The six heroes took rest in Sky Creek the next day, a small town didn't have much for accommodations, but plenty of antique stores. The scarab mentor&protégé had been chosen to find groceries for the trip, but found only a gas station on the outskirts. It was the only building on the lot, and Mia&Serena started past the tanks of petrol.
Mia was uneasy, but resolved to stay with her plan. Serena likely didn't have much fog to use yet, and she was her only medic.
They stepped inside, shelves left and right, counter up ahead.
"Clear." nodded Mia, praying she was right.
"Er - okay." mumbled Serena. "Uh - what are we getting?"
"Milk, beef, and a cooler." said Mia. The two went down the aisle right, to the dead and milked cow at the wall. "Er - are you feeling alright, Serena?"
Serena clenched that same wince. "Yeah. I'm fine. Um. Why are we buying milk, though? I can do that."
"To - conserve your energy." said Mia, crouching down to the jugs.
"Er - it's fine, I can -"
- an explosion erupted at the other end of the store, blasting the wall open and scattering gore in its wake; the two shot up and turned, civilians fleeing down the aisles and out the front doors -
- and a second explosion blast the front door&civilians to bits; the two winced at the brutality again, but had no time to mourn. A woman stepped out of the rubble at the other end of the store, purple hair & laughing at the corpses.
"Pasithea - what an explosive Revenant!" she shouted, and in the next instant -
- a series of explosion erupted at her feet, shooting down the aisle with the speed of bombs at the two; the shockwaves threw them back and against the wall, and as another explosion singed their eyes -
" - Worldwide!"
- her gleaming white sword pierced through the wall and melted a fiery exit behind. With no time to waste, the women swept through and ran out to the lot beside, and as Serena's fog flew in to the hole behind -
" - no - no - conserve it!" shouted Mia, and a wall of ice filled the hole -
- but was just as suddenly blast open by another explosion, shattering and scattering shards of ice around, and as one pierced Serena's throat -
- a fire scarab melted the ice to water, leaving her safe, if for the wound.
"Heal - heal yourself, Serena!" said Mia, the whip in her voice.
A stream of black fog filled Serena's wound -
- with salt, and the woman screamed as of one in agony, clutching the wound ferociously - but they had no time to rest.
Ahead, their foe stepped out of the gas station, and a line of explosions behind blast what civilians were left.
"She has - explosives - and very long range -" panted Mia, stepping back careful over the asphalt, Serena at her side.
Another line of explosions tore through the ground, shooting again towards the two, and as they swept back&away -
- the explosions stopped only a dozen feet away. Mia nodded with satisfaction, her scarabs readying to fill the fissure below with water. "Simply have to maintain this range, and -"
"Aha - do you think that's really Pasithea's true range?" laughed the woman, whose name was Reciri, pulling a grenade from her back. "I think the secondary'll work just fine to reach your little protégé, there!" she shouted, and as she threw it forward -
- a line of explosions blast them back and away, the wind catching their hair as they flew, asphalt skidding their backs as they landed, foe rushing in pursuit.
"Let - let me heal that, c'mon -" winced Serena as the two stood, wounds carved clear through Mia's back -
"No - no." said Mia, ice scarabs chilling her wounds, a hundred feet separating them and their foe now - "Conserve your -"
" - come on! You're being -"
" - and the best part about Pasithea, Mia Schultz?" laughed Recetti, pulling another grenade from her back. "If one of -these- hits you - you're dead!"
She threw it again, and the missile homed in on Mia as if it were live -
" - Worldwide!"
- an ice scarab froze the explosive, and threw it back with insectile speed -
" - they're a much larger radius than you think, Mia Schultz! Your scarabs can't keep it frozen for long!"
- and as if by magic, the ice around the explosive melted. It flew back to Mia, sticking deep to her hair, and Receri laughed again -
" - three - two -"
" - Mia - breathe deep!" shouted Serena, and in the next instant -
- a stream of black fog filled Mia's nostrils; she breathed involuntarily deep, and unconsciousness claimed her.
◆◆◆
When she awoke, Serena was standing over her, grinning at Reciri's corpse with a mouthful of scissors.
"Got the bitch." chimed Serena. "No worries."
Mia gave a confused nod, finding herself on the same spot where she had passed out. "What - happened?"
"…um. So - super risky, but I was pretty sure, and you were gonna die if I didn't do that, if I was right. I filled your nostrils up with sleeping gas to make you unconscious - 'cuz I realized what her ability actually was."
"What - what was it?" said Mia, pressing to her feet.
"It's - sorry. Gotta do this." Serena spread her hands and drew a rainbow. "Whaaaatever you imagine it to be."
"It - what?"
"The ability is whatever you think it is - uh. I kinda guessed it when she said Pasithea, since that's the Greek god of hallucinations. Guess that's why she kept shouting stuff - but when you passed out, I figured it was really nothing."
"… T-Thank you, Serena." murmured Mia. "I'm - I'm sorry I didn't realize that. It's my fault."
"… er." Serena's eyes went down. "...hey, it's alright. One of us did. That's what matters, right? That's why we fight together, right?" She pat Mia's back, and the mentor felt like a consolation prize.
"…yes, but…" Mia frowned, the guilt pushing her neck away. Somehow, her skill in battle was giving her trouble too. "It's - we should return before any more show up."
Serena nodded.
'She's probably just nervous because of me, but, um. Now she knows I can handle someone - kinda solo too. I bet she'll start feeling better.'
◆◆◆
Back at the hotel, Aimee and Jeanne received the news.
"Another few dozen civilians dead." muttered Aimee. "Ugh. Feels like shit to even say it like that."
"Like how?" said Jeanne.
"Just - a number. What's that quote - a hundred deaths is a tragedy, a million is a statistic?"
"You're asking me?" said Jeanne. "Uh. I used to be a stoner, you know. Total degenerate. Total dropout material."
To her smile, a light one replied.
"... still." Aimee sighed. "I know it doesn't… Can't even understand what they're after. Civilians flee as soon as fighting starts - everyone knows to do that. They're not stealing their shit - they're just - Mia said they just fucking - deliberately did it. The whole shit with Yuruko, and fucking tapping her asphalt - they didn't even - they knew it wouldn't fucking work, and -"
" - we need to torture them." said Jeanne, half-joking, and Aimee nodded. If American prison were different, she might've treated scum differently; but she had to deal with how it was. Any violent criminal might've been another Eternity, and torture & murder were good deterrents.
"Wouldn't mind it." Aimee sighed, hung back over her bed. "Not like I haven't done it before. I remember when Makoto and I found the person that killed her mom. Doubt we'd get anything, though."
"… you know." mumbled Jeanne. "I remember hearing the rumors before I, uh. Entered Urasaria."
"Pretty much public knowledge at this point."
"Yeah." Jeanne laughed. "But you're right. You start to get used to it after awhile. Even if it hurts - you get used to that, too."
"Don't be clichéd." Aimee smiled, and the two laughed. "Still. Doesn't seem like they're after our artifact, here." She gestured to Jeanne's pouch.
"They'd have to get through Nuiko to unshrink it, anyway."
"Like that'll ever happen. Ugh. Just hope one of these Revenants doesn't come after her."
"I'm sure she can handle it." Jeanne smiled, as she had more often recently. "She still has to beat my time trial ghost."
"Your what?"
"We play a racing game together - but when she's not around, I practice. Gives me something to do when I'm not hunting. She hasn't beaten my - uh. Best times yet."
Aimee nodded, comprehending none of it. "Glad you're feeling better." She sighed for a second, like she was asking Jeanne, and the renewed woman took it.
"You feeling alright?"
"… mostly." muttered Aimee, sweeping back up. "Just - wish I could uh, stay with Mia. Being around her helps keep my stress down. Uh, no offense."
"It's alright." mumbled Jeanne. "Er. I don't really know what to say. Sorry."
"It's alright. Not your fault, just - she's worried about Serena, since - she almost died her first week. Should clear up soon."
"Yeah." nodded Jeanne. "Uh. Just new mentor nerves."
"Yeah."
◆◆◆
Nuiko received a call in her hotel room that night, third-floor with a balcony.
"You - what?" Her one-eyed brow sighed. "Okay, fine - you told them. Is there anything else I need to know?"
A pause.
"- okay! Good luck with your traumatic stress!" she preened, tapped her phone off, and took her tablet up.
A quick message to Aimee, and an even hastier phonecall followed. The two talked for a while, thinking of the new route they were forced to take, both for Nuiko's safety and civilians.
"… and how is Jeanne doing?" she said, sitting on her bed and leaning down to take her bag. "Good? Good. Yes - I'll be alright, Mad-Doggy Dog. Goodbye. Send me the route - I'll check out now."
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A click, and their call ended.
In the hall outside, footsteps began. Nuiko leaned her head to listen. Her room was near the entrance, and she hadn't much time if a knock came for her.
She heard a door open, a masculine and feminine tone speaking -
- followed by the sound of knife in skin, the thud of a body.
She shot to her feet and rushed to her nightstand, took a bowl there. A prick of her nails on her bed, and it shrunk to dollhouse size as she swept it in to the bowl, then in to her bag.
The knock came at the door adjacent. She ran back to the bathroom beside the balcony; a swift sweep snapped the shower curtain's rod in half, and she pulled it clear, ran out the bathroom to the balcony, the parking lot three floors below.
'Swell.'
She dipped the pole over the railing, and it extended like a firefighter's.
The knock came at her door. She set the pole tight against the railing, vaulted over and started sliding down -
- and she heard someone kick in her door -
- but she was already gone, landing in the parking lot below, and as she ran past one vintage sports car -
'Looks nicer than mine.'
- a prick of her nail shrunk the driverside window. A sweep of her hand unlocked it from the inside, and as she threw herself in, she stuck her nail inside the ignition, swelling and shrinking for a lockpick -
- but to her frown, the car refused to start.
'I - I have it right, don't I? Swell - here - swell - there. Don't tell me it has a chip.'
She heard hasty footsteps above, nearly to the balcony now -
' - oh, right.'
She twisted her ignition nail. The car rose to life, and she was gone.
◆◆◆
That night, before the gore had been cleared, two men stood over Reciri's corpse, her throat still filled with scissors.
"She cut herself shaving." droned one. He was bald, but not unhandsome. "Would you like to know how many kills that Revenant had before?"
"Not terribly." murmured the other, scarred and blond.
"I don't 'terribly' care. She was worthless - a waste of an employee, once someone leaked her Revenant's ability. It wasn't me, surprisingly. Or Magnus. But before that, she would brag - on what lie she had her opponent believe that day or the other. She thought her Revenant was the strongest in the world. It was a delight, seeing her tortured to death. I almost -"
" - I told you I don't care, Akira."
Having dealt with the degenerate before, Akira sighed. He felt most people were merely bridges between various generations of great men or women. That he was one of them was obvious, and it annoyed him that most were more concerned with themselves. For Mia, she would be his bridge.
"I've given you Crash and a dozen women. You can listen for five minutes." Catching the imminent protest, Akira shook his head. "Fine. Enjoy your hunting." He tapped Reciri's blood, and he was gone.
◆◆◆
The prodigal vehicle brought them through empty roads with blind turns, and as Aimee had requested, Mia had driven clear through three dead-ends. Yuruko & Jeanne had spent the night prior creating a set of off-road tires, and they were back to civilization now, the interstate sparse ahead.
"Can -we- get fast food?" chimed Yuruko, sat mid-left and trying her luck with the new driver.
"No." said Mia.
"She won't even get our hopes up." murmured Samuel, back-left.
"Check out that billboard, there." said Serena, back-right, and the six checked out that billboard there.
"Now leaving? What's up?" said Aimee.
"No - no, not that one, the one behind -"
" - oh man, the religious ones?" said Yuruko, and Aimee winced, knowing that tithe well.
"Yeah." said Serena. "Isn't it pretty bad when the first thing you see driving in to somewhere is someone telling you to pray?"
[I don't usually do OOC comments, so you know this is important - if you can, look up "Yakuza Ultimate Road Rage Extended" and play it while reading this, it makes it 10x better.]
The six laughed. The van peeled up a hill in the road, and as they crested over the peak -
- there, twenty seconds ahead, a hundred cars stopped in place; instantly the six's Revenants formed, and as they pulled closer in, Mia slowed the van down -
- and a shriek from Serena filled the van; followed by Samuel's, Jeanne's and Yuruko's -
" - faster!" shouted Aimee, ripping her vision back -
- and saw the four's heads starting to disintegrate, skin and blood turning to dust; with a pant of fear, Mia sped up -
- and the dust reformed to their flesh and blood, leaving them unharmed. The traffic jam was fast approaching ahead, only five seconds now -
" - don't - don't slow down, okay?" said Aimee.
The six peeled down their windows. From the jam ahead erupted a sports car, shooting sixty miles an hour towards them and making for a head-on collision -
" - Worldwide!"
- but with the speed of Swarm, a cloud of ice scarabs formed a ramp of ice for the van, narrowly avoiding the collision, driving on a bridge of ice now and over the jam.
"Fuck - how many fucking?!" shouted Aimee, hundreds of cars clogging the road below, hundreds of occupants dead.
"I can't keep this ice going for long!" shouted Mia, the bridge of ice growing thinner by the second.
"Aimee - enhance me!" shouted Samuel, his voice whipping like Matoi's. "Mia - go down the far left lane! Least amount of cars!"
With the speed of time, Aimee swept her hand back to Samuel's, blue tendrils for the blue gauntlet. The last of Mia's ice scarabs peeled a ramp down to the far left lane, their path soon to be blocked by cars ahead -
- and blue ghastly hands ripped the automobiles from their path, tearing and throwing them all around, Mia's eyes on the road as she kept a steady 60 down the far left lane.
"Will say - when exhausted." grunted Samuel, Matoi's conditioning serving him well.
"He's coming back!" shouted Serena, and as the ones not busy turned their eyes back -
- they saw the familiar sports car crashing through the jam behind, smashing and tearing through vans and trucks at a constant 60.
"Gotta be his Revenant. That car keeps constant speed." said Jeanne.
"Just like that movie." chimed Yuruko, relevantly.
"Then if I can go past sixty - FUCK!" shouted Mia, and Aimee groaned as she saw the gas meter.
"Low on gas - city up ahead, too - we can't let this fucking thing reach a city full of people." said Aimee, and in the next instant -
- a murder of dead crows landed on their windshield; Mia shrieked surprised, the sudden corpses blocking their vision -
"- Dream - non-stick!"
- but a spray of Dream ahead, and the corpses slid off the windshield and off the hood.
"He's - got some control over it, right?" said Yuruko, undoing her seatbelt to lean over to Jeanne, catching the cars right, no drivers or passengers to be seen. "To - not disintegrate those, right?"
"But he still might - wait, I've got something." said Jeanne, poking her head out the window, their foe three seconds behind. "Dream - water!"
A spray of Dream behind, and the road ahead of their foe turned to water-road; the unexpected counter was too swift for it, and as it landed head-first in the sudden pool -
- Jeanne sighed as she saw the car erupt out the pool and land behind, dripping water-road, still three seconds away. "Never gonna slow."
"City limits in fucking - ugh - 5 miles ahead, there's gotta be - exit up right? Do we risk it?" panted Aimee, utterly aghast.
"Focus on - us, right?" said Serena, and the six nodded.
"There's - god, fuck these fucking Revenants - I'll look up if there's an airport, yeah? Long area? Any other ideas?" said Aimee, taking her phone from her pocket with her free hand, tendrils still on Samuel -
" - can't - keep much more -" panted Samuel; with no time to waste, another ramp&bridge of ice formed. The van took it direct up, and as their foe took the same path -
- a swarm of fire scarabs melted the ice to liquid, dunking him to the lane below.
But the city was fast approaching ahead, a left curve ahead, cars suddenly stopping below. A second ramp of ice brought them below again, at the front of the pack now. Ahead was the left curve they were helpless to take, and as they turned at ludicrous speed -
"UNDER CONSTRUCTION?!" shouted Mia, the closing-to-one-lane road like a concrete nightmare. They passed the construction crew to their right, and didn't bother to see the assured disintegration as their foe's car came up behind.
And to their horror, the lane curved again in to the city streets, cars parked next to sidewalks, skyscrapers flanking them as they revved down the street, intersections at regular intervals.
"G-God - fuck." panted Mia, seeing the hundreds of civilians on the sidewalks around disintegrated, blown to dust in an instant.
"Bad - bad." winced Yuruko, and Aimee shot up.
"Schultzy - take the - third turn, keep going straight until I tell you to, yeah? Focus. You've got this."
"Alright."
"Airport. Better clearing than -" - Aimee winced as Mia avoided narrowly a fender bender with a slowing car - " - this."
"And our gas." said Jeanne. "Looks pretty low…"
"Hey, what side's the gas tank on?" said Serena.
"Right!" said Aimee, and Serena nodded as Mia turned right -
" - left!" said Mia.
Serena blinked. "Uh. Is it right or left?"
"Uh - left." said Jeanne, peeking at the gas meter ahead. "Arrow points to it."
Serena nodded. "Uh - please don't take any turns while I'm out there."
She undid her seatbelt, and crawled over to Samuel; catching the trend quick, he grabbed her by her ankles, starting to dip her out of the window. A peel of the gas tank open, and as her black fog swept down her hand -
- it was dispersed behind as if by the wind. Samuel pulled her back in -
" - it - it fucking disperses?!" shouted Serena. "I - I can do the fucking gas, but -"
" - left!" shouted Aimee, and Mia peeled past the corner and on to the curb, sidewalk below bumping them now. The skyscrapers grew sparse around, and the housing poorer, last screams filling the air, civilians disintegrating before their eyes.
"Samuel, put me back there!" shouted Yuruko, and Serena felt a tinge of envy for the boar as she crawled up, and he dipped her out the window. A swift sweep of her gloved hands -
" - right!" shouted Aimee, and as the van curved -
- Yuruko was thrown on Serena's lap, suddenly holding a hose - her eyes widened as Serena gasped in pain -
" - are you okay - "
" - this - really the time?!" panted Serena, cheeks red as she filled the hose with gas.
Aimee laughed with relief as the gas meter filled, and Yuruko laughed as she slumped beside Serena.
Their foe followed behind as they peeled out the street, and another turn brought them on to another highway, three seconds separating them and he. The airport was ahead on the distance, a raised monorail on the right.
And another groan escaped Mia as she saw every lane packed with cars, suddenly stopping and sliding mid-drive -
" - hold on!" she shouted, and another ramp of ice formed, tires skidding as she sought a path to the monorail, driving up -
- and the six screamed as they heard their back-right tire pop, a panicked set of icicles having pierced it, sashaying wildly out of control -
" - Aimee - enhance!" shouted Yuruko, and as Aimee's tendrils entered her palm -
- for Yuruko, the world slowed as if a reflection in a disturbed pond.
'Oh man, that's fucking neat.'
With a shake of her head, she dipped her legs out the window, wincing in preparation as her boots tapped the hole in the tire -
- and to her relief, For-Medicinal-Use-Only repaired the hole with new rubber. She yanked her legs back in, and time resumed.
"Got it?" said Aimee, as the van slid down on to a path of ice above the monorail, the airport still ahead, their foe below on the highway beside.
"That - should give some time. Less to worry about - I'll - drive off if needed." said Mia, sweeping eyes back to search for a train. "Only one obstacle to deal with, I can - can one of you cover his car in gasoline?"
"Gonna enhance?" said Aimee, Yuruko forming another hose in hand, readying to drip gas on to the speedster below.
"Of course."
Serena filled the hose with gas, and Yuruko dipped it out the window -
- and laughed together as the gas blew far behind their intended foe, the wind dispersing it like the fog.
"Thank god I've got experience guiding liquids." murmured Samuel, and ghastly hands guided the gas down, dousing their foe's car in the foul liquid. "You wanna know how Matoi trained me for that?"
"Not really!" said Mia, and as a swarm of fire scarabs blew down below, Aimee's tendrils in her hand -
- a pillar of blue flame erupted below, setting the entire car alight, and as the sports car burnt to ash -
" - are you fucking kidding me?" shouted Yuruko, leaning over to see the spectacle below -
- and there, the man himself still ran at 60mph, the flames doused as he rushed along the road.
"That's some dedication." murmured Jeanne, the van still riding the rail, reaching near the monorail's station now, the airport's main building titanic and wide right, the runway ahead.
"We'll take the runway." winced Mia, five seconds separating them and the dead-end now. "Don't - hold on!"
"Uh, do you mean hold -"
- another ramp of ice launched them up over the station; a second slope of ice formed mid-air, and they started sliding down at ludicrous speed, approaching the end of the runway horizontal below, five seconds ahead.
"We'll have to - I'll turn right once we enter, and if we can cut him off -"
- and a groan of exhaustion passed her as she saw a 747 readying for launch, making for a collision down where they would land, two seconds away -
" - just keep going! Got it!" shouted Jeanne.
The van hit the ground fast, and as the plane's wheels threatened to tap their side -
- a blue spray turned the wheels to water-wheels, and out from underneath the white beast burst the van, peeling sharp right as the plane collapsed behind.
And from the airport behind burst out the blond man, peeling sharp right, pursuing and gaining speed by the second.
"No cutting him off." groaned Mia. "We can't keep this up forever."
Only twenty seconds separated them and the end of the runway now, water up ahead.
"Any - any ideas?" panted Aimee, seeing their foe still running like the wind behind.
"Worldwide - Samuel, throw this." said Mia, handing an icicle back. He took it, threw it out the window and back, and as ghastly hands guided the projectile through the air -
- the keen end pierced through their foe's brain and eyes; but he was fired to unholy durability, only ten seconds separating the six from death ahead -
" - Aimee - enhance!" shouted Samuel; Aimee swept her hands back, her tendrils on Samuel's left gauntlet. His hands shot out the window and to the door's handle, grunting and tearing ferociously at it -
- and as a man might snap a wishbone, tore it clear off. He threw it behind, and as the bizarre projectile skidded on the road behind -
" - Outcast!"
- ghastly hands guided the projectile through the air, ripping at the metal and forming a solid point -
- that cleaved their foe's torso in half in a geyser of crimson; the halves slid and skidded, became rigid.
"Is - is that it?!" shouted Mia, glancing back for a second -
" - SCHULTZY!" panted Aimee, gripping the steering wheel and veering sharp right away, and as they dipped below 60 -
- six sighs of relief filled the van as no harm came. Mia turned as fast as she could back, readying for a direct burn on the halves ten seconds ahead.
"He - might be luring us in to a false sense of security." chimed Mia, attempting humor to soothe her embarrassment.
"I - enhance." said Aimee, hand on her girlfriend, as it often was.
Five seconds.
"Man - imagine if we died like that." Yuruko laughed.
"Save it." murmured Jeanne. "Just wait for -"
- and as they passed the carcasses, a spray of blue flame burnt them to ash, not even his heart left. Six cheers filled the van as Mia revved slowly down, the six safe. "Oh my fucking -"
" - god -" panted Aimee. "Fucking - what is with these fucking Revenants?"
"These - these fucking people, too." panted Serena.
"It's a lot." winced Yuruko. "I've never even fought shit like this before."
"Just - calm." panted Aimee, shaking her head. "Schultzy - uh. Let's stop at the airport."
"Don't crash." murmured Jeanne, relevantly.
The six sat there for a while as Mia drove to the front of the airport. They didn't speak until their breath was back.
"… Aimee, do you believe it's the group we dealt with in Lanacca?"
"There's no way, right? The shit they sent at us in January - why wouldn't they just send it then?" Aimee shook her head. "Ugh. Guys."
"Guy." muttered Samuel, and the five women laughed.
"We should probably…" She pinched her brow. "… Ugh. Let's - can you guys destroy their Revenants, whenever we run in to them? Just - from now on."
"Real easy for me." chimed Yuruko.
"...yeah." nodded Aimee, starting to calm. "Something like that can't even… Something like that doesn't deserve to exist. Right? Something that - with that sort of effect."
"Only suited for scum." nodded Samuel.
Mia sighed deep, started driving again. "Let's…"
"… stay at the airport, tonight?" said Jeanne.
"… yeah." said Aimee. "I'm - ugh. Gonna ask Renault about these Revenants. Just - maybe names, or something."
"I'll let the other airports know, or something." murmured Yuruko.
"At least we can take all the overpriced airline food we want." said Jeanne.
"… Yeah." said Aimee, stifling a laugh. "Any company that wants to bitch at us about stealing - they can try fighting this shit. Right?"
"Yeah." said Serena, grateful Yuruko hadn't realized.