GOTHAM CITY
JANUARY 22ND 2016 23:17 EST
Mariposa did not often patrol Gotham anymore. She had her hands full with the Team, shifts at Cookie Cutter, and then working to get her business management degree from Ivy Town College, so that didn't leave much time for just normal patrolling and ground-level hero work. Nightwing, much like her, had fallen into the same trap, unfortunately, which left most of the patrolling of Gotham City to Batman, the new Robin, and Waspia.
And, of course, the unauthorized Honeybee.
In the past two weeks, there had been more and more sightings of this untrained and unsanctioned new addition to the gallery of Gotham heroes. Betty could hardly watch a single news report without their being updates on this new, blonde hero. And it made Betty's blood boil, as the news seemed to be celebrating the return of the iconic Honeybee mantle after a year and a half of disappearance. It didn't matter to them it was someone new, that the old one was gone for one reason or another.
Honeybee was hers. Her mantle, the name she had taken all those years ago to fight alongside her mother. Didn't she have a right to be the one to hand it out? Sure, they didn't know that, as Artemis had pointed out to her almost two weeks ago, but it still made her irrationally upset. Well maybe irrational was not the word, as it certainly felt rational to Betty.
That's why Betty had decided to make more time to patrol Gotham, if only for the selfish reason to see the new Honeybee in action and confront them.
Mariposa landed on the edge of the Gotham rooftop, her boots creating a soft clatter, lowered into a crouch. Her leg jetted out to the side, and she watched with narrowed eyes for any sign of trouble below. She knew that there was a recent small breakout from Arkham, so she was on the lookout for some of the villains who had managed to escape before Batman and Robin managed to put a stop to it. But she also knew that that was just before Christmas, meaning most of them were keeping their heads down right now before they got their big plans put together.
But normal crime was still rampant throughout the city, and the GCPD was hopeless to stop it all. That's mostly why they allowed the Batfam and the Beehive to operate, despite having no powers and being more or less just highly trained vigilantes versus a superpowered induvial like Wonder Woman or Capitan Marvel. They just couldn't handle it all. Mariposa also secretly supposed they were a little scared of Batman and were a little afraid to try and take him and his allies out. Especially when the sanctioned Justice League backed him.
Mariposa noticed a figure from her periphery, and she turned her head to see a figure dressed in all black walking down the sidewalk, their head down. That didn't automatically make someone guilty of something, so Mariposa gave them one more critical look and was about to turn away when she saw something glitter from their hoodie pocket. She frowned and tilted her head to the side, now intrigued.
The figure flicked their head up, and she could make out red hair beneath their hood, small curls blowing out from the light winter wind. Mariposa noticed another person walking from the other direction, their head held up and a thin look of impassiveness on their face. Mariposa seemed to see what was going to happen just before it did, and she was already standing to jump to the ground below when the figure in all black pulled out the knife and started to pull the other figure back into the alley below.
"Give me your money," the figure seethed, and the other let out a slight yelp. Mariposa jumped to the ground with a thick clatter, and the two figures turned to her. Mariposa smiled at them cheekily, arms up and prepared to fight.
"Am I interrupting?" she teased. The figure with the knife snarled but did not remove the knife from being placed just below the other's neck. Mariposa had hoped that her teasing would have the figure redirect their knife toward them, allowing the other person to flee. It had been a long shot, yes, but a shot none the less. "Guess I am. Sorry to be rude."
She jumped into action, kicking the knife-holding figure in the knee. They screeched in pain and the knife dropped from right below their neck, and Mariposa punched them in the face, sending them back and away, finally getting the other figure out of the way.
"Go, run!"
They did as they were instructed, hightailing it out of the alley before anything else could be said.
The knife man growled and pointed it at Mariposa, who kept her arms up defensively.
"You're gonna pay for that," the knife man growled. Mariposa shook her head and reached for a stinger in her utility belt.
"I seriously doubt that."
Mariposa was mere milliseconds from letting the stinger fly when from above came a projectile – pure metal, from the quick look that Mariposa got of it – that knocked into the knife man's hand, forcing him to drop it. Mariposa gaped for a second, looking up to the sky, and found a shadowy figure running back from the edge of the roof.
Mariposa didn't have much time to question this shadowy ally, as she still had an opponent in front of her. Mariposa quickly pushed forward, sending her knee up to hit her opponent in the jaw. They were knocked back slightly, and she quickly hit him with her wrist, hand flipped up, and he fell with another quick kick to his chest. She checked to make sure he was down for the count, and dropped a butterfly charm so when the police found them, they knew what had happened here.
She quickly made her way up the fire escape and back to the roof, where she saw one building down the shadowy ally running away. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of yellow boots and cropped short blonde hair. This ally was not Robin passing through, but rather it was the new Honeybee. Just who she was looking for, right in front of her.
"Wait!" Mariposa called, and she took off at a run, her feet pounding across the rooftop as she rushed to catch up to this new hero. She jumped over the small expanse between the two buildings, and she noticed that the new Honeybee was cautious as they jumped between the two in front of her. They hesitated, just enough that their feet fumbled but not enough they fell, as if scared they were going to fall. Mariposa remembered back in the early days as Honeybee, how she had done the same thing.
Honeybee had a lead on her, but Mariposa was faster, and much more experienced at following people. Mariposa easily caught up to them, reaching them just as they tried to jump another building. They hesitated, and this was their downfall as that moment of hesitation was what allowed Mariposa to grab them by the arm, and pull them back and away from the edge of the roof.
The Honeybee looked at them with wide eyes, and Mariposa finally got a good look at this new Honeybee and realized with a start it was not a blonde but a blond. Mariposa hadn't known why she had assumed the new Honeybee was a woman like her, maybe it was because she had taken on the mantle and assumed that whoever took it next would be a girl. But this was a boy – no, not a boy, Mariposa realized, but a man. They were clearly of similar age to her, if not slightly older.
Mariposa got a good look at their suit, and realized it was a little more detailed than a black unitard with yellow stripes on the chest with yellow boots. The yellow lines spread from the Golden Bee insignia in the center of the chest, the symbol of Waspia, yellow lines spreading out like extensions of the bee's legs. They had a completely black mask, one that failed to cover their green eyes, which stared at her with surprise and…..awe?
"You're Mariposa," they whispered, irreverent. Mariposa blinked, unsure what to say. It was clear that this Honeybee had not expected to come face to face with Mariposa.
Mariposa fumbled over what to say in response. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say; she had wanted to find this new Honeybee, but she had never really considered what she might say to them.
"You're the old Honeybee, right?" they continued. "I mean of course you are. I mean, it makes sense, Honeybee disappears and then a new hero pops up? But, like, you are her, right?"
Mariposa blinked, still at a loss for words. The new hero continued to ramble, seemingly having the opposite problem to Mariposa.
"Please tell me you're her, and I didn't just make a fool of myself in front of a stranger. Not that we, you know, know each other, but – you know what I mean, right? You know what, nevermind, forget I said anything, I'll just –"
"What the actual hell are you doing?"
The young hero flinched black like they had been slapped.
"What?"
Mariposa huffed, and finally let go of the hero, stepping back.
"You're going to get yourself killed," Mariposa seethed out. "You have no back-up, no training, nothing. This isn't some game, kid."
They put their arms akimbo and pursed their lips, green eyes alit with outrage.
"I'm not a kid, I'm easily the same age as you!" they defended. Mariposa shook her head and took a dangerous step forward.
"That's not the point!" Mariposa fired off. "Unless you know what you're doing, something bad is going to happen. You need to pack it up and go home, leave being a hero to someone else."
Honeybee did not seem to like that, as they furrowed their brow together and scoffed, crossing their arms across their chest.
"I know what I'm doing," they insisted. "I have training. And I do have backup, even if you don't see them."
Mariposa was mildly surprised. This new Honeybee looked like a start-up, someone who started off alone and had to rebuild themselves in this new life they had chosen. Most people who start out don't really have any back-up, visible or otherwise.
"What's the big deal, anyway?" they demanded.
"The 'big deal' is that Honeybee was not yours to take," Mariposa shot out. "That is a legacy you are simply not ready for, and you have no right to take it."
A silent beat passed between the younger and older hero, and then Honeybee let out a tired breath.
"So, I'm guessing that's why you're really angry," Honeybee surmised. "You're upset I took your schtick."
Mariposa's cheeks colored red in frustration.
"It's not a schtick!" Mariposa was perhaps angrier than she had been in years. Angry like she had once been at Batman, when she blamed him for taking her mother form her. And Mariposa supposed it was along the same lines, why she was angry now. Honeybee was hers, something that was apart of her, a piece that came as easy as breathing. A piece she may have locked away for safekeeping in her past, but a piece of her none the less. And someone took it, without regard of who could be behind the mask.
"Waspia gave me that name," Mariposa whispered. "The person I trusted more than anything else in the world." Honeybee finally had the decency to look ashamed, staring down at their feet. "It's my name. You have no business using it."
Honeybee looked away and down for a moment longer, but then they gave a half-smile and looked up from under their mask.
"Yet," they said.
Mariposa blinked.
"What?"
"I haven't earned the right to be called Honeybee, I get that," Honeybee insisted. "But if you train me, then maybe one I will be!"
Mariposa blinked. Train them? Turn them into Honeybee? What was she supposed to do? Mold them?
"You don't have to decide now," Honeybee continued. "Give you some time to think it over. Meet here in a week, okay? Until then, I'll stop being Honeybee, just to prove to you I'm serious."
"Wait, I don't know if –" But they were already running away, and Mariposa reached out a hand to stop them, but was in too much confusion to do much else.
"See you in a week!"
And then they disappeared into an alley below, leaving Mariposa alone on the roof.
And with a choice she didn't have mere moments ago.
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." - 1 John 4:11
Our first interlude of Season 2! It's a bit sooner than I would have liked, but I think for pacing this will be better in the long run.
And how is everyone's new year? Mine hasn't been the best, but by creating for this story I've managed to raise my mood a little. Betty is very close to my heart, so creating for her is a huge uplifter for me.
Review Replies:
MsRosePetal: I know it's been awhile since I've regularly updated for this fic, but I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things! I'm so thankful you enjoyed the update, and I love hearing from you. I hope you're doing wonderfully! Have a blessed day!
Questions, comments, or concerns? Let me know!
Have a blessed day!
-PrincessChess