and swirls. “Hahaha! Looks like the bigger you are, the dumber you get! You’ll never hit me with those! But I bet I can hit YOU!” Taurus did a swirl, creating a strong draft that flipped the dandelions back toward Cagney. A few of the dandelions hit some of the guard bees as well as Sullivan, who started to feel dizzy and confused. Carlos withdrew a knife from his coat and started hacking his way toward the scepter, dipping and ducking under dandelions. Rumor buzzed her wings rapidly, creating a draft to shoo dandelions away but still found herself struggling to completely get out of the tendril’s grasp.

A couple dandelions hit Cagney right in the kisser and he grew very disoriented, inadvertently releasing whatever captives he had retained. “Stop moving!” He yelled, his voice strained, even as he rocked back and forth, trying to keep his balance. He winced as something cut him again and took a wild swing in the direction of the attack.

Carlos got hit by the swing of the vine, knocking him against Rumor making both to fall down.“Ouch! Perdone, señorita!” Carlos apologized only to be pushed by the angry Queen. Taurus groaned.“Oh! NOW you remember me!” Noticing the flower’s confusion, Hilda saw her chance to get the bandana and flew quickly around Cagney’s head. To make sure the flower would stay disoriented, she flew in circles several times to confuse him even more. With each turn she drew closer and closer. “Don’t worry, Cags! I’ll get you out of this!”. “What are you doing!?” The queen shouted at her guards. “Get her! Don’t let her get close to Cagney!” Most of the bees were still disoriented. They tried, without success, to chase the fast cloud turning in circles, confusing them even more.

“Beat this!” Cagney snapped, plunging his hands back into the soil. Large vines shot up from all around, effectively surrounding and closing around him until it was almost a cactus like cocoon. He continued to cackle from inside his makeshift fort.

“Oh! You bastard,” Taurus groaned but his mouth turned into a twisted grin. “Let’s put you to the test. How much can you take?” The mist grew thicker again around Hilda’s body and turned into a giggling Gemini. “Fair warning!” They spoke in unison towards everybody. “Get out while you still can!” And with a sinister laughter, Gemini created a golden sphere that started shooting projectiles in all directions, most of them hitting Cagney’s cocoon, leaving some significant burnt marks.

Sullivan was still disoriented, but at the warning he started calling out for Amber.

Amber stirred awake in the next room at the sound of her name. She limped back over to the hole she was flung through and peeked inside. Her eyes widened at the chaos as projectiles, vines and bees flew in all directions.

She spotted a disoriented Sullivan and grabbed him by his shirt before dragging him back through the hole. She waved her paw in front of his face. “Hey? You okay? What’s wrong?” She worriedly asked, not liking how confused he look. She continued to snap fingers at Sullivan, growing increasingly worried when he didn’t respond. “Hey! You in there or not?!”

Sullivan started to recover. “A-Amber? You ok!?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “You gotta get out of here!” He looked around trying to find a way out.

Amber nodded along with Sullivan. She looked around the room they had been launched into and scowled when she realized there were no other exits. That crazy bee really did have everything sealed off.

“Ay! Otra vez no!” Carlos lamented, helping a confused Beatrice to dodge some projectiles. Rumor was livid, having been the painful recipient of quite a few golden shots. She clenched her fist, seeing red. “Kill her! KILL HER!” She ordered finally reaching for her scepter. “YOU WON’T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME AGAIN!"

The least disoriented bees started to wonder about their queen’s sanity. The way she was yelling orders, not caring for their safety was unlike the monarch. Even Beatrice, one of her most loyal bees was starting to have her doubts about whether or not she should follow the orders.

When the last of Hilda’s projectiles finished firing, the cactus cocoon crumbled, revealing a large hole. Before Gemini could react, Cagney emerged from the dirt behind them and seized the women with his hands. He was fairly beaten up, the fiery ball of death having done its job well and damaging everything - including all the plant material that was part of him. He stared at Gemini, a confused but still upset expression on his face. "Turn back into Hilda,” he finally panted.

Gemini struggled in the flower’s grip and the mist surrounded them. Cagney felt how the delicate figures merged into one and suddenly he had to tighten his grip to the feeling of something trying to burst out of his hands. The mist cleared and in front of the flower was Sagittarius trying to push the carnation’s hands apart with his powerful hooves. “Transform back to Hilda? So you can squish us again!?” The constellation glared at the flower, showing more fear than confidence. Sagittarius was still Hilda, and he didn’t want to hurt their dearest friend. Gemini had already done enough damage. “M-my queen… it’s dangerous here! We have to take you to safety!” Beatrice managed to say to Rumor, as Carlos held her up by her arm. Rumor didn’t listen to her guard, instead watching Cagney’s movements intently, waiting for the moment he would crush the witch and putting an end to all this. Beatrice and some other bees trembled noticing the craziness on their beloved queen’s eyes. Sagittarius was incredibly strong but Cagney was determined not to release his grip. “I don’t want to let go!” He growled, and he wasn’t talking about the constellation. Memories were starting to come back and it was a struggle to hold on to them. He wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out first. He looked desperately at Sagittarius. “Hilda! Please! I don’t want to let go of you again!” Sagittarius saw the despair in Cagney’s eyes and felt his heart quiver. The mist started to cover the constellation, revealing a very worried Hilda trapped in his monstrous hands. “Cagney?” She almost whispered, tired of the struggling and fighting. She looked deep into his eyes, hoping to find her best friend again. Her eyes were glassy and it was getting really hard to hold her tears.

Cagney looked at Hilda, immediate relief seizing him at seeing her alive and…uh, not exactly well, but in good enough condition. He saw how worried she was and he could only imagine what she had to get through to even get here. He clasped her to his chest and enveloped her in the biggest hug he could. “I am so happy to see you,” he exclaimed, trying not to crush her in his excitement. He nestled his petals against her even as the bandanna began to tighten. “Hilda, please don’t let me forget you,” he choked.

Hilda returned the hug as hard as she could, a couple of tears escaping through her cheeks, when she noticed the bandanna. She immediately grabbed it and looked for the knot. Rumor couldn’t believe her eyes. “What are you doing!? CRUSH HER!” “NO! Cagney, please!” The witch tried to whisper calmly but it was hard to talk with a knot in her own throat.

“CRUSH HER!” The queen repeated. “Cagney! Hold it! I almost… got… it… ” Hilda said going as fast as she could.

Cagney felt himself dipping back under Rumor’s influence and he panicked at the loss of control. Hilda was starting to fade into a target again and it was only another second or so before he made do on the order to crush her. He needed to get hurt again. He spotted one of his sharp spiky plants still erect, with a particularly long thorn protruding from the side. It was within reach. He winced preemptively as he seized it, continuing to hold Hilda to him with his other hand. “This is going to hurt,” he chuckled before he thrust the thorn sharply inwards, stabbing himself in the stem. His grip weakened on Hilda and he continued to chuckle, shooting Rumor a dirty look even as he felt himself bleed sap.

Hilda, noticing the loosen grip, saw her friend stabbing himself. “Shit, Cagney!” She finally untied the bandanna and she held it tightly in her hand. “I GOT IT!” She shouted, happily waving the fabric, victorious. “Cagney, I got it!” She hugged him again. “No…” Rumor whispered. Her eyes narrowed and her fingers tightened on the scepter within her grasp. “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING!” She screeched, launching herself into the air.

Rumor flew in dangerous zig zags before aiming the scepter at the embracing couple. A dark smile formed on her lips as she instead flipped the scepter downwards and blasted the ground, obliterating the entire floor of her office. With the exception of Carlos who held onto a levitating Beatrice for dear life, everything that had been on the office floor, furniture and folks alike, plummeted downwards into the depths of the hive.

The moment Hilda had pulled that bandanna off his neck, there was a second of clarity and nothing else. The next second, Cagney was hit with an intense pain from his self inflicted stab wound and a deluge of memories about Hilda, both good and bad. It was so staggering, he swore he was falling backwards into darkness just from the sensation of it all.

Well, until he realized they really WERE falling. Not that he could do much about it. Without the dirt around his roots, he had no powers to stop them from the fall. Seeing Hilda’s face near his and realizing that the memory of her wasn’t going away did make him smile. “Thank you, ya dumb blimp,” he chuckled, returning the hug once more.

The action made him wince. The lack of dirt also meant he lacked any ability to heal. “Man, I really wish I hadn’t stabbed myself so hard,” he finally managed still laughing, even as he felt like passing out.

Hilda was still hugging the carnation. She was so happy to hear his insult she didn’t realize they were falling until they hit the bottom floor, Cagney’s body breaking their fall. The plant’s grip slackened on her with the impact and she was aware he wasn’t moving much. “Cagney! Shit! You ok!?” She reached down to check for wounds only to be stopped something violently yanked her off of him.

Hilda struggled to pull herself free and looked up to see Rumor had been the one to grab her, making sure to bruise her skin with tightness that the bee held her. Before the sky witch had a chance to fight back. Rumor flew up as fast as she could and threw Hilda against the wall with all her strength. Cagney definitely did not feel so good either. One minute, Hilda was holding onto him and the next he was hitting the ground and she was getting dragged off. “Ugh, wait come back…” He groaned quietly.

____

Amber walked back over to the hole in the wall and blinked in surprise. The floor was completely gone!! And everyone was in the process of tumbling down the new large hole. Which was probably the only way out. She grimaced and turned toward the salamander.

“Hey, how good of a climber are you?”

Sullivan nodded and got to the door to climb down. His amphibious body was perfect for latching onto the sticky huge wall. He secured his grip before looking up at Amber. “You need help going down? You can hold onto my back.”

Amber nodded. “Yes please.” She carefully climbed onto Sullivan’s back and held on tightly as the salamander quickly scaled the wall. She glanced below to see the Queen bee tossing Hilda like a rag doll and winced.

____

For a few seconds, Hilda saw more stars than what she was used to. When she recovered, she was on the floor next to a few drops of blood. She reached for her head with a shaky hand and realized that it was her blood when the crimson liquid decorated her fingers.

Her eyes glinted with a combination of anger and pain. “Fuck is WRONG WITH YOU, RUMOR!?” She managed to stand up, her bracelets and eyes shining very brightly as Rumor descended upon her in her bomber jet form. “Since when do you want to kill me?!” She quickly turned into a blimp and rocketed up in the air just as Rumor launched towards her, missing her and hitting the wall with her face. “This!” Rumor spat, recovering from the hit. “This time, I WON’T LET YOU WIN!” She charged again against the confused blimp. The bees tried to recall their queen back to her senses, but the royal bee wouldn’t listen. Carlos had been watching the fight from the side but upon seeing Cagney on the ground barely moving, signaled Beatrice to take him down to the ground. “Petals! Petals, groan twice if you’re still conscious” He asked, surprisingly worried. He barely knew the guy, but seeing how he hugged the crazy moon lady, it melted his heart. Plus, he was losing a lot of sap at an alarming rate and that couldn’t be good for a plant. Sullivan and Amber arrived shortly afterwards to the ground floor.

Amber spotted Cagney and bit her lip. “…uh, Sully. The flower doesn’t look so good.”

The amphibian carefully let Amber get down from his back and saw the flower’s bleeding wound. “Oh boy…”

Amber scampered over to the carnation. “Hey! Hey! Wake up!” She yelled but the carnation only groaned again and waved weakly at her.

“Does anyone know any first aid?”

“I do!” Sullivan and Carlos answered at the same time as Beatrice left Carlos on the ground and looked at her queen, terribly worried. “We have to remove the thorn,” suggested Sullivan. “Not before making sure we have something to stop the bleeding,” Carlos added, looking closely at the stab wound.

Amber pulled off the yellow bandanna off her neck. “What about this? Can we use this?” She asked hopefully.

“That might work!” Carlos said to Amber with a smile.

“I’ll call for reinforcements!” Beatrice flew quickly out of the room and made a signal to the other confused bees to tend to the other wounded bees.

____

Hilda had never seen such a furious Rumor in her life. She kept avoiding the plane’s charges, hoping that Rumor would come to her senses once she figured out she was destroying her own hive, only to realise the queen didn’t care what she charged to. Everyone was in danger. Hilda looked to the hole in the roof and flew quickly in front of it. Perhaps, if she could lure Rumor out in the open, she would have a chance to knock her outside without hurting anyone. “Rumor! C'mon! I know we had our differences but brainwashing!? Aren’t you taking it a bit too far?” “Ha! You’re the one to talk!” Rumor yelled. “You’ve been controlling him ever since you met him!” “Stop saying that!” Hilda was getting tired of hearing that. Or maybe it was exhaustion from transforming so much. “Cags and I have been friends since before we met you! It’s not my fault you don’t have friends, only these-these brainwashed zomBEES!” She chuckled. “DAMN YOU, HILDA!” Rumor shouted, charging towards her again, but this time, with saws on her wings.

Hilda waited until the last second to dive out of Rumor’s way, an error she paid dearly for by getting slashed on her leg, making it really painful to pedal. Rumor flew through the hole, making it bigger with her deadly wings. So manic was she that she acted in a bloodlust, hardly aware of the pieces of ceiling that tumbled down…nor the falling scepter that had slipped from her grasp during her transformation.

____

“Ok, then, listen up,” Sullivan signed Carlos and Amber to get closer as Beatrice left. “Carlos and I will take the thorn out. As soon as it’s out, Amber will tie the bandanna and put pressure on it."

"C'mon Petals! Don’t fall asleep now!” Carlos said, getting ready to pull the thorn. “His name is Cagney,” Sullivan corrected him. “Petals is easier to remember”. Sullivan rolled his eyes. “Ready, Amber?”

Amber nodded. “Ready!” On that, Sully and Carlos pulled the thorn with a yell. She immediately dove on the wound, bandanna on hand and applied as much pressure as she could. She smiled but then looked at Sully. “Uh….now what?”

Cagney gasped in pain at the thorn’s removal. “Shit,” he muttered, “now I know how Hilda felt.” He listlessly looked around for the woman only not to find her. The sounds of explosions and destruction clued him into the fact that she was probably up in the air. He tried to focus on her but his vision was hazy. She looked like she was moving slower somehow. Which didn’t seem right. The crash of honeycombs smashing near him didn’t really get his attention until the clank of something metallic followed it. He looked over to see Rumor’s scepter sticking out of a honeycomb and his mind started racing. He remembered all this craziness started as soon as Rumor pulled out that dang scepter. Which didn’t make sense. She always had a scepter. But this one looked different from what he recalled. Almost dull and warped. Whatever the change, he had to get it. He reached pathetically for it, just out of his fingers’ reach.

“Now we should find a way to disinfect and stitch the site,” Sullivan explained, looking for something they could use, unaware of Cagney’s attempts.

“Say no more!” Carlos opened his jacket and pulled out a flask, a needle and a thread. Sullivan looked at him strangely. “You just walk around with that all day?” “Of course!” The Hispanic cat replied, gesturing for Amber to remove the bandanna and spilling the alcohol over the wound.

The splash of alcohol on Cagney’s wound burned like hell, forcing him to jerk upwards with a girly scream before Amber could slam him back down with a surprising amount of strength from such a small feline. “Ow! What the hell?!”

Carlos continued. “Mi abuelita used to tell me: 'Carlitos, it’s a very big world out there, and you’re a very clumsy boy! Always take a first aid kit with you’ ” He spilled some on the needle and thread. “Ok Petals! Not gonna lie to you, this is going to hurt… I think. I’ve never had to stitch a tree before…"

____

Hilda wasn’t sure how much blood she was losing from her leg wound but it had to be a lot. She knew she couldn’t keep up pedaling for long and she rested on the roof of the hive, turning back to herself. She struggled to stand, but she managed to stay still as Rumor did a U turn in the air and back headed towards her again.

"CAGNEY IS MINE!!!” Rumor shouted, completely mad, her eyes full of hate, and her grin twisted with anger. Hilda was very angry herself, her bracelets and eyes glowing like a fire. “You’re gonna have to kill me to get to him!” Her voice was distorted with the voices of the twelve constellations. She lifted her arms and thick clouds covered her entirely in a magnificent spiral.

Rumor couldn’t see anymore and, although she was very angry, knew better than to fly through the sky witch’s cloud. She halted just outside of it as clicking and tinkling sounds emerged from within. The mist parted as Hilda emerged in crimson moon form, a malicious grin upon her lunar face. “Let’s put an end to this!” Rumor didn’t waste a second and fired missiles as Hilda did the same. The aftershocks of the projectiles exploding in the air produced some twisted fireworks visible from the other isles.

“Cagney would be so much happier if he never met you!” Rumor shouted as she sliced the moon’s cheek. “You keep using him to boost your weak, pathetic ego!” She jabbed again, inflicting another wound. “What is wrong with you, Rumor?! You’ve never been this crazy for him! Or anybody!” Hilda argued, hoping an appeal to reason would slow her down. “I found a good friend, Hilda. She warned me about you. She showed me what you really are!” The plane charged again but this time Hilda was ready for her, deflecting the attack. The counterattack infuriated Rumor and she instinctively reached for her scepter only to realize she didn’t have it. “W-what? W-where is it!?” She started to panic, a moment that Hilda took advantage of to launch one last attack: throwing missiles, stars, and even herself towards the confused plane.

____

“Can’t you let me just die or something?!” Cagney whined as Carlos haphazardly stabbed him against with the alcoholic needle. “No! You need to stay alive, you petal for brains!” “The only one who’s allowed to call me that is…Hilda!” The carnation looked up to see Hilda in her moon phase. That was her last resort attack which meant she must be really faltering now. He looked around for and spotted the scepter again. It must be connected to all this. He had to get it. He tried to reach for it only to recoil in pain with another jab of the needle.

“You call that stitching?” Sullivan shook his head seeing the poorly attended wound. “As long as it holds, mi amigo”. “It’s not going to hold! Argh! Gimme that!” The salamander took the needle from Carlos and begun stitching gently, doing a better job than the Hispanic cat. “Help Amber hold Cagney down,” Sullivan ordered. Carlos obeyed and held the flower’s stem down to the ground.

Cagney struggled against their help. “No, I gotta do somethin! Hilda ain’t gonna last much longer!” The flower reached for the fallen scepter one last time, this time grasping the base of it and dragging it to himself. He panted and collapsed again, holding the dumb metal rod to his chest.

“Hey!” Carlos exclaimed, noticing the scepter. “How did you get that?”

The whole world spun for the carnation but he finally managed to stand up, shoving off Carlos and Amber’s attempts to lay him back down. He waved the scepter. “Hey, Rumor!” He yelled, attempting to get the attention of the Queen Bee.

Hilda and Rumor looked fairly war torn, having taken some serious damage from their special attacks. Despite their exhaustion, they still glared at each other, neither women determined to give up the fight. They were about to charge into each other again when Cagney’s voice from below drew their attention and they looked down. “Cagney?” Rumor called back sweetly, glad to hear her beloved call out her name and not that of the witch’s.

Cagney smiled weakly. “I’ve been thinking about us and, ya know what?” He held out the scepter toward her. “I think we should take a break!” And with that, he slammed the scepter into the ground, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

“NO!” Rumor screamed, transforming back into her royal self. She rapidly landed and attempted to scoop up the pieces of what remained of her scepter. “What have you done!? What have… you…you…?"

Her voice died in her throat. Her mind flooded with blocked and distorted memories that the scepter had prevented from her remembering. The queen felt like everything was swirling around her as flashes of memories kept popping in her mind confusing her. Hilda turned back into herself and cast a cloud with what little energy she had left. She slowly levitated back into the hive, putting pressure on her leg wound before she landed close to carnation. Sullivan, Carlos and Amber didn’t dare move a muscle, expecting the Queen bee to burst angrily any minute.

Finally, Rumor took a shaky breath and looked up to see the two island bosses. "Hilda? C-cagney…?” She asked softly, uncertain if she was hallucinating, looking more like herself again.

“Hey, Rumor,” Cagney painfully managed, “Glad to see you being you.” He made a motion to step forward only to wince and clutch the side of his stem. Hilda approached him and he pulled away his leafy hand to reveal it was now coated in thick sap. Her eyes darted down to see the wound now free flowing, the sutures having popped during his exertion.

He looked down at himself before back up at Hilda with a strained pale smile “…I’m just gonna stop standing now, ok, Hilds?” And with that, his legs crumpled from underneath him, passing out without another word.

———————————————————————————

CHAPTER 28 (nsfw) ; CHAPTER 29 (You’re here) ; Next (not ready yet)

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