#GirlInTheBeeHive
Karen was hard at work in the headquarters of the Titans. She had her Bumblebee armor on top of her work table as she welded something more into the belt. She lifted her welding mask before she inspected her work.
After all the new advances in technology that had been popping up, Karen had decided to get her armor a much needed tune up with some new tools that Izuku had helped her to put together. She was happy with the ideas that he had shared with her and was willing to put them to good use.
"Yes, the new battery has been properly integrated with the suit," Karen said, watching the results of her work. "Izuku, could you bring me the shrinking discs?"
"Yes, I got them here," Izuku replied.
Izuku had agreed to help Karen with her new upgrades to her armor. He picked up a small stack of six bee-colored throwing disks and took them to Karen's work table. He didn't mind helping her, but he just wished that he could do more than just bring her whatever she needed. But he did like helping with whatever he could.
"Thanks Izuku, I know this isn't very fun. But I promise that once we test these out, we can go someplace else to celebrate." Karen said as she examined one of the throwing disks.
"Don't worry, Karen," Izuku replied. "I like that this is a quiet night. Little crime, no supervillains running around, and no threats that need to be stopped. It's so quiet that everyone else is taking the evening to do their own thing. I think Diana and Barbi even decided to redecorate the room where Diana is staying."
"Diana and Barbi redecorating? Together?" Karen wondered. "How would that look like?"
Far from the headquarters of the Titans, Diana and Barbi were discussing the decor of the room.
"Why are we rearranging these old pieces, again?" Barbi asked as she and Diana carried an old vase to the corner of the room.
"Because, Barbi, these pieces are all arranged in the wrong manner. This here is a vase from the wars between Sparta and Athens. While this statue is of the goddess Artemis, sculpted years after the war."
Diana lifted the statue with ease before placing it with the other female goddesses of the Greek pantheon.
Barbi merely rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance. She was hoping to get out and drive her car.
"Fine, but what about this gastly thing?" Barbi asked pointing to a vestige glaring a disapproving look at her. "Why haven't you moved it? It gives me the creeps. I bet this old thing was born with that scowl."
Diana gasped.
"I shall let you know that my mother is capable of many other expressions." Diana said. "But the detail is so vivid. It is almost as if she were in the room with us about to give us a lecture."
"Oh good lord. No wonder you ran away from that vicious scowl," Barbi muttered, getting a light shock for her troubles. "Damn this accursed thing. At least you can say that your mother gave you the time of day."
Diana looked at Barbi and suddenly got an idea.
"No slouching, young lady!" Diana said in a commanding tone.
"What?! I don't slouch!" Barbi snapped.
"And no talking back! No woman will be meek nor whine among the ranks of the Amazons. Understood?!" Diana said. "How was that? I tried to imitate my mother as best as I could. Did I do a good job?"
Barbi however was down on the floor with a shocked look on her face.
Back at the headquarters of the Teen Titans, Karen was looking at one of the discs with a large magnifying glass.
"Alright, adding the last component and… finished!" Karen said as the disk lit up. "The first bee disk is ready for testing."
"That's great Karen. But what do they do?" Izuku asked.
"These disks are meant to be used in two settings, the stun setting and the shrinking setting." Karen explained.
Karen walked up to one of the punching bags that they had lying around. She pressed one button on the disk before throwing it at the punching bag.
"The stun mode is kinda like a stun gun, but the power matches the size of the target. So say someone like Giganta got stung with one of these, she'll be brought down." Karen explained as the punching bag got covered in electricity.
"That's amazing, Karen." Izuku said. "But what does the second setting do?"
"I was hoping you'd ask that." Karen replied, picking up another disk. "The shrinking setting allows the object the disk is attached to to, well, become smaller. Watch."
Karen pressed the shrinking setting before throwing it at one of the overflowing trash cans.
The disk stuck to the trash can as the disk glowed yellow. The trash can began to slowly shrink before the eyes of the two heroes. The can had made it to half its normal size before the disk shot out sparks. The trash can then suddenly grew back to its normal size before shrinking once more. The process went back and forth.
"Um, Karen?" Izuku asked.
"Oh no! The molecular structure is becoming unstable!" Karen screamed.
The trash can turned yellow before it exploded into a bubble of yellow goo.
"Oh no. Another failure," Karen said as she went to examine the remains.
The disk was intact but the trash can had been turned into molten yellow goo.
"I don't get it," Karen said, picking up the disk. "I thought that it would work. The battery was supposed to help make the process sustain itself. But it somehow made the molecular structure turn like that."
"Maybe it's not about the power, more about how you use it." Izuku muttered. "They work fine when they are meant to stun the opponent, maybe because the discharge has something to go through?"
Karen overheard Izuku's muttering, sparking an idea.
"I know! That's a great idea Izuku." Karen said, catching Izuku by surprise.
"Um, did I say something?" Izuku asked as Karen began to tweek her disk.
Karen began to ramble on about how she hadn't really considered what was once obvious. She went so into her thoughts that her thoughts became mutterings and lengthy ones at that. She sprouted theories and possibilities on how she could use her disks now that she had a better idea of their failings.
Izuku felt a drop of sweat run down the side of his head. He wondered if he always looked like that whenever he went on with his mutterings. Only difference that he could see was that Karen was using a lot of scientific terms that he didn't usually use or understand. He made a side note to try to not do it as often, but it was a promise that would take some time to get around to it.
"Eureka!" Karen exclaimed, lifting the disk up.
Izuku jumped back in surprise as Karen held up her disk.
"Now this puppy will work," Karen said. "Now, what to test it on?" She added, looking for something to make small.
"Um, Karen, shouldn't we test that thing in the open? Just in case it blows up again?" Izuku asked. "I mean, do you really want to explain to Kara and Galatea that you shrunk their favorite punching bag? Or tell Jessica that you liquified her favorite chair? Or trying to explain to Zee that you shrunk her vanity mirror?"
Karen was brought back down to reality at the mention of the possibility of facing the anger of the team. As a well versed and practiced scientist, she knew a controlled environment was critical to keep her inventions from causing harm. But the thought of facing her friends in such a manner made her reconsider the standard rules.
"Yeah, I guess we should try this out on the field." Karen said, scratching her cheek. "Just to see how it would fare against the field. Let's get our suits ready and go to the junkyard to see how they work."
The two young heroes suited up and made their way to the junkyard. They walked into the junkyard after passing the gate by the entrance. As they walked through the wrecked cars and pieces of junk, a buzzing sound caught the attention of Deku.
The green clad hero looked up at the sound of buzzing. He spotted a large beehive sticking out from under the hood of one of the wrecked cars.
"It seems we have a beehive here." Deku pointed out.
"Yeah, weird that they made a hive here." Bumblebee replied. "I suppose that they've found a new place to make one. But we're not here to see the bees. We're here to test my new disks."
"Right." Deku replied. "By the way Bumblebee, how did you come up with these bee disks?"
"Well, I figured that we would need something to balance out villains and threats that have growth powers, like Giganta." Bumblebee explained. "That way we can make them into less of a threat."
Deku couldn't help but feel like this was just another jab at people being taller than her. He understood her desire to prove that she was as tough as the other girls despite her size. But he just wished that these disks didn't turn out to be a disaster waiting to happen.
"Alright, that old car should do nicely," Bumblebee said, pulling out her disk. "Get ready to see this make it tiny... That was lame wasn't it?"
"Only a little bit…" Deku sighed.
Bumblebee threw the disk at the old used up car.
The disk stuck to the side of the rusted door before it glowed yellow.
Bumblebee stood ready and anxious for what would happen. But all she got was a couple of sparks coming out from the disk.
"Oh come on!" Bumblebee groaned.
"I guess the disks still have a few more bugs to work out," Deku commented. "But at least no one got hurt."
"Yeah, I guess that's a plus," Bumblebee muttered as she walked to the car that was meant to be the size of a Hot Wheel toy. "I don't get it. When I want to be big, I become small. But when I want to be small, I can't change the size of anything else."
Deku placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Bumblebee." Deku said reassuringly.
"Thanks, Izuku." Bumblebee replied.
Bumblebee grabbed the disk from the car and pulled it free. But the disk wouldn't come off from the car. She tugged at it but it wouldn't budge. She grunted and snarled at the disk being stuck.
"Come on, you useless hunk of junk," Bumblebee groaned as she put her foot against the door. "Um, could you help me Deku, it's stuck."
"Um, yeah. Where do you want me to pull?" Deku asked.
"Just wrap your hands around my waist and pull," Bumblebee instructed, keeping her blush hidden with her helmet.
Deku nodded, thanking that his mask kept his blush hidden. He wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her pull against the disk's hold.
"Pull harder." Bumblebee said, pulling at the disk. "Harder! HARDER!"
They pulled as hard as they could, not knowing that the light on the disk turned on once more.
"One more time! I can feel it loosening up!" Bumblebee cried out.
The two heroes gave the disk one final strong pull. They fell backwards with the disk in their hands.
Bumblebee fell on top of Deku with a sigh.
"Finally, we got it." Bumblebee said before she noticed that the disk was lit up. "Uh oh…"
The disk activated and engulfed both Bumblebee and Deku in its bright light.
Both heroes closed their eyes as the light shined brightly in their eyes. However, as soon as the light came it faded.
Deku slowly opened his eyes. All he saw was the bright blue sky.
"What happened?" Deku asked before hearing a groan coming from on top of him.
He looked down and spotted Bumblebee, but she was different.
"Bumblebee, are you alright?" Deku asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. Stupid disk didn't do what I hoped it would." Bumblebee groaned.
"I wouldn't say that," Deku muttered as Bumblebee got up to her feet.
Bumblebee didn't understand what Deku meant. She looked at him with curiosity before she finally noticed the difference. She was way taller than him, head at the very least.
"Oh, my gosh, I'm taller now," Bumblebee hopped in excitement.
Although Deku was happy for Bumblebee, he then noticed that she wasn't the only one that was taller.
"Bumblebee, look behind you!" Deku said, pointing behind her.
Bumblebee stopped her happy jumping. She turned around and saw that the car they had tried to test the disk on was now the size of a building.
"Oh, I think the disk did work after all," Bumblebee said. "A little too much."
"Yeah, I think so." Deku added. "But how are we going to get back to our normal sizes?"
"I don't know, maybe if I can recalibrate one of the other disks, I can undo what happened to us." Bumblebee said.
"Do you have any other disks on you?" Deku asked.
"I think I left them back at the base. We need to get there or we'll stay this tall forever," Bumblebee explained as she activated her wings.
"Then let's get going." Deku replied.
Just as they were about to move out, they heard a buzzing noise coming from over their heads.
"What was that?" Deku asked.
"It wasn't my wings," Bumblebee said as they looked around for the source of the noise.
They heard the buzzing sound again, this time it moved quickly over their heads. The noise began to encircle them. The heroes got back to back as they scoured for the source of the noise. As they watched out for any source of that noise, it became louder and louder.
"Where is it coming from?" Bumblebee asked.
"It kinda sounds like… it's coming from," Deku replied, listening for the source of the noise until he found it. "Up there!"
Deku and Bumblebee looked up and spotted a swarm of bees flying above their heads.
"Oh no." Deku said.
"That's a lot of bees," Bumblebee added. "But why are they here?"
The bees moved, closing in on the two shrunken heroes like a school of sharks. They moved around, focusing their eyes on Bumblebee more than Deku.
"Not sure. I think they think you're a bee as well." Deku surmised. "But why are they behaving like this? You wouldn't happen to have a bee translator on your helmet, would you?"
"Just because I like the bee theme doesn't mean that I can talk to bees." Bumblebee replied. "Although, I'm beginning to think that I should have gotten one of those."
The bees charged at the heroes.
Deku activated One For All and kicked one of the incoming bees away from them.
"I guess they think we're food or something!" Deku said.
"Don't hurt them, bees are needed on the planet." Bumblebee said, dodging the charging bees. "But I don't want to be food for them. Let's go!" She added, flying away.
Bumblebee picked up Deku and flew away from the bees.
The two heroes exited the junkyard with a small swarm of bees coming up behind them. They flew through the streets, dodging pedestrians and cars.
"Why are they chasing us?!" Bumblebee asked as Deku ran on the roof of a car.
"I don't know! We didn't attack their hive, didn't even go near it." Deku replied before kicking another bee away from them.
"Let's just make it to Sweet Justice before we become food for them!" Bumblebee said, before abruptly stopping.
A large truck drove past them, nearly crushing them against its windshield.
Bumblebee took off once more but this time through the streets and back alleys of the city. She flew under fire escapes and people that were throwing away their garbage as the bees chased after her.
The two small heroes were now made aware that the whole world was dangerous. They kept going on the run from the bees as well as the rest of the world.
"We can't keep this up!" Deku said, spotting an open manhole that was just about to be closed. "In there!"
Bumblebee nodded before zooming past the cars. She narrowly flew past the moving vehicles. She dodged a large pick up truck by flying under it. She let out a sigh of relief before she was met with another fast moving car headed straight towards her. Bumblebee flew under the car, holding Deku as tightly as she could. She spotted the manhole and dove into it before it got closed by the workers.
"That was too close." Bumblebee sighed.
"Yeah." Deku sighed in agreement.
They then started coughing as the smell of the sewers got to their noses.
"Ok, maybe diving into the sewers wasn't the best idea." Deku admitted.
"At least we aren't being chased by those bees anymore." Bumblebee coughed. "This could be a good way for us to get to the base without running into any more problems."
"Let's land and figure out where to go from here," Deku said, pointing to a dried spot to land. "Over there."
Bumblebee flew them down to the dried out spot before panting in exhaustion.
"Are you alright, Bumblebee?" Deku asked, letting her lean on him.
"I'm good, just a little out of breath." Bumblebee breathed out. "I need a minute before moving."
Deku kept a lookout as Bumblebee took in a couple of deep breaths. However, Bumblebee wasn't able to get as much of a breath given their current hiding spot.
"Oh man, this is just my luck. I finally get taller but everything else around me gets much bigger," Bumblebee moaned. "And to top it off, we're stuck in the sewers of the city. Not the best day I've had."
"Don't worry, Bumblebee. We'll figure this out." Deku said, helping Bumblebee get up. "I think we're right on South Blvd, which would mean that we need to head north to the intersection and then turn east on 52 st."
Bumblebee smiled as Deku lifted her up on his back and started running with One For All. She loved how he was always there for her regardless of the size they were. She often saw him like an older brother or mentor that helped her through her problems and guided her to becoming a better person. She wished she could just lay against his back and just enjoy the feeling. But Bumblebee remembered where they were and covered her nose.
After running at high speeds for over an hour, Deku and Bumblebee finally arrived at the intersection of the sewers.
Just then a loud creaking noise caught their attention.
"What was that?" Bumblebee asked.
"I don't know, but it sounded like it came from the other side of this hallway." Deku said, turning towards the sound of the noise.
They narrowed their eyes to see what was causing all the noise, and Bumblebee even activated her lights.
The creaking and groaning got louder as it got closer to the two shrunken heroes.
"What could it be?" Deku asked.
"It sounds like it's coming from the pipes." Bumblebee pointed out.
The sound got louder and louder, but something else was added to the incoming noise. Now it sounded more like a bolt from the pipes was sent flying from the rest of the pipe.
Suddenly, a huge torrent of dirty and murky water blasted from the pipes and enveloped the hallway.
Both heroes screamed in fear as they took off, running away from the flood coming towards them. They ran as fast as they could with the water gaining ground and getting slowly closer towards the two shrunken heroes. The amount of water would've been nothing to them in their regular height, but being the size of a bumblebee made the water all the more terrifying.
"What is going on?!" Bumblebee asked as she used her wings to carry her and Deku away from the incoming sewer tsunami.
"The pipes must've bursted and the water is flooding this part of the sewers!" Deku replied as he jumped to the pipes that were at the very top of the sewer. "We need to get back up before we're washed away by the flood!"
"This is definitely not the way I wanna go! There's an exit just up ahead!" Bumblebee said. "Hold on, I'll catch you!"
Deku jumped towards Bumblebee, catching her hands.
Bumblebee pulled Deku close to her as she flew ahead of the incoming water. She looked up and spotted a rain drain entrance a little farther ahead. She flew directly at the entrance with Deku close to her body, managing to get out of the sewers and back to the open air. Bumblebee didn't stop there, she continued flying towards an empty table. She landed on the table just enough to figure out where they were and how far they would need to fly back to their base.
"Ok, so no more sewers for a while, right?" Bumblebee asked.
"Yep, definitely. I can see the ferris wheel over the horizon," Deku said, pointing to the pier. "We should get there shortly."
"I hope so. This is worse than being my normal size." Bumblebee sighed. "Everything is either trying to kill me or squash me. Urg, I should've stayed in the base and done some more tests."
"Hey, don't beat yourself up, Bumblebee. I'm to blame for this. If I hadn't suggested going outside then this wouldn't have happened." Deku replied apologetically.
Bumblebee smiled as she gave Deku a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks Deku, but I need to make myself responsible for my decisions. I'll fix this and we'll be back to our regular sizes in no time!" Bumblebee claimed, putting on a brave face.
Deku smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"HAAA! A PAIR OF BUGS!"
Deku and Bumblebee looked up and saw a woman screaming in fear of them.
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM!" She screamed, lifting up her bag before bringing it down on the table.
Deku and Bumblebee jumped out of the way as the bag struck the table.
The table was flipped and both of the shrunken heroes were sent flying into the air.
Deku and Bumblebee flew through the air and landed on another table, this time one with a couple that were just about to share dessert. They landed on the chocolate mousse, causing the couple to scream in surprise. The two shrunken heroes jumped out of the dessert and ran as fast as they could. They ducked and jumped over the swatting napkins and the cans of bug spray.
Bumblebee picked up Deku and flew up towards the roof of the restaurant.
They landed before looking down at the restaurant and the people, seeing the results of the chaos.
"Wow, some people just don't like bugs." Bumblebee muttered.
"But at least we are away from them for now." Deku added.
Just then the sound of chirping caught their attention. The two shrunk heroes turned around and spotted a whole flock of pigeons looking at them.
"...Oh come on." Deku muttered before the pigeons flew towards them.
Deku and Bumblebee let out a scared scream before taking off once more. They flew through the sky as the pigeons flew after them.
Deku looked back and spotted one of the pigeons getting closer to them. He quickly turned around and fired a flick at the flying feathered menace.
"20% Delaware SMASH!" Deku called out, unleashing his attack.
The blast of air struck the pigeon like a bowling ball, sending it back and away from the two heroes. However, this only allowed for more pigeons to take its place. The flying threats flapped ever closer to the two heroes, forcing them to work together for a counter strategy.
"They're still coming!" Deku called out as he fired another Delaware Smash at another bird. "Why are they after us?"
"I don't know, but we need to lose them," Bumblebee replied as she carried Deku. "And fast!"
Bumblebee held on to Deku for dear life as she flew them away from the incoming pigeons. She kept them in the air while Deku fired his smashes at the pigeons with near perfect accuracy. However, she was forced to move from side to side and do some abrupt turns to avoid the obstacles that popped in front of them.
"I'll never whine about being short again!" Bumblebee cried out, flying past a stop sign.
"We're almost there, Bumblebee!" Deku called out encouragingly. "I can hear the waves of the ocean getting closer! Head to the food area of the pier, we'll lose them there!" He instructed before firing another Delaware Smash with his pinkie finger. "Hurry!"
Bumblebee did as Deku suggested. She spotted the snack bar with just enough people with popcorn, hotdogs, cotton candy, and pizza to get the attention of the pigeons. She flew across the pier and the people, putting the food in front of the flying pursuers.
As soon as the food came in front of the pigeons, the chase was over. The birds jumped at the chance of getting a piece of the pier food, leaving the heroes to go on their merry way back to their headquarters.
Deku and Bumblebee arrived at the entrance of Sweet Justice, getting in just as another client stepped inside. They zoomed past all the patrons of the sweet establishment before noticing that their usual table and entrance to their secret base was occupied.
A couple was eating a banana split while Deku and Bumblebee watched them from above.
"What do we do now?" Bumblebee asked. "Those two are blocking the entrance."
"We need to get them out without arousing suspicion. Bumblebee, try using your stingers at their lowest, it may make them think they're cramps." Deku suggested.
"And they'll get up and stretch, and give us our way in!" Bumblebee said.
Bumblebee quietly floated down to the table, dropping Deku behind the napkin dispenser. She turned her stingers on and set them to the smallest output. She fired one shot at the leg of the lady, causing her to yelp in slight pain. Bumblebee then turned her sights on the other lady just as she was about to take a bite out of the banana split.
The couple got up and stretched their legs, hoping to get rid of the feeling that they had just been stung.
Deku and Bumblebee used this chance to go down to the secret base, leaving everyone none the wiser.
The two shrunken heroes arrived at the base and quickly set out to work.
"Let's grab the disks!" Deku said, jumping to the table using One For All.
Bumblebee tried to move one of the disks, but they were too heavy for her.
"Deku, I need you to be my hands. I'll tell you what to do." Bumblebee said.
Deku picked up the disk using his greater strength. He rolled it up to Bumblebee and opened it up for her.
Bumblebee got to work on the disks. She needed to reverse the energy that was used for shrinking into one that would make them bigger. She altered her stingers into makeshift torches and began her rewiring.
"Alright, I think I've got it." Bumblebee said.
"Should we test it?" Deku asked, holding on to the disk.
"Good idea. Put it on top of that book." Bumblebee instructed.
Deku carried the disk all the way to the nearby book and placed it on top of it. He jumped back.
Bumblebee activated the disk and they both waited for the disk to do its thing.
The disk glowed yellow for a second. Then the book began to glow yellow as it started growing.
"It's working!" Bumblebee squealed.
Deku smiled, but then noticed that the book's growth wasn't slowing down.
"Um, Bumblebee, its not stopping!" Deku pointed out.
"Oh no! The energy is not stopping!" Bumblebee said as the book kept on growing, passing the size of a vespa. "We need to stop it before it crushes the base and us with it!"
Deku and Bumblebee jumped at the book as it crushed the table underneath it. They grabbed hold of the disk.
Bumblebee tried to deactivate it, but it wasn't working.
"Can we stop it if we disconnect it?" Deku asked.
"Yeah, that should work. If they aren't connected to a surface the shrinking and growing will stop." Bumblebee replied.
They both grabbed hold of the disk and pulled at it with all their strength. As the two heroes pulled at the disk, the growing energy affected them as well. They slowly reached their normal size, just as they were reaching the top of the ceiling.
"One final push!" Both Deku and Bumblebee called out, pulling the disk off of the book.
They looked up to see the ceiling only inches from crushing them.
"That was a close one." Bumblebee muttered.
"Yeah, but it was fun." Deku replied. "Maybe next time I can help out fixing the bugs in a more controllable place."
"Thanks, Izuku. I'd appreciate that." Bumblebee said, looking at herself. "But now we have two problems. One, what are we going to do with this book?"
"And two?" Deku asked before the book shrunk back down to its normal size, dropping the two heroes.
"Well, that's the first problem solved." Bumblebee said as they got back to their feet.
"What was the second problem, Karen?" Deku asked.
Karen took off her helmet and looked herself at the mirror.
"How am I going to explain to my parents that I grew a whole foot in height?" Karen said, making Deku spot what she was talking about.
Karen had retained her slightly taller stature thanks to the effects of her disks.
"Yeah, but you still look nice." Izuku said, getting Karen to blush.