REND

I could hear the gears grinding in Theo the Trash’s head. I gambled that he wasn’t high up in the 2Ms’ organization enough to know my true identity.

To his mind, I was an Adumbrae—stronger than him, at that—and part of the 2Ms’ organization. Same as Yara, that was the most logical conclusion Theo could reach. Strength didn’t always indicate seniority or importance in the organization. But I was so sure of myself and unafraid of the consequences of picking a fight with him that I could only be someone high up.

I went for the maximum threat so he couldn’t back off with his macho image intact. This really wasn’t diffusing the situation. I was just having fun with my new face as Erind, the high-ranking Adumbrae whatever. After feeling our power gap, Theo wouldn’t be stupid enough to see if I could go through with my threat.

Theo shakily chuckled as he arranged his vest. The massive welts on his arms were starting to heal. His regeneration wasn’t near my level, but faster than most artificial Adumbrae I’ve encountered.

“Nice joke, there,” he said, his voice wavering. He was still in pain. “Don’t stir up trouble in this public place. Going to be a hell to clean—”

“I’ll break your neck so there won’t be any blood,” I cut in. I kept my face blank, looking straight into his eyes.

“Wha-what?” He stammered, taking a step back.

“Come to think of it, if I did that, you also can’t scream,” I said, matter-of-factly. “No trouble-stirring whatsoever. No clean-up needed. A good plan, don’t you agree?”

Theo blinked rapidly as if he got something stuck in his eye. “Killing each other… Tha-that’s against the rules!” A lame retort. He sounded like a freaking kid losing an argument. He must’ve realized it too. He drew himself higher, chin up, mustering up the toughest expression he could.

Still not backing off? Given our difference in strength, his only choice was to tuck his tail between his legs and retreat. But he wasn’t doing that probably because of how I looked. If I were a badass-looking guy, or at least looked older than him, I bet he’d easily apologize in a gentlemanly way and keep his head high.

Valuing pride over survival. Stupid.

Or maybe he wasn’t stupid. His powers might give him an edge in fighting a stronger opponent, just that he didn’t know how strong I actually was. More likely, he was thinking I wouldn’t actually push through with my threat. If the second reason… he’d be right. I didn’t really want to kill him because it’d be such a hassle.

Calling my bluff? How far would he go?

“You’re still not leaving?” I sighed, shaking my head as I stood up. The top of my head reached only around the middle button of his vest.

“I’ll leave when Yara comes with me.”

Yara stammered, “I-I’ll go with—”  

“Here’s how it’s going to play out, Mr. Theodore Hugh. I don’t like your name, by the way.”

“My name? What’s wrong with—?”

“I’m going to break your neck, and your buddies here are going to keep you standing. Then they’ll walk you out of here, moving your body around because you’re, you know, dead. You’ll look like a toddler learning to walk. It’ll be funny. People will just assume you’re drunk or something, so we’re good.”

“You got some pretty wild imagination there, miss,” he said, nervously laughing.

“I don’t really know what to do with your dead body after this. Then, uh, I guess we’ll find a golf cart and drive out to the hills and bury you there? Dump your corpse into the ocean maybe? It’s better to hide your body than make up a story about why I killed you.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to do that,” he said, smirking. He was regaining bravado. It was freaking hard to be scary while looking like a scrawny high schooler.

Continuing to talk lessened my scariness factor, not that I looked scary in the first place. I could crush Theo’s arm again or grab his shoulder and force him to kneel to show dominance. But I was having fun with our dialogue. I really, really, really liked the banter between the protagonist and antagonist in movies, especially those with a smart-mouth vibe. I had never done anything like this before because I always played the timid face or I was Blanchette and talking wasn’t an option.

Banter made me feel like I was in a movie. The main character in a movie, to be precise. I was, dare I say, excited. I was enjoying myself. It was rare for these emotions to crop up. Maybe the real me was talkative. I was very loud in my head.

Real me? I didn’t know who that was since I’d been wearing all sorts of faces since I was a little girl.

So… was this the real me?  

Theo the Trash stepped forward and leaned down, raising an eyebrow at me. “Since you chose to become an Adumbrae,” he said in a low voice, “you value your life very, very much. Kill me, and the same will happen to you. I’m willing to bet that you’re running your mouth like this instead of actually doing—”

“If we hide your body,” I said, putting on an innocent curious expression, “your papa will take several days to notice you’re missing, am I right? Would he even care that you’re gone?”  

Theo’s cheek twitched. “If I disappeared, there’d be hell to pay. Do you think you’re immune to retribution? My father makes substantial contributions to Mark’s coffers, especially now that the majority of the others are gone and the BID is tracing the money trail. I don’t know who you are, but you do know me and should know none of you can touch me.”   

I tapped his chest. “There, I touched you.” I leaned to the right and nodded at Jeffrey behind Theo. “Be ready to catch him, okay?”

“We don’t want any trouble!” Jeffrey vigorously shook his hands.

“E-excuse me, Ms. Erind,” Yara said. “Please forgive Theo. He’s just like that because—”

“Just like a piece of shit?” I was very proud of myself for that line.

Theo’s face contorted into a rage, seemingly forgetting how strong I was. He balled his right hand into a fist and raised his arm. The sound of a rattling chair behind me. Deen must’ve stood up. Theo hesitated, looking at Deen. Then his eyes went back to me. A wrinkle of confusion flitted on his forehead as he probably wondered if he’d hit a cute lady like me.

With my left hand, I reached for Theo’s chest, grabbing both sides of his ugly vest. His eyes widened. Before he could throw his punch, I jabbed his stomach with my other hand. A quick hit, but I made sure to bury my fist deep enough that I rearranged his innards somewhat. Not so deep though that I’d punch a hole through him.

He was about to fly from the force of my punch, but I held on to his vest. There were some tearing noises. I could feel the leather stretch from my fingers holding onto it. The vest was well-made enough that it kept Theo the Trash from shooting into outer space.

I withdraw my fist and let go of Theo. He collapsed on the floor, hugging his stomach. I took some table napkins and threw them in front of him as he bent down. He gagged and retched on the floor some puke with blood mixed in.

“Oh my god! What’s wrong with you?” I knelt beside him. His eyes were watering, but he still managed to glare at me. Tough guy.

But he couldn’t say anything. His lips quivered while he breathed raggedly.

“You shouldn’t have drunk all night,” I loudly said. “I told you so!”

A waitress was coming over.

“We can take care of this,” I told her. “Just our stupid friend with a hangover. Up you go, stupid friend.”

I bunched up the paper towels and thrust them into Theo’s arms. Then I pulled him up, digging my fingers into his collarbones as I did so. He winced but didn’t cry out in pain. Impressive for a generic douchebag. He was surprisingly tolerant of pain. He might have joined some fights in the arenas against mutants or other Adumbrae. That’d also explain why he wasn’t afraid of fighting me.

I pushed Theo into his backup boys. “I’m being very nice here,” I said in a deathly tone. “Don’t push your luck.”

Jeffrey caught Theo. “I-I’m—we’re really sorry. We’re going now.”

“Give him plenty of water and let him rest,” I said, raising my voice for the other restaurant customers to hear. “There’s really no cure for hangover, but I think lounging by the beach will help. The sun’s nice. Just remove those leather stuff off him. Man, those are really ugly.”

Theo stirred at what I said. I thought he was going to retort—Jeffrey and his friend exchanged panicked glances—but Theo held his tongue.  

“Wi-will do, ma’am,” said Jeffrey, walking away with Theo.

Theo looked back at me with a deathly stare. It wasn’t the last we’d see each other. It was exciting I now have an antagonist for my new face. I hoped he’d be at Red Island so I could show him the real me. Just imagining his reaction made me giddy.

I’m really changing…

“What was that about?” whispered Deen as we took our seats and resumed our expensive meal. “You’re really changing.”

I frowned. Was this bitch reading minds?

“No, I’m not,” I said while stabbing a piece of steak with my fork. It felt like I was getting told off, and I didn’t like it at all. “It worked, didn’t it? Whatever was that I managed to pull off. It worked, so don’t get angry at me.”

“We’re not going to get in trouble, are we?” Yara gripped the edge of the table so hard her fingers were getting pale. “I really can’t afford to lose this—”

“Relax, Yara,” I said. “You’re with me. Nothing’s going to go wrong. You’ll get to Red Island, have your operation, come back a new you, and be the hope of your family.”

“Hope of my family…” Yara nodded. “Yes. I am. But I’m worried that Theodore would make life hard for me in revenge. So much of our family’s fortune lies in our partnership with their corporation. That’s why I’m going along with what he says.”

“Don’t meet with that disgusting man anymore!” said Deen with such intensity I was worried she’d exert superstrength and break the table, exposing our lie. She looked at me. “Erind, you make sure that Yara is safe, okay?”

Safe? That’d be a tall order, but I did want her to survive as a potential ally.

“I’ll keep watch over her,” I said. “Theodore’s father isn’t stupid enough to mess with me over his son getting punched. It’s a different story at Red Island though. I can’t keep watch over Yara there.”

“You should go there too,” Deen said. “I have a hunch that perverted asshole is going to try something at Red Island. Since he can’t have his revenge on you, he’d target Yara instead.”

Was Deen making an opening for me? “You’re right…” I tapped my fork on the edge of the huge wooden board that held the lobster and steak. “Say, Yara.”

“What is it, Ms. Erind?” Yara snapped out from looking at the lobster’s shell, deep in thought. She must’ve been worrying about what Theo might do to her.

“The ships are leaving on the fourth night of the cruise, aren’t they?”

“I think so. That’s what I’ve been told unless there were some changes.”

“That’d be tomorrow night.” I ignored the bewildered expression on Deen’s face. This was the first she had heard about the specific date of the trip. She must be assuming that I did something reckless to obtain the information. She’d be kinda right. “Yara, any idea about the specific time?”

“Sorry, Ms. Erind. They didn’t tell us.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t expect you to know. They always do that, jumbling around the schedule. Security whatever. Just that I have some stuff to attend to and I’m wondering if I could finish it before the trip. Another issue is that Mark will be hesitant to allow me on the ships—I’m quite disruptive whenever I’m on Red Island, you see. What’s the point of this godlike body if I don’t test it out?”

“Disruptive? Are you fighting on Red Island?” Yara’s eyes glittered with a new sense of respect for me.

“Inside and outside the arena. The latter is the disruptive part that irks Mark. I’m unsure if I can get Big Marcy to allow me on board and join you.”

“I’ll feel much less anxious to have a friend by my side before the procedure. I hope Big Marcy can help you come with us.”

“What can they do to stop me?” I asked, chuckling. “I’ll sink their ships if they—whoops, you’ll be on board. Just kidding about that. I can swim to follow the ships if needs be.”

“You’ll swim the open ocean?” asked Yara.

“I’ve tried it before. You’ll be surprised at what our superhuman bodies can do. Well, I don’t know about Theo’s or the others, but mine is exceptionally strong.”

“Please don’t do that, Ms. Erind. May I suggest clinging to the side of the ship instead? It’s a terrible inconvenience to you, but I’ll repay you in any way I can if you accompany me to Red Island.”

Huh, that’s a way better idea. “Sure, I’ll do that,” I said. “Once I step foot on Red Island, they’re not going to send me back. Like, where will Mark expect me to go? No way I can find the cruise ship or swim back to land even if he tapes a compass to my forehead. What I need is the exact departure time.”

“I’ll message you as soon as I know, Ms. Erind,” Yara said.  

---

 

After finishing our food—I did most of the finishing because the two divas wouldn’t break their diets—and a few more girly chatty chats, we parted ways. Deen and I already planned this while we were sunbathing.

To be accurate, I planned it and Deen didn’t agree but went along because I guilt-tripped her. Some bullshit that she didn’t trust me and she should be supportive of me and stuff like that.

Deen went with Yara to find out more information and do some bonding—this was just a secondary, almost fake goal. Her main intention for separating from me was to draw the attention of Everett and the other hero-wannabes away from me.

But not all of them. Jubjub would still tail me. No one was supposed to know she was here anyway.

This would be the opportunity to talk to her alone.

As expected, Deen thought that was too dangerous. But I reminded her that even if everyone on this island worked together to fight me, I’d still win.

I was going to reveal to Jubjub that I knew that they knew… blah, blah, blah. The whole Red Hood, werewolf, Adumbrae matter. Jubjub would also realize that I knew that she knew I was the one who saved her. With that, I’d ask her to help me because I was actually a good person, and I didn’t want to be an Adumbrae, and this was all a big misunderstanding, and I didn’t want to die and… you get the picture.

There were two outcomes.

Jubjub would want to repay me in some way, like lying to Dario that we didn’t meet, or helping me but not betraying Dario. Great if she’d switch over to my side completely, but I doubted that’d happen.

The other possibility was that Jubjub would only pretend she’d work with me. She wouldn’t outright reject me because I could kill her. But even a fake alliance would be beneficial because Jubjub—and also Dario—would cooperate with me until the point they’d turn the tables. This’d be useful for gaining insights about their operations, though some information they’d feed me would be fake, and it’d be easier passing along the information to them without going through all the bullshit as I did with Reo.

Yara was just the backup. Even if she failed to inform me of the departure schedule, Big Marcy would find a way.

My original problem was how to inform the hero-wannabe group without rousing any suspicion. It’d be such a fucking hassle to set up another situation like Reo’s.

While I was getting cooked by the sun, it occurred to me that I could just… tell them. Tell Dario through Jubjub faking to be working with me or with him, more like.

Jubjub got a buttload of luck because my original plan for meeting her was to kill her. Her suddenly going missing would derail whatever Dario had planned for me on Red Island. That was it. I just didn’t want Dario to gain the upper hand while I didn’t have any clue about his plans.

This new thing was a way better use of Jubjub’s life.

I rode a golf cart out of town, heading for the hills. Bicycles for rent were also available, but it had been ages since I rode one. I’d probably faceplant if I tried, embarrassing myself in front of Jubjub.

Jubjub should be here… I thought, looking down. There were shadows beneath my seat.

I’d look pretty dumb if I was alone. But then, if I was indeed alone, there’d be no one to know of my stupidity.

I drove off the road, heading to a random hill with no people. This didn’t have great views, and the sun was high up. Less chances of hikers popping up. I wore the hat I bought earlier. It provides shade for Jubjub to hide.

Soon, I was out of view of the road. I kept far from any shrubs or trees. I also kept an intense watch around me. There was no opportunity for Jubjub to jump shadows.

“Come out now,” I said. “I know you’re there!”