by Lisa Yee
Sticky with honey and shards of glass, Queen Bee rose again, angrier than before. Then BOOM! Another honey cannonball struck her, and another and another.
Like a machine, Queen Bee kept moving forward, bent on exacting revenge on Bumblebee. “Karen, little Karen Andrena-Beecher, you are no match for me,” Queen Bee taunted, but she was wobbling from the impact of the cannons. “I’m going to bring you down, and then use your technology to bring the world to its knees, and all will bow to me!”
Bumblebee went to grab another jar of honey and was surprised to find there were none left.
“Oh dear,” Queen Bee said with false sweetness. “Well, so much for that little plan.”
“Not quite,” Bumblebee said. “I’m not finished with you yet.”
“Ah, but I am finished with you,” Queen Bee said, swatting the old iron cannon away. Her other arm came up. Her blaster was filled with slumber dust—and it was not set to stun. “Nighty-night, sweet Bumblebee!”
Bumblebee grabbed an ancient metal spear. As Queen Bee flew at her, she hesitated. Not because she was scared, but because in the span of less than two seconds, she was accessing her knowledge of math and aerodynamics to calculate her enemy’s speed and to target the exact right moment to throw the spear with the perfect velocity.
“NOW!” Bumblebee said to herself. The spear sailed through the air and hit her target!
“WHAT?!” Queen Bee yelled in anger as her flowing royal robe was pinned to the wall.
“Gotcha!” Bumblebee cheered as her opponent twisted against one of the elaborate Bialya tapestries. Queen Bee struggled to free herself, but Bumblebee used a battle-ax to cut down the heavy velvet curtains that flanked the tapestry. When they fell, the weight of the curtains crushed Queen Bee to the floor. Bumblebee grabbed a cord from the wall and used it to tie up the angry queen.
“Not bad for a girl with no powers, wouldn’t you say?” said Bumblebee. Satisfied that Queen Bee could not get out of her bonds, Bumblebee pressed her suit’s power button and felt her blasters charge up and the superstrength flow through her armor.
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, “there’s somewhere I need to be.”
When Bumblebee flew out of Honeycomb Hall, she was in for a shock. The gardens were starting to bloom, and the sweet scent of fragrant flowers wafted through the air. Poison Ivy was using her powers to reinvigorate the flowers, and a few Supers were following her instructions for good old-fashioned watering, fertilizing, and weeding to help all the other plant life bounce back. Lightly rolling hills were blanketed with soft green grass, and the castle walls, once dark and gray, now hosted emerald vines intertwined with pink and white flowers. Majestic trees arched to create shaded canopies, and water fountains bubbled, their sound like a gentle rain.
Beast Boy ran over to Bumblebee and hugged her so tight she had trouble breathing. “Are you okay?” Worry was etched on his face. “What happened? Where’s Queen Bee?”
“She’s a little tied up right now,” Bumblebee said. “My parents…?”
“Your mother and father are safe,” Beast Boy assured her. “They were found wandering the streets of Bialya, lost and more than a little confused. Wonder Woman is flying them home in her Invisible Jet this very minute.”
Bumblebee let go a sigh of relief and tried to hold back her tears. They were safe! Her mom and dad were safe.
“Poison Ivy came up with a formula to counteract any lingering effects from the fake pollen,” Beast Boy continued. “She’s got teams of Supers out getting all the different ecosystems back on track. The bees that were affected are pollinating once again.”
Bumblebee couldn’t help but grin when she heard this. “And the giant killer bees?” she asked, looking around.
Beast Boy smiled back at her. “Once Batgirl had the control box, she was able to reverse the technology that made them big. It was the most awesome thing—mid-battle, when we were all fighting these giant bees, they shrank back down to size.”
Beast Boy pointed to a swarm of bees hovering nearby. “The not-so-giant bees are docile now, and so is the rest of the Royal Army. That’s them over there. You should say something to them.”
When Bumblebee flew over, they bowed to her, the same way they had bowed to Queen Bee. “She can’t boss you around anymore,” Bumblebee told them. They didn’t move—all stood at rigid attention.
“They think you’re their new queen,” Beast Boy whispered. Bumblebee blinked in surprise. “They’re awaiting your orders.”
Bumblebee nodded as the weight of this news sank in. “I hereby decree,” she began, “that you are free, now and forever, and will never be under anyone else’s command again.”
With that, the bees flew three circles of gratitude around her and then disappeared into the sky.
“You did great, Beast Boy,” Bumblebee said. The raindrops on the grass sparkled like diamonds as the sun shone bright.
“It’s you who’s amazing,” he replied. “Bumblebee, I’m so glad you got your power back and were able to capture Queen Bee!”
Bumblebee hesitated, then told him, “It’s odd. All this time when I thought I didn’t have any power, I was wrong. It was always there, whether or not my battery pack was working.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Beast Boy said, scratching his head.
“My super suit didn’t give me the power. I gave power to my super suit. The power has been right here all along,” Bumblebee said, pointing to her head.
“I coulda told you that,” Beast Boy said, putting his hands over his chest and pretending to swoon. “You’re the real deal, Bumblebee. Now let’s tell Commissioner Gordon and the authorities in this jurisdiction where they can pick up Queen Bee, and then head home. I could use a snack!”
Just as they were about to leave, they heard a familiar voice. “Bye-bye,” it said sadly. “It was nice knowing the two of you.”
They turned around to see Cuckoo Bee emerge from behind the rose bushes. His eyes welled with tears.
Bumblebee’s heart almost broke. “Cuckoo Bee,” she said, rushing up to him, “we couldn’t have done all this if it weren’t for you!”
“Really?” he asked, perking up. “Aw, shucks! I mean, you told me to find the Supers, and I did! I said, ‘Bumblebee’s friends, follow me!’ ”
“You know,” Bumblebee said, putting her arm around him, “Honeycomb Hall is going to need someone to take care of it. You know this place pretty well, don’t you?”
Cuckoo Bee nodded. “I do,” he said. He paused and then lit up. “Are you gonna be my new boss? Oh, Bumblebee, I’d really, really, really like that!”
“No, not me,” Bumblebee said. Her smile was bright. “I’m not going to be the boss of you. You will be your own boss. You will be in charge of Honeycomb Hall!”
It took Cuckoo Bee a while to understand, but when he did, his smile was so big that it was contagious.
“Group hug!” shouted Beast Boy, grinning back at him.
As the three embraced, Bumblebee looked around and saw her other friends, the bees, energetically buzzing from flower to flower. Her smile grew wider. When Cuckoo Bee hugged a little too hard, she looked up and saw that a rainbow had appeared where the sky had once been gray and dark.
The sneezing had stopped. Flowers were in full bloom, and the bees were back, busy and happy. Supergirl’s Aunt Martha was so ecstatic that she baked enough honey–butter cookies for everyone at Super Hero High, and Bumblebee’s fan club, the Honey Bees, were once again sending jars of honey. Since Bumblebee had more than she could use, she shared them with the local schools so that when they studied bees, each student got their own jar. And Honeycomb Hall and its glorious gardens became the number one destination in Bialya, thanks to its beloved caretaker, Cuckoo Bee, who had agreed, at Poison Ivy’s insistence, to be the new host of Greenhouse Hullabaloo.
/> Several Supers stood around the Andrena-Beecher house. “Here are the architectural plans,” said Hawkgirl, unfurling the blueprints Ms. Andrena-Beecher had provided.
Batgirl leaned in to study them. “Got it!” she said.
The Supers huddled and then split up, each with an assignment.
Mr. and Ms. Andrena-Beecher stood by, linking arms with their daughter as they watched the house being rebuilt before their eyes.
“You’ve got some pretty great friends there,” her mother said appreciatively.
Bumblebee nodded. This she knew was true.
“Hey, I’m thinking of entering another vacation contest,” said her father.
“NO!” his wife and daughter yelled at the same time.
“Kidding,” he said. “No more contests for me!” Then he got serious. “Bumblebee, your mother and I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
Ms. Andrena-Beecher agreed. “We weren’t sure about this super-hero thing at first. But now, well, we know this is your destiny.”
Bumblebee hugged them. They watched in silence as Poison Ivy rejuvenated the Bee Tree, reversing the fall and fortifying it so that it stood tall and strong again.
“We’ll have your Bee Tree Lab up and running in no time!” Hawkgirl called out.
“Thanks!” Bumblebee yelled back. She turned to Batgirl, who was working on electrical wiring, and said, “Now we’ve got three labs we can work in—the Bat-Bunker, the corner of Mr. Fox’s lab that he said I could turn into my own personal tech space, and the Bee Tree Lab.” She turned to her parents. “You won’t mind if Batgirl joins me now and then when I come home?”
“Your friends are welcome here anytime,” her mom said as they watched the Supers adding the finishing touches to the new and improved Andrena-Beecher house and Bee Tree Lab.
* * *
The next day at school, Parasite was munching on another honey–butter cookie and leaning on his broom at the back of the auditorium. It was time for the monthly assembly, something everyone looked forward to.
Frost had frozen Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern ring hand again in a giant ball of ice, Beast Boy had turned into a snake to scare Raven, and Cheetah and Star Sapphire were whispering, but when Principal Waller stepped onstage, everyone snapped to attention.
“I’ll get right to it,” she said. “The Super Hero of the Month award goes to someone who has proven themselves far and beyond what we expect from a super hero. When she first came to this school, she worried she’d never be good enough to stand among our ranks. Well, I am here to tell you that this Super is one for you to watch and learn from. Whether using her powers or just being brave in the face of overwhelming odds, she is the definition of a true super hero. This girl is the real thing.
“Bumblebee, please join me onstage!”
Later, at Capes & Cowls Café, Bumblebee and her friends were celebrating with the triple honey cake that Steve Trevor had baked for the occasion. Harley was videoing the fun, and Poison Ivy was happily talking about what she was going to do with her free time now that Cuckoo Bee was taking over her show, when Bumblebee pulled Beast Boy aside.
“My parents gave me this when I first started at Super Hero High,” she said, holding out the ICE jar of honey. “Well, we didn’t have it during the battle, but I think it’s appropriate that we share it now. They told me it was for emergencies or special times.”
“Whoa, wow!” Beast Boy exclaimed. “You’d share that with me? This is totally awesome.” He paused, then added, “So are you, but if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it!”
“Beast Boy, I have something to ask you,” Bumblebee said, sounding a tad nervous.
“What?” he asked. Beast Boy poured so much honey over his cake that it dripped onto the floor.
“Well, Beastie,” Bumblebee joked, “we’ve been through so much together and had so much fun—and fear!—I was wondering if you’d want to be besties.” When he kept chewing, she explained. “You know, be best friends?”
Beast Boy didn’t answer, but instead looked confused.
Bumblebee felt her heart sink. She was so embarrassed. Why would he want to be her best friend? Everyone knew that despite his antics, Beast Boy could be something of a loner at times.
“Never mind,” Bumblebee said, trying to sound lighthearted. “It was just a weird thought.”
“It sure was!” Beast Boy agreed. “Totally weird, ’cause I thought we already were best friends!”
* * *
While the two laughed, Poison Ivy was strolling through Centennial Park, admiring the flowers and talking to them as she passed. Suddenly, a giant shadow blocked the sunlight.
Ivy gasped, then looked up and smiled. “Oh, for a moment you scared me,” she said. “How are you? You look so…different.”
Jason Woodrue gave her a wry smile. “Do I?” he asked. He was still dressed in his tweed three-piece suit and jaunty hat. However, things were growing on him—vines, leaf sprouts, and mosses. He now looked half man, half plant.
“What a coincidence, bumping into you here,” he said smugly. “Poison Ivy, I just wanted to let you know that I never liked working for you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, looking shocked and dismayed.
“I’m not sorry in the least,” Jason Woodrue said as a network of vines slithered up her legs and arms. Pulling out a small spray bottle, he misted her face with a dose of Queen Bee’s fake pollen while she struggled. “Poison Ivy, you are now going to work for me!”
Emi Fujii
After writing jingles, restaurant menus, and TV shows, Lisa Yee won the prestigious Sid Fleischman Humor Award for her debut novel, Millicent Min, Girl Genius. Her other novels for young readers include Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally), and several books for American Girl, plus Warp Speed, about a Star Trek geek. Her most recent YA novel is The Kidney Hypothetical. She has also written for Huffington Post and is a contributor to NPR.
Lisa’s books have been named a Washington Post Book of the Week, a USA Today Critics’ Pick, an NPR Best Summer Read, and more. Writing the DC Super Hero Girls series is a dream come true, says Lisa. “I get to hang out with Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Katana, and the rest of the super heroes!”
You can visit Lisa Yee at LisaYee.com.
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