To Lyger 0: It was a long time coming!
To CodeDweller: That is a very good question… I've already written a few of the post-"Saga" stories, though there's still a bit more of "The Colossus Saga" left.
To Rose Tiger: That's a question that needs answering posthaste…
The sounds of battle still reverberating throughout the ruins behind her, Killer Bee flung herself across the open space, caught her top around a protrusion from one of the buildings forming the wall of the Tarasque's "nest," and swung around it, placing two solid walls between her and where the heroes were still fighting against the newly-reemerged Beasts. Slowly she let herself down until her feet touched the ground, and she let out a bloodcurdling shriek, slamming both her fists into the brick wall next to her. The bricks shattered as she punched them again and again, shards of brick spraying backward into Killer Bee's face with each blow. Tears stung her eyes, leaving streaks in the ashes and dust coating her cheeks. Her two-toned hair whipped around her head, obscuring her vision, and she clenched her eyes shut. A bellowing screech echoed off of the walls and reverberated in Killer Bee's consciousness.
How could the situation get any worse?
She had been moments from success, only to have it snatched away. Cavalière Lavande had blocked her and stripped her of her extra power, so soon after she had received it. She had failed. She'd had the perfect opportunity to rid herself of Ladybug once and for all and to come out of the whole situation as the hero – kill Ladybug, take her miraculous, stop the Tarasque, and fix the world – and she had completely blown it. The stupid Cat had gotten in the way at the last minute, robbing her of her advantage. Ladybug had survived and escaped. All the heroes had seen her fighting Ladybug. And somehow – even with an Akuma power-up – she had lost to goddamn Sent-Bee! That, more than anything else, got under her skin. Chloe fucking Bourgeois, even without a miraculous, had managed to stop her, albeit temporarily. And then to have Cavalière Lavande rip away her Akuma power…
The only possible saving grace in this whole fiasco was that maybe Sent-Bee had been crushed by the Tarasque anyways. She hadn't managed to push her under its paw – Cavalière Lavande had intervened too soon for that – but she had been close, and the Tarasque had been thrashing around a lot. It wouldn't be the same as killing Ladybug… but it would come close. But Sent-Bee had a nasty habit of wriggling her way out of danger; of course Killer Bee couldn't be so lucky. Somehow, Chloe was going to come out of this looking like even more of a hero.
All of that acclaim should have gone to Killer Bee!
How could she ever show her face in Paris again after this?
Killer Bee collapsed to her knees, choking back sobs. Smacking her forehead against the wall in front of her, she inhaled the stench of smoke and ozone, intermingled with the Tarasque's own poison, and stifled a cough, covering her mouth with her arm. She had miscalculated; she could realize that now. She hadn't gotten where she was by acting on impulse; her greatest gains always came when she waited and bided her time. Maybe Ladybug had been vulnerable in that moment… but not vulnerable enough. She should have just done what she said she would in the first place: take out the Tarasque with the heroes and accept the reflected spotlight from them for her help. And if she had helped them, maybe that would have gotten her close enough to them to act. Maybe then, with the Tarasque defeated, she could still have taken Ladybug down in the confusion – taken her miraculous and come out as the hero. But she had acted in the heat of the moment. She had taken her shot, and she had missed.
She could taste the ashes of her failure in her mouth. There was no coming back from this. She had lost everything – whatever remained after the Tarasque disrupted and destroyed so much. What would be left for her in Paris? So much of it what already gone. But whatever she still had there, one false move and she could lose it all! Her jaw clenched. No. This wouldn't be her end – she wouldn't let it. Maybe she should leave everything behind, but so what? This would just be a setback; she could still accomplish her goal. It just might not happen right now. She could wait. Maybe – maybe she needed to return to Italy. Or England – but the Heroes of Paris had friends there. If she ran into them when she wasn't ready… She needed somewhere new, somewhere that they would never think to look for her, where she could rebuild and come back better, stronger, smarter. Somewhere–
"Killer Bee?"
She froze, her breath hitching in her throat. Now that she was listening for it, she realized that the sounds of battle had faded away behind her. There had been a last deafening roar, and then silence. A swirl of red magic appeared in her peripheral vision but vanished the moment she tried to concentrate on it. Clearly the Heroes of Paris had won.
Clearly they would be after her soon.
She didn't have long…
Quickly and smoothly, Killer Bee composed herself, wiping away some of the brick dust on her face to hide the evidence of her breakdown. Her hair was still in disarray, and the faint outline of the tear streaks was still visible in the glass of the newly-repaired storefront beside her, but it would have to do. "Yeah?" She coughed and stood up, starting in surprise on seeing the face looking down at her expectantly. "Gymnaste?" Killer Bee swallowed nervously, forcing a calm exterior mask onto her face, her breath catching in her throat. Was another poor decision about to come back and bite her in the ass? "What are you doing here?"
La Gymnaste cocked her head in confusion. Killer Bee clutched her top one-handed behind her back, white-knuckled, ready to strike. La Gymnaste would never see it coming until it was too late. There was a beam of metal rebar jutting out of the building above them – a few seconds, and it would all be over. The angle and trajectory calculations ran themselves in Killer Bee's head, even before La Gymnaste could respond. La Gymnaste frowned, her eyes wide, staring at Killer Bee. "What are you doing over here?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be joining in the celebration? We won!"
Killer Bee blinked dumbly, staring back at her. "We… won."
"I mean, duh…" La Gymnaste grinned excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "I didn't see all of it, but… the Tarasque is gone now! I thought it would never be over, but we did it! And you must have been in the thick of it, too! Isn't that so amazing?"
Killer Bee gave her a simpering grin. "Oh, I was definitely in the middle of it," she agreed.
La Gymnaste's expression almost instantly shifted to concern, studying Killer Bee's face carefully. "Are–are you okay?" she asked, wiping some of the smudges from Killer Bee's cheeks.
Killer Bee pushed her away and coughed. "Of course I'm okay…" She sighed heavily. "It was just a rough fight, that's all. Giving la Gymnaste a calculating look, she tested the weight of the top in her hand, keeping the metal beam over their head in the corner of her peripheral vision. "So… how much of the fight did you get to see?"
La Gymnaste frowned in disappointment, her shoulders slumped. "Not much at all," she answered. "I was all the way on the other side of the nest for most of it – I was hardly in the nest, even! But after the Beasts finally broke up, I came back inside and tried to help Nagual search for survivors and keep the Ox from attacking a couple heroes who had gotten hurt." La Gymnaste pursed her lips in disappointment. "There really weren't all that many survivors to find." She sighed heavily, looking down at the ground. "And I really wanted to see you and Caravela take it down, too… It must have been absolutely epic!"
Killer Bee subtly let out a relieved breath. "Oh, it absolutely was an epic fight!" she agreed, grinning easily at la Gymnaste. "But it's good for you to be where you were. You were doing what you were supposed to do," she assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have been safe for you to be close enough to see how the Tarasque was destroyed."
La Gymnaste hummed doubtfully. "I suppose…" she agreed hesitantly. "But tell me: what happened?"
Killer Bee rubbed her forehead before running her fingers through her hair. "Truthfully, I really don't remember too much of it," she answered sheepishly, giving la Gymnasts a cautious look.. "It was just all chaos. I went to hit it with the Venom – but then Sent-Bee tried to stop me! Can you believe it?"
La Gymnaste's eyes went wide. "You mean Sent-Bee turned on everyone?" she demanded. "That's awful! How could that possibly have happened?"
"I–at least I think that's what happened…" Killer Bee shrugged. "My head still hurts a little, to be honest – I think I got hit in the head by someone. But it doesn't matter. We won; that's the important thing."
La Gymnaste nodded encouragingly. "We won!" She frowned. "So why aren't you over celebrating with the rest of the Heroes?"
Killer Bee hid a grimace. "Oh… I can let Ladybug have this one," she replied. "I don't need to be in the spotlight for everything." La Gymnaste hummed, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. Killer Bee eyed her carefully – the slump of her shoulders, the droop in her hair. She wanted to join the party. And if Killer Bee stood in her way, that would make it even more suspicious. "Oh, but that doesn't mean you have to sit the celebrations out," Killer Bee quickly added. "You should go over and join everyone else." La Gymnaste cocked her head in confusion. Killer Bee smiled widely in encouragement. "You know, I've been to plenty of these celebrations," Killer Bee explained, grinning, "but this will be your first one! Just… stay out of Ladybug's way, okay?"
La Gymnaste cocked her head, examining Killer Bee with a confused look on her face. "I mean, I guess I can do that…" she allowed. "But I really wanted to say 'hi' to her and say how excited I am about working together finally."
Killer Bee scoffed, squeezing la Gymnaste's shoulder almost to the point of pain as she drew her in close. "I'm sure you would," she agreed. "But Ladybug is far too busy to be answering questions from the little people right now. She's much too important, with much too important of things to the worrying about right now than to bother with someone like you."
"You really think so?" La Gymnaste's face fell, and she sighed heavily. Killer Bee nodded, giving her a sympathetic look. La Gymnaste's shoulders slumped. "Okay… so I'll see you when it's time to go back to Paris?"
Shit. Killer Bee stifled a grimace. She'd forgotten about that – she would have to return to Paris sooner or later, and right now, with the Heroes, was the only way it could happen. Unless… Her eyes widened in surprise "No…" she told la Gymnaste, straightening up against the wall. She coughed and cleared her throat. "No, actually Ladybug asked me to head back sooner to make sure everything is secure in Paris before people start to return. And she wants me to check the roads between here and Paris, to make sure people can drive along them. That means I have to leave right now. But fortunately Mother has a friend at the Marseille consulate with a car. So I'll actually have to see you back in Paris."
"Sounds good," la Gymnaste agreed, beaming brightly. "I can't wait to get back and see Philippe and my parents and–"
"And I'm sure they're all just waiting to see you," Killer Bee told her, steering her back in the direction of the Heroes and pushing her around the corner. "But for now, I need to get going." She frowned, giving la Gymnaste a calculating look. "And it would be best for you not to tell anyone you saw me over here – I don't want to get stopped before I can get back home. I'll let them know myself when I get there."