That night, with no news from the detective, Natasha & Naomi set out on patrol. Natasha was still thinking of her conversation with Viktoria earlier - while Naomi was better-fought than her, she never seemed to give any care to her anxiety or personal issues. Shouldn't it have been obvious she needed support?

"Natasha?" said Naomi, tapping her shoulder.

"I - huh?"

"Did you want to get something to eat?"

"Um, sure." mumbled Natasha.

"Coolio." said Naomi, taking her phone out. "…uh… Waffle House sound good?"

Natasha nodded and said nothing as they started walking, Naomi glancing down at her phone for directions.

"How's, uh… how's your classes going?" said Naomi.

"Um, they're going okay, I-I think."

"Cool. They're not, um - I mean, the most important thing is the sections on Tuesday where - when they're telling you how to use your Revenant and stuff like that, right?"

"R-Right. I, I just get nervous when it comes to school stuff. I-I'm not very good at it."

"You'll be fine." Naomi smiled. "Like, my mentor isn't, uh… she's not super smart, but she still passed and everything. You've probably studied more so far than she did the entire year."

"I guess."

"Yeah. Her name's, uh - I'll introduce you when we get back." laughed Naomi. "Her name's Serena, though. She's super geeky, dresses kinda punk. Do you know about the Royal Four? She's in that, since President Mia used to be her mentor."

"Um, was she a good mentor?"

"Yeah." Naomi nodded, though she privately hoped she'd do better with Natasha. Serena had done as well as she could being an otaku assigned to an amnesiac, but tended to slack off any duty she couldn't push on to someone else. Too many videogames, Naomi figured.

Natasha nodded and said nothing.

Naomi had expected a socially awkward protege, as most Urasaria women seemed to be, but how little Natasha spoke up bothered her. Her principal insecurity when it came to socializing was that she could skim someone's surface well, but rarely did people open themselves to her. Anywhere but Urasaria, she would've been popular, if not a party girl.

But she couldn't force someone to unshroud themselves. She had tried, over the summer, revealing herself to a civilian man and thinking she could whisper promises of sex in return for love, the opposite of what many men did. It was embarrassing to think of now, but only Julia knew (to some jealousy she never admitted), and it wasn't abuse - she had been traveling every few weeks, anyway, and she eventually realized his interest extended an inch past her tracksuit's zipper. She had learned not to appraise a man solely by his measurements once she began dating again - her interest in Samuel aside.

"Finished?" chimed Naomi and Natasha nodded, sitting across, diner's glass door at the other end.

Natasha never understood how she was supposed to respond to smalltalk. She mumbled it was fine as she stacked her three plates, and in the next instant -

- something crashed through the front door in a rain of glass; Natasha & Naomi shot up -

- and saw a humanoid creature they knew was their foe fifty feet away, two legs & two clawed-hands, seven feet tall with a black tail that could cut a woman in half. Naomi eyed the fryers at the back as the two stepped back, Natasha shivering in fear as Avalanche formed.

"Stay - stay calm, okay?" said Naomi, patting Natasha's shoulder with her flesh-arm. Avalanche's arm raised as the beast rushed towards them, and as it came thirty feet within -

" - Avalanche!" shouted Naomi; a dozen stonefists burst out of the wall and grabbed the fryers of oil, hurling them forward -

- and in to the beast went the boiling liquid, cases shattering as soon as they hit it; Natasha shrieked as a drop landed on her face, frantically spraying her face with snow -

" - I - you okay?" said Naomi.

'Why is she freaking out? She has heat resistance.' Naomi frowned as Natasha wiped her unscarred face clean.

Ahead, the beast kept walking unfazed, and as it came twenty feet within -

- all the lights went out in the diner; Naomi stomped -

- and a stone-pillar launched her & Natasha up through the ceiling and on to the roof, Natasha still shivering as they landed, no sight of the beast below. Naomi peered over the roof's hole as she heard it skittering around inside. Its footsteps sped up and suddenly stopped, and as Naomi opened her mouth to speak -

- no sound came, and in the next instant -

- she saw it climbing up the wall behind Natasha, then rushing towards her; Natasha screamed as she turned -

- and a puddle of lava formed below her boots & disintegrated a hole; back in to the diner she fell, smoothly enough Naomi didn't realize it wasn't intentional until later.

The stonewoman and beast started circling, twenty feet separating the two. Naomi kept her left ready s it lunged at her -

- and pulled back laughing at how she'd flinched. She mouthed some insults she'd learned from Serena, stomping twice so Natasha knew what she was about to do, and on the third -

- a fissure formed in the roof and shot towards it -

- and back in to the diner it fell; Naomi stomped again and sent a rain of rubble crashing in to its skull, then rushed across the roof as her stone fingers snapped. No time to waste, she leaped off the roof & to the sidewalk below, diner's walls collapsing in a storm of concrete as she glanced back -

- but fear claimed her as she didn't see Natasha outside. She rushed up to the ruins and started searching through the rubble, disintegrating it as she tried to find her. At her left, she heard something clawing out of the ruins & felt a presence behind; with the speed of light she turned -

- and shrieked as Natasha's torn face filled her entire vision, weatherwoman's nose nearly touching her's; Naomi shoved her back, frantically searching her pockets for Flickendecke's patches -

' - I - I forgot them at the hotel, I-I fucking forgot them at -'

- comprehending none of this, Natasha ran with Naomi out to the sidewalk, mentor pointing to her face as the two ran.

"U-U-Um, s-something on my face?" winced Natasha, tapping her cheeks, houses at their left as they ran.

Naomi put one stonefinger to her own cheek and sliced a small gash. A geyser of blood came out of it and the two nodded as they realized the Revenant, but Naomi frowned as she glanced back to see no beast near the diner.

"N-Nightmare." panted Natasha, heart rate rising & skin cooling as she clutched her arms tight.

Naomi nodded and pat Natasha's back as they ran. She saw a face peering out of a house window as they passed by it -

" - t-there!" panted Natasha, rushing up to the front door -

- and screaming as a crash came from the rubble of the diner, beast rushing out in pursuit of them now; Naomi knew they wouldn't be able to outrun it, and as Natasha opened the door -

- she shrieked as it screamed right in her face; a wind & lava & snow volley replied -

- but a stone wall burst up just in time to keep it from hitting the civilian it was, and Naomi gestured for Natasha to follow as she rushed up the sidewalk. Snapping her stone fingers, she felt Meteorology's snow drip in to the concrete.

'Might work.' she thought, concrete tubes forming underground as they ran. She glanced behind and didn't see the beast, then made a throwing gesture to Natasha.

"H-Huh?"

Naomi put her arms around herself like she was shivering.

"Snowball?"

Naomi nodded and Natasha handed her a snowball. She threw it to the ground and asked for a few more as they ran, and as they turned the corner -

- Naomi felt her voice return just as she felt her strength decreasing.

"Out - out of range." she panted, slowing Natasha down. "V-Voice is back."

"U-Um, w-what now?"

Naomi looked at the scene ahead and quickly turned Natasha's head to face her. "Let's keep walking and I'll check ahead, okay? Just stay calm, okay? It's feeding off of your fear, so just calm down."

Natasha felt even more anxious from Naomi touching her. "O-Okay."

"Need to, uh, need to find the host - can you check behind us?"

Natasha nodded.

Naomi kept her eyes forward as they passed by the diner, making sure to look calm for Natasha. A man inside walked up to the windows and stared at her. Someone stepped through the wall, then walked in from the front door. She saw three streetlamps sitting in the same spot, and cars parked with their wheels gone.

Ahead, a shadow with no source walked below a house's door, then opened it to an empty room. Holes in the ground began filling with dirt.

'Couldn't have just been gore?' she winced.

"W-W-wait -" panted Natasha - " - isn't that the same hou-"

- and she shrieked as it appeared right behind their backs -

- but the next scene was instant. Naomi pulled Natasha back as her stone fingers snapped and opened an enormous hole in the sidewalk; in to the sudden burrow it fell -

- right in to a pit of snow with concrete spikes for walls, Naomi speaking - " - wait, don't -"

- and a jet of lava melted its face to its skull, beastman turning back in to a male corpse as it fell rigid & dead, nightmarish vision fading as Naomi frowned.

"…Natasha, you -" - Naomi shut her eyes, realizing the harshness in her tone. "We needed to… it could've been useful if we didn't... ugh -"

" - y-you know you just keep fucking me up, okay?! Every time you try to be cheery and just act like I can WILL my anxiety away-y or s-something like that - and s-springing that fucking fight on me - I've been trying for a long time not to say anything about it, but i-it really bothered me! And now I-I had a fucking panic attack and you just -"

- and her stomach punched her as she saw Naomi's face clench.

"…I-I w-was about to say sorry." said Naomi. "A-And, a-and I just thought it would h-help you. I-I didn't mean to make you nervous - I just thought that, y-you know, I was anxious my f-first few weeks too until I got in to my first fights. I-I'm sorry that sometimes I d-don't know what you're going through because I-I used to - because I-I still don't..." She closed her eyes. Her amnesia really had left her with a gap in empathy. "…c-can you g-go back to the hotel?"

"I'm - I'm sorry, I -"

" - j-just leave. I-I really don't want to talk right now. I-I'll handle the Revenant."

Naomi crouched down, and Natasha felt like an absolute shithead walking away. She didn't want any sound to add to her guilt, so she walked around a few corners, and held the corners of her eyes tight as she eventually heard someone walking up behind her.

"Um, hey, Natasha." she heard and she winced. "Is everything okay? I-I heard you two yelling."

"No." mumbled Natasha, walking away.

Olivia caught up beside. "Did something happen?"

"Can you just fu- can you just leave me alone? I-I just need some time alone."

"…um. Sure thing, Natasha." said Olivia, and Natasha's spirit sank as she walked away.

She was beginning to think she would have trouble connecting correctly with *anyone* this year. Tact was never one of her better traits - she wished she had a little more now.

She took her badge off, shook her head as she turned the corner -

- and ran right in to a bald man.

"…uh, excuse me." she muttered, walking past.

"Meteorology, isn't it?" he said, turning.

Natasha glanced back. "...uh, yeah. That's my Revenant, yeah."

"Amusing. I was just thinking about her. Meteorology's first host. Rita. She went by Weatherwoman."

"…um, okay."

"A bit after that, it was some paranoid schizophrenic named Lidvald. And now you have it." He started stepping towards her, ten feet separating the two. "You know, I was cleaning someone's home recently. I saw a waterbug there."

"What's a waterbug?"

"…it's a type of cockroach. They had an infestation -"

" - gross."

"I was thinking about how there's a message to be had there. I could've killed it whenever I wanted -"

" - I don't wanna hear your weird cockroach story, dude." sighed Natasha, walking away.

" - but I didn't. I simply -"

" - what are you doing without your mentor?" sighed a familiar Russian accent behind, and Natasha turned to face Viktoria walking past him, head shaking. "And without your badge?"

"…I needed some space." muttered Natasha, hoping she wouldn't lash out again. Viktoria slightly scared her. Naomi & Olivia didn't, and she felt even guiltier for lashing out at them, as if she only had because they were easy targets.

"Space for what? Talking to some homeless man?" she said, looking at him. "Come with me, Ms. Disaster."

"Remember what I told you." he said as they walked off. "I could've killed it any time I wanted."

Viktoria sighed as they passed the corner. "I could report you to President Swarm. You're not meant to be out alone without a second-year."

"I'm sorry." mumbled Natasha.

"…don't look so sad." sighed Viktoria, head shaking. "I won't, obviously. Put your badge back on. People will think I'm arresting you otherwise."

"Sorry." said Natasha, putting her badge back on, as people would think Viktoria was arresting her otherwise.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Now, tell me. Why did you need space?"

Even knowing Viktoria couldn't actually read her mind, something in her gaze seemed like it could scoop it out anyway. "…I just… I got in to an argument with Naomi. She just…"

Viktoria put her hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. What is it?"

"…I freaked out on her." muttered Natasha. "We got in to a fight, and I freaked out on her because I felt anxious, but…"

"...you're still nervous in fights?"

"A-A bit. I-I don't know, I've just always kinda been like that, a-and I'm having to fight really, really hard Revenants, and… I-I just - it's a lot of stuff to think about at once because Meteorology is really broad too."

"Then focus on three for now. Fire, ice, and electrical work for President Swarm - it should work for you, yes? Until you have more experience."

"…m-maybe. I just feel bad about hurting Naomi, too."

"If she's a good mentor, she'll forgive you for it. I saw how you were during swap week - I doubt you had a bad reason for it."

"I-I read the report you wrote about me." smiled Natasha, and Viktoria shrugged.

"I never expected you to. Most people don't possess any drive to improve themselves."

"I feel like I do."

"Good." said Viktoria. "You know your Revenant better than I do - but I thought a bit more direction would help you."

They stepped up to the hotel's front door and Natasha paused. "…um. Just nervous about when Naomi comes back."

Viktoria had no other clue how to help Natasha, but she wasn't about to show that; she always felt she was more mature than the rest of her generation and heard no argument otherwise. Her mentor had been a man who affixed every fight with a bottle of alcohol, and she never knew whether to pity his immaturity or not. Now she mostly just avoided him.

"You have a difficult problem on your hands - but you'll have to find some way… regardless." said Viktoria. "You know her better than I do."

"T-thank you."

"…let me know how it goes." She hugged Natasha, and walked off before she could respond.

Natasha went back up to their hotel room. She thought about Viktoria praising her, because if she didn't the tears would come.

She was already fucking up with Naomi. She was lashing out against Olivia. and her classes kept making her feel as stupid as always. The only person who'd given her any solutions this month couldn't help her now, and she knew she wasn't as smart as Viktoria, she knew she couldn't fight without getting nervous, and she kept wondering why the hell Viktoria disliked Naomi & Olivia so much! Was there something she couldn't see in them?

Natasha had never been a good judge of character, and the ignorance frustrated her in to balling up her blanket in to a fist & blasting it across the room. She knew taking it out on an inanimate object was stupid, but damnit, what was she supposed to do? The years she should've learned how to control herself she'd spent cooped up in her local gym, and at some point she'd realized that everyone else had gone up without her. There was a moment where she might've been able to grab on and engage with the outside world, but she was below now and probably would be for the rest of her life.

Even if Viktoria was wrong, she needed *something* to tie her mind's anchor to. Right now, freedom was something she needed to avoid.

She heard Naomi knocking at the door and let her inside after she put her blanket back on.

"Hey." Naomi smiled. "Let's talk. Okay?"

Natasha nodded & sat down.

"…so." said Naomi. "I know we're both feeling pretty tired, but… I thought about what you said - and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I've been reassuring you too much, and that's been making you nervous, and I understand that. I'm sorry. And you mentioned the - when I took you out for that fight, too, right?"

"…yeah." mumbled Natasha. "I'm sorry I said that. I just - I have a kinda bad habit of going off like that when I get anxious, and I guess I was - I was just wound up, and … it's not your fault."

"I thought it would help to just … rip the bandage off and make sure you got your first fight out of the way, right? But, I should have asked you if you wanted it to be a surprise."

"…I, I think it would have been better to um, plan it out, yeah."

Naomi nodded. "Okay. You know, if you feel nervous, you can talk to me, right? It can take a little bit of a nudge for me to… get stuff, sometimes. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

It irritated Natasha how Naomi seemed to speak to her as if she would a child. "…no, um. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just want to sleep."

"Okay." said Naomi, and the two embraced.

◆◆◆

The four met with the detective the following morning.

"His name is Vladimir Sheremet. Got the Sheremet part right, at least." he said, passing over his notes. "We tried to call him in, but he completely refused."

"He refused?" said Naomi.

"Completely, yes." he said, relevantly. "Told us if we wanted to waste his time then we could come down ourselves for it. No 'direct your calls to my lawyer' or anything like that. Strange, really."

Viktoria frowned. "He's resisting arrest, then."

"Well, not yet - but I doubt it would be a good idea to send any officers to arrest him, either. He very well might have a Revenant like you said."

"Only one way to find out." murmured Naomi.

"Correct. I'll give you his address."

"Olivia and I will go." said Viktoria.

"Yeah." muttered Olivia bitterly. "Maybe some Revenant will 'knock my pretty little head off' this time."

"…hm. It would be dangerous, you're correct. Natasha - come with me instead." said Viktoria, and walked out -

" - wait - fine, I'll come, just -"

" - Natasha!" said Viktoria's voice from the next room, and Natasha nervously followed.

Once they were outside, Viktoria laughed. "I couldn't resist."

"What was that about?" said Natasha, glancing back as they walked.

"Something she'll forget about by next month." she laughed. "Did you speak to Naomi?"

"…um, kinda." winced Natasha. "I just ... I just feel like she doesn't even get where I'm coming from. She says she wants to be my friend, but that doesn't - that doesn't help me with any of the stuff I was telling you about. I'm getting better, but it - it just doesn't feel like… I don't know. It just um, doesn't feel right for some reason. I-I really don't know what else I'm supposed to do."

"Did you tell her this?"

"Sorta." mumbled Natasha. "I'm - I'm trying everything, too."

Viktoria frowned. "Whatever you tell me, you need to tell her. You'll be fighting with her for the entire year - there's no use being secretive. You need to be honest with her even if she may get her feelings hurt."

"I guess." mumbled Natasha.

"You were able to talk to me about it. I'm a bit scarier than she is, yes?"

Natasha laughed. "Kinda. You actually kinda scared me with the mind-reading stuff."

"I wonder how long I could have kept you going with that. You may be a good fighter, but you're a little…" She tapped her skull and Natasha looked away. "…er."

"…um. That's kinda a soft spot for me, yeah."

"I'm… sorry."

"It's okay. Um. I used to get made fun of for that." she mumbled.

"Someone made fun of you for…?"

"My dad used to hate how much time I spend um, exercising and stuff."

"…ah." muttered Viktoria, thinking of her mother.

Somehow, Natasha felt she had disappointed her. A highschool memory of when she had dated an honors student came back in to her head - this had been soon after she bench pressed her first 200lbs. It worked her confidence up enough to get her through their first date, but no matter how much she read, she couldn't understand any of the literature that girl talked about or the stupid calculus she seemed to breeze through. She still didn't. She had no skill in studying, socializing, nor ignorance at her lack of depth.

A woman gave them a wide berth as she passed by, no doubt because of the Natural Disaster badge. Natasha smiled a little. Well, she didn't need to be a smart student. She just needed to brute-force her way to three-star by the end of the year. Like Viktoria had said, she had a good Revenant, and its snow formed in her palm until that Belarusian voice came.

"Well, you're a good fighter now, and you'll be a better one by the end of the year. Focus on that. If you're good at your job, then everything else will fall in to place."

"Yeah."

They walked up to Sheremet's street. His mansion was down the street with a wall & a gate, but the two could see the marble statue in front of the hedge maze three houses down.

"Stop." said Viktoria as they walked past a house that looked empty. "We'll be ambushing him from the roof - better safe than sorry. Stand still."

"Um, okay." nodded Natasha, letting one Otstoy tentacle grab her. Viktoria rushed in to the empty yard with her cargo & swung up to the roof, then leaped to the next house over, Natasha taut on her back like Olivia had been. A minute later, spring in her slime, she landed on the wall and leaped towards the roof of Sheremet's mansion, and as the two landed on the roof -

- it crumbled in an instant -

- and the two fell in to a room filled with black smoke, Otstoy's grip loosening once the two hit the floor; Natasha shot up coughing as the vapors sought her eyes -

" - M-Meteorology!" she shouted, gusts of wind trying to clear the fumes -

- and a concrete-fist smashed her nose in a burst of blood, staggering her back just in time for a concrete arm to grab her and throw her to the wall -

" - Otstoy!"

- but one tentacle of slime sent the arm of concrete flying up through the hole in the roof & above, black smoke chasing after it as it flew. Below, the Belarusian and disaster met up in the center of the room -

" - his Revenant." frowned Viktoria, watching the concrete suddenly start to drop above as black smoke dispersed out of it, then disappeared.

"I - o-okay -"

" - again!" shouted Viktoria, one slimehand grabbing Natasha as another tentacle yanked them up to the roof, and as the two turned their eyes to the front yard -

- they saw the black smoke reconstituting to a man they knew was their foe, running in the hedge maze 200ft below; no time to waste, Viktoria grabbed Natasha and threw a slimerope down the front of the mansion, then rappelled as fast as she could down -

" - Meteorology!" shouted Natasha as they descended; a geyser of lava burst out & towards the hedge maze -

of it -

- and set the whole mess of trimmed green alight; she winced a second later - " - um, property damage, s-"

" - it's fine." Viktoria laughed as the two landed and rushed up to the perimeter of the blazing mess, then ran around the corner, cutting on the right side with the green at their lefts. They heard him screaming in agony inside, and in the next instant -

- Viktoria shoved Natasha to the ground -

- just in time for a branch to pierce through her own left ear & out the other, head slimefying just in time to avoid lobotomization. Groaning as she staggered, another branch went right through her -

- and she shrieked in slime-agony as her slime-body started to melt, pieces of her turning to steam before they could hit the ground; a few puffs of snow hit her face to try to cool her -

" - I - fuck fuck shit -" winced Natasha, Viktoria still staggering ahead, right slimefoot melting to gas as she fell back to the ground -

- but the next scene was instant. A sheet of snow appeared below Viktoria, slimewoman flattening like a pancake as she hit it -

- and the reduced surface area let her cool off much quicker; she grunted as she stood and solidified, one snowboot replacing her gone-foot as the two stepped away from the blazing hedge maze, fires slightly dimmed, more branches shooting out but unable to reach them.

"P-Possession." grunted Viktoria. "The branches had your heat from the lava."

"Shouldn't it have something to do with gems?" winced Natasha, and in the next instant -

- Viktoria whispered something to Natasha. Nodding as she aimed her palms forward, two jets of lava shot out of her hands -

- and burnt a clear hole through three lines of hedges, black smoke that had been on the other end dispersing & fleeing right but out of their vision; no time to waste, the two swept inside and rushed in pursuit. The cloud of black smoke was fleeing up ahead, brambles growing to try to stop their step but unable to slow them.

"Be careful." muttered Viktoria, seeing it turn left past a corner ahead, and as the two came up -

- two sighs escaped them at the fork in the road, having not seen which path the black wisp chose; Viktoria gave Natasha another order, Otstoy's tentacle grabbing the top of one hedge -

- and a platform of snow formed underneath it for stabler footing, two sweeping up on to it with a better view of the hedge maze nearly burnt to ash now. Ahead, they saw his reconstituted body going left, and as he turned his eyes back -

- a superheated ball of slime burst through his chest & left a burning hole in his back; cursing as he staggered back, another projectile flew towards him -

- but in to black smoke he dispersed again, leaving two women sighing as they leaped back down to the ground. Jets of lava burnt through the rest of the hedge maze and reduced it to ash, superheated liquid disappearing once its purpose was done.

"Is - is he running away?" frowned Natasha, two stepping carefully back.

"No." muttered Viktoria, hands regenerating from the last volley, kicking her snowboot off for one made of slime. "If he wanted to, he would have fled sooner - he's fighting us to keep us from investigating his home."

"Okay." said Natasha, and in the next instant -

- the ground started shifting beneath their feet, dirt shaking and setting them off-balance; knowing he was there, Viktoria threw an Otstoy-punch in to the dirt -

- and a burst of blood & dirt answered; more smoke flew out of the ground and in to the dirt as it started to fall above them -

- but one gust of wind blasted the soil with the strength of a hundred away, more smoke chasing after it as it started to fall again -

- right in to a patch of melting snow. The black smoke flew in to it, and in the next instant -

- Natasha laughed as he reconstituted 80ft away with burns a first-year Mia would've been proud of all over his body; no time to waste, her & Viktoria started rushing towards him, but he cut left and started running towards the stairs to the mansion's front doors.

"I -" - Natasha laughed, the nerves dropping from her voice as they ran - " - I used some of my lava with it, so -"

" - when he possessed the snow - yes." nodded Viktoria quick, seeing him rush up to the top of the stairs before the mansion's front doors, one marble column at his left & one at his right - the two stopped at the base, 30ft separating them & him.

"What are you hiding?" grunted Viktoria, tapping her foot at the bottom step. "It's clear you don't want us inside of this house."

"It would have been much easier if it was only one of you." he grunted, fingers tapping the left column. "Money can wipe away one death, but two or four…"

In the next instant -

- the column detached and shot towards Viktoria -

- but one slimetentacle burst out of the ground behind him & smashed the other column in to chunks of rubble; sudden support lost, the marble awning started to collapse as Viktoria swept back -

- and Natasha's lava & snow gave the first column a winter coat as it flew uselessly past them, ensuring he couldn't repossess it as the rain of rubble buried him alive ahead; no time to waste, the two rushed up, slime tentacles forming out of Viktoria's back -

- but one marble uppercut from below split her in half and sent slimy pieces of her all over the rubble; beside, Natasha's lava blasted a hole in to the ground -

- and underneath one marble hook she dodged, black smoke she knew was underneath the ruins starting to shift -

- but the next scene was instant. A cyclone formed inside the hole -

- and she laughed as the wind sucked the smoke in like a poltergeist in a vacuum, black wisps struggling to break free as more lava dug its grave deeper and deeper. Once it was five feet under, Sheremet's body reformed and she saw him trying to pull himself up -

- just in time for a jet of lava to go through his neck & out the back in a burst of steaming blood; Natasha winced a second later as the life went out of his limbs, realizing Viktoria might've wanted him alive.

She rushed over to Viktoria's pieces, using her wind & all of her Revenant to put the Belarusian woman back together again.

"…g-good." winced Viktoria, slapping her face back on.

Natasha braced herself like she was benching. "Are you okay? I got him, but I accidentally killed him."

"It's alright." said Viktoria, holding her slimy hand up. "Search his home. I'll… find you."

"Okay." nodded Natasha, rushing inside the mansion. After a minute, Viktoria stood up, clutching her head as she checked his corpse.

'…odd.' She crouched down, checking for a gem. 'No gem, and…'

She turned his corpse over -

- and frowned as she saw his heart with a dozen pieces of marble impaled through it, Revenant damaged enough that it wasn't beating any more. 'He killed himself?'

She closed her eyes and waited until she heard Natasha calling for her, then went inside. Natasha had found a door in his bedroom that led to a room full of boxes & safes.

"...go ahead and open one." said Viktoria.

"Meteorology."

A gust of wind sliced through one safe, and out of the aperture fell a dozen diamond rings.

"…the merchandise." murmured Viktoria.

"He… said he moved all of the jewelry stuff off-site, so…"

"And now, it's here." Viktoria frowned as an Otstoy tentacle sliced a safe open. "We've either come to the end of our investigation, or the middle of it. It's possible he was merely a fence or holding it for someone else. He scarred his Revenant enough that I doubt any surgeon will be able to tell the ability for certain, yet he dropped no gemstone."

"What does that mean?" said Natasha.

Viktoria enjoyed the deference in her tone. "As I said - either the end of our investigation or the middle of it. If he could also give Revenants through these gemstones, it's enough motivation for him to keep these and to buy jewelry stores."

"…um. But why would, um… why would he buy stuff that his people or whatever are stealing from?"

"You mean why would he buy stores that his own men are stealing from? Simple: to intimidate him. If there's Revenants attacking your store every day, why bother keeping it and risking your life? And the man you and Naomi spoke with that first day indicates this. He sold his store - and all of his stock - to Sheremet, here. End of investigation."

"Or middle of it."

Viktoria laughed. "Precisely. I'll call Naomi and your little fan to come here."

She called Naomi & Natasha's little fan, and the two spoke while they waited for them to come by. Viktoria wasn't sure why she liked this woman. Perhaps she was vaguely lonesome and took Natasha's fitness as evidence of discipline Americans usually lacked, or it was that anyone would look good compared to Olivia and Naomi.

The two met up with the other pair, and Olivia stood straight once Viktoria finished relaying it.

"…uh. I'm sorry I acted like that." muttered Olivia. "You were right. I should have kept running."

"Good." said Viktoria. "I accept your apology."

'Seriously?' thought Olivia. 'Bitch.'

"Regardless, there's still the matter of the jewels." said Viktoria. "Olivia and I shall watch over here for tonight."

Naomi nodded. "Sounds good."

As much as Naomi didn't like admitting it, she had to say there was something useful about Viktoria's decisiveness. She saw her now as a woman who she'd likely be competing for presidency in her third year with, and she hoped she would lose whatever the hell made her dislike Naomi so goddamn much by then - yet compared to others in her class, she was perhaps the least outward in her dislike of Naomi. It might've been hiding something worse, but she'd learned from Julia that Serena's style of casting everyone under good or bad didn't suit her.

◆◆◆

Viktoria woke up with a sapphire and a note on her lap. She didn't feel tired and she realized before she started reading it that she had fallen asleep in the middle of her shift.

'Dealing with Sheremet for me is why you both live this time. I'll be gone once you're outside of Birthstone's range.'

Her legs got up before her head did and she staggered back against the wall. Olivia was sleeping a few feet away from her, and a sapphire popped out the front of her skull once she woke up a few seconds later.

"Olivia - Revenant!" she shouted as Olivia stood, wincing as she pulled Baal's knife out -

" - I - huh -"

" - follow me!"

Viktoria rushed up to the back door and one Otstoy punch bashed it down to the ground. Half the safes in the room were gone and broken pieces of jewelry boxes were laying all over the floor.

"Someone stole it?" panted Olivia behind her and Viktoria grunted.

"…no. No, no - no, I - I - I didn't fucking realize - I thought that fucking detective was only desensitized, not…" Viktoria grunted and kicked a hole in the wall that was gonna stay for a while. "I only thought he was desensitized from - I noticed it, I should have - I thought that… Dealing with Sheremet. They were working together from the start. Someone with a Revenant like that couldn't be satisfied only getting whatever jewels his, that random scum could find for him. He needed some rich benefactor, but - the suicide and - that his Revenant - of course, it was possession, there was no gem, and - stay - stay here to guard the rest." Her head shook rapidly. "It's - no, yes, stay here to guard the -"

" - er, can't we just call the cops?" winced Olivia.

Viktoria took her phone out and cursed when her grip snapped it in half. "I-"

"-I can - I'll, I'll just use mine, okay?"

- four slimetentacles formed from Viktoria's back as she started ripping the place apart, upending jewelry boxes and sweeping through broken glass.

"Can I call them?" said Olivia. "Or -"

" - get away from me - now. I'm not in the mood to deal with your - there has to be some fucking trace he left here!"

Otstoy's tentacles ripped apart through the place four at a time and Viktoria's expression was of a woman too shattered to even cry. She searched, she cursed. The one time she heard the front door close was when the three came back at night and she was sitting on a broken case of rings looking for where he might've scratched the safes when he took the gems out.

◆◆◆

The four stepped past Urasaria's gate. Viktoria said nothing. She moved like a woman in a nightmare.

"…just some random host at the end of the day. Right?" said Olivia. "Somebody'll get him eventually."

"I'll report to President Swarm." said Viktoria, stepping ahead of the three. Natasha knew to say nothing.

"By yourself?" said Naomi after her.

If anything, Viktoria seemed to walk faster now.

"…man. I've never seen her like this." mumbled Olivia. "I mean, I've seen her like -that- before, it's just… different this time. Like, I remember when we were training the second week…"

"When she stomped out?"

"No, that was a different day, because I was talking to - do you know Jess?"

"No."

"She's a first-year - lemme show you a picture of us together…"

Their conversation faded from Natasha's ears, seeing only Viktoria entering President Swarm's office with the corners of her mouth held tight.

[END OF ARC: TEMPERATURE RISING]