To Rose Tiger: We shall see…
To Anon: Because fighting the Tarasque wasn't exciting enough!
To Lyger 0: Akuma-fueled Killer Bee vs. Sent-Bee. Get your bets in…
Standing near the still-open portal, Cavalière Lavande stared in shock and horror as Killer Bee's top lashed out at Sent-Bee, who kicked off into the air and activated her jetpack. Ladybug backed away from Killer Bee, stumbling over a loose piece of concrete as she did so. Her grip on Cat Noir tightened reflexively. Killer Bee snarled as she dodged a stream of synth-Venom from Sent-Bee, who shot backward away from Killer Bee, skimming only a meter above the ground. The top missed Sent-Bee's calf by a hair's breadth and continued on, away from the Tarasque. Killer Bee tugged the top back seconds before it would have struck Cackle on the far side of the nest, where she was racing to extract a small family of civilians from the Tarasque's path. Cackle spun around in surprise and brandished her assegai, twirling it in front of herself, but Killer Bee had already sprinted away from her in pursuit of Sent-Bee. Sent-Bee shot up higher into the air, spinning her yo-yo to one side while sending stream after stream of synth-Venom at Killer-Bee. Blocking the synth-Venom with her top, Killer Bee crashed straight into Roqonsa Saada as she and Buq Hayij clung to one of the Tarasque's legs, struggling to keep the Tarasque occupied while Rugindo Leoa and Joey moved into position to attack it from the other side. The Tarasque bellowed, threw Roqonsa Saada aside, and lashed its tail out at her. Moments before the tail struck, Roqonsa Saada shimmered dark blue. In midair, the tail struck her square in the face, knocking her backward across two blocks, through a half-destroyed wall, and into the edge of the Tarasque's debris-nest. Immediately she rose to her feet and sprinted back in, flicking the Tarasque's upraised paw with her fly-whisk.
As the Tarasque lumbered about through the devastation, harried by Iron Maiden and Mecha-Man from above, Killer Bee looped her top around one of the Tarasque's legs and swung around it, throwing herself up into the air, straight at Sent-Bee. Rolling to one side, Sent-Bee narrowly evaded the attack, sending a spray of her synth-Venom into the space that Killer Bee would pass through. Killer Bee released the Tarasque, contorted her body around, and spun her top as a shield to block the synth-Venom before hurling the top back at Sent-Bee. Sent-Bee pulled her arm back, moments before the top would have wrapped around it, and grabbed onto the string as it passed. Killer Bee tugged hard on the top, skidding across the ground until her feet caught on the edge of a building's foundation. Sent-Bee immediately released the top and rocketed higher up into the air, shooting past Iron Maiden and nearly slamming into the wing of a space-plane. The plane raised its wing in response, just as Sent-Bee reached up to grab onto it and was propelled higher into the air.
"Oh, you aren't getting away from me that easily, Snide Bitch!" Killer Bee shrieked, taking a running jump, springboarding off of the Tarasque's knee, and throwing her top at Sent-Bee, missing the space-plane by less than a meter and catching around Sent-Bee's ankle.
Sent-Bee let out a gasp, glancing down and shaking her leg, but the top held fast. Still in midair, Killer Bee yanked back on the top, reeling herself in toward Sent-Bee and swinging around beneath her. Sent-Bee yelped in surprise, pushing more energy into her jetpack as Killer Bee's weight unbalanced her and dragged her back down toward the Tarasque below. Dropping one of her yo-yos, Sent-Bee drew her second synth-Venom gun and shot two streams at Killer Bee, twisting around and swinging Killer Bee wildly. As she careened into the closest building, Killer Bee braced her legs and ran along the brickwork, looping her top's string around a protrusion from the wall and drawing Sent-Bee down lower. A roar reverberated through the nest as Dhuan pulled Fin and Coquette away from the Tarasque. The ground shook; the Tarasque stomped. The building Killer Bee was racing horizontally across trembled and shuddered before collapsing. Killer Bee jumped away from it, only barely evading a stream of synth-Venom, and dropped to land on the ground. Sent-Bee's jetpack whined.
Suddenly, a gout of fire shot past Sent-Bee, aiming for the space-plane circling above her. The space-plane rolled over horizontally as the fire flew past it and turned its belly to the fire vision, flying upside down and dropping for the deck as the Tarasque's gazed turned down to follow it. Letting off a volley of missiles at the Tarasque's face, the space-plane careened straight toward Cavalière Lavande. Mecha-Man and Majestia both unleashed energy blasts at the Tarasque's head, detonating the missiles centimeters from its face and raining shrapnel over its snout. The diving space-plane caught itself a meter above Cavalière Lavande's head before rotating and shooting away at a shallow upward angle.
Crack!
Cavalière Lavande stumbled to one knee, her ears ringing, unable to hear. The Tarasque's roars echoed above her as though through water. The ground shook from its enraged stomping. Beside her Bandruí's mouth moved, but no sound seemed to come out. Bodies moved in all directions around her toward and away from the portal behind her. She could feel the energy that had held the portal open beginning to dissipate. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the half-standing wall next to her swaying, new cracks spider-webbing through it after the sonic crack that had detonated above her. Finally, Cavalière Lavande shook her head and stirred from her reverie.
Killer Bee landed beside the Tarasque and pulled on her top, swinging Sent-Bee down into the ground, hard. Sent-Bee's jetpack hit the ground first and she landed on top of it with a crack. Superheated fuel spilled out of the jetpack, sending a sudden flash of light and heat across the area. Killer Bee stalked toward her, top swinging at her side. Sent-Bee gasped, wheezing for breath, and could only hold up her hands feebly to protect herself when Killer Bee stabbed her in the shoulder with her top.
"You've been a pain in my ass for so long, Bourgeois…" Killer Bee hissed, sliding her foot under the immobilized Sent-Bee. "I'm not going to miss you." Her leg tensed, preparing to roll Sent-Bee under the Tarasque's paw.
"Stop!" Cavalière Lavande's eyes flashed dangerously and she rose unsteadily to her feet. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Killer Bee froze in place suddenly, the outline of a lavender butterfly manifesting around her eyes. "Do. Not. Hurt. Her."
The Tarasque swung its front paw at Big Blue, smacking him to the side, into Taureau Dechaine, who tumbled a dozen meters away and skidded to a stop next to Killer Bee. Slowly, ponderously, fighting for every degree, Killer Bee twisted her head to face Cavalière Lavande, hatred in her eyes. "You don't tell me what to do!" Killer Bee yelled, her voice ringing in Cavalière Lavande's ears despite the distance. Killer Bee clenched a tight fist around her top and forced herself forward, in Cavalière Lavande's direction. Behind her, Big Blue pushed himself to his feet and charged back at the Tarasque.
Cavalière Lavande held out her hand, her eyes narrowed, and concentrated with all her will on the connection between herself and Killer Bee. Her fingers tensed, and she clenched her fist. "Freeze!" Killer Bee's foot paused in the middle of a step. Her eyes widened the slightest bit, only to narrow in fury when, as though she was moving through molasses, she pressed forward, her eyes locked on Cavalière Lavande despite the Tarasque rampaging behind her. The Tarasque roared, sending a beam of fire at Amun-Vatar, who drew a pattern of light in the air between them. The pattern glowed and spun rapidly, absorbing the fire and increasing in size and brightness. Flames wreathed the construct as it grew larger and larger, drawing in more and more of the Tarasque's fire vision. Flames shot out from it in all directions, one of which singed Kamimizu's hair as Kamikaze pulled her out of the way, and another of which hit the ground right in front of Cavalière Lavande, breaking her concentration.
Killer Bee sprang forward with a snarl and leapt into the air, all her attention focused on Cavalière Lavande. Snagging her top out of midair, she squeezed it, grinning manically, and the tip pulsed with Venom. "Thank you so much for the extra power, Bitch-erfly," Killer Bee taunted, jumping off of a rickety streetlight that collapsed the moment she touched it. "But I don't actually need you any more, now that I've got an Akuma!" With a scream, she hurled the top straight at Cavalière Lavande's chest.
Eyes narrowed in fury, Cavalière Lavande drew her cane and swung to one side, batting the top away to embed in the ground beside her. Killer Bee tugged on the top, giving a little more momentum to her onslaught, and the top pulled out of the ground. It had only risen a little bit away from the ground when Killer Bee swung it to the side, catching it around Cavalière Lavande's ankle. Feeling the string against her leg, Cavalière Lavande tensed and just barely managed to keep her footing. Stepping forward onto the end of the string, she pulled Killer Bee down to the ground in front of her. "I don't think you understand how this works!" Cavalière Lavande growled, teeth bared. Her grip on the cane tightened. The shouting around them rose to fevered pitch as a beam of energy shot past them, leaving spots in Cavalière Lavande's vision. "I gave you this power; I can take it away!" Cavalière Lavande's eyes flashed as she mentally grabbed onto the power that she had given to Killer Bee, lurking just below the surface. The hair clip in Killer Bee's hair shifted its color, the purple receding from the tips and beginning to condense down into the top. Killer Bee's eyes widened in shock, her mouth set in a thin line, and she froze rigidly in place. Cavalière Lavande pulled on the Akuma, but Killer Bee gritted her teeth, glaring back at Cavalière Lavande, and pulled back, holding the Akuma's power in.
"You… will… not… deny me!" Killer Bee jerked on her top, flipping Cavalière Lavande onto her back as the top pulled out from under her foot. Cavalière Lavande rolled backward to come up into a crouch, her cane resting lengthwise on the ground next to her. Behind Killer Bee, the Tarasque roared, snapping at Cyclone and Kunoichi as they darted around its head, Cyclone held aloft by his wind power and Kunoichi on flipper-shaped wings. Slowly, the Beast turned in Cavalière Lavande's direction. Its fire vision struck the ground a few meters away, melting the pockmarked pavement into molten tar. Killer Bee stumbled and fell forward toward Cavalière Lavande as she stood up. Catching her top in one hand, eyes flashing in triumph, Killer Bee drove the top into Cavalière Lavande's gut.
Her concentration broken by the molten tar nearby, Cavalière Lavande almost missed the top, only barely bringing up her cane and twirling it to deflect the top aside. Killer Bee jumped backward and pirouetted around one toe, dropping down into a defensive stance and lunging forward again. Cane held in both hands, Cavalière Lavande brought the pommel up into Killer Bee's chin and swung it around to catch her hip with the tip, throwing Killer Bee over her shoulder. Killer Bee swiped at her with the top, only barely missing Cavalière Lavande's shoulder with the tip as she flew over her shoulder. Cavalière Lavande threw her off the cane with a flourish as the ground shook behind her. Killer Bee twisted around in midair to land on all fours, top clutched in one hand. Cavalière Lavande furrowed her brows in concentration, squeezing both hands and sending a spike of psionic pain into Killer Bee's mind through their Akuma connection, and Killer Bee winced. Another jolt of psionic pain, and Killer Bee gasped sharply. A third shot of pain, and Killer Bee clutched her head. "You are no longer my Champion!" declared Cavalière Lavande, her jaw clenched, as a lavender cloud engulfed Killer Bee.
"You bitch!" spat Killer Bee the moment the cloud cleared, tensing to spring. One fist clenched around her top, but she suddenly looked past Cavalière Lavande and gasped, her eyes bulging. Cavalière Lavande tensed, her cane held protectively in front of herself with both hands, but Killer Bee wasn't paying her any attention. She threw her top as far as she could out of the Tarasque's nest, and allowed it to pull her away.
Cavalière Lavande dropped one foot back into a sprinter's stance to run after her, but a sudden shadow covered her. Turning her head slightly, she looked up at one of the Tarasque's enormous paws. Her mouth fell open in shock and horror. A part of her searched about for an avenue of escape… but another part of her wanted nothing more than to bow to the inevitable. Everything had gone wrong for her today. Nooroo had tried to warn her, but she hadn't listened. Her Champion had turned on her and attacked her friends. Yes, she had stopped Killer Bee… but all for naught. And now, after all of this – after seeking to redeem herself and earn back Marinette's trust… what more was there for her to do? Without her Champion, how could they hope to stop the Tarasque?
They had made their play, and they had failed.
And yet – she chuckled, half-deliriously, as the paw grew larger above her – how oddly fitting it was for her to die in the same way that Max had. Her shoulders slumped, Cavalière Lavande fell to her knees and looked down at the ground beneath her, waiting for the coming end. She sniffled.
"I'm sorry, Max."
As the paw fell, she could almost feel a hand grabbing her wrist.