[REND] B2. 16.2 - Boss Red Hood

Mother Core, if you’re real, please don’t let this be Deen! I hoped that there was some other blonde bitch that I inadvertently saved at the docks. But I had a feeling that it really was my best friend. She shouldn’t be here; I hadn’t planned for this.

It’d be super difficult juggling my secret identities. Worse, I had to turn into Blanchette, deleting all my speaking lines.

Why couldn’t I have nice things? The universe conspired to ruin my stuff, including my badass moments.  

“I got a picture of her, boss,” Overdrive said, his voice trembling. I bet he was wondering if he made a mistake letting in some people looking for me. He did. But I wasn’t going to kill him over this.

“Let’s see the picture. Oh… Yep, I know them.” My heart sank as I saw the side profile of fucking Amber Deen Leska. And that was Johann beside her. Overdrive must’ve taken the picture while those two weren’t looking.

“Do you want to meet with them or not?” Overdrive asked. “I can make them leave. I-I’ll pretend that you didn’t—”

“It’s fine. They’re a headache to deal with, but they’ll help us with the PCM. We’re going to meet them. Me and my, uh, associate here.” I gestured at Kelsey.

She gave Overdrive a wave. Overdrive shrank back, hesitantly waving too.

“This is the Adumbrae who killed the PCM members hanging out in this place,” I said. “We fought earlier, but we’ve hashed out our differences. The short story is that she agreed to cooperate with us to fight our common enemy. We’re all united against the PCM here. Oh, and she doesn’t like Big Marcy, too.”

“Tha-that’s good to hear,” Overdrive said, bowing at Kelsey. “And thank you for cleaning my castle of the disgusting vermin who took over it.”

“He calls this building his castle,” I explained to Kelsey. I then gestured for Overdrive to go away. “Leave us. I’m going to discuss stuff with my associate before meeting our visitors. Just wait outside the door or something until I call you. Oh, and get me something to write with.”

Overdrive saluted me. “Got it, boss!”

Once Overdrive and the other gangsters were out of earshot, Kelsey bent down and whispered, “Deen and Johann are here?”

“Seems so,” I said. “My hunch is that the PCM got Myra. Deen and Johann couldn’t find where they took her. Or maybe they know but couldn’t fight their way inside. Either way, they thought of asking me—more specifically, Red Hood—for help. Remember what I told you about the docks mission?” I had shared the story with Kelsey while we were passing the time until night fell.

“Yeah, you used your Adumbrae form to save Dario’s group. They didn’t know that it was you.” Kelsey believed that my mannequin body was my Corebring power—I didn’t tell her the truth that both of my transformations were courtesy of Spooky Erind. “Are you going to transform into that werewolf to talk to Deen and Johann?”

I nodded. “We’re going to team up with them to save your sister. Dunno what Johann can help us with, but we’ll definitely need Deen’s power. She can keep us safe when we meet the PCM. For sure, those guys will set up a trap for us. Going to be difficult to deal with the anti-Adumbrae machines they have.”

“If the PCM has captured Myra,” said Kelsey, “they might also have equipment to deal with Core powers.”

“Deen is the answer to that,” I said.

As much as I didn’t like to meet Deen here, it was a stroke of luck that she had come. It was a wee bit reckless to attack the PCM, simply relying on the strength of my werewolf form—there, I was admitting it. Perhaps this was for the best. Was the universe actually helping me?

“Are you going to stick with your Red Hood persona?” asked Kelsey.

“Yeah. The problem is that I can’t talk with my wolfish mouth. A pen and paper should be good enough.”

“Why not reveal your secret?”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“Tell Deen that you’re Erind,” Kelsey said, as if it were the most obvious option. “Are you worried that she won’t accept you? Aren’t you best friends?”

“Best friends… Yeah. But that doesn’t automatically mean she’ll still be friends with an Adumbrae. I’m not willing to gamble on this just yet.” And that was my honest assessment. I was more than half-sure that Deen wouldn’t shun my Adumbrae self. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted near absolute certainty. “There’s no putting this back in the bag once it’s out,” I added. “Unless you have powers that can erase memories?”

“Nope. Don’t have that.”

“If Deen doesn’t accept my secret, then we’re practically enemies. A lot of negative consequences would follow; I don’t even know how we’ll interact in class. Like, will she be fine talking with me? Maybe she’ll—”

“I believe that Deen will be fine if you come out as an Adumbrae,” Kelsey said. “Look. Check out the situation. She’s coming to Red Hood, an Adumbrae, for help. You’ve even saved her with your other persona, right? I don’t know much about Deen, but she doesn’t strike me as zealously anti-Adumbrae.”

“I’ll use this mission, saving your sister, to see if I can trust Deen,” I said, wondering if this was the time for the big reveal. “This’ll also give her more evidence that not all Adumbrae are the bad guys.”

Another reason why I didn’t want to reveal the truth to Deen was that I wanted an anchor for normalcy. I could hang out with her and be a fellow human who melded with the Core. Maybe ‘normalcy’ wasn’t the right word. Relatability? The dynamics between Deen and me would dramatically change if she knew that I was an Adumbrae.

I hated change. I hated not knowing what changes would come. I hated the lack of control.

Nonetheless, I agreed with Kelsey that Deen would most likely accept me. Maybe I should just get on with it after saving Myra? There were a lot of upsides. I just wasn’t sure enough of Deen’s reaction…

“You can be a test case,” I said, coming up with another idea.

“What test case?” asked Kelsey. “Are you telling me to reveal to Deen and Johann that I’ve transformed into this monster?” She gestured at herself from head to toe.

“That your seeding has progressed to such an extent,” I clarified. “They already know that you’re an Adumbrae and won’t think of you as a monster. Would be easier to work together if they knew that it’s you. They’ll probably guess who you are at some point.”

“Right… Right…” Kelsey stroked her horns. That might be her equivalent of scratching her temple while thinking deeply.

“If we get Deen on board with us, it’ll be easier to hide you. We’ll also have the budget to buy more clothes,” I added with a grin. “Deen will be our sponsor for all the clothes that you’ll tear.”

We were really going to do this, it seemed. Deen was very useful to me, especially with her abilities. But I had never seriously thought of her trustworthiness and loyalty. Did I trust her? I think so…?

“Wait a minute,” Kelsey said, interrupting my musings. “If I reveal that I’m Kelsey, and you tell Deen that you’re Erind… Deen will have to keep your secret from Myra so that she won’t know where to look for me. Why should I hide from Myra anymore? If it’s about Keke—”  

“I’m here to deal with the Adumbrae inside you,” I said, reminding Kelsey of my importance. “It’s probably for the best that you reunite with Myra.” This was a one-eighty of my original plan.

But I had a new one.

Instead of just one minion, there was the prospect of netting more.

I hadn’t even considered this possible development before, but opportunity presented itself with Deen’s arrival. If I played things right, I could have Deen, Kelsey, and Myra in my corner. Like, Myra would have to follow me because I held the best cure for her sister so far. I suppose that this was a good enough trade for losing Deen as my normalcy anchor.

Perhaps it was better to go all out in being the leader of a group of super-powered people, plus the gangs of Marsh Row. Was this the opportunity to break away from Dario? He’d eventually figure out something was up. I doubt if we’d be able to hide this PCM thing from him for long.

Would the four of us be strong enough to fight the Professor’s organization and attain our freedom? We’d have to brainstorm the timing of our revolt. The most important thing was to gauge Deen’s loyalty first.  

“I… I’d like to be with my sister again,” Kelsey softly said. Her scales rippled. “It-it was a mistake to run away. I made everything much worse.”

I held Kelsey’s right hand. Damn huge compared to mine. “I’ll help you reunite with Myra—I promise. She’ll accept you. Don’t worry about that. We’ll all help one another.”

Kelsey slowly nodded as she smiled. “Thank you.”

Descending the stairs, I began to summon my Blanchette mask. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I approached the setting of an important scene in the movie that was my life. As the glow of red painted the hallway, I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

Right… That wasn’t the apt word.

Most beneficial? Hard to tell. Not even the scenario that would yield the most drama.

For once, I may be balancing the aspects of drama, benefits, and prudence.

I’m so proud of myself.

“Here, boss.” Overdrive, waiting outside the door at the end of the hallway, gave me a black marker and a few pieces of paper. One side had a bunch of numbers. “Sorry, I couldn’t find a pen. And, uh, those are calculations of our sales.”

“This’ll do,” I said, taking the pen and paper with my left hand. I raised my right hand, holding my Blanchette mask. “This’ll be your first time seeing my Adumbrae form.”

“Adumbrae form? I-I don’t understand. Aren’t you already—?”

“I’ll shed my human form,” I said. “And return to my true form.” I turned away from Overdrive as I pulled down my face mask and fixed Blanchette’s mask over my mouth.

It must’ve been a shocking sight for Overdrive. In an instant, a hot monster girl took the place of his tiny boss. I flashed him my winning smile lined with massive fangs. Just to make me scarier than hot, I snapped my jaws. The sound of the crash echoed in the hallway.

Overdrive cleared his throat, trying to regain composure. “I can see why you need to write your words.” He opened the door, and I entered, followed by Kelsey.

My nose immediately picked up the cotton candy scent of Deen. I still wasn’t sure if that was her perfume or soap or what. Normally, I’d barely notice it. But it was so distinct and familiar to the heightened sense of smell. I could also detect a bit of fear and apprehension. Expectedly, Deen was worried about meeting with me. Johann, too. But Gabe probably was silent about any danger.

Deen and Johann were sitting on the sofa. They immediately stood up when they saw me enter.  

“Blanchette!” Deen exclaimed. “I knew it! You’re Red—” She stopped.

Kelsey stepped out from behind me.

Deen and Johann glanced at each other, not expecting that there’d be another Adumbrae here. Deen slightly shook her head; she was signaling that there was no word from Gabe. I could detect Deen and Johann calming down. They may even be glad that I had more firepower to help them with.

Breathing deeply, Deen stepped forward and put on a brave face. “Blanchette—is it okay if I call you Blanchette?”

I nodded. I was kind of warming up to that name.

“I’m Ambriel. It’s not my real name; but you likely already know my identity given that you’ve seen my face.” Deen nervously touched her mask, probably debating whether to take it off or not.

I didn’t say anything. This is so fucking funny.

“Anyway, that’s not important,” Deen spoke quickly due to her nervousness. “The pressing matter is the PCM. They kidnapped a friend of ours. We’ve learned that you’re fighting the PCM and were wondering if… if you can help us. This is going to be complicated to explain. Uh, let’s see… I think I’ll start from when we first met. I was unconscious at that time, so it probably doesn’t count as a meeting. Wait, that’s too far away of a starting point.”

Johann subtly elbowed Deen. “Calm down.”

Deen closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them, she bowed to me. “I-I apologize. I’m so nervous meeting you. I should’ve started by thanking you for saving me at the docks. All of my friends as well. If it wasn’t for you, we would all been caught by Big Marcy. And it was the second time you’ve saved me. I’m grateful.”

Buttering me up? That was a good starting move. Make me like her more while organizing her thoughts.

But we didn’t have time for this.

I held up my clawed hand.

Deen stopped talking. Her eyes widened in panic, wondering if she had said something wrong. Her Guardian Angel wouldn’t necessarily help her convince me to be an ally. Simply refusing to help her wasn’t actual danger.

I gestured at Kelsey, stepping to the side.

“Oh, you want me to do it now?” Kelsey said. “I thought you’d be sweating these two a bit, boss.” She was just teasing me with that part. Kelsey nodded at Deen. “Hello, Amber Deen.”

Deen let out a small gasp. She nodded, shock turning into understanding. “My face is truly recognizable, isn’t it? Or my sister’s, and we look the same.”

Kelsey said, “And Johann.”

Johann retreated a few steps, his eyes above his mask widening. He didn’t expect that Kelsey would know his name, too. It was worse in his case because he was a regular human. He couldn’t do anything if Adumbrae decided to visit his house and eat him. I could hear his heartbeat pounding like crazy.

Kelsey was apparently having fun stringing her reveal instead of spitting it out. Would’ve been awesome if this was me.

No matter. I’d have my own reveal moment eventually.  

“There’s no need to panic,” Kelsey said. “We already know each other. It’s me, Kelsey.”

(Author's Notes: My original plan for the last segment of Book 2 was for Deen and Johann to be a separate group from Erind and Kelsey, with the latter two coming in to save the day. However, I had a last-minute change of plans (as usual) and decided to combine the teams. This choice has huge implications and consequences for future plotlines. That’s why I gave time for Erind to think about them in this chapter.

For one, Erind revealing her secret to Deen will be accelerated. It’ll be Three B’s + Kelsey (not sure what B Kelsey is), becoming a strong enough team to break away from Dario, probably. There are a lot of things that I had reserved for the future that will be hastened because of this team-up. I’m excited about where this will lead us. Many thanks for your support!)