“Now, are you going to tell us your plan?” Myra said.

“Just a sec.” I fiddled with Julie’s Snippet account, trying to figure out how the hell to broadcast live. “What do I—?”

“Let me,” Myra said, taking the phone from my hands.

We were on the rooftop of a three-story building a few doors down from the pub, crouching behind the low walls lining its perimeter. ‘We’ being me, Myra, and Johann. Ramon was protecting Julie and Lizzie back in the pub. I wasn’t sure if they left to find a better hiding place. It was better for us to split up mainly because our group would be running around and those two girls would only slow us down.

Julie was especially being difficult. I had to convince her I was going to record more videos Paolo would like so she’d let go of her phone. I was this close to punching her to dreamland to get the phone.

That, and Lizzie was waking up. Before we left, we restrained her with thick ropes we found just as a precaution. However, I was sure she retained her sanity even though she had a monster body. I also didn’t want to be around when Ramon had to explain to her what happened: why her Mommy was not there, why Paolo was dead, why Julie had gone cuckoo, and why she was a purple half-snake girl with white hair and horns.

My energy was way past spent for tonight that I couldn’t deal with any emotional bullshit; I wouldn’t be able to stop my eyes from rolling. Plus, I had to focus on trying to kill that bitch, Stella. Even though my Pino face didn’t defeat her, I was going to bring her down as Erind.

Tag team…kinda.

“Here,” Myra said. “I also turned off the audio recording.”

“Thanks. I didn’t think of that.” I focused the camera at the incoming Stella.

In my estimate, she was just a tad shorter than the building we were on. Wow, did she grow a lot since she transformed, and was still growing. She punched and kicked small buildings like how a kid would destroy sand castles on the beach. As for the taller buildings, she swept her powerful light beam up and down their height, collapsing them. She forged a path, trailing fire and destruction in her wake. She headed in our general direction but hadn't noticed us.

I broadcasted everything on Julie’s Snippet account. I think streaming was the right term; sorry, I suck at social media stuff. She had many Snippet friends, and they shared it with others, quickly racking up the views—I’m just assuming that’s how Snippet worked. I hoped Clive was one of the gradually increasing view count at the bottom of the video.

“So, why are we putting ourselves in danger again?” Myra said. “There are people out there dumb enough to take pictures or videos of Stella instead of running away. We can just leave it to them.”

“I need an uninterrupted livestream.”

“Eh? I’m sure some of them are livestreaming too. And there’s also the news. I saw a news copter earlier.”

“Which had to go away because Stella was shooting at it,” Johann said. “But there should be TV news crews on the ground broadcasting this live.”

“We have a better vantage point,” I said. “We’re closer than any news crew will dare to shoot, and we can get even closer.”

“I suppose so.” Myra folded her arms. “For what though? Let me guess, you’re doing this so the BID knows her location?”

“But they already know,” Johann pointed out.

“True. It’s hard to miss her. She’s probably like a fourth the size of the Statue of Liberty. Anyway, she’s going to escape before the BID arrives. She’s not an idiot to get herself killed. She’ll return to her human form soon enough and tiptoe away like the devilish bitch she is.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And that’s what we’re going to capture on camera. We’ll follow her until she turns human, and keep on livestreaming her.”

“Oh! That’s a brilliant idea. The BID will know who they’re looking for.”

“Yep. We’ll show the world this giant monster is this woman while also showing her location.”

“That just might work,” Johann said.

“If she’s back to human form, special agents and ComExos from the Node aren’t needed to kill her. The BID agents currently in the city should be able to take here down, assuming they’re on their way here right now.”

“Or just the police might be able to do it,” he added.

“Okay, let’s do that!” Myra enthusiastically said, eager of the prospect of defeating Stella. “Just don’t forget, let’s not put ourselves in harm’s way.”

“Speaking of harm’s way,” I said, “I think we have to move because Stella’s coming closer. It’s best if we’re parallel to her.”

“Keep your head down, guys. Don’t get seen.”

Of course, that wasn’t my real plan. Not totally anyway; just half of it.

I was hoping Clive, not the BID, would kill Stella. No way I was going to continue following her until the BID arrived. Too risky. But I knew I had to continue filming her until she got smaller.

Although Clive could spear anything he saw, even if it was through a screen, I doubted he could do much to the gigantic ass of Stella. He wasn’t able to kill the snake mutant I fought at Serenade Bazaar—okay, that was mostly because I destroyed the TV camera, but he still had a few seconds before I did that. His spear would just be like a toothpick in comparison to Stella’s size. But if Stella was human-sized, then he could certainly poke holes in her.

This was all assuming Clive was watching my specific livestream out of all the other videos out there. And that he was willing or able to help. I recalled Trepanner scolded him for attacking the snake mutant because it wasn’t their mission.

I guess this is really a long shot.

If nothing else, at least I’d show Stella’s true identity to the world for the BID would catch her afterwards.

I fixed the table cloth I wrapped around my head as we jumped from building to building. I didn’t see any point in pretending to be a normal human anymore. Myra followed me while carrying Johann. I was sure both of them had many questions with my inhuman strength but didn’t say anything.

“This seems like a good place,” I said, kneeling behind sloping skylight panels on the roof of an office building based on what I could see through the glass.

“We’ll just play the waiting game,” Johann said, crouching next to me. Myra placed herself next to him.

“If she starts growing smaller, that’s the time we go near.”

“How about I leave you here?” Myra asked Johann. “It’s much safer.”

“I’m going with you. I'm making sure you don’t do anything stupid. I know just how much you want to kill Stella.”

“Fine," she said. "If that’s what you...” Her eyes gazed up at something behind Johann and me.

“Myra?” Johann asked. “What is it?”

I turned around and followed Myra’s gaze. Thanks to the uncontrolled fire courtesy of Stella, I could make out the silhouette of an imposingly large man looking down on us from the top of a water tank about two buildings further to our right. “An enemy?”

“Bob,” Myra said, hatred lacing her voice, and perhaps a sprinkle of apprehension. “This fucker's still looking for us.”

“Bob? Who is that?”

“One of Stella’s underlings,” Johann said. “We encountered him when we were looking for you. Gave us a lot of trouble.”

“He doesn’t have his pillar with him,” she said.

“Pillar? He’s the guy with the pillar that grows big?”

“I’m sure Obe would find something funny with that,” she said. “I have to take care of this guy.” She covered her body with thin armor, not the usual large tree monster body she used.

Bob jumped down from the water tank to the next building and sprinted towards us. It seemed like he crawled out of rubble. Dust covered his body, almost obscuring his deep wounds and severe burns, his tattered clothes blackened by fire. Despite this, his expression was impassive. He leapt over the gap and landed on the rooftop we were on, by the far end of the skylight panels.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Myra flung spikes at him, aiming for his head.

He caught them, except one that pierced his eye. He roared in pain. With a running jump, he soared over the skylights, heading straight for us. Myra jumped even higher using springy vines on her feet. She caught him in the air and tackled him downwards. Both of them smashed through the skylight panels.

“Myra!” Johann yelled, rushing to check what happened.

“What the…” I said, barely processing anything. I glanced at Stella, saw that she didn’t notice us, then went over to Johann. I peered down the broken glass.

The building inside was mostly dark except for a few dim lights and the blazing glow of the fires coming in through its windows. The two of them landed on the fountain in the middle of the atrium three floors down.

“You need to help her!”

“What—”

“He nearly killed Myra when they fought. She might really die this time.”

“I can’t, I’m—”

“A Corebring like Julie said? An Adumbrae? I don’t care what you really are. I just know you can help her.”

What should I do? I could just let Myra die now. But it wouldn’t be very impactful or satisfying. I do love theatrics. And Myra’s time to die wasn’t now; I was sure she’d be very helpful as I navigated the world of Adumbrae and Corebrings, especially if she owed me her life. Plus, I just thought of the best story to sell to her.

“Give me the phone,” Johann said. “I’ll video Stella.”

I kicked away the remaining shards of glass then hung by the edge of the opening on the rooftop. I swung myself back and forth, hoping this would work, and let go. I soared and grabbed the third floor railings. I still got it, I cheered as I pulled myself over. Maybe I should do yoga and calisthenics regularly again just like my cheerleading days. There was a lot I could do now with my superhuman body.

I looked around for anything to throw and spotted the fire extinguisher. “Myra!” I called down below. “Up here! Climb up here!”

She was trying to keep out of Bob's reach while throwing spikes at him. I got the impression she didn’t want to get near him again. She saw me waving at her and started to scale the walls with the help of her spikes. Bob, full of spikes like a pin cushion, chased after her.

“Take this!” I said, throwing down the fire extinguisher as hard as I could. It hit him in the head knocking him down. “Yes!” He quickly got back up. “Aw…”

I grabbed the painting behind me and threw it at him, followed by two large vases, and the long table they were on. That was enough to stop him from climbing up after Myra. I extended my hand to her and pulled her up. He roared at us in frustration and started to climb up again.

“Thanks for the assist,” Myra said. “Appreciate it. Where’s Johann?”

"Up on the roof, still filming Stella.”

“That’s for the best. Come on!”

“To where?” I asked. We ran along the corridor, turned left then entered a room.

“New plan. We’ll draw Bob away this building to keep Johann safe. Whether the BID kills Stella or not, that’s out of our hands with Bob following us.” She smashed the windows and sat on the sill. “Give me your hand.”

“Okay…Hey!” I exclaimed. She pulled me out of the building and threw me up to the roof of the next building.

“Bob has already climbed up,” she said, still on the window. “Go ahead. I’ll make sure he follows us instead of going up to Johann.”

Should I turn into Blanchette? I considered as I ran. The problem with my Blanchette face was I needed to eat something to become stronger. If, as Johann said, Bob nearly killed Myra, that didn’t bode well for my own chances with just my base Blanchette form. And why should I fight? It was way better to just run.

I looked over my shoulder. Myra was catching up to me.

“Go! Don’t look back!” she said. “He’s behind us.”

I couldn’t see Bob, but I followed Myra’s instructions. The corners of my lips turned up into a wide grin. This was so much fun! The cold night air swept over me, but the adrenaline warmed my body. Not transforming into Blanchette just added to the thrill. Running as fast as I could in my own body, jumping from building to building like I was a superhero, while a giant with laser beams burned the city, and her minion chased after us…this is super-duper fun!

“Hold up!” Myra said, stopping me from running forward.

The roof of the next building exploded, broken shingles flew everywhere. Bob burst upwards.

“So fast!” I said.

“This relentless piece of shit,” Myra hissed.

“We should split—”

“BOB!”

I covered my ears and knelt down. Bile rose from my throat, its bitter taste at the back of my tongue. I was seeing double, my head woozy. I closed my mouth to stop puking. Then I couldn’t stop myself and vomited anyway. Something inside my ear was fucked up. Warm liquid oozed out of my ears, dribbling down my palms. Blood.

“BOB!!!”

“Shut up!” I yelled. I couldn’t hear myself, just feeling my voice vibrate through my head.

Myra dragged me by my clothes. Her helmet probably protected her from Bob’s earth-shattering cries. “Stella saw us!” was what I think she said. I couldn’t exactly tell. She ran away while carrying me. Bob continued to scream. I couldn’t hear him anymore, but I could feel his cries go through my entire body, making my heart pound faster.

FWOOM! BOOM!

Myra was shouting something. I didn’t need to understand what it was. Stella was shooting at us.

FWOOM! FWOOOM!!

I put my hand over my face. I should transform to Blanchette.

Bright light erupted. I was too late.

Is this the end?

"Huh? What?"

Nothing happened.

Myra stopped running. I opened my eyes and looked up at her. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth gaping in amazement. I turned to the left and saw the towering Stella. She was so near, just over the next block.