Chapter 212: Interlude: Scarlet - Operation Fang Hunt

Several minutes passed as Scarlet rewatched her father’s message a few times, solidifying the image of her supportive dad in her mind. He’d been torn between continuing down the road of insanity with her mother and making what little changes he could to give her a possible future after her world fell apart. He’d chosen her.

The throbbing in her chest was like hot iron, searing her every time she saw her father start breaking down over the video. Her mom wasn’t some heartless psychopath; she was terrified of The Oscillation and whatever Revilla showed her. All she wanted to do was save her; no matter the crimes she had to commit, they were all done out of love for her.

Gradually, her jaw pressed tighter and tighter, hatred boiling in her every time she heard him say the name of the damnable creature that had stricken her parents since they were teenagers.

Revilla, she seethed inside, it’s all Revilla’s fault. Twilight is trying to help me... Or, she’s supposed to. Her breathing slowed as she patted Rachel’s arm, letting her know she was okay to back off, but Nia wasn’t so quick to let her go.

"Does it still hurt?" Nia whimpered, looking adorably vulnerable with her big, puffy eyes and pulled-back ears. "Who do we gotta beat up, Major Fangs?"

Rachel leaned over to ruffle the girl’s hair with a sad smile. "There’s nothing we can do right away, Little Bun. What’s on your mind, Scarlet?"

Scarlet’s bottom lip tucked under, fangs poking through her skin; for some reason, the action always helped her calm down. "Mmm. The Scarlet Hand is going to come after my dad’s body, right—a vampire?"

"Most likely," Rachel sighed, bringing a leg up to her chest as she shifted on her chair to face her and fixed her dress straps. "That’s the best-case scenario, where we can tie all of it up in one neat bow, but I get the feeling there will be other complications."

Scarlet’s blue eyes darted back to her father’s paused face on the screen, a small fire flickering to life in her breast. "Your misfortune sense, huh? What, hmm..." Her lips pulled together again as she rethought what was rolling through her mind.

"Mhm?" Rachel pressed, head cocking to the side as she scooted back a little. "Whatever you’re thinking, I am sensing a change in destiny. What’s up?"

Scarlet’s vision narrowed at the word, fingers tightening against her lap. "I felt so caged... like a hostage to this fate that my parents forced onto me. I want to change. I don’t want to be powerless anymore... Whatever comes, I want to handle this one on my own. Do you have enough faith in me to do it?"

Nia’s eyes somehow grew wider. "W-What?! B-But..."

"It’s fine, Nia," Rachel interrupted, a calculating half-smile lifting her eyes as she studied her. "If this is what you need, then I do trust you are more than powerful enough to handle yourself; I’ve run internal fight simulations against you, and I have to use all the hacks I can to match Twilight. My only concern is..."

"How weak my resolve is... I haven’t killed anyone yet," Scarlet mumbled, fidgeting with her dress front. "I know. I just feel like... like I’ll never be able to stand alone if I can’t do this. I have to face the Scarlet Hand—my mom—on my own."

Rachel reached over to rub her arm, the hare’s supportive smile bringing a smile to her own lips. "Nia and I will be listening—just for insurance—but that means you need to act. We can’t know how the others will react if we tell them."

Goosebumps prickled down her arms as she shifted her posture to look at Omen’s leader—her leader since she’d agreed to join. "You mean..."

"Mhm." Ears shifting left and right, the white-haired woman’s gaze wandered to various areas. "Think of this as a special OP. If you notice something is wrong, act. It’s what I’d do, and trust your instincts. Think carefully, and don’t trust anyone. If they’re approaching you, they want something. You will have to make decisions that are uncomfortable, Scarlet, and that is the only thing that I am worried about."

Nia nudged her, ears jabbing her cheek to get her attention. "Yeah! Yeah! I’m soo bad at making decisions. I freeze! Not Big Nia, but I rely so much on Hops. Don’t push yourself, Little Fang! We’re a team, right? I don’t want you to get hurt..."

"Right," Scarlet chuckled, bending down to kiss the rabbit’s forehead and smooth out her hair; she felt a little like a big sister now, which was nice. "I freeze and panic, too, but I have to be brave... I have to be strong if I’m going to save my mom."

Stretching out her legs, she rose to her feet, flipped on her heel, and grinned. "I’m good; I feel so much lighter!"

"Go Dad!" Rachel laughed, throwing her arms up to apply pressure against her linked fingers. "I’m glad you’re spreading your wings, but be patient with yourself, Scarlet. You don’t need to shoulder all of this yourself. Just know that Nia and I are listening, and we trust you, no matter what happens."

"Understood, Major!" she chimed, saluting her fellow officer.

Nia hopped to her feet to mirror her. "Is Operation Super Secret Fang Hunt a go, Ma’am?!"

A chaotic flame lit in Rachel’s eclipse-like eyes as her lips peeled back to flash a smile. "It’s a go, Soldiers. Jeanne, Barb, and the others will be holding down the fort. If you vanish, I’ll tell them that you need some time to process your emotions. Give them hell."

A cold surge spread through Scarlet’s veins at the words, and her jaw set. "I won’t back down ever again. I want to be an asset to Omen... to be useful and not useless. Thank you for putting your trust in me, Rachel, Nia. I’m ready."

Nia jumped forward to hug her, and Rachel held out a fist for her to pound.

"Time to be a spooky bat!"

"No rest for the wicked; be the monster your enemies fear."

Chuckling and bumping knuckles, Scarlet felt a cloud encompassing her disperse. "That is something you’d say. It’s about time I act like the predator the Scarlet Hand made me into, right? Let’s go."

Walking toward the door, she almost tripped as Rachel cleared her throat and jabbed her thumb back at the desk. "I think you still need to sign some papers, Champ."

"Oh, yeah!" She laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck as Nia jogged to the door to swing it open.

"I’ll get the old dude! Hey, oldie, we gotta do the paper swishy thing. We gotta go hunt vampires, so we’re on the go-go!"

"Vampire hunt?"

Scarlet’s jaw slackened as Rachel’s palm slid down her face.

"Nia..."

"Oh! That’s a secret. My bad!" The bun hopped back in with a strained grin, summoning their giant hammer. "Uh, we can hit him on the head and make him forget, right?"

"What?!" the man choked, backing away from the grinning rabbit child, now spinning the large weapon over her head. "Hey! Hey!"

"Nia, chill... It’s fine. Sorry about her, Mr. Cruz. Kids, am I right? Anyway... can you show us where Scarlet needs to sign?"

"Right this way..."

He passed Nia as she scooted back, now innocently hiding her hammer behind her back, and directed Scarlet to follow him. For some reason, he seemed eager to be done with the exchange as he quickly pointed her to the places she needed to sign, and less than five minutes later, with some hasty explanations, they were on their way out.

Scarlet felt a little stunned as they entered the elevator, tapping on her banking app and accessing the account her father had left her. She’d never known exactly how wealthy they were but knew they were fairly rich. Only now did she realize how rich that was.

Her body felt numb as she shifted the folder under her armpit and internally mouthed the number now available to be withdrawn. 5,356,809,666... Five billion? There’s no way! And that’s not even counting the crazy number of assets that were on that document. I guess that’s what it takes to run an underground, supervillain organization. Damn... What am I...