Chapter Four
Whispered voices in the forest reached her ears, causing them to flicker. She didn't move a muscle, sending her long tongue down her mouth tube to get a taste of the air.
It was fresh from the recent rain, with a faint hint of honey on the breeze. She grinned with anticipation. If she had set everything up correctly, the new intruders were about to fall into her trap.
Her enlarged eyes gave her good vision in the twilight woods, a small stream flowing beneath the branch she had clung to. The area beside the trail had been cleared of all brush, the ground churned and cultivated, made into an enticing alcove.
She had been busy since she had packaged Violet up in her cocoon, spreading the organic carpet of rubber around the area to make a nice bed for her seeds. She had taken extra care to plant them, though it was not really necessary. Their unnatural vigor ensured that they had grown to a mature size within hours, pitcher shaped leaves quickly filling with the rubbery honey produced in their stalks.
If anyone was foolish enough to step in the sunken pool of honey she had dug into the forest floor, they would be well and truly caught. This was a superhero headquarters, however, and they would likely be suspicious of anything unusual. She would have to move quickly to secure her prey.
That was why she had weaved a large net made out of wax strands imbued with sticky honey, draping it from the upper limbs of the tree she was resting in. If they were distracted with what was happening below, it was unlikely that they would think to look
up
.
She twisted her head to look at the bulbous cocoon she had secured to the tree. She could sense that the precious cargo inside was gestating, but she didn't know precisely when the new bee woman would emerge. She hoped it would be soon - she definitely was going to need the help with expanding her Hive. The honey filled orgies they would soon experience would be
legendary
.
But first they needed to increase the number of honey pots for storage, and grow the necessary plants to spread the rubbery mixture throughout the forest until it was
inextricable
. It would already be difficult for them to remove the Hives at the bay area gardens, but with her secret Hive, she would make it
impossible
for them to be stopped. The rubber bees were here to stay, and many would experience the pleasure of sinking into the golden honey, their bodies twisting into caricatures of their former selves.
The honey must flow.
She burped, massaging her belly. She was only running at half capacity at the moment. With all the required expenditures, there hadn't been enough time to gather more nectar from the rubber plants. All that would change once she had captured these new victims. Soon, she'd have plenty of rubber bees to tend her garden.
Her ears tilted, sitting relaxed as she took in the ambient sounds of the forest. Her arms clicked together as an audible conversation began to reach her ears.
"I don't know why we have to be out here at all," objected a male voice. "The cameras probably just got gummed up from random insect activity. It shouldn't be
our
job to clean them off like common housekeepers."
A long suffering sigh escaped the lips of the woman trudging next to him. Her arms were folded, and she frowned at her partner. "Damn it, Rover, you
know
that weird things have been going on lately. Several heroes have vanished, without a trace, and we need to make sure the perimeter is secure."
The man paused and frowned as the toe of his boot dug into the muddy ground. "Then you should go do it yourself,
Crystal
," he retorted sarcastically. "You've always been a stickler about rules. It would have been much easier if we just blew this off and checked in the morning. You know, when we can actually
see?
"
"Look," replied the shorter heroine, her back arched. "I don't want to do this any more than you do, but the Oracle will
know
if we shirk our duties, and I'm not interested in being assigned washing up duty three days in a row!"
Oola grunted to herself in satisfaction. They were unaware, and were walking directly into her trap. If she played this right, they'd have little opportunity to use their powers before they were swept off their feet and dosed with the hypnotic honey.
The two heroes slowed as they rounded a bend, ending up near the stream. "Do you smell something?" asked the man, coming to a halt. He strained his neck, lifting his nose as if it was a snout. "It's
sweet
, like honey. We're not about to wander into a beehive, are we?"
The woman snapped her fingers together, and a spark of blue light flickered around her wrist, forming into a consolidated flame. She lifted her hand high, peering around at the creaking shadows of the tree limbs. She shivered, shrinking back. "I don't know, but I'm allergic. If I get stung, I'll need immediate medical attention."
Oola grinned, lifting her wings. It wouldn't take much to startle this one. She just needed to wait for the right time.
"Aw, geez, now you're sounding like
me
," retorted the man, shrugging his shoulders. "Hey, why don't you direct that light over here?"
They had stopped on the path next to the small clearing she had prepared. The light the heroine was producing was washing out her view of the plants, but she knew that the pitcher-like leaves were leaning towards the humans, offering them bowls full of honey for them to taste. Would they take the bait, or would Oola have to encourage them?
Leaning over the edge of the branch, she barfed out a glob of rubbery wax onto her forearms, waiting patiently as she watched the curious humans below. With the element of surprise, she could very likely nab one of them before the other could react, but which one was the most dangerous target?
She already had a sense of what the woman could do, but the man was something of a mystery. She hadn't been very approachable in her past life, aloof and alone except for a handful of close friends.
She
hated
the unknown, so perhaps she should deal with the man first. Angling her legs, she remained silent, watching and waiting to see what they would do next.
The man scooted right to the edge of the rubbery pool, peering out into the blackness. "Have you ever seen plants like this before?" he asked, reaching out to grasp the thick lip of one of the bowls filled with honey.
He applied pressure with his thumb, and the lip curled towards him, some of the contents spilling onto his hand. He yelped in surprise, letting go as he took a step back.
The leaf flipped upwards, splashing its contents all over the surprised hero. He flung his hands upwards as his heel caught against a root, his body leaning backwards as he tried to regain his balance.
Unfortunately for him, he was at just the right angle for his foot to slide into the smooth side of the hole Oola had dug, sending him tumbling into the pit with a rough splash. Oola squeezed her eyes together, unable to stop herself from making a rough chortling sound through her trunk. What a fool!
The other hero lifted her glowing hand, looking around with dinner plate eyes. "
Rover?
" she shouted, her voice rising. "Are you okay? I'm not jumping in there after you!"
The excitement of the situation must have masked Oola's mirth, for Crystal didn't look up. A low moan came from somewhere deep within the pit, followed by splashing sounds. "I'm completely covered in this muck," the man groaned.
He was going to have a lot
more
problems in short order, for the aroma of the honey had him in its grip. Oola watched with an expectant eye as the man's movements creaked to a halt before he reached the edge of the hole. "It smells...
wonderful!
" he exclaimed, a rush of breath escaping his lips as he ducked down.
Gathering a handful of the rubbery substance, he lifted it to his lips and took a sip. "It
tastes
wonderful, too!" he said reverently.
"Stop that!" commanded Crystal, sounding rather uncertain. "We don't know what it is! We should take a sample and get Oracle to process it!"
"Why bother?" chuckled Rover. "This must be another one of her crazy experiments. She's probably watching us right now to catch our live reactions."
He took another sip and sighed. "It's so sweet and
thick
. I could drink this stuff for ages. We could bottle it and serve it at the cafeteria. Maybe use it as a syrup topping on ice cream or pancakes!"
"Rover?" said Crystal in a high pitched voice. "Climb out of that mess
right now
or I'm going to run for help!"
"Whatever for?" Rover sighed, rubbing the honey over his chest as he stood up. "It's warm and tingly. You really should join me, we could have a mud bath together." He struck a pose, an inviting grin on his face.
Oola wasn't waiting around to see whether she'd accept his invitation. Standing up on the tree branch, she scurried towards the trunk. She could tell from the heroine's expression that she was preparing to flee, and she wanted to be in position to cut her off.
Nimbly skirting around the side of the tree trunk, she slid down a small chute of waxy rubber she had mounted at the rear for just this kind of situation. Pulling her abdomen up to her chest, she slid down onto a thick pad of rubber honey she had installed at the base.
Standing on her multitude of legs, she touched her antennae together, creating a glowing, red spark between them. With their height above her head, they would serve as a nice distraction as she closed with the heroine.
