Eh? The fuck is going on?!

A gigantic sword wrapped with blue lightning snakes protruded out of her chest,exiting at a sideways, slightly downward angle.

The sword was as long as a small school bus. It crackled with power, making the hairs on my skin stand on end even if I was from it.

Lightning erupted from the blade, taking the form of snakes swimming through the air in a mesmerizing dance, driving away the darkness of the night with their blue light, swallowing the red glow of the fire. The silver blade gave off ghostly wisps that spread like dense fog.

Stella shrieked as the blade kept on growing out of her chest. My eyes adjusted to the brightness and I noticed the intricate serpentine carvings on the blade that mirrored the lightning snakes around it. The carvings themselves appeared to move; they also looked familiar.

As the blade extended, it revealed its base and that it was attached to a pole.

It was a spear, not a sword. An impossibly big spear that made its blade look like a colossal broadsword in comparison to Stella.

Clive! It had to be him.

Stella grasped the spear to break it, but her hand disintegrated upon contact with the blade. Liquid light poured from the stumps of her arms and from her chest like it was her blood. They also streamed down her eyes and mouth.

“The Corebrings,” Myra said. “They’re here…”

Stella tried to turn around, but the spear held her in place even though it was just growing out of her chest and not anchored to anything. The same thing also happened to me when Clive speared me. She managed to crane her head enough that she was able to face in the opposite direction where the spear pointed to. What was over there? The building with skylights!

“What is she doing?”

“She’s aiming for Johann!”

A massive beam of light shot out of Stella’s mouth. It hit Johann's building. The giant spear dissipated, the darkness of the night returned, barely held at bay by the red blaze of the fires.

“No! Johann!”

“Bob!” That annoying Bob decided to chase after us.

“You bastard,” Myra said. “Just don’t know when to give up.” She threw me aside as Bob lunged for her. “Save Johann!” she cried out. Both of them tangled with each other and tumbled into the gap between buildings, falling to the ground below.

I picked myself up, having mostly recovered from Bob’s screams, and headed to Johann’s direction.

Stella was on her knees, a fountain of liquid light gushing from the massive hole on her chest. Was she going to die soon? Or was she going to transform back to human?

She did neither. Instead, she blasted the buildings around her, including the one I stood on. The rooftop shook as her light beam strafed the lower floors.

“You bitch,” I said, trying to keep my balance as I kept on running.

I jumped to the next building, shooing away a flock of seagulls in my way that got spooked by the buildings getting demolished. I needed to get to Johann—dunno if he was still alive—and get the camera so Clive could finish Stella off. I wasn’t even sure if the phone was still in one piece. Was there no other video he could watch?

I looked over my shoulder. “Fucking shit!” Stella had stood up and was limping in my direction. “Ooof—what the hell,” I grabbed whatever hit my face. It was a clump of feathers. “Stupid seagull.”

Stella opened her mouth. I turned left, heading to the side of the rooftop. Hopefully, I could drop down and the building would offer some protection. The night suddenly turned bright once again as the sword shot forth from the back of Stella’s head.

“Clive? Yes!” I celebrated. Stella shot her light beam as her last act before her death. “No!” I yelled as I scrambled to jump down the building.

And the world exploded.

…

…

“Ungh…”

How long was I out? was the first thing on my mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the answer to that. Feelings of déjà vu nagged me.

The next question was, where am I?

Darkness.

My eyes are open, right? I blinked a few times to check. I was concerned I hit my head so hard and became blind. There was a tiny sliver of light that wiggled through the miniscule gap in the rubble. Very faint, but it confirmed I could see.

Rubble?

The building collapsed, I groaned in realization.

And I was buried alive.

“That fucking Stella—argkk.”

The dust on the ground went up my mouth as I spoke, sticking to my throat. My chest hurt as I tried to cough it out. Scratch that, my entire fucking body was in agonizing pain which shot up to a hundred if I moved just a little. I kept still and shallowly breathed, fighting the urge to cough, ignoring my throat that itched like crazy.

Just keep calm, I told myself. This was the second time this happened to me; I should get used to this. Although I might be in a worse state than the time I escaped the cave-in caused by the BID agents.

I couldn’t feel my right leg. After a couple of tugs, I sighed in relief that it wasn’t cut off—it was just pinned by something huge. I wasn’t sure if I could actually regrow amputated limbs. My left arm was bent the wrong way, tucked in a small gap between two slabs of concrete. I clenched my jaws, held my breath, and pulled it out so it could heal straight.

“Fuuuuck,” I whimpered. Tears formed in my eyes, mixing with the layer of dust covering my face.

I decided to rest for now—not that I could go anywhere with my leg stuck—hoping for my super regeneration to do its job. There were faint noises of sirens, probably firetrucks, but they soon disappeared. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be rescued by them. Anyway, what was important was I didn’t hear rubble moving. The collapsed building had settled. I wasn’t in any immediate danger.

Once I had recovered enough, I was going to dig my leg out, wait for it to recover again, then try finding my way out. Maybe I could transform into Blanchette to have an easier time digging with claws. I didn’t want to transform now because my mangled leg might be inherited by my Blanchette body just like what happened when I first transformed due to my fatal injuries caused by Myra.

Oh well, just chilling out for now.

At first, I tried singing songs in my head to pass time. But that didn’t pan out because I didn’t listen to music much. I promised myself I was going to try singing once everything had settled down. What the fuck am I thinking?

Next, I tried to plan for my follow up actions, what I was going to do with Myra and Johann, how I was going to fix my ruined life, but it was so tiring to think of those things. I had a very long night, and I didn’t want to think about serious things. I thought of finishing the pizza I ordered but remembered my room was probably burned by now. That was sad as fuck.

I then forced myself to take a nap; maybe it could speed up healing. But I couldn’t sleep. My brain was on high alert in my vulnerable state. So, there I was, staring at the darkness, trying not to inhale dust, feeling my body mend itself, listening to my bones crack into place.

After I didn’t know how long, there was rumbling. Pebbles a few inches from my face stirred. A small cloud of dust descended from the huge piece of concrete a couple of feet above my head making me cough. It didn’t hurt as much this time.

The fuck was happening? I hope this shit doesn’t collapse on me.

And what was that? I think I heard a voice. I strained my ears.

“Hello! Can you hear me?”

I was right, someone was out there. They were digging for me. This was good, I guess?

What’s the game plan? When they get me out, my squished leg would start healing rapidly, although it was unlikely they’d immediately notice it in the commotion. But once they brought me to the ambulance, the paramedics would recognize my inhuman healing, and that was going to be my signal to escape.

Where was that table cloth? I needed to cover my face. I could use my shirt, I guess. Modesty was going to take a back seat; hiding my identity was more important.

“Blanchette! Are you down here?”

I froze in the middle of taking my shirt off. Blanchette? These weren't rescuers. I realized I couldn’t hear any sirens. Who the fuck was this? A female voice, but one I hadn’t heard before.

“Yohoo! Make some noise if you’re alive.”

Obviously, I didn’t reply. This wasn’t Deen. Not Bianca either. Who else knew the name ‘Blanchette’?

“Just wait a bit while I move these rocks away. Keep your head safe down there!”

I had a sinking feeling I knew this woman.

Shit, that seagull from earlier. It wasn’t just some random bird. But why would she be here in person?

I squinted at the darkness. There were skittering sounds I picked up from the noise of rubble moving. Something dropped down from a hole. It gave off a cloudy white glow, illuminating the cramped space I was trapped in as soon as it plopped in front of me.

A fetus-like thing, about the size of my fist, with a scorpion tail and six human hands. It stared at me. I say ‘stared’, but I wasn’t sure it had eyes. There were jewels all over its body, including on what I assumed was its face; those could be its eyes. Golden designs connected these jewels, accenting its glossy white body.

“Trepanner,” I muttered.

A flashlight shone through the gaps. “There you are,” she said from above, speaking with her real voice. She sounded closer now. The giant slab overhead moved. “This is heavy. Huup!” There was a mighty crash as she uncovered me. Then she moved aside some of the smaller rocks. I was about to look up when the fetus-thing went up to my face and menacingly waved its tail.

“Hello there,” I said.

“Don’t look at me,” she said. “Or I’ll kill you.”

“Okay, no prob. I’m going to close my eyes.” I heard the fetus-thing scuttle away.

“Can you get out now?”

“No, my right leg’s stuck.”

“Ah, I see it. Hang on.”

She walked by my side. I opened my eyes a bit and caught a glimpse of her feet. They were about a size larger than mine, and she was wearing designer flipflops. I recognize the brand, it was—“Oh!” I exclaimed when she freed my leg. The pain came rushing in, but I actually welcomed just being able to feel my right leg again. “Thank you so, so much.”

“There you go,” she said.

I massaged my leg while keeping my eyes closed. “Also, thank you for killing that giant Adumbrae. Thanks to you and your team, especially Clive.”

“I’ll tell Clive, but not the rest of those asses. It’s better if they don’t know about you.”

“Is that how Clive’s spear became that huge? With the help of your team?”

“There’s a sexual joke there somewhere Clive would appreciate,” she answered, giggling. “But yeah, you got it right. Our team’s composition is based around Clive’s power. Including Boss Delirium too, although he didn’t help in the earlier fight, otherwise that Adumbrae would be pulverized.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s going to say to the Overseers our team acted on our own. He did allow us to help, by the way. Throwing us under the bus, that prick. But it’s the price to pay for disobeying orders, and Clive really, really wanted to save people.”

“That’s nice of him then.”

“He shouldn’t get all the praise,” she said. “I was the one who reestablished his sight.”

Sure, whatever you want. I didn’t want to get on her bad side. “Thank you, Trepanner,” I said, turning to her direction with a big smile. “For that, and for saving me just now.” I was a tad tempted to peek at her face, but didn’t dare to.

“Let me wipe off all that dust so I can see you better,” she said. I let her clean my face. There was nothing I could do here. There was no point hiding my identity. “You’re pretty cute.”

“Er…thanks?”

“Don’t get weirded out. Clive and I were talking about what you looked like in your human form.”

“I wish more boys would think I’m cute,” I said, just piling on the girl talk since she seemed interested in that. I doubted she got to gossip much with other Corebrings. If she actually cared about who I was, covering my face with my shirt wasn’t going to help. I decided to just go with the flow and be friendly. “I’m rather plain.”

“Just a bit of makeup will do the trick. And confidence. Keep your chin up, girl. Even if you’re not human, you shouldn’t give up on guys.”

“I guess you’re right.” Please don’t say you’re capturing me. She was right beside me; she could easily stop me if I tried to transform. “Thanks for saving me and the dating advice.”

“Anytime.”

“I’m just going to wait here until my leg heals. Don’t let me keep you from your mission, whatever that is.” Go away now, shoo.

“You’re really lucky my objective is just nearby so it wasn’t much of a detour to dig you out. I’m still waiting for confirmation of my mission parameters anyway, so I got time to spare.”

“Really? What’s your mission? It isn’t killing the Titan Adumbrae?” Maybe she was hunting the rest of the 2Ms? But wasn’t that what Dario and the rest of the hero-wannabes wanted to avoid? Sucks for them then.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you…”

“Oh, secret Corebring business. I’m not going to pry—”

“Alright, I’ll tell you!” she excitedly said. She went closer to me and whispered in my ear. “There’s a new candidate for a Corebring Initiate around here.”

“Really? Wow.” I wasn’t stupid enough to ask who it was.

“Yup, yup. I’m just waiting for the go signal and I’ll pick him up, or maybe her.”

“That’s exciting.”

“Right? Tell you what, since I’m in a good mood, I’ll heal your leg for you.”

“You don’t have to,” I began to say, but that fetus thing was already climbing up my leg. “Oh, that feels refreshing.” Those toothpaste commercials where they have like icy air to show fresh breath? It feels like that was injected into my leg, soothing the inflammation and numbing the pain.

“I’ll even deliver you to your friends.”

“How do you know—?”

“I’m always watching.”

“Really?”

“Just kidding. But my seagulls were there when your friend fought the huge guy. She’s alive, by the way.”

“She escaped? That’s awesome.”

“And I’ll bring you to her—hang on.” I heard some beeps. “Boss Delirium is calling. I think it’s the instructions for getting the prospective Corebring.”

“It’s fine if you need to go.”

“No, I already promised you. I can talk to my boss on the way. But I’ll have to put you to sleep.”

“I’m good, you already healed me—aw!” The fetus-thing climbed to my back and poked my neck. It moved so fast I couldn’t even react. “What was…”

…

…

“Ughhh…” How long was I out?

Hang on, this felt like déjà vu upon déjà vu. And where was I? A cool breeze, the distant sounds of sirens, a faint smell of smoke.

“Erind!”

“Huh? Is that her?”

“Yes! She’s alive.”

“How did she get up here?”

“I don’t know.” Myra rushed to my side and sat me up. “Are you okay?” She pried my eyes open.

"Yesh…m’kay,” I replied, my words slurring. I was still groggy from whatever drug Trepanner injected into my bloodstream.

“We were looking all—”

“Myra?” I said. I rubbed the sleepiness away from my eyes and looked at her. “What the…” Her eyes weren’t blinking, her mouth open mid-sentence. Johann beside her also didn’t moved. In fact, nothing else was moving. The red and blue lights a couple of blocks away weren't blinking. The wind wasn’t blowing anymore. And I couldn’t hear anything.

Heya!

I turned around.

There she was, sitting at the edge of the rooftop, looking back at me. She patted the spot beside her, inviting me to sit there. How was it? Did you have fun?

“Yeah…yeah…” I broke into a big grin. "I had lots of fun."