Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hilaris

Music is "Violet Hill" by Coldplay.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Hylaeus Hilaris

Commonly referred to as the Hilaris yellow-faced bee, Hylaeus Hilaris is native and endemic to Hawaii. It is known only from a single population of unknown size in the coastal shrub-lands of the Mo'omomi Preserve on the island of Molokai. In September 2016, along with six other Hawaiian Hylaeus species, H. Hilaris was listed for protection under the United States Endangered Species Act. This marked the first listing for any bee species in the United States, despite plenty of bees being threatened, endangered, or practically extinct for centuries.

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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hilaris

Magic clashes against magic in an array of colors and energy. Even with the sounds of the fight and the alarms blaring overhead, it's hard to hear anything over my own hammering heartbeat. My wings take me high, among bees both of natural and supernatural births.

I give everything I've got into fighting against Max's bees, and with Wanda by my side, we seem to be keeping toe-to-toe with him. She throws a blast of chaos magic at him. He tosses one back at her. I use my connection with Melizza's hive to help them navigate the swarm of Maximoffica Rurikis.

The others do just as much to help. Half of them have weapons of their own--whether that be brass knuckles like Peggy, a pistol like Pepper, an ax like Sam, or a make-shift baton like Clint--and they're using them to take down as many bees as they can. Some of the more technically intelligent students, like Tony and Vision, stay with the hive to try and get Stephen and Loki free. But as for the majority of us, they're using anything they can get their hands on to take on the hoard.

"Anyone got a really fucking big magnet?" Bucky shouts, picking up a stadium chair and using it as a shield as a group of a hundred bees makes a hard dive for him.

"That would be nice!" Bruce exclaims in return. He cuts an electric cable that was once attached to the stage lighting. He lifts it into the air, and every artificial bee that comes near the sparking wires collapses onto the ground.

Melizza lands on my shoulder again and talks in my ear, saying, "Tell us what to do, Your Majesty."

I turn my attention downward, towards Tony, Vision, and Nat as they try to hack past Max's security on the magical prison. While Max himself is still engaged in a serious spellcraft battle with Wanda across the room, his bees have decided to turn their attention towards my friends. They're diving straight for them, and it's only due to Thor and Carol's pure stubbornness that they have any protection at all.

"There!" I exclaim, pointing towards the stage. "Create a vortex around them. Max's bees will get confused just long enough for my friends to take them out."

"As you wish, Your Majesty!" she replies, then soars from my shoulder towards the stage. Every one of her fellow honeybees follows her. "To the stage!"

I trail behind them, taking up the rear. I put myself between them and Max's bees, giving them enough time to create the protective tunnel around the others. I stretch out my arms and glare at Max's bees with a firm determination. I know they can't hear me through the hive mind since they're not real bees, but with the vortex of Apis Mellifera behind me, it's just enough to make them hesitate for a few moments.

I turn around and beat my wings as fast as they can go. Nearly disappearing with speed, they create a powerful gust that takes Max's bees off their mission and out of attack formation. They blow backward, into the balcony seating, far away from the stage.