Chapter 7: Dame Wasp, Betty Rose
Betty Rose's preferences were meticulously documented in her fandom, revealing that she favored her birth name over her code name, Dame Wasp. This detail was evident to anyone who closely followed her character arc in the movie.
But Ace preferred to come clean with her because he did not want her to be under the misconception that she was the real deal. With her abilities, she can access the net. Learning the truth there would only shatter her psyche.
Though Dame Wasp was just an animated toy, her sentience was the same as the original Betty Rose in the movies or Ace himself. She could feel all the emotions just like humans.
To avoid complications in the future, Ace decided to be truthful to his toy summons from the get-go, "Betty Rose, a.k.a Dame Wasp, are you aware that you are a toy that I animated and not the original?"
"Yes, Master Ace. You have nothing to worry about in that area. The cursed toybox has updated my memory and sense of purpose. So that I can serve you to the fullest of my capabilities," Dame Wasp replied to Ace to the best of her knowledge.
"Great," Ace perked up, learning that the cursed toybox had taken care of everything.
"Betty Rose, now fly around the room at your fastest speed," Ace ordered, wanting to gauge the agility of Dame Wasp.
Betty Rose, fueled by her master's command, darted through the room with remarkable speed, her movements agile and precise. Ace observed closely, noting the grace and swiftness with which Dame Wasp maneuvered through the air. Most impressive of all, she made no noise. Her wings did not produce buzzing noise like the wings of the Houseflies, Mosquitoes, Bees, or Wasps.
"Wow," Ace exclaimed in excitement as Dame Wasp halted before him after a quick lap around the 10x10 room. Then he asked, "Rose, what is your flight speed?"
"My current average flight speed is 28 miles per hour, with a top speed of 45 miles per hour. If not for my small body, I would have achieved an even higher speed," Dame Wasp boasted, seeking to impress her master with her impressive capabilities despite her diminutive size.
"Does that mean you will be slower when you shrink?" Ace asked in concern. After all, for the foreseeable future, Dame Wasp was his only defense/offense against Curselings as he had used the only extra curse core on him to animate her.
"No, Master Ace. When my body shrinks, it will have the same density and energy as my current size. Allowing me to display far superior capabilities," Dame Wasp explained and added, "Let me demonstrate, Activate 1/100th."
Soon, Dame Wasp's size reduced to a hundredth of her size. 1.2mm tall, she was smaller than a mosquito. To the naked eye, she was invisible most of the time as she completed a lap of the room. Ace couldn't find her until she halted before his eyes and excitedly said, "Did you see Master Ace? In this size, my average speed of flight is the same as my top speed in my regular size. This speed is not my limit. It will increase with quantitive change in my stats."
"Awesome, now try and lift that dumbbell," Ace ordered, pointing at the dusty 40-pound steel dumbbell in the corner of the room.
In her 1/100th size, Dame Wasp flew next to the dumbbell. Getting a grip on its edge, she lifted it 5 feet above the ground and then above her head with ease. Showcasing that despite her size, her grip and strength were not to be underestimated.
If one were not paying attention or had poor vision, they would think the dumbbell was floating by itself. If Dame Wasp were to turn on her camouflage, she could easily fool any regular person into thinking that.
"Now, place it down and use your braid laser to inscribe my name on it—or maybe make a hole from one end of its shaft to the other," Ace demanded, trying to gauge the limits of Dame Wasp's laser.
Dame Wasp's braid came alive and morphed into a laser point and projected a thin beam of laser at the steel dumbbell with super precision, inscribing the words 'Ace Lander's property' in calligraphy faster than it would take Ace to write the same in his regular handwriting using a marker.
Next, finding the center of the dumbbell shaft, Dame Wasp increased the intensity of the laser beam to dig a hole in it as Ace had asked her to while keeping the noise to the minimum. Two minutes later, the laser beam shot out from the other end of the 25-cm-long steel shaft.
"Now that was awesome," Ace exclaimed in excitement but then mused aloud, "Will this be enough to fight Curselings?"
"Master, if I consume your curse energy, I can shoot higher-intensity laser beams and display far superior prowess. But your curse energy reserves will deplete faster," Dame Wasp informed to ease her master's worries.
"That's assuring to hear, but let us save it for desperate times," Ace nodded and then continued, "Rose, let's try sense sharing."
Sharing Dame Wasp's sense, Ace saw the world throught her cybernetic sensory components. It was more detailed and felt like playing a full-immersive version of the flight simulator. Such an experience was only possible because of her cybernetic sensory system. Also, everything else appeared bigger because of her small size. It was a unique experience, especially seeing his motionless body from a third-person view.
'I can only use this skill when in a safe area,' Ace thought, looking at how defenseless his body was when using the sense share skill.
'Rose, head downstairs. Let us see what's for dinner,' Ace commanded Dame Wasp. Flying through the door gap, Dame Wasp headed toward the kitchen to find that his father was no longer fiddling with his iPad but hugging his mother from behind while she stirred the chili pot. They both gently swayed to "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, playing on the iPad, enjoying each other's company.
'Awe!' Ace was happy that his parents could be this romantic with each other even after two and a half decades of marriage. Then he ordered, 'Rose, head outside to house no.69.'