Nilesh Startles the Hive

[Plague of Wasps]

The clock read 12:38, and Gwen was on her way out of the library, feeling out of sorts from the various problems life had seen fit to throw at her. Various angst outside of school had piled up on her, and even with the stability that Westbrook gave her, it wasn't much of a refuge. She felt alien here, some inhuman creature that students took care to avoid. And maybe Gwen liked that reputation to some extent, but it sure as hell could be lonely.

Not to mention troublesome, as one of the more rancid elements of the student body poked his head out from a locker to watch her go. Always the last person to receive a regurgitated rumour, Neils Thompson from Phys Ed class had only recently heard the buzz about the girl passing by him, and it amused his feeble brain to no end. As Gwen continued onwards, the boy called out to her: "Hey! Beegirl! S'true you make honey outta people?" His annoying nasal chortles followed the accusation he made at her. Walking a little quicker now, Gwen took care in ensuring Neils didn't notice her wince. It wasn't so much the remark itself that bugged her, but the person and the circumstances; wasn't that stupid rumour weeks old now? Almost a month or more?

But Gwen had a would-be saviour that day. As Neils closed his locker, someone grabbed his face and slammed it into the metal door, cheek-first. Of all the people in the otherwise sparse section of hallway that Neils and Gwen were situated in, it had to be the "protector of underdogs" that overheard his exchange, didn't it? "Oi," Nilesh growled at the weaker boy. "Apologize to the girl now or I mash your face 'gainst the locker some more. Got it?"

It was the first mistake Gwen would make that day. As Neils croaked out a feeble apology from his position against the locker, she turned her head to regard the two of them, not impressed by what she saw. She wasn't the type of girl to be wowed by bravado; less so at disproportionately violent reactions to things. Not wanting to deal with either of these clowns - and especially not having the patience to humour Nilesh's "white knight" routine (or was his behaviour more akin to the black knight?) she merely turned and walked away.

It was always a bad idea to try and ignore Nilesh. Abandoning Neils' slumped body, Gwen's embittered protector stalked her through the hallways, following her through a more crowded section of the school. Other students turned and made room for him as he walked by; they knew about his powers, and they especially knew what he was like in a bad mood.

"Oi," the boy called out to her, moving faster to catch up. "HEY! Bug girl! You wanna thank me for standing up f'you back there? S'only polite, show some gratitude!" Oh, was he ever worked up. His hands were curled into fists as he glared at the back of Gwen's head.

It was then that Gwen committed her second mistake, turning to face him down. And it was a big mistake: Nilesh's aura sapped at her senses, and just looking at him made her feel drowsy. She knew the guy's reputation, but was everyone this affected by him? Did everyone get totally zonked in a matter of seconds when they dealing with him? She would wonder about that later, weeks after this encounter.

But for now, she held up her hands while trying to formulate a response. "Look, dude, I'm--I'm just having a bad day. I'm grateful, and, stuff... but just leave me alone for now, all right? Go--find someone who appreciates your... tough guy image, or whatever." She turned away from him, putting one foot in front of her, needing to get away from the guy that seemed to poison the atmosphere around him, leeching it of energy. Almost in warning, the swarm of wasps hidden away in her shirt, beneath her exoskeleton plates, let out a threateningly low buzz...

"What did you just say to me?!" Nilesh snarled the moment she turned from him, reaching a hand toward her shoulder. "OI! Fucking look at me while I'm talking to you, you little b--"

His words were lost as his hand was met by a number of irritated wasps, stinking him through the fabric of Gwen's shoulder-sleeve. Immediately the bully recoiled, crying out in pain and anger, and as Gwen tumbled to the floor, her last rational decision was to slide open the plates in her exoskeleton, freeing her hive from its containment so they weren''t trapped inside her...

Amid the angry buzz of the swarm, Gwen's pain-filled screams were drowned out by shrieks of terror from her classmates as the wasps billowed out from her torso. They filled the hallway in a giant swarm of yellow-and-black, lashing out in confusion and rage at the students unfortunate to be in the same hallway, and in those scant, terrible moments, pandemonium was made flesh, embodied in the form of stinging, buzzing terrors.

Minutes after lunch break ended, Gwen and Nilesh were already being carted off the medical ward, with a crowd of wasp-stung students trailing behind. While Nilesh complained obnoxiously about his swollen hand, the wasp-wielder had gotten off much worse: Having fainted from the combination of shock and pain, the nurses gingerly wheeled Gwen's comatose body into the emergency room, with her arms, neck and face covered in bites and stings...