A shrill roar filled the tunnel. Really good work from Kelsey sounding like a proper scary monster. The acoustics of the place amplified its intimidation factor.
“This Adumbrae isn’t your pal?” Everett asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual.
“It must be an Adumbrae captured by the PCM!” Deen exclaimed. “Did the others accidentally release it?”
Of course, that wasn’t the case—this was Kelsey who had passed through the middle tunnel earlier. We even said ‘hi’ to each other. Deen pushed for Everett to split from us and go a different route so that he wouldn’t meet Kelsey. We were confident that Everett wasn’t going to argue against Deen. If he did, Deen was ready to question his bravery.
Kelsey entered through the bunker that we were supposed to use as our alternative exit. When Kelsey found us—she had an easy time navigating the underground because she could see in the dark, and I had given her a map—she confirmed that no cops were posted at the bunker entrance. Auron had kept his promise to pull some strings to keep it open, perhaps with the remaining connections the PCM still had with the police, now that the BID was hunting them.
Even if Auron didn’t do anything, there was a super high chance the cops would get called to do more important work anyway, especially with the new Adumbrae attacks. And Kelsey was prepared to sneak past them, if it had come to that.
“But there’s no message from Blank,” Everett said. Dario had given him some communication stuff. “Where did this Adumbrae come from? Not from Blank’s end. Was it hiding when we passed it?”
Dario would definitely wonder about Kelsey’s route. He might think that Kelsey came from further in the tunnels, passing through the third path, while Deen and I, as Erind, entered the middle one. Dario might even suspect that I, Pino, had something to do with Kelsey’s sudden appearance, that this was all a setup to make it look like I was helpful and all that.
“It doesn’t matter now,” said Deen. “Our priority is stopping it from reaching the neighborhood outside.” She laid my original body on the floor, making it lean against the wall. “Stay here, Croissant. We’ll be back soon.”
I willed my Erind body to give a feeble thumbs-up.
“Pino, are you going to help us or not?” Deen asked. “Aren’t we supposed to be allies?”
“I’ll help,” I said, jogging toward the sounds of Kelsey. “This’ll be fun.”
Deen ran past me, her shoulder bumping me aside. (Sorry, Erind! I didn’t mean to hit you,) she said through our mental link. She took the lead of our trio, lighting our path with her flashlight. “Hurry up!”
“Shouldn’t we meet up with Blank first?” Everett asked, having no choice but to follow us. “And we’re just leaving Eri—Croissant?”
“This Adumbrae might head to your friends,” I said. “It’s standing at the fork ahead, perhaps deciding which way to go. Your friends will be in for a nasty surprise if it chooses to head their way.”
“Over here!” Deen shouted. She frantically waved her flashlight. “Come get us!”
“Are you crazy?” Everett half-shouted. “Don’t call—”
“We have Pino with us,” said Deen. “She’ll know how to handle Adumbrae. Also, I think we need to meet this particular Adumbrae. My visions are showing me…”
“What?” Everett demanded. “Showing you what? Whoa!”
Kelsey shrieked again. Louder this time. Closer.
We were nearing the first intersection.
Glowing purple eyes stared in our direction. I could see Kelsey’s golden outline with my Pino vision; I still had no idea what the color coding stood for.
“The Adumbrae!” Everett shouted.
Deen suddenly braked, stretching her arms to the side. Everett and I stopped behind her. Deen and Everett shone their flashlight at Kelsey, twenty feet away or something. Her seven-foot-tall, scaly, demon body looked quite menacing. She wore torn clothes that she had rubbed in dirt to make it seem like she hadn’t changed her attire since she disappeared.
To her right was another path—this led to the other hero wannabes doing some excavation. She peered down that path, making it obvious that she wanted to go there.
“Die, Adumbrae!” Everett shoved Deen and me aside for a better view, stepping in between us.
Kelsey glowed. More specifically, her scales brightened like heated metal. I couldn’t feel the heat, but it must be hot as fuck. Her clothes darkened for a moment before erupting into flames.
“Get down!” Deen pulled us to the ground.
There was a whooshing sound as something invisible passed overhead. Kelsey created an invisible barrier thingy to hit us. We had planned a little choreography for this fight. Simply amazing how everything was going according to script. For now.
Though Kelsey might be a bit angry with getting toasted by Everett.
“The hell was that?” Everett pushed himself up to stand like an idiot.
WHAM! Kelsey hit him with another invisible barrier, sending him flying several feet behind us. Must be very satisfying for her.
“Pino, stop her movement!” Deen shouted as she helped me up.
I pointed with my left index finger and shot another thread at Kelsey, making sure that my back was to Everett so he couldn’t see what I did. I lowered my hand as soon as I linked up with Kelsey. (Hi there. Did that hurt?)
(Hey, Erind. Welcome to my mind.) Kelsey thrashed about, swiping her claws at the walls, pretending to fight against my ‘power’. She roared and groaned while rampaging. (It hurt a lot! My body was blazing. Let me beat up Everett some more.)
(I think that’s enough for now.) I’d give her an opportunity later. “She’s too strong,” I said to Deen and Everett. “The entity in her mind is pushing me out.”
“Just keep it away from us for a sec,” said Everett, back in action. “I’ll burn this damn thing to a crisp! Hold it!”
“No!” Deen blocked Everett’s view. “Don’t kill her!”
“Why not? That’s the fucking enemy! It’s going to kill—”
“She’s Kelsey!”
“Wha-what?” Everett almost choked on his words.
“I’ve seen it in my—” Deen hesitated, as if remembering that she shouldn’t reveal her powers to me. Everett should be smart enough to understand what was going on, right? Deen was supposedly having visions about a future wherein we had killed this Adumbrae, and they eventually realized, after examining her face, that she was Kelsey. “Can’t you see her face?” Deen tried to aim her flashlight at Kelsey’s face.
Kelsey continued with her seizure act. She stomped her feet and punched the walls as she attempted to come near us, but seemingly pulled back by an invisible force. She had rehearsed this bit while we were planning at Myra’s place. She definitely got acting chops. I was very jealous that she got this role.
Everett furiously pointed. “She looks like a fucking demon!”
“She’s really Kel—her! We’ve finally found her. You’re aware that I’m good with faces. Get it? You have to trust me.”
“I… I’m not sure…”
“I was right, after all,” I declared. “You should’ve trusted me all the way through.”
“Fucking suspicious that she appeared here,” Everett said.
“Because the PCM was keeping her,” I said. “Where else would she be if not here? You must’ve accidentally freed her.”
It was impossible to stop Dario and the others from becoming suspicious about these circumstances. But whatever scenario Dario would hypothesize, it’d take him further away from the truth. There was no way he’d even come close to thinking that I was Pino and Red Hood.
The important thing here was presenting Kelsey to them. We had other stuff planned after, like claiming that we, Red Hood’s group, might be able to cure Kelsey. We’d just wing the aftermath.
“We have to restrain her,” said Deen. “Emcee, can you do it? Pino can’t completely incapacitate her.”
“Move quickly, you two,” I said. “I’ll kill this Adumbrae if—”
“I got it.” Everett strode forward, presenting himself as the reliable macho man. He crouched low, arms spread out. Was he going to tackle Kelsey? “Keep her there, Pino. I’ll catch—argh!”
Everett did catch something—Kelsey’s kick. He got slammed against the wall. Concrete cracked. Kelsey swiped at him. He screamed in pain. Nice sound.
“Emcee!” Deen yelled. She focused the flashlight on the blossoming red streaks on his chest. (Erind, stop her!) Deen added in my mind.
(Pretend that I’m trying to stop you!) I blared in Kelsey’s head. She shouldn’t make her revenge so obvious. We had talked about this. Still, points for the hit.
Kelsey swung her claws at Everett. He raised his arms to protect his face. Kelsey stopped her strike from connecting, following it with convulsions and agonized groans. Everett latched onto Kelsey’s outstretched arm, twisting it behind her back as he brought her down.
Deen jumped in and grabbed Kelsey’s other arm.
The flashlights were left on the ground.
(Do I surrender now?) Kelsey asked me. (I kinda don’t want to.)
(Have a little more fun.) I would’ve smiled if my face could move. I extended my arms, palms facing toward Kelsey. I shook my body a bit to show I was struggling. We still had time for some shenanigans.
Everett had alerted Dario about my presence. But the asshole supreme wouldn’t come rushing here—he’d assume that everything was fine because of Deen’s boosted power, that we’d bring Pino to him and stuff. And everything was fine. Just not for Everett.
Kelsey did some acrobatic shit to throw Everett off her back. I think Kelsey broke her joint to escape the superstrength hold. A surprised Everett got slammed on the ground. Kelsey didn’t do anything to Deen. Everett tried to get up, but Kelsey stomped him down, her claws punching into his already wounded chest.
Everett filled the tunnels with a chorus of pain.
(Erind, she’s not stopping!) Deen complained in my head.
(I think that’s enough, Kelsey.) I waved my hands, as if I were doing a magic trick. “Hold her still!”
Kelsey staggered back, dragging Deen with her. A bloodied Everett lunged at Kelsey’s legs. He hugged them both and twisted them to the side, bringing her down. Deen grabbed Kelsey’s other arm. Deen and Everett stretched Kelsey out on the floor. I kicked the flashlights to point away from Kelsey. She might not want to be so naked with Everett around.
“I got it.” I twirled my hands, pushing the limits of my joints. Make it look very inhuman. “It’s fine—I’ve hacked her mind. You can let go now.”
“Re-really?” Everett asked, coughing up blood. “Fucking hurts. Dammit! I don’t want to get killed.”
“Trust me,” I said. “Your friend’s sister is no longer moving.”
Kelsey laid still on the ground. (Get me clothes, okay? Tell Deen.)
(Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry.)
“How can I trust you?” Everett spat. “The moment I let go, she might attack again and kill us.”
“If I wanted you dead,” I said, “I would’ve let her continue stomping on you. In fact, I could’ve helped her by paralyzing your body. Would you like me to try?”
“Emcee, it’s fine.” Deen stood up. “Trust me. Do you understand?”
“I-I do…” Everett reluctantly let go of Kelsey’s legs.
(Deen, Kelsey wants to remind you about the clothes.)
(Got it.)
“Emcee, I’m truly sorry that my Guardian Angel didn’t include in its warnings,” Deen said as she removed her shirt.
“No big deal.” Everett instantly erased all the groans from his voice. He picked up one of the flashlights on the floor. “I’m used to getting injured in—woah! Why are you undressing?”
“I’m covering Kel—Merge’s sister.” Deen draped her shirt over Kelsey’s middle, covering her private parts. “Don’t you dare look at her, or me.”
“I’m not looking!” Everett turned away. “I… I was just checking her face. That’s all.”
“Give me your shirt too,” said Deen. Everett complied, tossing his nasty, ripped, and bloody shirt to her. Deen used it to cover Kelsey’s breasts. “Are your wounds fine?” Deen asked.
“This is nothing to me,” Everett replied in a deep voice. “It’ll heal quickly enough. Uh, I’m calling Blank. Merge is going to be—Eh? It’s not working?” He shook a tiny phone. “Dammit. This must’ve been damaged when I got roughed up.”
Roughed up? That was a tame description for what had happened to him.
Kelsey definitely wanted to ‘rough up’ Everett a bit more, but we’d have to move on to the next phase—meeting the rest of the group. Dario’s team should be almost to the PCM base by now. This was the perfect distraction. As for me, I was going to waltz in there and plug in Auron’s USB drive before Dario could tinker with anything.
“Pick up your friend,” I said. “We’ll bring her to your other friends.”
“What? You’re going to stay here.” Everett pointed at me. “And I’m going to get the others.”
I wagged my finger in front of him. “That’s not how this works. I helped you get your friend’s sister. Do with her what you will.” Actually, Kelsey and I were going to make an exit later. “In exchange, I get what I need from the PCM base. You can try to betray me. But you also know that your power didn’t work on me earlier.”
“This isn’t the time to fight, Emcee,” said Deen. “We need to meet Merge ASAP. This is a huge victory. I’m going to carry Merge’s sister. But I’ll get Croissant—there you are!” Deen hopped over Kelsey’s fake unconscious body and rushed over to my real body. I had controlled it to hobble over here.
“You haven’t healed Croissant,” Everett said.
“I’ll do it after getting what I want from the PCM base,” I replied. “To be honest, I didn’t expect my powers to work this well on her. Weak-minded, she is.”
“Don’t call her weak-minded!” Deen shouted, hugging my original body. Good thing my soul wasn’t in it to be disgusted.
“But it’s true,” I said. An opportunity to make me less of a possible traitor. Dario wouldn’t even care about me. “Compared to her.” I pointed at Kelsey “More specifically, an Adumbrae unwilling to relinquish control.”
“How can we be so sure that you didn’t talk with your Adumbrae friend, huh?” Everett glanced at Deen. She subtly shook her head.
“You can’t be sure,” I said. “But know that not all Adumbrae are friends. Same goes for humans. Pick up your purple friend and let’s go.” I walked towards the PCM tunnel before Everett could bring up more complaints.