[REND] B2. 17.2 - An Offer I Might Refuse

I’m taller than Deen, I celebrated in my head as we walked side by side.

Upon transforming into Blanchette, I was already a couple of inches taller than her. But after several minutes of growing more, our height difference was around half a foot, not counting my furry ears wriggling this way and that, picking up sounds from our surroundings. I should’ve told Overdrive to take a picture of Deen and me so that I could look at this happy moment whenever I was annoyed at my shortness.

I glanced at Deen. She wore a mask to cover her face and a cap on her head. She had tucked her long blonde hair into the back of her navy-blue, long-sleeved sweater. She shouldn’t care so much about hiding her identity because the PCM already knew Myra and Kelsey. The mad scientist bitch who was a literal head would have an easy starting point to find the remaining two members of the Three Bs.

That said, Overdrive was right. Despite hiding most of her face, it was obvious that Deen was attractive. In contrast, when wearing my mask and hoodie, I looked like an undernourished teenager who ran away from home.

Good thing that the people of Marsh Row had learned to fear the red hoodie.

I looked down at Deen’s chest. My keen eyesight could detect the faint golden glow of her artificial Core through the fabrics covering it. I could feel its power.

Replaying what Overdrive had said about Deen’s Core, I suspected that it appeared as a ball of energy because Deen was constantly using her power compared to the rest of us. Reo needed to summon his fairies to use them, contrasting with Deen’s Guardian Angel, which was always there, hanging around and peering into the future to protect her.

As for my Core, its power manifested only when I was transformed. Two instances, by now. It also might be subdued by my Adumbrae side, in the same way that it also reversed the physical changes of my body. That was why Overdrive couldn’t detect that something was going on in my chest.

Deen’s Core might present a future problem. I should keep her away from augmented people, especially BID agents.

Deen noticed my stare. “Blanchette… I have to ask—do you know what I am?” She placed her right hand over her chest, where her Core was. “Has Kelsey told you about why Myra has powers?”

I nodded.

“About the… artificial Cores?”

I nodded again, adding a small snarl.

“I hope you’re not angry about them,” Deen said, her heartbeat speeding up. “We’re not connected to the Corebring or the Hive, I promise. Kelsey wouldn’t know about me because I joined Dario’s group after she had gone missing, but it was mostly against my will. Anyway, I have to tell you about the ability granted by my Core—I can detect danger.”

Earlier, while planning, I explained through notes that I wanted a partner to enter the PCM compound for added firepower and ease of negotiations. Kelsey volunteered, but I gave her a different assignment. The PCM had contained her before; they could do it again with their anti-Adumbrae weapon, especially now that she was weakened after I reversed some of her transformation. Also, she couldn’t use her powers well if she was right in front of the enemy.

“Did I keep my giant hands' power secret…?” Kelsey read the paper I gave to her during the earlier meeting. “They don’t know about it,” she answered. “Keke told me—I mean, I had to keep secrets just in case… You know? However, it didn’t help me escape.”

I nodded. Kelsey couldn’t teleport the anti-Adumbrae device away because it was behind a metal door that she couldn’t approach. It was a different matter if her target was in the open. If I could break Myra out of her cell or wherever she was held, Kelsey could easily teleport her away from the PCM compound. But Kelsey had to stay far and choose the right moment to strike.

As for Deen and me, we could certainly fight our way through anything that the PCM had prepared. It seemed that Deen also preferred going with me, spouting about paying back all that I’d done for her.

“We came to you for help,” Deen said earlier. “It’s only right that I go with you.”

And we were together. Everything according to plan, so far.

I questioningly tilted my head, as if wondering about her power.

“I suppose that my power isn’t required to know that we’re heading to danger,” Deen said, lightly chuckling. “But I’ll be able to sense what actions to take to navigate ourselves out of the trap once it has been sprung. I know I haven’t proven myself, but I hope that you can trust me later.”

I paused for a few seconds. Then I nodded.

Though Deen’s nose and mouth were covered, I could see in her eyes that she was smiling. “Thank you again for your help. I hope I can meet your human form.”

I raised a brow. The hell is she talking about?

“Overdrive told me about it,” Deen said. “About what your human form looked like. Not your appearance; he mentioned that you always wore a mask and a hoodie. Your, erm, stature.”

I snorted. That bastard Overdrive couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He was probably bragging that he knew a lot about me.

“He said that you’re quite young, with a gentle voice. If it’s not too much of a problem, can you show that form to me after we rescue Myra?”

“Ghraor?”

“No particular reason,” Deen quickly answered. “I can’t explain it myself. Perhaps I want to see what my rescuer really looks like? I’m curious about the real you.”

I nodded.

“Does that mean you agree?”

I nodded again. It was what I had planned to do anyway. This might be confirmation from the universe to do it. Did this mean that Deen would accept an Adumbrae as a friend? Or that she was fine if her friend was an Adumbrae?

“Thank you so much!” Deen’s eyes sparkled with delight. I didn’t know why she was so excited about this. “You don’t need to show your face; I know that you’re protecting your identity. I just want to talk with you. It’s this feeling…”

I nudged my head toward the PCM compound, telling her that we should focus on our mission. The compound was roughly square in shape, located in an open space surrounded by a thick forest. Several tree stumps that weren’t dug up were proof that the PCM intentionally cleared this area to hide their little base. It probably wasn’t very little. I wasn’t good at estimating sizes, but I think that the compound could fit like a dozen mid-sized cabins in there, plus plenty of open spaces.

“There’s no danger yet,” Deen said.  

Not sure what was inside because tall walls, their bottom half made of stone, and the upper part comprised of logs, blocked my view. Flanking the gate were two guard towers. The assholes on top shone spotlights on us as we neared the gate.

I suppose this was only fitting because I was the main character. Not Deen.

I could smell a lot of people inside. Probably around fiftyish idiots who didn’t know they were making a big mistake. There were also some… creatures... that were alive, definitely biological, but didn’t quite smell human. Not dogs or other normal animals. They were likely the jigsaw monsters made by the PCM.

No trace of Myra, though she could be held inside a container. I hadn’t smelled Cecilia as Blanchette before, so I couldn’t tell if she was inside. Knowing her personality, she wouldn’t miss this.

There was this distinct burnt air odor that I suspected was from charged electroshock weapons. ‘Suspected’ was probably too light a word. I knew that there were electroshock weapons that were ready to fire. I could hear them humming and buzzing like a choir of giant bees. Doubtless, the PCM had other equipment ready to bring me down.

Looking left, I examined the dark forest that wasn’t so dark to my eyes. Movement. Quick and purplish. With the PCM’s attention on me, Kelsey rushed circling to the back of the compound.

As Deen and I stood in front of the gates, several engines roared as the gangsters moved into place. One group was coming up behind us, while the two others went to the left and right of the compound. More distractions so that Kelsey could have an easier time coming in later. Overdrive and the gangsters would threaten an attack. Just threaten…  They didn’t have rocket launchers and stuff like that to blow the gate open. They’d shoot at the guards patrolling the walls and the tower, unless I managed to make an opening for them.

“Boss, if you turn into a giant werewolf,” Overdrive said while we were planning in the car, “is it, uh, alright if we sit that shit out? You won’t need us there. Don’t misunderstand me, boss—I’m not saying we don’t want to help you. But…”

“But you also don’t want to get eaten,” I said. “Yeah, yeah. If you see me becoming really big, just tell everyone to go far, far away. Don’t look back.”

I didn’t want to waste men in such a useless endeavor—that was me, Red Hood, the benevolent leader. Their lives weren’t going to add much, even as distractions. I just wanted to bring along a group of men to show off, like the entourage of a rapper in a music video.

Would be kind of lame if the boss showed up alone.

The gates rattled as they rolled to the side.

Deen didn’t say anything. This meant that the PCM wanted to talk first before starting shit. More time for me grow. Patches of fur covered my skin, with muscles rippling underneath. My lengthening fangs jostled each other in my mouth as saliva dripped over my pulled-back lips. The feeling of invincibility clouded my mind, and I didn’t really care.

I was the top of the food chain here, and no amount of weaponry was going to change that. In fact, I was excited to see what the PCM had in store for me. Those weaklings would wear despair on their faces once they’d realize that nothing could stop me. An entertaining sight to see hubris get shattered.

And no, I wasn’t excessively proud because I had the strength to back it up.

Deen and I walked into an open space, a bit wider than a basketball court, surrounded by squat buildings. In the middle of it stood two people. One was a middle-aged man who could be the lead actor in a romance movie. He had wavy hair swept to the side and a neatly-trimmed beard covering his square jaw. He might be a ranking PCM official. Not Auron, though. That guy looked different.

The other person was Cecilia, wearing a deranged smile and a white lab coat. The mad scientist bitch had found a new body. One sniff and I detected the inhuman scents they gave off, a bit fishy and earthy. She also seemed to have multiple hearts.

The sides of the parking area of the compound were lined with pickup trucks carrying electroshock weapons and other odd machines. I spotted the column-like anti-Adumbrae machine that I had destroyed in the tunnels. They were manned by PCM members. There were also PCM members with guns trained on us.

Cecilia and Wavy Actor approached us to show that they didn’t want to fight because they’d be caught in the crossfire. But I was certain that they had a backup plan in case their men needed to shoot at us.

Some forcefield? Maybe these were cloned bodies or something.

“The container behind them,” Deen whispered. “Myra might be inside.”

Deen referred to a vehicle at the other end of the parking space that looked like a gas truck. But the massive cylinder it carried was fancier and more sci-fi-looking than the usual container of gas trucks, with pipes, wires, blinking lights, and reinforcement metal bars around it. Definitely held something important.

“Greetings, Red Hood!” Wavy Actor cocked back his head to get his curly bangs out of his face. “Thank goodness you are much smaller than your form when you destroyed Big Marcy’s playground at the docks. I might have gotten a heart attack if a giant werewolf stomped out of the forest and loomed above our walls.”

“Such a fine specimen, you are,” Cecilia said, gazing at me. “But we’re not here to experiment on you. We are here to talk.”

“Hroaar… ghroar…” I said.

“I will be speaking for Red Hood,” Deen said, as per our plan. “She has taken this form because we are wary of your attacks.”

Deen and I didn’t discuss any specific script. I simply wrote that she should try to have the PCM reveal Myra, or at least her location. Then, it’d depend on whether the PCM would attack us, or I’d decide to start the fight. Negotiation wasn’t on the table at all. There’d be carnage here tonight, and the PCM would have a lot fewer members after I was done.

Cecilia’s presence all but assured that there’d be no peace. I really wanted to eat her annoying head. It wasn’t like I was interested in anything that the PCM had to offer.

“You…” Cecilia had a huge smile on her face as she pointed at Deen. “I recognize your voice. You were with her.” She jabbed her thumb back, referring to the sci-fi gas truck. Apparently, Myra was actually inside it.

“I was, yeah,” Deen said. Our script simply said to adlib her lines here; we did expect Cecilia to recognize her.

Cecilia’s smile disappeared as she pursed her lips. “Wait a minute. But that lying bitch—pardon my words, she did try to kill me. As I was saying, our lovely guest that we had to restrain was lying that she was connected to Red Hood.”

Myra did spill the beans, I thought while showing no reaction. Let these idiots puzzle over the truth of the situation. No way they’d know what it actually was because things were confusing as fuck.

“Which means that you—” Cecilia pointed at Deen again “—are not supposed to be with her.” She pointed at me. “What is going—?”

“Let’s leave that discussion for later, Cecilia dear,” said Wavy Actor. “Oh! I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Dreyfus.” He bowed low, making some erratic curtsy.

“Rhaogrh…” The number two guy in the PCM hierarchy.

“And I am offering,” Dreyfus continued, “an alliance. To you, Red Hood, and you, masked madam.”