"Okay... She's bee-having herself." Lamb remarked with a slight chuckle. She had been coming up with bee puns for the last hour while the other horsemen had to endure her constant joking. "Gods, kill me now." Min groaned as he served the last customer for the day.
"That stings."
Arlo and Ro had to hold Min back as he attempted to strike Lamb with her own crook. None of them had heard a peep from Lucy all day and as the sun began to set, the rest of the group had made their way back.
"You forgiven me yet?"
"No." Nvr stepped away from Kiola, giving her the cold shoulder. The dragon didn't really feel like chasing up that tree once more, but was soon distracted by the sight of Senshi and Arachne strolling over. "The spider is human now? What's next, Lucy will respect me?" She chuckled to herself, stepping over Ayre to get into the carriage.
"No need to get so angry, honey." Lamb giggled, ringing her bell playfully. "That doesn't even make sense!" Min yelled back, getting more sick of the jokes. The four of them began to bicker, but their bickering was quickly interrupted by Kiola letting out a yelp.
They looked over to see a gigantic, dark crimson hive had overtaken a majority of the inside of the carriage. "Our stuff!" They yelled, rushing over to try and get inside. They were surprised by just how tough it was, like it was made of steel. "It's only been a few hours! How did she already do all of this?" Arlo yelled while summoning a hammer to try and break through it, though failing.
"I-I think Lucy has evolved from the basis of her bee like f-form." Lamb suggested, trying to pry a chunk off with the top of her crook to examine the material. "You think? How the hell do you just think that?" Min grumbled while grabbing Nvr.
The bioweapon gave a nod and ran a finger down the side of the hive, exploding it outwards to reveal a bizarre sight. Inside were what looked like hundreds of bug demi-humans all worshipping a sleeping Lucy, who was sat upon a small chain forged throne.
"Where the hell did these guys come from?" Kiola grumbled, leaning in to take a closer look. It seemed that while the horsemen were busy with their work, they had failed to notice the bugs gathering together to build the hive. It was like they were zombies, unaware of their own actions. Some of them were working on building the hive while others were getting busy together.
Arachne and Senshi felt a twinge of envy over how easily Lucy seemed to get her way, despite the fact she was still unconscious.
Ro took off her mask before smelling the chunk of crimson beeswax. "Okay... So this might be my fault. Lucy is generating a pheromone that is meant to attract the opposite sex, much like a regular queen bee... Buuuut It's gotten mixed in with my ego and has sorta maybe created zombie sex virus. One good whiff and any one who's receptive to pheromones will be... Doing that."
"Okay, that's great and all, but why is Lucy a bee in the first place?" Kiola yelled, but Arachne quickly gave them the quick summary about the screwed up contract. "So how do we fix this?" The former spider asked with a tip of her top hat.
Ro awkwardly stuffed her hand inside the hive, pulling out Raz, who had accidentally been caught up in the situation while visiting the store. "Give me the night to figure out a cure. I'll need Nvr and Kiola as well."
"Where are we gonna stay then?" Min grumbled, but Senshi gave a bored sigh and pointed to the nearly repaired ship in the distance. "You can crash their for the night... Don't break anything."
"Why do you sound like it's your ship?" Kiola hissed before getting a light slap from Nvr, exploding a few strands of hair on the dragon's head. "Be nice... Please."
After a bit of time deciding who goes where, Nvr, Grey, Kiola and Ro went off into the woods to keep their experimenting a good distance away from anyone who could be infected. Senshi, Arachne, Ayre and Arlo went off to rest at the ship, leaving Lamb and Min to defend Lucy at the carriage for the night.
"I fold." Lamb sighed, laying her playing cards down on the grass. Min cackled as he took the food they had been betting on to pass the time. As the crackling of a campfire illuminated the two, they began playing a few more hands of poker.
"So what was the deal with you earlier? You three going on about some radiant light or somethin'?" He asked, holding his cards close to his chest. She gave a curious glance up, her hair bobbing slightly in the wind. "I feel as though someone or something has come here... That was all."
"The great Lamb chop. Only able to give basic fortune readings now." He smirked, raising a piece of his sandwich, matched by Lamb putting her biscuits on the line. "And you can only eat us out of house and home now." She snickered, laying her cards on the grass, revealing she had a full house.
Min let out a dissatisfied sigh, handing over the sandwich and watching helplessly as Lamb took a bite out of it. But he was soon distracted by the sounds of rustling coming from the bushes, quickly using ego magic to shroud themselves in the darkness.
"You're sure they went this way, HQ?" A vine limbed girl, Rose asked as she parted the bushes to the side. "Yep yeppers! I even got those dumb dumbs to heal me." The Harpy queen said with a chirp, pulling her paper bag down slightly with her wing.
"All we have to do is beat up the demon. Not get hit by a carriage." The undead gunslinger, Gnaw, said with a tip of his hat, wandering behind the other two as they (visibly) tried to sneak over. Min and Lamb continued to watch in the shadows, noticing that there seemed to be a fourth presence.
"Be careful, my faithful minions. If this woman is as half as powerful as you described, we may be in trouble." A pale young woman with long blonde bangs that covered her eyes, wearing a conspicuous white hood, followed out from the bushes with a smile. She felt almost divine in nature, yet Min noticed how Lamb seemed stunned to see her.
"Oh no." Lamb mumbled flatly, quickly running in the other direction, leaving Min by himself. "W-Wait, where are you going!?"
"You can handle them." She yelled back. With the four now aware of Min, he slowly stood up with a sigh, turning to them with a hollow stare. "This area is a bug free zone... And you all look like pests." He grumbled, his tone now sounding more intimidating.
The three all seemed nervous, feeling the pressure exuded by Min's presence alone. He raised a hand, summoning a pair of scales. One sighed weighed by a bullet and the other by wheat. "When plagues strike and war rages... Famine comes to sap the strength for those who need it."
gnash quickly raised his revolver and fired a pot shot, trying to intimidate him. Though Min didn't even flinch, making the undead let out a buzzing noise of surprise. Harpy Queen gave a petty laugh, steeping forward with her wings outstretched, ready to attack. "Don't worry, dead beat. I'll show you how it's do-"
The scale suddenly tipped left with a loud creaking noise, raising the bullet up. "You are deemed... A sinner."
Before the harpy knew it, her feathers had all but wilted leaving the unusable. She began coughing, her strength having been sapped and drawn into the bullet as she fell to the ground, unable to stand.
He soon reset the scales, pointing them at Rose. The scales weighed to the right, raising the wheat. "You are deemed... As food for prey."
Rose let out a scream as she watched her vines burst into hundreds of fruits plants, binding her to the ground. Gnaw let out a buzz, quickly trying to fire straight at Min, though he just reset his scales again before raising them at the undead.
The scales began to creak, yet didn't budge. Min let out a sigh, seeming disappointed by the results. "You are... Nothing."
The undead tried to move back, yet his body stiffened, leaving him unable to fire. As the moonlight hung above him, Min turned to the angelic woman, resetting his scales once more while shooting her a smirk.
"Will you fight or will you starve on the side lines?"
The woman, Azzi, tried her best to look intimidating as she raised her hand to the air. "You will not hurt my friends! Die!" She yelled as chains of light began appearing, wrapping together into a ball. Min looked between the ball of light and his scales before laughing.
"It's cute you think that'll work." He laughed, flicking his wrist with a magical energy though nothing seemed to happen. As Azzi prepared to throw the ball of chains, she was sent flying towards Min by a kick. He had summoned his decayed horse behind her with the order to give her a good kick in the back.
Once she hit the ground and dragged along to his feet, Min whacked her over the head with the rather heavy scales. "Gods, you guys suck at this. Welp. Guess I win again." He sighed, looking around at the four defeated wannabe villains who were all completely incapacitated.
Min, having nothing else to do and having no idea if Lamb was going to return for the night, tied the four together with a bit of rather flimsy rope he kept around for... Reasons. He put a few sticks and dried leaves on the fading campfire, lying down and staring at the stars before looking at the unconscious underlings and their 'master'.
"God... Lucy owes me breakfast for this... And Lamb. And Ro. And Arlo. Fuck it, I'll just have everyone make me breakfast." He mumbled, using some ego magic to weave a pillow from grass and harpy feathers. He rested his head, watching his captives for a second, though turning over to watch the carriage.
"This entire night blows..."
"Well maybe you could-" Azzi tried to speak, barely conscious before getting another hard hit over the head with scales.
"Buzz off... Oh gods damnit, now Lamb's got me doin' this too."