[REND] 11.4 - Marshy Rowy Reunion

I can’t believe this is going so well. I was grinning broadly behind my mask, watching Overdrive order his subordinate to fetch Tattoo Sleeves and his group. There was a secret doorway behind one of the cabinets holding expensive-looking porcelain vases at the back of the room.

“Tommy Gee’s just getting Teflon,” said Overdrive, raising his hands. The small barrel on his aug-arm had receded. “I swear on my mom’s grave there’s no funny business here.”

“I know you value your lives enough not to try pulling shit on me,” I said, as menacingly as I could. Which wasn’t menacing at all. I should practice in front of a mirror for this new face of mine. Maybe fewer words? Would keep people around me guessing what I was thinking.

And I wasn’t really afraid Overdrive would do something because I could kill them all. Heck, I’d transform into my monster self if I were in a super pinch.

I thought they would try to stop me and eventually bother me enough to justify a bloodbath… or, at least a blood shower. So far, I had only injured two guys. Not a very action-packed movie.

In front of me was an unconscious mountain of fat and muscle. An augmented sumo wrestler guy. Machine Sumo groaned in pain, clutching his belly as he dove in and out of consciousness. I could’ve punched a hole in his stomach, but I held myself back. Didn’t want to have blood on my hoodie; I was too lazy to wash this in secret from Deen. I contented myself with smashing his aug-hand. It was an awesomely cool scene. Should’ve been in slow motion with rocking background music.

On the floor to my right was Bouncer Gorilla Two. Still alive. Still bleeding from the exploded gun. Funnily enough, most of the shrapnel hit him. It was the back of the gun that burst. Not funny for him, I supposed.

I probably shouldn’t let Bounce Gorilla Two die. “Hey, Overdrive!”

Overdrive, who kept glancing at the doorway behind him, flinched when I called him. “Ye-yes?”

“Take care of your guys here,” I nodded down at the two injured men. “You don’t want them dying, do you?”

“Biter, get them away from the Adumbrae!” Overdrive ordered his subordinate, who was as thin as him. “They’re bothering her!”

“Uh, no,” I said. “That’s not what I—”

Overdrive bowed several times as he said in a trembling voice, “Please don’t kill them, oh, fearsome lord from another dimension. Biter will remove my men from your presence.”

He thought I was threatening to finish off Machine Sumo and Gorilla Bouncer Two. Cool! He was helping me look threatening. He was blabbering about stuff he thought an Adumbrae would want to hear.

I stood as tall as I could—hopefully reaching five feet—while staring with narrowed eyes at Biter coming near. I was letting Biter keep his nickname because it was descriptive of him. Biter had a large pair of front teeth. I wouldn’t classify them as bunny teeth, because they didn’t look cute like mine.

More like a beaver’s teeth. Yellowish too. A cool trivia that I learned from the Animal Channel.  

Biter kept his head down while pulling Gorilla Bouncer Two several feet away from me. Then he tried moving Machine Sumo. Expectedly, he failed. “Boss, help me with Moogu!”

“The fuck, you can’t do anything on your own,” Overdrive grumbled, though he did help Biter. Overdrive feebly smiled at me while they struggled to pull their massive friend. “Do you need anything else, Ms. Adumbrae? Uh, Red Hood? I can look for medicine for your cut finger.”

“It’s already healed,” I said, pocketing my severed finger. “But thanks for the offer.”

I couldn’t think of anything quick that’d prove I was an Adumbrae. Superstrength might mean I was augmented. Transforming was a no-no unless I had no choice. I had bitten my nails before. Biting the rest of my finger off shouldn’t be difficult. I did it quickly to lessen the pain and to look cool. Would’ve been lame if I had to chew on it.

My finger was completely fine now. The only problem was a bit of flesh stuck to my teeth. My tongue couldn’t dig it out. I wanted to pick at it with a fingernail, but that wasn’t something a fearsome monster would do.

Fearsome monster. I could get used to this feeling of being feared. Of being powerful, and others knowing it. This wasn’t Spooky Erind influencing me. It was just normal for people to get drunk on power. It was how we got terrible professors and dictators. I’d be a very short and unscary dictator, so I wouldn’t try. But I could be Red Hood, the Adumbrae terrorizing the criminal underworld!

“Tommy Gee!” Overdrive almost shrieked as his subordinate emerged from the secret room. “What took you so fucking long? Red Hood was getting impatient with you,” he added, even though I didn’t say anything about it.  

Tommy Gee—his name was catchy—led several badly beaten-up men into the light. I recognized Tattoo Sleeves right behind Tommy Gee. The others, I could sort of vaguely recall. And I hadn’t seen the rest before. Tattoo Sleeves and his sorry-looking group stood in line facing us. They had their hands tied behind them.

Overdrive dropped Machine Sumo’s arm and hurried to Tattoo Sleeves, cutting his hands free. Overdrive did the same to the rest of the men.

“What the hell’s goin’ on?” Tattoo Sleeves asked as he rubbed his wrists. He had a black eye and cut lips. Purple bruises distorted the vibrant drawings on his arms. Despite his injuries, he puffed his chest and tried to look tough. “Tommy Gee’s talkin’ ‘bout an… Adumbrae.”

“You, my friend, are free to go.” Overdrive stood behind Tattoo Sleeves and patted his shoulders. Was Overdrive using Tattoo Sleeves as a human shield? “It was all a huge misunderstanding. You didn’t kill Dillon. It’s all good, bro.”

“You finally found out you were fuckin’ wrong?” Tattoo Sleeves exploded, turning around to face Overdrive. “We kept tellin’ you! Now, you know we ain’t lyin’ to you? Fuckin’ hell? You beat us—”

“And I sincerely apologize!” Overdrive had a strained smile. He looked at me while talking to Tattoo Sleeves. “I’ll pay for your hospital bills, okay? Just calm down, my man, and—”

“Calm down? You were gonna kill us!” Tattoo Sleeves looked at what was distracting Overdrive—me.

I removed my hood and swept my long, wavy, black hair out of my hoodie, letting it fall on my shoulders. I gave him a wave. “Hello, Teflon. Do you remember me?”

The confused look on his face gave way to recognition. “Clarice! You’re safe! I thought somethin’ bad happened to ya.”

“Clarice’s not my real name,” I said. “You probably know I just gave you a fake one. I’m using ‘Red Hood’ as my alias now. I liked the nickname you gave me.”

“Why are you—?” Tattoo Sleeves grabbed Overdrive by the collar. “Why did you bring her here, you fucker? Just kill us already! Don’t bring her into this. She has lung cancer, you sicko, fuckin’, piece of—!”

“No, no! She came here on her own!” Overdrive pointed at me. “She’s the one who told me you didn’t kill Dillon.”

“What? How would she know what really happened?”

“I killed Dillon,” I said. Guess I had to tell my story again.

“What are you sayin’?” Tattoo Sleeves slowly asked. “Did they force you to say that?”

“She’s an Adumbrae!” Overdrive shouted. Tommy Gee and Biter echoed Overdrive, blabbering everything that had happened since I entered this room. Tattoo Sleeves and his men became more confused with every passing second.

I stomped my foot on the ground, cracking it, as well as tearing my sneakers a bit. Stupid, me. I didn’t want to bite off more fingers, so I thought this’d be a good demonstration. I ruined my shoes but got the message across. Every one of them backed away.

“Yo-you lied…” Tattoo Sleeves stammered.

I shook my head. “Not really. I had cancer. I was dying from lung cancer—it’s the reason I clung to the promises of an Adumbrae.” An emotional backstory for my new face. Also, it’d throw off whoever would try to find me. “As for being an Adumbrae… You never asked.”

“You killed Dillon. Did you also kill…?”

“I killed Fender, too,” I said with a single nod. I narrated the same story I had told Overdrive. Just fast forward this part of the episode. Uncool that I had to repeat it.

The faces of Tattoo Sleeves and his men contorted into a mix of anger and sadness. But they knew that they couldn’t do anything to me. Overdrive also tried to calm them down, saying that he had lost Dillon, too. Of course, I made it clear that Dillon and Fender attacked me first. They probably didn’t believe it, coming from an Adumbrae.

“I came here to set things right,” I said to end my tale. “If you have any complaints…” I cocked my head while trailing my sentence.

“I don’t have thoughts of revenge,” Overdrive hurriedly said. “Dillon had it coming. We also totally understand what happened to Fender. A regrettable collateral damage. Right, Teflon?” Overdrive shook Tattoo Sleeves’ shoulder.

“Right…” Tattoo Sleeves had clenched fists by his side. His face had turned blank.

Part of me wanted them to attack me. It’d make me feel better about Beanie Twig’s death. Then I’d kill them all and close this part of the story, leaving a bloodied mess for everyone else in the building to see. Gorilla Bouncer One would spread the tale of Red Hood. He’d regret letting me in.

Hang on. What was my goal here again? Save Tattoo Sleeves’ group?

Mission accomplished, then! No killing needed.

“Okay, I’ll get going,” I said. “Enjoy your lives.”

“Uh, Red Hood. Ms. Adumbrae, ma’am, excuse me.” Overdrive left his cover of Tattoo Sleeve’s body. “I hope this isn’t too impertinent of me…  if there’s anything I can do to make up for Dillon’s offense, just say it.”

“Huh?” What was this guy up to? He clearly was scared of me, but he continued to talk to me. He was up to something.  

“I-I can get you bodies… like what I do for Big Marcy. You know about that, right? I’m not sure what they’re doing with the bodies, but it must be related to Adumbrae. If you want, I’ll gather—”

“I don’t need bodies,” I said. This guy was trying to get on my good side. Opportunistic bastard. “And don’t mention those fake Adumbrae to me.” According to Dario, the Corebring Hive would be angry if they learned of the artificial Cores. Not sure if an Adumbrae learning about the 2Ms’ operations would have the same reaction, but I decided to go with it.

“Are you angry at Big Marcy?” The ends of Overdrive’s mouth curved up in a wide smile. “Yeah, yeah, they’re making fake Adumbrae. I bet it’s extremely offensive to you, a real Adumbrae. Are you going to do something about it? I’ll help you. It’s to show my remorse.”

Is he trying to trap me? Also, new information—the 2Ms hire lowlifes like Overdrive to kidnap people for them.

“There’s nothing you can particularly help me with,” I said. “And aren’t you too quick to turn on your boss?”

“Big Marcy is my boss because I owe him a lot,” Overdrive said. “But if he’s not there, I don’t owe anyone anything, right? If you want him gone, I’ll support you.”

Super suspicious. I could test him. “Do you know anything about Red Island?”

“Red Island? I-I don’t know… But I’ll find out everything I can about this Red Island! Other than that, what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing,” I said, walking to the door. “I’ll return to check up if you found anything. I’ll also return if anything happens to Teflon.” I stopped and held up a finger. “Oh, and one more thing.”

“What is it? I’ll do my best to fulfil your orders.”

“Kelsey Fletcher—Big Marcy is looking for her. Kelsey Fletcher, remember that name. Try finding her before Big Marcy does.”

With that, the debut of Red Hood, the Adumbrae of Marsh Row, came to an end.

Returning to Deen’s home wasn’t too difficult. Trains ran until midnight. Then I took a taxi from where I got off the train back to Poblacion Verde Hills. I jumped over the wall so the guards by the gate wouldn’t see me. Despite all my stealth antics, I didn’t know that Deen’s rented place had motion-sensor lights. The dark lawn became as bright as day when I crossed it.

Thankfully, Deen seemed to be asleep inside. No problems entering the window to my room that I had left open earlier. I hung up my hoodie in the closet and looked at it fondly.

I touched my chest. Was this the warm, fuzzy feeling of having saved Tattoo Sleeves’ group?

Nope. It was the artificial Core heating up.

Not too hot that it burned. The sensation of its tendrils clawing deeper into my tough flesh became prominent. Was it finally taking effect? I had also felt some aches in parts of my body. Could either be from clinging onto the train or the effect of the Core—Dario did say something like this would happen.

Would be cool if I got a separate power from the artificial Core.

I smiled as I went to bed, recalling how cool I was at Overdrive’s base. I could get used to being Red Hood.

“AAAHHH!”  

I jerked awake. “Wha-what?” I rolled out of bed and fell on the floor. The screaming continued. I scrambled to the door and got out. Adrenaline jogged me awake. Did the 2Ms finally find us? I was ready to kill.

“ERRINND!”

It was Deen screaming her lungs out. There was no one else in the house, be it intruders or Deen’s older sister. I followed the sound and rushed to Deen’s room. The door was locked. Was she having nightmares? Deen continued shouting for help. Probably not just a nightmare.

Destroy the lock? I could explain this away after I helped her.

I forced myself in. Deen was on the floor. Either she was practicing for a contortionist contest, or she was having a severe seizure. Tears streamed out of her eyes while blood came out of her ears and nose, staining her golden hair that was scattered in a mess.

I knelt beside her and tried to make her lie straight—I had no clue what to do. The seizures continued, but she had stopped screaming. “Deen, what’s wrong?” I asked, knowing it was a dumb question. Something very wrong was happening, and it didn’t matter what. The fuck does a best friend do in this situation? “You stay there. I’m going to call an ambulance. Wait, that’s not—”

Deen grabbed me as I stood. “The… core…” she managed to say. “So… painful!”

I unbuttoned her clothes and saw the golden Core on her chest glowing bright. “What do I do? Do I call Myra?”

“No…” The seizures subsided. I hoped it was going to be okay. Damn this. I didn’t have any practice with a situation like this.

“I see…” She raised her arm.

“What?”

“I see something floating… above me…”