[REND] B2. 10.4 - Monsters Make Friends

I still got it in me to twist necks, I thought with a grin hidden by my dirty face mask. I could have transformed into a giant werewolf and eaten people, but I still wanted to return to my roots. Just back to basics. After all, my first kills involved breaking necks. That female cop, whose name I couldn’t recall, and—

Oh, right! I killed Overdrive’s subordinate by twisting his neck. Must be why Overdrive looked horrified.

So did the other gangsters. I intended to make them fear me without appearing monstrous. If I did something super violent, they would follow me in fear but plan to betray me someday. At the back of their minds, I might eat them, too. I should be careful about the optics of my actions.

Didn’t Machiavelli say that it was better for a leader to be feared than to be loved? I hadn’t read Machiavelli; I just heard about that line in a movie. I didn’t even know who the hell he was. Some dude that people love to quote in film, like that Sun Tzu guy?

Whether Machiavelli actually said it or not, I was applying it with some modifications. I was going for both. Since I was already lovable, I was adding in a dash of fearsomeness.

I moved on to the next PCM spy held down by one of Overdrive’s men. The PCM spy had tears rolling down his bruised cheeks while pleading for his life. “Please spare me! I have two kids!”

I stared with blank eyes, wondering what cool way I should use to kill him. Could I now go with something bloody? Not too much. Or should I stick with twisting necks to maintain my branding? Cleaner, too.

“I-I was just following orders!” The PCM spy tried to meet my gaze. His lips trembled. “I do-don’t know anything, I swear to the Mother Core that—”

“Don’t mention that name!” Overdrive stepped nearer to slap the PCM spy. It was quite the loud smack, with the PCM spy’s head snapping to the left. I had almost forgotten that Overdrive had aug-arms and probably other body parts as well.

“Ple-please… I’m a harmless guy,” said the PCM spy as his cut mouth bled. “My daughters… they’re waiting for me. Do-don’t kill me.”

“Making up shit won’t save your life!” Overdrive punched the guy a couple of times.

The PCM spy was probably telling the truth about his family. I didn’t really care. Life had ups and downs; good and bad luck. Heck, I didn’t ask to be turned into an Adumbrae. In the same vein, this guy didn’t ask to be killed by an Adumbrae.

But a lot of things that we don’t want to happen… just do. I should become a philosopher.

“I don’t really know—! Huh?” The PCM spy stopped speaking when I held his head with both hands.

Instead of making his head face backward, I rotated it so that his chin was near where his ear used to be. A clean and quick death imparted by the benevolent Red Hood. I should contrast myself with Overdrive, who made people suffer. The lesser evil was the actual monster in this case.

I moved on to the last PCM spy, with Overdrive eagerly following me.

This guy was different from the previous two. “Kill me! Kill me already, you disgusting Adumbrae! We’ve always preached that you wretched fuckers were in the city! No one believed us, but you—”

Overdrive was right on cue to slap him into silence. “You preach complete bullshit! You misguided idiots are making a Purple Bloom, but you still try to make yourself look clean!”

Nice work, Overdrive, I thought while trying to be nonchalant. His line needed to be said, but I couldn’t say it because I was an Adumbrae.

“Just kill him quickly, Overdrive,” I said. “We’re not getting anything from them.”

“Yes, boss!” Overdrive aimed his arm at the third PCM spy’s head. His hand shifted down, revealing an open barrel hidden in his wrist.

A loud bang. A hole the size of a golf ball appeared on the PCM spy’s face. I could see the crowd of gangsters through the hole. They grimaced at the messy scene. Good job, Overdrive, for violently, though swiftly, killing the guy.

I stretched my hands at my minions and loudly said, “These PCM members don’t know they’re helping a Purple Bloom.”

I lowered the pitch of my voice without sacrificing clarity and volume. I needed more practice, but I couldn’t use my normal voice. A soft-spoken and girly voice didn’t command authority, even if it came from a monster.

“Their leaders kept the truth from them,” I continued, painting myself as an understanding monster. “That is to be expected. But these men—” I gestured at the dead bodies “—help in making the Purple Bloom just the same. One day, when the PCM succeeds in finding an Adumbrae to be the base of a Purple Bloom, these same guys will be the first to have their brains linked to it. You know how Purple Bloom cults work.

“Most PCM members may be ignorant of what’s happening, but they’re pushing to bring about the end of La Esperanza and all of your lives. That’s why we can’t let them live. First, it’ll be their brains connected to the Purple Bloom. Next, it’ll be yours. This is more than just rivalries between gangs for territories. This is more than just money and sales and that stuff that you do. We’re fighting to save the city, maybe even a large chunk of the country.”

Everyone had quieted for my award-winning speech. Even Dulce Maria didn’t have a quip to interrupt me with.

“Look at that!” I pointed up at Kelsey, whom I had wrapped in swathes of tarp and secured with a chain. The chains wouldn’t do much if she wanted to escape, if she were awake. Not sure if she was still unconscious or just pretending to be, but she remained immobile.

As if knowing the script, Overdrive illuminated Kelsey with a flashlight in his arm. Kelsey’s horns poked out of the chained burrito. It dawned on the gangsters that I had captured the Adumbrae in Overdrive’s building. Chattering in fear, they uneasily stepped back.

“This is one of the Adumbrae kept by the PCM,” I explained over the murmurings. They shut up and listened to me. Chills of excitement tickled my sides. I looked super cool, didn’t I? “The moment I sensed the Adumbrae inside the building, I told Overdrive to retreat. I didn’t want any of you to die.”

Portraying myself as caring got me several nods from the gangsters. Some were even smiling. I could rely on their votes in the upcoming mayoral election.

“Why did the PCM need Adumbrae?” I loudly asked the gangsters. “As soldiers? Not quite. They are looking for the base for their Purple Bloom. They have other Adumbrae held in other parts of the city. Some of you probably know that the PCM also tried to capture me.”

I gestured at Teflon.

He nodded. “Yep, they were lookin’ for the boss. Sayin’ it was for a talk. I didn’t know back then that they were plannin’ to make a Purple Bloom, yeah? But I didn’t tell them nothin’. I didn’t betray Red Hood because I know she’s a good one.”

“Stopping the PCM is a matter of survival for me,” I said, mellowing my tone. Farming some pity this time. I hoped that Teflon had spread my lung cancer story among the gangsters. “I… I want to retain my human life… as much as possible. I-I don’t want to become a monster factory.”

“We’re not going to let that happen, Clarice,” Teflon said.

I paused, surprised at his response. He was serious about it. I cleared my throat. “As for all of you, isn’t it about survival, too? We’re all in this together.” That was a line of a popular song, as well as the standard thrust of many campaign speeches.  

“We’re with you, boss,” Overdrive said.

“Can’t sell drugs if the customers are eaten by monsters,” said Kelp with a shrug. “It’s part of the business to fight the PCM.”

“Fighting regular humans, sure,” Dulce Maria said. “I’m not standing in front of Adumbrae. You have to give me a ComExo or something.”

“The boss ain’t askin’ us to do the impossible,” said Teflon. “She told Overdrive to pull back, yeah?”

“Good thing I sensed the Adumbrae in time,” I said. “The place oozed with bloodlust. Overdrive, you’re going to need to do some serious cleaning inside. This Adumbrae had killed the PCM members there. They lost control of her. Goes to show that the PCM doesn’t know what they’re dealing with. But no worries. I incapacitated her.”

Technically, it was the artificial Core that did something to Kelsey.

I didn’t know what that rainbow light was, but it seemed to have pulled out Kelsey’s human mind from deep within her. It was probably like when the Core halted my uncontrolled growth spurt at the docks.

Kelsey screamed and screamed and, yep, screamed a lot. Understandable. She had an Adumbrae body but could still feel the pain. Lots of pain. Probably the first time she had experienced having all four limbs dismembered. It was also very annoying because I couldn’t talk to her.

Unsure of what to do, I kept pumping her with the Core’s power or whatever. If it was working, kind of, might as well continue doing it. The most genius plan of the century.

And… Kelsey fainted. I wrapped her for takeout and came up to her.  

“Incapacitated her?” Overdrive repeated. “It’s… She’s still alive?” The gangsters retreated several paces. Dulce Maria disappeared from the front line. Only Overdrive and Teflon didn’t move back.

“Yep,” I nonchalantly replied. “But I bunged her up pretty badly. It’d take some time for her to regenerate.”

That wasn’t true at all. Kelsey’s limbs were mostly healed when I wrapped her, but she was still unconscious. Either that or she was just pretending to be. What gave me confidence that the artificial Core somewhat worked was that Kelsey became shorter, including her horns. Her face became more human in its features, and patches of her scales had fallen off, showing her skin.

I’d need to do more experiments. Would this work with other Adumbrae? Could I save them? Was I the actual… fucking cure? I should be! I always knew that I was main character material.

Overdrive put up a brave front and neared Kelsey. “What’re you going to do with her, boss?”

“I’ll try to convert her to our side. If she’s not friendly… then I’ll eat her. I only eat fellow monsters, not humans.”

Several seconds of silence passed.

“What about us?” Overdrive asked. “Which place are we going to attack next?”

“Put a hold on that,” I said. “The PCM will lie low after losing an Adumbrae.” Two Adumbrae, actually, I added in my head. “We also have a lot of their drug supplies inside. Use this opening to retake your territories if it’s safe to do so. Survey which places need my help. Actually, spy on everything PCM-related. They’ll be back for revenge, and we should be prepared.”

“Uh, Ma’am Boss,” Kelp hesitantly started. “I was wondering what we’ll do with their candies? Can we resell them?”

“We’re not going to feed people unknown pills,” Dulce Maria said, squeezing herself to the front of the pack.

“Says you, selling dubious meds from China,” Kelp retorted.

“My shit is one thing,” Dulce Maria said. “Unknown pills made by people planning to make a goddamn Purple Bloom is an entire galaxy apart! Who knows what chemicals they put in there? You might grow a dick on your forehead.”

“It’s odd that the PCM suddenly pushed these new candies,” Overdrive said.

“Overdrive,” I said, nodding at him. “Look for someone trustworthy to analyze the PCM’s pills. A scientist or whatever. Keep some of them, and destroy the rest. Don’t take any. None of you try any of it! I don’t want returning to a base full of zombies or, uh, I don’t know what those pills might do to you.”

Overdrive saluted. “Got it, boss!”

I continued giving instructions. “Clean up everything in this building. The bodies, the blood, and the signs of the fight. Make it seem like nothing at all happened here. Be aware that the BID might come sniffing around. I’m not saying that any of you are going to betray me. But I’m sure that some of you are spreading rumors about Red Hood being here.” I just wanted to make Enrico pee his pants.

Overdrive glanced at the other gangsters. “We got you covered, boss. No one’s getting any info from us.”

“I seriously doubt that.” I was betting the next croissant I’d buy that at least one of these guys would brag to their girlfriend about meeting Red Hood. This problem came with fame and leadership. No plans yet on what to do about it. I’d deal with this Kelsey thing first, then brainstorm about my secret identity as a criminal boss.  

“I got an idea.” Teflon raised his hand. “What if we report this to the BID?”

Overdrive trained his aug-arm on Teflon. “Are you selling out our—?”

“I’m not reportin’ Red Hood. I’m sayin’ that we snitch on the PCM, yeah? We’re clean. I mean, we sell drugs, but the BID will give zero fucks about that. They want the Adumbrae stuff. Instead of us fightin’ the PCM, we’d let the BID mop them up.”

“What about Red Hood, you fuckin genius?” Overdrive asked. “They’ll go after her.”

“I just have to hide while the BID cleans up…” I slowly said.

Teflon was onto something here. Blanchette, the Destroyer of the Docks, was the BID’s target. There were videos of me spreading. It was only a matter of time before the authorities came to Marsh Row to search for me. They might even have informants among the gangsters right now.

On the other hand, the bad guys—the PCM and the 2Ms—also have my number. For my sneakiest of schemes and most twisty plot twist, what if I pitted both sides against each other? I’d report the PCM to the BID and just chill out. This would also be a solution, albeit temporary, to my Tower Cop problem. I’d point him to the PCM, keep him occupied for a while.

Topping the logical reasons, a part of me was interested in the complicated shitshow that would follow this. It’s going to be fun!

(Author's Notes: Slight edit to chapter 10.2. Pino linked with her Erind body in case Keke needed pruning. When the Core activated, its energy travelled through the Pino-Erind link and then across the Pino-Keke link. It makes more sense that way. And Erind has an “exorcism” skill of sorts, making Pino very much in demand.

In this chapter, I wanted Erind to display her disregard for people's lives. The PCM is the enemy, but these guys she killed were likely low-level minions who don't know anything. At times, I want to draw attention to the grunts that Erind kills. This chapter also shows some manipulation of Erind. And she has a new crazy idea. Let's see how that pans out.

Initially, I thought that this chapter would already include Erind and Kelsey's interaction to start the next segment. However, I also needed a closing scene for the Overdrive castle mini-arc. We'll have Erind and Kelsey in the next chapter. Many thanks for your support! I really appreciate it.)