Tin Can's momentary departure gave me a small opportunity to hash things out with Monstergirl. "Listen," I said, "I have no idea what you've been up to since we last met or even who these people are. I'm only here at all because you're now both a potential asset and liability. Right now, you're more of an asset, which means I might even go out of my way a little bit to protect you so long as you don't fuck with my own cover."

Literally none of that was a lie. I was pretty sure Monstergirl here was another product of the Red Faction's experiments on creating reasonable, less mindlessly aggressive Anathema-human hybrids. Exactly like me. My own hatching happened when Katherine got her Star Core and I accidentally got the attention of that incredible thing. It made sense, then, that getting threatened up close by a fellow experiment would have a similar effect.

I still recalled the thrashing, squirming feeling in my chest right before that moment. I felt like I was dying, then—and in retrospect, it seemed remarkably similar to what I felt happening in Monstergirl's chest before she was, well, Monstergirl.

Assuming that was the case—that she really was another creation of my dad and his other Star Guardian friends—then I was basically soft-locked out of actually killing her. I didn't think they'd kill me in response—that would be extra wasteful—but I wanted to stay favorably positioned in the eyes of the people who were literally keeping the other immensely powerful people who already knew my identity from assassinating me. Like, why the fuck would it ever be a good idea to earn disfavor from the people your entire continued survival depended on?

There was still the alternate possibility. I could be wrong—and if I was wrong, that meant I'd directly influenced an Anathema seeding such that the resulting Anathema retained not just a human form, but the ability to speak. If that turned out to be what happened, then killing her wouldn't necessarily reflect poorly on me—but keeping her alive? Showing her off to my Star Guardian benefactors? That would undoubtedly earn me a tremendous amount of extra favor.

So in the end it was the opposite of a lose-lose, Catch-22 situation. No matter the outcome, the winning move stayed the same.

"All you have to do is not fuck with my cover. That's it. As far as you and anyone else is concerned, I'm just a regular, low tier Guardian. I don't care what you do so long as you do so long as you don't jeopardize that."

Easing my weight off just a bit, I rose to a kneeling position and offered her my hand. "I suggest you do the same, actually. It's worked out well for me so far."

For a moment, she continued to glare—but then she took my hand. "Fine. But if that's how it's going to be, then I also need to know more about what's going on, and your whole..."

She trailed off, and I took the opportunity to interject. "Not yet. We need to deal with these people first." I nodded my head to the side, in the direction of the ruined entrance that Tin Can was liable to return through at any moment. "As a show of good will, I help you finish these people off. Deal?"

After a moment of hesitation, she agreed—but not without asking first about just running away—apparently, that's what she'd been trying to do for the latter part of the fight, but Tin Can proved to be a tenacious opponent. I'd already considered that myself, of course—in fact, my newly mastered ability to fly would have made it tremendously easier than it would be otherwise.

Unfortunately, I had my own, tangentially related reasons for wanting to stick around and do business with these people. I still wanted to enter the area's organized crime scene, and given that Sleazebag was definitely full of illegal augmentations, this particular group seemed like a fantastic entry point in the context of my specific set of goals. "How about this—if we can't turn things completely in our favor in one go, then yes, we make an escape. I can fly and carry you, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Monstergirl still didn't look quite convinced—but she agreed to my idea for ambushing Tin Can, probably because it was a solid strategy even if we were already planning on running out.

And we worked it out in good time, too, because heavy, metal boots were already thunking their way back into the barbershop. Leaning over to the side a bit, I used my own body to create a proper shadow for my newest associate to utilize. With one hand, she surreptitiously peeled it off the floor—something that was still weird as fuck—and molded and stretched it with just the finger on one hand. I tried not to appear as impressed by her basic, one-handed dexterity as I was.

"Did you get the flashlight?" I called back over my shoulder.

"Sure did," Tin Can replied as she came to a stop right next to me.

It was at that point that I used as much strength and leverage as I could muster to grab Tin Can's armored leg, yank her off her feet, spin upright, and free Monstergirl all in one rapid sequence. It worked surprisingly well—not perfectly, as I was the one who actually ended up on the bottom of our tangled-up mess. Fortunately, Monstergirl had her thinking cap on and used her stolen shadow to splat against the light switch and turn it back off.

Meanwhile, Tin Can and I continued grappling each other in the darkness. Being a Tier 2 Guardian with an obvious close range, physical focus, she was actually a decent match for me in terms of raw strength. Also, her own armor made getting a grip on her as difficult as it was for her to get a grip on me. It also protected her from being injured by the grapple itself—but I still had one advantaged. I bit her.

The immense bite force of my inhuman jaw could not be denied by ordinary metal, especially when it was channeled through a jaw of pure Adamantite. A mythological-grade esoteric supermetal alone wasn't enough to do damage, obviously, but it sure fucking helped. What also helped was my steadily growing prowess at tactile control of metal. Softened and dissolved by my strange, mercury-like saliva, deformed by the force of my bite and the hardened toughness of Adamantite, and further weakened by my own external esoteric abilities, a Knockoff version of my own style didn't stand much of a chance.

I bit off her arm, basically.

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Tin Can screamed. I wasn't distracted though, and neither was Monstergirl. Something dark and sticky splattered against the back of her helmet and pulled, lifting her upper body off of me and forcing her entire head to crane back in a way that was definitely both within the range of the normal human body but also super uncomfortable. Not wasting time, I rolled away—and rose to my feet at the same time I summoned my sword.

The arc of violet lightning snapped through reality with the same ease it always did, and within less than two seconds, the weapon landed within the palm of my outstretched hand. The AAG training warehouse was still quite close by, after all.

It took two or three seconds at most, and I was already lined up for a heavy, two handed swing. Tin Can obviously wasn't just doing nothing, but with the materialized shadow still yanking her upright and still missing her entire right arm, there wasn't much she could have done to get out of the way. In the end, it was comically similar to hitting a birthday pinata.

And, with a timing that couldn't have been more perfect, Sleazebag poked his head into the once-again dark barbershop at the very same moment Tin Can's disembodied head clanked onto the floor and rolled over to the entrance.

I rose up to my full posture and stabbed the sword down into the fake hardwood floor. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Kind of terrible, actually," Sleazebag said, eyeing the detached head of his former associate with visible unease. "The fuck do you actually want?"

Oh good, he's willing to talk. I was kind of worried that he'd try to run off and possibly succeed. He didn't taste that strong—but I was going to continue operating on the assumption that his modifications could make him a realistic threat until I knew otherwise. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm sure you understand though. It can be a real pain keeping an Anathema well-fed, ha." To be honest, I wasn't sure what my own logic behind the casual, almost arrogant, and somewhat mocking tone was. I decided to just trust my social instincts and role with it. "Anyway, I've actually been in the market for a partner in esoterics—someone who knows the streets, so to speak."

Sleazebag chewed his lip. He's actually thinking about it, I realized. And by 'thinking about it,' I meant considering the offer I was teasing, not considering how to get out of this alive. Maybe that too, but that's not the point. "Alright, I'll hear you out—" He held up a hand, forestalling any reply I could have made. "But not like this."

From there, we quickly hashed out a meeting place. It was a fancy club—I felt like I'd already heard the name, actually, which suggested it was surprisingly high-end and 'reputable,' in a certain sense of the word. I hoped I wouldn't be walking into some kind of ambush. Just deal with it if it happens, I told myself, and maybe think about what kinds of precautions you can take. All in all, Sleazebag seemed weirdly unaffected by the brutal death of one of his Guardian subordinates.

Not that he was totally callous—it was pretty obvious that he was both massively pissed off and rather on guard still—but he handled it admirably, and overall, it gave the appearance of a guy standing on the edge of the interstate, stewing while he waiting for a ride to pick him up after another reckless driver totaled his car. Honestly, I felt like I could relate to that.

All that was left, then, was to flee the scene and figure out what the hell to do with Monstergirl. The Vegas trip was obviously canceled or at best delayed—for one, I needed to meet with this guy tomorrow—today? I was pretty sure it was well past midnight, so technically it was already the next day. Weird. Regardless, I needed to be here in LA in order to have the meeting proper, and as for Monstergirl—yeah, I still wasn't quite sure what I was even doing.

The first step was simple enough, thankfully. I needed to get both of us away from here. I decided to just fly her home, as in, taking her straight to the building roof. We started discussing things properly as soon as we were airborne.

"You really think I can change back?" She asked me for what was either the fourth or fifth time. Now that I'd proven I was on her side, she had calmed down a lot. It was a bit weird, actually—for some reason, it was like she'd completely forgiven me for my role in the whole thing. Like, I'm pretty sure that is not a normal person way to react. The more she talked—and she was starting to talk too much, actually—the more it seemed like she was growing increasingly excited. Yeah—something was definitely wrong with her, mentally speaking.

I guess that makes sense. I wasn't particularly normal either—maybe I shouldn't be surprised that the other intelligent Anathema is also a bit strange. I of course noted that we were strange in markedly different ways.

"Yes, just try to return to normal," I repeated, "think of it like sucking the Anathema bits back in. That's what I do—maybe try retracting your antennae or something?"

"Wait, that's what you mean?" She asked, much to my confusion. What possible alternate interpretations could there possibly be there? "I thought you meant changing everything back."

Wait, does she mean the whole gender thing? I wasn't sure how that was related, actually, but maybe—an obnoxious squeal interrupted my thoughts, making me wince.

"I did it! I look like a regular human now, right?"

I rolled my eyes. Did I somehow end up with a total airhead? "I have no idea. I can't exactly look right now." That was because of the way I was carrying her while flying. Technically, she was below me, which would make it easier than if she were somehow riding piggyback—but it still wasn't exactly easy, especially since we were now zipping between towering high-rises several hundred feet above the ground. "Alright, we're almost there."

With one final, extra strong beat of my wings, I propelled the two of us up and over the railing of the particular building who's uppermost floors comprised my home. Taking a page out of Saber's book, I dropped Monstergirl straight down on the gravel. I regretted it as soon as I was assaulted by another obnoxious, high pitched yelp, though. "Hey! What was that for?"

I didn't pay her any attention. "I was wondering when you'd show up," I said to the third monster already loitering around on the roof. "I'm assuming this is also one of yours?"

Dad smiled. Creepy, part of my mind whispered as the monstrously powerful Star Guardian stepped closer. "Indeed."

"What?" Monstergirl said rather eloquently as she scrambled to her feet. I realized I still didn't know her actual name. "Who are you?" Her eyes widened. "You're a Star Guardian! Wait, do you know my—"

"Bloodbath?" Dad grimaced. "Unfortunately—yes." I blinked. Both of us started to say something, only for Dad to do that annoying fucking clapping thing. "Right then. I do believe the three of us have some things to discuss."

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