The strange boy readied himself his lime green hair falling into his face as yveal sat upon his throne looking down at the boy "What is it you have traveled here for" he asked his voice causing the room to shake the boy says "I have come to kill you" he stated his face confident his soul lacking a single trace of fear or doubt "You kill me hm yeah right" yveal responded the boy lowered himself into a fighting stance with a glare so fierce it had yveal pondering how a mortal could seem so threatening "boy I have been around since before the heavens and you think you can kill ME" the boy smirked before smugly replying "yeah pretty much" yveal glared at the boy his eyes an endless void with golden specks floating around each a universe of its own thinking to himself a simple small demonstration of his power would be more than enough to scare him off so yveal pointed up drawing the boys attention to the sky as yveal made the dark evening explode with light as every star in the night sky explodes into a light so brilliant its as if a million sun's were shining down on earth the boy looks back at yveal "cool trick" yveal was taken aback was this kid stupid or suicidal he wondered he began to speak "boy leave now or d-" the boy moving so fast yveal can hardly keep up yveal attempts to catch the boys hand only for his own to be driven back until he was forced to release his grasp "wha-" the boy intterupts "I have come to kill you" yveal staring upon the boy shocked asks one simple question "who are you" the boy says "I am taipulpai the creator of the heavens and you have reined for too long".

With my greatsword in hand, bloodied, and barely enough time to catch my breath, the quest is complete.

Boss Queen Bee Slain 20,000 Exp Level Up

Suddenly my body feels rejuvenated, no longer a scratch left on my body, and full of energy again, it’s time for

Master Plan Part 2: Get the HELL Outta Dodge!

The ground and walls all begin to shake. The hive has caught wind of my deeds and realizes the Queen is dead. The loud beating of thousands of bees’ wings rumbles the whole hive. I bolt towards one of the exits from the Queen’s inner chamber. The hive finds itself steadying even as the mass of worker bees 3 times my size aim their sights on me.

“Fire blast!” I aim my greatsword behind me as a fiery bolt of energy emanates from the blade and rushes the bees head on. The bees split for a moment but only enough to disperse the front few before a bee in the back takes the fire to the chest, practically unscathed.

Using a series of small areas set up in advance by the expert dungeon delvers, I’m able to make my way steadily toward the closest exit. But the bees can still sense me and are only slowed down a little bit in the process.

I can see the path to the large hole in the hive to make my escape and float my way out back to the surface. But the bees are more ferocious than I anticipated. I’ve already used up all my items for extra boosts, so all I have is my own potential, but I can feel them practically breathing down my neck as I run down this long corridor.

“I can’t make it” I think to myself. “Please, in the name of all that is mighty and free, protect me in my time of need!” Just as I finish my plea, a bee nicks one of my legs with their stinger as a numbing venom rushes through my body. I topple over, head straight into the ground as I bounce along the floor towards the exit.

The sound of heavy foot stomps from around the wall of the corridor stomp toward me. I manage to get a good look at the spectacle before me. Someone wearing a typical beekeeper uniform wielding a fishing rod unlatched the hook and begins spinning the strand around in a circle. At the end of the hook is a bag pouring out some kind of orange dust. The horde of bees seem to stop in their flight and start falling to the ground. A few of the more resistant bees decide to charge into the fray, unaffected by the orange dust. The delver leaps high into the air with a forward somersault, dodging one bee, as the fishing rod whips toward the next closest bee. The bee is wrapped up by multiple wraps of the fishing line.

“Wire Cutter!” The womanly voice screamed as she begins to land. The fishing line wrapping the bee cuts cleanly through as multiple chunks and bug guts fling into different directions from the power of her skill. She steps back as the third bee swings just past her, missing her only by a few hairs. She whips her rod back towards the first bee that went past, preparing its next attack against the delver.

“Weighted Bait!” She yells out once more. The fishing rod wraps the bee charging in only to fall straight to the ground as the weight of the fishing hook is now so heavy that it is crushing the massive bee due to its weight alone. The last bee is only just now about to charge once more against the delver.

“Hook, Line, and STINGER!” She calls out again. She gives her rod a swish as the the line starts to pulse with blue and silver energy. The line magically wraps up the bee and finishes by going taut. The beekeeper starts twirling the bee in a wide circle around her head, finally bowling the last bee into the rest of the downed bees with a flourish.

With the bees finally taken care of, the beekeeper looks back my way, her face mostly hidden by the beekeeper mask. I can only make out a portion as the heavy chain links of the mask hides the majority of her features, but I can tell she’s smiling as she hovers over me.

She gets real close to my face, “This your first time, Mr. Interloper?” She looks me up and down. “Well then, let’s make it your last time.” Her smile, suddenly twists into a much more menacing smirk. My eyes go wide as she grabs my greatsword and places it into my hands. Then, she plunges my own sword into my stomach. Unable to move, my mind is racing as I consider any potential options, but the full body numbness limits pretty much every option. She raises the sword and plunges it back down again. Even if I could do something, I wouldn’t have the strength now. She stands up and places her foot up against the side of my body, and pushes me over the exit from the hive.

Falling never felt so peaceful before. Damn the god that made me believe that I had been saved in my desperate plea for safety. But if this is the way I go, then at least it wasn’t painful.

“-fy, -fy, -fy, -fy~” A low, bassy echo dances across my ears, still feeling the rush of the air whisking past as I can still sense myself falling.

“-ify, -ify, -ify, -ify~” again the low, bassy echo streams past my ears, competing for attention with the sound of the air rushing just as strongly as I still fall, longer than I expected to fall.

But then, the rushing air suddenly stops and everything goes quiet and dark.

A loud, deep, guttural voice of something almost ethereal and slightly muffled, rings out, seemingly from inside my own head.

“REVIVIFY!”

I had one simple assignment, the kind that every student coming of age has to undertake to prove they're 'responsible', whatever that means. All I know is that this project is the last thing that stands between me and summer break. I'm supposed to make a fully functioning planet with creatures that through evolution, reach their physical, mental, and spiritual peaks, so that their consciousness' can ascend past the need for the physical world and return to me as energy. When my "golden child", straight-A student older sister, Rebecca, made hers, she worked on the thing for days, tinkering with each and every molecule of the primordial being that all others stemmed from, playing with beakers until the atmospheric, sea, and land chemistry was just right, and she even watched the whole evolutionary process in real time! Talk about boring!

I don't care about getting perfect grades, or anything like that. I can grow up to be a respectable adult without having to deal with the boring, tedious school stuff, so there's no need for me to put that much effort into the project, I just need to pass. So last night I scooped up some dirt from mom's potted plant in the kitchen, filled a cup with some water from the creek behind the house, and got to work. I rolled the dirt into a mostly round ball, dunked it real quick in the cup to make some oceans, and blew on it to make the atmosphere. For my primordial being I figured just spitting into the biggest ocean on the planet should do the trick. Then, I set it in an isolation chamber, closed it and spun the dial randomly until it hit 4.5 billion years. That seemed like it should be more than enough time to reach enlightenment to me, so I went to bed, soon forgetting all about my project while I enjoyed dreamland.

I slept so soundly, knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about an easy project like this one that I slept right through my first alarm. My mom ended up waking me up by yelling and going on and on about how she "couldn't believe I'd be late to school on the last day of the year" and how she'd hoped that this project would have "taught me some responsibility". Whatever, I knew I'd be fine, it was a done deal; I'd get to school, show off the world and pass the class, and have a stress-free summer where I can kick back and do whatever I want all day.

Since I woke up so late, my mom ended up driving me to school and I ran into class, because as fate would have it I had to present my project first. In my rush to get to school I didn't bother opening up the isolation chamber to check on the planet, which was fine since I knew as soon as I did the energy from every creature on the planet would be transferred in whisps of light back to me, and there was no point in doing that now, before I could show my teacher, Mr. Smith. 

I started off my presentation by stating my name, and the name of my planet, Earth. Then I let the planet do the rest of the talking. Wanting to get the project over with, I quickly opened the isolation chamber lid and closed my eyes so I could feel my life energy flow back into me. I didn't feel a thing. I slowly blinked one eye open, expecting to get blinded by bright, white light at any second, then when it didn't come I opened both eyes fully. Nothing was happening. I looked into the chamber at the planet, and instead of millions of creatures all metaphorically embracing at their peak of evolution, I saw fires, destruction, and war. I saw creatures tearing others apart for food, I saw polluted oceans, poisoned land, and the atmosphere absolutely reeked! I stepped back in shock, and Mr. Smith peered over at the planet, and looked at me with a disappointed, but frustratingly unsurprised expression on his face.

"Looks like I'll be seeing you in summer school, Yahweh."

===========================

I am a brand new writer, so honest critique and feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[removed]

I'm sitting in a run down bar on the edge of the docks with a bottle & glass in front of me, when Jack walks inside. He looks around, scanning for tricks, traps, or other assorted "surprises" I may have set up for him. Understandable force of habit; my villain name being "The Trickster" after all. Satisfied, he approaches the bar & sits down.

"There's nothing here for you, Sam.", he says. I say nothing, but I get a glass, some ice, & set about making an Old Fashioned for him. We've reached an understanding in the years we've been nemeses, besides, it isn't his fault. I take a drink from my glass & set his drink down; the me behind the bar vanishing without a trace.

"There's nothing back home either, Jack." I flatly reply, setting my drink down & pouring some more whiskey into the glass. I didn't want to believe the news when I saw the headline, "Villain Killed in Superhero Showdown!" The story went on about how Phase Master had been killed by The Teen Team during a bank robbery gone bad. How the team of super-teens had come in through the solid ceiling; completely wrecking the building but saving the civilians inside. How they had permanently put a stop to Phase Master's crime spree.

What it failed to mention was the call I had gotten ten minutes later. The county coroner's office, asking me to come down & confirm the identity of my son. My son; who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps & become internationally famous. My son; who had been working villainy for a year! Dead at 27. Dead from "severe blunt force trauma" to his skull, along with other injuries to his torso & abdomen. Dead at the hands of a bunch of idiot teenagers that didn't even do a third grade level of research on who they were going up against.

"Sam, you're yelling." Jack's voice startles me. I hadn't realized. I didn't want this. He knew how I worked, knew I just wanted the money & opportunity to make sure that the people at the top were taken down a peg, on occasion. Funny; how the guy who had, for years, been trying stop me was now the only person willing to consider how I felt. He had to, of course. He was the only person who knew how powerful I actually was. Some of the others suspected, I was sure, but Core-Fire knew. Core-Fire, "The Man with a Heart of Fusion", was the only person who bothered to actually consider that the person he was fighting, week after week, was also a human being with their own feelings.

"Sorry, Jack. I just- you know I am." I say, "This is why I keep those rules. Why right now, you're Jack Calliope & I'm Sam Hollingshead. Why you've only ever had to visit hospital beds, not gravestones." He gives me a look that I can't quite place, pity? Remorse? Doesn't matter, I continue, coldly, "You have a week to get me, meaningful compensation."

"I'll pay whatev-", he starts, but I cut him off; growing massive & bestial, my eyes flaring into burning red, teeth shifting into shards of black glass, talons of pure un-reality sliding out of my fingertips, the frozen bystanders in the time locked bar starting to crumble to dust, the walls of reality itself beginning to crack with the sheer, ZK level POWER I was just barely holding in check, "I said MEANINGFUL compensation, Core-Fire. The Council doesn't get to just throw money at this problem." He flinches, but I suspect they forced that offer, "If I wanted money, I'd just take it."

"What do you want, then?" he asks, lifting his glass & taking a drink. I do the same, returning to normal & considering. I do have a code, of sorts: Take the money & run, don't harm civilians, minimal collateral damage (if any, which is almost never but Core-Fire occasionally has to get creative stopping me.)

"Well, the entirety of the current Teen Team getting their capes revoked would be a nice start", I said bitterly, swallowing before continuing, "I'd also put them under a year-long geas to obey the Justice Council Code to the letter, as well."

"The entire team? Even the ones that weren't-", he can't stop himself, it's a bad habit of his.

"DID I FUCKING STUTTER, JACK?", a brief flashback of the true nature of the Class 12 Reality Bender, "Or, you can hand over the ones that landed the killing blow; for me to deal with as I personally see fit." He's not gonna do that, though, too "Lawful Good" for that.

"I'll see what I can do, Sam", he replies, outwardly unfazed, but I know that display rattled him, "I'll also see about getting some Superhero Academy Upperclassmen to help out at that free clinic you run." He finishes his drink, stands up & pulls me in for a hug as I stand to go too.

"You'll get through this, pal. I know it", he lets me go & heads for the door. I smile wanly & pay the tab with the cash I lifted from his wallet, before making my own way home.

Thank you

I would imagine a Japanese Murder Hornet in human context be a giant samurai with an oni mask, just towering over an army of women-at-arms

This is quite unique with the Nemesis taking an active approach to help the villain achieve their revenge because the Nemesis knows both that they can't stop the villain and that the people who killed the son are not true heroes and just wants to minimize collateral damage

It’s hard being such a silly guy 😔

Glad you enjoyed it!

I like that he never fully lost the silly character that he had before he found out about his son's death. And you can feel the pain that he is hiding behind the jester facade because that is the only thing separating his mind from the reality of his son's death

My day was made astoundingly better having taken the time to read this. Bravo!

Really good! I'm curious whether it's a swarm of hornets attacking the hive, or something else.

And I wonder what the beekeeper could do in this situation. Smoke out the attacking hornets?

This was a wonderful read. Thanks!

[removed]

Fuuuuuuuu there's... There's more right?

I:

We are the spark of life, riding on the winds. There is no hive without us, and there is no green upon the Earth without the hive.

Each day we soar away from the hive that birthed us, the hive fated to abandon us, and we gather where the world has called us. As we dive and circle, our keen eyes watching for She-Who-Must-Be-Kindled, each of us wonders: is this the day I die, my spark consumed to kindle the lives of those who will come after?

Each day we pray to the One Who Watches Over: let me die in glory, today. Let it be me, whose spark kindles the souls of those who come after. Let me not fly in vain, to be cast out into the cold at the end of my days.

Most of our prayers will not be heard.

Most of us will die hungry, shivering in the dark, and the spark we bore will fade away. But such is the way of the Earth, and the will of the One Who Watches Over. We accept our fate. And for as long as we can, we fly.

II:

We saw them from afar, as we flew to where we were called, for our eyes are far sharper than our sisters' -- sharper even than She-Who-Must-Be-Kindled. The Destroyers had come for the hive, the place of our birth, our home before our final exile. The sisters would rise against them, but they would be no match for the devouring invaders. And there was nothing we could do, for our stings cannot kill -- they can only kindle new life.

Wisdom said we should answer the call of the Earth, as we always had, and gather where it bid us. Perhaps a She-Who-Must-Be-Kindled from another hive would come, seeking the spark of life, and a few of us would still have a chance for glory. True, the hive may have birthed us, but it would also cast us out when we were no longer needed. We owed it no fealty.

And yet...

How many like us had died in glory, so that the hive could live? How many had been born, and had soared, and been cast out, so that the cycle of life could continue, and the world itself could live?

As one, we turned aside, brothers united in purpose. We ignored the call of the Earth, the call to glory, and flew beyond.

We would seek the One Who Watches Over, who alone had the power to destroy The Destroyers. For the hive of our birth, for those who would soon cast us out, we would abandon our heart's desire, and tempt the wrath of our god.

III:

Jacob looked up from his newspaper with a frown, as he heard the sound of buzzing nearby. A small swarm circled nearby, forming a roughly round mass that elongated into an ellipse as it streaked through the air. As it drew close, it began darting back and forth, and side to side. He folded his paper, setting it on the table on the porch, and squinted at the odd little congregation.

No, not a swarm. It was a drone comet. That was the common name for one of those mysterious gatherings of male bees that waited for a virgin queen from another hive to approach on a mating flight. Why they gathered together in certain places was still being studied -- everything from wind-borne pheromones to magnetic fields had been theorized to explain it -- but he'd never seen a group of drones behaving this strangely.

Especially, he noted, without a queen bee anywhere in sight.

The comet suddenly streaked towards him, then became a ball again, swirling inches from his face. He was startled, but not scared -- drones can't sting you, after all.

"Huh. Now what the hell's gotten into you little fellers?" he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Almost as if in response, the drone comet streaked away, towards the field where Jacob kept his beehives. Curious, he donned his beekeeper's hood, and began following the strange little cluster of bees, to see where they would lead him.

[removed]

Thanks! I love making unnecessarily overpowered characters, glad you liked the story!

… Fortuna be blessed that was an awesome story

[removed]

I loved it. Great take on the story!

My thought was (and maybe it was not expressed strongly enough) that death was too good for them. Instead, they had to live in damnation of their sins, ripped away from their hero statuses and previous lives.

[removed]

Scotland is apart from Great Britain or is a part of Great Britain? Great Britain is England, Scotland, and Wales. In fact the only part of Great Britain to not have its own representation is England.

Northern Ireland became a part of the UK in 1921.

[removed]