Amber Deen Leska

Please, Mother Core, Amber Deen prayed in her head, keep Everett and Reo safe. The Mother Core was real—she had a supposed piece of it stuck on her chest, giving her powers. But she wasn’t sure if it’d listen to her plea. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to the two she left behind. The gnawing pain on her left shoulder blade was hard to ignore like the guilt on her mind. She stopped and looked behind her, considering if she was on a fool’s errand and should just go back to them.

[Take cover, left.]

“Again?” she groaned. Following her Guardian Angel’s instructions, Deen crouched beneath one of the arched decorative stone roofs evenly spaced along a skyscraper’s side, flattening herself as much as possible against the wall.

The shockwave from the bombs came. It knocked off everything that wasn’t securely fixed, ripped off leaves and branches from trees, knocked down streetlights.

Dust clouds rolled over, sweeping along all sorts of trash…maybe even body parts—she shuddered at the thought. Deen closed her eyes and covered her nose with the top of her shirt. The sides of her hood flapped incessantly from the wind blowing through the streets.

After the initial blast pushing outward came the reverse wave that was worse. Stronger force, more destruction. The sound was also awful. Echoey howling. The car alarms continually wailing gave her a headache. A silver lining was it confirmed her ears had fully regenerated. She couldn’t forget the icky feeling of warm blood pouring from her ears when that…something…called out to her.

CRASH!

“Ah!” she yelped in surprise. Shards of glass showered her. Huge window panes dropped from the heights of the skyscraper, tugged loose by blast waves returning to their source. Falling guillotines that could’ve chopped her body if she was still waking on the sidewalk.

As soon as the winds died down, she jumped back on her feet and continued on her way.

The bombs…this meant BID forces from the Palomar Node had arrived.

Deen had seen on a documentary, which also doubled as a recruitment video, how the BID combat the more powerful Adumbrae and she recalled seeing this bomb among their destructive arsenal—there was a time she wanted to join the BID as a combat agent, but her parents shot her down. She was certain the BID should be able to take care of the Adumbrae Titan soon.

She still couldn’t believe the 2Ms had managed to summon that massive abomination in such a short time. An average Adumbrae took ages to change the person they latched onto—like Erind, she painfully reminded herself—that a Titan Class Adumbrae suddenly appearing was something she hadn’t heard of unless it was made by a Purple Bloom.

But there was no Purple Bloom here. That monstrous colossus just suddenly materialized and emerged out of EFU Medical Center after the agonizing sensation that nearly knocked her unconscious from the pain. No doubt, this was the result of 2Ms' experiment inside that suspicious hospital.

I was too late to stop them! Deen berated herself. Too much time wasted dilly-dallying, trying to save people—no! She shouldn’t regret saving others.

But…dozens maybe hundreds had died or were dying because of the appearance of the Adumbrae Titan. The time it took to save a handful of people would’ve been better spent stopping the 2Ms. The moment she saw monsters that looked like those Erind had described that attacked her condo, everything should’ve clicked in her head. She should’ve immediately rushed to the hospital!

Should! Should! Should!

She slowed her pace down, closing her eyes and vigorously shaking her head.

No!

Regret saving people was the worst! She shouldn't think that. And she also helped Everett and Reo fight the monsters at the subway station. If she wasn’t there, those two would’ve been in trouble, as well as the dozens of people hiding there.

At the least, she shouldn’t regret saving her teammates.

They both saved her too.

All of them were incapacitated when the Adumbrae Titan appeared.

Everett was the first to recover. He held back the horde of mushroom creatures the Adumbrae Titan birthed. If not for him, they’d be marching behind the Titan now, implanted with its infectious spores, a part of its mind-controlled army. Wave after wave of mushroom creatures chased them through the streets as they fled from the hospital. Everett struggled to burn them all. He also ignited the air to turn the spores to ash.

Reo, the second to get back on his feet, also did his part. He tossed Deen over his shoulder since she couldn’t stand on her own because she was non-stop coughing up blood. He fought off any mushroom monsters that got past Everett. And when Everett fainted, he also carried him.

They, or rather Reo, managed to break into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in a cramped alley. It was closed due to the protests, so they were alone. Reo made his way to the pantry where he deposited them before collapsing.

Only then did Deen manage to get herself together.

And she saw the sacrifices of her teammates to keep her safe.

Everett was barely conscious. Huge patches of skin on his arms and legs turned purple, signs of severe internal bleeding that wasn't healing. She could be wrong, but he appeared withered a bit. Reo, on the other hand, got hit on his back by a couple of projectiles from a mushroom creature. These were probably headed for her, and he blocked them. His regeneration tried in vain to fight off the encroaching infection. But his body was failing, small mushrooms sprouting out of his skin started to cover his back.

“If only I listened to Gabe,” Deen muttered to herself as she recalled what happened to them. She bit her lower lip until it bled and she tasted its saltiness. Her shoulder ached even more. Gabe obviously told her not to go anywhere near the hospital.

She ignored it.

But then again, she fervently reasoned with herself, it would’ve said the same thing even if she could arrive on time to stop the 2Ms. Her Guardian Angel would always err on the side of caution. She’d be held back from doing any heroic acts if she kept following it. She had to force herself into dangerous situations to get Gabe to side with her decision. And what if she did timely reach the hospital…? Right?

I decide when to listen to my Guardian Angel!

Deen knew how helpful it could be, like when it taught her how to cut out the spores on Reo’s back with a kitchen knife. She cried a fair bit while doing it, at the same time holding back the urge to vomit as Reo’s blood splattered on her clothes. After a grueling five-minute bloody session, she succeeded thanks to Gabe.

However, Deen chose to ignore her Guardian Angel’s next instructions. As she stacked tables and chairs to barricade the restaurant’s entrance, she noticed a howl. A sound she had heard before that had haunted her nightmares. It had the same effect as the first time she heard it, making her stop in fear like prey that didn’t want to be spotted by a passing predator.

Madame Blanchette!

She quickly explained to Reo and Everett that there were cries for help and she was going out to find those people; she couldn’t tell them the real reason was related to Blanchette. Reo was conscious, although weak, and should be able to take care of Everett. Or that was what she told herself before rushing out. She didn’t give him time to argue with her.

Am I going in the right direction?

She followed roars, gunfire, and smaller explosions—without the usual heavy traffic of cars and people, the sounds clearly echoed amidst the concrete jungle of the city’s heart. Madame Blanchette must be in a fight.

Deen was certain she was near where Blanchette was but didn’t know where to go next. The BID bombs and the grating car alarms made it hard to hear other sounds now. And she couldn’t rely on Gabe because the instructions it gave would surely lead her away from danger…and Madame Blanchette. Despite knowing the risks, she still wanted to meet with her.

There were so many things she wanted to ask her, like how to stop Erind hurting or even killing people, how to slow down an Adumbrae’s transformation, and so on. Anything to keep her best friend’s mind intact and appear as human as possible. And perhaps she could also get answers why Blanchette specifically helped Erind. The mysterious Adumbrae wearing a red hood had shown up twice to save Erind—at Sander’s mall and again at the docks.

Madame Blanchette owed her—I saved her at Eve! Combined with Blanchette’s propensity to help Erind and her history of fighting the 2Ms, Deen was sure she’d finally be able to make friends with her. If only they’d have the chance to meet.

Fighting the 2Ms? Something bothered Deen.

Hedley Kow and his mysterious group were also fighting the 2Ms…and they were also in this area. As for Blanchette, why was she here? Likely to fight the 2Ms as well.

Could those two be connected?

Deen’s hunch was Hedley Kow and Blanchette didn’t know each other. Otherwise, Hedley Kow would already know Erind’s true identity before meeting her at the police station. Come to think of it, the shapeshifting Adumbrae should also know Deen’s real identity too if he was really connected to Blanchette.

Something whooshed overhead.

Deen caught a glimpse of it.

A flying ComExo. Black, sleek and compact. It was about the size of a man unlike the military’s which were gargantuan. The BID!

What was a BID agent doing here instead of over at the Adumbrae Titan?

Her eyes narrowed. He’s after Blanchette.

[Don’t follow it.]

“Yeah, right,” Deen sarcastically replied. She hurried while looking up at the sky. The BID agent flew too fast for her to keep up. Two more BID agents soared above her. And the sounds of battle flared again. An angry roar and smaller explosions. Madame Blanchette, where are you?

She reached the street corner and stopped to peek at what was ahead. She wasn’t all gung-ho to rush straight into BID agents fighting especially after ignoring Gabe’s warning not to go here. Three flying ComExos shooting a building on the next block. Further on, a smoking police helicopter in distress was gradually going down. The pilot was probably controlling the crash landing to a safe spot.

What was there? The small park in the middle of the high-rise apartment buildings?

Something burst from the building the agents were shooting. It shot out so fast it was only a huge red blur to Deen, like a red car going two hundred miles an hour casually sideswiping one of the BID agents in mid-air before smashing into the building across the street.

Deen gasped. Pieces of the agent fell from about thirty stories high to the ground below. Mixed with her horror was also joy. She found Madame Blanchette! The red-furred beast climbing the building was smaller than the one she saved at Eve, but it was Blanchette’s power to grow bigger and bigger.

The two remaining BID agents didn’t try to save their fellow who was hit. Perhaps he was beyond saving. They were also busy evading the rocks thrown by Blanchette.

Deen ran forward as the battle raged on from building to building, hoping the agents wouldn’t notice her. What do I do here? Her heart was conflicted by the situation.

On one hand, Madame Blanchette was killing BID agents. They were the good guys, brave and hard-working men and women putting their lives on the line to keep the country safe from the Adumbrae threat. On the other hand, Blanchette just couldn’t let them kill her. If only there was something she could do to stop them…but that might be impossible even with her Guardian Angel. Madame Blanchette just hit one of the agents with a rock, damaging his armor.

Were they heading to the small park? Did Blanchette want something from the downed helicopter? Deen couldn’t see it as the building blocked it from view, but the black smoke rising from it rose higher and became thicker. The wind spread it along the street, making it hard to see.

Maybe I'll just wait after Madame Blanchette kills the agents and then try to get her attention?

[Hide. Danger from behind.]

She dashed to the left and concealed herself behind a car with smashed windows. This better not be a trick to get me away from Blanchette, she warned her Guardian Angel. Or it could be real danger, in which case, wouldn’t it have been better if it was a trick? What was coming? Mushroom people?

A police van drove into view, almost tilting over as it rounded the corner with blazing speed. It continued driving to the battle between the BID and Madame Blanchette. Deen followed it as soon as it passed her.

The police van stopped by the body of the fallen BID agent—what was left of it. Police officers came out and took the pieces of armor and the body parts on the street, and hauled them into the back of the van. Deen noticed an ominous machine the size of a car engine with a barrel on top inside the van. It didn’t look like something the police would have, but more like a BID weapon to fight the Adumbrae.

Deen narrowed her eyes as she examined them from behind the cover of a wide tree. Suddenly, one of the cops pulled off his hand. “Oh my—!” She covered her mouth. The hand came off!

The cop tossed it to the ground and it grew into a full-sized plaster model of a man in a matter of seconds. The mysterious cop continued plucking chunks from his arm, and soon he had a small squad of plaster men. These men gained color, turning into realistic-looking cops. The cops inside the van passed weapons, guns and grenades, to the fake ones. Or maybe they were all fake. They were also activating the large machine in the van.

Deen had no idea who they were, but she was sure of two things: one, they weren't real cops, and two, the man making this puppet army was an Adumbrae. An Adumbrae in police gear with a weapon that might be for killing Adumbrae? Were they after Madame Blanchette too?

[Move ahead. Behind bus stop.]

“Huh?”

[Hide. Wait for them to pass before following.]

“Oh! You’re helping me?” Deen had a grin on her face. Finally! I'm going to be a hero.