The New Mrs. Drez

"JORDAN!"
"Uwaa!"
"How was that for a comeback?!"
"How the fuck do you speak louder in my head? I have the power."
"Tasyah and Madam Hexes, who are currently inside Mrs. Drezias, talked about Aura Intensity."

I looked over Mrs. Drez, and there she was. I still freaked out about the face reveal. I felt like living through a nightmare for the second time.

"Yo, Jordan! Hello?"
"What is it, Zeed?"

This was annoying. I couldn't believe this. Tasyah and... 'her' flipped the table and made Zeed more annoying than me.

"Don't monologuing, man! I could hear it."
"... Huh?"

Zeed could...

"See! You did it again!"
"... I could hear you grinning, Zeed."
"You did this to me! Thanks to Tasyah and Madam Hexes, I can finally do this even without power."

Cursed you, Tasyah, and... Old-hag Witch!

She teleported in front of me instantly, "You called me what, boy?"
I jumped back from my recovery, "Uwaaa! How could you teleport?"

Tasyah answered, "She is an extinct being... Well, the being itself at least. She is an Ability Stealer user."
I quickly replied, "Wait, before that! Where are the others? Ropper... Espial-Girl... and Birdie...?"
The witch asked, "Who?"

Tasyah immediately said, "Cosmic Belly. You know what that is, right?"

I was shocked. I was stunned for more than a minute, then Tasyah continued, "Man, this thing is weird. No wonder you didn't like it, especially while driving. I could feel your shock, Jordan. Stop doing that!"

Harold, Narmi, Zeed, and Wiwin replied in unison, "She's right!"

I asked the witch, "How do you even know my whereabouts? This place was far from the apartment. And... What happened to it?"

Hexes: "Oh boy, it did horribly."
Tasyah: "It got destroyed."
Zeed: "No more base."

This kept on getting more and more annoying.

I wasn't expecting it, but Seiza agreed with me, "It is annoying. Could you guys stop connecting to me? I'm uncomfortable hearing Jordan's thoughts. Please!"
"Oh, young lady, you just need to not focus on the black goo creature."

... I couldn't feel it. Did she manage to do it?

Zeed asked, "He just thought of something. Did you hear it, Seiza?"
I could hear Seiza talking, "No... Wow, it was that easy, huh? I missed judging you, Hexes. You feel like an actual cool grandma."

Hexes replied, "Don't stretch it, kid. I'm still one year old."
"Right, sorry!"

... ONE YEAR OLD????!!!!!!

Zeed screamed, "DUDE! Shut up!"
"How could I shut up? This is the biggest reveal of my life, and you expect me not to be shocked about it? How do you look like seventy, yet you're still one?"
"Simple! I'm an orphan."

... Huh?

"She is a lab rat. She is an artificial being. That's why I said 'her being' was extinct. She was man-made. People created her."
"Technically an orphan." I couldn't take this old hag seriously.

She slapped me with Mrs. Drez's hand, "Hey, that's rude!"
"No! You're rude! How could you use Mrs. Drez's body and keep the other three on your belly? That's just messed up."

Zeed said, "Ironic, wasn't it?"
"Shut up, Zeed."

...

One "bluetooth" monster group voice call session later, I still felt uncomfortable with the new Mrs. Drez. She wasn't herself. She...

"Hey, cheer up! Why are you so tense? Ain't I getting rid of one of the... hero problem?"

... Aren't you the one who chained into the hero problem?

"Or... should I do the thing again?"
"NO! I don't need it. Don't make me drawn into some kind of drugs again!"

She left and gave me a wink. I shivered. Mrs. Drez never did that. No... Every woman I've met has never done that. She was really a child. She wasn't aware that the woman she possessed was a high-ranking woman in this facility. I doubted she...

"HEY! What are you doing just sitting there? Get back to work! The break passed a couple of hours ago!"

Huh...?

"Rei! Where is your report?! I thought I said you have to finish it by one!"

Heeeeh?!

"Why do I smell cigarette smoke? WHO SMOKED IN HERE? YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU?"

What the fuuuuuuuuck?

She looked at me... She looked very serious... but then, she gave me a goofy smile. What does she think she's doing? Mrs. Drez has always treated us equally. She literally gave me a privilege. People would think something is going on.

"Senior..." Oh, boy. Here it comes.
"Mrs. Drez?"
"No. What do you mean?"

... What?

"Mrs. Drez looked different than usual, aren't you curious?"
"No... She didn't. She is still scary as always."
"Then what do you want to ask?"
"Didn't you hear Mrs. Drezias? I haven't finished my report on the hero deck. Could you... help me out?"

I was surprised. Didn't they realize the shift? Mrs. Drez clearly changed, but they didn't see it. Or maybe... it was her doing? I knew that she had Aura Intensity, but she clearly hadn't released any seed. Not that I knew of, at least. Or probably... She used mind-related power? She was an Ability Stealer user, right? She might already have a mind-related power. I needed to...

"Senior...?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Rei. Let's do it."

Shit. Now I have become like Zeed. This situation turned out to be a bigger problem for me. I couldn't tell what that witch was going to do next. It was going to be a wild ride after this. Hopefully, she didn't do anything reckless.

"Jordan! Hi!"
"Oh, yes... bir... wait a minute... BIRDIE?"

I wasn't expecting this. One of the people who was supposed to be inside that witch's belly was here?

"Senior...? Why are you so surprised by Birdie? Did you not expect her to be on the deck?"
"Wait a minute, Rei. I needed to talk to... Birdie for a second."

I quickly grabbed her hand and ran to a deserted room.

"Explain! Now!"
"What? I'm really Birdie."
"I'm not buying it! She was supposed to be inside the witch's belly. Who are you?"
"No, really! It was me. The witch? Who is that?"
"... You're... not lying?"

Then there was she, just spawned in front of me with Body Mist power.

"He he he, boy. You are too pure. She wasn't supposed to know I was here."

Birdie poofed from existence, and I was getting freaked out.

"She was the puppet that I used from the mist and aura thingy. Quite resembled the real thing, wasn't it?"
"Stop doing what you're doing! This is wrong!"
"Says the guy who killed a hero... Aren't you ashamed?"
"You..."
"I'm here to help humans... I'm here to save the world... I'm here to end this post-World Dawn event..."
"... I..."
"You don't need to ask... I have a goal... and I... will... achieve it, even if I need to sacrifice myself to be demoted from humanity."

She was quite literally a lab rat.

"Kehehehe. You already understand it!"
"Give me a reason to believe you."
"... Find my bunker... Find my researcher... Find out what I am... You'll understand it... Eventually..."