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Pyrrhocoris apterus est une punaise appelée "Gendarmes" ou "Cherche-midi". Ici c’est un jeune encore à l’état de larve juste avant sa dernière mue.
Pyrrhocoris apterus is a bug known as firebug. Here it is a young still in the state of larva just before its last molting.
Heteroptera. Pyrrhocoridae.
P. apterus was the subject of an unexpected discovery in the 1960s when researchers who had for ten years been rearing the bugs in Prague, Czechoslovakia attempted to do the same at Harvard University in the United States. After the 5th larval instar, instead of developing into adults, the bugs either entered a 6th instar stage, or became adults with larval characteristics; some of the 6th instars went on to a 7th instar. All specimens died without reaching maturity.
The source of the problem was eventually proven to be the paper towels used in the rearing process; the effect only happened if the paper towels were made in America. The researchers could replicate these results with American newspapers such as the New York Times, but not European newspapers such as The Times. The cause was found to be hormones found in the native balsam fir tree (Abies balsamea) used to manufacture paper and related products in America, and in some other North American conifers. This hormone happened to have a profound effect on P. apterus, but not on other insect species, showing the diversification of hormone receptors in the insects.
Pyrrhocoridae -Dysdercus sp.
Pyrrhocoridae is a family of insects with more than 300 species world-wide. any are red coloured and are known as red bugs and some species are called cotton stainers because their feeding activities leave an indelible brownish-yellow stain on cotton crops. A common species in parts of Europe is the firebug, and its genus name Pyrrhocoris and the family name are derived from the Greek roots for fire "pyrrho-" and bug "coris". Members of this family can be quickly separated from the Lygaeidae by the lack of ocelli (simple eyes).
=====A Club====
Miranda- God, I miss Drury...
Silken Spider- Just drink, sweetie.
Rigger- You ever hear of a Harlan Combs? Was a family friend... *He* was in Blackgate. Gave 'im a loan of my Firebug suit. That... did not end well. He got locked up, I fell two stories after Gotham's finest broke down my door... Never liked that guy. He got the looks, the brains, the charisma ... *I* got syphilus. Unrelated though. He's probably dead. Blackgate's practically hell you know...
Miranda- What are you doing here?
Rigger- Drury told me to watch over you...
Miranda- I don't believe that.
Rigger- I was lonely.
Dragonfly- That, I do believe.
Miranda- Grab a chair then
Rigger- Yippee!
Miranda- Oh.
Dragonfly- Dear.
Silken Spider- God.
Mags- Ooooh!
Miranda- Uh, Mags? What are you-?
*Mags is examining the cutlery*
Mags- Look at that sheen! It's unbelievable!
*She pockets the forks. Then the knives. Then the spoons*
Miranda- Mags!
Mags- What? Honestly! No one's going to miss them!
Rigger- I- I would like my spoon back please.
Mags- Tough luck.
Rigger- Ok then.
*Rigger slumps into his seat. Mags rubs a knife across her face*
Silken Spider- I'm going to take tha-
Mags- Try and I'll stab you in the eye!
...
Mags- Shiiiiiny
...
Rigger- Is this what these girls' nights are always like?
Miranda- Pretty much... Drury normally reads to us, though
Rigger- Oh yeah, the book club right?
Silken Spider- We don't have a book club.
Rigger- Then why would he-?
Miranda- Don't question Drury!
...
Dragonfly- The rest of us are usually more wasted at this point...
Rigger- In that case- Waiter, more prosecco please!
Silken Spider- I don't like prosecco.
Server- And I'm a waitress.
Rigger- Oh. *Uh-hum* More booze. Please. My good *wo*man.
Dragonfly- My man!
Silken Spider- If I didn't know you any better Mr Rigger-
Rigger- You don't know me at all.
Silken Spider- Well that's not true. Remember the Walmart incident?
...
Rigger- You said you'd keep that a secret.
Silken Spider- I lied. Nevertheless, I would say you're trying to get us drunk.
Rigger- Whaaaa-? I'm not Catman! (That was close)
=====Several Drinks Later====
Miranda- So your plan failed eh?
Rigger- They're crazy... crazy... Your friends? Fucking insane!
Miranda- They're an acquired taste, sure
Rigger- Taste? Taste?
====Fantasy Land====
Women Noises- Mmm. Mmm hmm
====
Miranda- Rigger!
Rigger- Woah. I think I might be narcoleptic. I need to get this noggin sorted out
Miranda- Oh Rigger...
Rigger- I know damn it! *sniff* I'm such an ass. An ass I tells ya!
Silken Spider- *Heh* Assssss! Ass!
Miranda- Yes. Funny! Poor girl's been needing to cut loose a bit. She's, umm, been having troubles with Eric. He's in his edgy phase. You know what I'm talking about?
Rigger- Do I know it? I lived it! I started my criminal career seeking vengeance for my dead family. Killed in three separate building accidents. Fucking bullshit... What are the chances... You, uh, listening?
Miranda- Oh yeah. Terrible. Tragic. *Urgh* Dragonfly's taking her shirt off again.
Dragonfly- You'll believe a bra can fly!
Rigger- Wuh? Again?
Miranda- Yeah. Afternoon tea was not what you might imagine.
Rigger- I dunno. I have a pretty good idea
====Fantasy Land====
Miranda- *giggle* *giggle* Pillow fight!
Dragonfly- Wet t-shirt fight!
Silken Spider- Gilbert Gottfried! For some reason.
Gottfried- Yeeeaaaaaah! I'm here too! Parrots n shit!
========
Miranda- Uh, Rigger?
Rigger- Why does he keep showing up in there?
...
Rigger- The little man!
Miranda- As I was saying, then there's Mags.
Rigger- Gollum!
...
Rigger- The lads call her Gollum. Cause she's a hoarder. And unbalanced! You know what? Keep talking.
*To the tune of Shiny*
Miranda- Well, Margaret hasn't always been this mad
Mags- I was a sweet li'l girlie once
Miranda- And she always found it fun playing with her dad
Dragonfly- God damn I'm beeeeeeautiful, baby!
Rigger- What, her daddy told her "listen to your heart"?
"Be who you are on the inside"?
Miranda- Yeah, but shiny shit drove their family apart
Mags- My daddy lied!
I'd rather be shiny
Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck
Scrub the deck and make it look shiny
I will sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck
Rigger- ... What the heck? Is she slow?
Mags- I'm not dumb, dumb, dumb!
Miranda- (She'll chase anything that glitters, beginner...)
Mags- Oh, and I'll just come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mmm, for winners!
I'm just a zilver
God I love silver!
Rigger- Well, well, well,
That's lovely Mrs Pye,
Excuse me while I run off to-
Mags- Die?
Rigger-... Wat?
Mag- You heard... Your buttons are very shiny...
Rigger- Oh. Um, well, I guess they are. Heh heh... I'm scared.
Miranda- Give her the jacket. She took all our knives.
Rigger- But Gilbert Gottfried signed this-! Ohhh. Now it makes sense
...
Miranda- Just gimme the jacket.
In early Spring here are many of them everywhere... :)
The firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae, about 1 cm. long. Firebugs generally mate in April and May. Their diet consists primarily of seeds from lime trees and mallows. They can often be found in groups near the base of lime tree trunks, on the sunny side. They can be seen in tandem formation when mating which can take from 12 hours up to 7 days. The long period of copulating is probably used by the males as a form of ejaculate-guarding under high competition with other males.
Wiosna wszędzie widać te czerwone robaczki... :)
Kowal bezskrzydły, kowal dwuplamek (Pyrrhocoris apterus) – gatunek pluskwiaka z rodziny kowalowatych, pospolity w Polsce. Osiąga długość około 1 cm. Często pojawia się w dużych gromadach u podstawy pni drzew liściastych, szczególnie lipy. Jest gatunkiem zazwyczaj nieszkodliwym dla środowiska, choć może uszkadzać młode drzewka w szkółkach i wyrządzać szkody w winnicach. Wczesną wiosną owady te budzą się i gromadzą w nasłonecznionych miejscach. Ich kopulacja trwa długo – często ponad 12 godzin, niekiedy nawet do 7 dni. W jej trakcie samiec i samica często poruszają się sczepione odwłokami. Z tego powodu kowale bezskrzydłe bywają popularnie nazywane tramwajami.
Continuing my quest on building frames from the MFZ 2017 frame catalog!
I was making a mk III Twank, and thought: "Huh, you could put another set of legs here. Oh hey, here as well!"
And the rear ones are easy to remove as a movement system.
All rights reserved. Copyright 2018 © Bert Meijers. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. All rights reserved - Copyright 2018 © Bert Meijers
Araignée captive depuis cinq mois et demi et nourrie essentiellement de gendarmes (Pyrrhocoris apterus,) disponibles toute la saison hivernale. Le cocon d'une deuxième ponte est visible en arrière-plan. Photo prise deux jours avant une troisième ponte.
Captive spider for five months and a half. Mostly fed with Firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) available the whole winter season. The cocoon of a second laying can be seen behind. photo taken two days before a third laying.
I wake up to find I'm in the school's infirmary. In the beds around me, is the rest of the team. I try to get up, but I just feel this aching in my back. Oh, my back. I see Pharaoh talking to Neverdie, seemingly apologizing for Clarion's cockiness. Apparently, Pharaoh was able to nullify Neverdie's armor, which led to Glory winning. Lieutenant Liberty looks to be in the best shape out of all of us, as he's already getting out of his bed. Our teacher, Mr. Grey, enters the room, I assume to check up on us. He looks around, and finally points at the tv.
"Good, seems the news is already reporting about the series of arsons. Saves me time and energy. I've sent the location of the most recent arson to your badges. Get there as soon as you can." I hear Grey say with almost no regard for our well-being. He's about to leave, before I speak up.
"Oh, so that's all? Not here to check up on us and see how we're doing? Just business as usual?" While I'm talking, I get up out of my bed, and put my costume on. Guess it's time to get to work.
"You're fine. Maybe a few bruises here and there, but nothing major. Anyways, I'll be leaving now.." With that, Grey leaves the room.
"What time is it?" Wiley asks, as he's wiping his eyes.
"2:45 pm, why?" Neverdie responds, as he looks at the clock in the infirmary.
"What was that?" It looks as though Wiley didn't even hear him.
"2:45 PM! Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it this time.. Ah crap, I got to go to work! Can't be late! I'll catch up with you guys later, I guess?!" Oh right, Wiley did mention to us the other day that he works at Muchacho's Burgers.
Before we're given any time to respond, he zips off.
"Guess it'll just be the 5 of us. We better get going." Silver Lance bluntly says while putting his costume on.
"Hey, could I tag along with one of you? Cause otherwise it'll take me forever to get there, as my teleporting isn't all too reliable these days." Mushroom Man asks as I notice him sweating.
"Yeah for sure man! I've gotcha covered." I say, trying to reassure him.
"C ya later Pharaoh, as there's justice to be done!" Liberty's enthusiasm is almost contagious, it's scary.
We all start making our way there in various ways. Silver Lance, me, and Mushroom Man via flight, while Liberty and Neverdie get there via teleportation.
To be fair, I'm not really the investigative type, so when the team arrives at the given location, I'm not sure how big of a help I'll be. We check out the scene looking for anything out of the ordinary. Besides a whole lot of rubble, there's not really much to look at.
"Over here guys!" Silver Lance yells out. As we walk over to where he is, we notice scorch marks on the ground. It's not very visible, but they are there. There's not just one either, as there is almost a trail leading out of the building.
"Let's see where this leads." Neverdie says, as he starts following the trail of scorch marks. I along with the rest of the team follow behind him. Hopefully this gives us something worthwhile. We follow this trail for what seems like forever, before it eventually just stops. We check out some of the buildings nearby, but it doesn't really give us anything useful.
"So what now? We aren't any closer than when we started.." I say, slightly frustrated.
"Why don't we just stake this out? I mean, the next target could be around here somewhere.."
"Mushroom Man brings up a good point. I feel like that may be our best course of action at this point." Silver Lance replies, as we go back to the latest building hit by this arsonist.
As we're waiting around, I decide to get my work out on. I put in my headphones, and start doing push ups, crunches, squats, and other exercises to keep myself in optimal shape. Lance, Liberty, Neverdie, and Mushroom Man decided to get some actual steak, and are just hanging out, having fun. Hours pass by, before anything really happens. We notice a burning building in the distance, so we start moving towards it. It doesn't take all that long before we arrive at the burning building. I can hear screaming inside the building, but there's a winged figure that flies out of the building..
"Liberty, and Silver Lance, follow that person, while me, Fautline, and Mushroom Man rescue civilians."
"I'm team leader Neverdie! That means I make the calls! Though, that does work. What about Wiley?"
"That doesn't matter right now, just go! As for Wiley, I'll give him a call." Neverdie responds. Silver Lance flies off after the figure with Lieutenant Liberty teleporting, not too far behind them. I create an earth slide that reaches up to the second level. The three of us here run into the building. Neverdie ends up calling Wiley, but I guess he doesn't answer, so he ends up calling Muchacho's Burger's itself. I make my way up to the second floor. Upon entering one of the rooms, I notice three people. A mother, father, and their daughter. The ceiling's about to collapse, but I create an earth shield.
"Go! I won't be able to hold this up for long! Through the window at the end of the hall, there's a slide set up." The father picks up their daughter, and they all dash out of the room. There's a whole lot of weight pushing down on my shield but I'm able to hold it long enough to get out of the room. Walking through the hallway, avoiding falling debris, I make sure the rest of the rooms are cleared, before making my way down to the first floor. It looks like Mushroom Man, and Neverdie cleared out the first floor. I feel the earth below me once I'm outside, just to make sure no one else is inside. Phew, no one's still inside. With everyone at a safe distance, I call the authorities. Me and Mushroom Man stay, and Neverdie leaves to join the fight against the arsonist.
----------------------
POV change to Silver Lance
The figure notice us following, and flies in a zig zag, trying to make things difficult. They throw fireballs at both me and Lieutenant Liberty, but we're able to avoid it relatively easily.
"Why are you doing this?" I inquire, but there's no response. Navigating our way through the city, narrowly dodging signs, and other things that are in the way as we exchange shots at each other. Liberty tries to teleport onto the flyer, but overshot by quite a bit. This cycle repeats for a few minutes, before I notice an orange blur, running along the monorail. That could only be one person.. Wiley.. As he reaches the end of the monorail, I see him leap from it, dive bombing onto the flyer. I use that moment to blast the flyer downwards. Within seconds, the flyer collides with the wall, and is out cold.. Their helmet cracks, and reveals their face. I come closer, and see the face of a girl that's middle-aged. Liberty catches up. Since she took most of the impact, Wiley's looking quite spry. It's a few minutes, before the rest of our team arrives. It's during this time that I call the police. Another win under our belts!! First Monster, now this Firebug. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself, and no, that loss against Glory doesn't count.
End
------------------
So I'm bringing back my Sunrise City story! Rebranding it Heroes of Somerset Academy! If you are at all interested in me tagging you in this series, feel free to let me know.
==Blackgate Prison==
After The Sandstorm
"Name?" the guard called out.
The inmate, a bearded, tattooed man in his mid to late 60s, looked up. "Gaige," he replied in a low whisper.
"And... Your first name?" the guard asked tiredly.
"Just Gaige," the inmate repeated firmly.
The guard shrugged. 'Fair enough.' He'd dealt with enough wack jobs in his time here, he wasn't planning on starting a fight with some pretentious pensioner. He checked his register, and finding Gaige's name, nodded. "Alright, Madonna, you're in C-Block. Gary here'll show you to your cell," he said disinterestedly, as a second guard walked Gaige off.
That night, sitting in his cell alone, the doctor ripped the left sleeve off of his jumpsuit, and wrapped the fabric around his forehead like a mask.
~-~
It wasn't long before his reputation gained him some unwelcome attention; the day he was released into general population, Gaige was sat in the cafeteria by himself, chewing on a mouthful of dry tuna. Midway through his pitiful meal, a pair of inmates approached him. The leader, a man in his mid forties with short brown hair and an eyepatch, nudged Gaige on the shoulder. Harlan Combs. The other, an Elvis lookalike, with tall, greasy black hair, stood behind him, sneering. Johnny LaMonica. Both were former flunkies for Danto Twag.
"Hey, little fish," Combs teased. "That's my seat."
Gaige sighed, resting his plastic fork on the table. "Listen, American Dad-"
"It's Firebug," Combs corrected him sternly.
Raising his mask above his eyes to get a better look at the pair, Gaige examined first Combs and then LaMonica, letting out a low sardonic chuckle. "No, it isn't. Now, back off, Fury, less you want to lose that other eye," Gaige warned, his tone shifting.
"Funny you mention that," Combs nodded sarcastically. "It was your bitch of a daughter who stabbed it out; never got the chance to thank her... But then- Then fate's delivered you into my lap..." he growled, as he gripped Gaige's shoulder even tighter. "Speaking of the little, ah, minx, there's a nasty rumour flying around here about Ra's and her. My boy Johnny was saying that the old ghoul fucked her cor-"
Without warning, Gaige shrugged off his hand, grabbed his fork and rammed it into Combs' remaining eye. He let out a pained shriek, stumbling backwards into LaMonica's arms, blood gushing down his face. LaMonica, looked back at Gaige, his face pale.
"Warned you," Gaige said, bloodied fork in hand. "Whitewashed little pricks," he muttered, as he dipped the utensil back into his pot of tuna.
"Hey," LaMonica shuddered, putting his hands in the air. "I got no beef with you, ese."
"Oho, I'll have what he's having," another inmate, a young man with dirty blonde hair, joked, as he watched LaMonica drag Combs away. "Kidding. Kidding," he added.
"It's you isn't it, The Demon Slayer?" he asked Gaige, an awed smile across his face.
He didn't respond.
"Hah, boy, yeah. 'Thought I recognised that jawline," the man continued unperturbed, as he slid in beside Gaige.
"Go away," he replied, as he gripped the still bloody fork.
The inmate shook his head disarmingly. "Woah, buddy, no need to be hostile- I mean you no harm. Honestly? I just wanted to congratulate you. I mean, Ra's Al Ghul? Wow! And with a poisoned harpoon? Gnarly stuff man, real gnarly. Heck, just the other day, Ramsay here told me that they found him with a smashed up rib cage and a sword in his chest. Fuckin' metal, man, honestly. Fair play, mate, you deserve a fucking medal." he clapped. Ramsay, the dark skinned man on the inmate's right, curled his lip.
Gaige glowered at the inmate's entourage, then rose to his feet.
"Hey, did I do something wrong or something?" The inmate asked him, a note of hurt in his voice.
"Everything," Gaige snarled definitively. "No one likes a kiss-ass."
~-~
A few days later, as Gaige entered his cell, he sniffed the air suspiciously. A familiar scent of rot and decay wafted up his nostrils, and he looked up to the source- a black clad figure sat in the rafters: A Talon.
Descending from the ceiling, it hurled a throwing star at Gaige, grazing his forehead. Distracted by his wound, the Talon grabbed his right arm from behind, pinning it around his back, the bones cracking slightly.
Incensed, Gaige used his free arm to grab the Talon by its collar, and with ferocious strength, he slung it over his shoulders into the farthest brick wall. Disoriented, the Talon dropped to its knees, unable to defend itself from Gaige's next attack. He dragged it over to the toilet, and smashed its head with the seat repeatedly. It was weaker than the ones at the manor had been, and healed slower. No doubt, Gaige deduced, a result of the recent Dionesium shortage Walker had engineered at Nanda Parbat. Which was lucky for him, as if it were at full strength, it would have decapitated him as soon as he'd entered the cell. Gaige pulled the seat back up, then pinned the Talon up against the wall.
"Demon Slayer, The Court of Owls has sentenced you to-," it started to gag.
"Yeah, I know. I fuckin' know," Gaige hissed, cutting it off, as he unsheathed its sai and ran it through its throat. The Talon gurgled as greyish blood trickled down its armour, then its arms fell down to its side, its body twitching slightly as what little life was left in it faded. "If you're still in there, be sure to tell your masters to try harder," Gaige whispered in its ear triumphant.
Nonetheless, aware that it could spring back into life at any moment, Gaige took his bedsheets, bound the Talon's limbs together and hung its body from the ceiling. 'Even if it were to resurrect itself, there'd be little it could do whilst hanging by its neck,' he reasoned. Gaige let out a heavy breath, as he slid against the wall of his cell, exhausted.
~-~
The following day, upon returning to his cell after lunch, he paused. Waiting in his newly renovated cell, was a fully stocked fish tank. Gaige raised a confused eyebrow, then tilted his head back to the entrance. Standing in the doorway, was that same blond inmate from before.
"Heard you had a visitor last night," he called out. "Pity. Still, you seemed to handle yourself pretty well. Tiger Shark." The inmate raised his arm out to Gaige, offering him a handshake. "We didn't really get to know each other earlier. My name's David," he smiled.
"I know who are, Franco," Gaige responded. "Roman Sionis' errand boy."
The boyish facade lifted, as a vicious scowl broke across Franco's face. "Not if it's Sionis who told you, you don't," he spat. "Sionis, is a moody man child who'll execute anyone that tells him no, and torture anyone that says maybe. So, fuck Roman, and anything he told you."
And then, as though nothing had happened, Franco grinned back at Gaige. "So, what do I call you? Like, what's your real name?"
"The Physician's fine," Gaige stated insistently.
"Cool... Very cool. Mysterious! So, you like it?" Franco asked, gesturing to the fishtank.
"These are saltwater fish," Gaige murmured irritably. "They're not going to last the night in this tank. "Don't try and bribe me," he advised. "I don't like suck-ups."
"Look, I know Sionis screwed you over too, buddy." Franco called after him. "He killed your assistant way back when- I know- I was the guy who cleaned that mess up. He made you work against your family- your family. Shit's not right, man.
I was the one running his drug racket whilst he was thrown in Arkham City, but what thanks did I get? Thrown off a roof by the Bat and condemned to Blackgate. Did he come to bail me out, did he, shit! And that? That's why we need each other. The mob never used to be like this, we used to communicate, work together. It was never supposed to be one sadistic dickhead calling the shots. We need to level that playing field. What do you say?"
"Meh. Incognito was a traitor," Gaige said disinterestedly, and he sauntered off.
~-~
Weeks passed, and the situation remained the same. Every few days, Franco would ask for Gaige's help, and every time, the doctor would turn him down.
Until one day, while lifting weights in the yard, Gaige looked up from the bench press as two bald men entered the rec center, recognising both immediately. "I'm just saying, it's his own damn fault; wasn't he just in rehab?" the first complained, dressed in a white onesie covered in bright dots.
"I don't care about his recreational activities, Abner, he's an integral part of my partners' plan," the second, dressed in a white cape and red robes responded tiredly.
"What's he gonna do, hop menacingly?" the Polka Dot Man asked, chuckling at the surreal image he'd conjured up in his head, as he stopped by a nearby table. "You got any of those pudding cups?" he asked the closest inmate. Then, without waiting for an answer, he snatched the plastic cup and scooped the contents into his mouth.
"It's acting up again, isn't it? Hypoglycaemia, wasn't it?" the Calendar Man inquired.
"Yeah," Krill nodded feverishly. "Gotta keep that blood sugar steady, doc says... Though, plays havoc on my spots, of course... And skurvey's a growing concern," he said, rubbing his cheeks.
"Hmph. Remind me to send you a fruit basket," Day smiled snarkily.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer cash," Krill grinned back.
"Then perhaps, you shouldn't have delayed," Day said aerily, checking his watch.
"Hey, not my fault, now is it? I've got other clients y'know," Krill was complaining. "Take that Carson guy for instance, real pain in the neck, has me camped out in a dingy apartment on Ward Avenue. And I'll tell you what's really rich- he's dying to meet you. So, yeah, sue me, I wanna know who're these big bads you're bending over to."
"Carson?" Gaige muttered under his breath, as he observed the duo, scowling at the namedrop. Ted Carson, was meant to be trapped in a demonic hellscape last he'd heard. And the world had been better for it.
"Brave heart, Abner," Day advised his counterpart. "You'll meet my partners when I deem it appropriate. And if that moron is still out there, keeping Drury occupied, we can continue unimpeded."
"Yeah, alright," Krill sniffed. "I just don't know how much more of Jumbo's homemade chilli I can take. I swear, he uses Mountain Dew or some shit, I kid you not." Trailing off mid rant, Krill glared over at Gaige. "What're you staring at, Pop-Eye?" he sneered.
"Nothing," Gaige muttered.
"Good," Krill nodded. "Good," he repeated as he followed after Day.
~-~
That afternoon, Gaige stormed over to Franco's table, a look of newfound determination upon his freshly shaven face. "I want in," he said sternly.
"Great!" Franco said, as he leapt up from the bench.
"But we do it my way."
"Sure," he shrugged, as he sat back down, trying his hardest to hide a very relieved smile. "What do you propose?"
~-~
A month later, Franco and Gaige stood outside the Iceberg Lounge, the cold autumn breeze whipping in their faces. It hadn't been hard to arrange their release from Blackgate, not once Sionis had recieved a series of DNA tests confirming what he had already assumed- Franco, was his bastard half brother.
Even so, it had taken immense pressure from his aides for Sionis to finally agree to a meeting with the pair- here, in the heart of the Penguin's criminal empire. Cobblepot's role, was arbiter, and his position as Mayor provided an air of legitimacy to proceedings.
Gaige, had reluctantly removed his mask- his past with Sionis would have otherwise stood in their way. He had instead applied heavy prosthetics to his face- few people had actually seen his full face of course, but it wasn't a risk they were willing to take.
As they approached the entrance, Franco stuck his hand out to Gaige. "This," he announced, winking back at his partner, "Is the Physician."
The closest henchman nodded to them both, then ushered them aside. "Mr Sionis does not like to be kept waiting," he said.
"Christ. They brought Ferris back?" Gaige muttered unenthusiastically, staring at the infamous, iron-masked figure sat at the table. "He is getting desperate."
"We did that man," Franco whispered assuredly. "We did that."
==Arkham Asylum. Present Day==
Batman examined a fallen piece of fabric on the ground- a striped yellow and black piece of tattered cloth not unlike the kind seen in a sports jacket.
"This way, sir."
Bruce nodded, picking it up, and placing the rolled up curiosity into a pouch on his belt. He rose to his feet, and followed the guard across a narrow walkway, stopping once the duo reached a tall metal door. The guard nodded to his two colleagues, stood at either side of it, and saw them off, as they gratefully retreated back to their posts.
The remaining guard turned his key in the lock, and the door opened with a low moan. Batman cautiously entered the room alone- the lone guard simply lingered in the doorway, anxiously. Sat in the corner of his cell, his hair unkept, his fingers bloodied, was-
"Crane."
The figure remained silent; the only noise he made was the tapping of his bony fingers against the armrest of his wheelchair. Undeterred, Batman continued, choosing his words carefully in an attempt to get a rise from him, a confession, he hoped. "You should know I spoke to Fries last week. He told me all about your missing shipment of Fearless. The one he stole from you."
Crane didn't reply.
Bruce put his hand to his chin, the cogs turning in his head, as he read Crane's body language. Every twitch, every breath told a story.
'Now,' Bruce thought, 'You and I both know your formula is useless without Dionesium. So, unless you have unearthed more Talons, that single shipment is all the Joker has. Not enough for the city wide plague you and Dent had envisioned, so it'd have to be somewhere concentrated... He'd have to have specific targets in mind; The Misfits, that's obvious, yes, but I imagine that, like me, he can't find them either... So, he doesn't know where they are now, but he does know where they're going to be, doesn't he? Or at least, where he can draw them to... But, it's not that simple though, is it? It never is. Not with you, not with Day, not with Joker. So, what's his second target? If I can only find the link between them and the Misfits, I can shut this all down.'
Crane, stared back at him defiantly, his silence unflinching.
"I wouldn't bother with him," the guard advised, glancing back at the inmate tensely. "He doesn't move, he barely eats. Hell, I'm not even sure if he sleeps, sir. He just... sits there."
Batman tilted his head back. "Any visitors?"
The guard shook his head. "None. If there were, I'd be the first to know, sir. I can give you his patient records if you want; they're signed by Doctor Arkham himself."
"No, that's not necessary," Batman replied. He looked around the cell, as though he felt he were being watched, like an invisible force was in the room with them, breathing on the back of his neck. 'No,' he repeated to himself, as he shook off the feeling and walked off down the hallway.
Crane waited until Bruce's footsteps had grown fainter and fainter and then he spoke, "He's gone," he said, seemingly to thin air. And then the guards froze in place, like a computer program had just been paused, before they vanished altogether; the sterile white walls gave way to reveal purple and green paint on every surface, and blood drenched across the floor; the cell door faded away, as did Crane's prison jumpsuit, revealing his signature Scarecrow mask and hat in its' place. And beside him, Zoom materialised. The rhythmic tapping of Billings' plastic leg against the concrete floor grew louder as finally, he entered the room dressed in his bright orange Spellbinder attire. "You think he bought it?" he said anxiously, taking a hearty gulp from a suspicious looking flask.
"Youbetter hoooooope soooooooo, Mr Billings," Zoom's voice crackled, as he snatched the flask out of his hands, a look that could almost be attributed to disgust upon his blurred face. "Oryouwill pay. Deaaaaaaaarly. Fooooooor theeeeee lessooooon tosucceed, wemustoperatein complete secrecy. Wemust ensure thaaaaaaat the Baaaaaaaatmaaaaaan cannotinterfere.
"Billings, is not the one with a case of Stockholm Syndrome towards the Batman. Joker is," Crane murmured.
Zoom's head swivelled in Crane's direction. "And yoooouuuuuuuu Scarecrow? Whatassurancedo we haaaaaaave thatyouwont betraaaaay usssssss?"
"Because," Crane said firmly, "Above all else, Mr Zolomon, I am a scientist. And I intend to see this little experiment of yours through to the end."
~-~
Batman entered the Batmobile, and put his finger against his temple. "Oracle, what are the current whereabouts of Delbert Billings?"
"Spellbinder? Alright, give me a moment" Barbara's voice replied, as she began typing into her keypad. "Ok, so, it says here that, about a month ago, he was en-route to Blackgate in the wake of another relapse. And from the sounds of things, he was barely in there 24 hours before he vanished."
"Hn," Batman grimaced, glancing back at the Asylum. "That's what I was worried about."
#bugs for #FlickrFriday
These are firebugs. In Russia, we call them soldier-bugs. There are a lot of them in spring and summer, and while they may look threatening because of their bright-red colour, they are not really harmful. They do not bite humans or animals, nor do they damage the agricultural crops very much.
Also, while I was googling what they are called in English, I found out that when firebugs are in this position, they are, in fact, mating.
I had diarreha while I was on duty.
I nearly melted under 35 degree celsius.
I planned the Taipei trip with my sister through msn.
I saw two firebugs on my way to the train station after off duty.
I feel grateful above all :)
Collaboration art:
Photography by: Deathbycanon-stock
deathbycanon-stock.deviantart.…
Photo Manipulation and Computer Art: TrinityHawk Photography & Multimedia
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Trinton.TrinityHawk
Website:
Dans la coulée verte à Châtillon, le 11 Octobre 2015
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Boîtier : CANON EOS 60D
Objectif : TAMRON SP 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD MACRO 1:1
Flash : Yongnuo YN-560 III déporté.
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==Arkham Asylum: Guard Quarters==
"Let me see! Let me see!"
“Careful, you’re crumpling them!”
"Ooh, such wonderful emotions! Delicious, frozen expressions!"
Abner Krill’s face was pressed against the microwave, like a child’s at the zoo’s red panda exhibit, as he waited for his cocoa to be ready; the room was small, modest, and utilitarian, which had suited the Asylum Guards just fine in the past. Hayden and Billings had cornered their newest member, Mister Camera, and were clearly enjoying themselves as they perused through the shoebox he’d retrieved from the 'Bug House.' The microwave pinged, and Krill removed the steaming mug from inside.
Billings had spotted a particularly erotic photo from the pile and grabbed it, bearing a crooked smile as he rubbed his thumb across the edge. "My my, is that lace? That naughty little bug girl… Rather nicely composed too...”
Krill snorted from the sidelines, as he stirred a sixth spoonful of sugar into his hot cocoa. "You don't know dick about composition, you peg legged twat."
"I'm a filmmaker, Krill, an auteur, I picked up a few things,” Billings replied condescendingly.
"Mm. About filmmaking or alcoholism? 'Cause, didn't it bomb? Like, bomb so bad the suits sent you to rehab? Twice."
Billings spun around, photo still in hand. "Now, you listen here, you pimpled prat! That was entirely out of my hands!" he scowled, his face turning a deep scarlet. "The Society completely dicked me over! Class A censorship from small-nubbed pricks! If I was allowed to tell my vision-!"
"Stop it! You're dribbling alcohol onto them!" Sims clutched Billings arm, protecting his precious photos from Spellbinder’s spit.
The squeak of rubber on metal broke up the argument. The crackle of lightning kept it that way. Crane sat in the doorway, two tired, mismatched eyes and a downturned mouth peeking out from behind his burlap mask; Zoom stood behind him, fists balled. "Cease your juvenile ogling, you primitive pack of apes, you all have work to do," Crane chastised the group. They didn’t need to be told a second time; Sims exited first, carrying the shoebox under his arm; then Hayden, kicking the ground defiantly; Billings shuffled away last, wiping the rim of his flask with his cuff.
Zoom however, stayed rooted to the spot, his blurred gaze fixed on Krill. Crane stared at him suspiciously, then wheeled himself away.
"Yeah?" Krill eyed the Speedster expectantly, slurping his hot chocolate from an Arkham-Branded mug.
“I haaaaaaaaavea job foryooooooouuuuuuuu,” Zoom slurred. “Offthe record.”
Krill smirked back, a greedy glint in his eyes. "Will it pay?"
"Ohyes."
==GCPD==
A group of four entered the GCPD; security was lax as of late; with so many dead and even more injured, it was easy for Chuck, Gar, Joey and Bridget to slip in through the roof; Chuck went on ahead to check out the interrogation room and gather clues while the three pyros lingered by the cell block. Confused, Joey looked at Ted Carson, still held behind iron bars.
"Joker didn't want him?" he whispered to Gar, conscious not to upset Bridget.
"Would you?" Gar answered back coldly.
“Laugh it up, Bug Boys,” Carson growled at the duo. “I’ll get outta here, and I’ll kill you all.”
“Hn. And I thought some time to yourself would give you space to reflect,” Gar stared at him, flicking his lighter shut. “Guess I figured wrong.”
“Ah, but it did. ‘Cause now I know what to do. No more schemes. No more plans. No more lousy, two-faced partners. I’m just gonna burn it all down.”
Gar’s brow shifted slightly. “Good luck with that,” he scoffed, stepping aside. As he did so, Carson finally noticed his daughter. His jaw slackened, his eyes narrowed, his puffed-out chest deflated, at the sight of this final, crushing betrayal.
"Bridget?" he choked, struggling to process her presence.
Bridget fidgeted with her hands, avoiding her father’s gaze. "Dad..." she began to defend herself, but nothing came out. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.
"You're with them now, is that it?” Carson scowled. "Figures.”
Gar exhaled, stepping back in front of Bridget defensively. "You, are an idiot,” he remarked. “A big, shiny, Megazord of an idiot."
"Careful," Carson warned.
"Oh, please! If you were any sort of a husband or father, if you ever cared for your wife, for Bridget; for Jumbo for crying out loud, you'd have gone back to your family as soon as you'd woken up, when you were resurrected that very first time. Or the second time. Or the third. Or the fourth. But no, you just had to get revenge on your killer, on a drunk fuckin' driver, no matter what! You couldn't let it go that the great "Ted Carson" got punted 100 yards by Killer Moth in his bright purple Mothmobile. If that were me, if I had died, and somehow, through divine, demonic or whatever that crap was, intervention, I'd run back to my apartment, I would hold my little girl in my arms, and I would not let go. But look at you! You! You let yourself get so fucking consumed by vengeance that you let it all slip away.
Drury didn’t ruin your life. He didn’t destroy your family. By the way, he didn’t put you in Arkham either. You did that all on your own."
Finished, Gar stormed off, Joey in pursuit. Yet, despite every fibre of her being telling her not to, Bridget lingered by the door to her dad’s cell.
“Go on then,” Carson growled. “Run back to ‘daddy.’”
But Bridget didn’t. She couldn’t. Despite everything he’d said and done, despite her newfound loyalty to the Misfits…
He was still her father.
~-~
Chuck knelt beside an upturned table in the interrogation room, peeling off a scrap from an orange jumpsuit that had been caught on the edge. ‘Drury…’ he lamented quietly. Amongst the glass, and the trails of dried blood, he found something else; a single Joker card pinned to a sheet of A5 paper. The door behind him opened, signifying Gar and Joey’s arrival.
“Anything?” Gar asked, not expecting a whole lot.
"Looks like he left a note,” Chuck replied, noticing some writing on the back.
“What's it say?” Joey inquired.
Chuck cleared his throat, and began to read: "225g plain flour, two teaspoons bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, 75g unsalted butter, 100g soft brown sugar and 100g golden syrup. To decorate: one bar of dark chocolate, finely grated."
"I- I think it's a shopping list."
~-~
The group walked back the way they came, despondent over their lack of leads. Carson remained in his cell, but something had changed in his demeanour, an underlying quiet malice. Dragging behind, a voice called out to Chuck from the cell diagonal Carson’s. A cold, refined voice that Chuck had hoped he’d heard the last of:
"Charlie?"
Chuck turned around: Julian was standing by the bars, a quizzical expression on his face.
“You look healthy,” Chuck replied, perhaps a little more venomously than he had intended.
“Your poison has worked its' way out of my system, yes. As you can see, the GCPD is rather short staffed at the moment,” Julian observed, a slight, malicious smile on his face.
“That ‘poison’ is meant to help you, Julian,” Chuck responded. “You’re sick.”
“Yes, of oh so many things… You never understood Diaxymine, Charlie. It’s not a solution, it doesn’t suppress my darker half and worse impulses. It never did. It’s a flood. Drowning me in remorse. Burying me in sorrow and pity and regret. Is this how it is for you? For the Misfits? Knowing that despite how hard you try to better yourself, the things you’ve done, those terrible terrible things will stick with you, forever.”
“Yes.”
“How can you bear it?” Julian inquired, in a tone that revealed an underlying pain.
“By trying my hardest, doing the best I can.”
“Then surely, you understand why I tried to free you from that burden? From that pain? To escape from that baggage and be your truest self?” Julian asked softly.
Chuck took a step towards the exit and opened it. “No,” he called back. “And I never will.”
==<???>==
Emerging from a kaleidoscopic vortex, Krill and his charge stepped forward onto weightless ground, only to be hit by a blinding wave of white light; They were standing in a void of white clouds, lit up by bolts of coloured lightning. The only sounds were the faint rumblings of thunder in the distance. Krill lowered his goggles over his eyes and began scanning for signs of life. "Thought you said this place was a prison?" he squinted.
Zoom looked out at the howling wilderness. "Itis."
Krill frowned. It didn't look like a prison. It looked like Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Zoom’s non-committal responses weren’t helping matters. He peeled a dot off his chest, and hurled into in the endless void, hoping it could find something his scanners couldn’t. They were standing in something elemental; Krill knew that much. Something ancient. Something ethereal.
Something wrong.
As they walked (that's right, walked not ran), something changed in the air, the fluffy white clouds all around them turned grey, as though they were travelling into a hurricane of swirling wind. The sounds of thunder overhead became louder. The lightning changed too, gone was the rainbow of colours, only one hue remained, angrier, more aggressive than the rest: Red.
And the further they walked; the more anxious Krill became. "Where are we? What... what have you done?" he asked, uncharacteristically uncertain. Shaken.
"Zoom. Where are we?" he asked again.
"Thislesson isbeyondme. Ineed someone toshow me the way,” Zoom whispered quietly, merely raising more unsettling questions.
"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU TAKEN ME?!" Krill bellowed, his entire body quaking; tiny globs of spittle flew out of his mouth and landed on Zoom's face. He ripped two dots off his shoulders and pointed them at Zoom’s face, both glowing with neon energy.
"Iwould nooooooot do thaaaaat ifiwere youuuuuuuuuu,” Zoom wagged his finger back and forth.
"Yeah? Why the hell not?" Krill demanded, his eyes bulging.
"Youuuuuuuuuuuuu'll unsettle the wraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiths."
Krill’s arm fell by his side, the energy dissipating from his fists. Realisation had set in, and grovelling even quicker. "Oh... Oh, God. I... I was loyal. Didn't betray you, didn't tell Bats or the Kite-Man shit. You don't... You don't have to do this. Please, don't do this."
Zoom cocked his head to one side, a motion that could almost be described as pity. "Youmisunderstand, Aaaaaaaaabneeeeeer. Thisis not apunishment. Thisisa leeeeeeeesssoooooooon."
"Lesson." A word that anyone who had ever been on Zoom's receiving end had learned to fear. But Krill wouldn't stick around for the demonstration, he reached for the dial on his belt, and then a final, gut-wrenching twist of the knife: The belt was gone.
As Krill struggled to reconcile what had happened, Zoom raised his hand, and his heart beat even faster than before: all his hopes of escape vanished at once. Dangling from Zoom’s wrist was his red belt. Krill had never even noticed he'd taken it. Zoom’s syllabus was at last revealed with one haunting phrase: "Suuuuuuuuuuuuurvival ofthe fittest."
"No. Please. I'm not like the rest of the psychotic grunts who lube themselves up over LiveLeaks or nuke cities for jollies," Krill chuckled nervously, sweat across his pimpled brow. "I'm... I'm like you."
Before Zolomon could answer, a third voice broke through the fog; calm, arrogant, evil. "Oh, Abner, I don't think we're alike at all.”
“Quite the reverse, actually."
Krill tried to offer a pitiful rebuttal, but it was too late: Lightning bolts wrapped around his wrists like manacles, dragging him deeper into the void, his corporeal form fading, then for a moment: silence.
The Storm had accepted Zoom's offering. And then all at once, red lightning shot down on the spot Krill had been standing prior, forming a yellow silhouette. "In academic circles, this is what we'd call a 'teaching moment,' Mr Krill,” the figure smiled, his image becoming clearer; he looked like Zolomon but his uniform was a brighter yellow, his build was leaner, his red irises were exposed, and he was smiling. The Professor, was in.
“Class dismissed.”
Zolomon offered his mentor Krill’s belt; the device clicked as Thawne fastened it around his waist; a portal opened, but more destructively than before; without its true master, the circular vortex was jagged, unstable. But the Reverse-Flashes didn't need long. Faster than you could blink, they were gone; and the portal folded in on itself, leaving the Speedforce quiet once more.
==Keystone City. West Residence==
Wally West closed the door to his daughter Irey’s bedroom, then sped downstairs, yellow lightning trailing after him. His wife Linda was on the sofa, who, upon spying him, raised a bottle of non-alcoholic wine off the coffee table.
“Kids asleep?” she asked slyly.
“Yep,” Wally smirked; in an instant, he was sitting beside her on the sofa. He held up a glass and she began to trickle wine into it.
“Merry Christmas, Mr West,” she kissed him on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Mrs Park,” he smiled back cheekily, reciprocating with a longer smooch on the lips.
Then suddenly, Wally stumbled back, clutching his head as images flooded his head. The glass hit the floor, shattering on impact, and staining the floor a blood red.
"Wally? You OK?" Linda knelt beside him, placing her arm around him comfortingly.
"I... I don't know."
Araignée captive depuis cinq mois et demi et nourrie essentiellement de gendarmes (Pyrrhocoris apterus,) disponibles toute la saison hivernale. Le cocon d'une deuxième ponte est visible en arrière-plan. Photo prise deux jours avant une troisième ponte.
Captive spider for five months and a half. Mostly fed with Firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) available the whole winter season. The cocoon of a second laying can be seen behind. photo taken two days before a third laying.
Pyrrhocoris apterus
Petit insecte commun (9 mm ici) aux nombreux noms vernaculaires (pompiers, diable, suisse, soldat...) en raison de sa couleur.
A common little insect (9 mm here) with many vernacular names in France (fireman, devil, swiss, soldier...) because of its color.