Not far from the school, she had a swarm of hornets ready. These weren’t just bees; they were real striped killers, capable of terrifying even an elephant. Now, this swarm of a couple of hundred hornets darted towards the sports field, made a ceremonial circle in the air, scaring the students, and then descended upon the Bitch Trio, stinging them all over their bodies.
Hornet stings were much more painful than any other flying insects. These creatures were considered some of the most dangerous due to the potency of their venom. The three girls immediately began screaming, flailing their arms, and rolling on the ground, but it was to no avail. The hornets didn’t just sting them; they did so in accordance with a certain strategy, making it almost impossible to kill even one of them.
Sofia Hess received the most stings, of course. While Emma Barnes and Madison Clements got away with about a dozen stings each, the cape took the entire hundred. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and used her superpower, becoming intangible. The hornets buzzed even louder and started flying through Shadow Stalker, showcasing her intangibility to everyone around. People immediately started discussing that Sofia Hess was Shadow Stalker, and the cape started run, trying to escape the persistent insects. This essentially ended the circus, and the hornets dispersed in different directions.
My reward from this show was a decent quality video recording taken from the window of a nearby building. After all, a twenty-times zoom and a tripod can work wonders. And within an hour, a new video from the Bee appeared on the internet:
"Good day, Brockton Bay. This is Bee again, and I have some stunning news for you. As promised, today I visited Winslow School to sting three sadists who bullied their classmates. Imagine my surprise when one of this trio turned out to be a cape. You won’t believe it, but Sofia Hess is Shadow Stalker. And I immediately have a question: did the PRT know what their protégé was doing in school? Well, of course, they knew. No wonder the school principal covered up their atrocities. And to prove my point, here’s a video of Sofia Hess using her superpower."
The internet immediately erupted. They tried to block the video, but people had already downloaded it and uploaded it in hundreds of other places. And oh, how 'happy' the PRT’s press service was about this scandal. They, of course, started claiming they had no idea and were completely innocent, portraying Shadow Stalker as a bloody maniac they tried to mentor.
In all this commotion, no one paid any attention to Taylor. She had been trying to hide from others for so long that she had become a true professional at it. People didn’t notice her even if she was standing right in their way.
But that wasn’t the end. The next day, another article appeared in the Eastern Herald, which indeed was scandalous. A cunning reporter had managed to uncover evidence that the PRT was paying Winslow School to keep Shadow Stalker enrolled. Most of the money ended up in the principal’s pocket. Although it couldn’t be proven documentarily, her expenses over the past year spoke for themselves. As a result, the public became 'convinced' that the PRT knew about the bullying but paid the principal kickbacks to turn a blind eye.
After this article, the PRT’s Public Relations Department nearly started vomiting blood. Their carefully constructed image of 'immaculate justice' was flushed down to the toilet in a second by just one cape. Naturally, after this, Sofia Hess was immediately arrested and promised the harshest and fairest trial, which practically meant an almost inevitable trip to the Birdcage—a prison for capes from which no one had ever escaped.
Under the pretext of an 'impartial investigation' the PRT wanted to interrogate Taylor, but I intervened, demanding my presence, as well as the assistance of a lawyer. And of course, the right not to answer any questions. As a result, they asked me questions, I consulted with the lawyer, and only then did Taylor answer them. Or didn’t answer, and I demanded the next question. In such conditions, Taylor’s gnawing conscience had no chance to reveal her connection with the Bee’s attack.
The finale was another video featuring the Bee, which I uploaded to the internet once things calmed down a bit.
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"Hello, city. Frankly, I’m in shock. I never imagined the system was so rotten. The PRT pays bribes to the school principal to cover up the crimes committed by a Warden. I used to think about joining the Wardens, but now... No way! Moreover, I found out that not only do they bully students at the school, but they also openly sell drugs. Since the official heroes don’t want to solve this problem, I’ll have to do it myself. So, I’m starting a new campaign called ‘Say No to Drugs!’ Leave addresses on the forum where drugs are sold in Brockton Bay. My bees will find and punish all drug dealers. Don’t worry, innocent people won’t suffer. Insects have an excellent sense of smell and can distinguish a pusher from an honest person. I guarantee you: after meeting me, they won’t be able to sell drugs because they’ll be under anesthesia in a hospital. Say No to Drugs! And by the way, I’ll be keeping an eye on Winslow to make sure there’s no more lawlessness. Your Bee."
Surprisingly, my statement caused yet another scandal. After it appeared, people started expressing their agreement with this approach and posting addresses. In response, the forum administrators deleted the thread under the pretext that... it advertised drug sales. At this point, people couldn’t take it anymore and accused the PRT of covering up for drug dealers and hindering heroes from fighting them. Naturally, I was the first to voice this idea. The PRT representatives had set themselves up, and I just took advantage of their mistake.
As a result, the PRT began to clear their name at the highest level. The government, the top management of the PRT itself, the Protectorate, independent heroes, and the Wardens all voiced their support. A flood of brainwashing propaganda ensued, making even the most fanatical supporters start to doubt the integrity of the situation. After this, the PRT fell silent and started pretending that the scandals with Shadow Stalker and the Bee never happened.
Meanwhile, it was time to sum up the results of my operation to brainwash my 'dear daughter.'
“Well, Taylor, now do you see how easy it was to get rid of that trio?”
“It was only so easy because I got a superpower” - my subordinate said proudly.
“Nonsense! It was easy because I took charge” - I dismissed her attempt to claim my glory and greatness. - “By yourself, you’d still be hiding in alleys, avoiding people’s gazes.” - Taylor had no response to this, so she wisely kept silent. - “Well, we’ve dealt with that issue. Now you need to start your activities as an independent hero. And your first target will be drug dealers.”
“I don’t want to attack people!” - the would-be heroine protested.
“Well, they’re not people. Drugs kill people. Destroy lives. These scoundrels are essentially selling death, ruining not only their clients’ lives but also those of other citizens. It’s almost impossible to earn money for drugs honestly. So, addicts resort to stealing, robbing, and extorting money. On the contrary, as a hero, you must do everything to stop this 'business' in the city. Maybe, you want to prance around in a tight suit in front of a camera, advertising your uniqueness? Then you’ll be no better than villains. Your mother wouldn’t approve of that.”
This was, as they say, a low blow. Taylor loved her mother and wanted to become a hero in her memory. After a couple of days of brainwashing, the victim finally gave in and agreed to act under my guidance.
The newborn Bee thought that now she could wear a costume like any normal hero and patrol the streets, heroically knocking out bullies, but I thwarted her plans again. By then, I had 'acquired' enough money from various criminal elements to buy a nondescript minivan, painted dirty gray with a postal company logo on the side. This was our patrol vehicle.
Since Taylor could control insects from a considerable distance, she stayed in the van all the time, attacking from beyond direct visibility, usually from a neighboring block. Moreover, I demanded that she not only sting criminals but also gather a swarm of flies and bugs nearby to form a humanoid shape, posing as the 'heroine.' Seeing a vague human figure, witnesses of these attacks immediately 'believed' that this was Bee herself.
How do you fight someone who can scatter and reassemble a dozen meters away? You can’t. Thus, people thought about how to kill the swarm of insects, not who was controlling them. I remember Siberian acted similarly, and for two decades, no one guessed that the real Siberian was a scrawny guy a few hundred meters away from the projection.
When all the commotion settled down, and events fell into a new rhythm of life, I switched to dealing with the Dockworkers' Association. I hadn’t been there for two weeks by then, so people were dying to unleash their crazy money-making ideas on me. But they were in for a disappointment because I immediately rejected all those ideas.