Buzzing Around the Hive...

"Soooooo... Do you s-still perform?" Ayre asked Arachne with an almost excited look in his emerald eyes while they walked. "No. I've decided to retire." The now human spider said with a dramatic twirl, falling into Senshi's arms. Senshi struggled to hold her, accidentally dropping her to the dirt path they walked along. 

Arlo leaned against Ayre's back, his tail wagging side to side as he seemed to be getting excited about something. "I smell... Conflict." 

"Uhm... W-With who?" Ayre asked with a nervous expression as he continued making his way back to the carriage as the mourning sun shined upon them. 

"I dunno, dude. I just know their was conflict. Or rabbits. They smell the same."

"What a weird thing to add." Arachne sighed, getting up from the floor and dusting herself off. They had all been visited by Nvr a few minutes ago, telling them all to return back to the carriage. No one was really thrilled except Arlo, mainly because he kept everyone up all night with a long winded story about his conquest of Marin Valley, a fight that lasted seven days and nights against a village of peaceful Farmers and Merchants.

For some reason, the dog demi-human was more excitable then usual, like he knew something the rest didn't. But none of them were really bothered to ask why. 

"So Arachne, you said you perform right?" Arlo asked with a smile, now focusing on her. "Yeah. I just said that." She replied flatly. "Oh yeah.... Anyway, do you think you could write a song about me?" He asked, striking a heroic pose with a summoned sword and shield in hand. 

"She never wrote her own s-songs." Senshi chimed in as she walked past him, audibly hearing his disappointment. Arachne let out a confused grunt before quickly trying to explain that she did, despite the fact that Senshi was actually there for most of her meetings. 

As the two lovers began to bicker on there peaceful walk, they had already reached the carriage and the now overgrown hive having overtaken most of it. Arlo looked to his left to see Min chewing out Lamb. 

"...AND you are gonna make me lunch, second lunch, dinner, midnight dinner and earlly morning breakfast for the next week!" The sensational starvation scoundrel screamed at Lamb, who was awkwardly fiddling with her crook and trying her best to apologise for leaving him. 

Arlo went over to split the two up, quickly joined by Ro and everyone else watched as the yelling devolved into a full blown brawl between the four. 

The rest watched on, not sure what to do. So Kiola decided to make it about herself and show off her new pet. Arachne and Senshi remarked that the little red dragon was surprisingly cute, though questioned why its mouth was wrapped shut. 

"'Cause he wouldn't stop going on and on about some goddess who'd "make me rule the day I did this"... Did I say that right?" The dragon asked with an awkward smile. 

After a few more minutes of the horsemen attacking and the others chatting, the captives Min had captured the night before were trying to free themselves, but were still heavily weakened and ill fit for another fight. 

"This sucks..." The Harpy queen squawked, watching the others with a judging glare beneath her paper bag. Rose, meanwhile, was just sick and tired of everything. From her arms and legs being turned to food and her being bound next to a hive of insects, it was terrible for her. 

But the worst was yet to come. While she was forced to listen to Harpy Queen and Azzi's complaints, she noticed that the usual buzzing sound that always accompanied Gnaw had ceased. 

"Hey, is he alright? I haven't heard him buzz about." She asked, lightly headbutting the undead to try and get him to react. But instead of a usual growl of annoyance, he fell forward limp. "Is he dead dead?" Azzi asked before nudging him with her elbow, failing to get a response.

As the three began to panic over there friend being more deceased then usual, the others weren't doing much better. Mainly because the infighting of the horsemen resulted in Arlo getting thrown against the hive infested carriage and disturbing it.

The deafening sound of a violent buzzing rung in everyone's ears. It sounded like only one thing could be causing it, and it wasn't hard to figure out who. 

"We've awoken the hive..." Senshi mumbled before getting a light slap around the head from Arachne. "Are you really making references right now?"

"Aaaaand we haven't awoken a hive... We just pissed off a little demon bee." Ro sighed, tapping the syringe that held her improvised cure. The Plague Bringer began slowly creeping her way to the back of the carriage, feeling the stares of her acquaintances try to cheer her on in silence. 

"What're the chances this goes tits up?" Kiola whispered to Nvr, who gave a bored sigh in response, already guessing the outcome. 

"I imagine terribly... Hehe..."

Ro slowly pried on the already damaged part of the hive that Nvr had previously created and peered inside. As her hands began to feel around the dimly lit hive, she got her hand caught in a dark, sticky crimson substance that she first assumed to be blood. 

Ro recoiled at the mere touch of it as it dripped down her hand. She quickly pulled herself out of the hive and holding the syringe out for someone to take. "Screw that. I'm not getting sick from this." She grumbled before getting her sticky hand suddenly licked by Senshi and Arachne in a bizarre frenzied state.

"The hell?" Min muttered, with him and Arlo now being forced to try and drag the two off of Ro, who was kicking and yelling something about sanitation standards.

With another problem now quickly forming, Lamb decided that she had to actually step in. With a simple ring of her bell, everything fell dead silent. No one was able to move an inch, yet there eyes all soon fell to the fourth horsewoman.

"Why d-don't we all take a few deep breaths and think this through?" She smiled, beginning to examine Arachne and Senshi. With a second wave of her crook, she began hearing everyone's thoughts flood in to her own.

*I wonder if she could teach my Pet discipline?* 

"Wrong person..."

*I need a new heart... Broken, broken, broken.*

"Wrong person again."

*Chirp*

"Is that a bird? I swear I set it to people..." Lamb asked herself, ringing her bell a few more times to try and find the right person's mind. After a few more failed attempts she finally managed to peer into Arachne's.

*Smells.... So good... I need it...*

As Lamb began digging through more and more of Arachne's rather simple, one tracked mind, she figured out the root of the problem with the two. With a final ring of her bell, everyone fell to the floor, finally able to move once more.

"Our spider friend and her... Wife, was it? Anyway, the substance on your hand, Ro, is just Demonic nectar. Granted, a new kind, but you know how to fix the symptoms, right?"

As Lamb finished her explanation, Ro gave a nod as she scraped the nectar off of her hand before handing over the syringe to Nvr. The Bio weapon quickly crawled around inside the hive to find Lucy. 

Kiola, more confused then usual, leaned over to Min and asked what demonic nectar was. He gave the rather basic summary of; "Demonic bug juice that enhances certain feelings a demon wants others to experience."

"And uh... What experience are we meant to be feeling?"

"Lust."

"A-Are you sure? 'Cause that looked more like greed. And last I checked, Lucy is the last person I know to feel that." The dragon laughed, though that began raising a few questions in Min's head. He figured that Lucy probably behaved like the demons that used to populate their world, but that wouldn't be the case.

"Oh shit... Lucy ain't from our world. LAMB, PROBLEM." He called out with a nervous tone before getting knocked back by Nvr's body having been launched from the hive. 

"Doesn't everyday feel the same after awhile..." Lucy called out as a deafening buzz followed her every word. She stepped out of the hive looking more... provocative yet sharp then before, trailed behind by bug demi humans clawing and feeling over her body.

"Oh Mollia..." Senshi grumbled, her voice filled with an irregular lust. Ro quickly pulled out a pair spare foul scented masks and put them on the two lovers. "A quick fix to stop their lust." She remarked while rushing to check on Nvr. Well more accurately, she went to check on the status of her cure.

Ro looked at the twitching bio weapon, noting that she was currently paralysed by a sting. But that didn't matter, what did however, was the fact that Nvr had shattered the vial from her launch. The plague bringer let out a frustrated groan and kicked the paralysed weapon while muttering profanities under her breath.

Lucy let out a yawn, leaning over suggestively to show off her assets. Arachne snapped out of her daze and couldn't help but snicker at the sight of the mighty Panila being provocative. "How do you feel, Lucy?" She asked with a smile, slowly walking over with her arms raised. 

"I feel great, dear. Mother's name, is this how you felt all the time? Who knew lust felt... Great." She responded in a sultry voice, feeling over one of her new subjects.

"Has ya not felt love or somthin'?" Kiola asked with a smirk, exhaling a bit of mist as she lifted Nvr off of Min. "Of course I have... Sort of. I have. Yes. Why would I not?" Lucy seemed quickly flustered over the simple comment. Yet, it became pretty clear to Arachne and Senshi what was going on.

They both shared a look before laughing together. Lamb watched on with confusion, slowly drawing sigils on the ground with her crook in secret to deal with Lucy. "What's so funny?" The queen bee yelled, flying towards the two with a scowl as she looked down at them.

"Y-You're a virgin, aren't you?" Senshi giggled. Lucy looked appalled by the claim, her buzzing intensifying. "I don't think it matters, Arthropod."

"She iiiisss." Arachne remarked in a hushed voice to Senshi. The queen bee began getting flustered, her sultry and seductive act dropping as fast as her confidence. "Demons don't require the sins of the flesh. Why w-would I ever partake?"

"Then what's with your whole act right now?"

"Lack of love?" Senshi laughed, flicking Lucy away. The demon let out a buzz like growl before getting an idea. She flew over to Kiola and with a raised hand, she dug her tiny hand into Kiola's eye. The dragon let out a loud roar of pain, dropping Pheya to the ground as Lucy began releasing a newly created version of her virus directly into her.

Everyone watched as Lucy comfortably planted herself in Kiola's hair as she began taking control of the dragon's body. 

"Let's see how cocky you two are when you're back to bugs."