REND

“Come out and fight me!” I made my voice sound desperate and frustrated as I faced the road.

That’d force him to appear behind me, up the hills. He had fewer tunnels back there. Fewer issues of getting lost underground if I followed him.

I detected movement in the corner of my eye; I immediately rushed toward it like a hunter hunting prey. Like, duh, what was a hunter supposed to do?

Theo showed up to my far right, at the bottom of the slope of a hill instead of up on it for a better vantage point. Trying to outthink me by showing up in an unexpected place? He hadn’t been there before, I was sure. Good for him that he was using his brain. But too bad he was playing right into my hands.

Only Theo’s upper body was above ground. After his first throw and escape, he never fully showed himself to have a faster exit. Both his hands flung back to wind-up throws. I was getting closer, not bothering to zigzag, going straight as fast as I could. He closed his grip, crushing the rocks he found probably underground.

Why is he—? He let loose a barrage of small rocks.

So, that was his next plan to up his chances of hitting me.

I crossed my arms in front of my face. I staggered when the rocks hit. They had much more force than I anticipated, the rocks breaking apart as they hit my body. It was like pellets fired from a shotgun. My skin and flesh tore. Just mere scratches, but annoying. And my clothes! If I knew the fight would turn up like this, I would—

I didn’t get to finish my thought as Theo the soon-to-be-extinct-monkey, swung his left hand. Another set of rocks!

I leaped forward and tried diving below the rocks that were spreading out. I rolled on the ground, evading most of them. Theo had sunk back into the earth before I could right myself.

Oh no you don’t! Without any hesitation, I jumped into the hole just a couple of seconds after he disappeared. This was the only way to catch him.

The flashlight I bought for Jubjub came in handy. With a switched-on flashlight in my mouth pointed forward, I crawled as fast as I could along the tunnel. Its diameter was the width of Theo’s body. Quite roomy for me. And as I went along, I left behind marks, gouging the earth deep with my fingers here and there.

I could hear faint noises and feel vibrations through my palms. My prey was somewhere up ahead, but I still hadn’t seen even just a strand of hair from his feet.

The dim light showed the almost perfectly circular tunnel I was traversing. This confirmed that Theo was using some sort of superpower to dig. He couldn’t have made a tunnel like this at the speed he did if it was just normal digging with his hands. His transformation wasn’t even a mole or some other digging creature.

My werewolf form was probably better than Theo’s for normal digging. It just occurred to me that I had dug underground a few times already. Such a weird life I have.

I came upon a crossroads. Three choices?

Nope. Only one of these was the answer. The other two would only lead back here.

I shone the flashlight around until I saw the marks I made earlier. My hunch was correct. Theo made a loop back to this tunnel in an attempt to confuse me into thinking these were old tunnels. Visibility was low so it was hard to get my bearings and realize I had circled back. Good thing I marked the path I took before.

I continued crawling to the most recent tunnel Theo made.

A small girl chasing the monster. I giggled at the thought. 

Where was my prey? There was no light source other than my flashlight. I was expecting Theo to dig up and flee above because I was going to catch him underground. But the path didn’t seem to be going up. My orientation was all messed up without a reference point, just like how pilots wouldn’t realize their airplane had flipped over if everything was white, but I swore the way seemed to be sloping downward.

I couldn’t tell if there was more force on my wrists from crawling down because my superstrength made it effortless. I couldn’t use my long hair to check where gravity was pulling it because the strands were stuck to my face because of the dirt.

I gently spat out the flashlight. After dropping to the ground, it rolled along down the tunnel. We were on a slope. Judging by the speed the flashlight disappeared from my view, the angle was steeper than I thought. 

Annoying but also entertaining. An easy victory was fine and all, but persistent prey was appreciated. Theo was providing me with some entertainment.

The earth was shaking. I think. Just slightly.

Dust fell on top of my hair and face. It wasn’t my imagination. And it wasn’t me doing it. Theo the Trash Monkey was trying to bury me—the perfect way to defeat me without even touching me. Once I ran out of oxygen, my physical superiority and whatever abilities I had would be rendered useless.

Oh no, you don’t! I had enough of getting buried alive.

I squatted and furiously dug at the ceiling of the tunnel. One rake of my right hand broke it, and chunks of earth fell on my face. My left hand dislodged some rocks. I continued, standing up as space opened. Complete darkness. I said goodbye to my flashlight—we had a good run—and forced my way up, wriggling through the tunnel of my own making.

Right, left, right, left, I didn’t stop digging. Theo was up there, I was sure. He could tell where I was. But how was he going to collapse the tunnel? By applying force from above. He wouldn’t be expecting me to dig up to him. He could ‘sense’ me coming, but wouldn’t be prepared with how fast I’d get him. Didn’t he know I had certifications for tunnel digging?

I caught something squishy, definitely not rocks. Flesh. Unless I accidentally found a huge mole, this was Theo.

I gripped tight, stabbing my fingers into whatever part of his body I caught. There was panicked shaking. I held securely on while my other hand snaked through the dirt and darkness trying to grab something too.

Wham! I got hit in the head. Another blow! And another! Theo was trying to kick me off.

Thanks for handing me your foot! I thought as I caught his next kick. More frantic thrashing about, but he couldn’t shake me off.

Suddenly, I was dragged up.

Theo was shooting upward, very smoothly at that. This must be his power at work, and how he was getting around in the soil. Was he trying to go aboveground so he could transform back and beg for his life?

Where are you going in such a hurry? That would’ve been such a good one-liner. Unfortunately, I couldn’t open my mouth and risk eating soil. I had more lines stocked up, but that could wait. I wasn’t satisfied with our fight ending like this just yet.

I kicked out, hoping to lodge my legs on some rocks, anything solid. As I slowed down, I pulled on Theo’s big hairy feet. I imagined myself an anchor.

Theo probably didn’t like it. His leg bones cracked and got dislocated, his muscles tore, and flowing blood warmed my hands. I couldn’t see it but I felt his legs twisting and stretching the way they shouldn’t. Screams of anguish reverberated in the darkness, muffled by the earth, but vibrating through it as well.

“Stop! Hurts!” Theo’s yelling was amplified by his disgusting throat sac.

I finally made you scream, huh?

Okay, that wasn’t a good line.

Something better was, I’ll bury you here!

Hints of light. Theo was breaching the surface.

I could see, but not much. Hair and earth. I continued kicking around, trying to find some leverage to pull him back down, but the rocks and soil were weirdly watery as if it was flowing fine sand. This was his stupid power.

We momentarily stopped. My right foot got caught in a huge boulder that Theo wasn’t able to push out of the way. He let out a squeal of panic and tried harder to move up. If he wanted to get away that much…

In one sudden motion, I violently tugged his legs.

Screams again. Nothing was pulling me anymore. I had torn off Theo’s legs, and he left the hole like a lizard leaving behind its tail to escape.

The last I saw of him was the remaining stumps raining blood on me. His beastly wails and moans were broadcast all over the hills. If tourists heard him, they’d hopefully think it was an injured wild animal and stay away.

I inelegantly scrambled out of the hole using Theo’s legs as climbing axes mountaineers use. Dunno what those were actually called. I stabbed the sharp bones jutting out of the severed ends into the soil to have a good grip. Without Theo around, the earth seemed to have returned to its normal behavior.

“Okay… that really wasn’t much of a fight,” I sighed as I stood up on the ground. “More like playing tag. You did try, I’ll give you that.”

Theo was crawling away with his long arms, leaving a trail of purple blood.

Purple? I looked down. My torn clothes were dirtied with a disgusting purple mud-like substance. It was Theo’s blood mixed with the earth caking me. How the hell was I returning to town in this state? This was why superheroes had costumes, besides the whole branding and hiding identity thing. I didn’t need costumes, just a spare change of clothes—mental note. This lesson I should’ve learned long ago.

“Damn… you!” Theo told the cactuses he passed. Or maybe he meant that to me.

“And you finally cracked,” I said in a sing-song voice, walking to Theo. “I was thinking you had some experience with, like, actual fighting because you didn’t show much reaction when I crushed your arm back at the restaurant. To be fair, a crushed arm is so much different than losing legs.”

I tossed his legs in front of him. He swatted them away.

“I’ll… kill… you,” he groaned as he continued to crawl.

I was right behind him, casually walking. “Some tourists are going to be in for a big scare when they find your legs. Or maybe the local wildlife can snack on them first. I just hope you don’t have germs or something infecting them.”

The stumps of Theo’s legs had stopped bleeding. The ends disgustingly bubbled as muscle fibers repaired themselves and extended to cover the lengthening bones. This was a way faster regeneration than his normal body. Probably even faster than my Erind self. Soon, the pain would be more tolerable for him, and he’d probably want to continue fighting. Could also be that he’d drop the tough guy act and flee.

I needed to decide what to do with him.

Before, the question was whether to kill him or not—I knew the answer now.

Killing him might cause some problems. But not killing him would really cause a lot of problems.

A guy with his ego wouldn’t let this go. He’d want to have his revenge. It would’ve been great if he did everything straight, big on honor and shit like that. Like, he’d challenge me sometime in the future after training. Wait, that’d make him the protagonist, not me? I couldn’t have that.

He wasn’t like that anyway. After spouting shit about wanting to show his strength, he played keep-away while hurling stuff at me. Yes, he prioritized his ego. But he’d do it in any way possible. If he defeated me, he’d call his posse over and show them my corpse, weaving a tail of some do-or-die battle instead of just throwing rocks.

I looked down at my sorry state again. My messed-up clothes sealed Theo’s fate. An unimaginable hassle.

Theo was going to die. The question was how.   

“Where did that ‘you can’t kill me’ bravado go?” I tauntingly asked him. Was this the first time I’ve worn a face like this? “Just a small taste of pain, and you’re screaming like it’s the end of the world? It’s just a pair of legs. You can regenerate it.”

Theo placed his palms flat on the ground. The soil rippled outward. If this monkey was going sand diving again, I’d remove some more limbs.

But then he closed his hands into a fist. The soil stopped moving. He probably realized that was a stupid idea, especially since I already caught him once.

Theo rolled over and pushed himself to sit up. A strained smile slashed his face. He belabouredly chuckled.  “A pair… of legs…” he said while gritting his teeth. “Right. You’re strong.” He offered his hand. “A pleasure to… fight… you.”

Trying to save face? I wasn’t giving him that. “Oh, come on,” I said. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t just running away from me the entire time. What fight happened there?”

Angered flickered for a moment on his face before the smile returned. He laughed. He didn’t retract his arm. “Got me… there. I… new to… this.” He wiggled his outstretched hand to draw attention to it. “Teach me… fighting. I can… learn fast… from you.”

Yeah, right. Part of me did want to take his hand and test what he’d do. But a bigger part didn’t want to risk becoming Erind Jell-o. Deen’s scolding voice was in my ear, telling me off for being reckless.

“If you want us to shake hands,” I said, “turn back into human so we can—hang on. If you turn back, will you be naked?”

“Uh… yes.” Theo slowly dropped his hand.

“Gross. Just stay that way. I don’t want to see your naked body when I kill you.”

Theo tensed. His eyes darted left and right. “Kill… me? Joking. Bluff… again.” As he talked, he casually pinned his arms to his flanks, subtly placing his hands on the ground again to the sides of his butt. But not so subtle that I wouldn’t notice. “Important! I’m… impor—”

“Yes, you’re important. But there’s a huge problem that needs addressing. You bothered me.” That last sentence I spoke with much venom. Just released all my annoyance so I could focus on my business of implementing Rules. “You ruined my…” My eyes widened.

I should take care of the face I was wearing.

“My father… will kill… you!”

The soil around Theo’s hands began to swirl. He started to descend into the softened ground. Too slow.

“I’ll kill all of you!” I shouted, putting anger into my voice. I grabbed Theo’s upper arm and pulled him out of the sinkhole or quicksand whatever. “You’re going to pay!”

Did I sound awkward? It was rare for me to use this type of face.

Theo whipped his other arm at me. I parried it away. He lunged to bite, but I punched him. My fist met his fangs, breaking them, then his jaws. His head bounced on the ground as he fell.

Please don’t die, I prayed. This was the debut of a new face. I didn’t want it to get ruined.

Theo groaned. I breathed a sigh of relief. A few seconds to regenerate so he could really be bothered by what I’d do to him. In the meantime, some dramatic dialogue for the audience.

“Since I’ll be killing you,” I said, stepping on Theo’s chest, just some pressure, taking care not to collapse his chest, “it’s fine to tell you the truth. I’m not part of your organization.”

“Wha-what…?” Theo’s eyes flickered open. His jaw clicked back into place.

“I’m an Adumbrae, so it was easy to convince Yara and many others that I’m one of you. Many of the senior members, the higher-ups, died at Eve. So easy to fool the newcomers.”

“Who… are… Yargh!”

I stepped on Theo’s right shoulder. Hard. Until I parted his joint. His skin tore as squished flesh poured out of the holes like toothpaste. His shoulder became mush. And my sandals were definitely no more. Man, my budget for clothes should be higher. I should ask Mom for more money.

I bent down and yanked off Theo’s right arm, which was still attached to his body by some threads of muscles and skin.

I raised his severed arm. “I am Red Hood!” Fucking cheesy. If only they had come up with a better name for me.

“Re-red… Hood?” Theo said, donning a primitively shocked face. He forgot the pain he suffered because of the revelation.

“And I’ll take my revenge on Mark, on Big Marcy, on all of you, for turning me into an Adumbrae!”

“Are you… really…?” Theo wriggled away from me, his left arm grasping at shrubs. “Don’t know… anything! I’m not… part!”

“You chose to be an Adumbrae, did you not?” I briskly walked to keep pace with his pathetic retreating body. “A willing Adumbrae. Compared to you, I was forced by the experiments of Mark to become one. And boy, did he make a mistake.”

That last line sounded goofy. I didn’t prepare much of a script because this was impromptu. A stroke of inspiration.

“Mark had me kidnapped,” I said. “For an experiment. Something I didn’t understand. They said I was compatible with a new procedure they were testing.”

Theo wasn’t listening to me, but my words weren’t for him. He rolled to his back and swung his remaining arm at me.

I caught his wrist. My other hand caught his elbow. I stared into his eyes as I pulled his hand off.

His throat sac bulged. One last trick up his sleeve? Collar?

He opened his mouth and yelled. “GHAAR—urk!”

A double-edged blade pierced out of the inflated sac, darker than dark, appearing to absorb the harsh sunlight. The sac deflated as blood seeped through the wound. Theo gurgled pained noises of disbelief. The blade parted in two, each side sliding to the right and left, cleaving Theo’s head cleanly off.

“Teeell me moooreee…” came a spooky whisper.