"Doggone! We got ourselves a good ol' fashioned honey heist!"
—Security Bee, Phase 1 Death Screen
Before the battle begins, Rumor Honeybottoms is shown with a fork, knife, and a bib, looking at Cuphead and Mugman like she wants to eat them. Then her fork and knife become a wand and her bib disappears, as she snaps, calling the Security Bee. A whistle can then be heard, and the Security Bee comes into the arena while saying: "Oi oi oi!"
The Security Bee is fought throughout the first phase of the fight. He will fly near the bottom, occasionally dropping ticking bombs from his pocket. These bombs will tick for five seconds, then explode into six pieces. Three of those pieces are parryable. In Simple and Expert Mode, the bomb will explode into eight pieces, with four of them being parryable.
While all of this happens, worker bees with suitcases fly around, looking very sad. These bees will not attack the player(s), though if you run into them, you get hurt. You are easily able to shoot and destroy these bees.
It is recommended to use the Chaser for this phase since Security Bee moves frequently, and worker bees can also get in the way.
Throughout the first two phases of the fight, fizzy honey at the bottom of the screen will be continuously rising upwards, forcing the players to keep on jumping on the platforms to hot get hurt by the honey. In simple mode, the honey moves much slower.
After the Security Bee has taken enough damage, he will fly away while rubbing his shoulder, which has two white bandages on it. Then the next phase will commence.
"Hey sugar, this honey is off limits. Now scram!"
—Rumor Honeybottoms, Phase 2 Death Screen
In this phase, you actually start fighting Rumor Honeybottoms. There are two forms that she will turn into in this phase. Throughout the phase, she will change these forms, and it's at random when they change, so it does not matter how much you damage her, she will just randomly change.
- In her first form, she will come in from either the left or right side (shown by a her hand) and attack the player(s) with a magic wand. Rumor can summon one of two things in this form:
- The first thing Rumor can summon is a purple wavy triangle that'll fly around the screen. Occasionally, the triangle will shoot three parryable mini triangles from its corners. Two triangles can be on the screen at once, so be careful and watch where it shoots.
- The second thing Rumor can summon is a pink parryable sphere that moves around the screen. You can parry this sphere endlessly until it disappears, so it is recommended to use this sphere to get a coin from the juggler in Inkwell Isle Two from parrying four times in a row. This sphere does not directly attack the player, but rather just homes in on the player slowly. After a while, the sphere will go off screen. Once again, two spheres can be on the screen at once; so be careful.
- In her second form, she goes to the middle, then drop her head down. This reveals a chain in between her head and her body. She will then proceed to shoot Bullet Bees on either side from her mouth. These Bullet Bees go in an S shape pattern, and they move pretty quickly, so you must jump and crouch very fast. Beware that the magical projectiles from the first form can still be moving around from her first form.
It is recommended to use the Charge or Spread on this phase to deal maximum damage due to her giant hitbox. Chaser is discouraged as the spells will also be a focus for the shot and drag away damage from Rumor.
After dealing enough damage, she will go back up to the top of the screen, then come back down with a book in hand. She will flip through the pages of the book, then point at a page of the book, seeming like she found what she wanted. She then puts the book away, and does a magical thing. She will then turn into a plane, and fly to the bottom of the screen. The next phase commences.
In Simple Mode, the fight just ends here as she stops and closes her eyes.
"Dominate and bombinate -- that's how I bee!"
—Rumor Honeybottoms, Phase 3 Death Screen
This phase is not fought in Simple Mode.
During this phase, Rumor Honeybottoms turns into a plane. She will stay at the bottom of the screen, and shoot hand missiles which home in on you. Beware that some of these hand missiles can go off screen, then come back. So it's recommended to stay in the middle of the screen, unless Rumor's attacking you with her buzz saw.
From time to time, she will turn her hand into a buzz saw, and take up half of the screen. In order to know which side she's striking at, just look at where she's looking. If she stops and starts looking to the right, she will strike the right side of the screen. If she stops and starts looking to the left, she will strike the left side of the screen.
It is recommended to use the Lobber, Roundabout or Chaser. You can aim upwards for Roundabout, straightforward and upward for Lobber, or everywhere for Chaser. Peashooter, Charge, and Spread are harder to use since they need to be aimed down. It is also recommended that you always move, as the hand missile moves in a set but unpredictable pattern.
Once Rumor takes enough damage, the fight will be over. Rumor's head will pop off, with cross eyes and her tongue out, while she waves her wings all over the place.